What is the problem?
We lack a feature to randomize variations.
What do you want to achieve?
Randomize the next variation to be played, choosing from the pool of variations available for a selected track.
This is cool, because for now we can make some note to pop up from time to time or randomly change some values, while variations may heavily differ from each other being constructed by hand. Also, for example, we could randomize length of a track which is not possible with currently provided options. Last, but not least, a variation may have live rec automations (panning, for example)
Are there any workarounds?
No.
Any links to related discussions?
If random variations are implemented, then we could consider to Choose how often a pattern or variation will be randomly played.
Another related wish: Conditional variation
Any references to other products?
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Let me check whether I have understood your wish:
- Randomize the next variation or pattern to be played, choosing from the pool of variations or patterns available in the project.
- Introduce probability, so that some variations/patters have a higher/lower probability of being played. I guess this would include 0% probability, to exclude a variation / pattern from the randomization.
both points are absolutely correct. 0% probability would mean not touching that pad at all while “programming” the probabilities, in case we’re following the idea above.
actually, I need to say that film camera Olympus OM4T was the inspiration here. it allows multiple light measurements in a very unique way, so if you measure a light twice in the same area and just once in another, the light from the 1st area would have double the effect on the exposition settings. in the same way you can do much more complex measurements like 3 times here, 2 times there etc depending on your artistic vision.
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@icaria36 hey there! it’s been there for 10 days, any chance passing it further?
@ambivalence this Wishlist is new and we are learning as we go. This takes time, sorry.
Something we are all learning is that wishes must focus on one feature. When they do, it is way easier to address them and decide whether they are accepted and move to #wishlist or they are declined and go to #wishlist:archive. When they don’t… then all of us (including the person proposing the wish) struggle with more work. I have asked the Polyend team and they have clarified that only wishes about a single feature will be accepted. Good, this is useful guidance.
This wish is a good example. Here we have several features that are all related to “randomization” but from a user and from a developer perspective are different things:
- Randomization of variations
- Randomization of patterns
- Probability of randomization
… and so on.
You can edit this wish to focus on one feature, and then create others if you want. Or we can archive this topic and start fresh with a new one. What do you prefer?
made some changes, but cannot change the headline.
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@ambivalence I have cut further and I believe the wish requested is still the same.
- Your last version said that the randomization applies to variations that don’t have any randomization in their steps but… does it matter? The wish is simple, whatever variations the user has created, it should be possible to play them randomly.
- I have moved the “subwish” out of the problem statement to keep wishes modular. Since it is related, I have linked it from the Related Discussions section.
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@here open for voting! Thanks for contribution 
by the way, there’s another possibility that opens up with such randomization option: you can randomly change some track’s length. for now, it’s not possible this way you could make shorter and longer variations to compensate each other, so your track may be a little off at some point and then come back to its starting point. cool, isn’t it?
😎
With variations’ chains we could go even further!
Chains for Play's variations / MIDI looper
I think it’d better if the next varitation to be played was chosen from the current ‘variations block’. A variations block is a series of variations that go after each other with no empty variations between them.
could work too, IF this will ever be implemented in any form.