Constraint-driven modification grids in asynchronous drum timing generator

The latest update to ProbablyGEN adds constraints to the grids, so that you can now control where beats can be placed (when editing manually) or where beats will be modified automatically using the 'every so many bars/seconds' auto modification system. The new grids are more intuitive and look sparser because of the 'missing' unavailable (locked) cells, and the previous preset 'Generative' pattern creation has been replaced by a completely flexible user controlled technique using the constraints. The previous 'Generative' functionality is now superseded and will be removed in a future version.

Constraints

The grids in previous versions were not constrained in any way, and so you could put white 'active' cells anywhere in the grid. If you leave the grids in 'Edit' mode, and never set any constraints, then this version will behave in exactly the same way as the previous versions.

But if you select 'Lock' mode, then the whole grid will change to show the 'constraints' and will be filled with white cells the first time that you go into 'Lock' mode.

 A white cell indicates an unconstrained cell. If you remove the white then the cell becomes 'constrained', (unavailable, locked...) and it will not be available (or visible) in the grid.

If you click or drag in the grid, then the cells will no longer show white, and the cells will no longer be available or visible. You will see the effect when you change the mode back to 'Edit' - all of the cells that were not left as white will have vanished, and you will not be able to put a white cell in them - and neither will the automatic modification options: Gen or Rnd.

The first thing to try is to remove all of the cells beyond the current length: 16 in the example shown on the right.

Here are constraints similar to the ones used in the 'Gen' generative functionality from previous versions. The lowest track (the 'Bass' drum track) just has four vertical bars on the beat, whilst the next track up (the 'Snare' drum track) has off-beat vertical bars, with extra time spreading for two of the off-beats. The top track (the 'Hi-hat' drum track) has busy 8th note vertical bars followed by a final block at the end of the bar.

Remember that these white cells are just setting the constraints - they are not related to the probability controls that are present in 'Edit' mode.

Constrained patterns

You can see the result of setting the constraints grid when you go back into 'Edit' mode - the previous all-white cells now go back to the usual dark colour, and you can now manually add white cells wherever you want in the cells that are visible. All of the other cells are now 'locked' and aren't visible.

 The way to think about the use of the white cells in the constraints is that when you go into Lock mode, you want to have white cells wherever you want to be able to put white cells when you are in Edit mode.

 The per-track 'Change' controls allow you to set the effect of the 'Rnd' auto modification function. If Change is set to 0, then the random changes to the grid will (over time) not change the number of white cells. This isn't exact, and so you may not always get exactly the same number of white cells  present in the grids.







If you set Change to a positive number, then the amount of change each time the automatic modification happens will reflect the setting, and so for the maximum value of +20, then up to 20 of the cells might be changed to (or from) white. The three previous screenshots show the effect of four values of Change on what is inside the grids. The bottom track changes the least each time, which is okay for a bass drum, whilst the top track has the most changes each time. If you set Change to +20, then there will be a lot of changes to the white cells (and the grid may fill up over time), whilst if you set Change to -20, then there will be a lot of changes every time, and the grid may well empty over time.

The automatic modifications functionality has also changed slightly - you can now select '1' bar as the time interval, which means that you can now have a new random pattern every bar, if you want. Previously, the shortest value was 2 bars.

Applications

The constraints system is well worth spending some time learning. It allows you to have very precise control over the way that beats are generated, and can also speed up entering frequently used patterns like the bass, snare and hi-hat examples shown above.

Constraints allow you to disable the lowest 'dark' row of the grids by removing the white cells in that row when in 'Lock' mode. This means that you can no longer have a way of setting a single drum event with 50% probability - you can put two white cells in the grid above the lowest 'dark' row and they will happen with 50% probability.

The 'Unlock' button...

The lowest button for each track is the 'Unlock' button. This serves exactly the same purpose as the 'Clear' button at the highest position in the track layout, except that it works on the constraints. If you press this button then all of the constraints will be removed for that track, and when you select the 'Lock' mode, then the constraints grid will have white cells everywhere. There is no way to undo pressing this button, so be careful!

There is no way to undo the 'Clear' button either - it clears all the white cells in an ordinary 'Edit' grid.

