Make a Lo-Fi Beat on the KO II

Build a dusty lo-fi hip-hop loop: soft drums, a mellow sample, swing and filter.

1. Slow it right down. Hold TEMPO and turn the orange knob until the screen reads somewhere between 70 and 85 BPM. Let go to keep that tempo. (While you hold TEMPO the screen shows the BPM. You should land in the slow, head-nod zone. If it feels rushed or stiff, hold TEMPO again and drop it a few more BPM.)
2. Soft drums. Press GROUP A for your drums, then press RECORD and PLAY to start the loop. Finger-drum a soft kick on beat 1 and 3 and a snare on 2 and 4, then sprinkle a quiet hi-hat in the gaps. Press RECORD again to stop and let it loop. (You should hear a simple, laid-back kick-snare pattern looping with a light hat on top. If it sounds too busy or loud, press **ERASE** over the offending pad and play it back in more gently.)
3. Loosen the groove. Press TIMING and nudge the swing up a little so off-beat hits land slightly late, giving the loop that lazy, human shuffle. (You should hear the hats and snare drift off the rigid grid into a relaxed shuffle. If it starts to drag or stumble, you have gone too far, so back the swing off a touch.)
4. Drop in a mellow sample. Press SAMPLE, pick your input with MINUS / PLUS (mic, line in, or resample), then hold a pad on GROUP B while a soft chord or melody plays to capture it. Tap that pad over your drums to play it. (You should hear a warm chord or melody sitting under the beat. If it crackles or distorts, the take was recorded too hot, so re-sample it at a lower input level.)
5. Filter for that dusty tone. Open FX, choose the filter, and roll off the highs so the top end softens into a behind-the-glass, vinyl feel. (You should hear the brightness fade and the loop turn warm and muffled, like it is playing in the next room. If it sounds dull and lifeless, you cut too much, so open the filter back up a little.)