Using a CV sequencer to determine note chance (please help)
Dear Drambonians,
I am working on a new rack and hoping to use the CV sequencer to modulate the MIDI chance module. (think of it like a mini chance sequencer, like the chance lane in Ableton Live)
My aim is for a full bar on the CV sequencer to always allow a MIDI note to pass through and trigger, and a half-filled bar to trigger notes 50% of the time etc..
can anyone spot/tell me what i’m doing wrong here? I have a feeling the values being output by the CV sequencer are not big enough to modulate the chance dial all the way up to 100%
any/all help gratefully received
Comments
I believe its because the CV Sequencer is half filled with '0' values. All the empty steps are outputting 0, not giving you a chance to hear the steps with 100% and 50% chance. Try making the first 4 steps at max value, and the last 4 steps at half value. Then you can determine if the values are modulating the chance module appropriately.
You could try replacing the CV Sequencer with a Gate + Velocity sequencer. Then you can use a S&H hold module to grab the value of step 1 and hold it until step 5, then it will grab the new value at step 5. That way you can bypass the 'empty' steps.
I just did a test and filled all CV steps to 100. It played on every step. Reducing the value of the CV steps has the chance going down as expected.
@tk32 Your design works perfectly here!
My guess (from watching your sequence) is that you only have very few notes instead of all 16ths so the sample will hardly be triggered at all.
Thanks for the feedback.
I’m beginning to wonder if the problem is that it’s not possible to set the chance value simultaneously with a MIDI note signal and expect the chance to be applied (in other words, the MIDI note gets passed through with the previously set chance value - not the new value).
In this example, the first note plays (because the chance dial is moved up on the very last step so it is at 100 when the first note triggers) but the note in the middle of the pattern never plays, and I am presuming this is because you can’t change the chance value at the same time as the note is triggered and expect the new value to apply.
If this is the case I will have to try concocting a rack setup that can offset my CV sequencer by -1 step so that the chance dial is moved on the 16th step before each note triggers.
or am I missing something obvious?
Is this what you’re thinking about? By adding an offset of 1 it seems to do what you were imagining.
@tk32 May I ask why you're insisting on changing the chance at every step? Looks like a very theoretical scenario...
Thanks so much @aleyas - shifting the CV sequencer forward seems to do the trick nicely!
Isn’t it funny (and I’m sure all of you have had this same experience) when you spend hours trying to build a complex rack as a solution to a problem - like the one I started to build below - and then someone on the forum says “ummm... you do know there’s a module for that?”
Here was my previous attempt at fixing the “chance sequencer” based on my assumption that you can’t change the chance dial at the same time as the MIDI note is sent. in this version, I created several pre-set chance dials and then filter the incoming MIDI notes using a graphic shaper to notch out the CV sequencer’s range into several preset chance modes (CV0= no note, CV1-33= 25% chance, CV34-66=50% chance, etc..)
Suffice it to say... you don’t need to do this folks!
@rs2000 I’m trying to build a round robin sampler for a friend that also let’s him set a per note probability (or technically speaking, a ‘per 16th step probability’)
Originally I was going to use the velocity of the incoming MIDI note to determine the probability of the note playing, but the sampler also needs to be velocity sensitive.. hence the decision to switch to using the CV sequencer as a additional way to set probability per step.
it’s my attempt at a recreation of the chance lane in Ableton Live..
Awesome! Glad you you were able to get it working! I found an alternative method using the Bernoulli Gate (output B) instead of the chance module, if you want to cut out the midi to CV converter.
Just connect the main gate to the Bernoulli gate, and connect Gate B to your instrument. Everything else is the same, including the shift time.
@tk32 Wow. Didn't expect that. Good luck with it! 😊