P33

Objectives

By the end of this chapter you will be able to:

  • Explain what a break is and why producers sample them.
  • Record a break (or a loop) into a drum slot.
  • Use the PO-33’s auto-slicing to trigger different parts of the break from different steps.
  • Recognise a sampled break in popular music.

Musical concept: what is a break?

A break (short for breakbeat) is a short drum loop, usually 2–4 seconds long, that has been lifted from an existing song. Hip-hop was born when DJs in the 1970s (notably Kool Herc) realised that the break of a funk or soul record — the part where the band drops out and the drummer plays alone — was the most danceable part of the record. They bought two copies of the same record, played the break on both, and used a mixer to loop the break continuously while the dancers went wild.

Producers then took the breaks and built entire songs out of them. The Amen break (from The Winstons’ “Color Him Father”, 1969) is the most sampled drum loop in history — it has been used in over 7,000 songs, from N.W.A. to The Prodigy to Skrillex.

The PO-33’s drum auto-slicing (F-024 in our firmware) is a direct descendant of this practice. You record a break, and the PO-33 splits it into 16 equal slices. Each step of the sequencer plays one slice. Pad 9 plays the first 1/16th of the break, pad 10 plays the second 1/16th, …, pad 16 plays the last 1/16th.

Sidebar — the ethics of sampling. The Amen break, the Funky Drummer break, and hundreds of other breaks have been sampled without permission for decades. Some argue this is theft; some argue it is the highest form of musical tribute. In 2024, most major breaks have been cleared for sampling through services like Tracklib and the Beat Music Hall of Fame. For practice, sample yourself (clap a break, sample your voice) or use a service that explicitly licenses samples for reuse. See Appendix E.

The Amen break, deconstructed

The Amen break is 7.2 seconds long at 96 BPM. If you slice it into 16 equal slices, each slice is 0.45 seconds long. The break has:

  • Slice 1 (kick on beat 1).
  • Slice 2 (hi-hat on the “and” of beat 1).
  • Slice 3 (snare on beat 2).
  • Slice 4 (hi-hat on the “and” of beat 2).
  • Slice 5 (kick on beat 3).
  • Slice 6 (hi-hat on the “and” of beat 3).
  • Slice 7 (snare on beat 4).
  • Slice 8 (hi-hat on the “and” of beat 4).

If you play slices 1, 3, 5, 7 (kick-snare-kick-snare), you get a four-on-the-floor. If you play slices 1, 3, 7, you get a half-time beat. If you play slices 1, 4, 7, 12, you get a syncopated pattern. The break is the raw material; the pattern is the recipe.

How to record a break on the PO-33

The PO-33 can record up to 10 seconds into a single slot. Most breaks are 2–4 seconds, so one slot is enough.

To record a break:

  1. Find a break you want to sample. The PO-33 has a built-in microphone; you can:
    • Play a break on your phone and hold the PO-33 near the speaker.
    • Sing a beat into the mic (“boom, tss, boom-tss, boom, tss, boom-tss…”).
    • Use a sample pack on a computer and play it through a speaker.
  2. Hold REC + pad 9.
  3. Play the break for ~30 seconds. (You don’t need to fill 30 seconds; the PO-33 will stop when you release.)
  4. Release REC.
  5. Press pad 9 to play the break back.

The break is now in slot 9. Because slot 9 is a drum slot, the PO-33 will auto-slice it. Pad 1 plays the first 1/16th, pad 2 plays the second, …, pad 16 plays the last 1/16th. All 16 pads cover the full recording — none of the sample is unreachable.

Using the trim feature

The PO-33 has a trim feature (Tweak Trim mode, reached by tapping the FX button). Trim lets you set the start and end of the recording. This is essential for breaks: if you recorded 30 seconds, you probably only want to keep 4 seconds. Trim them down.

To trim:

  1. Enter Tweak Trim mode: tap the FX button until the mode reads TRIM (each tap cycles TONE → FILTER → TRIM → TONE).
  2. Turn Knob A to move the start point.
  3. Turn Knob B to move the end point.
  4. Tap the FX button to move on (the mode cycles; there is no separate “exit”).

