Analogue-sequencer

Folks,

Those of you running the v3.1.006 beta will have noticed the changes 
to MIDI thru. As discussed a day or two ago, I've been changing 
things some more.

In the current beta, you can either specify a single channel number 
for all incoming messages to be passed thru on, pass all messages on 
their original channel, or turn off soft thru altogether.
You can also choose whether FTS will be applied to thru notes.

For record mode, you can set a single channel from which notes will 
be recorded, or record from any/all channels, or set record to 
automatically receive on the transmit channel of the track selected 
for record.

As it stands, if you are not in record mode, and soft-thru is set to 
pass notes on their original channel (any), notes on the record 
channel will pass through.
In the new build, notes on the record channel are not passed thru 
unless record is active with record mthru on, as this seems more 
logical to me.
I wanted to check if this is a problem in a situation I haven't 
thought of, so it would help if I knew exactly what other people are 
using the soft-thru options for.

I've also applied the current PXPos value to notes passed by record 
mthru, so that the notes passing thru are the same as will play back 
from a pattern you record into. Otherwise you hear un-transposed 
notes that then jump when they play back from a pattern if PXPos 
isn't 0.
This involved keeping track of all held notes on the record channel, 
so they can be cleared if the PXPos or FTS settings change. 
Otherwise you can easily get hung notes.
It's not practical to do this for the normal soft-thru.

Anyway, I've posted this beta in the files section now.
It's p3fw-3.1.006b18 in .syx and .mid format.

There are various other additions in this build:

 * new 'xpose by n' event, suitable for unmasking fixed value 
transposes
 * FTS scale edit now shows note names relative to current root
 * aux assignments are shown briefly as you change aux
 * 'all' paste option pastes notes, auxes and config in one
 * FUNC+<root> in FTS select toggles black notes between equivalent 
sharp and flat display. Note names shown in pattern edit follow suit.
 * if you hold STEP MODE as you switch from GATE to TIE, then 
activate some ties, as you release STEP MODE it will jump back to 
GATE. This is for quickly setting ties without having to step 
through SKIP and Xd to get back to GATE.
I may extend this mode to provide a method for stretching notes over 
multiple steps in one go by holding multiple keys...

One other thing to mention - you can toggle PXPos to be either pre- 
or post-FTS by holding FUNC while pressing the PXPos key in play 
mode. An 'F' after the PXPos value indicates FTS will happen after 
PXPos-ition.

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

so it would help if I knew exactly what other people are using the 
soft-thru options for...

A major use of the P3 for me is as a live midi router, allowing me to 
switch (from a midi foot controller, using P3's remote control - 
thanks Colin!) between up to 8 instruments by selecting "record arm" 
on the associated track. 

As a midi guitarist I can now keep playing my geetar and, with some 
adroit tap-dancing,  deftly select any voice I want, play some synth, 
tap another switch to record it into P3, drop-out of record then turn 
up the "real" guitar and noodle over the top of that lot. :-)

So, I only want soft-thru on, and only when, "record arm" on a track 
is selected.

Hope this makes sense and (more importantly) helps!

Keep up the most excellent work!
Phil

Colin,

Just upgraded #1037 to 3.1.06B18 (from 06B10), I seem to have a bug on
 the new event groups (sub menu) when I Func+mode from pattern edit
'grab' comes up and Func takes me to 'Inter Track'. I can't seem to
select any grab/swap/push events (its like I can't get down to the
individual event selection). All the other event groups/event
selections work ok - is this a bug or am I doing it wrong? (re-flashed
twice just to make sure)

BTW Like the idea of the event groups but might I suggest that when at
the top menu level (Randomize/Accumulator/Knob Grab etc) the F1
softkey display is changed from 'enter' to Func so the navigation
makes its obvious there is a sub menu, either that or hitting F1 takes
you to the sub menu events - because right now it confusing.

Thanks
Roger


--- In analogue-sequencer@yahoogroups.com, "colinfraser_com"
<colin@c...> wrote:

>
> Folks,
> 
> Those of you running the v3.1.006 beta will have noticed the changes 
> to MIDI thru. As discussed a day or two ago, I've been changing 
> things some more.
> 
> In the current beta, you can either specify a single channel number 
> for all incoming messages to be passed thru on, pass all messages on 
> their original channel, or turn off soft thru altogether.
> You can also choose whether FTS will be applied to thru notes.
> 
> For record mode, you can set a single channel from which notes will 
> be recorded, or record from any/all channels, or set record to 
> automatically receive on the transmit channel of the track selected 
> for record.
> 
> As it stands, if you are not in record mode, and soft-thru is set to 
> pass notes on their original channel (any), notes on the record 
> channel will pass through.
> In the new build, notes on the record channel are not passed thru 
> unless record is active with record mthru on, as this seems more 
> logical to me.
> I wanted to check if this is a problem in a situation I haven't 
> thought of, so it would help if I knew exactly what other people are 
> using the soft-thru options for.
> 
> I've also applied the current PXPos value to notes passed by record 
> mthru, so that the notes passing thru are the same as will play back 
> from a pattern you record into. Otherwise you hear un-transposed 
> notes that then jump when they play back from a pattern if PXPos 
> isn't 0.
> This involved keeping track of all held notes on the record channel, 
> so they can be cleared if the PXPos or FTS settings change. 
> Otherwise you can easily get hung notes.
> It's not practical to do this for the normal soft-thru.
> 
> Anyway, I've posted this beta in the files section now.
> It's p3fw-3.1.006b18 in .syx and .mid format.
> 
> There are various other additions in this build:
> 
>  * new 'xpose by n' event, suitable for unmasking fixed value 
> transposes
>  * FTS scale edit now shows note names relative to current root
>  * aux assignments are shown briefly as you change aux
>  * 'all' paste option pastes notes, auxes and config in one
>  * FUNC+<root> in FTS select toggles black notes between equivalent 
> sharp and flat display. Note names shown in pattern edit follow suit.
>  * if you hold STEP MODE as you switch from GATE to TIE, then 
> activate some ties, as you release STEP MODE it will jump back to 
> GATE. This is for quickly setting ties without having to step 
> through SKIP and Xd to get back to GATE.
> I may extend this mode to provide a method for stretching notes over 
> multiple steps in one go by holding multiple keys...
> 
> One other thing to mention - you can toggle PXPos to be either pre- 
> or post-FTS by holding FUNC while pressing the PXPos key in play 
> mode. An 'F' after the PXPos value indicates FTS will happen after 
> PXPos-ition.
> 
> Best regards,
> Colin Fraser
> Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
> http://www.sequentix.com
>

> Just upgraded #1037 to 3.1.06B18 (from 06B10), I seem to have a bug on
>  the new event groups (sub menu) when I Func+mode from pattern edit
> 'grab' comes up and Func takes me to 'Inter Track'. I can't seem to
> select any grab/swap/push events (its like I can't get down to the
> individual event selection). All the other event groups/event
> selections work ok - is this a bug or am I doing it wrong? (re-flashed
> twice just to make sure)

Checked it out here and it works as it should.
FUNC toggles back and forth between the group and events.
Repeated pressing of FUNC from a grab event will toggle grab, Inter Track,
grab...
 
> BTW Like the idea of the event groups but might I suggest that when at
> the top menu level (Randomize/Accumulator/Knob Grab etc) the F1
> softkey display is changed from 'enter' to Func so the navigation
> makes its obvious there is a sub menu, either that or hitting F1 takes
> you to the sub menu events - because right now it confusing.

I wanted to put some indication that the selection was a group, but it was
rather tight for space.
I suppose since you'd want to select a specific event rather than a group,
making F1 return to the individual events would make sense, but then it
could be more confusing that F1 goes from groups to events, and FUNC goes
from events to groups.
I'll have a twiddle with it.

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

--- In analogue-sequencer@yahoogroups.com, "Colin f" <colin@c...> wrote:

> Checked it out here and it works as it should.
> FUNC toggles back and forth between the group and events.
> Repeated pressing of FUNC from a grab event will toggle grab, Inter
Track,
> grab...
>
Ok, my mistake - I was using it wrong!  

Operator malfunction!!!

>>As it stands, if you are not in record mode, and soft-thru is set to 
pass notes on their original channel (any), notes on the record 
channel will pass through.
In the new build, notes on the record channel are not passed thru 
unless record is active with record mthru on, as this seems more 
logical to me.<<

presumably this is only the case when a single channel has been
nominated for all recording? 

>>I've also applied the current PXPos value to notes passed by record 
mthru....It's not practical to do this for the normal soft-thru.<<

damn. bother. but it's probably for the best. it could get very
confusing if a keyboard that was routed through the p3 suddenly
changed key "on it's own".... I'll have to figure out another way of
transposing the maq then.
but I do like seeing those sharps & flats in the FTS edit display....

I did a bank init, & all the tracks in all the parts come up enabled.
wouldn't it make more sense if they came up in their "off" state?
being as they're empty, I mean?
I noticed something else last night too- I must've been behind by a
couple of builds.... when you're editing a pattern that's not
currently playing, the step-strobing is more obviously different than
when the pattern is playing. that always used to bother me- it's much
better now.

>>if you hold STEP MODE as you switch from GATE to TIE....<<

er.... you mean the upper step mode key?

duncan/r.m.i.

> presumably this is only the case when a single channel has been
> nominated for all recording? 

It applies all the time.
If you select 'any' as record channel, nothing passes through except in
record mode with mthru on.

 > >>I've also applied the current PXPos value to notes passed by record 
> mthru....It's not practical to do this for the normal soft-thru.<<
> 
> damn. bother. but it's probably for the best. it could get very
> confusing if a keyboard that was routed through the p3 suddenly
> changed key "on it's own".... I'll have to figure out another way of
> transposing the maq then.

