Modalics - Beat Scholar/New drum sequencer

[fairlyclose]

A simple ADSR could be great it's definitely a feature we're considering adding at a later stage. The purpose of the sampler was originally to get you started with composing beats without needing other samplers... but we see many people that like working with the built in sampler and just wish it had more functions. So we'll be improving it constantly.

Re. automation - for changing patterns you can use the midi notes that appear on the bottom right of a pattern pad! Automating kit changes is an interesting idea, though it could be problematic to perform in realtime due to having to load all the samples of the new kit.
We will be adding automation features within Beat Scholar soon, so you could implement differences in sounds across patterns.

thanks re the automation. I thought there would be a sample loading issue but doing it by hand it is not as bad as all that. Also I am mainly wanting to change kits slightly eg imagine say a gamelan slowly introducing more and more agogo bells - not huge samples and only a few changing per kit

I guess the easiest way to do that now would be to use multiple instances of Beat Scholar... if you're not using the sampler (more specifically the aux section) , Beat Scholar has minimal CPU impact so you can open quite a lot of them.

yes that is the current workaround (I have no idea what the aux section is lol, Found it ! yeah I can disable that for sure)

[Funky40]

Hello @kvr, might be my first post here. Not shure

1. congratulations on your release !

testing it, i miss the opportunity to adjust sample start and end times.
do i miss something, or is it not there ? (i see nothing )

in case its not, my user feedback vs. this one:
i wanted to load my (own) Slap bass samples.
But oh well, its all very badly organised, and most stuff is loops, not single shots.

Here, dealing with loops, quasi randomly picked from HD,
AND then, adjusting start/end times quickly within Beat scholar,
do i see a HUGE potential to come up with funny stuff,....if not Funky
Same btw. , dealing with vocals. ( just beeing on it as we speak)


so, a --> clickable<-- graphical representation of the sample, plus start-/end- point adjustment access ( incl. a good implemented zoom-in and out) would add quite a bit to the capabilitys i´d say. (hope you feel same )


like it ! just had my second test session. gonna buy it now.

[Tj Shredder]

For me its all about the sequencer. I was wondering if it would be nice to have the duration of a bar being the same as the bar before but have different meters. The only thing it needs for that is allowing any whole number denominator and not only power of twos… Then I could have 4/4 followed by a 7/7. This would allow crazy polyrhythms and more weird stuff, especially if I use multiple instances on multiple tracks. It would make it even more universal than it is already now… You could also create non arbitrary tempo changes that way, without the need to calculate it on to a tempo map in the host DAW..

And then I had another idea to get into even more weird stuff. How about a time distortion within a pizza? Instead of having equal distances distort them that they get shorter at the end for example, or the other way round (think of a pizza rolling of the table and bumping on the floor…;-). That also would allow me to experiment with rhythms that contain a golden mean or other irrational numbers but still fit into a higher order regular beat. Things that are hard or impossible to play by hand… And it would allow to program a ritardando, which might the best argument for it…
Crazy, I know, but it would fit perfectly into your concept and shouldn’t be too hard to put in…

Something else I would like to see, and which would be more complex, but would allow a broader control than just automation of parameters: it is support for OSC. Then I could have a way to create a bot in Max for example, that could program anything what I can do now by hand, automated or AI driven… I guess that would rather be for version 3…; - )

This is so great, it triggers all kinds of inspiring ideas… Sorry for that…; - )

[OrLubianiker]

Hello @kvr, might be my first post here. Not shure

1. congratulations on your release !

testing it, i miss the opportunity to adjust sample start and end times.
do i miss something, or is it not there ? (i see nothing )

in case its not, my user feedback vs. this one:
i wanted to load my (own) Slap bass samples.
But oh well, its all very badly organised, and most stuff is loops, not single shots.

Here, dealing with loops, quasi randomly picked from HD,
AND then, adjusting start/end times quickly within Beat scholar,
do i see a HUGE potential to come up with funny stuff,....if not Funky
Same btw. , dealing with vocals. ( just beeing on it as we speak)


so, a --> clickable<-- graphical representation of the sample, plus start-/end- point adjustment access ( incl. a good implemented zoom-in and out) would add quite a bit to the capabilitys i´d say. (hope you feel same )


like it ! just had my second test session. gonna buy it now.

