creating a seq24/mpc track mute alternative with USINE?

[louisgriffin]

hey all. looking for a program that I can use to do some live drum pattern sequencing with. Pondering whether I could create something in Usine that's similar to what i'm looking for.

MPCs have this feature called "track mute" where you can have a grid of sequences that you can just tap in and tap out and whether they're highlighted or not determines if they're playing. just a bunch of midi sequences that are all sent to the same set of samples. so you might have 4 hi hat patterns, 2 kick patterns, 6 various perc patterns, you can select any patterns to play on the fly just by hitting the pad the corressponds with that pattern.
great tool.



seq24 is basically direct software emulation of this, and it's fantastic. however, pretty much unusable because it's a mainly linux based program and the only windows version of it available is incredibly unstable and rendered useless.



so, any other suggestions for this guys and girls? Usine might be something really great to create something like this? I have a padKontrol midi controller which has the 4x4 pad grid just like an MPC so I have that similar interface to work with.

the basic idea is that you have a whole bunch of midi sequences that can all be sent to a drum machine vst or whatever with all the loaded sounds in it, then you can just punch in and out on the fly any of the midi sequences you want to be playing at that moment.

i'm so vague when i explain stuff, i'm sorry!

i didn't really want to go down the ableton route, cause i can't stand that program, and most of the workarounds in it to create a system like this are very messy and undesirable.


cheers, lou.

[bsork]

Selecting between different sequences like that is quite simple in Usine. The most simple example would be to use as many sequenced switch modules as you want, connect them through a selector module, and use a list box or fader to select which input to output from the selector. Connect the output of the selector to something that will trigger a sound; eg the play input of one of Usine's sampler (play mode=button), or to a CreateMidi module which again is connected to the MIDI input of an VSTi.

If you don't want to edit the non-playing sequences, you can also use the Preset Manager together with only one sequenced switch module to store different sequences and instead of switching between inputs on a selector, you select different presets.

I'm only scraping the surface here....

[louisgriffin]

bsork.
sounds very interesting.

yes i wouldn't be editing non playing midi sequences on the spot, all teh sequences would be pre done and it's just all about punching them all in and out on the fly.

i'm thinking all the midi sequences would be outputted to like, an instance of Battery vsti or something, which would host all the drum sounds.

say if i had like 16 sequences loaded for a certain song, 4 of them would be different types of hi hat sequences, 2 might be kicks, another 4 might be snares and 6 sequences might be for various other perc stuff.
is it possible to assign each sequence to say toggle on and off when i hit a pad on say my padKontrol midi controller? and i can layer them up as a go.

possible?

[bsork]

Possible? Yes!

If I understand you correctly, the sequences for each instrument shouldn't be mutually exclusive with only one playing at the time(?). The easist thing to do then, would be to create switches for each sequence and assign them to the pads with MIDI learn. The switches could then turn on and off the sequences. Without going into detail here, you could switch between sync modes of the trigger, or even simpler if you would like to have all sequences running but necessarily triggering anything you can connect the switches to PassEventFlow modules patched between whatever you choose to use for the sequencing and whatever you choose to use to make the sounds. It gives you the flexibility of dropping in and out in the middle of sequences.

[louisgriffin]

yes.
well it would be ideal if the sequences were constantly looping, but in turn, the triggering of the pads are just muting them on and off... right?
is that what you mean by the passeventflow module?

it wouldn't really be ideal if every time i hit the pad to a certain sequence, it would stop it and then restart it again, because i might want to cut a sequence out at the start of it, but then kick it right back in half way through it.

i'm in no way a usine master and have only been playing with the demo but might be very interested in purchasing a copy if i could create my own thing like this

[ethnix73]

"it wouldn't really be ideal if every time i hit the pad to a certain sequence, it would stop it and then restart it again, because i might want to cut a sequence out at the start of it, but then kick it right back in half way through it."

You can use a preset manager to store your main presets....

[ethnix73]

Somethong like this?

[louisgriffin]

yes.
it seems like the right idea to me.
and i would midi map the switch buttons to the pads on my mpd controller right?

although, i can just imagine. if i wanted 16 different sequences to play from, looks like a patch like that could get a bit messy?
already looking busy from this shot.

[ethnix73]

Yes, you can make a midi learn on each switch....

You can make sub patch for each sequences if you want it to be more clear...

[bsork]

If you use sub-patches it doesn't have to get messy, and the other fine thing is that you can work on creating one sub-patch which behaves just as you want it and just copy it within the (master) patch to get more sequences going.

And if you want, there's nothing stopping you from mixing different types of switching/triggering/layering within one patch. For example bass drum or snare drums with mutually exclusive/switched sequences without layering, parallell/layered hi-hat sequences, and some one-shot sequences for percussion. If you want, you can add some audio loops into the equation, so the problem is not so much "are this-and-that possible", but more "what do I want and how do I get it".

[EDIT:] Guess I was a bit slow here, as Ethnix73 beat me to it...

[ethnix73]

@Bsork: Faster than you Bsork 'cause i'm still able to do it on this topic. Usually, we should wait for many hours before i could be able to answer

[amiga909]

tested seq24 too and liked its design and pattern overview very much. the piano roll isnt the bomb though.

apart from flexible remote control, imho it comes down to the piano roll or event editor a pattern sequencer has. maybe personal, but i find it impossible to combine patterns without composing them at the same time.
while remote control is awesome, usine's piano roll feels a bit (sorry to say) clumpsy - for a module in a general purpose daw its great of course.

there are a few attempts (stepchild, energy1.x, temper) but not as good as (discontinued)
phrazor vst