Analogue-sequencer

Folks,

First update of the year makes some changes to the knob grabbing 
events, adds some new knob events, and fixes a bug in the sysex dump 
config block.

One of the problems with knob grabbing events was that if you went 
into pattern edit and moved a knob, then returned to playmode, the 
moved knob could be in the wrong place. Also, knob grabbing was 
disabled in pattern edit, which could mean you had to avoid pattern 
edits if working live, since it would mess up the modified state of 
your other tracks.

The new implementation adds a separate set of play mode knob 
positions, which work in 'pass thru' mode. If the play mode position 
of a knob doesn't match the current position of the knob, you have 
to move the knob to the stored play mode position before it becomes 
live. This is easier to understand if you just try it, rather than 
me explaining it.
This change means knob grabbing events still apply in pattern edit 
mode, using the stored play mode values, so pattern edits won't 
screw them up.
The new knob events allow you to mask various things depending on 
whether a knob is above or below the aux value.
These events take a threshold as the aux value, so the knob 
assignment is automatic. The first of these events you assign in a 
pattern will take its knob value from the lower knob on the track 
the pattern is on. Further assigned auxes will use the upper knob.
I haven't got time to go into much more detail with this at the 
moment. Hopefully Mr Nagle will feel the urge to come up with some 
examples ;-)
I'll update the manual when I get a spare minute.

Cheers,
Colin f

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 21:55:15 -0000, "colinfraser_com"
<colin@colinfraser.com> wrote:

> Hopefully Mr Nagle will feel the urge to come up with some 
>examples ;-)

I got the urge. Will type something up tomorrow. This could be the
single coolest update in ages in terms of being able to set up stuff
for performance that changes stuff dramatically *without* editing any
patterns. 

Paul

---
Paul Nagle / Soft Room Music
Email: paul@softroom.co.uk www.softroom.co.uk
                           www.BogusFocus.com

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005, colinfraser_com wrote:

> I haven't got time to go into much more detail with this at the
> moment. Hopefully Mr Nagle will feel the urge to come up with some
> examples ;-)

that would be lovely, as i'm not even clear what these auxes do in the
first place...

> I'll update the manual when I get a spare minute.

also quite lovely. :)

bleep.
out.

---
http://leichenfeld.iuma.com
http://thirdwavecollective.com

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 16:09:06 -0600 (CST), bleep <bleep@waste.org>
wrote:

>> I haven't got time to go into much more detail with this at the
>> moment. Hopefully Mr Nagle will feel the urge to come up with some
>> examples ;-)
>
>that would be lovely, as i'm not even clear what these auxes do in the
>first place...

You're kidding? If this is true you're missing out on the coolest
functionality ever to hit a hardware sequencer - the ability to
sequence not just notes but sequencer parameters. By that I mean, you
can use sequences to set pattern length, to modify notes incrementally
(on each pass) to randomly select events for variations based on
probability, to select new tracks or parts, to mute or unmute other
events... man, you need to check out the manual and my user guide.
I'll add more tips later today - probably this afternoon cos I have to
dash out now.

One thing you might do it set up a sequence morph using the knobs. Set
aux row A to unmask row B>n then put a series of "set note" events
into row B. Depending on the values you dial up in row A, turning the
knob will "reveal" the set note events and transform from whatever
your pattern used to play to a new set of notes. Give it a go and
prepare for a grinny day... oh, doing it this way, the lower knob,
just above the track button, will be the one that transforms, IIRC.

Paul

---
Paul Nagle / Soft Room Music
Email: paul@softroom.co.uk www.softroom.co.uk
                           www.BogusFocus.com

OK gang,

here's one just to get you started. 

Initialise a bank. Create a pattern on track 1 - 16 steps and going up
in pitch so what comes next is easy to spot.

Create the following Auxes:

Aux A  Mask dAcc,Kn>n
Aux B  Mask auxC,Kn>n
Aux C  offset AuxD rel (ensure limits set to 127 and not reset -
Colin, should this be the default?)
Aux D  set direction

For each Aux, enable just step 1. Set the value 70 using the upper
knob for Aux A and B. Set the value 10 for Aux C so there are nice
obvious offsets. Set Aux D to zero - which corresponds to forwards for
the "set direction" event.

Save the pattern. Remember that the knobs are zero at the start until
you start to turn them and this means no changes will happen until you
turn them from zero upwards.

