Rhythm Groups and Part Mute setup strategy

One of the 307's basic features is its ability to bring percussion parts in and out using the Rhythm Mute function. It's great for adding drama to a track, but there's a limitation that is useful to know about before you begin any serious percussion programming, especially if you work with User Rhythm Sets (which I recommend).

For background, see Manual page 159, first column, where it reads "Rhythm Group". This lists each key's drum tone assignment (B1 - D7) and tells you that if you want to silence any and all tones in its Group, hit the corresponding Mute button. Those keys with, say, hihats in one Preset Kit (F#2, G#2, etc.) also have hihats in all the others, making life easy...if you limit yourself to the Presets.

But what the manual doesn't tell you is this:

It is not the sounds themselves that are covered by that particular Mute button, but the KEYS the Mute button is assigned to.

In other words, the BD Mute button only covers these six keys -- B1, C2, B2, C3, B6 and C7, as the Rhythm Group column indicates. And the CLP button covers three, TOM/PERC covers 25, etc.

Why is this important?

Because if you create a User Rhythm Set and assign, say, a kick drum tone to key F#2, you will not be able to mute that kick with the BD Part Mute button, because it's the HH button that covers F#2.

Now you can certainly mute that kick just by hitting the HH button instead. But...what if you've got hihats playing too, and you don't want to mute both them and that kick drum simultaneously? Sorry, you're out of luck.

If you don't work with User Rhythm Sets, this is less important to remember, since (as I say above) all the Preset Kits have the same basic layout. But you will probably decide eventually that you'd like to get more creative with percussion, and this will become an issue.

Since Roland does not allow us to change the way the keys and Part Mute buttons interact, it makes sense either 1) to assign your drum tones according to the same layout the Preset Kits have, or 2) to create your own system that somehow takes this layout into account.

...Why consider this? Because I've learned from embarrassing gig mistakes that the less I have to think onstage, the smoother a performance goes. If I know I can always mute my hihats with the HH key, I can concentrate on the music, not f@[king logistics.