Full Bucket Music Bucket Pops User manual

Bucket Pops
Vintage Rhythm Machine
Version 1.0
© 2020 by Björn Arlt www.fullbucket.de/music
Presets and testin by kraftraum soundcloud.com/kraftraum
VST is a trademark of Steinber Media Technolo ies GmbH
Windows is a re istered trademark of Microsoft Corporation
The Audio Units lo o is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................3
The KORG Mini Pops-7......................................3
The Bucket Pops..............................................3
The Bucket Pops “N” Version.............................4
Acknowled ments............................................4
General Operation............................................5
Mouse Clickin Convention................................5
MIDI Learn And The Confi File “bucketpops.ini”. .5
Options Menu..................................................6
The Main Pa e.................................................7
Selectin Rhythms...........................................7
Playin Rhythms..............................................7
Level Sliders...................................................8
The POWER Button..........................................8
User Rhythm Patterns......................................8
The Settin s Pa e............................................9
Instrument Parameters.....................................9
Output Mixer and Note Assi nment..................10
The Guiro.....................................................10
The Sequence Pa e........................................11
Editin Rhythm Patterns.................................11
Editin Steps The Mini Pops Way......................11
Triplets and Templates....................................12
Import and Export of MIDI Files.......................12
Parameters...................................................13
Main Pa e.....................................................13
Instruments..................................................13
Frequently Asked Questions.............................16

Bucket Pops Manual Pa e 3
Introduction
Bucket Pops is a software instrument plu -in for Microsoft Windows (VST) and Apple
macOS (VST/AU) simulatin the classic KORG® Mini Pops-7 Rhythm Machine from
1966. It is written in native C++ code for hi h performance and low CPU
consumption. The main features are:
●20 ori inal rhythms
●15 modeled drum instruments (no samples)
●Tweakable instrument parameters
●Tweakable rhythm sequencer
●Resizable user interface (not “N” version)
●All parameters can be controlled by MIDI controllers
●Plu -in supports Windows and macOS (32 bit and 64 bit)
Bucket Pops is based on the new iPlug2 framework maintained by Oli Larkin and
the iPlug2 team. Bi thanks, uys!!! Without your work it would not have been
possible to create a resizable user interface.
To resize the plu -in you just rab the yellow trian le at the bottom ri ht of the
Bucket Pops window and dra it. You can save the current window size usin the
menu entry “Save Window Size” in the Options Menu.
The KOR Mini Pops-7
If you have no idea what the Mini Pops-7 is or how it sounds, just put Jean-Michel
Jarre’s classic Oxygene or Equinoxe lon players on your turntable, press “Play” and
wonder what has produced most of those funky drum/percussion sounds – this is it!
You are not fond of Rumba? Well, I never heard a more impressive “Rumba” pattern
than that at the very be innin of Oxygene Part where the Mini Pops-7 slowly
blends into the artificial sound of sea waves, bird cries, and Eminent strin s.
Released in 1966 (!) the Mini Pops-7 was not the first but became one of the most
iconic rhythm machines – not a drum computer because there is no computer inside.
The twenty different rhythm patterns are fixed (althou h it is possible to combine
them) and hard-coded into a Diode Matrix, the early version of a ROM (Read-Only
Memory). You won’t find any inte rated circuits inside the clunky box, everythin is
realized usin discrete electronics.
The Bucket Pops
Why should one want to recreate the Mini Pops-7 as a software instrument? Because it
is so much fun – not only the playing (well, you just can select a rhythm and press
“Start”...) but the doing (sorry that I cannot share this kind of experience with you!).
It took me some time to decipher the rhythms from the diode matrix and it would
have taken even lon er if the KORG en ineers had not put some hints into the
schematics. I also simulated the 15 individual instruments usin LTspice to et the
sound ri ht. I don’t ask you to understand my motivation. 
Mind that each ori inal Mini Pops-7 sounds different due to various internal trimpots,
tolerances and a in of the electronic components etc. In the Bucket Pops you can

