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Instrument colors - Idea to help fix 2.0 instrument track / arranger confusion

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rpc9943rpc9943 New York usaBeta Tester, Mentor Posts: 184

Here's my idea in regards to how we need a way to fix the confusion between instruments and tracks
change the mute column so that we can make it any color, like how we can shift smoothly the note colors in track view. If it is muted, then it would just dim to a low setting. If it is made to solo it could just blink from dim to full. When entering a track mode, the entire side turns that color so I think that it would help the mind associate easily. Example (Bass = Blue) (Drums = red), choosing what color we want for the particular instrument. Could change the color by holding track down and turning <> knob. Now we not only have a functional column but a column that shows easily the instrument at hand!

Post edited by rpc9943 on

Comments

  • 0
    p_watsp_wats TorontoPosts: 111

    Thanks for this. I like the idea of using the mute column for both its initial mute function as well as a track colour indicator.

    The only thing I'd suggest is somehow tying the mute colour to the track colour in song view (I know they are gradients, so maybe it could choose the most prominent colour in song view for the mute pad?), so we don't have different colours for the same track in different views.

  • 2
    rpc9943rpc9943 New York usaBeta Tester, Mentor Posts: 184

    Yeah just make all of the notes, the mute colors, all the same and let us shift the color. This will help the brain associate and quickly find the instrument in question

  • 0
    muleskinnermuleskinner Bath, UKModerator Posts: 128

    Just wondering - why use the mute column rather than the audition column for this?

    Noise, Noodles and Doodles: http://bit.ly/mrjonesthebutcher

  • 0
    rpc9943rpc9943 New York usaBeta Tester, Mentor Posts: 184

    Because you need colors to describe the "section colors"....

  • 0
    muleskinnermuleskinner Bath, UKModerator Posts: 128

    Ah - I get you. You mean change the mute column in all views, in your original post I thought you just meant in the arranger view.

    Noise, Noodles and Doodles: http://bit.ly/mrjonesthebutcher

  • 0
    muleskinnermuleskinner Bath, UKModerator Posts: 128
    edited June 2018

    I started a more general discussion on this topic (ie not tied to a particular feature request) here.

    I'm just going to quote what I said from that thread regarding this suggestion below - basically I think it's a good idea but I don't like the fact that we end up with a three-part colour scheme (sections, instruments and parts). I also think there's a better long-term solution but it's probably a few firmware releases away (assuming anyone thinks it's any good).

    ====

    I like this idea and think it would make things much clearer. What I don't like about it is that it introduces another level of colour coding to be set by the user (we'd now have part colours, instrument colours and section colours) which, to me, seems to be straying into Maschine-levels of 'bolt-on' functionality. This doesn't means it's a bad idea though (far from it), which brings me too..

    Instrument Colour vs Part Colour
    Currently on the Deluge we set colours by 'section' or by 'part'. A 'part' is a sequence played by a particular instrument - in the current Deluge hierarchy it can only belong to one instrument and one section.

    I think it makes more sense to colour by instrument type than by part. Generally I end up colouring all my parts by instrument type anyway and I actually find it slightly annoying/inconsistent that if I duplicate a track belonging to a particular instrument then adjust it so it's playing in a different range the colour assigned to it changes. And it can change radically - appearing to 'belong' to a different instrument if you're using a colour per instrument type scheme. I often find myself having to recolour parts just because I've changed the melody a bit.

    Maybe that would be too major a change, but for me setting a colour for each instrument that was applied to each part as they appeared in section view and (however it's done) in arranger view would make infinitely more sense than colouring per part and would make it much easier to design a consistent colour 'scheme' for the Deluge as a whole. You could still set different colours for lanes in kits, and have colours change up and down octave ranges when in track view (so I don't think you'd really lose any functionality), but when viewing the track as an overview in section view or the arranger the instrument colour would be applied.

    Post edited by muleskinner on

    Noise, Noodles and Doodles: http://bit.ly/mrjonesthebutcher

  • 0
    supertwangsupertwang Austin, TXPosts: 11

    +1 for instrument colors in the mute/solo column.

    Muted as a fast blink of the instrument colors, Solo'ed as solid, with all non-solo'ed tracks slow-blinking (or just solo'ed == WHITE) would work for me. I definitely -need- a color to denote what instrument type something is.

    I'd also prefer the rainbow of different pitch colors in the song view just be a solid (user-assignable) color (or even better single hue, with different saturations) per track. I don't get much useful information from the pitch rainbow... it just makes everything look alike to my eyes, which is more confusing than helptful.

  • 0
    amiga909amiga909 Central EuropePosts: 1,078

    IMHO this suggestion is a dupe.

    @rpc9943 said:
    When entering a track mode, the entire side turns that color so I think that it would help the mind associate easily.

    isnt that the monochrome suggestion? means color is not denoted by pitch anymore. rather velocity.
    http://forums.synthstrom.com/discussion/439/monochrome-single-color-for-tracks

    if we have monochrome in track and song view, the mute button column should rather stay as it is now.

    related, incl. some cool drawings and a comment by Rohan http://forums.synthstrom.com/discussion/comment/6483#Comment_6483

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