Analogue-sequencer

On Sat, 28 May 2005 10:54:48 -0400, Jim Combs <jwcombs@bellsouth.net>
wrote:

>OK, I¹ve got the basic inklings of putting together some patterns that I can
>recall and futz with. But I¹m having a couple of conceptual roadblocks I
>could use some help on:

Well, I'll leap in. Probably just the same level of gibberish from the
user guide but I'll try.

>I¹m mentally trying to just create patterns, and eventually get to the point
>of chaining them together, ala how I work with my Electribes (first create
>patterns, then create songs). But I¹m thinking the P3 mental model is the
>opposite; start with a bank, select a track, select a part, select a
>playlist, create a pattern. Paul¹s user guide attempts to point this out but
>it¹s never really explicit. Am I off base here?

I too would start with patterns. Forget Parts; forget Playlists. In a
newly-initialised Bank you can go straight to patterns - one per
track; stay with Part 1 and don't select any others; use Edit and the
Track button which will edit the one pattern on each track. Do your
stuff, hit edit again to save your pattern. With 8 tracks to go at
this should keep you occupied for a while... 8)

>2nd, if you create 1 part with 1 track consisting of 2 patterns, 1 part with
>1 track consisting of 1 pattern (same as used in the first track), and 1
>part consisting of 1 track with 1 pattern, have you used up the patterns for
>this bank? (I¹m in a 12 bank mode). I can¹t seem to make another pattern in
>this bank, but was able to make 4 patterns in another bank when only using 1
>pattern per track per part,

In 12 bank mode you get 4 patterns per track. You can prove this to
yourself - stick with one part for now - by going into pattern edit as
above. When you have made edits, you would normally just hit the edit
button again to leave. You get the options to save, cancel etc. AT
THIS POINT, hit one of the first 4 keys; you will see the SAVE display
change to "save to". Hit another key - any of the first 4 allow you to
save to any of the first 4 patterns. Is that what happens?

>3rd, in my first bank example above, I¹ve got my tracks on different numbers
>(1, 2, 3) and am able to combine tracks (patterns?) on different (playlist
>steps/parts?) by selecting which tracks are green on that specific playlist
>step/part. I¹m also able to assign different FTS to each playlist step/part.

Wooo, let's go back to some terms. 

The tracks - 8 of them - are all accessible via the 8 track buttons.
When muted their LED is off;when the track is not muted, it's green.

Each track plays patterns - in your first example, before you used a
playlist to string some together, each track would play just one
pattern - a 16 step sequence. 

Parts are collections of tracks - so a part is a convenient way of
saying "when I select this part, it will call up a set of tracks I
want unmuted". Parts are also where you set the FTS; Parts remember
the scale and any transposition. So you *don't* assign different FTS
to each playlist step.

A Playlist is a list of Patterns to play in sequence. You access this
by Func and the track number (rather than Edit and the track number
which Edits a pattern). In your case, you have 8 steps to play with
and 4 patterns. So you can select those 4 patterns in any order with
repeats, transpositions etc. This playlist is also remembered per
Part. All playlists on all tracks are subject to any FTS settings set
at Part level. 

Remember the heirarchy, lowest level to highest goes:

Pattern - 16 step sequence 
Playlist - a list of Patterns to play in order on each track
Part - a collection of tracks with Playlists across all tracks, plus
xpose, FTS settings. 

The three Ps - or P3. Does that help?

>But I¹m having trouble duplicating this on other banks and on my 2nd example
>above, have all patterns on track number 1 for each playlist step/part.
>Again, this seems to be partly a problem of trying to edit the right track
>but getting no sound to occur (the ubiquitous C5) even though the display
>shows me scrolling through notes. What am I doing wrong? And can I copy
>patterns from 1 track/playlist step/part to another?

The Patterns for any track are accessible in every Part. Each bank has
its own pool of patterns - so in 12 bank mode you get 12x8x4 Patterns
in total. 12 banks each with 8 tracks each with up to 4 Patterns that
might play in a playlist. I'm probably labourind the point; is so,
sorry.
A good starting point - from an initialised bank - would be to start
simple. Stick with part 1 and mute all tracks except track 1. Create a
single pattern on track 1, ignoring playlists for now. From the main
play screen, hit Page. Hit it again and you see the Part copy screen.
Hold down the Copy All softkey and select a new Part. Do it several
times. These new parts are identical to your first one. Now, on one of
the new Parts, try Func and track 1. This shows you a screen with one
red step (step 1 - meaning Pattern 1) and one green step (step 9 -
playlist step 1). OK? If you simply select pattern 2, you probably
won't hear anything unless you recorded anything. Select pattern 3,
pattern 4 - you should not be able to select pattern 5 cos of your
bank mode. To edit any of these, hit Edit and the pattern key you just
selected. When you save, it automatically saves to the correct pattern
location. Save the playlist using Func and now your part will play
this newly-edited pattern. Select the first part again and you'll see
the playlist points to the original pattern. Does it?


>4th and last, I¹m not getting into Aux events yet because I¹m afraid they
>are distructive to my patterns (much like the random features for
>notes/velocities/etc. So, are they destructive or am I worrying needlessly?
>Is there an easy way to turn them on and off when I totally screw it up the
>first 10 times I try it out?

Sure. Aux events are only active when you enable them - like gates,
ties, skip and so on. And when in a pattern, you can always exit
without saving. When you hit edit, you can choose not to save. But any
step in an aux that is enabled can be switched off by pressing the
key. 

>Thanks all! I have to say that my meager output on the P3 so far is totally
>blowing me away, and most of the above is simply me struggling through the
>learning curve knowing that I¹m standing on the edge of some huge
>capabilities that my neural net isn¹t letting me jump off into.

I've been there too. All I can say is: one day there is a click of
inspiration and suddenly you realise how it all hangs together. Like
riding a bike, once you get your balance you do it automatically. But
it isn't readily obvious - mostly because of the complication of
understanding what parts and playlists give you. Most sequencers don't
let you do all this stuff so there's nothing obvious to compare it
with. 
The easiest parallel is with the electribes. You know how you set the
length overall - in multiples of 16? Well, a playlist works like that
in a way except each multiple of 16 is a discrete pattern. And, unlike
the electribes, each of these lengths is unique for the track. On the
electribes, the length works for ALL drums. On the P3 you can loop a
16 step bass drum against a 60 step high hat pattern - using playlists
on the bass drum and high hat tracks


Hope this helps and hasn't been too dull.... 

Paul
---
Paul Nagle / Soft Room Music
 www.softroom.co.uk
 www.BogusFocus.com

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