RapidComposer v5 beta feedback and discussion

[lulukom]

It seems to me that the new Live mode would be interesting if, when playing using a MIDI keyboard, it would be possible to record the results of live playback on a new track, which would be created on the fly. But in the form that it is now, I have not yet figured out how to use it ... Maybe there are advanced users in this and they will tell about it? ))

[lulukom]

It would also be great if I could press the keys corresponding to the bar/chord with my left hand and the right part of the midi keyboard would play the sounds of this track, but would automatically correspond to the relative form and would be recorded on a new track. Then I could play live phrases exclusively suitable for the selected chord.

[musicdevelopments]

Thanks, lulukom for your feedback!
Recording the played composition will be implemented soon.

Thanks,
Attila

[Brian Collins]

• 'LIVE' mode: trigger and perform sections of your composition from a MIDI keyboard in real time, with per-track speed, transpose, and timing controls

Oooh - that sounds like fun to play with

[Brian Collins]

I agree also with Brian's theory comments. I think what he's described should be the defaults. This would be consistent, logical, and sound as theory is generally taught.

However, I also think that users should have an option to "Avoid bb and ## note names", if that is what they prefer.

So, for example, Eb diminished could be E flat, G flat and A, if that is what the user prefers.

For some people's cognition, moving down by half-steps from B, the next note is Bb, and then the next note is A, period. The notions of ## or bb just do not compute for everyone!

Rather than force some people into symbology that they have a lifetime of bias against, and are not fluent in recognizing or using, I suggest that making the program smooth to use for each user as an individual as per their needs/desires is still the ideal path (albeit, some extra work on the programming side).

This would be consistent with the accommodative intent of the current options (Automatic/Use #'s only'/Use b's only) - but even more sophisticated, while robustly supporting nominally "correct" theoretical representation, which will be a very good thing to do.

I write this for consideration now before the topic is engaged for implementation, because I'm sure that revisiting it yet again later is much not-to-be-desired.

All of this stems from the fact that the 12 tones don't have generally accepted individual names/symbols - the original sin of western music theory, IMO!

If an upcoming beta's implementation of "music theory correct" sharps and flats also implements this (very sensible) suggestion, can I request that any "natural" (white note) enharmonic spelling used to replace a double sharp or double flat is flagged with a "natural" symbol.

That means (for example) that the G# harmonic minor scale would have an F-double-sharp, but that can optionally be spelled as "G". My request is that this "G" spelling have a natural symbol to clearly differentiate it from the "G#" also in the scale. And it would go some way towards justifying the absence of any sort of "F" in the scale.

It's a minor detail, but might help with the clarity. And it would certainly make the theory underpinnings of RC look more solid.

[lulukom]

Perhaps in Live mode it would be nice to make an additional assignment of keys to phrases (bar/chord/line + by Phrase). The first phrase of the track is C2, the second phrase is C#2, etc.

[klovn]

thanks for the reply, attila!

it's a crucial step forward IMHO, and we gotta make it happen in some way or another! for RC to work as a reliable composition environment, it's gotta be more “functional harmony aware”; not just naming chords in absolute terms, but better understanding their role in context (tonic, predominant, borrowed, etc.), with smarter enharmonic choices and better handling of passing tones, perhaps even offering multiple interpretations when chords are ambiguous could help a lot, as Brian and others have shown.

have you ever considered leaning on existing frameworks for harmonic analysis (like music21, essentia, or even madmom)? they already handle a lot of chord/scale logic and could free you up to focus on rc’s more unique features.

these things together would make imported material and rc’s suggestions feel much more reliable, closer to the level of something like melodyne’s harmonic awareness.

anyway, i will try to save screenshots/examples for you from now on

[Brian Collins]

A few minor details on new(ish) beta features:

In Live mode, all transport controls are sensibly disabled BUT this also include the click. When noodling stand-alone, I have had to disable quantization as I can have no feel for the pulse. Maybe quantization makes no sense in stand-alone Live, in which the settings should be ignored (and greyed).