The probability grids

As a recap, here's how the probability grids work in ProbablyGEN. Watch out for the lower dark bar!

Highest velocity happens 100% of the time.




Highest velocity happens 50% of the time. Upper middle velocities happen 50% of the time.



The Upper and Lower middle velocities each happen 50% of the time.



The Upper middle, Lower middle, and Lowest velocities each happen 33% of the time.


The Highest velocity happens 50% of the time. The Lower middle velocity happens 50% of the time.


The Highest, Upper middle, Lower middle, and Lowest velocities each happen 25% of the time.


The Highest velocity happens 50% of the time. No note event at all is generated for 50% of the time.


The Upper middle and Lower middle velocities happen 66% of the time. No note event at all is generated for 34% of the time.


The Highest, Upper middle, Lower middle, and Lowest velocities each happen 20% of the time. No note event at all is generated for 20% of the time.

Downloading ProbablyGEN 0.05

You can download ProbablyGEN 0.05 for free from MaxForLive.com.

Here are the instructions for what to do with the .amxd file that you download from MaxForLive.com:

https://synthesizerwriter.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/where-do-i-put-downloaded-amxd.html

Updates:

Original blog: version 0.02: Complex timing generator for Max For Live in Ableton Live

Update: version 0.04: Asynchronous timing generator for Max For Live in ...

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Asynchronous timing generator for Max For Live in Ableton Live

Previously, I introduced ProbablyGEN, a Max For Live device that produces MIDI note events on three channels - with quite a lot of control over the timing of each channel. Essentially, instead of being tied to a single timing source, the three channels provide independent timing, and I provided default mappings to drum sounds because that seemed like a good way for people to start to explore the polyrhythms that are produced.

The feedback that I got suggested that quite a few people were using ProbablyGEN as a generative polyrhythmic drum machine pattern creator utility, and so I have now taken the comments and added extra functionality to make it easier to use ProbablyGEN in this way.

Additional asynchronicity

ProbablyGEN version 0.04 adds a fourth source of timing, but this time it works across the channels, and allows any channel grid to be filled randomly, or filled using a generative algorithm. As with the channel timing, this 'Rnd/Gen' functionality can be clocked using a free-running asynchronous clock (the 'Free' mode), or synchronised to the Bar count from Ableton Live's transport (the 'Sync' mode). Synchronising to Bars is slightly different to the 'Divide' control used in the channel timing - it quantises to discrete bars, and so a new grid pattern is only produced when the bar ends. In contrast, the Free mode is just a free-running clock, and so the new grid patterns can happen at any time - and the display shows the time between grid changes and shows a vertical 'count' indicator that shows when a new grid will be created (when the bar reaches the top).

 Looking at each part of the new Rnd/Gen control section in detail:

Common controls

The mode switch at the top of the common control section allows one of the two modes to be chosen:

Free - the Rnd/Gen clock is completely asynchronous (not tied to Live's transport at all). The 'Speed' control sets the time between a new grid being generated (shown in seconds). The bar on the left hand side shows the progress towards the next new grid - when it reaches the top then  new grid is generated (and the bar then drops down to the bottom).

Sync - the Rnd/Gen clock generates a new grid after the set number of bars, and so is tied to Live's transport. The 'Bars' control sets the number of bars between new grids being generated - in this case, the control is set to 9 bars. The number on the left hand side is the bar count, currently showing 3, so in 6 bars' time, the grid will be reset. 

The 'Fix/Auto' button controls if the automatic Rnd/Gen controls are active. When in 'Fix' mode, the grids are not affected. Selecting 'Auto' will activate the automatic Rnd/Gen effect on the grids (using the Per-channel selections described next...)

Per-channel controls

The 'Clear' button works as in previous versions - it clears the grid on that channel.

Each channel now has channel-specific 'Gen' and 'Rnd' buttons. These are always active - regardless of the 'Fix/Auto' button setting.

If you click on the 'Gen' control then a generative algorithm will produce a drum pattern for that channel. Each channel has a different algorithm: the top channel is designed for hi-hats, the middle for snares, and the bottom channel for kicks. Each time you click on the 'Gen' button, a new different pattern will be randomly generated.

