Skip to main content

Final Song

Tutorial Groove is complete. This page is the payoff for the whole walkthrough: the four-channel arrangement from Sequencing, phrase variation from Modifiers, and the wobble / spark / slide presets from Effects.

Modifiers are what make the finished track feel longer and more polished — the same few patterns are reshaped across an eight-phrase form instead of looping a short A/B block.

Form (8 phrases)

Each sequence lists eight 16-step phrases (channels stay locked). Rough arc:

PhrasesRoleWhat happens
1–2OpenA/B with lead_b:rot(2), harmony_b:rev
3–4BuildReturn to A, then lead_b:oct(+1)
5Peaklead_c (vibrato) over a simple harmony_pad — less clash than busy arps
6BreakLead/harmony rest; bass + drums_fill keep the pulse
7–8SettleFamiliar lead_a / harmony_a, then lead_outro and rests on bass/drums

Empty patterns (lead_rest, harmony_rest, …) and lighter alts (harmony_pad, drums_fill, lead_outro) give the second half air so stacked modifiers do not turn discordant.

Effects in the mix

PresetBodyWhere you hear it
wobblevib:6,4Lead peak / settle — high note in lead_c
sparkarp:4,7Harmony chord tones in harmony_a / harmony_b
slideport:16Wave bass in bass_b

Tutorial Groove — finished

Press Play for the complete song, or Copy to paste it into BeatBax Desktop, the web-lite client, or a .bax file:

Tutorial Groove — finished

Interactive playback loads in the browser.

effect wobble = vib:6,4
effect spark = arp:4,7
effect slide = port:16
pat lead_a = E5 . G5 C6 . G5 E5 . D5 . F5 A5 . G5 . .
pat lead_b = C5 . E5 G5 . E5 C5 . A4 . C5 E5 . D5 C5 .
pat lead_c = G5 . A5 C6<wobble>:2 A5 G5 E5 . F5 G5 A5 G5 E5 D5 C5
pat lead_outro = C6<wobble>:4 G5:4 E5:4 C5:4
pat harmony_a = C4<spark>:4 E4:4 G4<spark>:4 E4:4
pat harmony_b = A3<spark>:4 C4:4 F4<spark>:4 G4:4
pat harmony_pad = C4:8 G3:8
pat bass_a = C3 . . C3 G2 . . G2 A2 . . A2 F2 . G2 .
pat bass_b = C3 . E3<slide> . G2 . . G2 A2 . C3 . F2 . G2 .
pat drums_a = kick . hat . snare . hat hat kick . hat . snare hat hat .
pat drums_b = kick . hat hat snare . hat . kick kick hat . snare . snare .
pat drums_fill = kick . . . snare . . . kick kick . . snare . . .
pat lead_rest = .:16
pat harmony_rest = .:16
pat bass_rest = .:16
pat drums_rest = .:16
# Eight 16-step phrases — open → build → peak → break → settle
# Phrases 1–4: modifiers on A/B. Phrases 5–8: space + simpler alts
seq lead_seq = lead_a lead_b:rot(2) lead_a lead_b:oct(+1) lead_c lead_rest lead_a lead_outro
seq harmony_seq = harmony_a harmony_b:rev harmony_a harmony_b harmony_pad harmony_rest harmony_a harmony_pad
seq bass_seq = bass_a:oct(-1) bass_b bass_a:oct(-1) bass_b bass_a:oct(-1) bass_b bass_a:oct(-1) bass_rest
seq drums_seq = drums_a drums_b drums_a drums_b:rev drums_a drums_fill drums_a drums_rest

Ideas to try

After you Copy the song, experiment:

  • Lengthen the form further with (lead_a lead_b:rot(2))*2 style groups, or add a ninth/tenth phrase
  • Chain more modifiers, e.g. harmony_b:rev:oct(+1) or drums_b:rot(4):rev
  • Change bpm 140, pulse duties, or the bass wavetable
  • Tweak effect presets — deeper vibrato, arp:3,7, slower port
  • Pan a phrase or add another effect from the Effects reference

Other sound chips

The notes, patterns, sequences, and most effects in Tutorial Groove are chip-agnostic — the same musical material can target another backend by changing chip and rewriting the instruments (and channel map) for that hardware.

For example, on the NES you might keep lead_a / bass_seq as-is but define type=pulse1, type=triangle, and type=noise voices with NES fields instead of Game Boy duty / wave= / uge_note. Channel counts differ too (NES has five voices including DMC; SMS has three tones plus noise). Start from the Game Boy song, then follow the guide for your target chip under Sound Chip Plugins.

See also