To clarify, I’m talking about the “Jump 16 rows up” and “Jump 16 rows down” settings.
In a 64 row pattern these steps are already possible via F9 to F12. So there’s an unnecessary redundancy here.
On the other hand, when a pattern size is not a multiple of 16, the PgUp and PgDn jumps are still stuck to 16 rows and make no sense. F9 to F12 though cleverly adjust and jump quarter pattern. Most people usually have 4 measures in a pattern, so this always makes sense. What I suggest is make the PgUp and PgDn settings behave like this as well, and perform jumps up and down by one beat.
I usually suck at explanations, let alone explanations in a language other than my native. So, to make it easier, here’s an example:
for a 64 row pattern: PgUp and PgDn should jump 4 rows;
for a 128 row pattern: jump 8 rows;
for a 256 row pattern: jump 16 rows…
I agree that it could be nice to have more available options to increase flexibility, but I don’t think you quite have the right idea yet.
There is absolutely no reason to assume that a pattern with 64 steps automatically means 4 rows per beat, nor is there a reason to assume that a 256 row pattern is 16 rows per beat, etc., so it would be a mistake to change the jump behaviour simply based on pattern length.
(In fact, I was one of the people who argued to change the PageUp/PageDown jumps back to 16 rows, because it used to be different, it used to jump in different amounts based on pattern length, and it felt verrrry weird)
It’s already possible to jump up/down by a custom value anyway. If you set editstep to 4, for example, you can then use CTRL + Shift + Up Arrow to jump up 4 rows, or CTRL + Shift + Down Arrow to jump down 4 rows. You could probably use this? You could even re-map PageUp / PageDown to these functions.
But yeah… perhaps there can be more possible mapping options. Including 16 rows, 8 rows, 4 rows, etc. Maybe all the values between 1 - 16? Then you can map PageUp / PageDown to whichever jump value you are most comfortable with.
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Yes, I agree what I’ve outlined above is just a one case scenario. There are too many ways to handle patterns. One can even make a whole song in a single one.
Perhaps making the jump size adjustable will be best.
P.S. The edit step way doesn’t suit me. I actually hate the edit step and always have it at 0. I don’t like the focused row moving when i enter a note. It nearly always ends up in a place that I don’t need it to be.
+1 For customizable Pgup Pgdn. They are better reachable and quicker than both F9 - F12 and Ctrl + Shift + Down/Up. Options that come to my mind are:
16, 32 or whatever number of rows
Metronome Bars
Beats
Follows the EditStep value (an easier Ctrl + Shift + Down/Up)
Custom subdivisions like 3 + 2 or 2 + 3 for 5/8 or 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 or 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 for 9/8 time signatures. What this essentially means is that Pgup or Pgdn will jump to strong beats of a rhythmic pattern.