If you click on the 'Rnd' button, then two things happen: first, some random cells in the grid will be cleared, and then, some random cells will be set to white. The 'Rnd' button thus modifies any pattern in the grid - it does not replace it (unless you press the 'Rnd' button a lot of times!). So you can use the 'Rnd' button to modify any grid - even a grid produced by the 'Gen' button.

'Auto' mode

When the 'Fix/Auto' button is set to 'Auto' then the timing controls can affect the grids. There are six selection boxes, three for each channel. When an 'X' is lit up, then the button on the right hand side of the sector will be activated when the timing clock generates a 'Rnd/Gen' event. 

In the case shown on the left, the top channel will have a new grid generated, the middle channel grid will be modified with random cells, and the bottom channel will generate a new kick drum pattern, and then randomly modify that pattern. ('Gen' always happens before 'Rnd'...)

If none of the selectors has an 'X' in it, then the grids will not be affected, and the state of the 'Fix/Auto' button does not matter.

Downloading ProbablyGEN 0.04

You can download ProbablyGEN 0.04 for free from MaxForLive.com.

Here are the instructions for what to do with the .amxd file that you download from MaxForLive.com:

https://synthesizerwriter.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/where-do-i-put-downloaded-amxd.html

Updates:

Original blog: version 0.02: Complex timing generator for Max For Live in Ableton Live

Update: version 0.05: Constraint-driven modification grids in asynchronous drum timing generator

Buy me a coffee

Complex timing generator for Max For Live and Ableton Live

The first presentation at Loop 2017 was Andrey Smirnov's wonderful talk and demo of Leon Theremin's 'Rhythmicon', ending with a superb live performance piece. It was an inspiring opener to a wonderful event, and it got me thinking...

Probably GENerator

If you've been following my 'Probably' series of MaxForLive devices, then you may have noticed that they have gradually been influenced more and more by modular synthesisers. ProbablyLFO could easily have some radical graphics, a name suggesting 'West Coast' influences, and be a hardware module in a rack, except that it is only in software in Ableton Live at the moment. Producing hardware is a time-consuming process, and I'm still considering what my next device will be...

But, as we have just passed through one annual winter 'holiday' event, and with another looming, this seemed like a good time to release yet another unusual giveaway, and with the 'Rhythmicon' still tucked away at the back of my mind, I wondered what I could do that was exploratory rather than just a dull copy... And, trust me, some of my previous M4L giveaways at this time of year have been useful, but just a little bland. 

The result is ProbablyGEN, (GEN is short for Generator, not Max's 'gen'!), and it is a three channel (after dFreez_mr, I've temporarily given up on trying to squeeze four channels in!) asynchronous / synchronous note generator. Each channel has a choice of free-running (async) or synchronous (divided from Live's transport), a probabilistic 'velocity' grid (with a special variation on the previous user interface specially for this type of application), length control per grid, direction controls (forwards, backwards, scanner), and completely straight-forward (gasp!) MIDI Note output selection. So you get three note polyphony (or use the 'Chord' MIDI plug-in) which is ideal for simple drum sounds, or simple three-part monophonic music.

The screenshot above shows three synchronised channels, all running at 1:1 (i.e., the same as Live's transport), and all playing 16 column grids (more on this in a moment). The far right hand side shows the MIDI Notes which are being generated, which is a giveaway for what this is doing: 36 is Kick, 38 is Snare, and 42 is Closed Hi-Hat. I did consider calling this ProbablyD, or ProbablyDrum, but then I realised that you could use it for other purposes than just drums, and so I went for the generic name of 'GENerator'.

The 'Columns' setting and the direction buttons on the right might need some explanation. Why is the middle channel 'Columns' control set to 17 instead of 16? Actually, this is a consequence of it running back and forth in a 'scanner' type pattern - the little '+' is there to remind you that when you choose the 'scanner' direction then you need to increment the 'Columns' control by 1 (or not, as you prefer!). So, actually, all of these channels have 16 columns in the active part of the grid - but there's more later on this... 

