Glossary

Music and Move words, in plain language.

Aftertouch: Pressure you add after a pad is already down. On Move, pressing harder on a held pad can change some sounds while they play, and each pad is tracked on its own. Learn it in Playing the pads.
Arpeggiator: A helper that turns the notes you hold into a pattern of single notes played one after another (up, down or in random order), in time with the tempo. Learn it in Arpeggiator & note repeat.
Audio track: A track that plays recorded sound (a voice, a guitar, a loop) instead of notes for an instrument. Move has had audio tracks since software 2.0. Learn it in Audio tracks.
Automation: Knob movements that Move remembers. Turn a knob while recording and the change plays back every time the clip loops. Learn it in Shape the sound: knobs & automation.
Bar: A group of beats. Most music counts 4 beats to a bar. With the default settings, one bar fills all 16 step buttons. Learn it in Beats, bars & steps.
Bassline: The low part of a song, usually played on a bass sound. It often locks in with the kick drum and holds the music together. Learn it in Bassline & chords.
Beat: The steady pulse you tap your foot to. On Move each beat is 4 steps long by default, so steps 1, 5, 9 and 13 each start a new beat. Learn it in Beats, bars & steps.
Bounce: Turning a clip into a recording of itself, so what it plays becomes audio you can reuse, chop or free up space with. Added in Move software 2.1. Learn it in Audio tracks.
BPM: Beats per minute: how fast the music goes. At 120 BPM you hear two beats every second. Also called the tempo. Learn it in Tempo, metronome & groove.
Capture: Move’s safety net. It keeps listening to what you play even when you are not recording, and pressing the Capture button turns that playing into a clip. Learn it in Capture: never lose an idea.
Chord: Three or more notes played at the same time. On Move you can hold several pads together, or place them all on one step. Learn it in Bassline & chords.
Clip: A short piece of music on one track, usually a loop a few bars long. Each track has room for up to 8 clips, and you choose which one plays. Learn it in Sets, tracks & clips.
Count-in: A short countdown of clicks before recording starts, so you have time to get ready and come in on the beat. Learn it in Record live.
Drum Rack: A drum kit: a set of drum sounds with one sound per pad. On a drum track, the left block of 16 pads plays the kit. Learn it in Playing the pads.
Effect: A device that changes a sound after it is made, such as reverb (a sense of space), delay (echoes) or a filter (a darker or brighter tone). Learn it in Choosing sounds.
Encoder: Another word for Move’s knobs. They turn endlessly in either direction, and they sense touch: touching one shows on the display what it changes. Learn it in Tour of the hardware.
Filter: An effect that takes away part of a sound, often the highs, so it gets darker or thinner. Slowly turning a filter knob is a classic way to build tension. Learn it in Shape the sound: knobs & automation.
Groove: A timing shift that makes a rhythm feel looser and less robotic. Move’s groove is a swing: every other short note arrives a little late. Learn it in Tempo, metronome & groove.
Instrument: The device that makes the sound on a track: a synthesizer, a drum kit, or a sampler that plays recordings. Learn it in Choosing sounds.
Key: The home note of a piece of music, such as C or A. Melodies tend to feel settled when they come back to it. Learn it in Scales & octaves.
Loop: A stretch of music that repeats. Clips on Move loop again and again until you stop them. Learn it in Loop length & Loop Mode.
Main effects: Two effects that work on the sound of the whole Set at once, rather than on a single track. You adjust them from Session Mode. Learn it in Main effects & performing.
Metronome: A click that sounds on every beat, to help you keep time while you play or record. Learn it in Tempo, metronome & groove.
Mixing: Balancing the tracks so every part can be heard: setting their volumes, and muting or soloing them. Learn it in Mixing: volume, mute, solo.
Mute: Silencing a track or a single drum pad for a moment without deleting anything. Unmute to bring it back. Learn it in Mixing: volume, mute, solo.
Note Mode: The view for building one track at a time: play the pads, place notes with the step buttons, and change the sound. Learn it in The three views.
Note repeat: A setting that plays a held pad again and again at a steady rate: handy for fast hi-hat rolls. Learn it in Arpeggiator & note repeat.
Octave: The distance from one note to the next note with the same name, higher or lower (C up to the next C). The plus and minus buttons shift the pads by an octave. Learn it in Scales & octaves.
Pad: One of Move’s 32 soft, light-up squares. Pads play notes or drum sounds, and they feel how hard you hit them. Learn it in Tour of the hardware.
Quantize: Snapping notes to the nearest step of the grid, to tidy up timing that came out a little early or late. Learn it in Record live.
Recording: Playing notes or turning knobs while Move writes what you do into a clip, in real time. Learn it in Record live.
Resampling: Recording what Move itself is playing as a new sample, so a whole beat or a processed sound becomes something you can play from a single pad. Learn it in Resampling.
Root: The home note of a scale or chord: the one the other notes are built on. On Move’s pads the root notes glow in the track’s colour. Learn it in Scales & octaves.
Sample: A piece of recorded sound (a drum hit, a voice, a noise from your kitchen) that you can play back from a pad. Learn it in Sample with the mic.
Sampling: Recording sound into Move to use as a sample: from the built-in microphone, the audio input, USB-C, or Move itself. Learn it in Sample with the mic.
Scale: A family of notes that sound good together, such as major (bright) or minor (darker). Move can lay out only the notes of your scale on the pads, so every pad fits. Learn it in Scales & octaves.
Scene: A column of pads in Session Mode: one clip slot from each track. Playing a scene starts those clips together, like one section of a song. Learn it in Session Mode: clips & scenes.
Sequencing: Placing notes on a grid of steps instead of playing them live. Move repeats the pattern for you, so timing is always exact. Learn it in Beats, bars & steps.
Session Mode: The view that shows every clip in your Set on the pads, with one row per track, so you can launch clips and try out combinations. Learn it in Session Mode: clips & scenes.
Set: One piece of music on Move: its four tracks, their sounds and all their clips. Move saves Sets automatically as you go. Learn it in Sets, tracks & clips.
Set Overview: The home screen for your Sets. Each pad stands for one Set slot, so you can open, create, copy or delete Sets. Learn it in The three views.
Shift: The button marked with three dots (•••) that unlocks second jobs. Hold it and press another control, such as a step button, to open the setting shown under it. Learn it in Tour of the hardware.
Slicing: Chopping one longer sample into pieces and spreading them across pads, so you can replay the parts in a new order. Learn it in Line-in sampling & slicing.
Solo: Hearing one track on its own while the others go quiet, so you can listen to it closely. Learn it in Mixing: volume, mute, solo.
Step: One slot in the pattern grid, shown by one of the 16 step buttons. With the default settings each step is a 16th note: a quarter of a beat. Learn it in Beats, bars & steps.
Tempo: The speed of the music, measured in BPM (beats per minute). Every track in a Set follows the same tempo. Learn it in Tempo, metronome & groove.
Track: One lane of your Set with its own sound, such as drums, bass or chords. Every Set has four tracks, chosen with the four track buttons. Learn it in Sets, tracks & clips.
Track Preset: A ready-made sound for a track: one instrument plus two effects. New Sets start with presets picked at random, and you can swap them in the browser. Learn it in Choosing sounds.
Velocity: How hard a note is played. Hit a pad softly for a low velocity (quieter) or hard for a high velocity (louder, often brighter). Learn it in Playing the pads.
Warping: Stretching or squeezing recorded audio so it keeps in time with the Set’s tempo without changing its pitch. Learn it in Audio tracks.