The reason it's not practical is because there isn't enough RAM left to keep
track of the held notes on all 16 channels.
Potentially I could track the notes on a single output channel, if the thru
setting was set to channelise all input other than the record channel.
But that may not be much use depending on your situation.
Another possiblity would be an option to pass the record channel through,
including PXPos, all the time.
Then you could set the record channel to be the MAQs output channel, and use
a quick burst of record mode on a track to set the desired output channel.
That would mean not being able to record from a keyboard whilst transposing
and FTSing the MAQ though.

> I did a bank init, & all the tracks in all the parts come up enabled.
> wouldn't it make more sense if they came up in their "off" state?

If you find someone else to agree, and no-one to disagree, I can change it.

> >>if you hold STEP MODE as you switch from GATE to TIE....<<
> 
> er.... you mean the upper step mode key?

No, STEP MODE.
Normally switching from GATE to TIE, you would press and *release* the STEP
MODE key.
Then you'd turn on tie on some steps, before pressing STEP MODE three times
to get back to GATE.

Now if you press and *hold* STEP MODE from GATE mode, you will switch to TIE
and if you enable or disable the ties on any steps while the STEP MODE key
is held, when you release the STEP MODE key, it will jump back to GATE.
A future extension of this shortcut may include multiple-key stretching of
notes with tie.

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

> presumably this is only the case when a single channel has been
> > nominated for all recording? 
> 
> It applies all the time.
> If you select 'any' as record channel, nothing passes through 
except in
> record mode with mthru on.

ah-hah. got you now.

>>That would mean not being able to record from a keyboard whilst 
transposing and FTSing the MAQ though.<<

I expect it's an issue unique to my band & setup, that my colour-
blind & non-technical oppo wants to carry on using the maq (which is 
actually working on three different channels at once, as is it's 
wont) but my slightly frustrated guitarist wants to incorporate some 
key-changes. well, we should be able to write parts for the maq so 
that just F'ing-T-S will work, without transposing aswell. or I will 
have to send it a transpose note-on/off (on two or three channels at 
once) whenever there's a part change on the p3. tricky... especially 
since the p3 is only sending clocks to the maq. ah, we'll figure 
summat out. it'll probably involve the pc1600, still the best midi 
controller out there, imho.

 
> If you find someone else to agree, and no-one to disagree, I can 
change it.<

well... it's just a tad counter-intuitive (for me, anyway) for the 
empty tracks to light up as though they've got something to play. not 
a biggie. :-)

>>No, STEP MODE.... A future extension of this shortcut may include 
multiple-key stretching of notes with tie.<<

much clearer, ta. must've been the smoke in here, couldn't read 
properly.

duncan.

> I expect it's an issue unique to my band & setup

Maybe.
Maybe most people don't actually use soft-thru on P3.
Aside from auditioning parts you are about the record, I suppose one of the
main reasons for using it would be to take advantage of the FTS, so maybe
PXPos should apply, at least optionally.
I could always use 'all notes off' messages to kill any hung notes when the
current FTS or PXP setting changes. That would be fairly brute force though,
and attached instruments would need to support it.

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

Colin f wrote:

>
>>I did a bank init, & all the tracks in all the parts come up enabled.
>>wouldn't it make more sense if they came up in their "off" state?
>>    
>>
>
>If you find someone else to agree, and no-one to disagree, I can change it.
>
>  
>
I agree. I always init a bank then turn off all tracks so I can enable 
them as I start to work on them. Seems logical.

Paul

---
Paul Nagle / Soft Room Music / Bogus Focus Records / Binar / Headshock / The Joint Intelligence Committee
        www.softroom.co.uk / www.BogusFocus.com / www.JointIntelligenceCommittee.com

>>I did a bank init, & all the tracks in all the parts come up enabled.
>>wouldn't it make more sense if they came up in their "off" state?
>>    
>>
>
>If you find someone else to agree, and no-one to disagree, I can change it.

I agree as well :)

Jesper.

>>I agree. I always init a bank then turn off all tracks so I can
enable them as I start to work on them. Seems logical.<<

not sure how to take this latest development... I've suggested summat
that seems logical to paul. ah.
welcome back, man. how was the trip? I was just about to ask you if
you were doing anything to y'r repeater &... there it is.

d.

ferrograph632 wrote:

>not sure how to take this latest development... I've suggested summat
>that seems logical to paul. ah.
>  
>
:)

>welcome back, man. how was the trip? I was just about to ask you if
>you were doing anything to y'r repeater &... there it is.
>  
>
Lots - if you get chance, why not come to a party this Saturday and see 
what I'm up to with it?
http://www.kundaliniuk.com/

More about the trip when I get some typing time (Jan 2006 looks clear so 
far!) but it was ACE! Got to play with SSO and other cool dudes and I 
think I may have converted Airsculpture to dance music! And the P3, 
naturally....

Paul


-- 
---
Paul Nagle / Soft Room Music / Bogus Focus Records / Binar / Headshock / The Joint Intelligence Committee
        www.softroom.co.uk / www.BogusFocus.com / www.JointIntelligenceCommittee.com