Double the polyphonic power as a MIDI sequencer

Wishlist Archive
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What is the problem?

Both sequencers for the internal Audio samples and external MIDI are separated on Play / Play+. Therefore the maximum of polyphony is limited or split up / allocated less flexible. The user doesn’t have an option to reallocate the Audio sequencer or its tracks.

What should this feature achieve?

Have a general setting on a per project basis, to switch the primary Audio sequencer to external MIDI, too. So when selected the primary Audio sequencer screen would behave exactly the same as the MIDI sequencer. That way the powerful sequencer of the Play / Play+ would have double the number of tracks and therefore polyphony for MIDI sequencing external gear.

Another way of implementing this would be to add ‘MIDI voice’ as an option when selecting a Sample in the Audio sequencer. After that the selection screen / UI would be(come) basically the same for that voice / step as when using the UI of the MIDI sequencer screen. This alternative implementation would add even more flexibility, but the first proposal would be more straightforward and less confusing for the user, and more easy to build / duplicate and maintain for the developers.

Are there any workarounds?

No, the functionality of the Audio sequencer is fixed and it cannot behave like the MIDI sequencer.

Any links to related discussions?

Not that I could find.

Any references to other products?

Not relevant, but as an example: the Digitakt II (and Syntakt) have the flexibility to switch every part / track within a pattern to MIDI, where the Digitakt OG had 8 fixed audio / sample and 8 dedicated MIDI tracks. An unnecessary limitation, when it comes to MIDI.

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Not a bad idea! I was in a situation just the other day, where being able to convert sample tracks to MIDI would have been nice.

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This is only intended for the Plays, right? Is it okay if I remove the Tracker related tags from this wish?

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Doesn’t this limitation apply to the sequencers of Tracker+ and Mini…?

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I believe they don’t have this limitation. There are some dedicated MIDI tracks, but the audio tracks play any instrument, including MIDI. The manual confirms this on page 246:

Tracker has a series of MIDI Instruments that can be assigned to steps in a
pattern. MIDI is defined per step, not per track, so MIDI and Audio
instruments can reside on the same track in the same pattern. A MIDI
instrument essentially defines the MIDI channel on which to transmit data
out and also gives access to the instruments MIDI parameters.

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Ah, then it works basically the same as the alternative solution.

Then I can’t see why the Play series don’t offer this option, too. They could / should have basically the same software, but with different hardware / UI.

If not, then the option to switch the Audio sequencer to behave as a second MIDI sequencer on per project basis would be a great option.

Ps. I removed the Tracker tags.

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Love this idea! It’s great to have all 16 Midi tracks of a channel available on the Tracker and would love to see that on the Play!!

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@elegant.book6772 Thanks for your contribution. Unfortunately, the wish doesn’t fit our current product design direction.

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Where the Trackers seem to already have this ‘freedom’, it doesn’t fit the design and future development Play / Play+.

Could you please elaborate on this ‘design direction’ or explain this design choice a bit further…? Thank you @borsuk

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@borsuk or @Mitch where the Trackers got 4 extra MIDI tracks with the latest update, this cannot be done in the same way on the Play series due to their hardware UI ‘limitations’.

But why can’t the Audio sequencer simply be made ‘switchable’ in favor of extra MIDI sequencer power? The code is basically in place, it seems like an option in the settings menu for the project: ‘Sequencers: Audio + MIDI | Duplicate MIDI’.

I can see the second choice would also mean that the ‘audio’ performance mode would be switched off, probably in favor of the new MIDI performance mode / screen. But then again, it would transform a ‘split powered’ device into a MIDI sequencing and performance powerhouse.

So I really can’t see why this ‘flexibility option’ does not fit into a future roadmap for the Play series… :man_shrugging:

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