I often play a long sequence of drums or synths 30 seconds or more and not hassle around setting up patterns because you can be in the moment with these things placing the entire skeleton of your work before you go back to flesh it out immediately after or later. Almost to the "back of the hand Bob Ross painting on the fly" level with sequencing with this technique.
To do this, simply switch from pattern mode to song mode and then go into the sequencer after you have selected a machine. Tap the grid icon on the top left corner of the screen next to the label "Patterns" to enter piano roll mode. Look for the magnifying glass icon with the music notation note icon next to it. Tap or click the notation note to reveal a "Q. Tize" icon on the right side. Click that to disable quantization then click the notation note to exit back to editing mode. Go back to your machine you want to record and arm your metronome to precount by selecting the count in measures feature after you have clicked and held (or pressed and held) on the metronome icon. Now you can record your sequences in full. If you want, immediately tap the metronome again to record without the sound of the metronome before the count down ends.
To edit, go back to the sequencer and enter piano roll mode. Click or tap the piano roll label then select your machine. If you feel up to it you can also insert patterns too, it doesn't effect your piano roll song sequences, at least not yet.
Now go Bob Ross the shit out of your projects and tell Fuller to go easy on the Pepsi.
Funny, just the other day I was trying to figure out how to record in piano roll mode. For a long time I thought you could only place notes and had to record in patterns, but the other day I saw someone talk about doing just that and looked up how to do it. Your post would have saved a lot of time.
I do have one problem mixing piano roll and patterns. If I have a pattern sequence overlap a section with notes on the piano roll, sometimes it will default to the note size on the roll instead of the pattern. It was merely annoying most of the time, you just have to place the note, delete it, then put it down again, but if you have any multi measure notes on the roll you can end up with patterns stretched out to extra bars without your asking, which can be damn confusing at first.
Yeah ok, you know, I have made quite a few tracks now on Caustic, and up until now I haven't once once tried to make a track inputting onto the piano roll, I have had a go, but I find it difficult to keep inputting notes using the piano roll, it seems a bit of an unatural way, with this kind of unending roll for me to fill up, yes i know how it works, and you don't obviously have to do that, but I find it awkward. Probably the main reason is through not using it. Saying all that I have started on another project doing just that, and it seems to be going ok, so perhaps you could say i am slightly contradicting myself...haha, oh well let's see hey
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pattern mode and song mode both offer piano roll feature. you probably know that by now though. its just that pattern mode offers up to 8 measures while song mode piano roll is unlimited where you can record an entire performance.
@Clear Air Turbulance : if you are going to use piano roll feature in song mode while having patterns, it best to have separate machines. An example: Drum for ABC patterns that are placed in sequencer mode while having a synth in piano roll mode feature to record a live performance. This is assuming you have a midi controller already hooked up. to record that performance and not necessarily something that you would want to do in a step sequence. Its just one of many ways to do things in Caustic. Just make sure when you have everything set up and armed, record with the tab focus on the machine because recording through the piano roll feature in the sequencer doesn't allow for live performance of automation for filters, envelopes, pitch control, release ect.
Also, you can record just automation in song mode when its switched to piano roll if you don't want to be limited to 8 measures,
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Hi,
Personally, I find the piano-roll in the sequence song mode (could it be called that way??) quite useful for the fills in to patterns, to control very long samples as well.
But I have an Issue with the precount metronome. I tap record, than play. So the precount start. but after that, the recording doesn't start... Maybe I forgot something "Stupidly", I'm not very experimented on this app. Do someone have any idea?
Tx
D.
Denis Tercier