Song mode wishes

Not sure what’s planned for a song mode but I really hope it’s more than just the ability to play pattern 1 two times followed by pattern 2 then back to 1 then finally 3.

I’d hope that a pattern could be broken down into clips.

That the clips could be arranged into patterns with both deterministic and random-selection clips, say a phrase with multiple different endings or fills that are random played or cycle-condition-selected.

I’d like to be able to mix and match different instrument patterns rather than have to switch all the instruments to a different pattern like today. Imagine each instrument having a basic backing pattern and a solo pattern and being able to solo one instrument at a time while the others paying their Norma backing pattern (all with random variations going on within them).

I’d like to be able to separate the notes from the instrument so I could see what this part would sound like on a different instrument or even played by different instruments at different or maybe simultaneous points in a song (perhaps transposed). P-locks would, of course, need to stay with an instrument.

I would really like to be able to mix and match patterns of different lengths. Throwing a 16 bar lead over a 4 bar bass should really be easier than it is.

That all of this is available to be “played” with the modular toolbox.

in a perfect world all of this would be:

  • completely sequenceable for deterministic playback
  • roughly sequenced allowing for random variability
  • Not sequenced at all but performable through some magic Drambo surface ui

Comments

  • A song mode is one of the main things I miss in Drambo.

  • Is there no song mode yet? I was trying to do this today and thought I was missing something. Pattern 1 wouldn’t jump to pattern 2 after the entered number of repeats!


    so what does ‘repeat’ do in the pattern menu?

  • I totally missed the ‘repeats’ setting!? Working here (You gotta disable loop on the transport ;)

  • Ahhhhhhhh thanks!!

  • Although it’s frustrating I can only repeat up to 8 times. Why not any number?

  • I’m not clear exactly on what song mode means. To me it is the ability to chain several differing patterns which currently is possible in Drambo. It can also be set to switch patterns via midi commands.

    I know that next and previous pattern midi bindings are planned.

    What is missing?

  • edited July 2020

    I'm not asking for it, but in response to the question about what's missing from a song-mode, one thing I can think of is ...

    A more flexible layout of pattern sequences, for instance, a grid or timeline where you can drop pattern icons and specify how many times each should loop. So, for instance you could easily see patterns laid out like: 1(3x) 2(1x) 4(2x) 1(2x) ... Basically making it easier to lay out a more arbitrary sequence of patterns.

    Patterning is an example of an app with a good song mode like this. There are many others. Different pattern chaining options (similar to Ruismaker maybe?) would be cool too.

    This is less important with midi learn since patterns can be launched via another sequencer, but the fewer moving parts and easier visual representation the better sometimes. I think that's why people like to see it in apps.

  • Sure. I did read plans for improving the pattern system so I’m looking forward to the development of this aspect to Drambo. I’d love to be able to program an entire song inside the app.

  • I’d like to see an arrangement mode that sits above patterns. This could be used to drive relative tempo and transpose changes to the patterns. This would mean you can program key changes separately without copying patterns and then changing notes etc

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