I faced an unexpected difficulty while working with tracks of different lengths: I can’t sync the changes of every track correctly in some situations with complex lengths.
Let me give an example:
Project time scale: 4/4 (4 bars / 16 steps)
Track 1, Pattern 1: 16 steps (intro)
Track 2, Pattern 1: 16 steps (intro)
Track 1, Pattern 2: 17 steps (main part with polyrhythm)
Track 2, Pattern 2: 16 steps (main part with polyrhythm)
Track 1, Pattern 3: 17 steps (outro with another time signature)
Track 2, Pattern 3: 17 steps (outro with another time signature)
All parts and patterns must change in sync with Track 1 (it’s the “main bass,” which serves as the basis for my drummer and should not be interrupted in middle point).
I tried to synchronize transitions between these parts in several ways:
Working with patterns only (without using “sections” or “song” mode):
SYNC = PTRN → fails when transitioning from “main” to “outro,” because Track 2 waits for its own end.
SYNC = 1BAR (any value) → fails on the same transition, because Track 1 changes at a random point that doesn’t align with the 17-step grid. SYNC = 1/4 → works in theory, but in practice it does not possible to do it in realtime (My drummer will kill me for this 1-tick-glitch )
Using three “sections” for each part:
The same problem occurs, because a section itself doesn’t have a defined “length.”
Using “song” mode:
This is the only working option, since song parts have a length parameter. However, it’s too complex and not suitable for improvisation.
In Squarp Hermod, there’s a special “pattern changing” menu where you can choose “sync with track N,” which solves this problem.
As I understand, this isn’t currently appropriate for Hapax due to its “section system” (which I really love — no sarcasm).
I would like to request adding the ability to hard-sync in any possible way:
Optional “pattern sync length” that can differ from the pattern length (equal by default).
Optional “section sync length” (disabled by default).
“Sync with track N” as an additional option in the pattern synchronisation option
Using the follow functions and making a pattern stop as well as setting the pattern to retrigger might help manage tracks becoming misaligned. Its easy to do.
Thank you for reply!
Can you please describe that i exactly need to do with follow actions in my case?
I want to play every part some indefinite number of times, then improvising on every part.
If i set follow action it can triger another pattern, or just stop. But i need to execute action only at the moment of section changing.
So, that exactly “follow action“ and “follow length“ should i set for Track1 pattern2 and Track2 Pattern2?
I too would like a way to reset any pattern currently running in a controlled way.
Say I have a kick+snare track going in 6/4, a hihat track in 2/4 and a melody in 4/4. I would like to be able to tell all these to reset after 16 4/4 bars(64 beats) but the 6/4 track won’t because it still has 2 beats left when 64 beats have passed.
Perhaps it would be possible to use track 16 as a master when it comes to syncing patterns with different lengths, it’s already used as transpose track. That way I could simply put an empty 16 4/4 bars pattern on track 16 and let it control the others.
Thats a good idea. I see what you guys are talking about. I might try to use a Euclidean per drum voice and whenever you want them to reset perhaps automate them very quickly to go down to 1 step so it’s effectively “retriggering” that voice. Downside is youd have to use the patterns Euclidean sequencer gives you. You could also try w different voices on different tracks if you have a couple to spare.
So it sounds like youd want a pattern on track 2 to have a follow prompt that stops it after the 16th beat. This allows track 1 to play its 17th step while track 2 has stopped and its not starting its 1 before track 1 has come back around. This is when you program your next pattern on track 2 to start when track 1 hits its 1. The only thing that can be a pain is you might need a duplicate of the pattern you want to stop; one has the follow prompt thats used in the exact moment when you want resync it to the other track, and one has no follow so it can be looped. I would explore song mode.
In my case i want to switch from part2 to part3 at any moment. And it must be synced with track1 (17 steps).
At the moment of switching i want to immidiatelly stop track2 at the current position (it can be any of it’s 16 position) and immidiatelly start playing corresponding next required pattern without pause.
I’m not sure i understood both of you tricks, but guess it’s not exactly that i want.
