Recently when doing a search I came across this old post i made
Thought i might as well see if i could come up with a tool to do what i was wanting back then.
So here it is.
tools.cupcake.Playmate-v1.03.xrnx (2.5 KB)
Source available on bitbucket, or github if you prefer sucking on the microsoft tit
The idea of the tool is that it will allow you to jam away while recording in a single pattern, without having to worry about stopping and starting etc. This is modelled on the way an Akai MPC lets you record patterns.
What it does is watch your pattern, and when these conditions are true:
- edit mode is active
- follow pattern is engaged
- and you have entered some data in the pattern while it is playing
it will then extend the pattern by 1 bar (4 beats) when it nears the end of the pattern. The length to extend by can be changed in a settings dialog accessed via the tool menu. It will try to work out the correct length based on LPB, even if this is changed in the pattern. Don’t expect it to get it right if you’re using some weird settings! In the options you can also set a fixed length (in lines) for it to extend to, similar to the Ableton Push ‘fixed length’ behaviour, possibly. It will extend the pattern incrementally by the number of beats set in the options until it hits the fixed length size, and it wont resize/cut short a pattern that is already longer than the fixed length size. There is another option to copy existing notes into the pattern as it gets extended. This will remember how far it has copied, so even when stopping and starting the pattern in edit mode, it should always be able to ‘loop’ whatever data was in the pattern to begin with. It doesnt work for automation (yet!), and is also probably not very efficient with busy patterns. It will also store how far it got when copying, so even if you change pattern and come back to do more recording, it should just carry on from where it left off.
That’s about it. Hope its of some use.