522

One volume knob per drum — set the balance between kick, snare, hats and so on.

tip: Set these while a pattern loops so you can hear the mix come together in context.

Makes the kick drum higher or lower in pitch — low for a deep boom, high for a tighter thud.

Sets how long the kick rings out — short for a tight punch, long for a booming sustained note.

tip: Use the normal button for long decay and the Shift version when you want a short kick regardless of this knob.

Controls the click/punch at the very start of the kick — more for a snappy, aggressive front end, less for a rounder thump.

Controls how much 'hiss/rattle' is in the snare versus the tonal body — more noise gives a crisper, sharper snare.

Shifts the snare's character from deep and fat to thin and bright.

tip: The snare shares a circuit with the rimshot (Shift + button), so the two can't sound at the same time.

Controls how tight or spread-out the multiple hand-claps sound.

A tone knob for the clap — dark and dull at one end, sharp and bright at the other.

Lengthens the fading 'wash' after the clap, almost like adding reverb.

tip: Played directly the clap is longer and contains four claps; triggered with Shift it's shorter and contains just two claps.

Controls how far apart the low, mid, and high toms/congas are in pitch.

Sets how long the tom or conga hit rings out.

Sets how long the cowbell rings — short clank or long clang.

Adjusts the metallic clash of the two pitches inside the cowbell for more or less dissonance.

tip: The cowbell shares a channel with the clave (Shift + button), so only one of the two can play at once.

Changes the character of the initial strike of the cymbal.

Sets how long the cymbal shimmer lasts before fading out.

A shared pitch knob that raises or lowers the cymbal, cowbell, and hi-hats all at once.

tip: Because it affects three instruments, listen to the hats and cowbell too when you adjust it.

Sets how long the open hi-hat sizzles before it closes off.

tip: Note that button 7 is the open hi-hat and button 8 the (closed) hi-hat; Shift on button 8 gives you an open hi-hat variation via MIDI note A#1.

The speed knob for the beat; it also acts as the selector dial in the setup menus.

tip: When setting the MIDI channel (Shift + Fill), this knob picks the channel and the LEDs 1–16 show which one.

Chooses whether button 4 plays a tom or a conga; you can't have both at once.

tip: Reach the low, mid, and high pitches by pressing the button (with Rec held) once, twice, or three times when assigning it to a track.

These are your drum pads — hit one and you hear that drum. They double as the sixteen step buttons when you're building a beat.

tip: Hold Shift while pressing a button to play that instrument's hidden variation (see individual instruments below).

A 'second function' key. Hold it to reach the hidden versions of sounds, the even-numbered steps when programming, and setup menus.

tip: While programming a track, hold Shift to enter the even steps (2, 4, 6…); release it to go back to the odd steps (1, 3, 5…).

Your transport button — press to run the beat, press again to stop.

tip: Hold Play while powering on to toggle between internal and external MIDI-clock sync (the mode isn't shown, so remember your choice).

Switches on the automatic drum fills so the pattern varies instead of looping the same bar.

tip: Hold Shift + Fill to enter MIDI-channel setup.

Your pattern-picker. Hold it and tap a white button for patterns 1–8; hold it and type a two-digit number on the white buttons for higher patterns.

tip: For a two-digit pattern like 36, hold Rhythm and press 3 then 6. Press Rhythm alone to see which pattern is currently selected. Pattern changes take effect only after the current bar finishes.

The button for building and editing beats and songs.

tip: Hold Rec + Rhythm for at least a second to wipe the current pattern before starting fresh. Hold Rec + Shift to program the accent track.

Handles full arrangements — pick a saved song to play, or use it to step through and confirm patterns while writing one.

tip: Each of the eight songs can hold up to 64 patterns chained together.

The power switch.

tip: Hold Play while flipping this on to toggle external MIDI-clock sync mode.

Where the wall adapter plugs in.

Lets a keyboard, pad, or sequencer play and control the 522.

tip: Notes B0–D2 trigger the drums (e.g. B0=short kick, C1=long kick, D1=snare), and every sound is also available two octaves higher, from B2 to D4.

The main output to your mixer, amp, or interface.

Send the kick, snare, clap, or hats out on their own cable to record or process them separately.

tip: Remember that once you patch an individual output, that drum disappears from the main Stereo Out mix — so route it somewhere or you won't hear it.