"User Mode" (bidirectional MIDI Api to the 16x8 grid, to enable 3rd party developers)

supertwang

User/Display Mode:
This is Midi Controller mode that would enable the development of 3rd party apps leveraging the Deluge's great 16x8 control surface. Such an API would invites the extended music developer community into the design conversation surrounding the hardware, generating new tools and momentum for the entire community (hopefully taking some of the developer load off Rohan, at no additional cost to Synthstrom) in realizing the full potential of the Deluge). Don't get me wrong, it's damn near perfect, but there are so many other things that grid would be useful for too!

In a nutshell, the mode/API would need to provide the ability to assign (at minimum) a midi-channel, a note number, a velocity and an RGB color, to each of the grid buttons, via MIDI. I see it as a natural extension of the Clips Mode/Session view being requested in another thread (see PS below). In fact, if this Mode/API existed, a third party developer could actually provide a Clips Mode not to mention any number of other ideas that could be drempt up.

A generic "User Mode" is an idea that the Novation Launchpad Pro implements brilliantly. Not only can you use that grid for whatever you want, there is an open MIDI-based API that allows your software to control the pad colors in real time. An ability to use the grid in a generic way, via MIDI, would allow all of the Deluge fans out there to really get creative with this brilliant control surface. The community could benefit from the wealth of 3rd party tools that the Deluge would enable - making this instrument even MORE useful!.

Possible ideas:
- Imagine the shape of your LFO visually drawn and moving on the Deluge Grid like a display!
- Imagine seeing the (short) title of your song on the 16x8 grid as you scroll through your songs!
- Imagine a spectral level meters view, reacting live to your music!

Can you think of any alternate uses for the Deluge's big grid?

All of these things and so many more would be possible with an API that enables control of color and midi per grid cell.

PS: I originally posted this idea as an adjunct to the "Session View/Clips Mode" feature request, because in my view, from a development standpoint, it'd represent a small incremental development effort over implementing a Clips Mode/Session View, that'd yield huge benefits. IE if you're already implementing a view of per-button functionality (Clips Mode/Session View), adding a little bit of additional customizability would yield huge benefits. In fact, with the exception of RGB control of the grid over MIDI, you could probably mimic the outward-bound MIDI effect of a User Mode just by populating the "Clips Mode" grid with single note clips of your choice for each clip. That small additional developer effort to add an API to feed back the color over MIDI, cracks open a world of potential. To some extent, an open User Mode, might even be the best first step, as it'd enable a third party developer to effectively provide Clips Mode if they so desired (I would!).

But, in terms of discussion, it really is a different discussion/feature request, hence this thread. The original mention is here:

http://forums.synthstrom.com/discussion/comment/11346#Comment_11346

Klaustrophil

So I'd have to bring a PC on stage in order to make use of this mode? I bought the Deluge to avoid this.
But maybe I'd be ok with a headless Raspberry PI/Arduino solution.

supertwang

@Klaustrophil - A MIDI user mode could definitely open up the possibility of PC-based things like editor software, patch librarians, DAW plugin control and such. But it mainly provides for MIDI control of the front panel lights. Since the Deluge has a USB host port, and a MIDI in port, any MIDI controller out there that can send the right messages could control them. The "driver smarts" to do anything sophisticated are likely to go beyond what a stock, off-the-shelf midi controller can do though, but with Arduinos costing less than a meal, and any number of other embedded controllers (RaspPi included) not much more expensive, it is easy to imagine some cool functionality that wouldn't be hard to implement and wouldn't require a PC onstage. A simple example: I'd like to map a MIDI knob to LFO type, and show the waveform of the LFO drawn on the 16x8 grid. Given the number of creative, technical musicians out there, I can only imagine the other cool stuff that the community would come up with. I firmly believe that a Midi user mode would enrich the entire community and attract even more users to the Deluge, hence the feature request.

Also fwiw, I personally won't bring my own laptop on stage, so I totally feel you on that! I sit in front of that for work all day, so when I play, I don't want to see it!

Best,
D