i guess with the sequencer tracks , you can live record into them via midi - but would they auto quantise - per tracker setting pulse count / division ?
and the quad tracks for drums, you can use one shot samples for these ?
what sample bit / rates can use for loading in own samples - like one shots
I saw your email but hadn’t found the time to reply yet.
Yes, you can record notes in the note list editor live. It only records the pitch/volume and does not record the timing/rhythm. The chords and/or notes you play are then sequenced according to the sequencer parameters such as pulse interval, offset, octave etc. You can read more about sequencing here Poly pulse sequencer - PolyPulse manual).
Quad engine is indeed what you would use to create drums on a single track. Each of the four pulses trigger a different part such as drum synthesis or samples.
As it can also play sample lists (where each note plays the next sample from a list), you can create pretty complex rhythms. You could create a basic house beat with just one pulse by making a list with:
kick.wav
closed-hihat.wav
open-hihat.wav
closed-hihat.wav
Then trigger that with an interval of 2 and it will loop through the four samples creating the basic beat. That leaves you with 3 pulses / quad engine parts you can use for other stuff on that same track.
You don’t need to convert sample rates or bit depths for samples to work. Common audio file types such as .wav or .aiff can be loaded.
The note lists are not limited to a specific amount of notes. You can put thousands of notes in them if you want. You can also put chords in note lists, but only up to 8 notes per chord.
Note length is determined by the amp envelopes. You can change the note length of different notes by adding a modulator to the envelope. For example: with percussive/drum sounds I like to add a ‘random’ modulator to the envelope so each hit sounds a bit different, or you could use a synced LFO to vary the envelope length over time.
There are a few note types:
normal note
slide (with/without retriggering amp envelopes, individual slide time control per track)
I am looking into this machine as well - looks pretty cool!
Could maybe an option be added to be able to play and record timing manually in realtime into the sequencer as well? Or as a 808/909 type step sequencer. And since I am at it - an Euclidean sequencer as well! That would make the machine much more versatile, especially for drums! Although I understand this is probably not part of the concept for the machine, it would be cool to have this option alongside the algorithmic sequencing!
I also had the doubt about note length per step. It’s a pity you can’t set note length per step. I guess you could map note velocity to envelope hold time for example. Are there other ways to be able to play patterns with notes with different lengths, or maybe add ties in note types to be able to do this? Just some ideas
You can set a pulses interval to 2 (without reset) so that it fires notes at a steady interval. Then if you put 16 notes in the note list, you have a 16 step sequence. You can also add rests into sequences.
The poly pulse sequencer is quite similar to euclidean actually. Both are able to generate rhythms of varying density and syncopation based on a few parameters.
With assignable modulators you can indeed get varying envelope lengths:
note modulator: envelope length depends on note pitch or note loudness (as set in note list editor).
random modulator: envelope length is different each time
16step modulator: envelope length follows a sequence. If the sequence length is different than the note list length the lengths phase against the note pitches.
So if you want specific notes to always be longer:
use a note modulator set to loudness assigned to an envelope parameter, and
when playing monophonic melodies, add rests to the note list so the note can sound longer before being cut off by the next note.
Does the 16-step modulator (if the same length as note list) stay in sync and follow the playhead?
Also, in my opinion,
a motif buffer for external MIDI—or when playing the synth via a keyboard—would greatly improve the PP.
Not just for convenience and the usual workflow musicians expect when recording MIDI, but also to reduce the hassle of manually converting a recorded melody or MIDI file into a note list.
