Analogue-sequencer

Folks,

Conscious that the P3 manual update is taking longer than I'd hoped, 
I've uploaded a pdf copy of the draft manual for release version 
3.1.006

It isn't quite complete yet, but is mostly there, and may be helpful 
for recent users who're cursing the lack of an up to date manual for 
their new toys.

You'll find the draft here:
http://www.sequentix.com/pdf/p3-manual-draft.pdf
It's 11MB in size, thanks to much more liberal use of graphics than 
the last manual.

There are a few subtle changes to some of the display text for the 
release version, mainly for reasons of consistency.
I've renamed the "chg" setting in playlists to Sync, with values of 
Ptrn and GBar replacing the rather cryptic chg:B and chg:P.
Combined with the new playlist edit chapter, this will hopefully 
make some things that have confused people in the past a bit clearer.

An updated release candidate build is in Yahoo files too.

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

On 16 Mar 2006, at 23:26, colinfraser_com wrote:

> An updated release candidate build is in Yahoo files too.

I see a 3.1.006rc3 there. My brand spanking new P3 claims to be  
running "3.1.006" - is this also an RC version? (It seems to work  
fine, although I did manage to get a note pitch displayed as "???",  
which worried me a little - I'll report back if I can reproduce it.)

	-- N.


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

> I see a 3.1.006rc3 there. My brand spanking new P3 claims to be  
> running "3.1.006" - is this also an RC version?

Yours has rc1.
Rc3 doesn't do much differently.
As I've been updating the manual, I've come across some things that stuck
out as inconsistent, and a couple of things that were less than intuitive.
For example, there is a partial bank init function that used to be accessed
by using FUNC+F1+F2 to confirm the bank init.
I've changed this so that FUNC+<bank init> is used instead, which means the
confirmation page can now clearly show that you are doing a partial init.
The same thing applies to the FUNC+<clr> option in pattern edit, which
de-activates all aux steps rather than clearing the whole pattern.

Another change in text (but not functionality) is that I renamed "change
mode" to "sync" in playlist edit.
"chg:B" and "chg:P" just seemed too cryptic. Possibly "S:Ptrn" and "S:GBar"
aren't much better, but having a setting called "change" makes it difficult
to sensibly describe how to change it.

I was also tricked by Mr Nagle into adding some extra aux events into rc3,
but I'll not tell you what they are, because I said I wasn't going to add
any more.

> (It seems to work  
> fine, although I did manage to get a note pitch displayed as "???",  
> which worried me a little - I'll report back if I can reproduce it.)

??? would displayed for a stored note number that is out of the range of 0
to 127.
That shouldn't be able to happen normally, so I'll be interested if you do
see it again.
The note would still play normally, since the top bit is masked off before
transmission.

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

Nick Rothwell wrote:

>On 16 Mar 2006, at 23:26, colinfraser_com wrote:
>
>  
>
>>An updated release candidate build is in Yahoo files too.
>>    
>>
>
>I see a 3.1.006rc3 there. My brand spanking new P3 claims to be  
>running "3.1.006" - is this also an RC version? 
>
One reason to install the latest release candidate (RC3) would be its 
inclusion of three new MIDI SEND aux events... events that might seem 
odd/weird but which have some rather interesting applications, 
especially if you're using attached drum machines or similar... :)

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 
** New JIC Live CD available at the BogusFocus site now!! **

hi Colin,

i've just had a chance to check out the manual & the rc3 build..
The manual with graphics looks great and everything's pretty clear
imo, although I was kind of disappointed to find that you hadn't done
the Remote Control section yet. Any chance of a brief explanation of
what can be done & how to do it?
And of course I also have a few suggestions:
- Thanks to the manual I've rediscovered the "hold" function in
playlist edit, but I think it may be clearer if the view-type letters,
C for Chase and E for Edit, had an extra option, H for Held.
- There's an Aux-event I hadn't noticed before in the Accumulator Mask
group, "Mute Track, dAcc>n", and I think it might be useful if there
was  an opposite for it, i.e. "Mute track, n>dAcc", for when you use
the auxD accumulator to decrease a value instead of increase it. 
- I'd still really, really like to see both a "set length" and "set
delay" event added to the "Set Step Value" group...

grtz, Chiel

>  I was kind of disappointed to find that you hadn't done
> the Remote Control section yet. Any chance of a brief explanation of
> what can be done & how to do it?