With these settings, from the lowest channel upwards: the bass drum is playing four 'on the beat' hits, with the final column (or the 16) exploiting the new UI twist that I have added: the upper white cell is indeed a '66' velocity. but the lower white cell is a '0' velocity on the black row, which doesn't mean 'zero velocity' (that would be a Note Off...), but means 'don't play this note. Now because the probability grid takes multiple instances of white cells in a vertical column as providing choices for that event, this means that there are two things that can happen here: a kick drum played at a velocity of 66, or no kick drum, and with each having the same probability - so the kick drum will play about half of the time. When you listen to this, then you hear that 'the drummer' keeps putting in extra little appoggiatura ('pick-ups') at random, just before the main beat at the start of the bar. So here we have a software emulation of an impatient foot...

The middle 'snare' channel is scanning back and forth, and so we get a single snare (at 33,66 or 99 velocity) or a cluster of 2 or 3 snares on alternate repeats. Again, the 'zero' bar is used to make that middle snare in the cluster happen about half of the time.

The 'hi-hat' channel has 'on the beat' hits, with off-beats at half probability using the 'zero' row again, and a cluster of 'sometimes' at the end of the bar, followed by an end of bar tick that always happens.

A rhythm less ordinary... 

The screenshot above shows a slightly more unusual setup. This time, the bass is as before, whilst the snare is playing slower, at 0.889:1 to Live's transport, and the active part of the grid is only 15 columns long (wide?). The hi-hat is now faster, at 1.333:1, and there are 22 columns in the active part of the grid. In this example, I have deliberately chosen the values of Divide and Column so that the lengths are the same duration in time, but this does reveal an interesting side-effect. It is quite difficult to change the Divide control and the Columns control at the same time, and so you will find that the timing gets out of alignment, as you can see by the three vertical cursor lines not being aligned in a vertical line. There are two ways to fix this: stop Live's transport and restart it; or hit the 'In' button in the top left hand corner, just underneath the 'start' light circle. This forces a reset of the internal counters, but doesn't sync it back to the bar or beat of Live's transport, which can be a useful effect. Either way, you get to control the channel timing alignment as you want.

The hi-hat is also busier in this last few columns, with 25% and 33% probabilities from the page of the 'zero' row. But you've probably not got the time to concentrate too much on this, with all of the timing complexity that this setup gives. Each of the channels is outputting notes in its own synced time, but the timing isn't the 'four-to-the-floor' many ears are used to hearing. Nope, this could perhaps be interpreted as being simultaneously an emulation in software of the best AND/OR the worst software drummer in the world...

This is only scratching the surface of the timing options that ProbablyGEN gives you - the 'Divide' range is deliberately set wide, so you can go fast and very slow (try increasing Live's tempo too!). And if you use the 'Free' button, then the tempo of that channel is completely independent of Live's transport, and so is totally asynchronous. For hi-hats, this can sound pretty cool! (This is also where tempo-aligned echo can be useful to explore...) But hey, that's enough presents given away in one blog article!

Notes

If you replace a drum kit with a synthesiser, then ProbablyGEN becomes a three channel monophonic step sequencer with potentially independent timing of the three channels (or any degree of sync that you want). As I said earlier, this is the sort of thing that many people associate with modular synthesiser racks, and not a laptop running Ableton Live.

By using the 'Chord' MIDI effect plug-in, then one, two or all of these notes can be expanded into chords. Depending on how you set this up, it can be described with words like 'jazzy', or 'obtuse'... (and if you've ever listened to the 'ChromatixT' demos on SoundCloud, then...)

MaxForLive.com

As usual, ProbablyGEN is available for free from MaxForLive.com. Enjoy doing interesting things away from 4:4 timing as we move into 2018!

Unexpected surprises!

ProbablyGEN outputs all three notes when you first instantiate it in a track, so beware!

Did someone mention a Parappa the Rapper reference?
PaRappa_the_Rapper
5 Minutes of Parappa the Rapper Remastered Gameplay - YouTube 2mins 10 seconds

Updates:

Update: version 0.04: Asynchronous timing generator for Max For Live in ...

Update: version 0.05: Constraint-driven modification grids in asynchronous drum timing generator

Buy me a coffee