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tweak the instruments beyond reco nition, and you can chan e the rhythm patterns
themselves, too!
The Bucket Pops “N” Version
Many users with older operatin systems (Windows 7, macOS 10.10 or below) and/or
incompatible raphic cards/drivers may have problems with the resizable user
interface of version 1.0. Thus, I decided to provide a non-resizable version of the
Bucket Pops based on the old iPlu framework – this is called the “N” version. It
should work on almost all machines (even on 32 bit Macs).
Acknowledgments
Bi thanks to:
●kraftraum (https://soundcloud.com/kraftraum) who has a ain desi ned many
of the default patches and was a ain THE Beta tester.
●Oli Larkin and the iPlu /iPlu 2 team.
●Laurent Bergman for translatin the Full Bucket manuals to French.
And at this point I would also like to say Thank you! to all the people who share their
information about the Mini Pops-7 via the Internet. Last not least another THANK
YOU! to the KVR Audio community and to the KORG en ineers.
No, I am not affiliated with KORG in what relation ever except that I always find
myself entan led with their instruments. 

Bucket Pops Manual Pa e 5
eneral Operation
Bucket Pops is a rhythm machine with 20 different rhythm patterns and 15 individual
instruments. The patterns are 2 bars lon (althou h the second bar of most of the
patterns is just a repetition of the first bar) and have 64 steps (the ori inal Mini
Pops-7 had “only” 32; see Editing Steps The Mini Pops Way).
Mouse Clicking Convention
Many functions of the Bucket Pops are tri ered or activated by clickin at various
buttons or labels in the user interface (UI). Since older Macs mouses may have only
one button, Bucket Pops uses the followin convention:
●“Left Clicking”
Denotes that the left (or sin le) mouse button is clicked.
●“Right Clicking”
Denotes that the ri ht mouse button is clicked or that the CTRL, ALT, or
COMMAND key is held while (left) clickin .
Note that this convention applies for the whole manual.
MIDI Learn And The Config File “bucketpops.ini”
Every parameter of the Bucket Pops can be controlled by one MIDI controller. If you
want to chan e the assi nment of MIDI controller (CC; MIDI Control Change) to a
Bucket Pops parameter the MIDI Learn function comes in quite handy: Just click the
LEARN button on the Sound Mana er panel and wi le both the MIDI controller and
the parameter you want to assi n (you can abort MIDI Learn by clickin the button
a ain). If you want to unlearn the assi nment, ri ht-click the LEARN button (the label
now reads “UNLRN”) and activate it. Now wi le the MIDI controller or the parameter
that you want to unlearn. To save the controller assi nments use “Save Confi uration”
in the Options Menu (see below); they are stored in the bucketpops.ini
confi uration file. The exact location of this file depends on your operatin system and
will be displayed when you click on “Reload” or “Save Confi uration”.

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Options Menu
When clickin on the OPTIONS button a menu opens with the followin options:
Command Description
Copy Program Copy current pro ram to internal clipboard
Paste Program Paste internal clipboard to current pro ram
Init Program Initialize the current pro ram
Load Program Load Bucket Pops's current pro ram from a FXP file
Save Program Save Bucket Pops's current pro ram to a FXP file
Load Bank Load 64 patches from a FXB file into Bucket Pops
Save Bank Save Bucket Pops's 64 patches to a FXB bank file
Select Startup Bank Select the bank file that should always be loaded when
Bucket Pops is started
Load Startup Bank Load the Startup bank file; can also be used to check what
the current Startup bank is
Unselect Startup
Bank
Unselect the current Startup bank
MIDI Thru Set lobally if MIDI data sent to Bucket Pops should be
sent throu h to its MIDI output
Ignore Program
Change
Set lobally if MIDI Pro ram Chan e data sent to Bucket
Pops should be i nored
Reload Configuration Reload Bucket Pops's confi uration file
Save Configuration Save Bucket Pops's confi uration file
MIDI File… Export the current rhythm pattern to a MIDI file type 0 or
1 (also see section Import and Export of MIDI Files)
Window Size… Chan e the window size of Bucket Pops
Save Window Size Stores the current window size to the confi uration file so
that it will be restored on the next loadin of Bucket Pops
Check Online for
Update
When connected to the Internet, this function will check if
a newer version of Bucket Pops is available at
fullbucket.de
Visit fullbucket.de Open fullbucket.de in your standard browser

