Pyramid Wish List

Pyramid
1

Here is my first few things I would like to see added to the mighty Pyramid:

  • One Shot LFOs - the ability to set the LFOs to only cycle once so they could be used as a sort of envelope.

  • Half Cycle LFOs - so you could keep the LFO from dipping into negative.

  • Envelopes - the ability to set an envelope to a CC and have it trigger when a step is added to the sequencer (sort of like the One Shot LFOs, but with much more control)

  • More than 16 synth definitions - this one seems like a no brainerā€¦ Owning multiple multitimbral synths, I would love to be able to say load in multiple definitions for my S6000, as it can handle 32 tracks of midi itselfā€¦

  • CC Step Sequence Adjustable Ramp In / Ramp Out - this would be amazing. for an example see how the Elektron Octatrack custom LFOs work.

  • Round Robin - the ability for a track to receive midi on one channel and then send it out on up to 16 channels for use with multitimbral synths so that you can sculpt each voice independently. I currently use Bome Midi Translator Pro / Bome Box for this and would love to be able to do it in the Squarp!

I will add more feature requests as I continue to dive into this beast! Please let me know if any of these are already possible and I just missed them.,

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2

Greetings & Welcome!
Some excellent suggestions, and Iā€™d strongly suggest using the contact form at squarp.net/contact.

However, if you donā€™t mind a little feedbackā€¦

  • One Shot LFOs: The ā€œOā€ in LFO is Oscillatorā€¦? :wink: A one shotā€¦well, you can achieve the effect you describe by creating a second Track (remember, you have 64 and only 3 ports!) with the series of CC msgs you want and set it Run Mode: Trig in the [2nd]+[Track] screen.

  • Half Cycle LFOā€™s: The LFO Effect sends out MIDI CCā€™s in a range from 0 to 127. They donā€™t send a negative values. Iā€™m not sure what you are expecting to achieve, but Iā€™m assuming all of this can be rectified in your synth patch. (ie Pyramid sends a CC value, itā€™s up to the synth what it does with that value)

  • Envelopes: See the first response

  • More than 16 Synth Definitions: Yeah, thatā€™s a very common request! I donā€™t use them myself, but I understand how many people find them handy.

  • CC Step Sequence Adjustable: I have no idea what youā€™re suggesting, but you can use the Elektron LFOā€™s with the Pyramid. For a while I had my OT sending CC LFOā€™s that were routed around like a popular tennis ball at a doggie day care. Soā€¦best of both worlds! If you mean a way to adjust parameters of the LFO per step, thatā€™s completely doable currently in the Pyramid under Step Mode: Effects Stepmode. Further, using a loopback you can apply Pyramid CC LFO data sending out on a Track, or Note to CC, or even just draw CC Ramps to send out/loopback/modulate any MIDI FX on a different Track. Easy peasy with a BomeBox even, esp if you donā€™t have an available Pyramid MIDI Port.

  • Round Robin: Iā€™m assuming you mean to increment which MIDI Channel the data is sent on. That would seem to me an uncommon implementation and precisely what MTPro and a Bome Box is for.

Enjoy your dive!

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Thank you for the reply, butā€¦

However, if you donā€™t mind a little feedbackā€¦

One Shot LFOs:The ā€œOā€ in LFO is Oscillatorā€¦? :wink: A one shotā€¦well, you can achieve the effect you describe by creating a second Track (remember, you have 64 and only 3 ports!) with the series of CC msgs you want and set it Run Mode: Trig in the [2nd]+[Track] screen.

Response - This is a useful application but does not seem to be what I am looking for. The ability to add a trig in a track to start an LFO (we all know what they areā€¦) so that it can be used as a crude envelope instead of the need to create multiple Sequences to create a work around. Look into the Elektron Monomachine for how this is implemented and how useful it can be

Half Cycle LFOā€™s: The LFO Effect sends out MIDI CCā€™s in a range from 0 to 127. They donā€™t send a negative values. Iā€™m not sure what you are expecting to achieve, but Iā€™m assuming all of this can be rectified in your synth patch. (ie Pyramid sends a CC value, itā€™s up to the synth what it does with that value)

Response - the vast majority of LFOs are digital in our synths and there are some that can do half cycle LFOs. This chops the waveform in half essentially so with a sine you would only get the top half of the waveform. Again, Elektron Monomachine has this ability and it is rather useful for sound design.

Envelopes: See the first response see first response to your response - same applies

More than 16 Synth Definitions: Yeah, thatā€™s a very common request! I donā€™t use them myself, but I understand how many people find them handy. I would love the ability to fully use them

CC Step Sequence Adjustable: I have no idea what youā€™re suggesting, but you can use the Elektron LFOā€™s with the Pyramid. For a while I had my OT sending CC LFOā€™s that were routed around like a popular tennis ball at a doggie day care. Soā€¦best of both worlds! If you mean a way to adjust parameters of the LFO per step, thatā€™s completely doable currently in the Pyramid under Step Mode: Effects Stepmode. Further, using a loopback you can apply Pyramid CC LFO data sending out on a Track, or Note to CC, or even just draw CC Ramps to send out/loopback/modulate any MIDI FX on a different Track. Easy peasy with a BomeBox even, esp if you donā€™t have an available Pyramid MIDI Port.

