Greater note list editor functionality for 1-handed and more logical operation

To make the note list editor work more smoothly and flexibly in the creative situation, I suggest the following:

  1. functionality to revert all current changes and return the note list to its state when you opened the editor. I suggest the “revert” key and also one of the black keys.

  2. abort functionality, that is, revert all current changes and exit the editor. I suggest the “no” key because using “no” for delete is counterintuitive. The “yes” key accepts, so it would be more natural for “no” to abort.

  3. In addition to the X encoder, keys to move forward and backward in the note list. Incorporating the encoder forces a two-hand operation that also requires the extra attention hand-eye coordination (i.e., no muscle memory). Keypresses for forward and backward can feel more precise and easily controllable as well as offering muscle memory.

To accommodate 1, 2, and 3 above, and to provide the option of editing a note list one-handed (which is desirable when you’re playing a keyboard along with operating the PolyPulse), I suggest this layout:

  • “no” = revert and exit editor (abort)
  • the black key to the right of “no” = select previous note (backward)
  • the black key two spaces to the right of “no” = select next note (forward)
  • the black key three spaces to the right of “no” = delete (this puts the most dangerous function the farthest from “yes” and “no” to avoid bad results)

I’ve made many mistakes editing notes that I think the above would eliminate. I realize that muscle memory gets us used to anything eventually, but better to make it logical from the start. Redundant keypress/knob turn functionality is also itself desirable because it accommodates different ways of interacting with the PolyPulse. I think the layout I suggest above would be natural for any user, and established users could ignore these changes except for one: the changed functionality of the “no” key in favor of a more natural yes/no paradigm.

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Thanks for the thorough write-up.

I’m not a keyboard player so I usually have both hands available to control the PolyPulse. I hadn’t really considered that controlling the note list editor with a single hand indeed requires quite a bit of moving your hand between the X and Y encoder.

I understand now how the X encoder is indeed a bit far away and navigating a note list with buttons would be valuable. When you are editing a value, is the use of the Y encoder fine for you when working with a single hand?

No because it still requires either two hands or one hand going back and forth, which is still cognitively taxing because the hand must oscillate between pushing-buttons-mode and turning-knobs-mode. Twisting knobs taxes the attention much more than pressing buttons because it requires gauging just the right feel, particularly when it comes to the micro-movement of making incremental changes.

On the other hand, it’s a much lower cognitive load to make incremental changes by pushing those big, color-coded buttons. It’s easy to know exactly how many increments you’ve moved, and you can press the buttons in rhythm so that you’re taken out of your musical mind to a much lesser degree than with the more cognitively demanding knobs.

I don’t just use my PolyPulse to accompany my keyboard playing but also other instruments. Making one-handed operation as ergonomic and easy as possible was the intention of my post.