Just my two cents. This is my #1 wish for the Mini, but I really wouldn’t use the Chromatic scale as the default mode. It seems much more logical to me that it defaults to a folded scale that you select (e.g. C minor) so you can actually noodle within a scale and even play chords without a lot of shift commands.
Then on sliced instruments, the 8 buttons would obviously be mapped to the first 8 slices instead.
So, great general idea of leveraging the 8 buttons for a simple one-octave keyboard, but please consider Chromatic a secondary feature and allow the user to set the scale. Perhaps +/- jumps octaves and ++/-- jumps between scales.
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User definable notes would be the most practical to me anyway … Just add user slots to scales or as instrument data … aslo really hope the play will get a user definable keyboard option for microtonal input
Thought about it some more. The mockup in the original post is effectively showing a scale mode, it’s showing C major. (If it were chromatic, why would it skip certain notes that only apply to a certain scale?)
So I think of of the mockup as actually showing a scale and the idea is that you can hold Shift to go outside of the set scale. That makes sense.
Suggestions for shortcuts:
- Outer +/- buttons: jump octaves
- Inner +/- buttons: change root note (C, C#, D, …)
- D-pad left/right buttons: change scale (Minor, Major, Dorian, Lydia, Chromatic, etc)
- Shift + Note: enter/exit this note entry mode.
Additional suggestions:
- Make it remember the chosen scale per instrument.
- Intelligently pick the C2 root note and Chromatic for Slice instrument so that the buttons correspond to the first 8 slices. Pressing the outer +/- buttons in Chromatic jumps only 8 semitones, not a full octave.
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Hello. The idea of using the 8 buttons is really great and I was hoping that this would have come with the 2.0 update. Unfortunately none. I don’t think chromatic input is important either. Basic Scaling would be enough for me. To be honest, even one one Note would be enough for me. The main thing is real time.
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Being able to record notes live is one of the thing that I miss the most in the mini.
And as it is a portable unit, it’s a bit of a bummer to have to connect an external controller. I mean why putting a battery in then ?
Regarding chromatic mode, it does still make sense even with only the 8 buttons. Left arrow keys could be used to shift the keybed to the remaining notes in the chromatic scale. Of course that doesn’t allow crazy multi-note performances but if we can overdub then we can progressively input all the notes of our melody/bassline.
Of course scale filtered input would also be more than welcome and some scales would then fit well with the 8 buttons we have.
Fact is that live input pretty much changes the game for the tracker in terms of workflow as it’ll be less difficult for some to adapt to a tracker workflow if they can still input the traditional way. And I know that Polyend has put a lot of focus on making trackers simple and easy to understand, up to even providing a horizontal tracker view.
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Big upvote from me on this.
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The idea is so brilliant so I was hoping this would be implemented in 2.0 update. Didn’t loose hope yet!
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Fantastic idea…as a new Mini user this (note entry from pads) is the only thing I am really missing from the OG…PLEASE do this Polyend!
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One of the reasons I returned my Mini and got a Tracker+ was because there is no way to play around with sounds live by tapping them in. Having this feature would certainly make Mini a lot more playful like the Tracker+… Besides entering chords or melodies, you could do some basic drum playing too!
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