stand alone arpeggiator

[maddmattz]

Many of the apps have arpeggiators in them (sid, sequencer etc) can anyone suggest the easiest way to isolate the arpeggiator function into a simple stand alone arpeggiator to sit between a controller kb (in this case my home made bass pedals) and the midi synth/tone generator?

Thanks

[Jaicen]

Google it!

Someone's already built a standalone Arpeggiator that uses a 16F84. I think it's called Arpege8 or something.

[jrkirkish]

Bump, because I'm interested in this project, and I can't seem to find it with the google.

If anybody has a link...

[Jaicen]

Come now, it really wasn't that hard ;)

http://www.meadowfield.freeuk.com/synth/arp.html

[bill]

It's a long time a want to start a standalone arpegiator for MIOS,

so, who wants to help me ?

[stryd_one]

I'm in :)

[Jaicen]

Can't you just rip TK's wavetable code from the SID and use that??

[TK.]

Note that MBSID V2 has a much more advanced arpeggiator :)

Best Regards, Thorsten.

[Jaicen]

Oh you just had to didn't you! I've just got my head around the old one!

[stryd_one]

What ya think Bill? Rip from an existing app or custom?

Anyone else have 2c?

[bill]

What ya think Bill? Rip from an existing app or custom?

Well, i like to do it from scrap (or better, from clockbox), but it's just my opinion ;)

I did a first simple but working version, i will upload code and details very soon !

[stryd_one]

Cool  :D

[bill]

Hop :

http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=midibox_arp

Now we should discuss those points :

    Define how to set the Bpm (cc#)

    Define how to set the Arp speed (cc#)

    Define note length

    Create some cool arp algorythms (plus defining method to select the algorythm)

    Octave range

    Latch (HOLD)

    Add velocity support

    Hardware changes (should we add pots, then how many, buttons ?)

[jrkirkish]

Great. I'm not even started with my MBSID and now I've gotta build this one.

Thanks.

[stryd_one]

Nice :)

Feature requests?

[jrkirkish]

I think it would be cool (and this is just the lowly opinion of a noob) to have the same control set as the 'step a' SID control surface. A few buttons, and an encoder. make it a standard, of sorts....

And I've played with the arpeggiator in Finale (music sequencing software), and it seems really cool to tell it to "arppegiate a chord with a 2nd, 5th and 7th with whatever note I play as the root," as an example. I'll post a screen shot of all the available chords it can arppegiate later. Though this would probably be a LOT of coding, and a good amount of theory. or maybe not. Maybe I need to pick back up my 'C for Dummies' book and help out on this project.  :P

[bill]

I like the "step A" idea, as it's enough to tweak deeply, simple, and allready documented.

http://ucapps.de/midibox_sid_cs/2x20_enc.pdf (encoders)

http://ucapps.de/midibox_sid_cs/2x20_b.pdf    (buttons)

Anyone else ?

[stryd_one]

The step A CS is enough to control pretty much anything in theory, but I think it's best to decide upon a featureset before choosing the controls we'll use for those features...

[jrkirkish]

Well, I looked in Finale, and there's like 75 different chords that it can arpeggiate. That would be too much coding. way too much. Here's what I suggest on how to select the arp. chord:

Have a number ( say 6, or however much memory can support) of notes the arp can play. Have the user edit each of those notes, and the arp will play those.

For example, the screen would have 6 'banks' or memory locations or whathave you, and the user would input a number 1-12 for each location. The arppegiator would read each location and for the next note in the arpeggiation, would go to that location. Entering 1,5,7, would result in a major chord being arpeggiated (in relation to the number of half-steps up from the root note)

I think this makes sense, tell me if it doesn't.

[stryd_one]

You mean like in seqv3? ;) Check out the file seq_chord.inc.

Just a thought... A lot of people would say that Arp-X8 is about the best arp around... I love the one on the k5000... Anyone else know any good ones we can steal draw inspiration from?

