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Modifying rhythm with Velocity, Rhythm and Shift parameters is easy. DAWs offer similar features, although Synfire is more flexible in that it allows for these parameters to be extracted, painted and stored separately and only later applied to a phrase (any phrase).
Altering rhythm, or even building it from scratch, with parameters Step and Length is more advanced (and extreme), so we wonder if anyone actually uses them.
Did you know you can copy/paste these from any phrase to another and see it magically transform?
Did you know you can record these from whatever you play on your keyboard? This way it is possible to tap-in the rhythm of a melody after it has been recorded, for example.
Well, my point is, these parameters are pretty abstract, so it isn't obvious to an unprepared musician what can be done with them. If Synfire had a Beginner's Mode, these would certainly be hidden from the user interface.
What have you done with these parameters so far?
Fr., 15.02.2019 - 05:52 Permalink
I've used them.
My biggest problem is that when I try to create original music, I jam around on the keyboard, playing different things and eventually I say "oh, that sounds good!" Only to realize later, "of course it sounds good. that song was very popular back in 1976."
Please do not take away our options to make new stuff out of old stuff. That's the reason we have a dongle dangling out the side of our laptops.
Fr., 15.02.2019 - 08:58 Permalink
I've used the Rhythm and Step parameters for imposing the rhythmic character of one phrase to another.
Be sure to watch my video on the topic of using the "implied" Step parameter. It's here:
Synfire Workflow - 3 examples of how to use the implied Step Parameter
Mo., 18.02.2019 - 22:02 Permalink
there is a way (which I can't remember at the moment) to kind of 'freeze' the instrument so the figure's timing visually matches the other parameters. Its something to do with extract from output or something like that. Personally I don't care what it looks like, only worry what it sounds like; but then I always end up with everything in a daw anyway and in there the notes have the played timing.
Di., 19.02.2019 - 11:55 Permalink
@RobertoD: The green Rhythm profile repeats every bar. That's why a single bar might look irregular. It's a template meant to be applied to a figure. It does not display a property of the figure.
If you extract Rhythm from a figure, Synfire condenses it to a single bar, so it can be re-used as a template.
If you extract Step from a figire, you'll get the very rhythm of that figure over the whole length.
Di., 19.02.2019 - 12:00 Permalink
Please do not take away our options to make new stuff out of old stuff.
No worries. Nobody wants to do that. We're just thinking about a beginner's mode for the user interface. Something less overwhelming and good for 80% of first-time users (until they discover how much more there is under the hood, that is).