I was thinking about the potential of combining 64 sliced WAV files with from a pool of up to 12 layers (wav files)… multiplied across 4 channels.
Holy crap. The possibility for sonic muckery is quite insane when you think about it.
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I multiplied out how many samples that was when it was only 16 slices when i was describing some of the Rample features to someone and stopped breathing for a short period of time.
I did a couple of quick tests for latency issues, but just used ear, expecting to do a more thorough test later. Didnt notice any significant latency issues.
Crazy - as usual, the brilliant minds at Squarp know what we need before we figure it out ourselves.
Oh, and if you dont do Elektron stuff, there’s this utility called Octachainer out there. Easy way to make sample chains. I havent tried it for Rample yet, tho.
It’s good and I recommend it as a way to make equal slices.
All this makes me think this could be easily possible… and more!
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And the step by step, explanation, discussion, and resulting confusions…
I’m just wondering: did you try it?
I was thinking about this, and also about the pitch quantisation (with chromatic setting) and think they have a common issue, which perhaps squarp could consider address ( @Thibault_Squarp)
so the way this works is its using the -5v to +5v range for the start position ( this same mapping is spread evenly over 0…127 when using midi)
so :
64 slices its 10v / 64 ~ 0156v , or in midi 128/64 i.e. 2 semis
32 slices its 10v / 32 = 0.3125v , or in midi 128/32 i.e. 4 semis
so the issue is, how do you sequence?
sure if your using an analog sequence, you can just dial it in…
but most of use are sequencing with ‘note’ sequencers, which output v/oct
so all you can try to do is use something like a befaco AB+C to scale the voltage
BUT thats actually quite fiddly AND for something like 4 slices , good luck finding a scaler that will go from v/oct to 10v/4 … since its a 30x gain!
I’ll throw out a challenge to Squarp (@Thibault_Squarp) to demonstrate this:
Using Hermod (or Pyramid) show me how to easily sequence a set of slices… (via cv or midi)
sure you can do it a mod output, but it’s a pain in the neck.
the other related issue is… the scaling required changes dependent on number of slices in the sample.
if we compare this to the Elektron, we can see the difference in approach
Elektron always use a 1 semi tone = a slice… i.e. they assume the sample is sliced into 128 pieces. and use this to address start (and length) - this means slices are played ‘chromatically’
if the start positions > actual slice length then they play the last slice
it’s simple and really effective.
whats interesting is we see the same issue with pitch !
pitch = chromatic
similarly just quantizes the incoming CV,
BUT it is still mapping -5 to +5v to -1/+1 octave …
so to play/sequence chromatically you need to scale the voltage by 5 (accurately!)
again, v/oct mapping would be more intuitively useful here… (also for midi), even if this means the shifting is limited to the -1/+1 octave, so we only use -1/+1v range on input.
similarly others have requested the same/similar for layer selection.
the take away here, is that parameters than you want to sequence accurately, you probably will want to use v/oct , not the linear -/+5v scale
I think these include:
- pitch
- start position
- layer
- length ???
?? length possibly makes sense for slicing, but honestly, its not something we sequence so not really an issue - so Id say no for now.
what Id suggest is ONE setting, that makes pitch/start/layer all switch to v/oct mapping.
this would make sequencing rample with something like hermod absolutely fantastic!
EDIT: Ive sent an FR to https://squarp.net/contact along these lines.
I’d encourage others to send their ideas to squarp too, either similar or different.
btw: I assume the midi implementation is similar to the CV, in that its using the full 0…127 range, but I do need to test this. it could be Squarp implemented this as absolute addressing for layer/pitch/start… but seems unlikely!?
Alas, I did not.
I agree with this thinking though I see the benefits of both methods. When modulating Slice / Start / Layer etc. with things like CV or Velocity then having Rample scale the input to match the total number of available values is very useful. But on the flip side, being precise is also good too. I think a setting where you can go between both options would be useful - though I understand that the Rample menu system is quite limited - I guess this would be at a global level for simplicity?
The Bitbox handles this well in that you can set a % of the input 100% = v/Oct and anything lower allows for other scenarios like you mention.
Yeah,one idea I’ve proposed is.
Layer, Slice and Pitch each have a ‘chromatic’ mode
Pitch already has this , but only quantizes which i don’t think is that useful… so extend this.
Layer has manual, so supplement with a chromatic mode.
Slicing is on/ off , so change to off/linear/chromatic.
So I don’t think we need new menu items , just extra modes which alter the behavior a little.
And we can keep the existing behavior too 
Honestly though, I’d probably always use these chromatic modes - it’s kind of how the octatrack works , and I’ve never wished it worked otherwise 
Edit:
The one exception to this, where I think linear is more useful is when using analog signals eg an analog sequencer or lfo - then the larger range means it’s easier to dial in.
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To clarify is anyone using Elektron style sample chains with the Rample? This is a needed feature for my uses.
When i was playing around with slices on the Rample, i used Octachainer to make the sample chain.
I dunno if that helps.
yes, that does help. i assume then that you can use the generated files fine with the rample and then use cv or midi to change the current offset in the sample chain?
it’s similar to octatrack, you just modulate start (either cv or midi CCx4 )
bare in mind, the slicing is simply using a division of length (see manual). rample does not use/understand any kind of sample markers or meta data
so you cannot have slices of different lengths, it also (iirc) does not have any zero crossing detection.
this is where tools like octachainer help, as they enable you to prepare the sample chain with the individual samples evenly divided across sample length, and on zero crossings.
so yeah, should work fine, but you need to prep your samples carefully.
(though honestly, thats true of the octatrack as well )
Thanks for the info. I currently use an Octatrack so this is all fine for me. Very good to hear!
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