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The Main Page
All controls of the ori inal Mini Pops-7 are placed on the Main Page of Bucket Pops;
any additional parameters are accessible via the Settings and the Sequence pa es.
Selecting Rhythms
Rhythm patterns are or anized in two rows: The Top Row (Waltz to Swing) and the
Bottom Row (Jazz Waltz to Latin Swing). The switch located below the POWER switch
at the very ri ht is used to flip between the two rows.
You can select a rhythm pattern by clickin one of the white push buttons. Ri ht-
clickin on a button will allow you to select multiple patterns at once.
Note that it is not possible to combine rhythm patterns of different rows – thus,
Rumba + Habanera is an impossible combination (unless you are willin to re-create
such a pattern yourself – see section The Sequence Page).
Playing Rhythms
To start or stop the machine just click the “PLAY/STOP” push button or the “PLAY”
button at the bottom screen. The difference between both button is that the
“PLAY/STOP” button will reset and start at the be innin of the pattern while the
“PLAY” button will continue playin from the last position – except if you ri ht-click it.
The TEMPO knob sets the playback tempo. Hoverin with the mouse over the knob
reveals the current tempo in BPM. If the SYNC button is lit, Bucket Pops will
synchronize playback tempo as well as start/stop to the host DAW. Finally, the
aforementioned POWER knob disables playback. This mi ht be useful if you want to
start/stop the machine via parameter automation.

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Level Sliders
The Mini Pops-7 featured extra volume sliders for the instruments Quijada, Guiro and
Tambourine since they were always playin – even if no rhythm was selected – the
same pattern, re ardless of what rhythm was selected (except for sli ht variations of
non-4/4 si nature rhythms). Thus it was possible to attenuate or even “mute” these
instruments.
The “BALANCE” slider adjusts the volume balance between the Base drum and the
cymbal roup of instruments (Hihat, Cymbal 1, Cymbal 2) while the “VOLUME” slider
does the obvious thin .
The POWER Button
The “POWER” button seems to be a bit useless. However it makes perfect sense to
automate this button when runnin the Bucket Pops in sync to your DAW: This way
you can for example delay the playback or disable it durin breaks.
User Rhythm Patterns
Bucket Pops allows you to edit rhythm patterns (see The Sequence Page) – this was
not possible with the ori inal hardware (at least not with reasonable effort). Once an
ori inal rhythm pattern is chan ed, the Main Page symbolizes that with a tape strip
and the name “USER n” where n is the number of the rhythm (1 to 20).

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The Settings Page
In contrast to many other rhythm machines plu -ins, the Bucket Pops instruments are
not based on samples of the ori inal Mini Pops but are synthesized in real time and
can be tweaked in their relevant parameters. This is done usin the Settings Page.
Instrument Parameters
The followin table lists the various parameters of the 15 instruments (note that not
all parameters are available for all instruments).
parameter instrument description
TUNE all Frequency of main oscillator or filter
ATTACK all except Guiro Attack time of amplitude envelope
DECAY all except Guiro Decay time of amplitude envelope
RESO Snare 1+2, Cymbal
1+2, Hihat, Tambourine Level of filter resonance
TICK Snare 1 & 2 Level of initial attack impulse
HIGHP. Snare 1+2, Cymbal
1+2, Tambourine Frequency of hi hpass filter
TUNE2
Conga, Cowbell
Frequency of secondary oscillator
LEVEL2 Level of secondary oscillator
DECAY2 Decay time of secondary oscillator
RATE Guiro, Quijada Repeat rate of si nal pulses
DENSITY Density of si nal pulses

