alternative firmware for the white whale. free free free as always. and open source.
http://monome.org/docs/modular/update
kria (icelandic name for arctic tern) defend their nesting grounds together as an imposing flock.
a new grid application. parameter-phased modulator. a step sequencer arpeggiator. two voices with independent loop positions and speed per parameter: trigger, accent, duration, note, octave, transposition, scale.
a new tutorial video:
some text instruction:
bottom row is navigation, from left to right
ch 1
ch 2
trigger / accent / octave
duration
note
scale
transpose
loop mod
time mod
scale editor
pattern selection
alt
details/explanation:
two voices, selected with channel 1/2 keys.
ch 1 = TR1, CV1, TR3 (accent)
ch 2 = TR2, CV2, TR4 (accent)
an “event” is only generated on trigger-- TR and CV are coupled. to simplify: on each trigger all current parameters (note, duration, etc) are used at that moment to generate an “event”. this is important to understand, as the non-trigger parameters may be cycling at different rates or different loop points than the master trigger. for example: if the accent row is fully lit up, it still will only create a trigger on the TR3/4 in correlation with a trigger event. so everything follows the triggers for each channel.
bottom row keys 4-8 change the edit mode. mode details:
trigger, accent, and octave are on the same first page: trigger on top row, accent on second, the rest are octave.
duration has a channel-global multiplier which is the top row. shorter on the left, longer on the right. the rest of the rows are vertical “sliders” with shorter values towards the top and longer towards the bottom. (it makes visual sense when you use it-- i tried to make each screen look sufficiently different for intuitive navigation)
note is low to high. these follow the scale, a latter page.
scale relates to the “note” screen. the working scale can be changed per step. the scale editor (read on) allows modification to scales.
transposition is global to the channel, meaning it does not get conformed into the scale. you can actually sequence fully chromatic runs similar to the earthsea by simply not using the note/scale screens. top row is “step” and remaining middle rows are chromatic horizontal, 4th vertical. to edit each step you need to change the top row. highlighting is intuitive here.
up to this point, everything is still sync’d like a normal step sequencer, which is a perfectly permissible use.
to change loop points of individual parameters – use the loop mod key. hold the key while doing a two-touch start-end gesture to specify a new loop. a single touch will move the start position and preserve length. hold alt while selecting a loop point to set the loop length to 1.
speed changes - hold down the speed mod key to change the playback speed of the parameter/track. you will see two horizontal sliders. (on the trig page you will see three pairs, for trig/ac/oct).
the top is the multiple, the bottom is the divider. the default is 1/1 which is no change in base speed. if you want double speed, divide the base speed by two-- set to 1/2. to go 2/3 the base speed, set to 3/2.
given you have 16 gradations, you can do some very slow phasing-- try 16/15. also-- it’s very possible to divide the speeds to impossibly fast cycles (which will overload the cpu) so i limit the period to 10ms minimum (this is thoroughly in synth spew territory).
scale editor – the left column indicates the working scales (those available on the scale param sequence) and which scale you’re editing. the center dim section shows the available scales. the bottom of this dim section has the seven preset scales (which will be read and overwrite your current scale): ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, locrian. the right half of the grid is the actual scale editor.
scales are assembled per-note, from bottom to top, built from intervals. the dim vertical bar indicates 0, or no change from one note to the other. rightwards increases the interval per step. try it out, it will make much intuitive sense. hold alt while changing an interval to inversely change the interval above-- this preserves the upper-remainder of the scale-- whereas a normal edit would transpose everything above the edit. both are useful. you can transpose the entire scale up by changing the root note (the bottom row).
hold alt while selecting a scale slot (in the dim area) to write to that position. scales are saved globally, and are shared between all presets.
phase/position reset: hold alt while pushing ch1 or ch2.
preset saving works.
varbright 128 only. external clock input not yet implemented.
ps - big thanks to many many people for feedback on sequencer ideas. this is really an amalgam of techniques collected over the years.
ps - if anyone gets passionate about this mod and also has some documentation skills, i could really use a hand making this instrument much more understandable.
Are there plans for TT integration? What about automated changing of patterns? And I’d still a way to slow the sequence down more than 16/1.