Revamped SONG mode with project and audio export
I believe SONG mode needs some major revamp for it to be easier to use and provide a faster and more efficient workflow. This would also allow the inclusion of a project and audio export feature.
As it is currently the case, song mode should be triggered with two methods :
- Arrangement view displayed by default when pushing SONG
- Song record mode by pushing REC when already in SONG.
Arrangement view :
SONG main screen (the current sections list view is ok, but could be presented as a vertical timeline with the following indicators added) :
- on the right : bar count
- on the left : song duration timeline
- On the bottom of the main SONG screen, we should have the following editing buttons for sections :
-- CREATE : prompts for a name and creates new section
-- EDIT : sends to section edit screen (see below)
-- DUPLICATE : duplicates the selected section and places just after it
-- DELETE : deletes the selected section
-- LINK : allows selection of two or more sections that are linked together (whatever change you make to the first, will be applied to all the linked sections)
-- SETTINGS : general settings of the song (see below)
-- EXPORT : provides song exporting options (see below)
- Rotary controls in the main SONG screen (with labels on the sides of the screen) :
-- Upper right rotary : controls the selection of the section
-- Lower right rotary : controls the value of number of loop iterations for the selected section to be played in the song (value can also be set to 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 to play the section only partially)
-- Upper left rotary : controls the position/order of the selected section in the song
-- Lower left rotary : controls the display color of the section (the color should propagate to any linked section)
SECTION EDIT screen :
- Will present the set of 16 SEQS that the user will select to include in the section
- Sections will be selectable either by touch or rotaries
- The name of the section will be displayed on the top with ability to edit the name
SETTINGS screen with following options :
- SONG PLAYBACK MODE : Play Song Once / Repeat / Play Selected section / Play in random order
- AUDIO EXPORT : individual audio tracks + mix-down / individual audio tracks only / mix-down only
- AUDIO QUALITY : bitrate / samplerate
- PROJECT/MIDI EXPORT : project + individual track sequences / track sequences only
(if we stay with 4 available settings, they could be mapped to the rotaries for easier control)
EXPORT screen :
- Prompts for type of export (sequences, audio or both)
- Browser prompt to select target destination path
- Exports each sequence pad as a separate audio track pre-MIX & FX and stereo mix down post MIX & FX (based on settings selected in the SETTINGS screen)
- Exports .ALS Ableton project folder and file with all tracks/sections and MIDI clips inside it, as well as consolidates any sample used in the project
Record mode :
- Song record should be triggered the same way as currently (Rec when in song mode)
- This mode should count and record the number of iterations an and unchanged section repeats and generate automatically a new section each time there is a change in the sequence selection
- It should then allow :
-- arrangement and linking of sections in the manual mode
-- resume of recording
-- insertion of new sections through recording, starting on the selected scene.
At the occasion of this revamp, it may be relevant to rename "sections" as "scenes" so as to reflect the Ableton Live paradigm.
Export feature use cases :
The proposed multi-track and mix-down audio export would also remove any concern about the quality of analog output and recording of the blackbox to a DAW, as it'll remove the digital to analog then analog to digital conversion and let us mix and master the final track with external means. The project and MIDI export feature would allow easy editing and polishing of the song in DAW (presumably Ableton but also others via the MIDI files)
What do you think ? Does this proposition make sense ? Do you think we can hope an implementation of it in a future firmware release ?
As it is currently the case, song mode should be triggered with two methods :
- Arrangement view displayed by default when pushing SONG
- Song record mode by pushing REC when already in SONG.
Arrangement view :
SONG main screen (the current sections list view is ok, but could be presented as a vertical timeline with the following indicators added) :
- on the right : bar count
- on the left : song duration timeline
- On the bottom of the main SONG screen, we should have the following editing buttons for sections :
-- CREATE : prompts for a name and creates new section
-- EDIT : sends to section edit screen (see below)
-- DUPLICATE : duplicates the selected section and places just after it
-- DELETE : deletes the selected section
-- LINK : allows selection of two or more sections that are linked together (whatever change you make to the first, will be applied to all the linked sections)
-- SETTINGS : general settings of the song (see below)
-- EXPORT : provides song exporting options (see below)
- Rotary controls in the main SONG screen (with labels on the sides of the screen) :
-- Upper right rotary : controls the selection of the section
-- Lower right rotary : controls the value of number of loop iterations for the selected section to be played in the song (value can also be set to 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 to play the section only partially)
-- Upper left rotary : controls the position/order of the selected section in the song
-- Lower left rotary : controls the display color of the section (the color should propagate to any linked section)
SECTION EDIT screen :
- Will present the set of 16 SEQS that the user will select to include in the section
- Sections will be selectable either by touch or rotaries
- The name of the section will be displayed on the top with ability to edit the name
SETTINGS screen with following options :
- SONG PLAYBACK MODE : Play Song Once / Repeat / Play Selected section / Play in random order
- AUDIO EXPORT : individual audio tracks + mix-down / individual audio tracks only / mix-down only
- AUDIO QUALITY : bitrate / samplerate
- PROJECT/MIDI EXPORT : project + individual track sequences / track sequences only
(if we stay with 4 available settings, they could be mapped to the rotaries for easier control)
EXPORT screen :
- Prompts for type of export (sequences, audio or both)
- Browser prompt to select target destination path
- Exports each sequence pad as a separate audio track pre-MIX & FX and stereo mix down post MIX & FX (based on settings selected in the SETTINGS screen)
- Exports .ALS Ableton project folder and file with all tracks/sections and MIDI clips inside it, as well as consolidates any sample used in the project
Record mode :
- Song record should be triggered the same way as currently (Rec when in song mode)
- This mode should count and record the number of iterations an and unchanged section repeats and generate automatically a new section each time there is a change in the sequence selection
- It should then allow :
-- arrangement and linking of sections in the manual mode
-- resume of recording
-- insertion of new sections through recording, starting on the selected scene.
At the occasion of this revamp, it may be relevant to rename "sections" as "scenes" so as to reflect the Ableton Live paradigm.
Export feature use cases :
The proposed multi-track and mix-down audio export would also remove any concern about the quality of analog output and recording of the blackbox to a DAW, as it'll remove the digital to analog then analog to digital conversion and let us mix and master the final track with external means. The project and MIDI export feature would allow easy editing and polishing of the song in DAW (presumably Ableton but also others via the MIDI files)
What do you think ? Does this proposition make sense ? Do you think we can hope an implementation of it in a future firmware release ?
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