Are there any hardware or software sequencers that can generate the kind of MIDI (especially the varying tempo rolls etc) found in Mark Fell tracks, without using Max?
Or are there any Max patches freely available that can do this stuff sort of thing really easily in Max without having to be able to code / understand Max?
Loomer Architect can do any kind of MIDI sequencing in theory, but at that point you might be as well off just learning Max,
Renoise can do some pretty complex sounding stuff, especially with phrases (kind of sub-sequencers) running alongside the main sequencer. It could involve setting very high LPB (lines per bar) values depending on what youād like to do but I know people do use it that way. Redux running inside another DAW could also work.
if you take a look at Live 12ās new MIDI tools, there may be stuff in there that can help you out with rolls, tempo ramps etc. itās actually max under the hood, but you can just use them to add spice to your sequences. Thereās probably numerous max4live patches that will help you too. Iām actually working with Mark in a week or so, but not that familiar with his work, but hopefully will have a clearer idea of how he makes stuff after that.
Maybe Five12ās Numerology?
Great topic!
I love Mark Fellās rhythms.
IOLabs Flux is a fairly direct way (all things considered) to program similar rhythms to some Mark Fell stuff, but itās a Eurorack module so if youāre not already down that rabbit hole may not be the best optionā¦ It does have an extremely robust MIDI implementation and can send MIDI notes over USB though. Itās a trigger sequencer entirely about off-grid rhythms, acceleration/deceleration, and audio rate triggering, which are the things I associate most with Mark Fellās music.
Another option is The Grid in Bitwig, which is maybe more approachable than Max. Itās a modular environment that uses the concept of āphaseā for timing: imagine that instead of a clock progressing a sequencer, the progress through a ramp wave determines where you are in a sequence. A standard ramp wave is the ānormalā way this works, but you can use other waveshapes to drive phase and there a bunch of phase manipulating modules that do cool things like bend the phase curve around a point, both of which can be the source of interesting patterns that run off the grid and exponentially speed up/slow down. This video explains some of the basics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f9raDZN5aM, but you might have to use your imagination a bit to map it onto what Mark Fell does.
What about a Torso T-1?
Just learn max.
If all you want to do is build a few sequencers, itās not that difficult.
This is a really good book thatāll get you up to speed in no time.
Philip Meyer has done loads of YouTube tutorials on sequencing using Max and Gen.
+1 for Phillip Meyerās tutorials, and also for learning Max in general. Thereās not much fun to be had in using a patch written by someone else that sounds like someone elseās (very idiosyncratic) style IMO
I would agree thatās good place to go for being to able to manipulate midi in a whole bunch of interesting ways. There are also some interesting additional tools being created like those by Philip Meyer:
But on the wider topic of Mark Fellās approach - his book Structure And Synthesis gives a lot of great insight into how he createsā¦ I wonāt pretend to have read it all and itās very clear that a lot of what he does isnāt necessarily informed by traditional approaches to writing music. But there is one section in particular where he talks about what a DAW could be and whilst I guess heās talking about MAX, you could apply the concept of thinking about clips as blocks of sound/events that youāre then putting on a page without consideration for the vertical ātracksā in your timeline. With each clip as itās own little miniature self contained block.
Thatās a really good point, in the book Mark Fell does talk a lot about how creating tools as being really important to develop your own way of creating.
Ableton 12 Time Warp has you covered. Or get the pack Flex Groove if you donāt have 12, although the pack is fun even if you have 12. No need to learn Max for such a simple thing. Eurorack is good for this stuff if you want go down that rabbit hole.
Itās the reason I never really use anyone elseās M4L stuff. As weird and wonderful as some of that stuff is im aware itās the fruits of someone elseās labour, and me just plugging that in and getting an instant result out of it just seems totally pointless.
Ive been looking for yonks and cannot find a physical copy of this bloody book for love nor money
Oh, I mustāve just lucked out when I got mine - I think I just randomly heard about it a few months after it came out and it was on Amazon for about 20 quid.
Ned Rushās Drum Rack Buddy will do what you want and is really easy to get started. You can decouple any of the sequencer lanes and have the clock run in ms instead of time divisions.
I could be misreporting (will delete if so): but I love FlexGroove and I got the error notification that it doesnāt work on Apple Silicon devices. Just fyi. But Time Warp MIDI Tool will get OP close to that.
DRIV by K-Devices is worth a look, really fun for time manipulated sequencing, perhaps some of the Novel Music devicesā¦Aislesā¦
Just a quick parenthesis here:
I have listened to some SND stuff and loved it.
But could you guys possibly point me to a nice album he made on his own?
I mean a good entry point to his music, what you would recommend starting with.
This is his best in my opinionā¦ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urVwWMN_J4c&list=OLAK5uy_nk4cIsw4No6tHaoeuWsqZqtKHHDrmHMnM&index=2
Thanks Iāll look at these.
I donāt have Euro.
Thanks I looked at this. It looks really good, but I couldnāt work out if it is completely generative, or if you can still program it the way you want?
Been there before and itās just not my thing.
Great book. Iāve watched loads of his interviews and the way he works is interesting. A proper artist. He published loads of his Max patches too didnāt he.
I mean you could say the same about a lot of tech unless you want to design and build your own hardware/software to use exclusively.
These tools are actually pretty awesome, especially if using it on entire song length midi patterns. Thanks.
Edit: I should add that itās only the flexible tempo Iām interested in, not necessarily the sound design aspect of his work. It would be cool if there was a corse master tempo knob on Elektron gear that you could just mess with live.
Iāve used for a long time in Ableton Live 10 on an M1 MacBook Air.