Thank you for buying Beat Scholar! And for your thoughtful suggestions -

We might be adding more percise control over sample start-end points in the future, right now we have the "attack" and "Damp" knobs that are a sort of pre-tuned ADSR, I know that's not what you mean but just thought I'd make sure you're aware of it

A graphical representation of the waveform with percise editing would improve the sampler portion of Beat Scholar quite a bit and might even allow direct sampling into beat scholar, We'll definitely consider it for future updates, our main focus at the moment is improving the sequencer area as much as we can.

Best.
Or.

[OrLubianiker]

For me its all about the sequencer. I was wondering if it would be nice to have the duration of a bar being the same as the bar before but have different meters. The only thing it needs for that is allowing any whole number denominator and not only power of twos… Then I could have 4/4 followed by a 7/7. This would allow crazy polyrhythms and more weird stuff, especially if I use multiple instances on multiple tracks. It would make it even more universal than it is already now… You could also create non arbitrary tempo changes that way, without the need to calculate it on to a tempo map in the host DAW..

And then I had another idea to get into even more weird stuff. How about a time distortion within a pizza? Instead of having equal distances distort them that they get shorter at the end for example, or the other way round (think of a pizza rolling of the table and bumping on the floor…;-). That also would allow me to experiment with rhythms that contain a golden mean or other irrational numbers but still fit into a higher order regular beat. Things that are hard or impossible to play by hand… And it would allow to program a ritardando, which might the best argument for it…
Crazy, I know, but it would fit perfectly into your concept and shouldn’t be too hard to put in…

Something else I would like to see, and which would be more complex, but would allow a broader control than just automation of parameters: it is support for OSC. Then I could have a way to create a bot in Max for example, that could program anything what I can do now by hand, automated or AI driven… I guess that would rather be for version 3…; - )

This is so great, it triggers all kinds of inspiring ideas… Sorry for that…; - )

1. We will have something like that... we will add a feature that allows different lengths for each lane while retaining the bar arrangement length, so you can create any polyrhythm you want but make sure it still stays in line with your song measure. Changing the denominator ratio seems like an interesting idea, but I hardly know any music that would benefit from it to be honest... it's so out of context that I fear it will be more of a confusing feature than a practical one. But I might be wrong

2. Time Distortion (as you called it) is a great idea that we're aiming to add, we just need to figure out how to implement it in the UI and what gestures will "unlock" the subdivision boundry positions. We will release an update (today or tomorrow) that will allow you to rotate pizzas left/right or mirror them... and you can also do that to an entire lane! It's not exactly time distortion, but it's a start

3. Automation control within BS is also coming.. just need to work through all the 800 other features we want to do firt

Thanks! And don't be sorry about being excited about our product, It's a pleasure talking to you about it!

[Tj Shredder]

1. We will have something like that... we will add a feature that allows different lengths for each lane while retaining the bar arrangement length, so you can create any polyrhythm you want but make sure it still stays in line with your song measure. Changing the denominator ratio seems like an interesting idea, but I hardly know any music that would benefit from it to be honest... it's so out of context that I fear it will be more of a confusing feature than a practical one. But I might be wrong

My first thought was as well, how to retain a bar duration and thus allow a different length of a bar. And then thinking about it, the easiest way to do that is other denominators than a power of two. It could be implemented in a way, that you need to type it in, instead of menu diving or long scrolls. Internally the beat length would vary, but would still always be in a rational relationship. I mean if a 4/4 is followed by a 5/5 bar, the second bar simply plays quintuplets… The interweaving of bar, beat and pizza slices is what it gives that consistency in complexity… Each of these three levels would get the same kind of treatment more or less. And I think its easier to implement, as you only need to adjust either the length of a beat, or the tempo in the bar.
I would not need arbitrary lengths of bars, that way they can stay in a rational relationship, which is part of the attraction of this sequencer.
This is so much fun, and your response times are stellar, only Roger Linn comes close…; - )

[Funky40]

