Sequencer drum mode
Hi all, I love the app but a drum mode is really missing when recording realtime triggered beats. In this mode retriggered notes on a single pad woul be recorded even when they are partially overlapping. This happens typically when finger drumming, eg playing rolls or double slams on snares. Right now in beatmaker you can hear thes notes when playing live but they are not recorded. In detail, in beatmaker’s sequencer repeated note on messages on the same note are ignored as long as the first note hasn’t been released. Other sequencers have this option as a socalled drum mode. In a beat making app, this would really be a big improvement. Thanks for considering this.
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So you are saying polophony is broken ?
Its been working fine here, will have to test more.
As far as I understand the OP has no issues with polyphony or sound playback but rather how BM3 manage to record the midi input on a single pad/note. When fast triggering a single pad could easily happen that the first touch isn’t already up when the second hits and BM isn’t able to record a note on over another note on.
Am I right @charleso ?
The quantise feature (for both note on & off) can mess things up when trigger notes faster that the set quantise value.
@mschenkel : thats right
@samu I actually have quantise set to off. What is happening is that when two consecutive note on messages are received by the sequencer without a note off message in between, the sequencer only registers the first note on message. Eg in modstep, when you set the sequencer to drum mode, every note on message marks the start of a new note regardles of the note off message. When triggering drumpads (or the pads on screen) with hands or fingers overlapping notes on a single pad appear appear quite easily. Internally beatmaker registers the note on values as new note triggers (because it works as should when playing the pads live), but the notes are not withholded in the recorded midi sequence.
Got it, overlapping notes are not handled properly in BM3 at the moment.
It also affects pad-sounds other sustained notes where the same note can be triggered multiple times on the same note-value.
Indeed, in the sampler this is handled properly allowing for polyphony on single pads (together with one shot sample playback), but the sequencer wont register it. Hopefully Intua can look into this.
Hadn’t noticed @5pinlink’s is from intua, so I’d like to respond with more detail. No, actually polyphony works as should. Only when tapping a pad on the screen (or external midi drumpad) repeatedly, notes are not recorded as long as the previous note hasn’t been released. However you can hear those notes when playing live, so this is a sequencer only problem. This is a common percussion/drum scenario when using finger drumming. I think there is a straightforward fix, letting the sequencer register all note on messages, regardless of the note off messages. (when a note off message is not present, the length of the note would be set by the start of a new note note on message). I hope this can be brought to the update list, because this issue makes beatmaker really akward to use for live midi sequencing of beats/drums, which is one of its key aspects.
Apart from that, Beatmaker right now is the top compositional DAW on IOS. Auria’s and Cubasis workflow are more apt to recording, and other apps even don’t come close. I hope you find the courage and time to get this great app further trough its beginners phases.
Im not from Intua ?
I was just trying to work out the issue, it doesnt seem to happen here, but i dont have a controller set up at the moment.
Ok, sorry for the mistake,
it happens on the onscreen pads as wel, overlapping notes are not recorded (but heard when played). Try playing a note without releasing the pad, then trigger the same pad again... you’ll hear the second hit, but it won’t be recorded.
so I’d like to respond with more detail. No, actually polyphony works as should. Only when tapping a pad on the screen (or external midi drumpad) repeatedly, notes are not recorded as long as the previous note hasn’t been released. However you can hear those notes when playing live, so this is a sequencer only problem. This is a common percussion/drum scenario when using finger drumming. I think there is a straightforward fix, letting the sequencer register all note on messages, regardless of the note off messages. (when a note off message is not present, the length of the note would be set by the start of a new note note on message). I hope this can be brought to the update list, because this issue makes beatmaker really akward to use for live midi sequencing of beats/drums, which is one of its key aspects.
Confirmed here. Both iPad and external controllers. BM3 is not taking into account multiple trigger type setups of pads/midi themselves so it captures data incorrectly to the pattern editor especially with multiple fingers/multiple pad selections on external controller. Has been like this for a long time.
I never finished the thread as bugs were meant to be posted on independent threads so I abandoned this. It is related to the problem. Can confirm any test with empty pads
https://intua.net/forums/index.php?p=/discussion/5965/perf-samp-view-and-pattern-editor-issues-with-empty-non-empty-pads#latest
Yeah @5pinlink isn't part intua, he’s just really active on the forums and they made him a forum moderator for organizing and cleaning up threads.
I think this video should help illustrate the problem. Tapping a single pad multiple times without completely releasing the pad in between taps causes problems with the recorded midi data. In this video I use three fingers to quickly tap a single pad and then I also tap three separate pads in the same way.
The note ons seem to get placed in time with the last tap, and the duration of the notes seem to be retained.
Yeah, I do a ton of finger drumminig on the ipad and do lots of flam rudiments and what not. I've tried recording those practice sessions to MIDI clips and they never came out quite right. Like what I'm playing, i replay after recording the midi and things are...not as they were IRL.
Same. It's the select/trigger hybrid boxes though as I put my controller independent of the select boxes and I don't have as many problems.
Perfect video to show the problem! Try it slower and it's the same. Weird behaviors. It's the select/trigger bounding boxes. It's even worse on empty pads. Pattern data doesn't get recorded properly at all.
Actually the first note tap is registered, and as long as it hasn’t been released, other consecutive note taps wil be ignored in the sequencer. A drum mode prioritizing note on messages would remedy this problem. Sorry for a newbie question, but is there a different place where we should mention requests for these kind of updates on this forum?
@charleso you put it in the right spot. There's a few issues we are all dealing with when it comes to the perf page and sequencer (pattern editor). Your request is actually showing the problems.
@mefisme Ok thank you for the response. Just want to repeat beatmaker otherwise is a great app. I’m using it professionally and actually planning to use it on stage. So if in need for another beta tester, feel free to ask me.
I don't work for Intua. You are asking the wrong guy.
Asked the wrong guy again
i’m a bit lost here as a newbie I guess. Intua devs are probably keeping an eye on this forum as well. Thanks for the concern anyways.