Analogue-sequencer

"circuitsea" <circuitsea@...> wrote:
>
> I own and Oberheim Xpander, and am stunned when I read accounts of it
> being a tough synth to program, or that it is really awesome but the
> interface is awkward.  

> On the flip side I used to own a Waldorf Microwave XT and no matter
> how long you used it, and despite the many, many knobs, the interface
> I found difficult for two main reasons.  

> How does the P3 with all its many parameters and capabilities rate in
> this category?  

The Waldorf Wave has an interface similar to the Expander - pressing a
module button immediately brings up the proper page with all the
necessary info on that module - any knob, such as filter cutoff, could
be patch to any modulation source.

The issue with the XT is that it doesn't have a direct page button
that jumps directly to the page that you want.  You have to negotiate
the page matrix, first pressing the correct column button and then
repeatably pressing it until the proper display comes up.  This means
that you are spending a great deal of time navigating on the XT,
compared to the Expander - which has a simple one button access to
each page.

Unfortunately, (IMHO), the P3 accesses its pages via a matrix, which
is subdivided like the XT, with each feature page accessible only
through going to the top level, entering the proper mode and toggling
through the pages to find the proper page.

That having been said, I still have my XT because of what it does. 
And I think that the P3 is also worth the inconvenience.  The P3
simply does a lot of things that no other sequencer does - period.

Earlier in this forum, I made a suggestion of committing midi notes to
be assignable to access pages, so that one could use a midi keyboard
or drum pad controller to be dedicated page buttons, essentially
transforming the p3 from an XT into an Expander....

Now, if there were more of us were interested in this direct midi
button access to each page, I would love anyone else to speak up!

This would really make the P3 WAY more usable in live performance than
it already is.

Gary