The Mode menu specifies F7 as a shortcut for Live, but the key behaves the same as F1 except it leaves the Mode icon unchanged (so usually wrong).

The new RhythmLab length controls are great (thanks ), but why are they limited to 1/2? Surely the max value should be the length of the rhythm.

[sj1]

I'm thrilled to see the addition of LIVE mode!

I'm sure I'll have many comments and suggestions about it along the way, but for today, just one:

LIVE mode needs a latching option

IOW, I press a key, and then that section plays, looping as necessary, until I press another key to trigger a different section which will take over upon completion of the next cycle. Alternatively, the takeover could be as per quantization setting (i.e. faster, for special effects). Best situation will be one-touch toggling between these two behaviors.

I also suggest distributing a demo song that runs on internal sounds and has been setup for a good LIVE mode experience. Then make a video demonstrating that. Folks will love it!

Thanks very much for this great new feature! More up the road ...

[musicdevelopments]

Thanks for the many suggestions for the LIVE mode. A new beta version will be available in the next minutes with improvements and bug fixes.

I'm thrilled to see the addition of LIVE mode!

I'm sure I'll have many comments and suggestions about it along the way, but for today, just one:

LIVE mode needs a latching option

IOW, I press a key, and then that section plays, looping as necessary, until I press another key to trigger a different section

I think what you mean is already available, if you right-click on the LIVE button, settings will be shown:



Select "Play while held". Is this what you meant?

Thanks,
Attila

[musicdevelopments]

RapidComposer v5.9b8 is available!

Improvements:

• Two master tracks available for experimenting with progressions: A and B. It is possible to copy one to the other.
• Fixed MIDI CC sliders in the plug-in, the sliders - when moved - now send continuous MIDI CC events to the host
• MIDI latency improvement: MIDI events are handled synchronously to reduce latency to the theoretically smallest latency
• Fixed non-working F7 shortcut
• Lots of LIVE mode improvements and fixes

[lulukom]

Beta 8 is great! I haven't even really tried it, but the first question I had was.. why only A and B, but not "Add new master track"... 1 and 2 and 3 etc. That would be a huge field for experiments! And what's new in Live mode?

[musicdevelopments]

Hello lulukom,

if there is demand, a third master track can be added, but I don't want to overcomplicate this.

LIVE mode has mostly fixes:
- the transposition now uses half steps. Most probably the transposition setting will be removed and the 'Transpose' variation will be added to tracks (and its sliders displayed). This would allow scale step transposition.
- fast (2x 4x) speed settings do not play the pattern multiple times
- problems at section boundaries (that could cause hanging notes) have been fixed
- fixed minor issues with the blue indicator on the timeline

Thanks,
Attila

[lulukom]

Thanks, Attila. Maybe if you don't want to complicate things (although a pop-up menu with new master tracks under numbers wouldn't be a complication) you could make presets with saving different master tracks. And what about recording in Live mode?

[sj1]

Select "Play while held". Is this what you meant?

Hi. No, sorry if I was not fully clear.

While the operation of "Play while held" may be desirable to some under come circumstances, (thus I am not suggesting to eliminate it), there is a serious limitation to that behavior that makes it unsuitable for purpose in the general case where the user wants to play or record another instrument (e.g. guitar, saxophone, synth) while doing random-access of the playback sections in RC. The limitation is that the trigger note "must be held"!

This makes one of the user's hands entirely unavailable for the duration of the LIVE mode performance. In most circumstances, there is no upside to this.

Instead of having to hold down a note for the entire length of a verse, and then hold down another note for the entire length of a chorus, etc., the idea is to simply "touch" a note (momentarily) to kick of the verse, and then, when ready, touch another note to kick off a chorus, etc.

This can be easily done while playing another instrument - Voila! complete control!

To put a name on it: "Loop on Touch".

Thanks!