[FRQ] track select latch option

I often just want to quickly select tracks because I’m playing my synths live from a controller on the “autochannel” set in the pyramid options, so that I always send on the same channel but play/record on the selected track. The button combination is very awkward to use in this context, especially if you need to reach out to the Pyramid while playing live. I would really appreciate if we could latch the “track select mode” so that selecting a track would be a one-button operation instead of the current hold track button-select track number, reverting immediately afterwards to the track-mute mode default state. For me this is a big usability problem… button combinations are a pita for musicians that actually play live instruments as opposed to “desktop musicians/producers” (with all due respect of course), because taking a hand off an instrument while playing to perform button combo’s is not an easy thing to manage.

yeah, as a keyboard player, I truly feel your pain. I wish that Pyramidi could be expanded for cc control for many of the awkward key combos. Midi cc for patterns would be great. You should get in touch with Squarp for feature requests. They do listen and they rarely seem to check the forum.

One such request I made in the past was a fix for the Pyramidi Record cc. It only triggered the •REC if the Pyramid was already in record mode. It seemed to me that if you have a pedal and you want it to start recording, that it should start recording regardless of what mode you’re in. They agreed and added it to the next update.

At this point, they don’t seem to interested in adding functionality. I do think there’s room for the existing feature set to be streamlined a bit though.

@roadmoviemusic One way to do this is using the pedal input, I made a simple box with 2 pushbuttons connected to a stereo 1/4” jack cable, one of the buttons connects to sleeve (ground) and ring (cold) the other button connects to sleeve and tip (hot).

Then in settings I just map the track+ to pedal hot and track- to pedal cold, it allows easy single hand track changes.

You can also buy a dual footpedal which would do the same. HTH.

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Yes, that a possibility, but I don’t really see a huge improvement… if I want to play on track 16 coming from track 5, for example (which is very frequent in my workflow), I’d have to tap the footswitch 11 times to get there, without visual feedback, all of this while playing live!

You can also use CC0 to select track using Pyramidi.

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maybe not the solution you’re looking for, but programmed the 16 pads on an arturia keylab to select the first 16 tracks with cc0. works like a charm for quickly jumping to different instruments. with a little bit of work you could do the same with any pad controller.

Yes that’s could be a solution as well. I’d prefer a firmware upgrade than to have to spend some more money on a pad controller just for a simple function though (and I’m starting to lack real-estate in my set-up as well), but this is probably the most practical solution indeed

yeah, I completely agree. “more stuff” isn’t a satisfactory answer.
As awesome as the Pyramid is, the biggest letdown for me has been how difficult it is to improvise live without stopping, especially using external controllers for it. It seems designed to be the center of attention, which simply isn’t how I make music. I hope that Pyramidi is eventually expanded for more control, but I’m not holding my breath…

that said, one of those korg nanopads is pretty compact and would likely be your best bet for the time being.

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I have to +1 this. I’ve been using Pyramid for about a month, and this is one of the only “peculiar” design choices I’ve encountered.

My feeling is that when in Track mode, pressing a pad should…select a Track. Because, pressing a pad in Live mode plays a note, pressing a pad in Step mode activates a Step, being in Sequence mode…you see where I’m going :slightly_smiling_face:

I’m wondering how difficult it would be to implement:

SETTINGS --> MISC --> TRACK MODE PAD: 1) Mutes Track -or- 2) Selects Track.

  • If option 1 is chosen, it’s the functionality we have now (single press mutes, Track + Pad selects)

  • If option 2 is chosen, they’re reversed (single press selects the Track, Track + Pad mutes).

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Unfortunately this only applies to REC enable via CC 66 (Pyramidi). If you have a “normal” Pedal in the pedal input and enable REC or HARD REC in settings for this pedal it does not switch to Live Mode (Record Mode) automatically. So with a normal pedal you still have to be in live mode already… I just disvovered this and found this post. Maybe I’ll write to them as it seems inconsistent to not make this useful addition available to “normal” pedals too.

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Can you explain in a bit more detail what is going on with those cc settings? Say I am mapping my midi fighter 3d to do track select… I am setting 16 buttons on the midi fighter to CC 0… each with a different velocity, up to 16… Does that sound correct?

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I think the difficulty (at least for me) is that pyramid wants to absolutely control whatever it can control, but is happy to let other devices control what they will 1:1 knob wise… I think, the pyramid will eventually be great for controlling the patterns and sequences I want to play and mute/unmute… But I think the assumption is that if you want to perform things, you will most likely still be turning knobs on other devices.

Eventually I hope to get a Bomebox… and so I need to be able to tell the pyramid to control or access everything it can do from a different controller… so, for my part I am going to continue pleading with squarp to make as much as possible accessible via midi cc messages.

In case you haven’t noticed, you can use the ASSIGN mode to assign all manner of parameters to external MIDI CC of your choice, see Controlling Pyramid FX via MIDI CC: A Reference Guide for the awesome chart compiled by @CreepyPants.

Just saying because it isn’t exactly obvious from the manual or the MIDI implementation chart that you can do this.

I control everything except Start/Stop on the Pyramid with a controller.

It’s a rabbit hole, but you have you like “systems”.

I am setting 16 buttons on the midi fighter to CC 0… each with a different velocity, up to 16… Does that sound correct?

yes, that’s the idea. :slight_smile:

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I find that button combination to sellect track also not handy.
What i do is use multiple channels, say synths or controller channels and then sellect omni: multi mode. Than i can sellect a channel on a synth or a synth already sellected a channel.
The Pyramid records the midi-data on the track corresponding to the channel!!!
So you can record all your midi-channels without having to touch the Pyramid.
Hope this helps, though i know it’s another workfow, Dian

Hello!
Did you manage to map your midifighter? Cause in my midifighter utility app, there is no sign of CC values…only velocity…also, on the pyramid, were can I find the track select option?

Thanks in advance