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Now there's a handy hint... thanks
Wim (or anyone else), I wonder if you could quickly summarize why, if you were going to incorporate LK for this, you wouldn't just use LK entirely rather than Atom2?
I took a break from iOS music for a while, and just coming back to it now. The 2 newer options for sequencing that look interesting to me are LK and Atom2, so I'm just curious at a high level what advantages one has over the other (in an iPad-only pattern sequencing scenario), assuming for example I'm using AUM to host the instruments.
Woah, I thought this thread was for dummies? I guess we're not allowed a thread of our own.
I enjoy Atom 1, it's easy and fun but missing a few critical features. Atom 2 appears to be no fun stress and still seems to be missing critical features. Or maybe not?
If I don't use Ableton or Launchpad and don't use clip launching should I even be looking into Atom 2?
Is there MIDI import/export and cc automation?
Yes.
Yes, recordable but not editable.
Thanks for the clear information.
Sure thing. Even if you don’t want to dive deep into the new features, Atom 2 will still feel familiar to Atom 1 users. In short, it's just as easy as before to do the easy things, and it's now also possible to do complicated things.
The best answer I can give is if you're happy with LK then there's no reason to add Atom 2 to the party. I was more saying that if you're heavily into Atom 2 and you want to trigger a bunch of Atom 2 patterns in a more compact/visual way, LK is one option to do that.
There are a lot of differences between the two but at the end of the day they both sequence midi and launch clips. There's more overlap than differences, but some of those differences would be more critical to some than others. A few things that stand out for me are, LK has automation editing while Atom 2 doesn't yet. Atom 2 supports time signatures other than 4/4 while
Sorry for the vague answer. They're both great. Neither is terribly expensive. Preference will ultimately come down to personal taste and/or some advanced feature of one or the other that you find important.
Okay, I think I'll give it a try.
Thanks Wim!
Atom 2 looks great, but I just remembered I paid for the unlocks in LK during a previous sale, so I might as well start digging into that for now and see if it works for me
I'm still interested in giving Atom 2 a try sometime down line though.
Totally
So, with my new Launchpad Pro MK3, a week or so ago, I remember using it to control the GeoShred GeoSWAM tenor sax, and was able to record it with Atom. (I'm on the beta)
Today, I cannot get it to work to save my life! I've tried using all midi channels except for channel 1, but still no joy. I'm getting the Geoshred popup message:
What am I forgetting? Strangely enough, the SWAM Brass instruments all work perfectly with the Launchpad and Atom. Atom records everything (notes and velocities from the LPP) including all of the expressions.
I don't think that I dreamt about it!
EDIT: never mind, the latest update to Atom made it much easier for me to understand how to layer the midi in separate midi outputs.
Can someone explain the concept of MPE and how to use it/set it up in Atom?
If I understand it correctly, I can create different “layers” if midi in one instance of Atom and then route them to different instruments by applying them to different midi out channels? Or am I getting it completely wrong?
For my workflow, I would like to have e.g. an instance of Atom called MAIN DRUM and then program 8 different patterns with variants of the same main beat, routed to an instance of DigiStix . Let’s say I want to add some percussion to pattern 5 and 6 and I want this to be routed to an instance of BeatHawk.
Can I then use MPE to route some of the midi to Digistix and some to BeatHawk? If, yea, how is it practically done within Atom?
MPE is protocol for using multiple channels to transmit notes and controller events to an MPE-cabable synth so that they can do per-note pitchbend, and parameter control. With MPE, you send all of the clip's output to your MPE device. Currently, Atom can record a performance from an MPE controller and send it to an MPE-device but the controller information can't be edited (CC/automation editing is coming in a future update).
You asked: " Can I then use MPE to route some of the midi to Digistix and some to BeatHawk? If, yea, how is it practically done within Atom?"
What you are describing isn't MPE. Atom can do what you said -- and it isn't MPE.
I would recommend doing some research on the web about "what is MPE" if what I just wrote doesn't make sense to you. There are a lot of articles describing it.
There is much discussion on the main Atom thread about how to record MIDi for separate channels that you want to route to different synths. If you haven't looked at the recent posts there, they may answer your question.
