Hello - I’m not sure if I have found a bug. I’ll explain what is happening and hopefully someone can confirm if I am doing something wrong.
I have created a song. All tracks are set to (the default) FREE PLAY mode and are set to different lengths but none are less than 1 bar. The verses are 8 bars long, the chorus is 8 bars long. I have programmed a sequence like this:
There is a musical transition from S6 to S7, which is why S6 is only 2/4 of a bar as the drum pattern changes sightly for half a bar to introduce the next part of the song.
If I play the sequence in PLAY mode, from S1 to the end, everything sounds good.
If I decide to play the sequence in PLAY mode, but start it from S7 (because my vocalist needs to listen to that part of the song to record her vocals), S7 misses 1/4 of a bar at the end. In other words, S8 comes in 1/4 of a bar too early.
I know that it is exactly 1/4 of a bar that is missed because if I create a copy of S7 with a sequence length of 1/4 bar (called S9) and insert it after S7 (playing the sequence in PLAY mode, but start it from S7 as before), the timing is perfect.
HOWEVER, with that 1/4 bar (S9) inserted after S7 - if I play the sequence in PLAY mode, from S1 to the end then it pushes everything out by 1/4 bar when it gets to that sequence number.
I’ve tried to explain this clearly - so hope it makes sense.
QUESTION: If this a bug or have I misunderstood how this is supposed to work?
Possibly a bug? Mine does the same after I’ve chained together 6 or more sequences but you insert a sequence of a different pattern length to the rest of the other chained sequences? oh no I’ve gone all cross eyed
I’ve tried on multiple songs but seems to all do the same. Again no issue if you play from the first sequence in the chain
Being able to cross sequence boundaries (FREE and TRIG modes) is a powerful feature but it will cause surprises to the unprepared, especially so for FREE mode and when inserting things. Been discussed here several times before, eg here.
Also note that if you start from SEQ7 instead of SEQ1, the Pyramid will start at SEQ7 from scratch, AFAICT it does not calculate where all the tracks would be if you had started the song chain from start.
I think this is the same bug I’ve noticed and had some contact with Squarp about…
When starting a chain of sequences from the first sequences, everything is groovy; when starting from a sequence somewhere inside the chain of sequences, a beat gets dropped.
I sent a test sequence to Tom at Squarp which I can’t upload here unfortunately - it worked like this…
- One track outputting on MIDI B channel 1. - Eight parts, all with four repeating notes;
part 1 = C-C-C-C, part 2 = D-D-D-D, part 3 = E-E-E-E, part 4 = F-F-F-F, part 5 = G-G-G-G, part 6 = A-A-A-A, part 7 = B-B-B-B, part 8 = C-C-C-C. - Eight sequences, with ascending parts assigned. By stringing these together in number order, we should get an ascending scale with each note repeating 4 times. - Play from the beginning of the chain and we get what we expect. - Start from anywhere in the middle of the chain and the starting sequence only plays 3 beats… 1 beat is getting dropped.
Should be easy enough to recreate from that. (MIDI channel is irrelevant).
Tom’s reply:
“You are absolutely right. Thanks for reporting, I wonder why we did not notice this one. We will work on it and correct it in the next version.”
Fix didn’t appear in v3.22 so I sent a ‘jog your memory’ email…
Thanks @mememe! I thought I was going mad. I was quite careful to balance the timing of all the tracks throughout the chain and the testing I had done indicated to me that is wasn’t caused by my lack of understanding of FREE and TRIG modes.
I use SEQ mode a lot cos I make linear songs rather than manipulate beats & layers etc, so it’s really frustrating not to be able to practice from the middle-8 to the end etc… and to check that a whole song is constructed correctly you’re forced to start from the top just to be sure the end is correct… kinds my only gripe with the machine tho.
Hi, so I have been working with my Squarp for a few months now and just starting to chain sequences. I’ve got almost a piece nicely done and Sunday out of nowhere my squarp starts dropping the last beat of some sequences. Sometimes they work. Other times all of the last beats drop and the chain jumps to the next sequence exactly as written in this earlier chain.
It’s very interesting that you have to have about 6 sequences before you see this. I believe mine started acting up at about 6 also and possibly after I inserted a new sequences. I’ll try to delete everything and make a new chain.
Yes @Saulstokes this looks like the same bug. Squarp are aware and tho they reckon it’s not an easy fix they have told me it’s still on the list. I bug em every new OS!
Just to be sure - with the bug I’ve reported this ONLY happens when you start from within a chain, never when starting from the top.
It’s a bummer but the only work round is to have the patience to play from the top when checking chains… or at least start from the one before you need to and accept there’ll be a jump that won’t be there when you play a whole song…
4.01 thread closed so picking this up here again. Have thoroughly tested this bug on 4.01 & it’s def not fixed.
There are two apparent bugs tho - one is that the last note in a sequence gets dropped (I previously thought it was the first beat but have tested & it’s the last). The second bug is in the way it displays what’s going on - the progress bar starts at beat 2, ie, doesn’t show the first beat as it normally would. If you set up my test sequence above it’s easy to see it happening cos it’s so simple. I did a video which explains it all but I can’t attach it but I’ll def get back in touch with Squarp…
However… there’s a workaround I can’t believe I haven’t spotted before (unless it wasn’t there before!):
use 2nd & <> to navigate to your chosen sequence within the chain.
They got back to me (fair play on the immediate response @squarpadmin) to say they actually fixed one dropped-note bug but it revealed another. They have my vid & notes.
Hold tight & I’ll see where my email conversation goes & update accordingly… they’re obviously listening so I’ll let em work their magic reckon.
Welcome to the community.
I have not experienced this issue so I cannot speak from experience if this has been changed, but there has been at least one update of PyraOS since the last posting. There is a chance this has been addressed already.
I would verify you are using the latest OS.
If you are still experiencing these issues with the latest OS, I’d suggest contacting Squarp via squarp.net/contact
