Getting comfortable with the sync function and the range function.
Think of the Sync setting as fractions or a multiplier of a
beat, as defined by your host application. It's locked to the BPM setting there. Assuming a 4/4 key signature in the host, the default Sync setting of 4 equates to four quarter note beats, or one measure. This defines the overall 'container' size of the StepGen.
The Step setting defines the number of divisions the StepGen will chop this overall 'size' into. In this case, you have a measure, and a (default) Step count of 16. Sixteen 16th notes add up to one measure. Up the Sync setting to 16 (beats), and the proportion has changed. You now have 4 measures of beats at 4/4, so a Step count of sixteen covers more territory. In a relative sense to the host app, the 16 steps become quarter-notes. To maintain a sixteenth-note relationship, the Steps need to be increased to 64 (four measures contain 64 sixteenth notes).
Each time you play a note the step gen does not start from the beginning.
Click both mouse buttons on the Sync function to set it to Off. The Freq setting takes over, and removes strict Sync'ing to the host tempo. Instead, the cycle is triggered by each MIDI Note On encountered; either "live" from your controller, or as placed in the host app. The exception here seems to be the Global L&R StepGens, which appear to remain locked in a relative proportion to the host.
But "speed" of the StepGen is determined by the Freq setting, in Hertz (one Hz. = one cycle per second). If you're no longer concerned with Sync to tempo, this locks the StepGen to a specific Freq. If you are, then you have to do the math, and trigger your StepGens with MIDI Notes exactly on the beat. If we use the 'Sync' example above, there were 16 Steps (sixteenth notes) within a measure of 4/4 (Sync = 4).
In a host BPM environment of 120 BPM, that's 120 quarter note beats in a minute's time. Every second contains two beats; one beat will take 1/2 second to complete (500 milliseconds). Now we translate that to Hertz (cycles per second), and make one StepGen cycle take a Freq of 0.50 (seconds) to complete. Result? Four cycles of the StepGen at .50 Freq equates to four beats of Sync at 120 BPM.
What I am looking to do (at least for now) is step sequencing and/or arpeggiation
This isn't it. 'Note durations' can be adjusted by using the Amp StepGen in conjunction with your Pitch StepGen "pattern", but it'll always be within the the parameters of a MIDI Note. And that overriding behavior is sculpted in the Amp EG. The longer the AMP EG envelope is (in terms of overall evolution), the longer the time that a Pitch StepGen will be heard. For step-sequencing or arpeggiation in the traditional sense, you're better off using a tool geared toward that (P5, as one example).
Using MIDI note entry is a big help.
It's the easiest way to get data in, especially for absolute accuracy in longer sequences. I'll go into this more later, but MIDI Note Entry is also a precise way of bringing in filter sweeps, volume changes, and other 'shapes' demanding accuracy. The key is to consider note values as simply 25 vertical level increments, and to vary those levels' value results with a StepGen's Depth control.
For Note Entry, first have in mind the final results that you're after. The possible input notes range from middle C to two octaves above that [C5 - C7 in default Sonar/Project5 terms]. Anything under C5 acts as a 'backspace' for correction purposes. If you want to align that with Rapture for programming ease, set the StepGen Depth to 2400. An entered note now plays back at the same 'pitch' as entered.
If your final sequence is to travel only one octave (Depth=1200 cents), you have to think of the 'level values' differently. Now a C5 entry will be the 'base note', C7 will be an octave above that, and C6 (in the middle) will translate to a tritone (enharmonically an augmented fourth or diminished fifth). At the default 4800 cents, octaves
in the results are at C5 (base), G#5, C6, G#6, and C7 in the MIDI Note Entry scheme.
If you're using .mid or .ptn files to construct MIDI Note Entry sequences (recommended), the actual note length of the pattern input doesn't matter. Rapture is looking for Note heights (levels), and advances to the next Step when it receives another Note On message. For ease of use, set your Snap To in your host app to any readable increment (like a quarter note). Set the end of file limit to the number of Steps you want to enter.
One example: A 64-Step Pitch StepGen spanning one octave of final output. Set your host app's Snap to 1/4 note, and it'll take 16 measures to complete the sequence entry. Too long for one screen? Set the Snap to 16th note, and now only four measures [1/16th of 64 Steps] cover the sequence. No more; no less. There's horizontal covered. Vertically, confine yourself between middle C and the octave above it, yet leave the StepGen's Depth at 2400 cents. Set it to 1200 cents, and the 25 (C5-C7) levels will become 'quarter-tones' of apparent pitch in the results.
If you decide later on to change the proportion (by adjusting the Depth control), there's some easy ways to adapt the sequence. Right-click in the StepGen, and select a Snap-To increment in that. With Snap to 24, and a Depth of 2400 cents, each click will be a semitone (100 cents). With a Depth of 1200 cents, a Snap-To of 12 will yield a semitone. Press "P" on the Qwerty for a boost in getting Step values to a logical level.
Snap-To 10 helps in Modulators that use percentage, like the Amp EG. But here's a trick for easily getting rests to accompany your Pitch StepGen sequence. Make both StepGens identical in terms of Status, Steps, and Sync (or Freq); either manually, or with right-click/Copy & Paste Step Generator. Raise the Amp StepGen Depth to 100%. Raise all of the individual Step levels to maximum; either by mouse-drawing, or using the Qwerty Up Arrow.
Now the 'note' sequence will playback exactly as before, with or without the Amp Stepgen. Near the bottom of the display, click on only those Steps where you want a rest to occur. The Step will snap to the bottom. After success here, you can start to explore 'decays' and 'attacks' in the Amp StepGen. You do this by leading into and trailing away from 'note centers' with incremental Step levels.
Edit: Somehow, I slipped a digit.
post edited by b rock - 2006/07/05 10:33:42