Squarp Pyramid [compilation topic]

The Lounge Other Gear
#141

Interesting… is the OT looking more attractive now?
seems the OT would not have the sequencing capabilities/flexibility,
but has sampling?
are you missing the sampling?
or is there something about the Pyramid thats not fitting with you?
[/quote]
It’s noway near as capable as a sequencer or builder of songs, compared with the Pyramid.
But it’s a lot of other things. So what I’m finding out is if I really need all what the Pyramid can do.
If I ran a larger hardware rig, then the matter would be settled, though. The Pyramid, hands down. But I don’t. I run a micro rig. Tiny tiny tiny. And I like it like that.
But we’ll see.[/quote]
ah, I see… yeah, if you don’t have much other gear to drive then I can see the dilemma…

how do you think the pyramid does with composing ‘on the fly’?
is it good, or something you tend to ‘plan ahead’ with…

Ive a Spectralis, which I really like, but there are a few areas to do with taking existing patterns and modifying them that i don’t like e.g. copy pattern, double its length, modify it… its really not possible ‘on the fly’, like it is on Push/Ableton.
… but Im kind of considering a hardware solution. mainly to sequence my Spectralis and Virus… so Ive been kind of watching how the Squarp develops.

#142

Once you get to know it, which doesn’t take long, it’s very friendly for quick ideas, spontaneous whims and iterations on iterations. It’s a great tool for just trying out things.
For reference, I think the Octatrack is too, once you learn it. But not everyone agrees with that. So that’s where my mindset is. My all time favourite for just going with it, is the Tempest, though. An extremely spontaneous and inviting instrument for just putting stuff together, going with the flow.

#143

Once you get to know it, which doesn’t take long, it’s very friendly for quick ideas, spontaneous whims and iterations on iterations. It’s a great tool for just trying out things.
For reference, I think the Octatrack is too, once you learn it. But not everyone agrees with that. So that’s where my mindset is. My all time favourite for just going with it, is the Tempest, though. An extremely spontaneous and inviting instrument for just putting stuff together, going with the flow.
[/quote]
Hi there,
nice to hear your enthousiasm. I’m glad you mention the Tempest, the only reason that kept me of it is the sequencer. So I guess it becomes a really interesting instrument in combination with the Pyramid ??? Can one use the pads easely to place trigs in the Pyramid ??? ( because it seems a great interface )

#144

Once you get to know it, which doesn’t take long, it’s very friendly for quick ideas, spontaneous whims and iterations on iterations. It’s a great tool for just trying out things.
For reference, I think the Octatrack is too, once you learn it. But not everyone agrees with that. So that’s where my mindset is. My all time favourite for just going with it, is the Tempest, though. An extremely spontaneous and inviting instrument for just putting stuff together, going with the flow.
[/quote]
Hi there,
nice to hear your enthousiasm. I’m glad you mention the Tempest, the only reason that kept me of it is the sequencer. So I guess it becomes a really interesting instrument in combination with the Pyramid ??? Can one use the pads easely to place trigs in the Pyramid ??? ( because it seems a great interface ) [/quote]
Well, the Tempest is a mixed bag. Or maybe not mixed, but very much an acquired taste. Its sequencer, for example, is very good - funky, playable and with enough features to make killer tracks. But it’s designed to play the Tempest and nothing else. There is a way to sequence external gear with it - one monophonic midi channel - but for that, it’s so bad, just even bothering with it is more annoying than it never being there in the first place.
The Tempest could be used as a controller right into the Pyramid, and the Pyramid could then pick up what you recorded and play it back, so you could make a nice little eco system right there, if you like. Since the Tempest is polyphonic, but its sequencer is not, you can use it to record polyphonic data into the Pyramid and then have it played back into the Tempest as such. Which gives you a lot more options just in terms of creating music.
However, I’d advise anyone who’s considering a Tempest to think twice, until you’ve done your homework and tried one. It’s a very specific instrument, filled with solutions and implementations that are all part of its unique character, but not suitable to all. The envelopes, the voice stealing, the lack of reverb or delay, such things - these matter. In this case, more to some than others. To me, ultimately to the point where the Tempest became one of the instruments I sold.
Had it been slightly more fleshed out, I’d kept it as my only piece of gear instead of the Octatrack. I enjoyed playing it so much. But in the end, its limitations compared to the almost endless possibilities of the Octatrack, made me choose the Octatrack. I don’t regret it.

