Glossary

Tiny dictionary for the terms frdgBeats uses.

Bar

A chunk of time in the playlist timeline.

BPM

Beats per minute. Higher BPM means faster playback.

Channel

One instrument lane. A channel can be a synth, sample, or SoundFont.

Clip

A pattern or audio block placed on the playlist timeline.

Effect Chain

The ordered list of effects on a channel.

MIDI

A file or protocol for musical instructions: notes, timing, velocity, program changes, and similar data. MIDI is not audio.

Pattern

A reusable song chunk. One pattern can contain notes for multiple channels.

Piano Roll

The note editor. Time goes left to right. Pitch goes low to high.

Sample

A recorded audio file used as an instrument source.

SoundFont

An .sf2 bank containing sampled instrument presets.

Step

One grid position in a pattern. frdgBeats patterns are 16 or 32 steps long.

Synth

An instrument that generates sound instead of playing a recorded file.

Velocity

How hard a note plays. Usually affects loudness.

WAV

An audio file export. This is rendered sound, not instructions.