Patterns seem like a nice addition but they seem clumsy when it comes to switching them live. I came to the Pyramid after they added that feature, which sounded like an improvement over having to use just mutes, but what do other people think of patterns? They make track management easier I guess but should I be starting simpler and avoid them until I get better with the Pyramid? Or should I treat it all as setup for sequences and maybe use sequences in combination with live mutes when performing since switching patterns is a bit awkward. Or going back again maybe it is just a matter of gaining skill.
Patterns sound like a good idea at first, but I end up not using Patterns at all.
Why?
They are clumsy to setup and reach compare to track (its one level deeper basically).
They cannot do more than what track does.
There is enough tracks (64) for variation (for what I’m doing).
They cannot be control via Midi
That said, there are different ways to use the Pyramid and other might find that they are fitting their workflow.
I would love to ear from the rest of the community.
If only there was a quicker way to change patterns. Like without having to change tracks. No idea how they could do that though. Maybe holding a pad and turning the data knob…
You gave me enough evidence to defer using them for now, it’s a shame that they are a mystery but they seem like a less fluid version of the session grid in Ableton… I have a suspicion that their best use is not live variation but programming in sequences if and when you run out of tracks.
Like what would be ideal is if you could tell certain tracks to switch to a certain pattern. Instead of all of them with a sequence. Then you could do fills without disturbing the rest of your live performance.
I’m in the same place. When I was reading about the option of patterns, prior to using the Pyramid, I was excited. 64 tracks AND 16 (or is it even 32?) patterns per track. So massive.
A couple years, countless hours/projects later and I haven’t used the feature yet…other than to test it.
I could see it being useful in a couple applications:
a supermassive project for a multi hour live set with tons of instruments (or drum synths with separate midi channels per drum perhaps) or something…as a way to get more mileage out of each instrument track.
or to keep things more organized per track page. That might be desirable.
But I haven’t done these things…and probably won’t. 64 tracks with mutes is, in the majority of cases, more than enough for me. I don’t even find I use the sequence mode that often.
That said, I would be curious to hear from others who use patterns regularly about their workflow.
Patterns (P) are very helpful if u know how to use them.
Tips for using track patterns
-To quickly change a P; be on the track u want, hold Step & 1 of the 16 white pads (press < or > to go from P bank A/B).
-Shortcut to P display window; Press Step & Track.
-Use them as a way to brain-storm by quickly organizing lots variations for a track when your jamming. “Just get it down now, get it right later”
-Store variations of Euclidian rhytms & manual cc /fx mangling madness.
-Each P can have a different pc# so as your going thru sound presets u can keep the presets u like that fits the melody. Then figure that mess out later.
Some P’s from this list of keepers u may want to copy to its own track & have even more control or just play it together as a layered sound & so many more options.
-Remember u can merge P’s together.
-If u setup a bunch of P’s that work together u can switch between them in real-time to spice things up without wasting tracks. It’s like having sequences within a track all nice & neat.
I hope that helps I’ll add more if i come up with anything else.
I just wish there was a Track & Pattern exchange feature like on the RS7000 so we could switch data between tracks or patterns w/o having to do the copy, paste, copy, paste, copy, paste & delete finger dance just to switch a pattern or track around.
So if u got P1 & P2 but want to switch the location of them quickly we could just hold copy & press P1 then P2. Simple! (I hope) I’ll make a request.
That cool but that could get real messy or over-complicated,
for example if u have some tracks/patterns thats not changing from seqs to seqs you’ll end whit up 32 patterns all playing the same bass-line or whatever but the headache comes when u want to edit the bass-line, you’ll have to edit all seqs because each is playing the same bassline but on a different pattern. Maybe i’m missing something if so please inform me.
OK I just tried the auto pattern feature & your right it doesn’t copy the pattern data each time u change the seqs it just auto selects the same pattern number as the seqs number.
I still won’t use that feature based how I work but at least I learned how its works.
@Wise-beats that’s a great list! Yeah, I knew about the shortcuts, those are what I call clumsy but maybe it’s just a matter of getting quick at it…
I especially like the points on alternating / developing patterns. It’s kinda like making presets on a synth, you have a big space to work in and try stuff out. It also seems close to the Ableton workflow for composing, which is a good thing. It is just so different from what I’m used to that everything seems difficult. I keep having to remind myself I bought this because I’m done with system updates, crashes, hangs, external hardware issues and internet distractions on PC… and I like the separation of MIDI production vs audio recording. How much of a song to “pre-sequence” on the Pyramid vs performing live (on Pyramid) and recording audio (or MIDI!) into a DAW is still a mystery…
but maybe it’s just a matter of getting quick at it…