User scales

[spilthyfred]

I’m unsure of limiting note input to a scale. Any music software I can think of applies a scale / transposition after the note information. This way you can change the scale and the notes adapt accordingly.

But maybe there’s a way to do both?

Agree, it would be cool to be able to apply scales as fx or maybe project wide, keeping it nondestructive.

I see what you mean in keeping it nondestructive. The main behavior I would like to see implemented is the ability to choose a key or a set of notes within a table so that when you added transpositions they would step through the notes of the selected key.

One idea could be to just have an "interval column" in the Tables screen that represented the 12 intervals.

By default, all 12 intervals would be filled in and no root note would be set. This would mean that all 12 'notes' would be available for transposing with tables and everything would work as it currently does.

But if you wanted to you could press SHIFT+CURSOR RIGHT to scroll through different 'Root Notes' on the first Interval. Then you could deselect certain intervals in the column, allowing for a manual scale to be set for the transposition to follow.

There could be a section called 'Scales" underneath Source, Speed, and Loop where you could select specific scales for this "interval column".

Once a 'Root Note' was set and a 'Scale' is chosen, the table would be locked to that particular scale or interval pattern. Now when transposing from a note in a pattern, the notes would all be in a chosen Key. (Transpose 'up 1' would move to the next NEAREST note in the selected Scale).

Hope I am not sounding picky here, I am just trying to brainstorm ways this could actually work..

[HeadTwang]

I’m unsure of limiting note input to a scale. Any music software I can think of applies a scale / transposition after the note information. This way you can change the scale and the notes adapt accordingly.

But maybe there’s a way to do both?

Agree, it would be cool to be able to apply scales as fx or maybe project wide, keeping it nondestructive.

I see what you mean in keeping it nondestructive. The main behavior I would like to see implemented is the ability to choose a key or a set of notes within a table so that when you added transpositions they would step through the notes of the selected key.

One idea could be to just have an "interval column" in the Tables screen that represented the 12 intervals.

By default, all 12 intervals would be filled in and no root note would be set. This would mean that all 12 'notes' would be available for transposing with tables and everything would work as it currently does.

But if you wanted to you could press SHIFT+CURSOR RIGHT to scroll through different 'Root Notes' on the first Interval. Then you could deselect certain intervals in the column, allowing for a manual scale to be set for the transposition to follow.

There could be a section called 'Scales" underneath Source, Speed, and Loop where you could select specific scales for this "interval column".

Once a 'Root Note' was set and a 'Scale' is chosen, the table would be locked to that particular scale or interval pattern. Now when transposing from a note in a pattern, the notes would all be in a chosen Key. (Transpose 'up 1' would move to the next NEAREST note in the selected Scale).

Hope I am not sounding picky here, I am just trying to brainstorm ways this could actually work..

That would be amazing! was there any development on scales front since the original post ?

[Gabdv]

Hi there,
Do you know if there an update with different scale possibility like C MINOR, etc etc ? (like hermod seq)

best and thx for the Nerdseq this is an insane tracker

[Holon Mundi]

Another alternative is to simply create a visual aid to indicate when the notes are in the scale and f ex a different color when they are not. This could work side-by-side with limiting input or quantizing pre-programmed scales. A professional acoustic musician would do all of this in the head but as we outsource some aspects practicing to our machines we could be aided by reminders, pointers and restrictions...

I haven't implemented it yet but I'd like to have one silent track (6) with patterns that transposes and adds FX to the other tracks so that some can remain simple and be altered remotely by track 6. It would be great to have tables impose root note and scale changes.

[Holon Mundi]

A idea of how to implement scale quantization could be limiting the inputting of notes from 11 in an octave to 7 or however many notes the scale has while still in the pattern screen. This way it's pretty easy to reach into the world of jazz harmonies where you typically limit/extend the modal range to fit each chord that is being played. Another way to implement it would be to quantize LFOs per step that modulate pitch/mod and constrain them according to scales.

[XORadmin]

My ideas currently (at least a few of them):
In the first place i think tables are not the good place to put the different scales for the main patterns (that is what i understood from this thread). Tables are their own thing. But they could get their own scaling to input. Leaving the tables out for now. The root note is the current pattern note anyway always.

As for the editing, to scale the notes -> Allow only to fill in notes that are in the selected scale. I think about making a new submenu in the track setup which opens the scale editing. There you can choose the rootnote, see all the notes on the keyboard. And a scale selector. Depending on the scale, it shows the active notes on the keyboard. These can also be edited (enable/disable keys) and so an own scale can be derived from it (1 user scale). As an additional idea, here also microtonal stuff could be included, so a C could be always a C which is pitched up some cent for example.
And you define if the scale input should be enabled or not. Transposition on the track changes only the rootnote.
There (or in the Nerd menu, marked pattern) is also a function to change all already filled in notes to the selected scale. This changes the notes then (destructive) in the pattern to the most next ones up/down.
And in the pattern screen or from expernal input, only the scaled notes can/will be inserted (or if scaling has been turned off meanwhile, also some other notes, to get some variation).
Randomisation (which will be upgraded, too) would also only use notes form the Scale-Pool.
This is for the input.

Another function i probably want to add is 'output scaling'. This is independend to the input one. It is like a output filter/manipulator for notes. So if a note (or whatever, it includes everything except for modulations) plays, it will automatically be scaled to the nearest note of the scale up/down.
This could be selected independend for the tracks and allows scaled output from every kind of sequence. That one is only for the 6 CV/MOD tracks.

It's not the very next thing i will do as next the CV Expander has to be finished first. But then it's on top!

Shoot!

[depaffect]

Wow, I love all of that. Sounds super useful and versatile.

[Barney Rubble]

I like the scale concept - can cv and mod work independently on each track as it does now. If a cv output is set to a note scale can the mod output have a different scale applied?

[XORadmin]

I like the scale concept - can cv and mod work independently on each track as it does now.  If a cv output is set to a note scale can the mod output have a different scale applied?

That would be possible i guess.

[ianski]

I think a submenu is a great idea and your implementation sounds very comprehensive. I like the idea of both input and output scaling which would make scales a very flexible feature although I don't fully understand these concepts yet. Being able to throw a sample and hold, LFO or whatever into an input and generate a set of scaled notes sounds like a pretty amazing feature. I think you have some great ideas and your implementation of features always seems to go above and beyond something basic and into a much deeper feature set (like how midi turned out in the end). Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.