Response - With a stand alone sequencer I am looking to NOT have to use other sequencers to get what I want done. Of course I will if need be, but this should be a simple addition. You state that you own an OT (so do I) and the OT allows you in the user diffinable / custom LFOs to adjust just the front or back side of a step to allow a smoother transition to a desired cc value. Yes this can be done with the draw feature, but it is not as precise or as user friendly (at least as of nowā€¦ I know i will get more used to it). Being able to have step modulation with say 1 of those being ramped is again quite useful for sound design and implementing 1 or 2 of the 4 unused knobs in CC edit mode to accomplish this would be great - ā€œHold a trig, turn knob 3 to set value for that step, turn knob 2 to adjust ramp up to value, turn knob 4 to adjust ramp down for that stepā€ as an idea.

Round Robin: Iā€™m assuming you mean to increment which MIDI Channel the data is sent on. That would seem to me an uncommon implementation and precisely what MTPro and a Bome Box is for.

Response - Agreed it is uncommon, but mostly because it is not implemented in more hardware and people do not know it is an option. Using it to turn, say, the Digitakt into an 8 voice poly synth with scwf on each track is a powerful tool. I use this technique with my Monomachines nearly every day as it allows me to use them to create sounds with more movement and depth than with the unit alone. And with the midi data / processing going on in the Pyramid, I would think something this simple would be a rather easy add

Enjoy your dive! Oh man, I will. One night with it and I am hooked. I am a sequencer head and this one is almost perfect for me. Almost!

4

Good ones, let me add sequence directions and the ability to change them on the fly :grimacing:

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Yes.

The ability to change euclidian parameters per step in a sequenceā€¦ Can this be done and I just missed it?

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Generally speaking; what has your experience with the Bomebox been like? I am looking to use the Bomebox as the midi brain portion of my dawless setup and would like to hear your impressions of it.

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I like it, but honestly I have only used it for the one thing as I described earlier, round robinā€¦ but it works perfectly for this application.

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8

I also have some sugestions

  • input channel by track
  • a step LFO
  • user arp with transpose 16 step
  • add bpm to the arp on top of rate (division)
  • be able to add a name to a track even if we have a definition
  • a linear seq with count for measure and a time line
  • a chord track like Cubase
  • a more easy way to use chord into eucledian (same as live mode)

my 2 cents

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Be sure to also pass these along to Squarp on their contact page at squarp.net/contact

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I passed mine along to them via your link as of yesterday. Thank you for that link!

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me too

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I would like to add a simple operational wish: when we are in track-pattern mode and go to step mode, when going back to track mode it would really be cool if we landed on the same page where we left: in pattern mode. As of now, we land on the main track page so we have to select pattern mode again, and the ā€œhold track button and turn encoderā€ is painful when working single handed. BTW, many key combis are painful when operating the Pyramid single handed. Iā€™d really prefer a double tap latch than ā€œhold this while pushing this, then while holding all this rotate an encoderā€ (like when assigning or switching channels.

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13

i dig it if it would be able to change directions random or to defined mapping, and if it could have a step record mode where you record step by step advancing by given quantize resolution so your hands are free for chords. if you could have tracks other than the master track transpose eachother, change directions or restart other tracks. it would be deep thenā€¦ still fun to use and a keeper but those would make it more simply, directions and a user direction map, user scale also , its work maybe if the os would be open to the other smart programmers that would be good.

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14

I would love the ability to have a drawn in modulation be able to be triggered per note (user definable envelope essentially). I know I could go in after the fact and put in the modulation, but the ability to add a triggered lfo or drawn in cc data would be amazing.

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15

user-defined scales.
easy implementable even in current OS.

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16

Last week I asked via email about about expanding the number of definition files allowed form 16 to 32 and have received the following response:

Iā€™m sorry, this feature is not possible due to memory limitations.

Just thought Iā€™d share

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17

It would be really nice if a there was a master effect like Chance and like Yamahas RS7000 Loop Remix to generate further ideas from competed songs and select tracks and start and end points

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Greetings & thanks for the post.
The Best Way to get this info to the team at Squarp is by using the contact page at squarp.net/contact

That being said, and Iā€™m not familiar with the Yamaha RS7000, but I wonder what you mean by ā€˜master effect like Chanceā€™.

There is a Chance Effect.
You can control the value of the Chance Effect by loopback where the control is generated by a sequence, or by LFO, or by external sources, or by modifying the Chance parameters in Step Edit.

You can also create a Master Chance Effect: Mute notes (in Step Mode [2nd]+[Pad]) and then by modulating the Master Effect: Mute Probability you can chance the percentage Chance for these ā€˜mutedā€™ notes to voice via Touchpad/Encoder, or by one of the possible modulation sources listed aboveā€¦or quite likely by a bunch I havenā€™t even thought of yet.

That being said, there is no ā€˜one size fits allā€™ approach or workflow, and Iā€™m sure most of us agree that this is one of the most amazing things and strengths with the Pyramid. Iā€™d strongly suggest creating a clear and concise suggestion and submitting it to the Squarp team at the contact page. We all benefit from your creativity and insight! Cheers

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Thank You

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FWIW none of those features are something Iā€™d need in SP, and honestly feel like if you have such specific needs for your sequencing, you should expect to need an external sequencer that has these features. Or find out other ways to get the desired effects though specific patching, adding a trigger delay etc.

Some ideas can also be pretty simple to implement technically, but the real work is in figuring out what the controls / key combos would be required for these things. - esp without crippling some of the existing functionality or making it harder to use the existing features.

Personally, Iā€™m not a huge fan of the ā€œelectron workflowā€ - I ended up selling my M:S once I was finally fluent with it.