Hey Elektronauts.
I appreciate that the OT’s Machines and Sequencer can both be played performatively, and the OT’s MIDI spec allocated unique mix of messaging for remote MIDI control across tracks.
For most PLAY operations, we have ranges of 8 notes for the 8 tracks on ONE channel, the global-set Auto Channel.
- 8 Notes for Audio Track SampleTrigger to (re)trigger the RAM/ROM sound directly.
- 8 Notes for Audio Track SequencerPlay to start/stop individual track motifs via Trigs.
- 8 Notes for MIDI Track SequencerPlay to start/stop motifs on external gear.
However, the RECording operations are limited to a few message (Notes #60-65) for only ONE Active Track at a time, specifying various Inputs or PickUp operations.
When I’ve explored using a remote MIDI controller to trigger RECording on one/more tracks at once (which I call “poly-sampling”)
I have to
- set up multiple-tracks on different MIDI Channels (other than the Auto Channel)
- set my MIDI controller to send the “ComboRec” message (Note #60) on those corresponding channels,
- choose to configure the other PLAY messages either on the channel-per-track scheme to match the ComboRec message, OR use the existing sets of 8 on the AutoChannel.
Can we PLEASE get a set of 8 MIDI notes on the Auto Channel to map to the ComboRec messages across the 8 tracks.
This could make it a lot easier to set up the OT for traditional and experimental
- sampling w/ Flex
- looping w/ PickUp
I nominate we extend the Standard Note Mapping to dip into the Octavebelow the current MIDI Note spec:
- Note #12 (C0) for ComboRec of AudioTrack 1
- Note #13 (C#0) for ComboRec AudioTrack 2
…
*Note #19 (G0) for ComboRec Audio Track 8
Taking a SECOND look at the Standard Note Mapping spec, I see that it only uses 64 notes, but 64 free notes would not allow Direct-Per-Track operations… nor should it for most (like Mute) because the OT already has good UI for superficial direct-track operations…
- the Trig buttons becoming MUTE toggles on the Mixer view,
- the OT can have use QuickMute Note Mapping instead of the standard.
What DOES seem notable is how many operations are subject to the Active Track selection,
- Recorder/Pickup action messages, note Number 60-65,
- PickUp configuration of Sync (Notes 70,71)
- 3 octaves of Sample Pitch playback (Notes 72-96)
… for which we only currently only have 2 messages… - Note 68; Active track Up/Increment
- Note 69; Active Track Down/Decrement
…to make us select Active Track by scanning, where I feel distracted/slowed by having to stop/look/count to get the Active Track where we want it.
Would anyone else like to add (another) 8 Notes to jump the Active Track to various tracks directly ?
Taking a THIRD look at the OT Manual’s Note Mappings, I see that both the QuickMute and the Delay Control Note Mapping dip into the Notes 12-19 that I propose above. If this 8-Track Direct Selection we generalized into the Playback/Recorder operations of the Standard Note Mapping, it could allow the OT to
- approach multi-track looping in ways that are only faster, but more familiar to UX on other multi-track loopers by combining direct “Track Selection” by seperate buttons against contextual “Track Operations” like Multiply upon single buttons.
- allow more agile selection/play of different sounds to be triggered chromatically from a single-channel of Midi Notes. Here, I’d like to borrow the track-multi-selection of the Delay Control Mode/Map: imagine that if you press/release single Notes 12-19, you switch Active Track to Single Tracks to play chromatically… but if you Press/hold multiple notes 12-19, subsequent MIDI Notes 72-96 are sent to those (monophonic) tracks as a Mulit-timbral layering !
- imagine what you could do with aggregators pointing separate Note-streams to Track Selection AND to Chromatic Play.
What do YOU Elektronauts think ?