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#145

hmm, this thread has re-awakened my interest in the pyramid :slight_smile:

(did they reduce the price slightly, for some reason I seem to remember it being a bit more expensive when it was announced?)

going thru the user guide, the editing features look really good (i assume they can all be done without causing odd timing glitches)
but theres a couple of things I cannot see… (and I’m used to on the Speccie)

  • playback direction, fwd, rev, random etc
  • probability on steps

can you also confirm, if you copy a range of steps, and paste, will the pyramid automatically increase the sequence length.?

also if you are adding notes (step mode) with an external controller, will it sound the note immediately (i.e. forward the midi) when you program it, or only when that step is ‘arrived’ at by the sequencer?

funny, the online manual is great, but hard to imagine how it works in practice.

#146

A few of these I can maybe answer…

The price is around 700e, check that you’ve counted in tax.

-Playback direction not implemented
-Step probability not implemented, I think I saw someone mention Squarp is looking into it.

Very good questions, the copy/paste and the ext. controller one.

#147

I don’t have the latest OS, but as far as I can tell, playback is only forward. Given the nature of the Pyramid, 384 bars and so on, this might make sense or not. But looking at Squarp’s road map and their general attitude towards sequencing, it wouldn’t surprise me if this feature is in the works.
There’s no probability, but this, I’m almost sure, they have on their radar.
When you copy a range of steps, you can’t paste them into a void and create a natural continuum. If the section isn’t there already, you need to create the space in where it should go. This is easy, though. Extending and shortening track lenghts is done by one push and the turn of a knob. I copy and paste all the time and have no problem with this. You can also choose the zoom rate if your copy and paste, which means you can copy large sections of complete bars with just one push, if you want to duplicate sequences way longer than 4 bars, for example.
When you add notes, they don’t play back until the sequencer has triggered them. But you can do this in real time, so essentially work on your track as the sequencer is running.

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#148

yeah i certainly think that a lot of that will be implemented, one way or another. Another thing - there is the MIDI Randomizer effect. You can do parameter-lock style edits to CC data, so you could effectively change the MIDI randomization per step on a sequence and get similar results.

The Squarp people seem to be more focused on making a sequencer that lets you write easy, rather than a sequencer that lets it write for you. Probability, sequencer forward/backward/random etc. seem like lazy shortcuts imo … the rise of modular has also led to a rise in people wanting to plug in gear, and have it make notes for them, which is fun but not necessarily productive. the pyramid seems to be more focused on productivity, and all the OS changes are still fleshing out the potential as a concise song writing tool; there are certainly hardware sequencers to fill that random bleep bloop niche. Future Retro Zillion comes to mind.

If you want to get into generative/algorithmic MIDI, or anything that deviates too far from the norm, learning puredata or max/msp is the only way to be fully satisfied with your workflow (which no hardware enthusiast wants to hear, but there is a reason ableton just slapped Max into Live rather than keep inventing new requests for users)

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#149

well, damn. this escalated quickly, and i got one!

One simple question: How do I fast forward or rewind in the sequencer? :smiley:

If I have a 384 bar track, it’ll be a bitch to wait for 380 bars just to overdub the last note…

I must have missed something simple.

#150

Heh Josker!
You must give us your opinion once you have spent some time with the Pyramid
cheers

#151

Not sure how you move forward or reverse, I’ve been looking for that myself.
However, to start at a later section in your piece, just stop and stop again at wherever you’re editing for the moment.
With a high zoom out level, you’ll quickly move between larger sections without too much hassle.
I’m sure there is a way to rewind / forward, though. Just haven’t found it m’self :slight_smile:

#152

If you want to move quickly in 384 BAR, in Step mode, select DISP, then move in your bars with < and >, use zoom if you want to have max 24 pages (×16 =384).

As stated by Andreas, if you stop the sequencer he will automatically start at the beginning of the selected page.

If you double stop, sequencer get to beginning.

I don’t know better solution

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#153

Thanks, yeah – I think that’s the intended solution. To be honest, I can’t think of a better way quickly, myself…

A few feature requests that I already sent them:

-Looping of sections of tracks (I know they’re working on it)
-Percentage quantization, as in Elektrons
-Destructive quantization
-A simple way to delete note/CC data but not FX and other stuff… 2ND+Delete in Live mode would seem intuitive.
-A way to make the shortcuts “sticky”: You know, press NOTE WIDTH in step mode, and you have a couple of seconds/until you press NOTE WIDTH again to make your note width adjustments.

