The TheRaK instrument rack also joins this clock: its Play jam starts on the next bar of the shared jam clock (or the next beat, or at once, with its Launch setting). Its devices, sounds and patterns are owned by the rack session, independently of the standalone windows. Closing the rack tab keeps its jam running; its Stop button, arrangement playback, PIE start, or editor teardown ends that performance. The jam clock exists in the editor only: in a game, a saved rack plays on its own clock or a world clock through the TheRaK Performer component (see TheRaK Performer (gameplay)).
STPR-1 also joins this clock as an independent polyphonic performer. Its Play/Join, mute, stop, and arrangement handoff share the jam controls. STPR-1 follows Quartz position from the game thread; the audio-thread scheduling and two-engine measurements below describe Thumpr and SQLCH specifically.
STPR-1 and the Afterglow window share one jam preset. Opening the synth before or after playback connects its controls; preset and sample changes update the existing synth without restarting the pattern. Pattern-bank loading queues into the running STPR-1 transport. See Jam with Afterglow.
Open Thumpr and SQLCH from Tools → DAWntless. No Level Sequence is required.
- Set Jam BPM in either panel (40–240). Both panels show the same value.
- Choose patterns and click Play loop in each instrument. Playback joins on the next 4/4 bar; QUEUED indicates the wait. Both keep looping at their own pattern lengths.
- Edit cells and sound controls while they play. Slot selections launch their first step on the next step boundary; repeated selections use the latest choice. Thumpr preserves voice/delay tails and no longer renders/restarts whole loops after edits.
Thumpr's pads and lane labels flash from actual generated drum hits during Tools playback. The audio thread publishes pad activity; Slate only displays it, including hits between UI frames. The existing sequence/MIDI-controller light notifications remain connected.
- Mute / Unmute silences only that instrument while its pattern continues. Thumpr pad auditions also respect Mute. Stop / Stop loop stops only that instrument; restarting joins the running clock at the next bar. Stop jam stops both, including pad auditions. Closing one panel stops only its instrument.
- SQLCH's LOOP checkbox retains its existing behavior: disable it to finish the current pass. Thumpr continues; selecting another SQLCH slot starts another pass.
- Save pattern banks and sounds/kits as before. Open a Level Sequence when ready, then use SQLCH Print to track or Thumpr Write MIDI to new track. Starting the arrangement transport stops the Tools jam and plays the printed tracks.
Jam tempo is independent of arrangement tempo. Saving a Thumpr bank stores the current jam tempo; loading its saved tempo initializes an idle jam without changing another playing instrument's tempo. The jam uses 4/4 bar joins. Individual instrument pattern lengths and swing remain independent.
Enable Metronome in the DAWntless transport to hear the click during a Tools jam, even with the arrangement stopped. It follows Jam BPM and accents beat one without moving the arrangement playhead. The click follows the shared clock while any instrument remains active. Stopping the last instrument ends jam beats. Arrangement playback and recording count-in retain their own beat source.
Thumpr and SQLCH use the same output gain in Tools jam and sequence playback. Each has 6 dB of makeup into a bounded output stage; balance simultaneous instruments with their Master/Output controls. Mute preserves musical position.