Progster
Hi,
I'd like to offer an explicit design suggestion for enhancing Key selection (transposition).
I realize 7.3 is coming, with the (tiny) key transposition wheel. This is a "next gen" proposal that offers some specific, desirable advantages IMO.
Broadly speaking, I'm aiming to elevate Key selection (transposition) to first-class status along with Mixing, Effects, etc. - making it a highly available and easily usable element for live performance.
For background, I have taken the goals to be:
  1. All 12 keys available
  2. Musical use of transposition relative to home base
  3. One-handed operation
  4. Sufficient size (real-estate) for high-accuracy touching / use
  5. Always display the current key
  6. Consistent with current interface design
I think these goals are all self-explanatory, except maybe #2.
So, re: #2 -
It is critical for composition to include the IV and V chord keys (both up and down), because those are the musically "related" (i.e. one accidental away), most often used, keys.
However, when transposing to change key center / tonality / home-base and offering 12 keys in a composition, the most UN-musical way to do it is to simply do all transpositions upwards (or downward) 1 thru 12 semi-tones.
Hence we want to offer up to a fifth up, and up to a fifth down for our transpositions because those IV and V chords/keys can in fact be either higher or lower, and both are valid and needed.
Fortunately, we have exactly the number of pads necessary to do this very logically and musically.
Please see the attached picture.
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Matched against the goals, I think this achieves all of them.
I will add that ideally the user would be offered a preferences setting choice between a) touch "Key" to pop up the XPose pads, touch "Key" again to dismiss them and b) touch "Key" to pop up the XPose pads, have them dismiss immediately upon selection of the next key.
Thanks for your consideration of this proposal. Cheers!