M8 Tracker

The Lounge Other Gear
#4512

New firmware, fills added!

2023-04-28 - Version 3.0.4

  • Fix: Critical issue with sampler when saving files sometimes failed to save
  • New: Phrase note fill shortcuts - While in selection mode highlight note column and rows and use:
  • [Opt]+[Left] to cycle between fill spacings
  • [Opt]+[Right] to randomly generate a note sequence. Select both note and velocity to random velocity
  • [Opt]+[Up] to randomize the notes up
  • [Opt]+[Down] to randomize notes down
  • Undo fill is possible by using the paste shortcut after exiting selection mode [Shift]+[Edit]
  • Improved: External instrument no longer stops audio on OFF commands
  • Improved: Phrase editing note preview now works with ARP and vibrato FX commands
  • Improved: Sampler Slice FX command now works in conjunction with Start offset command
  • Fix: Sampler had slight volume issue on new notes when using sample loop mode
  • Fix: MIDIOUT program change bank would fail to send on occasion
  • Fix: MIDI input could hang notes if table has a note transpose
  • Fix: Theme view clearing background color would not reset the background
25 Likes
#4513

lol, was just thinking the only thing the PE trackers have over the M8 that i care about is their filling options. no more now tho heh. very nice im hyped

excited about the external instrument off improvement too, that was one of those “too math logical for real use” things i think

4 Likes
#4514

Knockin it out of the park again & again.

2 Likes
#4515

Awesome

1 Like
#4516

ordered one of the july batch…now playing two month with furnace tracker…

1 Like
#4517

Currently following the process for my MacBook to get more familiar with the workflow before July batch. I hope once everything is setup there is only to launch the M8 final program and not to do again a lot of different steps

#4518

Wow, the random fill command takes this legend status.

3 Likes
#4519

I wasn’t initially sure how well the random note feature would work, but it ends up being fun and useful given how simple it is. It helps that you can combine the key commands, so you can quickly get things like evenly spaced notes with random pitches and velocities using a two command combo.

1 Like
#4520

Does it have options like euclidean? Need to update my m8.

#4521

The current implementation has “fill every n steps evenly” (every 1 step, 2 steps, 3 steps, etc) and “fill random positions in the current selection”. This gives a subset of euclidean rhythms (with the “evenly spaced” options) but does not cover all of the available euclidean rhythms for a given sequence length.

I don’t know anything about the actual constraints of what is possible to implement in the code, but it seems conceptually like euclidean rhythms could be covered in a future update. Euclidean rhythms take 3 parameters: sequence length, number of events, and phase. The user determines the sequence length by the length of the selection made (number of rows), and the phase can be ignored since the M8 already has a key command to shift entire rows up and down which is the equivalent of a phase shift for a euclidean rhythm. So that just leaves the number of events that the user would have to be able to select somehow with a key command. But that could be treated just like the current “fill every n steps” feature, where a single key command cycles through the available options. No idea if this is being considered for a future update, but seems like it could be possible.

2 Likes
#4522

ive been having fun using the random patterns and notes/vel to make neat little background percussion textures, im a sucker for a percussion loop.

#4523

Lack of Fill options was one of the reasons I parted with mine. The 3.X updates really look great. Certainly GAS inducing anyway!

#4524

Now with fill and random there are so many combos on this this thing, I can’t help but feel it could use an extra pair of buttons. Any tips for new users finding their way around?

1 Like
#4525

Practise, soon you won’t think about key combos anymore and when you know your way around, it’s very fast and intuitive.

4 Likes
#4526

yeah, there’s a lot of shortcuts available through button combos like inserting interpolated values into a table.

No advice to offer other than take your time to learn each thing… and there are lots of things to learn! Use the feature enough and it’ll become second nature.

1 Like
#4527

You can easily create euclidean sequences by using tables.
Instrument Table tic 06
Table on step 0 - RET10
Then choose a step length and put - HOP00
Done.
You can shift things either in the table itself, or by shifting the note command in the pattern.

I have several such tables with different lengths in the end of my table list. Using when needed.
In the new firmware you can use 2 tables at the same time if needed.

BTW, if your instrument is not relying on tables to produce sound, then you can use all 3 (6 in the new firmware) lanes for euclidean sequences with different lengths.

8 Likes
#4528

Great point about tables. Nice to be able to use tables instead of an explicit fill when possible.

Can this table method produce euclidean sequences when the number of onsets is greater than half the total sequence length? For example, the following illustrates two instances of the euclidean sequence of 11 onsets (represented by the letter x) in a sequence of length 16:

|x0xx0xx0xx0xx0xx|x0xx0xx0xx0xx0xx|

Is this something that can be done with tables on the M8, or would this requires a fill option to support it? My knowledge of tables is limited; definitely something that is worth digging in to further for me.

Perhaps the fact that it is the inverse of the sequence of 5 onsets out of 16 can be leveraged to produce the sequence of 11 onsets with tables? There would be a phase shift needed, but there are ways to do that with the M8 as already mentioned.

#4529

In such case you can extract a repeating part (x0x), and add one more RET before HOP to simulate it.
It’ll look like this:

0 RET10
1 –
2 RET10
3 HOP00

#4530

Currently learning with the teensy. It looks quite complex honestly with a no tracker background. I am glad I started before receiving the machine. Hope by then I will manage the workflow. For now I can’t even play chords or drums (I only spent 1-hour with it though). The good thing is that the manual is clear and lot of tutorials are available

image
image3024×4032 1.97 MB

8 Likes
#4531

is there currently a way to do a fixed length recording?
would love to arm the sampler hit play in ableton for an 8 bar chord progression then have the sampler stop after 8 bars then go ahead to slice etc

as far as I can tell not possible, instead got to manually hit stop then futz around cropping the end point/moving slice start points around

examples where this functionality already exists: Octatrack (QREC), Digitakt/Smpltrek both let you specify recording length up front in bars