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I'm set to conquer Modstep once for all, but I may need a hand.
I've been dead set on finding the perfect midi sequencer.
On a side note, I love Korg Gadget workspace and sequencer, I think it's brilliant, but it does have some shortcomings and it's a walled garden. But I would be actually happy if I had the midi sequencing tools there avaliable to control other apps.
See, I am deeply invested in Lyra and Fabfilter on Auria and on Animoog and iVCS3, and while I do love the Animoog playing interface sometimes I want to sequence that as I would a synth in korg gadget.
So, some months ago I discovered Modstep and it seemed brilliant, it seemed that it could give me all the tools and even more with absolutely anything that I wanted. Seemed like a perfect midi sequencer, full of scales possibilities, custom chords, patterns, different clips, etc.
So, I read the modstep manual a bunch of times. (Doing my 3rd or 4th reread right now.)
Watched some videos. (There are surprisingly few)
Clicked on the interface help icon and read every button function.
And still, I can't work Modstep to save a life.
The interface confuses me a fair bit (and I am usually really good in getting acquainted with different interfaces), the settings seem to be straight forward but when I try to make something specific work I tend to hit some problem which usually kills all the creativity I had when I started working on it and I usually end up giving up on it.
Which is fairly weird because I feel like I am putting time discovering Modstep but I can't really see any progress. Making me feel like I should just find another alternative, but then, I see all the praise and I start to wonder the potential I'm missing and I start this process all over again.
Last night for example, I wanted to do some simple things:
- Put a Lyra (Auria) drum set on the modstep pads
- Make some custom chords with modstep and play some synths
- Start sequencing clips and patterns
I had a total breakdown on the first task and the second, and gave up on the third, because I had no musical flow whatsoever.
I got the Lyra drum to play on on the 6x6 grid on modstep, but the drum pad behaved weirdly.
I got no luck whatsoever in figuring out on how to start setting up the chords on modstep. Went back to the manual and saw that I may have to deal with the template manager to set up the chords.
So, my question to anyone who gets along with modstep is:
Is this right? Is modstep a high-demand high-reward platform?
How did you get acquainted with it? Are there good (free) reference material out there? Any good tutorials?
Because I'm one of those people who loves to read manuals, but in the modstep case I'm not having much luck.
Comments
I know what you mean I got it to control a drum machine DM1 but I could NOT figure out how to run more than one app. I loaded a second app animoog and I could not get it to make a sound. The interface is NOT user friendly. Its Not our fault trust me. I wish Jacob Haq would do a comprehensive tutorial for Modstep.
There's rumours of an update in the near future. MAybe better instructional material around then.
I have taken on ModStep as of 2 weeks myself. I'm loving it (so far...knock on wood etc...).
I am keeping it quite simple though, on purpose, as I am working on a workflow idea/setup of mine that I need to finish off before I can decide properly if it is good...or not. To be honest I don't actually NEED to change the workflow I had gotten in to (basically using Auria Pro fully, which I also love), so for me this has been mainly a technical challenge of "is it possible to..." because I'm a curious bastard.
My workflow idea is all about ModStep/AUM/LP-5 (though I am looking at Loopy and wondering if I should make friends with it once and for all) with the added resources of Cream (which I'm also learning) and midiLFOs (which I already love and have used for a while). I have not tried to play Lyra drums via ModStep (as I fail to see that as a great addition for my workflow idea). I have had no problems at all setting up chords in the template section, nor do I have problems with sequencing patterns and things, so I am not sure on what part you are actually struggling, within the workflow of the app.
I can say though that some of the things that I think should work in one way, actually works in the totally opposite was when I try to do things. That is more about habit vs perception, so that I can learn.
Recommending: Group The Loop AND Loopersonic (BOTH AMAZING APPS THAT I LOVE) for looping
SYNTH: DRC is about to have update to fix initial launch bugs and issues. I think this synth is best thing in a long time since NAVE, NLOG, or ISEM.
Here I am on MODSTEP.
I think AUX with MIDI-LFO, and GENOME may be all I need.