I scan the frequent Atom release notes for the word random, bit no hits so far. Did I miss something?
This feature is not off the table, but there’s so many incredible generative and randomization AUs out there, to me it makes little sense prioritizing work on them any time soon. I’d also like to encourage more diversity in this ecosystem rather than monolithic apps that try to do everything, so even if I do end up implementing some randomization features, I’d try to make them different from the current offerings from all of the other developers.
i think that at least something like ‘mutate (or shuffle notes) in scale’ is quite in sync with atom’s philosophy of small pattern variations and quite cumbersome to achieve by adding other apps to atom’s signal glow.
>
Thanks for taking the time to explain this. I’m not sure I totally get it, but that’s to do with my brain working overtime trying to understand these things, not anything to do with your explanation.
Anyway, I understand the new update with the separate channel layers, and this helps me with what I want to do. So, I’m a happy iPad musician! 😃
MPE stands for "MIDI Polyphonic Expression". When you send MIDI, such as pitch-bend, to a non MPE synth, it affects every note playing at the time. If you're playing a chord, all notes of the chord bend. An MPE capable synth can apply something like pitch bend in different amounts to each note of a chord playing.
MIDI wasn't really originally designed for this kind of expression. MPE is a bit of a hack introduced later. To send expression per-note, MPE uses multiple channels. If you play a chord, those notes and any associated expression sent by the controller for that note are sent each on it's own channel. The MPE synth understands this and knows how to then apply that expression to the right notes.
So, what you end up with is a stream of notes and expression coming in on several channels. Atom can record this multi-channel input and then play it back as recorded. If you recorded MPE input, you could see the notes displayed in different colors by their channel. The results would be confusing. The same note could come in on one channel one time and another channel another because of the way MPE allocates channels.
If you're with me so far, then I'll make a distinction between MPE and non-MPE use of multiple channels in Atom2. Atom lets you place notes in the piano roll with any channel. You can use this to combine parts for multiple synths in one instance. For instance, you could put a kick on channel 1, snare on 2, hats on 3, then use the host route those channels to three different drum apps if you wanted. This has nothing to do with MPE, it's just a way of adding flexibility without having to have a separate instance for each.
I hope that makes helps.
Hi all GREAT discussion here. Super quick- does anyone know if ATOM2 can send a pattern or a clip within a single instance to a separate MIDI channel? I have been trying to set up two patterns within the SAME instance of ATOM send on separate MIDI channels to different AU’s in AUM. Whenever I change the channel on one pattern it also is changes the pattern for them other. The same is true for the Output selector. Even though each Pattern has it’s own unique Clip name, the output seems to be the same 1-16 for both patterns within a single instance of ATOM2.
It’s not that big of a deal really, I know I can simply add another instance of ATOM2 and load more clips and patterns and just direct the MIDI to another AU in AUM, that’s the way I’m already doing it. But it it sure would be cool to do all this within a SINGLE instance of ATOM2. It seems SO close to being possible. I feel like it is and I just haven’t figured it out yet. GREAT software LOVE ATOM2. SO many possibilities. Mind Blown
You can do what you want but maybe not how you were expecting it to work. You need to create the pattern(s) on the desired channels. Here’s a quick and dirty video showing the basics. The first pattern is created on channel 1 and the second channel is created on channel 2. Hope it helps a little.
It is now possible. You can have notes on multiple channels within a single pattern. You can either record them in from external on a different channel, or you can select which channel to use with the pencil tool to draw notes in, or you can select notes, cut them to the clipboard, then paste them to a different channel. Channel of each note can be shown as text and/or distinguished by color.
The features and options are extensive and not quite yet available in the manual, but are described in the later parts of the mega Atom 2 thread. Feel free to ask questions here though.
I have a Launchpad Mini mk3 (and other assignable MIDI gear). I'd love to be able to push buttons to focus & open the Atom2 instance for a given pad. Is there any feasible way to do this? It's amazing to be able to press Launchpad Mini buttons for triggering, stopping, muting clips, but the clip editing experience is jarring (to have to hunt for the correct instance on the iPad).
The only solutions I can think of require a custom mapping of the buttons to opening instances of Atom2 via manual mapping in Aum, but that basically requires giving up the live-updating as well as pagination.