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Output Mixer and Note Assignment
The level and the panorama position of all 15
instruments can be adjusted individually.
Furthermore, each instrument can be
assi ned to one of 7 “extra” stereo output
pairs. This is done by clickin on the
“OUTPUT” button which opens a dedicated
context menu. It is also possible to keep the
instrument in or remove it from the standard
stereo sum output – just check or uncheck the
“Sum Output” entry of the context menu.
Left-clickin the “NOTE” button tri ers the
respective instrument while ri ht-clickin
opens another context menu used to assi n
an instrument to a specific (MIDI) note or
even to turn it off.
The menu entry “Set Middle C” allows you to
select the notation schema of your choice. The
idea here is to select which name to use for MIDI note number 60:
●“C3”: Used for example in Cubase, Ableton and Bitwi .
●“C4”: The scientific standard notation; used for example in Reaper and MuLab.
●“C5”: Used for example in FL Studio, Cakewalk and many trackers.
Finally, when you click on the label of an instrument at the very top of the screen,
another context menu opens where you can rest all instrument parameters or note
assi nments to their defaults.
The Guiro
All instruments are one-shot tri ered which means that they only react on Note On
and i nore Note Off events – except for the Guiro which is ated. Thus, after a Note
On event the Guiro sounds until a Note Off event is received. This is only partially the
way how a true Guiro works but exactly the way it is realized in the ori inal Mini
Pops-7.

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The Sequence Page
On the Sequence Page you can edit the 20 individual rhythm patterns. This is pretty
strai ht forward – however, there are some peculiarities due to the nature of the
ori inal machine.
Editing Rhythm Patterns
The button on the top left denotes the rhythm pattern to edit. By left-clickin this
button you can select a different rhythm to edit. Ri ht-clickin opens another context
menu where you can copy the pattern from another rhythm or restore the ori inal
pattern.
Note that the rhythm pattern you see on the Sequence Page is not necessarily the
rhythm that Bucket Pops is playin – the rhythms to play are selected on the Main
Page! If the current rhythm is selected for playin and Bucket Pops is actually playin ,
you will see a reen dot at the top row with the step numbers.
Left-clickin inside the event matrix activates or deactivates an event (“beat”) for the
current instrument and the respective step. Ri ht-clickin opens a context menu
where you can clear all events of the pattern, just the events of the selected row
(instrument), or just the events of the selected column (step). You can also use the
context menu to automatically fill or clear instrument events for various steps (each
quarter or ei hth note etc.). A similar context menu opens when you click on the label
of an instrument.
Editing Steps The Mini Pops Way
The ori inal Mini Pops-7 had 32 steps (16 steps, 2 bars) while Bucket Pops doubles
the total number of steps to 64. Each step can be activated or deactivated by clickin
on the top row of the event matrix showin the step numbers – a deactivated step is
denoted by a red column.

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To create a 3/4 si nature rhythm pattern like Waltz, the Mini Pops-7 skipped steps
5+6, 9+10, 21+22 and 25+26 durin playback. This way it was possible to reuse
diode matrix patterns that were used by other rhythms, too (diodes are hardware and
hardware is expensive!).
Bucket Pops emulates this behavior by deactivatin steps. However, since the number
of steps are doubled in Bucket Pops, the skipped (deactivated) steps for Waltz are 9–
12, 17–20, 41–44, and 49–52.
Why does the Bucket Pops follow this (at first lance) weird schema and does not o
for a simplification? For example, to create a 3/4 si nature it would be easier just to
limit the number of steps instead of skippin steps in between. The answer is that it
makes a bi difference when you combine rhythms (i.e. select more than one rhythm)
for playback. The classic Oxygene patterns only emer e when the ori inal diode
matrix behavior is emulated!
Triplets and Templates
The way the Mini Pops-7 reproduced a triplet-based rhythm like Slow Rock is even
more tricky: Here every fourth step (4, 8, 12, …) was skipped while the overall tempo
was slowed down by the factor 3/4! In Bucket Pops the button “tripl.” (for “triplets”)
activates exactly this specific tempo reduction, while in the case of Slow Rock each
seventh and ei hth step are deactivated (see ima e at the top of this section).
Clickin on the “STEPS” button or ri ht-clickin the top row showin the step numbers
opens a context menu where you can select a specific template for activated steps.
Activate all steps: activates all steps
Deactivate steps 33 to 64: deactivates the steps 33 to 64
Template for 3/4: deactivates the steps 13 to 16, 29 to 32, 45 to
48, and 61 to 64 (note that this is a different
pattern as used for Waltz and Jazz Waltz)
Template for 6/8: deactivates the steps 25 to 32 and 57 to 64
Template for 7/8: deactivates the steps 29 to 32 and 61 to 64
Template for Triplets: deactivates every 7th and 8th step
(same pattern as used for Slow Rock)
Import and Export of MIDI Files
Finally each rhythm pattern can be imported from or exported to a MIDI file.
●For MIDI files based on triplets you have the option to import them as
Bucket Pops triplet patterns (see section above).
●Rhythm patterns can be exported as MIDI file type 0 (sin le track) or type 1
(15 tracks – one track per instrument).
●To export the combined patter of all selected rhythms us the export
functionality in the Options Menu).

