Scale Setup Adv - CHNG Parameter not overriding Master Length?

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#1

Per the manual:

The MASTER column is only available in ADVANCED mode. Here the master length, the master change length
and the general time signature of the pattern are set.
LEN controls the amount of steps the pattern will play before all tracks are restarted. An INF
setting will make the tracks of the pattern loop infinitely, without ever being restarted. Note that
this setting also affects for how long the active pattern will play before a chained pattern will
start playing. This can be overridden by the CHNG parameter.
CHNG controls for how long the active pattern will play before a cued or chained pattern will
begin to play. This setting is important when for example LEN is set to INF. If no CHNG setting
is made, the pattern will play infinitely and the next pattern will thus not be cued. But if CHNG
for instance is set to 64, the pattern will behave like a pattern consisting of 64 steps in terms of
cuing and chaining.

This is not working for me when I chain patterns. The next pattern won’t play. My Master is set to INF and my CHNG is set to 16, 32, 64 or whatever. Per the manual, doesn’t a value for CHNG override the Master Length, in this example set to INF, and allow patterns to change according to the value of CHNG???

Am I missing something?

#2

nobody?

#3

nobody has had this issue?

#4

Tried it. And yes it does not work as intended. When I set for example LEN to 32 I can manually change to the next pattern after those 32 steps are played. But in Chainmode or in Songmode it doesn’t work at all. You cannot leave the pattern. This is not intended and therefore buggy behaviour.

Workaround for now:
(Copy your pattern and) set master length to any different value up to 1024 to set after how many steps it should go to next pattern of chain. For example, if one track has 7 steps and all the others have 64 steps your LEN should be 448 for a smooth transition to the next pattern. 448 is 7x64

#5

Thank you very much for confirming :slight_smile:

I will report this to support - maybe this can be addressed in a future update.

Cheers!

#6

A BUMP to say - this appears to be fixed with one of the recent updates.

The A4/AK can now play INFinitely long polyrhythms and still act on PGM Change messages to switch pattern.

It would be nice if the list of fixes in the firmware update changelog actually listed all the fixes!

#7

But does this work in Chain or Song mode? I have the most updated firmware and the CHNG parameter does not override the Master length.
Curious

#8

But does this work in Chain or Song mode? I have the most updated firmware and the CHNG parameter does not override the Master length.
Curious[/quote]
Sorry, I sold my AK a short while after posting. I was pretty sure at the time. :wink:

#9

But does this work in Chain or Song mode? I have the most updated firmware and the CHNG parameter does not override the Master length.
Curious[/quote]
(I have an A4 now…)

This still appears to be broken. CHNG does not work with chains regardless of the MASTER setting. (eg. Master LEN 32, CHNG 16). It only works when cueing patterns.

I have opened a ticket with support.

#10

Just checked this on Octatrack (where the “USE PAT SET” value in Pattern Settings does the same job as CHNG) and it is working as expected.

This needs fixing for A4 and AKeys.

Actually, can anyone with a RYTM check if CHNG works with chains?

I really should post this is General Discussion but I don’t want to spam - I’m not selling kitchens and dodgy passports.

#11

Official line is: CHNG doesn’t work with chains.

I got the impression it never will. The manual is “wrong” and should be changed.

The work-around is to make a copy of any patterns you want to chain with a CHNG and instead use the Master LEN.

#12

Can you expand on this or confirm it actually works? I found a bunch of threads on here where people state that neither pattern chaining nor song mode work correctly when you use Advanced Scale settings. I just tried all the permutations of LEN and CHNG and basically my first pattern in the Song just keeps looping infinitely without ever advancing.

Searching around didn’t reveal any workarounds, so if anyone found one, I’d appreciate hearing about it.

#13

Still broken in AK/A4/AR as far as I know.

The official stance has been confusing though. I’ve heard that Elektron doesn’t agree that it’s a bug, but have also seen at least one employee say that they can see why it might be a problem. I wouldn’t hold my breath for a fix. This thread is 4 years old.

#14

Wait… they think that Song Mode and Advanced Scale being mutually exclusive is not a bug? I can understand them not wanting to fix it, but to pretend it’s somehow by design is pretty insane.

I understand this is an old issue, but I wanted to see if the workaround @rikrak posted actually works. It didn’t for me, but I could be doing something wrong.

My workaround yesterday for this was to set up pattern changes via Multi Map and send appropriate notes from my DAW. Kind of annoying, but pretty workable for my needs.