Re: MBSEQ V3 talk

[stryd_one]

Awesome, thanks TK!

[stryd_one]

Very interesting I sat for 2 hours today, reading this code, while waiting for my g/f to come out of the operating theatre. I hardly even noticed how much time had passed, what a fun distraction 

I like the implementation of the track chaining, with the handshaking. Good thinking TK!

[Mr_modnaR]

what happened to her if you don’t mind me asking? please tell me you didn’t try to MIDIfy her?

ok, that was slightly sick of me given i don’t know what’s wrong with her, but no sickness was intended.  8)

[stryd_one]

LMFAO ! No sickness taken

Actually there’s a lesson in this for us all I think… She tripped over a power cable, landed badly, and spent months learning to walk again … This was an operation to re-tear the ligaments to hopefully allow her to regain full range of motion in the knee.

A good demonstration of how the tiniest slip in safety procedures (leaving a power cable on the floor where it can be tripped on) can be a real pain! Remember this when building your new seq

[Mr_modnaR]

sounds nasty! let’s hope she doesn’t end up with a replacement later on in life.

[T.K]

I like the implementation of the track chaining, with the handshaking. Good thinking TK!

it’s realized in a way like I would implement it with hardware (I had some flip flops in mind

Did you also notice the credits in seq_scale.inc?

Best Regards, Thorsten.

q

[MTE]

Yehaa

Yesterday a big package of 100 Duo-Leds and microbuttons arrived…

cant await to sitting behind my new layout and create the new killer-frontpanel for Seq 3

The snapshot is nice easy to read / modify…

this is so awesome update…bow to the godfather  ;D

Regards

MTE

[stryd_one]

Yehaa

Yesterday a big package of 100 Duo-Leds and microbuttons arrived…

cant await to sitting behind my new layout and create the new killer-frontpanel for Seq 3

Yeh, something heart-warming about a bag of LED’s the size of a mini football

I was thinking it could be worthwhile to consider a new CS layout with the new version, but aside from the addition of a few buttons, it seems like the v2 UI is just fine…

What do you think TK? Is it worth creating a new kind of layout for those who are building a new v3, not upgrading an existing v2?

[MTE]

Hi

Yoh look thats my idea about the new Seq V3 layout (->attachment)

the quadratic Duo-LEDs works as buttons…also there are 4x 7-segment-digits for BPM-Display, cause i readed in another post TK will implement them…I hope it will work for 4 pieces for " 120 ,x" BPM

Enjoy

MTE

[stryd_one]

A thought…where a button can be held in place to act like a ‘shift’ button, you want all those buttons together, on one side of the CS, so that you can use one hand to hold it in, and the other hand to hit the other button

[intellijel]

You should also add four dedicated buttons/leds for choosing between track groups:

1. Tracks 1-4

2. Tracks 5-8

3. Tracks 9-12

4. Tracks 13-16

[MTE]

Updated

[T.K]

A thought…where a button can be held in place to act like a ‘shift’ button, you want all those buttons together, on one side of the CS, so that you can use one hand to hold it in, and the other hand to hit the other button

the other hand is mostly busy with tweaking the rotary encoders…

Shift buttons are a nice possibility to save money, but they mostly lead to compromisses

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[stryd_one]

Glad that all the chatter was taken out of the news thread

Back to the subject at hand…

;; TODO!!! -> use NRPN

Interesting, I had wondered how you would handle the control with all the extra tracks and layers etc… NRPN’s will be cool, I guess it will naturally provide a way of grouping certain similar functions … Do you plan to implement sending NRPNs from the tracks via the LoopBack?

Next thing I want to investigate is the button matrix, to see if 16x16 is possible… And I noticed some new flags for clocking (tick and also step now…hmmm) and I haven’t looked at the new track layers yet… It’s really a lot of work you’ve done to this thing TK, thanks again dude!

[T.K]

Interesting, I had wondered how you would handle the control with all the extra tracks and layers etc… NRPN’s will be cool, I guess it will naturally provide a way of grouping certain similar functions … Do you plan to implement sending NRPNs from the tracks via the LoopBack?

yes!

Each track will get its own Loopback channel, the NRPN address will be set accordingly, so that the value can be controlled with a normal CC

For external parameter control, NRPN over a single MIDI channel will be the only option.