As it plays, you hear it play the pattern forwards as you'd expect.
Turn the upper knob of the two above the track past the value 70.
Nothing changes. Now turn the Lower knob past 70 and the direction
changes begin. When you hear something you like, turn the upper knob
back below 70 and it freezes the new direction. This is masking the D
accumulator action. To return to the pattern's own direction, turn the
lower knob below 70 - this masks the offset action. Experiment with
both knobs and you see you can make this kind of change without
editing the pattern. 

It's perhaps a little long-winded as an example but it's Saturday
afternoon and the smoke is rising. It also uses more aux events than
is ideal but I've already grovelled for a way round that.. possibly
there's a better way to achieve this already but try it out and see
what occurs...

Why not post your own examples?

Bong!

Paul
---
Paul Nagle / Soft Room Music
Email: paul@softroom.co.uk www.softroom.co.uk
                           www.BogusFocus.com

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005, Paul Nagle wrote:

> >that would be lovely, as i'm not even clear what these auxes do in the
> >first place...
>
> You're kidding? If this is true you're missing out on the coolest
> functionality ever to hit a hardware sequencer - the ability to sequence

agh, i realize that sounds like something other than what i meant... i was
trying to avoid saying "knob grab events" because i have a pathological
inability to resist puns... anyway, all i meant was that i'm not really
sure what the knob grab aux events do...

bleep.
out.

---
http://leichenfeld.iuma.com
http://thirdwavecollective.com

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005 11:52:20 -0600 (CST), bleep <bleep@waste.org>
wrote:

>agh, i realize that sounds like something other than what i meant... i was
>trying to avoid saying "knob grab events" because i have a pathological
>inability to resist puns... anyway, all i meant was that i'm not really
>sure what the knob grab aux events do...

hehe, phew!
You may be thinking of the "old" knob events - where the knobs are
numbered 1-32 and can be assigned to do stuff. No, say I, these are
the "new" knob events where you set stuff to be masked unless the
track knobs are above or below a certain threshold (think of it like a
low pass or high pass filter). You turn the knob and things like auxes
of gates or ties etc. are suddenly activated in the pattern according
to an individual threshold for each. And you don't need to go into
edit on the pattern AND the bank plays back the same each time you
load it because the changes are temporary. So you have non-destructive
performance changes. 

I think I overexplained that. 

Paul
---
Paul Nagle / Soft Room Music
Email: paul@softroom.co.uk www.softroom.co.uk
                           www.BogusFocus.com

On Sun, 30 Jan 2005, Paul Nagle wrote:

> You may be thinking of the "old" knob events - where the knobs are
> numbered 1-32 and can be assigned to do stuff. No, say I, these are

ahh, so then we have both old knob grab events and new knob grab events?
or have the old ones been replaced? how exactly do the old ones work?

> low pass or high pass filter). You turn the knob and things like auxes
> of gates or ties etc. are suddenly activated in the pattern according
> to an individual threshold for each. And you don't need to go into
> edit on the pattern AND the bank plays back the same each time you
> load it because the changes are temporary. So you have non-destructive
> performance changes.
>
> I think I overexplained that.

ahhh, i got that sense from your tip post... and i think you
exactlyexplained that, as even my foggy brain has begun to grok the uses
for this loveliness.

thanks paul!

f.

bleep.
out.

---
http://leichenfeld.iuma.com
http://thirdwavecollective.com

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 08:33:55 -0600 (CST), bleep <bleep@waste.org>
wrote:

>ahh, so then we have both old knob grab events and new knob grab events?
>or have the old ones been replaced? how exactly do the old ones work?

Frankly they are too much trouble to remember because they refer to
the knobs by numbers 1-32 which is all very well when you define a
bank and play it. But later, when you return to the bank, or in the
heat of a gig, your chances of remembering (i) whether you defined any
knob events and (ii) 'which knobs actually do what action' mean I
never used this facility more than a couple of times.

The new knob events are easier because if you define one of them it
automatically becomes the lower knob right above that track. If you
define two, the upper one takes the role. The display doesn't tell you
when you are doing something with an "active" knob so you still need
to use your ears for that - but it's a very useful function if you are
practising for a gig, want to make changes but don't want to keep
reloading the same song cos you edited it beyond recognition (as I
always do).

I think they take the P3 to a whole new level. The 'old' ones are
still there and give you the chance to make things happen on many
tracks at once - you can set multiple patterns to change based on a
turn of just one knob. I reckon Colin isn't quite finished with this
yet <g>.

Paul
---
Paul Nagle - SoftRoom Music - www.softroom.co.uk
          Bogus Focus Records - www.BogusFocus.com