1. Load Voltage 78
Insert Voltage 78 in a CLAP / VST3 / Audio Unit instrument slot. The dedicated plug-in exposes only Voltage 78 sound and sequencer controls.
GUIDE Voltage 78
Voltage 78 user guide
Version 1.1.10 · macOS · Audio Unit, CLAP and VST3
Use this guide for the dedicated Voltage 78 plug-in. It covers the starter pattern and panel transport. You will also learn machine-level voicing, cancel groups, MIDI notes, individual outputs and project recall.
First setup
Load to first rhythm
Your bitsnacks account gives you access to the Bitsnacks Vending Machine. Choose Voltage Drums there, start the full 14-day trial or use your existing licence, and install it. Restart your DAW before looking for the instruments.
2. Check the clock
Leave the MEASURE key unlit, on MANUAL, when you want the panel to run the pattern. Click it to light AUTO and the pattern follows the DAW transport instead.
3. Press START / STOP
The factory starter pattern begins at step one and plays the rhythm circuits. Press the key again to stop. The next start returns to step one.
4. Choose a voicing
Use the PRESET arrows to load one of eight complete machine settings. Balance, Volume, Accent, add levels, service trims and cancel groups all move together.
One connected circuit
Shape the complete machine
Continuous controls
- Volume sets the final Main output level. Host automation lists it as Voltage 78 Master.
- Balance crossfades the tonal and noise buses around its centre detent.
- Accent sets the depth of per-step lift at the master VCA.
- Add Tambourine, Add Guiro and Add Metal Beat join after Balance and keep their own levels.
- Snappy balances the snare noise burst against its shell.
- Noise trims the shared source used by cymbal and hi-hat. Maracas uses it too.
Cancel groups
- Cymbal + Hi-Hat cancels both triggers. Metal beat remains independent.
- Bass Drum removes the bass-drum trigger group.
- Snare Drum cancels the snare trigger while its calibrated circuit settings remain fixed.
- Cowbell + Claves follows the shared hardware cancel line for those two voices.
Eight factory voicings
Reference Circuit · Warm Room · Bright Deck · Street Parade · Metal Run · Hand Percussion · Dry Count · Full Tilt
How the bank behaves
Each voicing contains all twelve Voltage 78 sound parameters. Loading another one never carries a cancel switch or trim from the previous setting.
SAVE writes your current setting to a file in ~/Music/VoltageDrums/patches. LOAD lists those files and applies the one you pick.
Fourteen circuits, fifteen triggers
MIDI note map
The guiro provides separate high-rate and low-rate triggers from one circuit. Notes 42 / 44 / 46 all reach the single Voltage 78 hi-hat.
| Voice | MIDI notes | Voice | MIDI notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| BD · Bass drum | 35, 36 | CY · Cymbal | 49, 51, 57 |
| SD · Snare drum | 38, 40 | HH · Hi-hat | 42, 44, 46 |
| RS · Rim shot | 37 | MA · Maracas | 69, 70 |
| CL · Claves | 75 | TB · Tambourine | 54 |
| CB · Cowbell | 56 | GU · Guiro high | 73 |
| HB · High bongo | 60 | GU · Guiro low | 74 |
| LB · Low bongo | 61 | MB · Metal beat | 53 |
| LC · Low conga | 63, 64 |
Velocity feeds the accent path.
MIDI velocities 1-100 play unaccented hits in new instances. Velocities 101-127 increase accent toward the depth set by Accent. Earlier saved projects retain their original velocity response.
Duration follows the step.
The scrape lasts for one sequencer step, so changing tempo changes its duration.
Related voices move together.
Cymbal and hi-hat draw from one shared noise source. Maracas draws from it too.
Pattern and transport
Program the pattern and control transport
Edit the grid
Click a cell in a voice row to toggle a trigger. Steps entered by hand play unaccented, while rhythms loaded from the bank keep their accented steps. Voice labels audition their own trigger without changing the pattern.
Run internally
With MEASURE on MANUAL, set TEMPO between 60 and 220 BPM and press START / STOP.
Follow the host
With MEASURE on AUTO, the pattern reads DAW play state and tempo. It also reads quarter-note position. Seeking or looping moves the pattern to the corresponding step.
Choose a rhythm
PROGRAM steps through banks 1 to 4 and RHYTHM through slots A to D, and each press loads that rhythm into the grid. Turning VARIATION sweeps the same sixteen rhythms. BEATS opens them as a list. RESET turns every step off.
Send the beat to your DAW
Drag the EXPORT key under PATTERN onto a DAW track to drop the grid as a MIDI file on the Voltage 78 notes. Click it instead to copy the file for DAWs that paste MIDI files. The file is format 0 at 480 PPQ.
Stereo Main plus fourteen
Route circuit outputs
What the buses carry
- Main contains Balance and the add voices. Accent and Volume are included too.
- Individual 01-14 carry the circuit sections before those machine-level stages.
- Each individual bus is stereo dual mono.
- The two guiro rates share one circuit and one output bus.
Host setup
Enable the auxiliary buses, send the required Individual outputs to their own tracks, then process or print them. Keep Main when you want the complete connected-machine balance. The raw taps are useful for separate processing but do not sum back to Main by themselves.
| Bus | Circuit output | Bus | Circuit output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Bass drum | 08 | Low conga |
| 02 | Snare drum | 09 | Cymbal |
| 03 | Rim shot | 10 | Hi-hat |
| 04 | Claves | 11 | Maracas |
| 05 | Cowbell | 12 | Tambourine |
| 06 | High bongo | 13 | Guiro high / low |
| 07 | Low bongo | 14 | Metal beat |
Project state
Automation and recall
The machine setting returns.
Balance and Accent are stored with the three add levels. Snappy and Noise return too, along with Volume and all four cancel groups.
The rhythm returns.
The grid and clock mode reopen in a fresh instance. START/STOP state returns with the stored tempo.
The plug-in stays focused.
The fixed MODEL label returns as Voltage 78. Instrument selection remains in the host.
Fast checks
Troubleshooting
A licence notice appears and the instrument is silent
Open the Vending Machine and sign in with the account that holds your trial or licence. Follow the action shown for your collection, then reopen the plug-in after the installation or licence update. An expired trial needs a current licence before the instrument can play again.
START does nothing
Set MEASURE to MANUAL. On AUTO the pattern waits for the DAW transport. If MEASURE is already on MANUAL, check that the Sequencer Clock host parameter is not set to Off.
The pattern starts but a voice is missing
Check the matching cancel group. Then confirm the current grid contains that trigger. If it is one of the ADD INSTRUMENTS voices, raise its level there.
The DAW transport and pattern disagree
Set MEASURE to AUTO, start the DAW and confirm it provides musical position. A seek or loop should reposition the pattern.
An individual output ignores Balance or Accent
This is expected. Voltage 78's individual buses are circuit taps before Balance, add voices, Accent and Volume. Use Main for the connected-machine mix.
MIDI notes do not reach the expected voice
Use the Voltage 78 note table in this guide. The single hi-hat accepts notes 42 / 44 / 46; the two guiro rates use notes 73 and 74.
For support, include your operating system, host, plug-in format and sample rate. State the clock mode and the shortest sequence that reproduces the problem.
Voltage Drums supportOpen supportTrademark notice. The Roland CR-78 is referenced only to identify the hardware studied and measured. Roland and CR-78 are trademarks of Roland Corporation. Voltage 78 and Voltage Drums are independent products with no affiliation or endorsement.