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[Mr_modnaR]

Just push and hold the “Move” button, and shift left/right the

    step with the encoder below the step

    It should be self explaining once you try it out!

just a quick question: where is the ‘move’ button? i don’t yet have an mbseq and have used all the legending from your box TK. i don’t see a move button, is it called something else?

thanks

[T.K]

I’ve changed the description to make this more clear:

    Just push and hold the "Move" function in the save page (GP Button #7),
    and turn on the encoder below the step which should be moved.
    It should be self explaining once you try it out! :)
[/code]









And I've created a video to demonstrate, how much fun it makes: :)



[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSG\_GgWkaB4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSG_GgWkaB4)







I will create a new Utility page, from where such functions (and some more) are accessible, because I think that moving steps is not only useful for recorded tracks.







Best Regards, Thorsten.

[Mr_modnaR]

great, thanks tk. i know it’s not an excuse, but as i don’t have an mbseq, i really have not a clue how one operates it!

cheers.

[dcer10]

Hi All,

Ive noticed a few odd things about the V3 seq so far and have some questions.These are just a few to start. Note this is not in any way a criticism of what has been done so far, If I was to write a list of what is excellent about the seq it would be many times longer Im just hoping to be able to add to the ideas base of the development, or to be set straight on usage.

1. How do you save a song? When pressing menu, save in song mode it looks like the normal save, is it different? If this is how to save the song it didnt make sense to me.

2. When playing a patten, or song on the first bar it will play the last pattern of the song or last used pattern, then go out of time at the end of the first bar, then play normally. Is this a known bug? Maybe it is due to the memory problem Im having (next paragraph)??

3. There seems to be several odd memory problems. When I added the memory was all tested to work, the first pattern was ok, the rest all had stuff on them and could not be used (easily) to make new patterns and also had malformed characters on the screen for the layer assignments and outputs, some other outputs not normally used could be selected but when the encoder was turned back to the normal outputs you could only select the normal output ports. I made a blank pattern up and copy it to a new location before using a new location each time now, which is more work than needed. Is there a way to erase the patterns etc quickly or reformat the bankstick manually?

4. Using groups seem to be hard to do. Usually when I select G2 T1 the indicator LED is not moving even when I select a pattern to play in G2T1. I have to copy over my “blank” pattern to use it, and sometimes this doesnt work. I have had very limited success with using more than group 1. Im sure this is a mis use on my part, so maybe someone can walk me through the process??

5. How do you access the 17th track? I assume this is to link songs and record changes made to an overall master song? This may be the most important feature for me as I would like to be able to make a whole live show using only this sequencer for the midi source if possible. In general I would like to see the song mode expand as much as possible. One thought is to allow for more song steps for more detailed songs??

6. How do you define your own types of layers? There are several choices, but they are still limited. Would it make more sense to allow the user to select each layer type individually as a new custom layer type at the end of the list?

7. What is the trigger button and how is it intended to be used? The screen seems to show a series of numbers which I can not seem to make do anything.

8. Random function. It would be great to have a random function to fill in the layer you are editing for notes, gates, cc etc, perhaps random or random to scale??

9. Midi router, I think this could use a pep up so that midi inputs could be routed to outputs in a more defined way. This could almost have its own post if fully explored A simple router with easy use would be best in my opionion.

10. How do you set a program change to the track without wasting 2 layers? It would be awesome if each pattern could have a program change on each track which is sent the first time the pattern is played, and could be set (and would be by default) to off for people who dont want one sent? Would this be possible? I know many synths use many methods of program change, so maybe a few could be supported? Program change messages would greatly increase the usability of the seq for me. Even if they were stored in the song, or something like that??

11. Morphing. When I try to morph one track in a pattern to another track in another pattern I get interesting results which is good, but when the value is aproaching 127 it always just plays a series of the same note on every 16th step, is this the expected behaviour?

Theres lots more I want to talk about too, but this will be a good start!

Thanks

John

[T.K]

1. How do you save a song? When pressing menu, save in song mode it looks like the normal save, is it different? If this is how to save the song it didnt make sense to me.

Changes in the song are always saved once you select a new song position, or exit the menu

2. When playing a patten, or song on the first bar it will play the last pattern of the song or last used pattern, then go out of time at the end of the first bar, then play normally. Is this a known bug? Maybe it is due to the memory problem Im having (next paragraph)??