But don’t get me wrong… I’m actually pretty amazed by the amount of possibilities I have with this box.

-It’s so so nice to be able to draw curves with the XY pad for a change, instead of P-locking stuff.

-It’s very very nice to not worry about 64 steps (or 128/whatever with reduced sequencer resolution). I’m trying to get my head around the possibilities when combining things like 64 bar loops and 1 bar loops – you’re able to do neat semi-loop stuff like that, easily.

-I need to think of the best way to record CC’s. It’d be nice to be able to use the Elektrons’ encoders – that way, I wouldn’t have to map stuff in the Pyramid, just hit record and twiddle the Elektrons’ knobs. But at least for now, I’d like to have the option to use the Elektron’s sequencer alongside the pyramid… Which makes it a bit of a cluster**** with things like local control, MIDI feedback loops and all that. There’s many sensible ways to do this, but I’m just trying to figure out the best way for me :slight_smile:

-It’s pretty cool to sequence notes from the Pyramid, CC’s from the Elektron. Do things like 16 bar melodies with a 1-bar filter modulation loop.

-Once you start thinking of stuff like 2 tracks of notes, two tracks of midi CC assigned to one MIDI channel, along with P-locked midi effects, your head really starts to hurt :smiley:

-CHORDS. I’m able to sequence stuff like slightly off-time arpeggio-ish chords, whereas on an Elektron it’s always bam, four notes starting at the exact same time.

Of course, workflow is everything in a box like this, but so far I haven’t found anything that’s very annoying or limiting. It’s very much a two-hand box, though, with all the button combinations.

I’m thinking of doing a video. There’s so so little info about this box. Just have to find some time – Christmas Schristmas…

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#154

I do agree with your post.

I would add, for the moment, the lack of really simple editing mode for notes and chords when working on an existing project.
That’s the only thing that not permit to Pyramid being an real efficient midi station.

In example would be nice to be able to select a step and scroll to reach the note or chord we want. Correction would be so easy.

Then, you see, the piano roll need accoutumance to be a useful editing tool.

Well, I’ve a lot of hope for the future of this beast.

Nevertheless, this sequencer is the more convenient of the market for my kind of work

#155

Oh! I forgot! Your post made me remember:

In the step sequencer, hold down a trig – press a key on your MIDI controller - pitch gets transmitted to the trig. <- This would make it so much quicker.

And yeah, i agree about the “pitch correction”, I’m tempted to think that of course that will be implemented, but it’s a dangerous path to go down… I mean, I was pretty sure that the retrig functionality in the Analog Rytm would be sorted very soon :smiley:

#156

sorry for the post spamming,

But it would appear that the Pyramid developers rule. With a heavy hand.

As I said, I sent some requests… And they’ve already been on most of the stuff I mentioned.

So psyched about this – it’s one thing to own a promising device and another thing entirely to get frequent, to-the-point feature updates for it.

EDIT: PyraOS 0.84 out: http://squarp.net/pyraos.html

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#157

Hello,

In view stop pirates the recent long thread from Andreas,

Here’s a place to talk about our utilisation of Pyramid. …

Or not if you don’t want

Here’s a good news :

" We are happy to announce that PyraOs 0.84 is outwww.squarp.net/pyraos
Pyramid in slave mode is rock-solid, more than ever! We also implemented USB midi IN in addition to the USB midi OUT, it became very easy to sync Pyramid with your DAW…"

From Squarp team today !

To your SD cards !

#158

What does the accelerometer do? I was excited about the latest batch, but they will no longer have this chip. Now, I feel like I should find a used one from the earlier batches that do have the chip.

#159

The accelerometer is like the 5 encoders. It can be assigned to control parameters like fx or cc…

But I don’t think that it’s a good idea to look for this specific function because Squarp says that they have problem with it that’s why they stop it implementation (quality problems).

Hope they will change it for rotative encoders on Pyramid V2

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#160

The accelerometer is near-useless and not very responsive. It is just a pressure sensor under the X/Y pad. I have applied it to many different sources, and none really make usable results. If anything, focusing on the X/Y pad without worrying about pressure compensation may make the X/Y pad better designed.

I will probably switch my mk 1 Pyramid for a mk 2, just so I can capitalize on the pedantic gear nerd who craves the “vintage” design and I can make some $$$ :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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