Bucket Pops
Vintage Rhythm Machine
Version 1.0
© 2020 by Björn Arlt www.fullbucket.de/music
Presets and testing by kraftraum soundcloud.com/kraftraum
VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation
The Audio Units logo is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
Bucket Pops Manual Page 2
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................3
The KORG Mini Pops-7......................................3
The Bucket Pops..............................................3
The Bucket Pops “N” Version.............................4
Acknowledgments............................................4
General Operation............................................5
Mouse Clicking Convention................................5
MIDI Learn And The Config File “bucketpops.ini”. .5
Options Menu..................................................6
The Main Page.................................................7
Selecting Rhythms...........................................7
Playing Rhythms..............................................7
Level Sliders...................................................8
The POWER Button..........................................8
User Rhythm Patterns......................................8
The Settings Page............................................9
Instrument Parameters.....................................9
Output Mixer and Note Assignment..................10
The Guiro.....................................................10
The Sequence Page........................................11
Editing Rhythm Patterns.................................11
Editing Steps The Mini Pops Way......................11
Triplets and Templates....................................12
Import and Export of MIDI Files.......................12
Parameters...................................................13
Main Page.....................................................13
Instruments..................................................13
Frequently Asked Questions.............................16
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Introduction
Bucket Pops is a software instrument plug-in for Microsoft Windows (VST) and Apple
macOS (VST/AU) simulating the classic KORG® Mini Pops-7 Rhythm Machine from
1966. It is written in native C++ code for high performance and low CPU
consumption. The main features are:
● 20 original 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
● Plug-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. Big thanks, guys!!! Without your work it would not have been
possible to create a resizable user interface.
To resize the plug-in you just grab the yellow triangle at the bottom right of the
Bucket Pops window and drag it. You can save the current window size using the
menu entry “Save Window Size” in the Options Menu.
The KORG 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 long 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 beginning of Oxygene Part 6 where the Mini Pops-7 slowly
blends into the artificial sound of sea waves, bird cries, and Eminent strings.
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 (although 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 integrated circuits inside the clunky box, everything is
realized using 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 longer if the KORG engineers had not put some hints into the
schematics. I also simulated the 15 individual instruments using LTspice to get the
sound right. I don’t ask you to understand my motivation.
Mind that each original Mini Pops-7 sounds different due to various internal trimpots,
tolerances and aging of the electronic components etc. In the Bucket Pops you can
Bucket Pops Manual Page 4
tweak the instruments beyond recognition, and you can change the rhythm patterns
themselves, too!
The Bucket Pops “N” Version
Many users with older operating systems (Windows 7, macOS 10.10 or below) and/or
incompatible graphic 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 iPlug framework – this is called the “N” version. It
should work on almost all machines (even on 32 bit Macs).
Acknowledgments
Big thanks to:
● kraftraum (https://soundcloud.com/kraftraum) who has again designed many
of the default patches and was again THE Beta tester.
● Oli Larkin and the iPlug/iPlug2 team.
● Laurent Bergman for translating 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 engineers.
No, I am not affiliated with KORG in what relation ever except that I always find
myself entangled with their instruments.
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General Operation
Bucket Pops is a rhythm machine with 20 different rhythm patterns and 15 individual
instruments. The patterns are 2 bars long (although the second bar of most of the
patterns is just a repetition of the first bar) and have 64 steps (the original Mini
Pops-7 had “only” 32; see Editing Steps The Mini Pops Way).
Mouse Clicking Convention
Many functions of the Bucket Pops are triggered or activated by clicking at various
buttons or labels in the user interface (UI). Since older Macs mouses may have only
one button, Bucket Pops uses the following convention:
● “Left Clicking”
Denotes that the left (or single) mouse button is clicked.
● “Right Clicking”
Denotes that the right mouse button is clicked or that the CTRL, ALT, or
COMMAND key is held while (left) clicking.
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 change the assignment 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 Manager panel and wiggle both the MIDI controller and
the parameter you want to assign (you can abort MIDI Learn by clicking the button
again). If you want to unlearn the assignment, right-click the LEARN button (the label
now reads “UNLRN”) and activate it. Now wiggle the MIDI controller or the parameter
that you want to unlearn. To save the controller assignments use “Save Configuration”
in the Options Menu (see below); they are stored in the bucketpops.ini
configuration file. The exact location of this file depends on your operating system and
will be displayed when you click on “Reload” or “Save Configuration”.
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