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Parameters
Main Page
parameter ID description
Volume 0 Total volume level
Power 1 Power switch
Tempo 2 Tempo control (bpm)
Tempo Sync 3 Tempo synchronization to host
Quijada 4 Level of instrument “Quijada”
Guiro 5 Level of instrument “Guiro”
Tambourine 6 Level of instrument “Tambourine”
Balance 7 Balance between Base and Hihat/Cymbal 1+2
Rhythm 1–10 8–17 Rhythm selector buttons 1 to 10
Rhythm Row 18 Rhythm row selector switch
Instruments
parameter ID description
Level X 19–33 Volume level of instrument X
Pan X 34–48 Panorama of instrument X
Note X 49–63 MIDI note assi nment of instrument X
Base Frequency 64 Frequency of instrument Base
Base Attack 65 Attack time of instrument Base
Base Decay 66 Decay time of instrument Base
Snare 1 Frequency 67 Frequency of instrument Snare 1
Snare 1 Attack 68 Attack time of instrument Snare 1
Snare 1 Decay 69 Decay time of instrument Snare 1
Snare 1 Resonance 70 Resonance of instrument Snare 1
Snare 1 Tick 71 Tick level of instrument Snare 1
Snare 1 Highpass 72 Hi hpass frequency of instrument Snare 1
Snare 2 Frequency 73 Frequency of instrument Snare 2
Snare 2 Attack 74 Attack time of instrument Snare 2
Snare 2 Decay 75 Decay time of instrument Snare 2
Snare 2 Resonance 76 Resonance of instrument Snare 2
Snare 2 Tick 77 Tick level of instrument Snare 2
Snare 2 Highpass 78 Hi hpass frequency of instrument Snare 2
Small Bongo Freq. 79 Frequency of instrument Small Bongo

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parameter ID description
Small Bongo Attack 80 Attack time of instrument Small Bongo
Small Bongo Decay 81 Decay time of instrument Small Bongo
Large Bongo Freq. 82 Frequency of instrument Large Bongo
Large Bongo Attack 83 Attack time of instrument Large Bongo
Large Bongo Decay 84 Decay time of instrument Large Bongo
Conga Frequency 1 85 Frequency 1 of instrument Conga
Conga Attack 86 Attack time of instrument Conga
Conga Decay 1 87 Decay time 1 of instrument Conga
Conga Level 2 88 Level of oscillator 2 of instrument Conga
Conga Frequency 2 89 Frequency 2 of instrument Conga
Conga Decay 2 90 Decay time 2 of instrument Conga
Cowbell Frequency 1 91 Frequency 1 of instrument Cowbell
Cowbell Attack 92 Attack time of instrument Cowbell
Cowbell Decay 1 93 Decay time 1 of instrument Cowbell
Cowbell Level 2 94 Level of oscillator 2 of instrument Cowbell
Cowbell Frequency 2 95 Frequency 2 of instrument Cowbell
Cowbell Decay 2 96 Decay time 2 of instrument Cowbell
Claves Frequency 97 Frequency of instrument Claves
Claves Attack 98 Attack time of instrument Claves
Claves Decay 99 Decay time of instrument Claves
Hihat Frequency 100 Frequency of instrument Hihat
Hihat Attack 101 Attack time of instrument Hihat
Hihat Decay 102 Decay time of instrument Hihat
Hihat Resonance 103 Resonance of instrument Hihat
Rimshot Frequency 104 Frequency of instrument Rimshot
Rimshot Attack 105 Attack time of instrument Rimshot
Rimshot Decay 106 Decay time of instrument Rimshot
Cymbal 1 Frequency 107 Frequency of instrument Cymbal 1
Cymbal 1 Attack 108 Attack time of instrument Cymbal 1
Cymbal 1 Decay 109 Decay time of instrument Cymbal 1
Cymbal 1 Resonance 110 Resonance of instrument Cymbal 1
Cymbal 1 Highpass 111 Hi hpass frequency of instrument Cymbal 1
Cymbal 2 Frequency 112 Frequency of instrument Cymbal 2
Cymbal 2 Attack 113 Attack time of instrument Cymbal 2
Cymbal 2 Decay 114 Decay time of instrument Cymbal 2