This was an error in one of the last builds, it should be fixed in the meantime. Do you notice this effect with the latest build?

3. There seems to be several odd memory problems. When I added the memory was all tested to work, the first pattern was ok, the rest all had stuff on them and could not be used (easily) to make new patterns and also had malformed characters on the screen for the layer assignments and outputs, some other outputs not normally used could be selected but when the encoder was turned back to the normal outputs you could only select the normal output ports. I made a blank pattern up and copy it to a new location before using a new location each time now, which is more work than needed. Is there a way to erase the patterns etc quickly or reformat the bankstick manually?

Nobody else reported problems with the memory yet, and I also haven’t noticed this by myself in the last months.

Reformatting: the easiest way is just to change the magic number in app_defines.inc - this will format the BankSticks with the next boot. Thereafter change back to the original value, so that the BankSticks will be formatted again, but for the official magic number.

4. Using groups seem to be hard to do. Usually when I select G2 T1 the indicator LED is not moving even when I select a pattern to play in G2T1. I have to copy over my “blank” pattern to use it, and sometimes this doesnt work. I have had very limited success with using more than group 1. Im sure this is a mis use on my part, so maybe someone can walk me through the process??

How do you select G2T1?

Normaly I press and hold the mute button, and press the track which should be selected with one of 16 GP buttons. Thereafter I change back to the edit menu.

5. How do you access the 17th track? I assume this is to link songs and record changes made to an overall master song? This may be the most important feature for me as I would like to be able to make a whole live show using only this sequencer for the midi source if possible. In general I would like to see the song mode expand as much as possible. One thought is to allow for more song steps for more detailed songs??

The 17th track has been removed by the Loopback function. Just select the appr. port in the Event menu - any track can play the role of a “master” track, it’s even possible to use multiple tracks for this, and to mute/unmute them. Or to use a seperate group (pattern) and only to switch this “master track pattern” while all other groups play a static pattern.

It’s only important, that the master track is located before the other tracks, otherwise it can happen, that a new base note should be played, but the other tracks only get it with the next step.

So, best choice is group 1, track 1

6. How do you define your own types of layers? There are several choices, but they are still limited. Would it make more sense to allow the user to select each layer type individually as a new custom layer type at the end of the list?

It is not possible to define own layers, since many definitions are required (see seq_layer.inc) - which combinations are you missing exactly?

7. What is the trigger button and how is it intended to be used? The screen seems to show a series of numbers which I can not seem to make do anything.

There are three trigger layers, each can be assigned to a function in the Assign menu. E.g., Trigger Layer A to Gate, Trigger Layer B to Accent, Trigger Layer C to Roll. If this is not enough information, just wait for the documentation, which I will write in some days.

Cool Random function. It would be great to have a random function to fill in the layer you are editing for notes, gates, cc etc, perhaps random or random to scale??

Nice idea, I will add this to the Utility menu.

9. Midi router, I think this could use a pep up so that midi inputs could be routed to outputs in a more defined way. This could almost have its own post if fully explored Smiley A simple router with easy use would be best in my opionion.

I haven’t planned to extend the possibilities of the MIDI Router. But which function are you missing? Maybe it could be easily added, but note that the MIDI Configuration menu is already completely filled - hope that your wishes don’t require a new menu!

10. How do you set a program change to the track without wasting 2 layers? It would be awesome if each pattern could have a program change on each track which is sent the first time the pattern is played, and could be set (and would be by default) to off for people who dont want one sent? Would this be possible? I know many synths use many methods of program change, so maybe a few could be supported? Program change messages would greatly increase the usability of the seq for me. Even if they were stored in the song, or something like that??

This is in the “planned for a future release” list, but I’ve no idea, where to store this information, and how to allow the user to select the program change. It’s also not clear to me, if it makes more sense within a pattern, or within a song. And at least I don’t know, if it is really an important feature, where it makes sense to spend some hours to realize it (I wouldn’t use it by myself), or if this is just one of those ideas of the type “I’m missing something what I saw in another sequencer”

11. Morphing. When I try to morph one track in a pattern to another track in another pattern I get interesting results which is good, but when the value is aproaching 127 it always just plays a series of the same note on every 16th step, is this the expected behaviour?

This seems to be a bug. But it could also be related to your BankStick issues.

Best Regards, Thorsten.