X1 Producer Expanded Build 425 x64, i7-2600k processor with 32GB memory and several TB of hard drives - win7/x64 patch current.

Step Sequencer has an inherent design flaw in that it does not correctly allow capturing midi data in a meter base other than a quarter note.

If I want to enter a measure of data in a meter of 21/8, Step Sequencer will allow me to specify the number of beats as 21, and the steps per beat as 1, but then the 'Fit to n Quarters' parameter requires that the whole thing be based on a meter base of a quarter note.

The effect of this is to take 2 measures to record what should fit into 1 measure.  This is an improper reflection of the actual measures, and also requires a doubling of the song tempo to properly maintain the correct playback of the 21/8 measures, compared to a normal 1/4-note based meter, such as 4/4 or even 7/4.

The solution to this should be an adjustment to the 'Fit to n Quarters' parameter to allow for some other meter base, such as an eight or sixteenth note.

Bob Bone

Good idea. Have you put in a feature request?

For what it's worth, my approach to x/8 timings is to use the step sequencer to cover two or more bars rather than one. It possibly helps that the genres I use these timings in generally treat x/8 unusually (in musical theory terms). E.g. a traditional English/Irish/Scots jig is conventionally written down in 6/8 and refered to as being in 6/8, but the strong beats fall on beats 1 and 4, so it's really a kind of "tripletted" 2/4 with three quavers/crotchet, if you see what I mean.

Anyway, I've never worked in 21/8, but I've just tried a basic experiment of setting the timing to 21/8, loading session drummer and the setting step sequencer to 41 beats with "fit to quarters" set to 21. Number of steps per beat step to 1, though it doesn't matter.

After adding some notes I get a 2 bar pattern which on playback stays in time with both a second instance of session drummer programmed via the piano roll and the metronome, so I don't seem to be seeing your tempo problems - though that's a very simple experiment, and I haven't tried a comparison between the MIDI side of things and recorded audio.

The step sequencer is presumably intended to emulate the kind of "old-fashioned" sequencers found in hardware (though it's more capable than most), and like them has limitations and calls for sometimes awkward work-arounds, especially with more "unusual" time signatures. Being able to tell it to fit to 1/8 or 1/16 rather than just 1/4 would certainly make life easier

1.  The fact that it takes two measures in Track View to show what was recorded as 1 measure of 21/8 is in itself a problem.

2.  To expose the tempo issue I referred to, I offer a simplified example.  Take a measure of 4/4, recorded any way you want, at tempo 120.  Now after inserting a meter change to 6/8, record 1 measure using Step Sequencer, with the number of beats set to 8 and the steps set to 1.  2 things become evident.  First, the number of measures displayed in Track View is 2, when only 1 measure was actually supposed to have been recorded.  Secondly, upon playback, each 1/8th note in both measures should sound at the same time value, for the given tempo of 120.  This is not the case.  The 1/8th notes recorded using Step Sequencer play at exactly HALF the speed they are SUPPOSED to play at.

The problems above area FAULT within the software.  I have just faithfully recreated the issues above prior to creating this post.  It is most definitely a bug, and is most definitely reproducible.

Bob Bone

1. Agree absolutely.

2. I'm with you now  - I must have been having a particularly stupid day yesterday. Yes, it looks like a bug and I can reproduce it.

These bugs have made it into X2 as well :-(

Time to lodge an X2 bug report I think.

Thanks for taking the time to reproduce the situation.

I too believe this to be a bug, and will report it as such.  I have been a keyboard player for 48 years, and I'd say more than 30 of those years have been in the realm of progressive rock / fusion, where odd meters and non-standard time bases are pretty much like breathing.  I am at the point of nearly 10o% of my time being dedicated to recording many of the pieces I have either written, or those that I grew up enjoying, and I don't want software limitations to curb that goal.

Thanks again, 

Bob Bone