Is there a posted wish list?
I wonder about this, since I had some ideas that I didn't want to be redundant about. I know there are some things on the pile of stuff to do, such as velocity control for individual instruments, and some interface enhancements for pattern building. One example of something I wondered about: Would it be impossible to create a keyboard mapping tool that allowed a user to build "real time" patterns in addition to the step recording capabilities we already have? In other words, we might say: k=kick h=hi hat closed g=hi hat open s=snare (I know there are already user-definable key shortcuts in the kit builder, but I don't know what they do- I don't think it's for this) Next, we could define, say, four empty patterns. Finally, we could start a click track (not yet available- also a requirement for this to work) and play the keyboard to quickly build sections. This is an idea that I miss from my analog machine. Although the step recording features in an application like Doggiebox are far superior to my little machine's LCD readout of one pattern at a time, there are moments where I want to just "tap out" my progressions, as my real Drum machine allows. I have no idea if Mac System issues prevent this from happening. Bear in mind, I'm not speaking about modified keystrokes (like the previously discussed CMD-H), I'm talking about an application having a temporary keyboard map that could be toggled on and off (defeated or re-activated) at the users control.
my guess is that this would be possible. playerpro basically has this feature...a user-customizable keyboard map that can be used to record music into the program. in that case, the keyboard is used to play different notes with the same tone, but i would assume that the same idea could be used to play & record different sounds with each key. you can get a playerpro demo from http://www.quadmation.com, if you're not familiar with it. --phil
I have no idea if Mac System issues prevent this from happening. Bear in mind, I'm not speaking about modified keystrokes (like the previously discussed CMD-H), I'm talking about an application having a temporary keyboard map that could be toggled on and off (defeated or re-activated) at the users control.
On 06 4 2003 at 11:23 am -0400, Mike Carlyle wrote:
Would it be impossible to create a keyboard mapping tool that allowed a user to build "real time" patterns in addition to the step recording capabilities we already have?
Yeah, this has been raised before and I think it's a great idea. Consider it on the list. :) Actually, I'll add this to the "forthcoming feature concepts" on the web site.
(I know there are already user-definable key shortcuts in the kit builder, but I don't know what they do- I don't think it's for this)
The idea for those has been for quick-selection in the editor (switching between drums without having to go find and click with mouse), but hasn't been implemented yet. However, they could (will) equally serve as selectors for real-time input. Thanks for suggesting! There is no central wish list per se, other than various emails I am constantly collecting, and the point-form list on the site. But I encourage everyone to post ideas here, so they can be discussed/refined, and I'll try to keep the web site list in sync. -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca
At 16:23 06/04/2003, Mike Carlyle wrote:
I wonder about this, since I had some ideas that I didn't want to be redundant about.
I've been lurking on the list a while, reading others' comments, and wanted to ask about a feature or two that I don't recall seeing before. First, I want to say that Doggiebox really looks like its going places, and its continuing evolution is one of the main reasons (besides destitution ;) that I've held off on buying a "hardware" drum machine :) Idea 1: import from MIDI file. I didn't use the old Virtual Drummer program much, but I remember that it had some ability to import standard MIDI files and strip out everything but the percussion tracks which you could then edit as normal. As a frustrated home-studio hobbyist guitarist/bassist with a) rudimentary boom-chick-boom-chick-crash-crash drum skills :) and b) no space (or noise-proofing for a drum kit anyway :) one of the ways that I've tried making drum tracks for my little compositions before is finding bits of percussion parts I like in existing MIDI files and then "Frankensteining" them together in some MIDI editor or another. That's probably morally reprehensible, but I hope after enough exposure to other people's patterns, I'll become better at simply writing a sensible drum part from scratch myself :) Anyway, one can do this in MIDI editors like Harmony/Melody Assistant, but it would be _great_ if I could import percussion parts from MIDI files into Doggiebox and edit them there because, frankly, Doggiebox has an easier to use interface IMO :) Idea 2: slave to MIDI Time Code Another thing I think would be very cool, which kinda falls into the forthcoming feature concept "integration with other audio recording and composition tools", would be if it were possible to leverage Mac OS X MIDI services so that I could slave Doggiebox on my Mac to MIDI Time Code coming from my external hard-disk recording module. That way, when working on a multitrack recording, I could be sure that Doggiebox would always "come in" at the same place, making it really easy to alter and re-alter the drum part without it coming out of sync with the rest of the recording. (I can output the Doggiebox composition to AIFF, and play it to the recording module, of course, but then I usually have to "nudge" the entire drum track back into sync with the other instruments on other tracks.) That might be a complicated feature to implement, though! I don't know how easy Apple has made it for developers to implement MIDI functionality .... But hey -- enough of my yakkin'! Whaddaya say? Let's boogie! :) Cheers, Carl -- Carl Edlund Anderson mailto:cea@carlaz.com http://www.carlaz.com/
Since some are talking about wish lists I figured I'd add my 2€. First, the software's come a long way in a short time and is eminently usable. Great job (that BIAS aiff fix was key for me!)! I'd like to address the UI. I see that a lot of thought has gone into making the UI follow a naturalistic model, but I'd like to see it stretch a little bit in some ways. I'd like to be able to select an event to remove it. I find it cumbersome to have to click the mouse on the drum type of the event I want to remove and then click it on the event to clear it. Can we just have a general select tool (perhaps the user can access it with spacebar-click)? Also I would like to be able to create drum patterns that would be impossible to play by a human, such that for one beat I could play three styles of highhat or something equally contorted. Finally, I'd like to be able to control the output levels of the drum sounds on a per-song basis. As I said though, the software's great and I like using it lots. Keep up the good work! Frank
On 07 4 2003 at 10:59 am -0400, Frank Rubino wrote:
I'd like to be able to select an event to remove it. I find it cumbersome to have to click the mouse on the drum type of the event I want to remove and then click it on the event to clear it. Can we just have a general select tool (perhaps the user can access it with spacebar-click)?
