FR: V2 of Octagon & Samplers
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 7:38 pm
Octagon is an interesting sequencer. What it lacks in traditional sequencing (e.g. set conditions for gate, probability, timing, transposition & velocity of step being triggered (see Reaktor's Kodiak sequencer)) it makes up for in other creative ways - step rate, gate length, number of overall steps - all controlled by CV. However, what Octagon needs to bring it into the modern age is a snapshot feature which allows a new pattern to be loaded. It needs at least 12-16 snapshots which one could cycle through via MIDI keypress (each Octagon could receive on its own MIDI channel) or CV modulation. I would think all the values of a snapshot (number of steps, note, steps per note, sustain/div/etc..) would be a list/vector, just about the easiest data structure there is, so it *should* be simple enough to implement.
A person shouldn't have to load 20 instances of the module to make a song. If one wants a 128 note sequence just sequence four snapshots. If you had snapshots three instances of Octagon would be plenty for a project I think. For something complex like Octagon (32 steps and a busy interface) you need snapshots as you simply could never tweak patterns in real-time like you could with something more simple (think the 8 or 16 step sequencer). So, patterns need to be pre-arranged, be allowed to do their thing and let the spice flow - that's the joy of modular but you need the fundamental 'goodness' in place to work with to allow the magic to happen. Just think of that - three sequencers with 16 patterns - up to 32 steps each - and each instance can accept different MIDI channels so you can designate a separate track for each instance of Octagon in your patch.
As mentioned by Ian Craig, SA2K and a few others in previous posts I don't want nor should I need to rely on 3rd party devs to come up with modules which need cobbling into a piece of abstract Byzantine artwork to get something done which should be standard operating procedure. Sure, sometimes you want to make a complicated monster 'just because' but most of us just want to get some music going.
Another gripe this time for the Sampler modules - why is there no 'sample map editor'? I should be able to load up quite a few samples into a map to spread out across a keyboard (it doesn't have to even be velocity mapped) and then have a specific sample loaded into the Sampler, again by keypress or CV. There can be but a single sample loaded at a time but there should be some mechanism to load them from a sample<->keyboard range structure. As with Octagon, a person shouldn't need many instances of a module to make a patch a performance instrument.
A person shouldn't have to load 20 instances of the module to make a song. If one wants a 128 note sequence just sequence four snapshots. If you had snapshots three instances of Octagon would be plenty for a project I think. For something complex like Octagon (32 steps and a busy interface) you need snapshots as you simply could never tweak patterns in real-time like you could with something more simple (think the 8 or 16 step sequencer). So, patterns need to be pre-arranged, be allowed to do their thing and let the spice flow - that's the joy of modular but you need the fundamental 'goodness' in place to work with to allow the magic to happen. Just think of that - three sequencers with 16 patterns - up to 32 steps each - and each instance can accept different MIDI channels so you can designate a separate track for each instance of Octagon in your patch.
As mentioned by Ian Craig, SA2K and a few others in previous posts I don't want nor should I need to rely on 3rd party devs to come up with modules which need cobbling into a piece of abstract Byzantine artwork to get something done which should be standard operating procedure. Sure, sometimes you want to make a complicated monster 'just because' but most of us just want to get some music going.
Another gripe this time for the Sampler modules - why is there no 'sample map editor'? I should be able to load up quite a few samples into a map to spread out across a keyboard (it doesn't have to even be velocity mapped) and then have a specific sample loaded into the Sampler, again by keypress or CV. There can be but a single sample loaded at a time but there should be some mechanism to load them from a sample<->keyboard range structure. As with Octagon, a person shouldn't need many instances of a module to make a patch a performance instrument.