I like Genome because it is easy for live performances or even in studio experimentation without getting to fiddly. You can draw almost anything or record orig synth knobs movement with Genome automation type response.
Thats just me
This is a pretty good starting tutorial.
http://modstep.net/new-tutorial-video-on-the-synth-and-new-templates/
Thank you all for the replies.
Right?
It looks intuitive but doesn't feel intuitive while trying to accomplish things, at least in the beginning of the learning curve.
Yeah, I also get that vibe. I just spent some hours with it and I got the hang of the chord section more or less. It does work weirdly.
It does behave oddly sometimes, for example, the pattern speed thing I kept thinking it was a toggle, like I would have to select the pattern and then set the speed it works, but it's actually a property button, so you have to click the speed you want and while the button flashes you have to click the pattern, and then you "paint" the pattern with the desired speed.
Thing is.. you basically have to guess the UX until it works.
I also have two major problems understanding some crucial things, like I have no idea how to break out of the 4/4 signature and step on a 3/4 signature for example.
I'm used to set that on the "BPM" or "Tempo" section of an app, but modstep has no signature option that I can find.
I searched for it on the interface, on google and on the manual and I can't really make sense of it.
Another thing is the size of the grid on the piano roll.
Sometimes I want really small steps that I can sequence and I can't find an option to change the resolution of the piano roll/sequencer grid.
Those are two very important things to be able to operate while composing for me and I have no idea where to look for them.
Also, as a minor point, I love the idea of that BPM-Recorder (the tape icon) that supposedly can record the whole session in loopeable chunks, but when I try to record Auria for example the records are completely blank.
Is it because it only records the built in synth and samples?
I thought that it would record inter-app audio, that would make it useful to me, since I don't plan on using the built in synth or sampler.
If anyone can shed a light on those issues it may start to clear up things in my head a bit.
Once you understand a bit of the patterns it really looks like a good midi sequencer.
Thanks again.
Think I'll join this train with you. I know ModStep does most of what I want but whenever I try I think I run into 'some of the things that I think should work in one way, actually works in the totally opposite was when I try to do things.' And I definitely feeling the 'kicked whatever creative spark I had going on in the stones' thing when trying to figure something out. Reading your post gave me an idea: I'm going to try to cover a song instead. Then it can take as long as it needs.
Incredible idea, the cover one.
If you don't oppose, it would be great if we could share some knowledge. If you have any questions, please, shoot them here so I can see if I have an answer.
For example, I think I just came to the conclusion that you have to do some makeshift to break out of the 4/4. You have to manually set an extra bar to do a 5/4. Which is a bit disappointing, since I won't for the love of all that is holly be taking the time to keep plugging and taking bars of patterns counting the tempo manually. That would be even dangerous since I archive some pieces and get back to them much later and I feel I wouldn't even make sense of it after some time. So Modstep ends up being only useful in 4/4 pieces for me.
Still trying to figure out the piano-roll/sequencer grid size so I can have smaller note steps. I can't increase nor decrease the default grid step.
I'm also probably trying Genome. It looks a bit more straight forward.
To change grid size you pinch the scroll bar to the left of the grid. That should do it.
It's definitely an awkward gesture for me. Depending on how the iPad is angled I guess. Would be great if you could put the first finger on the bar and then allow the second finger to be anywhere and, based on the angle I guess, have the app just figure out if you meant horizontal or vertical zoom.
On that note, just noticed the chase button in the piano roll. Turn chase off if you want to keep your custom zoom while the track plays. Huzzah! I get that they're different 16 step sequences but man I wish it would chase and keep whatever zoom I have.
Elsewhere in the must...conquer...Mod Step...files... spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how to control a track from my hardware MIDI controller! Couldn't find anything in the manual about it. Even tried going via MIDIFlow. Finally stumbled across the ARM button in the session view. Is that the only way to make an external MIDI input pass through to a given track's destination?