We might be adding more percise control over sample start-end points in the future,

would be MUCH appreciated

A graphical representation of the waveform with precise editing would improve the sampler portion of Beat Scholar quite a bit and might even allow direct sampling into beat scholar, We'll definitely consider it for future updates,

i hope you do !
recording would be awesome.
But i see, we enter now audio Editor territory.
....start small, better than nothing

our main focus at the moment is improving the sequencer area as much as we can.

ofcourse !!

thanks for listening @Or !

i enjoy doing experiments with your Sequenzer !
......feels out of the box good. No quirks. Dig that

[Funky40]

2. Time Distortion (as you called it) is a great idea that we're aiming to add, we just need to figure out how to implement it in the UI and what gestures will "unlock" the subdivision boundry positions.

interesting.

vs. "timedistortion" / altering the slices vs. time, and all that stuff,
you might be interested to check out this eurorack sequenzer,
it might help you on sorting out ideas, ...since many thought/ideas could come up, when thinking along that lines
https://www.iolabs.co.uk/flux
(edit: ahh, link not visible, since i´ve not reached 5 posts yet,
please google: flux euro sequenzer )


so far, what nakes the BS beeing a great inspiring tool, IS:
its simplicity, direct access, good visual representation
(and ofcourse its niftyness vs. QWRTY uses)
please keep that alive !

[fairlyclose]

our main focus at the moment is improving the sequencer area as much as we can.

Best.
Or.

The sequencer is the main attraction for me - I am dropping my own samples into it or from sample libraries so they are edited already. Sample Start and End settings would be handy and not overload the interface too much. re time compression/expansion that would be a very handy feature - needs something like an x/y pad to control - GRM Delay is an example.

[simmo75]

Hi Or,
I’m loving this, congratulations!

Would you be able to add a hardware button or preset, with a defined standard drum synth set up for quicker use with hardware please?

[steff3]

We've updated Beat Scholar to version 1.0.8 with some new stuff, including a few features that were requested here:

1.Added a MIDI FX plugin for Logic Pro (included in the installer)

And lots of bug fixes.

On an MBP (M1 Pro, 12.5.1) installed Logic and tested the midi fx (v1.0.8 ). Just in a new project. I resized Beat Scholar’s UI. Played a bit. On trying to close the UI, Logic did hang (spinning beach ball of death)

[OrLubianiker]

Hi Or,
I’m loving this, congratulations!

Would you be able to add a hardware button or preset, with a defined standard drum synth set up for quicker use with hardware please?

Thank you!
Our default settings are set so the drum pads follow the GM map as closely as we could.
It seems like adding some kit presets that are meant for use with common SW/HW drum samplers / synths is fairly easy and could be added in an update soon. Can you please elaborate on that? What kind of maps would you like to have as presets?
You can also create custom maps and save them with the kit preset menu in the current version, that could be a quick fix for you.

[OrLubianiker]

We've updated Beat Scholar to version 1.0.8 with some new stuff, including a few features that were requested here:

1.Added a MIDI FX plugin for Logic Pro (included in the installer)

And lots of bug fixes.

On an MBP (M1 Pro, 12.5.1) installed Logic and tested the midi fx (v1.0.8 ). Just in a new project. I resized Beat Scholar’s UI. Played a bit. On trying to close the UI, Logic did hang (spinning beach ball of death)

Thanks for the report and sorry for that....We will definitely look into it!


[/quote]

The sequencer is the main attraction for me - I am dropping my own samples into it or from sample libraries so they are edited already. Sample Start and End settings would be handy and not overload the interface too much. re time compression/expansion that would be a very handy feature - needs something like an x/y pad to control - GRM Delay is an example.
[/quote]

I've been wanting to add a sort of joystick controller to the center of each pizza, I've been playing around with that idea since the early days of development... I haven't thought of using it to control slice timing! so thank you for this idea.

[Funky40]

another edit vs. this post:
ok, i went thru the manual. My open Q:

first: i load BS in my pluginhost, thats Gigperformer,
there BS is shown with 32 Audio outs.

what i can´t figure out is how to map single sounds to different audio outs ?

[pekbro]

Bought thx