Just some brainstorming…
I was thinking about the Offset jump command…
The actual way of setting offset jumps on the body of the sample via pattern command it’s greatly limited in precision… but in its simplicity it’s a good effect and it keeps backward compatibility with old xm mods.
There should be a way of improving this, keeping the “pattern command” concept.
well… let me tell ya:
What if you could SET (from sample editor) some “Landmarks” on the sample… pretty much like you do with the start and end point of loops, dragging “indicators”…
You should be able to set a number for each “landmark” (or it can be sequencial and automatically set, whatever) then you can recall the number via pattern command…
The old method allows for FF positions… that’s dividing the sample in 255 fixed positions (+1 that’s the beginning of the sample I guess) and while this is ok with very short samples, it just does not fit at all modern precision needed to handle, say, a groove beat, a drumline, a speech sample…
with LANDMARKS you could be easily able to set up to 255 different precise starting points
This should allow much more flexibility, precision… and you could even work excellent effects out of it… slicing, skidding, quasi-granular, aphex-bouncing, flanges, beatshredding, broken beats, younameit…
Hopefully, to keep compatibility with old XMs one must be able to set if he wants to have LANDMARKS activated or not… We can even theorize a “converter” able to “understand” where the imported patterncommand is pointing to (along the 255 fixed points, that’s a small number) and automatically set a Landmark… converting the pattern commands in the body of the XM with a new set of jumps that will sound practically the same… or better, because one can then chose to modify the landmarks with renewed precision.
