Analogue-sequencer

--- In analogue-sequencer@yahoogroups.com, "richardscott"
<richardscott@b...> wrote:

Hi Richard!

> I did my first recording a gig last week with the P3 and it
> stood up fine. I used it simply but the results sounded
> complex... and I managed to use it in a free improvisation
> conext with some really great musicians without appearing
> like a twat - great.

Good for you. I also took my P3 out on the road early on and survived
to tell about it. Seeing what you don't know how to do while under the
gun is a great way of learning IMHO.

> I would love it if there were more
> possibilties or modes that I could use on the fly. I know
> that I will get into a lot more ways of randomizing patterns
> I get to grips with the auxes - but I wonder if there are
> other easy to use randomising algorhythms that could be
> added - moving around the pattern jumping two and then three
> steps and then four steps each time, stepping forwards and
> backwards in smaller increments, different ways of changing
> direction - 50% randomisation???

Auxes will be the way to go. Lots of ways to randomize. The easiest
ones are Randomize Note and Randomize Gate. You can also affect
pattern length, direction, and a whole lot more brain frying
possibilities.

> And who the heck is Brown anyway? Didf he have other tricks
> up his sleeve?

No idea, but a good question.

> and why are accumulators called accumulators? - I don't
> quite get it...

Accumulators are like buffers that get filled up with numbers, thus
they accumulate. Imagine an accumulator that fills up one number ever
time a pattern goes by. You could set different notes in the pattern
that shift up some amount each time the accumlator reaches a certain
level or that unmute or transpose or on and on and on.

I'm still wrapping my head around auxes in general, but the
possiblities seem endless.

Hi all

I did my first recording a gig last week with the P3 and it
stood up fine. I used it simply but the results sounded
complex... and I managed to use it in a free improvisation
conext with some really great musicians without appearing
like a twat - great.

I'm having a more leasurely look at the guts of it and its
pretty much melting my brain again - its the first proper
sequencer of this kind I've had so my hands, eyes and brain
all need to learn some new things. One feature I like are
the pattern direction modes and I especially the random and
brownian modes. I would love it if there were more
possibilties or modes that I could use on the fly. I know
that I will get into a lot more ways of randomizing patterns
I get to grips with the auxes - but I wonder if there are
other easy to use randomising algorhythms that could be
added - moving around the pattern jumping two and then three
steps and then four steps each time, stepping forwards and
backwards in smaller increments, different ways of changing
direction - 50% randomisation???

And who the heck is Brown anyway? Didf he have other tricks
up his sleeve?

and why are accumulators called accumulators? - I don't
quite get it...

Richard

> I would love it if there were more
> possibilties or modes that I could use on the fly. I know
> that I will get into a lot more ways of randomizing patterns
> I get to grips with the auxes - but I wonder if there are
> other easy to use randomising algorhythms that could be
> added - moving around the pattern jumping two and then three
> steps and then four steps each time, stepping forwards and
> backwards in smaller increments, different ways of changing
> direction - 50% randomisation???

More complex levels of randomness can start to sound just as random as pure
random, so they don't become so much use.
Maybe a 'set next step' event could be useful - then you could use
randomisation and masking of next step events to create some additional
'directions'.
 
> And who the heck is Brown anyway?

Robert Brown was a biologist who first described the stochastic motion of
smaller particles within pollen grains suspended in a liquid.
So there ;-)

> and why are accumulators called accumulators? - I don't
> quite get it...

Because they accumulate.
'abs' events force the accumulators to a particular level, but their primary
use is with 'rel' events which add or subtract from the persisting value,
which is then added to the value on each step.
The principle register in a microprocessor is often called the accumulator,
and is used for sequential calculation of values.
It is also an archaic term for a battery, and has connotations of storing
power.

Best regards,
Colin Fraser
Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
http://www.sequentix.com

> Colin, any chance of a relativistic mode on the P3?

