Hey all,
With no further ado, here are the several long-awaited improvements to
beat editing now in build 1E9 which is downloadable for your pleasure at
<http://www.doggiebox.com/distribution/Doggiebox-1E9.tbz> :
* A new floating inspector window replaces the old options sheet for
specifying time signature and tempo.
Choosing "Tempo/Time Signature..." from the Song menu or "Song Inspector"
from the Window menu will make it appear. In the next build, its state
should be remembered for automatic showing/hiding.
* New behaviour for Cut and Paste: these operations now apply to the
instruments laid down within beats only; the physical song structure will
remain unaffected.
Thanks to everyone who has weighed in on this design/UI issue recently;
this reflects what seemed to be the best consensus on how beat-level
editing should work. Now it is possible to move instruments and rhythms
around, within and across bars, without regard for disrupting the song
structure.
Currently when you paste, the resultant patterns will be dropped in over
top of whatever is currently there (beginning at the insertion point or
the start of the selected region if there is one), resulting in an
additive effect. In the next build, the behaviour will be changed to
overwrite (replace all drums in) the target region by default, but with
an additional "Paste Over" command to achieve this additive effect if desired.
* New commands Insert Bar, Insert Beat and Delete Beat(s)/Bar(s) for
manipulating the song structure.
These are accessible from both the Song menu as well as buttons in the
inspector. Beats may be added and deleted with respect to the time
signature of the bar; e.g. inserting a beat into a 6|8 will turn it into
a 7|8. Only whole beats may be deleted; e.g. in a 4|4 bar if you have an
eighth-note region selected, the operation will actually take out the
full quarter-note beat into which the eighth-note falls. To delete an
entire bar, select all of its beats.
Adjusting the time signature using the stepper arrows in the inspector
will preserve the duration and geometry of the bar. This makes it
possible to e.g. overlay a 3-beat rhythm onto a 4|4 bar by temporarily
switching the time signature to 3|4.
* Zooming now only affects the selected bars (or the one nearest the
insertion point). To zoom everything at once, first do a Select All. I
think this default behaviour is a little more helpful.
* Drag-selection of beats is now possible when the mouse is in either the
"i-beam" or "triangle" cursor mode. Holding the option key will select
whole bars. Support for discontiguous beat selection (i.e. command-click
with "triangle" cursor) has been temporarily disabled.
* Fixed a potential crash that could occur after deleting drums from a
bar, and various other bug fixes.
I'm interested in any and all feedback on the changes in this build,
particularly insofar as the wisdom and usability of the new editing
capabilities, inspector palette, keyboard shortcuts, etc.
-ben
--
Ben Kennedy, chief magician
zygoat creative technical services
613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628
http://www.zygoat.ca