Maybe the answer now is to use a single instance? If so it'd be great to have clip focus via Launchpad Mini from within the single multi-track Atom2.
GREAT thanks ALL. I will give this a shot. @xor I see what you are saying and thanks for the video. And yes, it doesn’t quite work like I need it to. I want to send both patterns simultaneously to separate MIDI channels. Looks like we have to use separate instances for this. No problem. I’ll keep working with it. The iPAD version look a bit different in the output section than the iPhone version as well. Thanks again for taking the time. More exploration is needed. Aloha
Oh, you can include multiple channels inside a single pattern to drive multiple instruments as long as you don’t mind them being inexorably tied together.
OK! VERY COOL. I’m struggling a bit with the channel routings. I’m taking in all of this and will keep at it. What a powerful program. I SO wish the manual were more deep on this app. It can do so much. At this point I’m still stuck on right where I was in the beginning. Every time I switch the channel for a pattern no matter how many patterns I have in the grid they all use the same channel. So frustrating. Thank AGAIN to all. Sorry for the bother.
To have multiple channels in a single pattern, you don't select the channel for the pattern. You select the channel for the notes.
Start by enabling the MIDI Channel Colors style (how to select styles is in the manual). This will make it easier to see what's going on. Now try long-pressing the pencil tool and play around entering notes on different channels to get a feel for that much. Be sure that "MPE Multi Channel Mode" is enabled (the default). Note also the Show and Lock buttons for each channel. This is super useful for reducing confusion and to prevent inadvertent editing.
Next is how to change notes from one channel to another. That's a little less straightforward. Credit to @MisplacedDevelopment for the steps below:
One thing to look out for is whether you are editing multiple channels or a single channel. I would lock all channels to start with then unlock the one I’m working on. If there is a single channel number without a plus in the top left then you should be good to go. Here is how I can copy a single note between channels:
That's it for note-entry and editing. If you have multiple channel input incoming from a controller or other app, the notes will appear on the channels that they're on when recorded. Be sure to check that you have those channels both unlocked and displayed, or notes will either not record or not display accordingly.
I hope that helps. It's a powerful feature so learning to use it has a bit of a learning curve.
Please be patient regarding the manual. The manual is very thorough for what it covers. It just doesn't cover all the new features yet. @blueveek can code faster than any mere mortal can keep up with for documentation.
@wim Man… thanks so much for your incredibly detailed response, it was a huge help. Everything is finally working great as per those instructions. And also a huge mahalo to @MisplacedDevelopment for the detailed step-by-step. This is a very powerful new feature and I am really stoked to finally have it working. This is exactly what I needed it to do. Unfortunately in the end, the main issue was that I needed to update to the latest version. I simply couldn’t find (because I didn’t have) the options for locking and unlocking channels and could not figure I out why. In a last ditch effort, in the off-chance there was an update, I checked the App Store and sure enough, there was. Post-DAW iOS is only going to get better and better, and this app is a real game changer. The manual is a huge undertaking I completely understand and look forward to it in future updates. Many thanks once again and Aloha.
Aloha Bro! Glad it helped!
Plz answer me these questions three..
What are some nice ways to sequence pattern changes in Atom2?
I’ll also be running a drum machine next to it that I want to change patterns for, and a pattern or two in Stepbud. Where do I sequence it all from to make songs?
(: Cheers
Configure the patterns to change by notes and set up another atom to send notes to it. By default the lowest C selects paths first pattern, C# the next, …
I assume the drum machine uses real midi pc messages? I’d send notes from atom to a mozaic or streambyter script that changes notes to pc messages.
Umm, I wouldn’t. Atom and the “Bud” apps have a different understanding of timing. You’ll never get one to control the other reliably. Atom sends out midi events with the correct time offset with respect to the current audio frame. StepBud sends out events ay the beginning of the next audio frame after the beat, bar, whatever. (I’ve read that Helium has this same behavior.). So Atom will make Bud early and Bud will make Atom late. I would record my StepBud patterns into Atom and go from there.
I’d try to do it in one or more Atom instances.
Here’s a quick video I did a while ago showing how to set one atom up to control another.