Just got the Hapax. I have some patterns ready to be arranged in song mode. The patterns contain math conditions. I have arranged the patterns in sections, then arranged the sections into a song via song mode. I played through the song once and noticed Hapax ignored the math conditions which were a key part of the patterns. Pretty disappointing given how amazing everything else is about this machine. Has anyone else experienced this or other issues with song mode? What are your workarounds? I just think song mode should be more intuitive, as in, I created this pattern exactly as I want it so when I drop it in song mode it should play back exactly as I programmed it. That should be the default. Just looking to see what people are doing to see that the patterns they spent time crafting get played back in a “chain” and the patterns get played back exactly as intended, with probabilities and math conditions, etc. What is your “alternative” to a song mode?
yeah trying to chain “patterns” into a proper song was always a mindmelt for me. i’m aware the new Follow feature should make it less of a headache, and others have explained why patterns of differing lengths will not always play nice together in Song mode, but my workaround was to get a Deluge for the linear arranger and it’s my sequencer of choice for now. definitely miss all the MIDI FX and all the things Hapax does so seamlessly but Song mode isn’t one
I’ve been hearing deluge is better for song arranging. Will have to look deeper into the follow feature. I’m just trying to understand if the Hapax song mode is buggy or if it just needs some cumbersome adjustments from the user. Neither one is really great though.
solely my personal opinion after using Pyramid and Hapax: a workflow based on patterns as a snapshot of mute states for the individual tracks just doesn’t lend itself to linear songwriting. especially when you need something to hit on the 4-beat leading into a new pattern, e.g. a vocal sample that needs to play across two different patterns. cause now you have to burn a pattern just to create a one-bar insert at the end of what would otherwise be a full 4/8/16 bar pattern. and also now make sure that every other track/patter is either repeating or free running in sync. for me personally, even when it would all align and play correctly (which was never 100% of the time) the math of it all just broke my brain
I’m still fairly new to the Hapax but I don’t think I have problems with math conditions in Song mode. When you set a math condition like 1:2, are you expecting the Song repeat the number of bars necessary to meet all of the conditions, i.e. only even numbers of bars if it’s 1:2? Or what steps are you taking and your expected results?
Me as well. I was expecting something very close to daw in wich you can arrange blocks visually. Shorten them and copy/past some parts. Set them at any moment of the song and not just on a fixed timestamp.
Also song automation is highly needed but Squarp told me they could implement it.
And also mostly loop a zone of the song (I asked this important point on a Hapax group on FB and people told me there is, while absolutly not)
A good solution could be to use project B for this. With a 32 tracks mono project system.
Hmm, never had any problem with patterns using math in song mode.
An arranger mode like Deluge was one of the first feature requests I sent in the early days when Hapax was just released. Hopefully they will add something similar.
It would be so useful to use the grid to build your song.
I think I had some patterns in the wrong play mode and/or wasn’t allowing enough bars to play out before all the math events could take place. I’m pretty sure I have it figured out now.
Song mode automation would be the cherry on top
I think it was user error on my part. Either had patterns in wrong play mode and/or not enough bars for the math events to play out.
Would still be interested to know if anyone is using other means within the Hapax other than song mode to flesh out complete songs. The follow feature was mentioned but I’m not familiar enough with it to know if a full song can be made using just the follow feature. Or if anyone has some other way they like to complete songs using just the Hapax I would like to hear about it.
Using Sections without Songs is pretty useful–sort of like using Scenes in Ableton. Being able to advance to a new Section in real time allows for performance and improvisation. I’m planning to hook up a switch to advance to the next Section via footswitch while my hands are busy. It only allows foward/back but I’m hoping for MIDI CCs so I can select any Section in any order.
If you arrange all your patterns horizontally, you can switch between them using the 8 arrow keys on the right-hand side. You still can use FOLLOW or switch to any individual pattern by tapping on it.
This may be an alternative to song mode.
Yes, this is how i do it! I build my sections using linear rows of 16 Bar patterns and chain them in a linear fashion working downwards as my song arrangement. I find it much easier mentally to navigate song mode this way and avoid any weird pattern trig hiccups and general confusion of patterns being scattered across the grid for different sections