Generative, mutating pattern chains

[title edited - not theory anymore]

  • Digitakt can sequence program changes, and it has trig conditions
  • you can take a MIDI cable and create a loop from the MIDI out into the MIDI in

So, you could put a trigless lock into a MIDI track which just sends a program change to the device. DT should then queue a pattern according to the program change it sends to itself.

Cool! You can chain patterns that way. Mute the MIDI track to stay in a pattern.

now, what if you enable a trig condition for that lock. Depending on the condition, it will either stay in the pattern, or switch to another oneā€¦

what if you put down several trigless locks, each with their own program change, and with a certain probability? :astonished:

it should switch to the last received PC, so it could either stay in one pattern, or switch to one of several, randomly. setting up a series of patterns which all have such trigs in themā€¦ boom, generative auto-song.

e.g.:

step:   1.   2.   3.   4.   5.  .... etc
trc : [50%][50%][50%][50%][50%]
pchg:   4    1    3    4    0 .... up to you

itā€™s most likely (50%) triggering a program change to 0 at step 5. uuhhhhā€¦ I succ at math but I think the one at step 4 is half as likely, since thereā€™s a 50% chance itā€™s cancelled out by step 5ā€¦ etc.

soā€¦ this can get pretty deep pretty quick once different probability values come into play. Lot of thought can be put into what the probabilities are :slight_smile:

it might be pretty fun with a number of rather short patternsā€¦ like 2-4 steps, each containing only a beat or short phraseā€¦ auto-breakbeatsā€¦ different BPMs per patternā€¦

dunno if this works. theoretical, for now. :slight_smile:
thx @sezare56 for the idea

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Yeah I thought about conditional trigs for ProgChange too ! Should work if we can plock Pchanges. If Simon said soā€¦ :content:

Itā€™s possible to play patterns randomly with OT + A4 Multi Map. Assign patterns to notes in Multi Map, play notes randomly with OT.

I also tried Pc randomness with OT + Event Processor Plus, assigning notes to Pc. Random notes = Random Pc. Great on Blofeld drum sounds, sounds changes are immediate.

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if you press the record button on a video capture setting on a camera or mobile phone while the elektron digitakt is placed before it, and are executing a similar action to the aforementioned, i would be interested in recalling it visually, if it were uploaded to a website that hosts streaming video file display.

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= ā€œ+1. video please.ā€ ?

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:laughing:

UPS says Monday

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the persistent delicacy prevalent in this postā€™s wording truly communicates your deep desire for a visual representation of said scenario while respectfully avoiding to exert the commonly found pressure of similiar requests.

+1 unit of internet for you and all fellow elektronauts for keeping this place highbrow and inspiring.

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There are funny, miraculous things about to unfold regarding voidā€™s midi-theory.

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:control_knobs::control_knobs: :metal:

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Interestingā€¦ I guess then, that you could theoretically build some complex generative sequences using short (e.g. 1ā€“4 steps) patterns, with trig conditions set accordinglyā€¦ this kinda makes me want to order a digitakt now!

edit, oh wait, you already said that in your original post :smiley:

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theoretically :slight_smile:

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Great ideas!
I wonder how much of a ā€œbufferā€ you have to give the DT to send the program-change message(s).
If you recall, the AR/A4 seq had some issue with pattern-changes coming at the end off the pattern (but this may have been related to the step-counting/advanced seq settings; canā€™t remember).

It probably wonā€™t be an issue with longer patterns, but I wonder what happens with 2-4 step patterns. Hummā€¦
DT is getting more interesting by the day!

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One can also setup the MIDI channel to send MIDI notes to DT audio tracks.
With trig conditionsā€¦
Start from a blank pattern, live rec, and let it evolve.
Add the pattern change above and let DT sing for itself :smiley:

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that idea works on the MD ā€¦ wich is so great ā€¦ unfortunately it has no Trig-Conditions. but still ā€¦ pretty useful

and very useful : if you set a trigger with the prg chg on the last step it jumps after 2 runs of that pattern to the desired one

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interesting thread. looking forward listening to some results, when you got the DT

I think I read Simon on ā€œintroducingā€ saying that they work on a pattern chain usable as a song mode. Thereā€™s a chance.

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A ā€œpattern jumpā€/ā€œpattern cutā€ trig type would be an interesting addition:

Pattern jump: Instantly jump to specified/next pattern
Pattern cut: Start next pattern at specified position

edit: or one jump/cut type, that jumps to specified position of next cued pattern on the step after the trig

Coupled with trig conditions it could result in some interesting chopping of patternsā€¦

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ittt work! :imp:

https://twitter.com/o___/status/869266846024957952
^ videoā€¦ probability-switching 3 patternsā€¦ some MIDI LFOs & extra sequencing routed back to the audio tracs.
itā€™s just 2 audio tracksā€¦ the rhythm thing and the chord thingā€¦

phone mic recording, so hereā€™s another jam, direct:

since itā€™s probability based, you get a different ā€˜songā€™ each timeā€¦

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