A mode in which each row remembers its last placed sample or MIDI note. I know it goes against the Play’s concept of having total freedom of notes and samples in a row, but sometimes when experimenting with patterns it would be nice to have the possibility to place steps in a more traditional way - i.e. all steps placed in a certain row are kicks or snares. Such a mode would remove the need to constantly “pick up” existing sounds.
What is the problem?
Experimenting with different instruments in a beat and switching between them requires a constant “picking up” of sounds by holding existing steps. Due to the lack of different colors in the steps it is easy to lose track of which sounds are on which step - or which instrument was last used in the “work step”.
What do you want to achieve?
A mode in which each row remembers its last placed sample or MIDI note so the user can quickly move between different instruments without having to constantly “pick up” existing sounds from the sequencer.
Are there any workarounds?
No.
Any links to related discussions?
No.
Any references to other products?
Any sequencer with sound-per-row functionality like the Synthstrom Deluge.
I’m surprised this hasn’t gotten more votes. It’s frustratingly slow to have to lay out beats one lane at a time and copy/paste from existing steps any time you want to drop an event on a different lane. I understand that the ability to use different samples on the same track expands capability, but this also really hampers the user’s ability to quickly punch in beats across several lanes - which to me is one of the main advantages of having a physical grid.
@CaptainPikant knows what he’s talking about!
If in doubt, check his youtube videos
@miropoly btw does every Wish have to get a lot of Votes to get implemented?
Don’t you sometimes go like: “hmm that’s a good idea”
As the author of the Wish mentioned: it might go against the concept of Pick and Place but the suggestion is not far from it either. It’s sort of middle ground.
Also, you could add it as a selectable option from the menu. In this case, those who enjoy the current workflow, can keep it.
I support this because pick and place slows me down between instruments (using the palette workaround to copy from my drum kit), which is exactly what I hoped to get rid off coming from the digitakt.
There is one workaround for midi mode though: Piano roll. (Edit: but that is really not working well, no mutes/ solo, can only select a whole row by holding shift and sliding the finger across all pads)
Edit: I seriously wonder who invented pick and place. There is no upside to having a Y axis on the grid if you do not use it to organize samples along it. You could still change the sample per step, but that’s the exception rather than the norm and forcing us to choose each time is really defeating the purpose of the form factor.
I just bought a Play, and I’m honestly shocked. I had no idea the Play made you re-select the sample EVERY time you switch rows.
At least the long-press to select another thing on the row only needs to be about half a second.
I assumed the Play’s awesome 20x8 grid would make it simpler to sketch a beat with eight separate instruments. But this is a much slower workflow than a normal single-row drum machine like a TR-6S. Now I know why Captain Pikant rarely uses his Play in videos.
Since you can only work with one instrument/sample at a time, shouldn’t the Play show you what the currently selected sample is without having to tap the Sample knob? Or at least highlight the steps on the grid that match the current sample? Just so I can tell what I’m doing?
a) you could «compress» selected tracks into one, like placing all the drums part in just one row to organize your project. could be great, if you made a draft in the suggested sample-per-row mode and then switch to the default mode after such «compression»
b) if two samples use the same place in a row, would be amazing if Play could render them into one separate sample, optionally
c) They could be colored, so user could easily read the row
such a workflow would provide the best of two worlds, imo. however, I don’t expect it to be implemented even in the most basic form, putting all the wet fantasies aside. choosing and/or copying samples all the time may be painful indeed, slowing the creative process by a lot.
It’s ready for voting…
