Starter Session 01 [Collab][WIP]
I had an idea to create a small session file packed with minimal yet useful banks to help get ideas down out of your head and into BeatMaker 3. I think this will be helpful for experienced users as well as newbies who have trouble getting started. I don't have all of the details worked out, and I'm hoping to get participation from the community.
The banks and sounds should be simple yet versatile. We don't need a lot of different full one-shot type samples, just the necessary bits to get an idea realized. I'm thinking lots of single cycle type instruments, short samples when necessary, with macros set up to adjust the tone and vibe. The banks @winconway has created are great examples, and we very well may include some of those in this. I don't want it to be overwhelming or too busy, as that would defeat the purpose.
The purpose is to start an idea, work out the patterns, melodies, harmonies, progressions, etc, and then replace the starter samples with other samples or instrument plugins.
I need your help!
My initial thoughts on setup:
Bank A: Structure marker bank. @mefisme has started work on this. We'll have prepared patterns with names like Intro, Chorus, Bridge, etc, purely to map out the progression of the session. I think it'll be cool to write out the names in the piano roll.
Bank B: Drums. I believe @winconway will be working on this. We don't need a bunch of full length samples, just good general use and tweakable kicks, snares, hats, ideally from very short samples or single cycles.
Bank C and up: Different banks for bass, keys, strings, etc. A general bank of FX like risers would be cool.
Let's go! If this goes well, we should make more sessions like this, perhaps for different styles or genres of music. 
Comments
LOVE this idea!
Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
@tk32 Any ideas you have that might benefit this project are welcome and encouraged! I know you've probably got some ideas what with how much time you've spent in BM3 while writing your manual
I'd like to also note that the structure bank COULD be a place to store midi patterns within these prebuilt patterns. Think of this as a store for drum grooves / melodies but without sound.
You would essentially drag the premade midi patterns into the other banks in song view to give a listen. Maybe?
It's an idea I've been toying with to spark creativity.
@mefisme that's a good idea! Can you elaborate on how you were thinking it might work? I wonder if it might get a bit too crowded in the structure bank though. Other than the structure bank, we could load up the other banks with prebuilt patterns, relevant to the bank instrument. So drum groves in the drum bank, bass lines in the bass bank, etc. All of this starts making each individual bank more useful to load into other sessions, too.
Excellent idea indeed !
How about just a separate bank included in the session that doesn't load.