For a 4-second break, set the start to the first kick and the end to the last snare. The PO-33’s screen shows a waveform; you can see the kicks and snares as big spikes.

Sidebar — Knob A and Knob B. Knob A on the real PO-33 adjusts the start in Tweak Trim mode. Knob B adjusts the end. The Ravine: Phoenix firmware maps them the same way. The two knobs are wired to GPIO 2 and GPIO 46 on the ESP32-S3 board.

Writing a break beat

To write a beat from a sliced break:

  1. Select the break: hold SOUND + pad 9 (slot 9 becomes the active sound).
  2. Enter write mode: press WRITE.
  3. Place the break on the steps you want. On a drum slot, the slice you hear on a step is that step’s number — step 1 plays slice 1, step 5 plays slice 5, step 9 plays slice 9, and so on. So press pad 1, pad 5, pad 9, and pad 13 to put slices 1, 5, 9, and 13 on the four beats.
  4. Press WRITE to exit.

You have just built a beat from a single recorded break — the hits are not separate recordings, they are slices of the same break. This is how producers made beats in the 1990s.

Guided exercise: build a beat from a 4-second break

You will need: a recorded break in slot 9 (or you can record one in this exercise).

Success criteria: you have a beat that uses four different slices of the break, played on steps 1, 5, 9, and 13.

  1. Find or create a 4-second break. (Sing “boom, tss, boom, tss, boom, tss, boom, tss” into the mic for 4 seconds. That’s a break.)
  2. Hold REC + pad 9. Record 4 seconds of the break. Release REC.
  3. Trim the recording: enter Tweak Trim mode, set start to the first kick, end to the last snare.
  4. Select the break: hold SOUND + pad 9. Then press WRITE.
  5. Press pad 1, pad 5, pad 9, and pad 13 to place slices 1, 5, 9, and 13 on those steps.
  6. Press WRITE to exit.

You have built a beat from a sliced break. The same break could be sliced differently to make different beats.

Creative challenge: chop the Amen

If you have access to the Amen break (it’s on YouTube, free to sample), record 4 seconds of it into slot 9. Trim it tight. Then write three different beats using different slices:

  1. Standard: slices 1, 3, 5, 7 (kick-snare-kick-snare).
  2. Half-time: slices 1, 7 (kick on 1, snare on 9).
  3. Syncopated: slices 1, 4, 7, 12 (kick on 1, hat on 4, snare on 9, hat on 12).

Listen to each at 140 BPM. Notice how the same 4-second break becomes three different songs.

Listening assignment

Listen to:

  • N.W.A., “Straight Outta Compton” (1988). The drums are not three separate recordings — they are a single sampled break, sliced and rearranged. Listen for the “thwack” of the snare: it’s not a clean studio snare, it’s a sampled break with character.
  • The Prodigy, “Firestarter” (1996). The drums are the Amen break, chopped and rearranged at 145 BPM. One of the most iconic drum patterns in electronic music, and it is built from a single 7-second sample.
  • Skrillex, “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” (2010). The drop is the Amen break, but chopped into tiny pieces (1/32 or 1/64 of the original) and rearranged into a totally new pattern. Modern dubstep uses breaks the same way the 1990s did.

Summary and checkpoint

Key takeaways:

  • A break is a short drum loop, usually 2–4 seconds, often sampled from a funk or soul record.
  • The PO-33’s auto-slicing splits a break into 16 equal slices, one per pad.
  • Trim removes silence and unwanted parts of a recording.
  • The same break becomes different songs depending on how you slice and step it.

Self-check:

  • [ ] Can you record a 4-second break into slot 9?
  • [ ] Can you trim the recording to keep only the best parts?
  • [ ] Can you write a beat using four different slices?
  • [ ] Do you understand why the Amen break has been sampled 7,000 times?

If you answered “yes” to all four, move on to Chapter 6.