Yeah, I feel your pain, and hopefully I will address this in the next beta. I'm thinking option-click to act as an "eraser" tool.
Also I would like to be able to create drum patterns that would be impossible to play by a human, such that for one beat I could play three styles of highhat or something equally contorted.
Well, you can do that currently by editing the drum kit a bit to e.g. separate out the hi-hat components into different instruments. But it might also become possible using a more generalised drum layout; see below.
Finally, I'd like to be able to control the output levels of the drum sounds on a per-song basis.
You mean like have a master fader beside each drum in the kit list? Not a bad idea. I am thinking of ways to improve the drum kit control from within the song editor, and this might be a good extension. Here's a preview of one of my plans which I am going to try working up shortly: a) remove the "5 position" grid limitation and make it so that there are a user-definable number of grid positions (editable in the drum kit). b) make it possible to adjust the relationship and ordering of all elements of the drum kit, insofar as what drums might share which grid positions and layout. c) create a toggle-able setting in the song editor for how the drum kit is presented, switching between three modes: i) "show all", which lists the entire kit in the margin with each drum in its own grid position, a la Virtual Drummer ii) "show current", which is similar but hides all positions where there are no drums currently in use in the song. iii) "show condensed", equivalent to the way things currently work, where various drums may share the same grid position if they do not conflict. In all three cases, there would be a direct visual alignment between the drum name/info and the gridline in the song editor which corresponds to it. (That's not currently the case, as the kit is presently shown in a scrolling list independent of the song editor.) My thinking is that these view modes would provide flexibility between having an easy-to-navigate condensed score for people who like the current notation style, as well as a larger complete, grid-like layout for fuller control (and those who find the current "grouped" concept irritating). Thoughts, ideas anyone?
As I said though, the software's great and I like using it lots. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Frank! -ben -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca
On 07 4 2003 at 6:26 am -0400, Carl Edlund Anderson wrote:
I've been lurking on the list a while, reading others' comments, and wanted to ask about a feature or two that I don't recall seeing before. First, I want to say that Doggiebox really looks like its going places, and its continuing evolution is one of the main reasons (besides destitution ;) that I've held off on buying a "hardware" drum machine :)
Hey Carl, Thanks for lurking and posting... if we can supplant a piece of expensive cumbersome hardware, then we must be going places ;)
Idea 1: import from MIDI file. [...] Anyway, one can do this in MIDI editors like Harmony/Melody Assistant, but it would be _great_ if I could import percussion parts from MIDI files into Doggiebox and edit them there because, frankly, Doggiebox has an easier to use interface IMO :)
This is not entirely out of the question... along with CoreAudio (the main raw audio input/output subsystem), Mac OS X also provides CoreMIDI, a midi-oriented kit for much this purpose. So the tools are available to make this happen. The main bottleneck at this point is my personal lack of experience with MIDI (not to mention CoreMIDI which I will have to research). I would really like to get some MIDI stuff happening, though. So my take on this: definitely on the list!
Idea 2: slave to MIDI Time Code Another thing I think would be very cool, which kinda falls into the forthcoming feature concept "integration with other audio recording and composition tools", would be if it were possible to leverage Mac OS X MIDI services so that I could slave Doggiebox on my Mac to MIDI Time Code coming from my external hard-disk recording module.
Same deal: this shouldn't be too hard to do, but then again, I don't have much experience with MIDI! Good idea though, and I will keep you all posted once I start to get up to speed. Realistically, I think MIDI will come in priority after a few other things which have already been mentioned -- better song layout control, dynamics, etc. Actually, maybe I should put together a poll on what features people think should take priority. what do you all think? -b -- Ben Kennedy, chief magician zygoat creative technical services 613-228-3392 | 1-866-466-4628 http://www.zygoat.ca
At 23:35 07/04/2003, Ben Kennedy wrote:
Realistically, I think MIDI will come in priority after a few other things which have already been mentioned -- better song layout control, dynamics, etc.
That's cool. Yeah, being strictly a hobbyist musician and a relatively poor one, I've never even tried to use MIDI equipment, have have a very limited idea how MIDI stuff works :) But I did hear a lot about how OS X's MIDI implementation was supposed to be very good, and what I do know suggests putting MIDI capabilities in a software drum machine would be pretty handy. Lots there for me to learn :) But to be sure, general usability issues should come first!
Actually, maybe I should put together a poll on what features people think should take priority. what do you all think?
Could do. I'll also add that I definitely look forward to the mentioned file libraries, though I suppose one difficulty with hosting a file library of drum kits is making sure one doesn't run into copyright problems with the sounds used .... I've tried to build some Latin-style patterns on my own, but haven't gotten far with it in terms of kit building (I think I need some more drum sounds) or figuring out sufficiently authentic-sounding sequences. Cheers, Carl -- Carl Edlund Anderson mailto:cea@carlaz.com http://www.carlaz.com/
participants (5)
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Ben Kennedy -
Carl Edlund Anderson -
Frank Rubino -
Mike Carlyle -
phil