The remore control, real-time record, arpeggio capture, using aux events,
appendices and index are still work in progress.
I'm going to the Musik Messe the week after next, so getting a leaflet
extolling the virtues of P3 finished is taking priority at the moment.

> And of course I also have a few suggestions:
> - Thanks to the manual I've rediscovered the "hold" function in
> playlist edit, but I think it may be clearer if the view-type letters,
> C for Chase and E for Edit, had an extra option, H for Held.

Chase and edit don't show the status of the playlist itself, just how you
are looking at it in edit mode.
I'll see if I can think of some way to indicate that a playlist is held
another way.
Maybe flashing the current playlist step a different colour.

> - There's an Aux-event I hadn't noticed before in the Accumulator Mask
> group, "Mute Track, dAcc>n", and I think it might be useful if there
> was  an opposite for it, i.e. "Mute track, n>dAcc", for when you use
> the auxD accumulator to decrease a value instead of increase it. 

That purpose might be better left to another accumulator which may appear
before long...

> - I'd still really, really like to see both a "set length" and "set
> delay" event added to the "Set Step Value" group...

I sort of forgot about those two.
I've added them in now, as well as squashing the MIDI clock events into a
single event that takes a value of start, stop or continue.
You'll find them in rc4.

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

Colin when do you plan to be at musikmesse exactly,
I still figure if I should go or not but as some folks from US I know  
are there and it would be nice to meet you as well so maybe a reason  
to go then...honestly must stuff wasn't that exciting last years  
aside meeting people in person...

cheers,
henry


Am 18.03.2006 um 15:05 schrieb Colin f:

> I'm going to the Musik Messe the week after next, so getting a leaflet
> extolling the virtues of P3 finished is taking priority at the moment.

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

> I sort of forgot about those two.
> I've added them in now, as well as squashing the MIDI clock events 
> into a single event that takes a value of start, stop or continue.
> You'll find them in rc4.


Hi Colin,

kewl... thnx again!

grtz Chiel

> Colin when do you plan to be at musikmesse exactly,

All the time.
Well, I'll probably need to go and have a look around too, but we have a P3
on the Schneiders Buero Superbooth:
http://www.superbooth.com/

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

Just wanted to say thanks Colin for the updated manual!  Good job 
man.  I have the old 3.1.005 version manual and this latest makes it 
a lot easier to just learn the functions/operation of the P3, the 
diagrams really help.

--- In analogue-sequencer@yahoogroups.com, "colinfraser_com" 
<colin@...> wrote:
>
> Folks,
> 
> Conscious that the P3 manual update is taking longer than I'd 
hoped, 
> I've uploaded a pdf copy of the draft manual for release version 
> 3.1.006
> 
> It isn't quite complete yet, but is mostly there, and may be 
helpful 
> for recent users who're cursing the lack of an up to date manual 
for 
> their new toys.
> 
> You'll find the draft here:
> http://www.sequentix.com/pdf/p3-manual-draft.pdf
> It's 11MB in size, thanks to much more liberal use of graphics than 
> the last manual.
> 
> There are a few subtle changes to some of the display text for the 
> release version, mainly for reasons of consistency.
> I've renamed the "chg" setting in playlists to Sync, with values of 
> Ptrn and GBar replacing the rather cryptic chg:B and chg:P.
> Combined with the new playlist edit chapter, this will hopefully 
> make some things that have confused people in the past a bit 
clearer.

> 
> An updated release candidate build is in Yahoo files too.
> 
> Best regards,
> Colin Fraser
> Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
> http://www.sequentix.com
>

On 23 Mar 2006, at 16:58, monads wrote:

> Just wanted to say thanks Colin for the updated manual!

Seconded: I now understand playlist editing...

	-- N.


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

> > Just wanted to say thanks Colin for the updated manual!
> 
> Seconded: I now understand playlist editing...

Having re-read the previous manual myself, it was pretty hard to follow,
especially on playlist edit.
I virtually wiped out my own understanding of it...

Work on the manual update is ongoing.
I've still to finish the section on aux events, and put the index in.
There will be a couple more subtle changes in the release firmware too.
While trying to explain the probability of a random mask occuring, it
occured to me that it would be much easier just to display the values as a
percentage, rather than odds out of 128.
Hopefully I'll be able to upload the final draft in the next few days,
though it could be postponed by the trip to Frankfurt.
It's not a particularly fun job after the first 30,000 words or so...
Technical authors have my sympathy.

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