This glossary defines every musical term used in the book. Terms are listed in alphabetical order.

Accent: emphasis on a note, usually achieved by making it louder.

Amen break: a 7-second drum break from The Winstons’ “Color Him Father” (1969). The most sampled loop in music history, used in over 7,000 songs.

Attack: the beginning of a sound. A snare has a sharp attack (immediate loud sound). A pad has a slow attack (gradual onset).

Bar: a group of beats. In 4/4 time, one bar = 4 beats = 16 sixteenth-notes = 16 PO-33 steps.

Bass drum: see kick.

Bassline: a low-pitched melody that provides harmonic foundation.

Beat: the regular pulse of music. “On the beat” means aligned with the pulse. “Off the beat” means between pulses.

Bitcrush: an audio effect that reduces the bit depth of a sample, creating a “videogame” or “lo-fi” sound.

BPM (beats per minute): the tempo. 120 BPM = 120 beats per minute = 0.5 seconds per beat.

Break: a short drum loop, usually 2–4 seconds, often sampled from a funk or soul record.

Bridge: a contrasting section in a song. Often features different chords, different energy.

Chord: three or more notes played simultaneously.

Chorus: the “hook” of a song. The section that returns and is most memorable.

Chromatic scale: the 12 semitones in an octave (C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B).

Consonance: the quality of notes that sound “stable” together. Major thirds, perfect fifths, octaves.

Cymbal: a drum with a metallic sound. The hi-hat is a cymbal.

DAW (digital audio workstation): software for recording and mixing audio (Ableton, Logic, FL Studio).

Decay: the gradual decrease in volume after the attack of a sound.

Dissonance: the quality of notes that sound “tense” together. Tritones, minor seconds.

Drum machine: an electronic device that plays drum sounds. The PO-33 is a sampler/drum hybrid.

Dynamics: variations in loudness and intensity. Loud and quiet sections.

Envelope: the shape of a sound over time (attack, decay, sustain, release).

EQ (equalisation): adjusting the volume of specific frequencies.

FX (effects): modifications applied to a sound. The PO-33 has two kinds: punch-in FX (hold FX + a pad; loop, unison, octave, stutter, scratch, 6/8 quantize, retrigger, reverse) and the tweak parameters (Tone / Filter / Trim). Reverb, delay, and bitcrush are not PO-33 punch-ins (the Ravine: Phoenix firmware adds bitcrush).

Filter: an effect that removes certain frequencies. Low-pass = removes highs. High-pass = removes lows.

Frequency: cycles per second, measured in Hertz (Hz). Middle C = 261.63 Hz.

Fundamental: the lowest frequency of a sound. Other frequencies are overtones.

Groove: the rhythmic “feel” of a beat. A “groovy” beat has swing, syncopation, and variation.

Half-time: a feel where the snare hits every 2 beats instead of every beat.

Harmony: the combination of notes to form chords.

Harmonics: see overtones.

Hertz (Hz): cycles per second. The unit of frequency.

Hi-hat: a cymbal pair played with a foot pedal. Closed hi-hat = short “tss”. Open hi-hat = longer “tssssh”.

Hook: a memorable melody, often the chorus.

House: a genre of dance music at 120 BPM, four-on-the-floor.

Intro: the first section. Builds tension before the verse.

Interval: the distance between two pitches.

Kick (bass drum): a low-pitched drum with a sharp attack. The heartbeat of a beat.

Lo-fi: short for “low-fidelity”. Music that embraces low-quality audio as an aesthetic.

Loop: a sequence that repeats.

Major scale: a 7-note scale that sounds “happy”. C major = C, D, E, F, G, A, B.

Melody: a sequence of notes played one after another.

Meter: the grouping of beats into bars. 4/4 = 4 beats per bar.

Minor scale: a 7-note scale that sounds “sad”. C minor = C, D, D#, F, G, G#, A#.

Mixing: balancing the volume and EQ of multiple tracks.

MIDI note: a numerical representation of a pitch. Middle C = 60.

Mono: single-channel audio. The PO-33 outputs mono.

Note value: the duration of a note. Whole note = 4 beats. Half note = 2 beats. Quarter note = 1 beat. Eighth note = 0.5 beats. Sixteenth note = 0.25 beats.

Octave: an interval where the second pitch is twice the frequency of the first. C4 and C5 are an octave apart.

Outro: the final section of a song. Returns to the verse theme, ends.

Overtones: frequencies above the fundamental. All sounds have two frequencies.

Parameter lock (plock): a setting that overrides the default value on a single step.

Pentatonic scale: a 5-note scale that “always sounds good”. C major pentatonic = C, D, E, G, A.

Pitch: how high or low a note sounds. Measured in Hz.

Polyphony: the number of sounds that can play simultaneously. The PO-33 has 4 voices of polyphony.

Quantise: snap to a grid. The PO-33’s sequencer quantises notes to steps.

Reverb: an effect that simulates the sound of a room.

Rhythm: the pattern of beats and silences.

Root: the first note of a chord. The “home” note.

Sampler: a device that records sound and plays it back.

Scale: a selection of notes from the chromatic scale.

Semitone: the smallest interval in Western music. One semitone = 1/12 of an octave.

Sequencer: a device that plays a sequence of notes automatically.

Snare: a mid-pitched drum with a sharp attack. The backbeat of a beat.

Step: one sixteenth-note in the PO-33’s sequencer. 16 steps per bar.

Stereo: two-channel audio (left and right). The PO-33 outputs mono.

Swing: a timing shift applied to even-numbered steps, making them play late.

Syncopation: placing notes off the beat.

Synth (synthesiser): an electronic instrument that generates sounds.

Tape saturation: a subtle distortion that mimics tape. Adds “warmth”.

Tempo: the speed of music, measured in BPM.

Tone: 1) the quality of a sound (bright, dark, warm). 2) In PO-33 Tweak mode, the pitch and volume of a sample.

Transpose: shift the pitch of a melody up or down.

Tritone: an interval of 6 semitones (e.g., C to F#). The most dissonant interval.

Velocity: how hard a note is played. Affects volume and brightness.

Verse: the main body of a song. Tells the story.

Vibrato: a slight pitch modulation. Adds expression.

Volume: the loudness of a sound.

Walk (walking bassline): a bassline that plays a different note every beat, usually stepwise.

Wave: a repeating pattern of air pressure. Sound is a wave.