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parameter ID description
Cymbal 2 Resonance 115 Resonance of instrument Cymbal 2
Cymbal 2 Highpass 116 Hi hpass frequency of instrument Cymbal 2
Tambourine Freq. 117 Frequency of instrument Tambourine
Tambourine Attack 118 Attack time of instrument Tambourine
Tambourine Decay 119 Decay time of instrument Tambourine
Tambourine Reso. 120 Resonance of instrument Tambourine
Tambourine Highpass 121 Hi hpass frequency of instrument Tambourine
Guiro Frequency 122 Frequency of instrument Guiro
Guiro Rate 123 Rate of instrument Guiro
Guiro Density 124 Density of instrument Guiro
Quijada Freq. 125 Frequency of instrument Quijada
Quijada Attack 126 Attack time of instrument Quijada
Quijada Decay 127 Decay time of instrument Quijada
Quijada Rate 128 Rate of instrument Quijada
Quijada Density 129 Density of instrument Quijada

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Frequently Asked Questions
How do I install the Bucket Pops (Windows 32 bit version ?
Just copy the files bucketpops.dll from the ZIP archive you have downloaded to your
system's or favorite DAW's VST plu -in folder. Your DAW should automatically re ister
the Bucket Pops VST plu -in the next time you start it.
How do I install the Bucket Pops (Windows 64 bit version ?
Just copy the file bucketpops64.dll from the ZIP archive you have downloaded to
your system's or favorite DAW's VST plu -in folder. Your DAW should automatically
re ister the Bucket Pops VST plu -in the next time you start it.
Note: You may have to remove any existin (32 bit) bucketpops.dll from your VST
plu -in folder or else your DAW may screw the versions up...
How do I install the Bucket Pops (Mac VST/AU 64 bit ?
Locate the downloaded PKG packa e file bucketpops_1_0_0_mac.pkg in Finder (!) and
do a ri ht- or control-click on it. In the context menu, click on “Open”. You will be
asked if you really want to install the packa e because it comes from an “unidentified
developer” (me ). Click “OK” and follow the installation instructions.
What is the “N” version of the Bucket Pops?
The “N” version is the non-resizable version of the Bucket Pops that should run on
almost any older Windows or Mac machine. So if you have problems with the standard
Bucket Pops version, this is the one to o for.
What is the plug-in ID of the Bucket Pops?
The ID is fbp7.
How do I know if a new version of the Bucket Pops is available?
When connected to the Internet, open the File menu (see section Options Menu) by
clickin the disk icon and select the entry “Check Online for Updates”. If a new version
of the Bucket Pops is available on fullbucket.de the respective information will be
shown in a messa e box.
How do I resize the Bucket Pops window?
Just rab the yellow trian le at the bottom ri ht of the Bucket Pops window and dra
it. You can save the current window size usin the menu entry “Save Window Size” in
the Options Menu.