›
Please familiarise yourself with the forum, including policy on feature requests, rules & guidelines

Making longer songs ease of use / keyboard input

▲ 0 ▼
donatodonato Posts: 3
in Deluge Help

So, I don't actually have a Deluge...yet. In fact I posted this on gearslutz, but I found this forum and realized this was a better place for it...so here's what I am curious about:

On one hand I would like a SEQ with a DRM1 to go with my external synths, on the other hand with the Deluge I could use the onboard sampler and eliminate the need for a hardware drum machine saving a good bit of space...and about $1,000.

So, a couple of questions for users:

  1. If I am understanding it right, basically it is linear in function/song mode in that there aren't sequences/pattern chains like a lot of other sequencers. I saw a little how you can launch things manually/mute/have a track repeat on the fly, but I'm not interested in that because I don't want to have to deal with changing mutes/patterns while recording (I don't think it can be saved as a song like that?).

As I understand it, the song length is basically unlimited, so you could have like a 1920 continuous piano roll style (step) sequence that would be your song (or am I misunderstanding this?).

Which could be ok, but for those that have made longer songs (has anyone tried to make 4+ minute song with this?), how difficult has that been regarding jumping around to edit from originally seeing a single 16 step view in song mode and knowing where you are/finding where to edit? I wish there was a video showing off what this would be like (without simply repeating the same thing and launching parts on top of it).

  1. Also, without finding it at this point, I assume you can use an external keyboard to enter notes recording both live or as grid input when the sequencer is not running, correct?

Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • ▲ 0 ▼
    SamSam WellingtonModerator, Staff Posts: 160

    Hi @donato! You're correct about the song length - you could have __well __over 1920 steps haha. The Deluge doesn't pattern chain in the way a lot of other sequencers do. Instead, different sections can be automated to play for a certain number of bars, before the next section down (sections can be reorganized) is launched. There are also "Shared" tracks that can play independently to the 'chain'. It would be worth reading the "Song Sections" part of the manual (which can be found here) for a full guide to how this works.

    With regards to finding where in the sequence you are, the Deluge now has a 'page number'-style reference that gets displayed as you're scrolling through the sequence. Say you have a 16 bar sequence, and the Deluge is displaying 1 bar out of those 16. As you scroll through each bar, the display will show [1.16], then [2.16], then [3.16], etc... depending on which position you're in.

    Finally, you can use an external keyboard to enter notes into the Deluge (quantized to different levels or not at all), but at the moment the sequencer has to be running in order to do this.

    Hope that helps :smile:

  • ▲ 0 ▼
    donatodonato Posts: 3

    Thank you for your response!

    @Sam said:
    Hi @donato! You're correct about the song length - you could have __well __over 1920 steps haha. The Deluge doesn't pattern chain in the way a lot of other sequencers do. Instead, different sections can be automated to play for a certain number of bars, before the next section down (sections can be reorganized) is launched. There are also "Shared" tracks that can play independently to the 'chain'. It would be worth reading the "Song Sections" part of the manual (which can be found here) for a full guide to how this works.

    With regards to finding where in the sequence you are, the Deluge now has a 'page number'-style reference that gets displayed as you're scrolling through the sequence. Say you have a 16 bar sequence, and the Deluge is displaying 1 bar out of those 16. As you scroll through each bar, the display will show [1.16], then [2.16], then [3.16], etc... depending on which position you're in.

    Finally, you can use an external keyboard to enter notes into the Deluge (quantized to different levels or not at all), but at the moment the sequencer has to be running in order to do this.

    Hope that helps :smile:

Sign In or Register to comment.