An example of the unintuitive parts of Mod Step, to me anyway, is internal instrument presets. You get a big list but tapping them does nothing. There's no load button. And, importantly, there's no indication that you need to drag and drop it. Drag and drop is just not a common UI paradigm on iOS so it's not one of those things I quickly think to try like swipe or long press (think I found it by trying one of those!). Then, you can't drop it onto the preset name (how you opened the preset list to begin with) and you can't drop it onto either of the sound controls areas (the part that's actually changing!). Instead you drop it on keys/drum area? Wha? Maybe it's just me but it's hard to imagine lots of other people not also being befuddled by this.
Anyway, starting to get more comfortable with it and even enjoying it some! Not quitting yet. How's it going for you @Retzilience?
I thought I'm the only one who finds the interface/usability frustrating. I was more often fiddling around with the interface than making music with modstep. A lot of things don't work like I think intuitive. The midi editor is a pain. Deleting and moving around notes is awkward. No snapping. A lot of weird things happen and there is no UNDO. (I would love a Undo button like in gadget that one can use while recording to just replay a part really quick without hassle)
I often can't get midi in apps to work with modstep. Already wrote the support and they replied really quick. But I actually did it they way they described it but it did't work with Musix Pro/Chordion and Soundprism. After rebooting and trying different app start orders it worked with Soundprism but not with the other two.
Sadly there are no Chord presets so you have to set them up for every key/scale.
The sampler. You can't copy pads. If you played a sequence with the pads you can't edit the score in the melodic midi editor because they only appear in the drum midi editor. But there you can't stretch the notes.
The big thing I can't get behind is the relation drum editor and stepsequencer. The shown score in the stepsequncer doesn't relate to the midi score.
Anyone could get the X/Y Pad to work with two parameters? No matter which parameters I put in those x/y slots just the one I tapped last will be controlled. Even that both are highlighted.
Does anyone experience a panning to the right with the modstep internal recording module?
While using Synthmaster or Sampletank the panning is on point but the recorded audio clip got a panning to the right.
I get the feeling that this is going to be an interesting conversation for me to keep an eye on. Thanks. I took the plunge with getting Modstep earlier today, and literally in my first 5 minutes I fell a little foul of that presets thing: tried double-clicking, tried long-pressing, realized that I needed to drag the preset somewhere but got entranced by how to dragging thing kept getting in the way of the gesture to scroll through the presets list. Interesting. It's going to be quite a ride!
To get higher resolution use the speed function like at 1x you get 4 beats but if you run it at 2x you get 2 beats but twice the resolution
and the other way around if you do it 4x slower you get 4 bars on those 16 steps, sheers
my experiences are much like yours with Modstep - especially with the drum seq./step sequencer relationship. Sometimes I think I've figured it out, but then it seems to do something unexpected. Last night i tried playing again - I had one note playing in the sequencer piano roll - a few times the note played 2 octaves higher than what it should. I hit the stop button and start playing again and it works. Strange little things like that happen too much. Also had no success loading Beathawk and some other synth I can't remember failed too - finally got Sunrizer working. But I still holdout hope that things will come together - maybe next update. There's a ton of power in Modstep for sure and I think it's a good app still.
If you had $ for only one would it modstep or gadget?
Depends, I really like gadget but I am using it much less now than before, like everything in gadget "sounds the same " it does have to be bad gadget sounds good, but I have so many iOS music apps that I want to use and Modstep lets me. Though question
I'd vote Gadget for sure
As modstep is right now, I'd go for Korg Gadget for sure.
Modstep is closer to the idea of producing professional pieces and working inside your flow but Korg Gadget is a brilliant sketchpad that in real terms end up producing a lot more results for me.
Glad I'm not alone with feeling a bit lost with Modstep. I bought it on a recommendation and instantly felt like I'd made a mistake.
Of course, now I've kind of gotten the hang of it - I have gadget and a few other apps all playing nicely and in time but it's just still not what I'm after. Great if I want to play about with a few loops playing at the same time but without a pattern sequencer it's pretty much useless to me. The closest to what I want is actually Beatmaker 2, as you can create MIDI channels with no instruments and just use it as a MIDI sequencer and arranger. It'd be perfect if it had realtime swing but afaik it doesn't. And so my search continues. A lot of the MIDI sequencers out there seem to focus on the clip launching + scenes thing. And it's like...all I want to do is arrange.
