PATTERN CONTROL / TWEAK! Screen

[Folkdisco]

PATTERN CONTROLLER / TWEAK! Screen
While reading all the midi control stuff, and trying to stop my midi controller from constantly disconnecting, *this* occurred to me. I think this would be *immensely* cool, but obviously, there's quite a lot of work here, and I should probably be a lot less cheeky!

SCREEN LAYOUT
Top row - 8 pattern select buttons.
Right column – 8 Pattern group + Scene select buttons labelled ABCD ABCD.
The rest of the screen is a load of assignable sliders and buttons, like a wonderful in-built soft midi controller, with everything you might want to tweak at once right now, right there on one screen.

NAVIGATION
On the right are 8 smaller buttons, a column of 1x8 with 2 sets of A, B, C, D.
First ABCD set, press A to show A1-A8 pattern buttons, B to show B1-B8. If A1-A8, is already showing, pressing A changes the active pattern set to A9-A16, and back. Etc, etc, etc.
Bottom ABCD set. Same selection logic as above, but selecting 8 controller scenes.
I think this would be a good compromise between screen space, and getting where you want fast.

I know the MIDI options allocate an optional MIDI CC to a parameter, and this is set app-wide.
I think as a user interface, it would be nice to set parameter to a slider, by long clicking on a slider or button, and this opening a popup. Obviously there are A LOT of parameters available, but I think things work pretty fine, and go pretty deep, in the MIDI options.

If the controller scenes are loaded and saved with the song, that would be lovely.
Still great and workable if they're preset in options tho, like the MIDI mapping.
I guess the controller scenes could be loaded per pattern, but it might get silly!
Maybe a user option for size and number of sliders and buttons per scene, I don't know.
Obviously, it's a compromise between number of sliders and buttons on screen at once, vs size.
Having a lot of knobs and buttons would be cool.
But for adjusting several at once, bigger is probably better.
Buttons wouldn't necessarily have to mirror pictorial feedback on the actual app screens – eg, the Beast waveforms, filter types or OSC Mod Type, could be simple press for next with a number feedback (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1…) type thingies.
You already have MIDI controllers able to adjust this stuff, so I *think* it's workable.
The complication might be automation feedback, but if there isn't any feedback, that would still be fine.

Some kind of short punchy label on the sliders and buttons might be nice. Not necessarily 100% accurate due to screen space, but readable. T12:LFO1 for the LFO 1 depth on T12. V2:WAV1 for a waveform button.
Some of sliders and buttons could be pre-set by default to volume, cutoff, mute, reverb send, etc, for each channel.
Others could default to random assigns, based on the module, to gently alert new users to the possibilities within.

I already know that I've written too much, and gone too far!
But I think others might like this just as much as me.
What do you think?

[planet-h]

Welcome to the forum, Folkdisco
And thanks for your message.

PATTERN CONTROLLER / TWEAK! Screen
While reading all the midi control stuff, and trying to stop my midi controller from constantly disconnecting, *this* occurred to me. I think this would be *immensely* cool, but obviously, there's quite a lot of work here, and I should probably be a lot less cheeky!

What MIDI controller are you using (brand, model)?
And what kind of MIDI controller is it (USB, Bluetooth LE)?
What app are you talking about (G-Stomper Studio, G-Stomper Rhythm, G-Stomper VA-Beast, Link to MIDI Bridge)?
What Android version?
What Android device (brand, model)?
I'm sure you understand that without these details we cannot do anything.
Please just send a message from inside the app, then we get all the required info in the mail header (<whatever app you use> / Help / Contact Developer).

SCREEN LAYOUT
Top row - 8 pattern select buttons.
Right column – 8 Pattern group + Scene select buttons labelled ABCD ABCD.
The rest of the screen is a load of assignable sliders and buttons, like a wonderful in-built soft midi controller, with everything you might want to tweak at once right now, right there on one screen.

What screen are you talking about? And in which app?

NAVIGATION
On the right are 8 smaller buttons, a column of 1x8 with 2 sets of A, B, C, D.
First ABCD set, press A to show A1-A8 pattern buttons, B to show B1-B8. If A1-A8, is already showing, pressing A changes the active pattern set to A9-A16, and back. Etc, etc, etc.
Bottom ABCD set. Same selection logic as above, but selecting 8 controller scenes.
I think this would be a good compromise between screen space, and getting where you want fast.

Also here, what screen and what app are you talking about?
I guess you mean the Pattern Set screen in G-Stomper Studio, right?

I know the MIDI options allocate an optional MIDI CC to a parameter, and this is set app-wide.
I think as a user interface, it would be nice to set parameter to a slider, by long clicking on a slider or button, and this opening a popup. Obviously there are A LOT of parameters available, but I think things work pretty fine, and go pretty deep, in the MIDI options.

That would be nice, yes.
Unfortunately a slider has to react as a slider when it's touched in any way.

If the controller scenes are loaded and saved with the song, that would be lovely.
Still great and workable if they're preset in options tho, like the MIDI mapping.
I guess the controller scenes could be loaded per pattern, but it might get silly!
Maybe a user option for size and number of sliders and buttons per scene, I don't know.
Obviously, it's a compromise between number of sliders and buttons on screen at once, vs size.
Having a lot of knobs and buttons would be cool.
But for adjusting several at once, bigger is probably better.
Buttons wouldn't necessarily have to mirror pictorial feedback on the actual app screens – eg, the Beast waveforms, filter types or OSC Mod Type, could be simple press for next with a number feedback (1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1…) type thingies.
You already have MIDI controllers able to adjust this stuff, so I *think* it's workable.
The complication might be automation feedback, but if there isn't any feedback, that would still be fine.

