FR: Makeshift Step Sequencer

[-{n8}-]

Hey Ohm,

Hope you're enjoying your summer holiday. I know that you are probably swamped with other heavily requested features but I thought that this might peak your interest. While playing with some slices in LS using midi, I tried to conceive a way to assign slice data to a track without using a mouse. Most musicians have some kind of midi gear lying around like an old keyboard, drum machine, and fader board that could be put to use. Your touch pad midi application inspired me to think of adding a new function to this under exploited resource of controllers. And so here is my suggestion for LS..

Makeshift Step Sequencer

There are two user definable midi controls.
a) step input (1-16)
b) slice selector

The feature parameters can be assigned via the settings menu. I am proposing a 16 step sequencer as standard but I'm certainly not against having the sequencer customizable to 8 or 32 steps (depending on the amount of midi notes/knobs available on a controller). Perhaps an extended menu/tab will be necessary to house the parameters that can be assigned. Before I get into how each of the two controls work let me first talk about how the parameters of each step will accomidate the different types of controlers and applications.

There are two behaviors that can be assigned to an individual step.
1) sustain - will only activate a slice in a step as long as the note/slider value is above 0. This will work great for faders or knobs that only send value data and will also provide visual representations of the active slices on a track. It will also make slices playable along a track and allow for very quick variations.
2) on/off - will add a slice when a step is triggered, then remove or mute it once the step is triggered a second time. This would be useful for anyone who might want to activate and deactivate individual slices to expand the possibilities for automation (i.e recording step data into the vst host sequencer).

The step input - is a sequence of notes (i.e C1-C2) or CC data used to input slices along a track timeline. The idea is to be able to use any midi key/knob/slider to trigger the input of a selected slice into a track at the step position assigned to it. Think of it as a quick copy/paste function with a set time associated to note/cc data. Ideally the source material for the step sequencer can be the slices found in both in the "slicer" or on a track in the "arranger" (more on this when I describe the slice selector).

Since LS allows you the flexibility to choose the number of events assigned to each track, there needs to be a standard way that the predefined midi steps are keyed into each track. One idea I had was to have the steps input in accordance with the event number of each track. For instance, you may have a track that is only 4 events. In this case steps 1-4 are the only steps that activate a slice event into a track, meaning all higher values are ignored. Another option is to have it override the track settings and input events in accordance with the step that was triggered. For example, a track that has 4 events will be expanded to a track that has 6 events once the step 6 slice is triggered.

To distinguish which track is being assigned steps, it could be useful for the midi channel that is outputing note/cc data (1-16) to corresponds with the track number that is being assigned steps. If there is midi data being output on a midi channel number that does not have a track present in the arranger, one will be automatically generated. The auto generation of tracks will be ideal for live applications and brainstorm sessions.

The slice selector - is the special cursor used to select the slice that will be assigned to a track using step input note/cc data. The selector will behave just like the left and right arrows currently do when a slice is selected in a track but will cycle through all the active slices in LS. Perhaps the color of the slice selector could be distinguished with a unique color to make it more visible. In any case, the slice that is highlighted is the one input into the track at the position using the step input triggers. What would be great for the slice selector is to be able to assign a CC knob or fader to allow for quick scrolling through slices (I can't imagine how a drum pad could be used other than having to constantly retrigger a value). Also, It might be useful to assign a midi trigger to preview a slice highlighted by the slice selector through the headphone output.

Although I don't know how easy this could be implemented, it would be extremely useful if the slice selector would be able to scroll through not only the "slicer" slices but also the track slices already in the arranger. Also, a simple on/off switch assignable to a footswitch or keyboard shortkut might also be useful to activate/deactivate the makeshift sequencer.

I hope my suggestion wasn't too vague but alas my graphic design skills would leave even more to the imagination. Again, just to reiterate, I think it would be extremely useful to be able to take an old piece of midi gear and be able to assign it as the input device for a step sequencer in LS.

That's all from me,
1-0ne

[-{n8}-]

Just to let you know, I edited my original post to clarify some grammatical confusion and to include some new insights on my original proposal. I apologize to those who struggled through the first draft but I'm sure you know that creativity is a process not a product.

1-0ne