Posted
Hi.
Consider this picture:
All those containers labeled 'Hn' are Harmony-only containers, intended to guide the Harmonies of the full-of-phrases lettered containers above.
Is there a way to merge a set of green 'Hn' containers into one, which would contain a Harmony parameter which is the concatenation of those I started with. (e.g. H1 H1 H2 H3 become a single container with all that Harmony present in it.).
--
If it is not possible to merge containers as such, what would be the workflow to build the individual Harmony parameters (4m each) currently inside those into larger chucks (A Section, B Section, of 16m each, etc.).?
Sat, 2024-03-09 - 21:02 Permalink
Place a new container below that set of Hn containers that covers the entire time span of that set of containers. Then in this new container select the Harmony parameter and make a snapshot (the camera icon in the parameter inspector). After that operation the new container contains the merged Harmony parameters. The original Hn containers can be deleted then.
Sat, 2024-03-09 - 21:30 Permalink
Place a new container below that set of Hn containers that covers the entire time span of that set of containers.
Thanks for your reply!
I am stumbling on this first step. How do I place a new container below that set of Hn containers?
I'm trying to create something like "I" in the picture above, but underneath the others instead of over them.
I can't seem to make it happen!
Sat, 2024-03-09 - 21:45 Permalink
Select the root container, then select the desired time span, then place the playhead at the point of the beginning of the set of Hn containers. Then execute "New container". That should create a new container below of that set of containers.
If you set the start point of the new container before the set of Hn containers the new container will be placed above those containers, because a container that starts earlier is always placed above a container that starts later.
Sat, 2024-03-09 - 22:14 Permalink
Very good, thank you very much!
Almost there ...
The new container picked up all the Hn Harmonies when I did the snapshot, however, the 16m span of Harmony is only applied for the first 4m.
I don't understand why this would be, or what to do about it.
Am I observing a bug? Shouldn't the 16m of Harmony available in the new container, on the bottom, take precedence?
Sat, 2024-03-09 - 22:44 Permalink
Seems simple to turn a series of containers into one (provided, of course, that the entire series of containers contain the same parameter)
I guess this has not been programmed in Synfire yet ?
Conversely, a container filled with a chord progression can be divided (via divide and play cursor).
Sun, 2024-03-10 - 14:00 Permalink
Containers starting at a later time take precedence over ealier ones. Vertical order (priority) is in effect only for containers that start at the same time.
Delete harmony from the small containers.
Sun, 2024-03-10 - 14:29 Permalink
Containers starting at a later time take precedence over ealier ones. Vertical order (priority) is in effect only for containers that start at the same time.
Delete harmony from the small containers.
Very interesting and critical information. Thank you for this.
I am too new to really understand if this is a superb feature or a problematic one.
Immediately, I see the downside: I have to destroy prior work to accomplish an override.
Presumably though, this was a deliberate design decision, so, what's the upside?
Sun, 2024-03-10 - 14:54 Permalink
It's neither good nor bad. It's simply how inheritance is defined. Container priority (vertical) merely resolves a conflict between containers that start at the same time at the same hierarchy level.
If you group all the small containers and lower that group's priority (arrow key up), they will be at the same hierarchy level. Now your override covers the entire group.
Sun, 2024-03-10 - 15:20 Permalink
Very interesting and critical information. Thank you for this.
Didn't you get it from the manual how the container hierarchy works?
Pretty handy if you have a series of containers with different chord progressions, which you then stack ( separately or in a group )
Can also be done for the snippets?
Sun, 2024-03-10 - 15:38 Permalink
Containers starting at a later time take precedence over ealier ones
Yes of course, it was a bit late in the evening yesterday :)
What's the upside
The usual workflow would be that you start with a container (usually of longer duration) that contain some base phrases. Then at a later point in the arrangement you want to introduce some variations. You can place these variations in a new container that overrides the base phrases without the need of deleting the base phrases and they will take over again once your variation container ends.
Your workflow approach is in priciple the other way around (starting with a series of short containers and then combine them). That's not my workflow and that's probably the reason why I was a bit confused. :)
Sun, 2024-03-10 - 23:37 Permalink
I'm still in the process of learning and trying to figure out my workflow(s).
I love the snippets, and Snippet Memories, and on their own I like having a Harmony Parameter often be present within a Snippet Memory.
Later though, after I have saved a realtime Snippet performance to hopefully be a starting point for a true composition, it is seeming to me that the editing implications of having Harmony parameters present in all those little containers may be negative wrt. further experimentation with and replacement of Harmony on the Structure side.
I'm sure I have more to understand. Possibly with repetition I can get faster at doing some kinds of edits that seem really slow and clunky to me now. Or, perhaps I will come up with suggestions that can be green-lighted for development for the sake of more efficient workflows for anyone.