That would be cool. It would mean I could buy a P3 next month and use
it in my gig last year.

	-- N.

-- 

  nick rothwell -- composition, systems, performance -- http://www.cassiel.com

colin- I've been trawling back through the archives looking for
functional details of the various updates that have happened since
1003 was originally built. there are a lot, which is why I had to sit
down with the machine not plugged into anything the other night & try
to figure out what was going on with the parts & playlists. 
luckily, in this case, the new method is more inuitive than the old
one & I figured it out pretty quickly. perhaps also helped by not
making any noises whilst investigating.
but then I started seeing all this other stuff about remote control,
midi-mixer.... I know I was one of the people asking for all this
stuff, but I'm having as hard a time keeping up with it as you must be
having keeping the manual up-to-date.
never one to complain about something without proposing a solution,
here's my solution:
go through y'r "sent mail" folder & find all the emails you've sent to
the group about updates. c&p them into a text file & stick it on the
site instead of/aswell as the revision history.
then we'd not only know /when/ a function appeared, but we'd know how
to use it even if we hadn't been paying attention to the list.
whaddya reckon?

if only there was a way to sort the yahoo messages by author....

d.

>> Colin, any chance of a relativistic mode on the P3?<<

my first p3 has blue & red led's so I can tell whether notes are
getting nearer or going further away. :-8
d.

Colin f wrote:
> > And who the heck is Brown anyway?
> 
> Robert Brown was a biologist who first described the stochastic motion of
> smaller particles within pollen grains suspended in a liquid.

Brown described it.  Einstein *explained* it in 1905, which
could have won him the Nobel prize, except he won it that year
for a different paper on the photoelectric effect.  

Colin, any chance of a relativistic mode on the P3? The faster the
tempo, the heavier the groove :)

regards,
Paul

>  I know I was one of the people asking for all this
> stuff, but I'm having as hard a time keeping up with it as you must be
> having keeping the manual up-to-date.

The general idea is to release an updated manual describing all new feature
at the same time as a beta firmware build becomes a release version. The
current manual is half way through having an index added too, which is a bit
of a pain (much like doing anything in Word...)

> never one to complain about something without proposing a solution,
> here's my solution:
> go through y'r "sent mail" folder & find all the emails you've sent to
> the group about updates. c&p them into a text file & stick it on the
> site instead of/aswell as the revision history.
> then we'd not only know /when/ a function appeared, but we'd know how
> to use it even if we hadn't been paying attention to the list.
> whaddya reckon?

Mr Nagle is pretty good at updating the user guide when something worthwhile
appears, even in a beta.
I could try adding more detail to my revision history. That's the file I
work from when I'm updating the manual.
Keeping more files in sync sounds like yet more work for me.
If I were to update something more often, it would probably be easier to
have a beta manual release to go with the firmware.

Best regards,
Colin Fraser
Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
http://www.sequentix.com

On Wed, 21 Sep 2005 23:34:35 +0100, "Colin f" <colin@colinfraser.com>
wrote:

>Mr Nagle is pretty good at updating the user guide when something worthwhile
>appears, even in a beta.

The User Guide - whilst less factual and complete - contains all the
stuff I think of or come across in daily use. The next revision will
include details about remote control and the grouping of aux events
and I'll have it out pretty soon after the current beta is finalised. 

Once we complete the (now legendary) tutorial video, I'm sure it will
cover pretty much all the stuff both obvious and covert. Apologies if
my constant pestering to Colin has resulted in a load of additional
features over time; all I can say is it has given me a new lease of
life musically: the P3 is single-handedly responsible for the rise in
popularity of my band the Joint Intelligence Committee, who will be
performing live (for six hours) in London in October using FOUR P3s!
See www.kundaliniuk.com/ambient221005.php and if any of you are in
London on Oct 22, feel free to join us!

In the meantime, anything I can do to explain some of the additional
features, let me know as this frees up Colin for the bread and butter
stuff.

Paul


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