Hey there !
Maybe it’s a noob question or I may have missed that info in the vids, doc or the forum : )
I assumed one feature found on other gear would be on the mighty Hapax but …
For drum tracks : is it possible to set different step length for each individual rows ?
If not, is there any plan to implement it later ?
I saw there is step warping feature but that’s not quit what i had in mind.
Thanks and cheers !
I agree that it was surprising to find that all drum lanes have the same length. In particular when other aspects of Hapax (e.g. track elasticity) caters to the more non-mainstream user.
However, speaking of this, there is a “hidden” way of getting some drums to play in a way that does not follow the pattern length: Use a euclid fx set to anything but IN. That produces a string of notes that could be e.g. a rimshot playing a 14 step pattern in a 16 step bar.
Not what you asked for, but I just wanted to mention it.
Thanks for the tip LD !
Figured there was an algorithmic way to do it but this flashy grid is calling for a simpler hands on approach !
i’m not 100% sure if my conceptualization of this is correct, so please do let me know if i’m thinking of this wrong, but:
if you set a drum pattern length to a very short 1 or 2 note length pattern, then place drum hits on those one or two 16th note events but with each note’s MATH option set to 1:7 or whatever else, doesn’t that achieve kind of the same result? i’m testing it now and i believe looping like this creates the same pattern over a longer span than one ‘bar’ of course…but maybe i’m missing something in my ‘math.’
obviously you can expand the idea out to a full bar length or more, though it might be more obvious in a shorter length like i’ve described. either way is of course still limiting in how we normally approach writing a drum pattern within a bar of 16 notes, but it could be a solution in how to achieve a similar result.
Yes i guess there is that option, thanks.
But IMO one major force of the hapax grid matrix is direct visual representation.
Got the feature i described on the behringer rd8/9.
Maybe it’s on the pyramid ?
I like this idea but I don’t think it’ll be possible to implement it.
well,
If it can be done on cheap drum machines, i guess it’s possible on a high end sequencer ; )
Matrixes are arrays of arrays, that can have different length. Same goes if you represent data as trees.
I haven’t look the hapax source code though so i don’t know the langage Squarp is using nor how much work it would involve.
Yes, just speaking out of my non-coder arse, I will say that it can absolutely be done. 
I believe it’s C++
I don’t think it would be so easy to do as a drum mode seems to be a poly track but with a different layer. What I believe is the actual behaviour of a track is that it contains only one playhead.
From this statement, they’d need to add more playheads per tracks (and I would love this to happen!).
Thanx for the insight, that makes a lot of sens.
There is also the trick of doing it in a way where the UI makes sense.
Yep indeed @hecksevent,
The UI and general flow are top notch so far !!!
It could maybe be something like …
2nd + down arrow + row buttons to select one (or more) row(s) as polydrum(s) !
Then why not apply the same shortcut as for setting loop points (arrows l/r + mute 1-16).
Now the edited row could have an individual buffered playhead <3
The rgb activation could be asynchronous compared to the regular (i.e following the row’s loop points).
How do you guys think this should be done ?
Cheers and happy music ; )
Well you have two challenges:
Changing the number of steps on a row could be done similarly to changing track length by holding right arrow and tapping the pad of the last step on the row.
I have no idea the best way to change other row parameters like elasticity. Perhaps hold the row button and adjust a parameter somehow, but this is the part I think would be tricky.
Both of these solutions surface other challenges.
At the end of the day, for this kind of thing, it’s probably less painful to have one drum per track and manipulating them normally.
You’re right, elasticity may be a pain here.
Still, waisting 1 out of 16 tracks for one drum instrument feels very sad to me.
Sure you have 32 if you sum 2 projects, but it defies the dual project concept.
Still, waisting 1 out of 16 tracks for one drum instrument feels very sad to me.
This is definitely what’s keeping me in the Elektron sequencers for my DT/ST drum tracks.
Changing the number of steps on a row could be done similarly to changing track length by holding right arrow and tapping the pad of the last step on the row.
Dream solution!
I think a solution that would have steps per drum row, but not elasticity per row would be just fine. Having both would of course be fun, but the first would definitely be my priority.
Yeah, if I could adjust steps on a per-row basis in a drum kit, I’d 100% start using Hapax as my drum sequencer!
As a workaround, you can always have multiple drum tracks that go to the same MIDI channel and ultimately drum machine. That’s necessary for drum machines with more than 8 instruments anyway. (Drum tracks with more channels when? 
)
Slightly off topic, but it would be really cool to have the automation lanes step count independent of the note sequencer for any track type. An accent/velocity pattern that cycles differently than the notes/hits can add a lot of life to a sequence without a lot of effort
yea i think another way that would be a cool way to achieve something like this would be a “voltage bank” style midi effect that you could pick a destination for. kind of like how the stepped random LFO works, but more control over the values and how many steps and playback modes…