Okay, so Ive messed around with loopbacks, but didnt find a pressing need to incorporate the technique in a Project yet.
Well, i think I have, namely that when i Humanize a Track that also uses Chance:Sync Chance, i dont get the desired results. Heh (Basically a loopback would allow me to Humanize after Chance)
But, Id rather not dedicate a technique that affects a whole input for just one application.
***Do you loopback? Care to share what/why?
If you dream of more than Quantize+4 MIDI Fx, what combinations spark your fancy?
thoughts? well, i’m too skeptical to care about this.
looped back humanize becomes unidirectional. since it can’t know note events in advance until they happen, it essentially can only shift notes backwards, but not forward.
and for human feel, velocity randomization is way more important than micro-shifts of note timing. actually, timing floats often create sort of feel that the drummer today is more drunk than usually, which is not what i really want 
but that’s me, i do not play anything experimental, so YMMV.
Youve never run into a situation where you want just one more effect than the quantize+4?
not really. there are 3 solutions:
a) to sacrifice some FX
b) put some FX to a separate track if possible
c) use Axoloti between Pyramid and controlled device. i implemented my own, more sophisticated versions of Scale and Note To CC as Axoloti patches (even before i bought Pyramid) and typically prefer them.
I’ve thought about it, particularly using pyramidi e.g. automating track mutes or recording from a particular track and also an idea of putting sequences (notes) on one track, and then have different ‘fx chains’ , you could target by simply switching midi channels.
but it always felt a bit of a hassle, and would get overly complex too quickly.
(I’ve been avoiding loopbacks on the octatrack for a similar reason.)
I think this is one of the cases where I’d be more likely to use it if i was building a 'setup which stayed the all the time - so I could build up familiarity with having tracks on the pyramid looping back.
not sure if i will do this though, as I could do similar things by using midihub/axoloti for my synths, or hermod on eurorack… and/or the octatrack midi tracks (which i dont use at all currently)
I am do like the idea of this kind of ‘meta’ sequencing though,
one day when time permits id like to play with it… though, I suspect I might use the organelle/rPI as the ‘brain’, and then things like the pyramid (tracks) would become a kind of UI into this brain.
(i.e. they have something like pyramid’s ‘pyramidi’ to invoke actions)
its amazing time we live in, there this stuff is very simple to do… the possibilities are endless, unfortunately our spare time is not 
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Thats where i was going sort of.
A combination of Chance, Harmoniser, Arp, Scale, with Random, Swing, etc where some of the effect parameters are also modulated by MIDI (i documented the CC values for all the effects, what to send to them to get which results, etc) for cyclical/rhythmic changes.
I guess it’s a stepping stone to a purely generative system, but shits and giggles. In my current project i have a bunch of open tracks and im debating on if i want to use them for loopbacks, one shots, LFO CC modulation, etc.
I just assume everyone is smarter than me and anything that drops by my brain has already been hashed out by you smarter types.
As for Pyramidi, i find theres too much lag switching Tracks On/Off, at least when i was scripting these changes. But it works with that [overly complex system that confuses everyone and really just sounds stupid when i explain it but it freakin works brilliantly] system that i use.
Not sure i want to dive into it, but i thought if i posted a brainstorm req, someone might want to share or yammer on about a festive technique.
I like when numbers and formulas and non musical patterns are expressed musically because: synaesthesia
yeah I think ‘system’ is the key word here…
where you are building a setup with a number of components that work together by being linked in a particular way, perhaps for a musical piece (or collection of pieces)
it’s this interconnected-ness that also puts me off a bit, close coupling of systems, also tends to make them fragile - this is fine when you have a particular purpose in mind, (e.g. ‘a system’), but is not so great when you are using for more general purpose stuff.
I’d see this manifesting itself as frequently having to re-configure things, and confusion about what’s pointing to what. again, likely a non-issue if ‘the system’ stays more static, as you become very familiar with how things are setup.
at the end of the day, all depends what we enjoy, and what our goals are.
… thats why this technology is so fun, as its so flexible.
(I’ve always thought the NDLR would be interesting in this realm… though I dont have enough synths to drive from it 
)
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Im trying to find my desired resolution. I mean, i can have control over each element, or on the other end of the spectrum i can just press PLAY.
Im happiest somewhere in the middle.
I have a current system that im finally finishing up that will allow me to perform 3 different musical projects. By “project” think “different band”, not different performance piece .
However, as i experiment with techniques, the ones i like i tend to add to my bag o’tricks. In a previous experiment with using MTPro for logic and Pyramid for the heavy lifting, i found RND was better generated by using an LFO S&H off the Pyramid, routed into the script (Bome sucks at RND). Since then ive always put the same LFO on Track 16D, but havent used it with the current system.
(16D is my main “control” Track which calls the Presets in MTPro, triggers lighting stuff, etc)
Anyhoo: youre right. This is why technology is fun. I adore Electronic Music because we all find completely different ways to use the same equipment. But it’s also a PITA because we all find different ways to use the same equipment.
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Thanks for the chat & insights, @thetechnobear!
Always appreciate your input
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Oh, other Loopback option, I think:
Track 01: Effect Arp, set incoming CC to modulate Arp style.
Track 02: Note Data (for discrete changes in CC value), Note to CC Effect.
Loop Track 02 back to Pyramid to cyclically/rhythmically modulate the Arp Style
__
Other technique:
Modulator Track: set as one shot. 4 Note to CC Effects sending to 4 different CCs
Loop data back to Pyramid and set:
- one CC to change Delay (increasing complexity)
- one to increase Chance in a percussion track (so those rarer events become more common similar to a fill)
- ummm…more?
Now, while playing, hit that One Shot Track at the end of a musical section to transition to the next.
(Note: i tend to use the Pyramid as an improv device, so my brain deciding when to fill/change and my hand enacting the fill/change brings me joy)
Note: the first one Ive done, and it’s fun
The second one I think im going to implement
@CreepyPants at the moment, i like the idea about loopback much more than a week ago, so thank u for it.
still have no need to use it with Pyramid, but it turned to be the simplest way to implement certain things for Roland MC-707 — MIDI loop with Axoloti inbetween Out and In.