Model: Cycles optimum file management for live usage

[muntjac]

Hi all, first time posting so hope I’m not missing anything.

I was curious as to how all the cycle owners on here like to have their cycles optimized for playing live. Previously I’ve been having a lot of fun messing around with the synth, I absolutely love what it can do and creating and altering parameters on the fly. But it’s my first synth and a lot of the sounds I make are fairly basic, so I’ve decided to spend a bit more time working with presets and reverse engineering them, both factory presets and several I’ve downloaded (some from Elektron, one I believe was a community pack).

As of right now I’ve used Elektron Transfer to sort through all my favourites the downloaded presets from Elektron and other community sources into folders named by the type of sound they make (like bass, kick, stab, etc.). I want to do the same with my favourite of the factory presets, however this is proving to be fairly tedious, as I can’t delete factory presets I dislike (it says "write protected) or move the ones I do like around with Elektron transfer. So I find myself stuck loading factory presets, then navigating to the folder I want to re-save them in, and saving and renaming them there. It’s not the longest process in the world, but before I did a deep dive of all the sounds I wanted to know if there’s anything I’m missing here?

Also, as an aside, does anybody have any tips about setting up a project for live usage? I’ve been coming up with a few ideas about creating a chain of 96 patterns which slowly morph from one “song” to the next with changes every 8 patterns or so. However I was wondering if anybody had been using the cycles for live stuff and had a solid method worth me trying.

Thanks everybody!

[bibenu]

@muntjac

So I find myself stuck loading factory presets, then navigating to the folder I want to re-save them in, and saving and renaming them there.

I had similar objectives but I found a process that, for me at least, worked a bit better. I used a computer and the transfer app. In my sweep through the factory folders, I would find the next 6 sounds that I liked, load them to the six tracks, while noting their names in a text file on the computer. When all 6 tracks are loaded, instead of “save preset” do “save kit” which saves all 6. Then transfer those to the computer, and there rename them according to your notes, and organise into folders. Finally, when you’ve swept the whole of “factory” then transfer the files back to M:C.

This worked for me as I could take advantage of computer shortcuts like cut and paste for file names, drag and drop for files, and of course a keyboard for typing names.

BTW, Welcome … and cool name

[muntjac]

Thanks for the reply, that does sound like a much better way! Definitely giving this a shot once I have the time. I think there’s something crazy like over 200 factory presets so this’ll be sure to save me loads of time

I’ve been lurking on this forum for a while and it seems like a great community so I’m very happy to be here

[bibenu]

@muntjac

So I find myself stuck loading factory presets, then navigating to the folder I want to re-save them in, and saving and renaming them there.

I’ve documented a better way here:

Model:Cycles Tips & Tricks Thread

I’ve seen it asked in a couple of places, how can I easily re-organise the factory samples in the M:C. The problems being (1) the transfer app does not expose the /factory folder and (2) you can’t move preset file conveniently, so if you want to have a folder of, say, bass drum sounds which is a mix your own and say 10 from the factory folder, it’s not terribly easy. It’s not too hard to figure out, but save effort, here it is. You need the transfer app AND a ‘sysex app’ like C6 or sysex librar…

[psyopsheep]

My folders look something like this: (the numbers keep them above factory folder)
0KIK
0SNR
0HH
1BASS
1SYNTH
1PLUCK
In each folder presets are named A through Z. Scan through to see what the last one was named before hitting FUNC to save.