Progster
Hi,
This is a feature request to add two new properties to clips:
Start with Scene: Y/N
Stop with Scene: Y/N
These would be very helpful for simplest flexible pre-design and execution of live performances.
Consider a Scene
(Here I speak of a "scene" as being a row of clips launched simultaneously, as currently done by the swipe gesture on a row when in the Loops tab.)
What is a scene conceptually? Simply, it is a set of clips that "go together" to create a musical experience for some portion of a longer composition.
Nothing about this concept of Scene requires that ALL the clips START and STOP together.
Indeed, most of the time, I would prefer than they did not!
The loops tab (or a Novation Launchpad controller, if such were in use) gives me 8 buttons per scene (without needing to scroll).
What do I want to do with 8 buttons? Most typically I would wish to have 3-5 of them (e.g. drums, percussion, bass, and maybe one harmonic or melodic element) be the core of the scene, with the remaining buttons there for use as "drop-in extras".
Generally, I want the Scene on start to play my designated "core", and then I will choose to add (or not), with timing also of my choice, the other elements (clips) which I have already identified as "going together" with that Scene.
Right now, the only way I can do this is to swipe-start ALL the clips and then quickly touch and deselect all those which I do not want to sound initially. This is error-prone for multiple reasons.
  1. First, which clips don't I want initially? No labels or marks indicate this, and I have other uses for colors, etc. This question of identification is MAJOR, IMO.
  2. Even if I (somehow!) know or guess which ones I don't want initially, I have to do the tap-dance quickly and accurately before quantization triggers the scene start. This will NEVER be a perfect, or even very good solution.
  3. One-shots cannot be grouped with the Scene w/o starting with the scene, which limits the location of one-shots to the start of the Scene. That's another major drag. IMO, one of the main points of one-shots is to "one-shot" them anywhere!
The desired scenario: With exactly one touch (or swipe) start the "core" of the scene. Then add and subtract as desired while the scene plays.
So, Start with Scene: Y/N is the most important need.
I would suggest also though the possibility of continuing to fill out the set by adding Stop with Scene: Y/N.
Adding Stop with Scene: Y/N would allow one or more chosen clips, when desired, to continue playing after Scene stop, and serve as transition to whatever comes next. (Extra mile: attach an optional automatic fade-out-to-stop capability here for the transition into the next Scene.)
One way to look at this is that a Scene would become a 3-part story, with a beginning, middle, and end. Imagine the flexibility this would provide for fine-grained performance control with a real minimum of gestures.
Thanks for considering this!