Sequencer editing over MIDI
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:58 pm
So one reason I bought an Arturia BeatStep is it has a step sequencer built in and I was curious what that would mean for something like G-Stomper. I think in my mind I was picturing using its step sequencer to edit sequences in G-Stomper, but, that's not how it works. It can be used to live play in G-Stomper, and you can live record a sequence to G-Stomper, which works but means you need to deal with latency issues, have to start over if you make a change to the sequence in the hardware sequencer, have to wait for it to play through the whole sequence etc etc. Not optimal.
So I was thinking, it could still be made to function like I had been picturing it in my mind, by using the BeatStep not in sequencer mode but in controller mode. But this will require some new mappable functions in G-Stomper. This would probably make most sense in the sampler because I'm not sure how it would be set up in the polyphonic synth.
In my particular case, the controller has 16 backlit pads and I would like to map each pad to one step in the sequencer, such that a pad is lit if that step is enabled. To do that I would need each step to be CC mappable on the sampler channel, with for example zero signifying "off" and 127 "on" (but any two values work for me). It also has 16 knobs that in sequencer mode are used to set the pitch (note) of each step. To imitate that in G-Stomper, I would need the note for each step to be CC mappable on the sampler channel.
That would work for me but I think it would generalize to most controllers with pads and knobs. It doesn't deal with bars but I'm thinking I'll set the edit-pos on-screen and that the CC mappings only affect the edit-pos bar. Good enough for me.
Another idea might be to use note on/off messages to enable steps. There are 128 possible steps in a G-Stomper pattern, and 128 possible notes in MIDI. There are problems with this idea though such as that a normal keyboard will send note off the moment you release a key, and that note messages are already used for live playing melodic samples.
All that text but all I'm really asking for is 16 CC mappings to enable/disable the 16 steps of the current edit-pos, and optionally 16 CC mappings to set the note chromatically for those same steps. Preferably with changes on screen also being sent to the controller, but this already seems to be what G-Stomper does if for example I map a pad as a toggle for LOOP. If I enable LOOP on screen, the pad automatically lights up to signify it's enabled.
Sorry for rambling. I need to sleep.
So I was thinking, it could still be made to function like I had been picturing it in my mind, by using the BeatStep not in sequencer mode but in controller mode. But this will require some new mappable functions in G-Stomper. This would probably make most sense in the sampler because I'm not sure how it would be set up in the polyphonic synth.
In my particular case, the controller has 16 backlit pads and I would like to map each pad to one step in the sequencer, such that a pad is lit if that step is enabled. To do that I would need each step to be CC mappable on the sampler channel, with for example zero signifying "off" and 127 "on" (but any two values work for me). It also has 16 knobs that in sequencer mode are used to set the pitch (note) of each step. To imitate that in G-Stomper, I would need the note for each step to be CC mappable on the sampler channel.
That would work for me but I think it would generalize to most controllers with pads and knobs. It doesn't deal with bars but I'm thinking I'll set the edit-pos on-screen and that the CC mappings only affect the edit-pos bar. Good enough for me.
Another idea might be to use note on/off messages to enable steps. There are 128 possible steps in a G-Stomper pattern, and 128 possible notes in MIDI. There are problems with this idea though such as that a normal keyboard will send note off the moment you release a key, and that note messages are already used for live playing melodic samples.
All that text but all I'm really asking for is 16 CC mappings to enable/disable the 16 steps of the current edit-pos, and optionally 16 CC mappings to set the note chromatically for those same steps. Preferably with changes on screen also being sent to the controller, but this already seems to be what G-Stomper does if for example I map a pad as a toggle for LOOP. If I enable LOOP on screen, the pad automatically lights up to signify it's enabled.
Sorry for rambling. I need to sleep.