MIDI generators

Nikolozi: I was actually thinking modular, where notes (CV) are rarely sendt via keyboards. This could take many directions as there are as many approaches to sequencers as there are to, say, oscillators. The MIDI modulators, as they are now, take incoming midi notes and do something with them. This is the "Play a note" you write above. I don't know if this can be done already but if you can modulate the pitch with some of the already existing modulators, maybe going through the quantizer, then you have there some sequencers. The sequencer would take care of sending midi notes. Examples: - bread and butter step sequencer - Cem Olcay's midi sequencers on iOS - Cykle by cp3.io also on iOS - Euclidean Another example would be Pigments by Arturia. You can modulate the Osc. pitch by a lot of means: LFOs, Random modules (Touring Machine), MSEG (they call it Functions) besides the built in step sequencer/arpeggiator I guess you could add different types gradually, like you're doing with the oscillators. Edit: corrected link to cp3.io

david: I'll have a longer response later as I look closely into the examples you gave. Just wanted to clear up one thing, when I said "play a note", I just meant you hold down a key once and a sequence will continue generating forever until you release the key. You don't need to keep triggering notes or anything. You could just toggle on the hold button of the built-in keyboard and tap on any key. The Arpeggiator module is really a sequencer and can be used to create interesting generative music. You just need to chain it up with various modules and do some modulating. Of course, a proper sequencer module will come, but I just wanted to underline the possibilities even with the current version of Mela. Oh, and of course you can modulate Oscillators' Pitch in all sorts of ways in Mela.

Nikolozi: Yes, I got that and please note that I'm not complaining 😉 Just pointing out possible development directions. Actually there are plenty of sequencers on iOS already (and on MacOS for that matter). I am just giving suggestions for the future, nothing that is critical for enjoying Mela as it is right now.

david: I know :) it's all good, keep all feedback coming :)

Nikolozi: how about some new trigger options for the MIDI Source module: * Random on patch load * Random on host clock start * Random on new bar * Random on new beat These could be good starting points for chains like the one described above, without having to play a note into it manually.

Jon Diercks: I think those suggestions would make sense with the Random module: "Random on patch load" - this already automatically happens, unless I'm misunderstanding. Other options can be added to the Random module's Trigger parameter. So, it will have beat and bar triggers. But rather than complicating the Random module with more options, there's another way. Which is I was planning to introduce a new signal type, called Trigger or Gate or something similar. And like we have the Pitch signal type and Pitch Processors we would have similar concepts for triggers. And so there could be a dedicated module that emits trigger signals based on rules as you suggested. And then a receiver like the Random module can be retriggered when receiving this signal. These ideas aren't fully fleshed out in my head yet (but thought I'd mention what I'm thinking, might help with the feedback and planning), and various signal types could be merged into a voice signal which would carry pitch, gate/trigger etc. And be used by polyphony.

Nikolozi: my suggestion was to add those triggers to the MIDI Source module, not the Random module. The use cases would be similar to what's already possible with the Random on Note On trigger, but synced to host clock and not requiring a note input. In general I find the separation of signal types somewhat cumbersome. In miRack it's possible to connect almost any type of output to any type of input, as everything is treated essentially as voltage, including audio signals. This allows some modules to be used in unexpected ways. I can understand why it makes sense from a programming perspective to have explicitly defined signal types, but it also creates a need for explicit methods to convert from one signal type to another.

Jon Diercks: I know your suggestion was about MIDI Source, but the feature doesn't make sense for MIDI Source, as new bar and new beat aren't MIDI messages. Also, other software, e.g. Ableton Live, has had beat/bar trigger types for LFOs. So, IMO, makes intuitive sense for LFO and Random modules. Maybe unification signals make sense and is possible, but it's not clear to me how it would fit into Mela's vision/approach. Especially, once polyphony/MPE is introduced.

Nikolozi: all good. Mela's approach to signal routing requires a different mindset, but it also results in a cleaner and more elegant UI/UX. I'm sure you'll find ways to keep adding more power and sophistication while still maintaining a high standard for ease of use. Keep up the great work!

Jon Diercks: Thanks Jon. Now that I think about it I think I misunderstood your original suggestion. Did you mean the MIDI Source module as a MIDI signal generator rather than a modulator? Like, for example, "Random on new beat" would generate a MIDI CC or Note-on? Just to add, regarding signal types etc, I'm very interested in reducing the number of concepts that are required to use and understand Mela. And maybe it's possible to merge and simplify some things. For example, in my mind, I think it would make sense to merge Pitch / Trigger / Note-on/off / Vel signal into a Voice signal for polyphony, MPE and many other uses. And there won't be a separate Pitch signal. So if you come up with suggestions on how to simplify things and make things less cumbersome I'm always keen to hear them.

Nikolozi: Well, the same way that "Random on note on" currently responds to an incoming MIDI note-on message and causes the MIDI Source Module to generate a random modulation output, I was expecting that a "Random on new beat" tribger on the MIDI Source module would similarly produce a random modulation signal output on each new beat. I understand that clock/bar/beat info is not MIDI (at least not in the context of AUv3 host/plugin) but logistically it seemed reasonable to me. Like you said, there are other ways to get essentially the same results. And yes, if it's practical on the coding side to combine related signal types into a single stream, I would think it should simplify the UX.

Jon Diercks: oh right, so I did understand what you meant correctly the first time around :) In that case, yes, I still think the Random module makes more sense for on new Beat and Bar. Because the Random module already does that, if you set the Sync parameter to 1/1 or 1/14 you will get a new random modulation value for every beat or bar. And then the only question is how to synchronise with the host time and that's just a matter of triggering. And once I add the One-shot feature to LFO and Random then the "Random on host clock start" will also be possible. > And yes, if it's practical on the coding side to combine related signal types into a single stream, I would think it should simplify the UX. Cool, you can assume the coding side is fully flexible, as in I'm not really bothered by complexity (assuming there's no technical challenge that's out of my control, OS issues for example). I mean a complex task might take me longer to implement, but if the UX is better for the user I will set it as my goal and slowly get to it.