Hopefully related brainstorming.
Assuming we want to keep Patterns as main building blocks and the Pattern Matrix as birds eye view on the song, but also want reusable clip content. Wouldn’t using pattern slots as clips, pattern slots instead of whole patterns as reusable content solve most of what we want here?
PM clip tries to emulate clips by automatically copying changed content to other similar places. Why not allowing “real ghosts” of pattern slots in the matrix.
A picture may be easier to understand:
Now:
SEQ Pattern Matrix Slots
[1] | [1.1][2.1][3.1]
[2] | [1.2][2.2][3.2]
[2] | [1.2][2.2][3.2]
[3] | [1.3][2.3][3.3]
[4] | [1.4][2.4][3.4]
Each slot can be hard copied around.
Each slot is unique unless a pattern is repeated, reused.
Matrix Clips:
SEQ Pattern Matrix Slots
[1] | [1.1][2.1][3.1]
[2] | [1.1][2.2][3.2]
[2] | [1.1][2.2][3.2]
[3] | [1.1][2.2][3.2]
[4] | [1.4][2.2][3.4]
Track 1 repeats first slot 4 times, then creates a variation at pattern 4
Track 2 repeats first slot all the time
Track 3 contains 2 different slots, one at the beginning one at the end.
Patterns still can be reused (Pattern 2 is used two times here), still form the songs main structure.
Different visualization of the same thing.
x.x numbers would only be visible for ghosts, empty slots can be left out, so the real picture would look like:
Matrix Clips (real slots vs. ghost slots):
SEQ Pattern Matrix Slots
[1] | [XXX][XXX][XXX]
[2] | [1.1][2.1][]
[2] | [1.1][2.1][]
[3] | [1.1][2.1][]
[4] | [XXX][2.1][XXX]
XXX is a clip.
x.x a a clip ghost, repeated clip content.
[] an empty slot
If slots can only be reused in “its” track only, we only have a pattern reference per track to create ghosts; end up in something like a multi track sequence. This can even be entered numerically then and not just copy and pasted around like in traditional arrangers:
Matrix Clips (ghost slots reference pattern numbers only):
SEQ Pattern Matrix Slots
[1] | [XXX][XXX][XXX]
[2] | [1][1][]
[2] | [1][1][]
[3] | [1][1][]
[4] | [XXX][1][XXX]
XXX is a clip.
x the referenced pattern for each ghosted slot.
[] an empty slot
Aka, each slot in the matrix forms a clip, which then can be ghosted into other slots in the same track instead of hard copying it - what the matrix right now does. A ghost to a ghost may either not be allowed or would point to the head, the final resolved real clip.
This still is quite limiting, cause you can not put multiple clips in one pattern and a pattern’s length forms all its clip’s length.
Dead end, just a compromise, or worth thinking more about it?
Or did I missed the point of “Onion Skin” and it’s exactly this?