Sorry, but the MIDI mappings will always remain app-wide. They'll never be different per pattern or pattern set.
There might be MIDI mapping presets in the future that can be saved and loaded, but they'll always be app-wide.

Some kind of short punchy label on the sliders and buttons might be nice. Not necessarily 100% accurate due to screen space, but readable. T12:LFO1 for the LFO 1 depth on T12. V2:WAV1 for a waveform button.
Some of sliders and buttons could be pre-set by default to volume, cutoff, mute, reverb send, etc, for each channel.
Others could default to random assigns, based on the module, to gently alert new users to the possibilities within.

What's wrong with the already existing slider labels?

I already know that I've written too much, and gone too far!
But I think others might like this just as much as me.
What do you think?

No problem, we're always open for user input.

[Folkdisco]

This is a request for a completely new screen for GSS. Specifically, a screen showing just 8 half size pattern buttons from the Pattern Sets screen, leaving space for some user definable sliders and buttons below.
This would function like a external midi controller, but within GSS.

The rest of the post is me thinking about how the UI might work in practice, and other practicalities. Eg, if there are user definable options, they need to be saved somewhere. I think *ideally* controller settings could be saved with a song, but they could also be app wide like midi mapping.
Also, if only 8 pattern buttons are on screen, then it requires a slightly different approach to the ABCD 'bank' buttons. See above. Also screen space might (or might not) require a slightly different approach to labels, and as the user assigned controls could relate to any channel (T1-T24, V1-V12), which would complicate the label a bit. See above.

BTW, I think the midi settings and options in GSS are utterly awesome, and way beyond anything I have seen elsewhere on Android. Any problems I have had are nothing to do with GSS. Maybe I need a powered usb hub, but it's probably more to do with a wobbly USB socket on my ancient Samsung S3. Sadly, my current phone does not support OTG.

FYI, my controller is a Worlde EasyControl.9. 19 sliders, 19 buttons, 4 banks. Sadly, no Program Change options, so it is impossible to change patterns via midi.

Sorry, my original post can't have been clear enough, and probably went on too long, for which I take full responsibility! This comment has gotten long too. Sorry! I know this is a *big* feature request. But I do think others would *really* love it too. I think there are so many parameters dotted around different screens, and accessing them all without a midi controller requires so much navigation that very few things can change quickly or simultaneously.

Please keep up the good work on G Stomper, which is absolutely (swearword) brilliant. The more you use it, the more great things you discover.

[planet-h]

This is a request for a completely new screen for GSS. Specifically, a screen showing just 8 half size pattern buttons from the Pattern Sets screen, leaving space for some user definable sliders and buttons below.
This would function like a external midi controller, but within GSS.

Thanks for the explanation, now it makes more sense;)
So basically you mean a modular screen that could have a customized parameter mapping for live usage.
That would allow to bring parameters from multiple screens and modules to one point.
Is this what you mean?

The rest of the post is me thinking about how the UI might work in practice, and other practicalities. Eg, if there are user definable options, they need to be saved somewhere. I think *ideally* controller settings could be saved with a song, but they could also be app wide like midi mapping.
Also, if only 8 pattern buttons are on screen, then it requires a slightly different approach to the ABCD 'bank' buttons. See above. Also screen space might (or might not) require a slightly different approach to labels, and as the user assigned controls could relate to any channel (T1-T24, V1-V12), which would complicate the label a bit. See above.

I know this is not actually what you're looking for, but for the case that you didn't know about the quick pattern set navigator already:
On every screen, you can just long press the MAIN MENU button to show up the quick pattern set navigator.
http://www.planet-h.com/gstomper/docs/html/G-Stomper_UserManual_GeneralControlsInfo/part13.htm
That way you don't have to navigate to the pattern set screen to switch patterns.

BTW, I think the midi settings and options in GSS are utterly awesome, and way beyond anything I have seen elsewhere on Android. Any problems I have had are nothing to do with GSS. Maybe I need a powered usb hub, but it's probably more to do with a wobbly USB socket on my ancient Samsung S3. Sadly, my current phone does not support OTG.

Thanks a lot:). It's great to hear that you're happy with the MIDI setup. Also saw that you've mentioned it multiple times in the caustic forums these days:)

FYI, my controller is a Worlde EasyControl.9. 19 sliders, 19 buttons, 4 banks. Sadly, no Program Change options, so it is impossible to change patterns via midi.

If your current device is running Android 6.x or higher, then the new AKAI LPD8 Wireless (Bluetooth LE) might be an option.
http://www.akaipro.com/products/new-products/lpd8-wireless
We're using this controller for testing. It's very nice for the price and has a surprising low latency over BLE.
(just an idea to work around the absence of USB OTG on your device)

Sorry, my original post can't have been clear enough, and probably went on too long, for which I take full responsibility! This comment has gotten long too. Sorry! I know this is a *big* feature request. But I do think others would *really* love it too. I think there are so many parameters dotted around different screens, and accessing them all without a midi controller requires so much navigation that very few things can change quickly or simultaneously.

No problem at all. You've cleared everything up in this post. Actually, a modular live screen is on the task list since a while. But it was, and still is, blocked by other tasks with higher priority (also because it's one of the big changes, as this would need a lot of new logic). But anyway, thanks for bringing it back in mind;).

Please keep up the good work on G Stomper, which is absolutely (swearword) brilliant. The more you use it, the more great things you discover.

Thank you so much. I'm more than happy to hear that:)