Not being harsh on Modstep btw. I'm sure it's great for people that work that way (once you can figure it out). But yeah, I dunno. Seems loads of apps have things I love but just not in the same place!
Gadget - no brainer in my opinion...
I would also respectfully disagree that everything made in Gadget has to sound the same - although I agree that if you don't push the different synths away from their presets and explore the hidden depths then you'll get similar sounding tracks. Same goes for the London drum kits.
I also agree a big appeal of ModStep is that it lets you tap into other synths/apps - in a nice clip based way.
My idea at the moment is if i can get a workflow going where I can use Modstep to drive, say 6 or so Gadget gadgets (with the new multi track midi-in in Gadget) for the bread and butter of my track and combine with maybe 1 or 2 'icing on top' synths (Animoog or Mersenne are my favourites right now). The fact that both Modstep and Gadget have LINK is great. So it means I can jam midi from Modstep and build up a sketch of a track - then start to record that midi into Gadget's own piano roll bit by bit - slowly building up the main track in Gadget. But then, I guess have the external synth parts (Animoog and Mersenne) recorded separately and finally combine it all together as stems in Auria.
Not done this so far - but the theory seems ok...
The other big plus for ModStep I think is for playing live. I think ModStep + Gadget + maybe one other synth would be amazing for that. I wouldn't push it more than that because of all the issues above, the set-up time with different apps etc. etc...
(Not that i've every played live to an audience - but one can dream
)
I've been learning the ropes with Modstep, but all very aimple stuff, using the multi-inputs in Thumbjam to throw together simple four-track stuff. One thing I really like though is the chord template feature, it's like having ChordPolyPad tucked inside Modstep, very nice for one such as myself who can't play chords with human fingers.
I'm sure if I get adventurous and try to wedge in multiple apps, I'll become unenthused real fast, but so far, in the limited capacity that I'm using it, it's very good, like Genome but with a better 'feel.'
Yeah agree, what you could do instead of recording into gadget would be to just record all audio in Modstep and use those stems in Auria just a thought to skip one step although all gadgets would be mixed into onestem, but recording other apps in Modstep is blis, perfect loops all the time awesome
I just emailed the Modstep folks and directed them to this thread.
So does Modstep finally allow you to play back midi drum loops?
If by "pattern sequencer" you mean playing clips in sequence, Modstep has some pretty deep ways of doing this.
Each track can have multiple clips, and each clip can have up to 16 different patterns. In session view you can trigger individual clips, or trigger a whole "scene" (a row of clips for all tracks in your project). Lot of possibilities there. Once you have all your clips and patterns set up you could trigger an entire song arrangement live while recording up to 8 channels of audio live in a DAW like Cubasis or Auria. Sequencing in Gadget works similarly via a session type view. But in a sense, pattern sequencing in Modstep is deeper, because you only get one "pattern" per "clip" in gadget, not 16.
Having said that, so is there a way to pre program which patterns in those 16 patterns play first, second etc...? Per track?
So say I have a drum track with many midi patterns, I would like for them to play in a certain order can this be possible? Rearranging the order is that also possible?
@ecamburn said:
I heartily encourage all of you to email Modstep at [email protected] and request a more thorough manual/tutorials. The day that happens is the day I buy.
They should ask that Haq guy to write a new manual, he'd probably do it for free.
Not via clips but you could do this via patterns within a clip though it'd be limited to 16 one measure drum loops. Patterns within a clip do play sequentially. Let's say you have 4 one-measure drum loops and you want the tune to go AABB AABC DDDD AABC. You can set those up as individual patterns within a clip. When you launch that clip, you'll hear those 16 measures in a row.
I haven't really messed with it but you might also be able to fake it so that you get a little more out of a single clip by setting the clock resolution lower. So, if you set the clip's clock to 1/2, you'd get 32 bars out of a single clip. I'm not sure if ModStep works like other sequencers in this mode where halving the clock also means halving the resolution. If so, the resolution of your drum patterns would determine if this would work or not.
Jakob is pro now.. He gets paid to do stuff. But he's an excellent teacher. Boy would I love to see him to some tutorials on that.