[jrkirkish]

Well, if you're going to steal features from stand-alone arpeggiators, pretty much anything you do is going to be an improvement.

For example, on the Oberheim Cyclone, you have to enter the BPM in hex. yeah. that's right, hex.

Other standalone arps include the MAM map 1 (which I've been looking for one for a year now) and the [forget the name of the company] gecko.

I would kill for something with the feature I said, but maybe I'll just build a seqv3, I guess ::)

;)

[stryd_one]

Other standalone arps include the MAM map 1 (which I've been looking for one for a year now) and the [forget the name of the company] gecko.

I would kill for something with the feature I said, but maybe I'll just build a seqv3, I guess ::)

Thanks man I'll check out the MAM box.... The Gecko was Waldorf :)

Don't stress mate, just because the seq already does it does not mean that it couldn't be included... I think a chord generator before the arp seems a very sensible idea.

[stryd_one]

http://gregwaltzer.com/egw/arpeggiators.htm has a nice roundup...

[stryd_one]

Just thought of a nice feature... Delays, with pitch and pan modulation. It's not strictly an arpeggiator feature but it could be handy?

I like the arp-x8 thing where it has multiple arps with channels and keymaps too...

How about xfading/morphing between arp patterns?

Ahh multiple outputs for sure....

Hey bill as for the patterns, why not make them user-editable? And how about Program Change for selecting them?

Was thinking about the remote control, I dunno if CC# is the best thing for BPM as it doesn't allow enough range... although it would be good for modulation stuff like arp speed, note length, velocity... Octave range could be done like that too but it would be really cool if it could be done with the keyboard as well... Maybe we could use a certain message like a CC or an unusual note combination to put the arp into an editing mode or something? Anyway I think it's best to allow *everything* to be controlled by sysex and CC's, just for compatibility with other devices... But sometimes one way is more elegant than another...

I always wanted an arp that would latch incoming notes, and then allow me to mute and unmute those latched notes by pressing the same key... Most of them just latch them in forever (until you hit stop anyway, or they're rolled off the stack of incoming notes) and I played one once I think * that let you remove the latched notes by hitting the key again, but then when you hit the key a 3rd time and turn it back on later, it is in a different order to the original, so it sounds different.  (* Maybe I dreamed that heh)

Now I thnk of it, better still... Have it latch all incoming notes, if the same note is struck again, then it will mute/unmute that note if the velocity is >63, and remove it from the stack for velocity (X)-62. That way you have full control over latching with a single algorithm, if you set (X) = 1, it will always latch notes with a note-on, and will unlatch them with a subsequent low-velocity note, or mute them with high velocity notes, and if you set (X) to zero, it will unlatch the notes as soon as you release them... (Note that this requires converting incoming 0x8n events to 0x9n, velocity 0, events. I don't think that should be a problem, I don't think I ever saw a synth that didn't support 0 velocity as a note-off)

What else... Individual velocity modulation for each note in the stack...

I dunno.. I started writing this post with that first idea and all the rest fell out of my brain. "Sorry about the mess" He said, and tossed the bartender some credits.

Surely someone else has a feature request? Everyone seemed keen, until I said "what do you want it to do?" ;D

Edit: Oh yeh how about 'fills'?

[jrkirkish]

Lets see... I don't know if it's been mentioned, but syncing to the MIDI clock would be nice.

I honestly can't think of anything else I would want out of an arp besides what's above. And the chord-sequencer Idea of mine

What I would like this to be, and this is just industrial design part of it, is very small. maybe fit in a 3x5in project box. Something that wouldn't look out of place sitting on my controller. Small. So I guess that means just a CORE module and the 'step A' control panel. I can't really envision a need (I'm sure there would be a desire, though) for any larger control surface.

Is there anything I can do to contribute to the project? You can count me in for testing, for sure, but I'd like to know if there's anything else I can do.

Don't mean to be nagging, but what's the ETA of the software? I'd love to be building this now, instead of a SID (so much simpler!)

Edit: You know, a harmonizer would be cool too....  ;)