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Turning Xequence drum map into grid keyboard?
I have a Xequence feature request, though it’s a different feature request than what I originally had in mind. I was originally going to ask that Xequence be given the ability to load other iOS keyboard apps (as AUv3 or however this would be done for a keyboard app) because I really like grid style “Linnstrument” keyboard layouts like GeoShred, ExpressionPad, and Velocity Keyboard and I would like to be able to use one in Xequence. (I don’t think Xequence currently has this ability.)
But then it occurred to me that the Xequence drum pad/map is already so close to being like the kind of grid style keyboard I want, that I thought maybe it could be altered to enable this kind of grid playing.
I have in mind a grid layout that rises up from one row to the next row by perfect fourths the way the Linnstrument and GeoShred do (akin to a guitar but without the major third). A perfect fifths layout is cool too but perfect fourths has become the de facto grid keyboard standard.
There may be other impediments to turning the Xequence drum map into this kind of grid keyboard, but it strikes me that one main impediment is that notes can only be used once on the Xequence drum pad map. I tried last night to change the notes on the drum map to make my own grid style keyboard layout, but I was met with this message that said: “Note already in use.” -
Would it be possible to change this? On a grid keyboard layout, notes occur multiple times (just as on a guitar) so in order to accommodate a grid keyboard, the Xequence drum map would have to be changed to allow multiple instances of the same notes. Hopefully there would not be any other impediments to implementing such a grid keyboard layout (?).
Comments
Hey,
thanks for the suggestion and detailed explanation.
This has indeed come up before, and if it were easy, I'd love to lift the "Note already in use" limitation so that "abusing" the drum pads as a keyboard would be possible.
However, currently there's a technical limitation that makes implementing this not straightforward (Xequence expects a one-to-one mapping from notes to drum pads. However, if multiple pads could be mapped to the same note, then this would be a one-to-many relationship.)
It is possible to change this, and I have this on the roadmap, but I can't say when / if it will be available.
Thank you for explaining it and letting me know. I’ll look forward to it at some point in the future, then.
What about my original idea of using other iOS keyboard apps in Xequence? I know that Xequence does not accept AUv3 yet, but would it be possible to connect a keyboard app using IAA? I assume it’s probably not possible since it’s called inter-app •audio•, but since IAA can also route MIDI, I thought I would ask.
Would there be another way to route MIDI into Xequence from an iOS grid keyboard app like GeoShred?
You already can send midi to xequence from an keyboard app such as kb-1 or velocity keyboard.
I did not know that. How do I open those apps from within Xequence? I could not figure out how to do that.
You can't open them from inside xequence.You asked "but would it be possible to connect a keyboard app using IAA? " Keyboard apps can be connected to Xequence, but they wouldn't be open inside of it.
I didn’t know there was any other way to do it. Outside of Xequence, I haven’t used IAA much. Do I just open the keyboard app and Xequence and play the keyboard app?
Xequence is a very old app and comes from the dark ages when MIDI still was simple 😉 (half joking) and there was no modern stuff like IAA and AUv3.
All You need to do is open Xequence, then open your keyboard app (just regular standalone from the home screen), then in your keyboard app's MIDI output settings, select "Xequence Destination". That's it.
Also make sure that in Xequence's settings, under "MIDI / Recording", "MIDI Input", "MIDI In" is enabled and under "Sources", "Xequence Destination" also is.
Excellent, thank you very much!
@LeftyChris . Note that, as described, this is not "IAA". It just uses a CoreMIDI Virtual port to connect two independent apps. Xequence creates the virtual port, and the keyboard app connects to it.
This app has/had so much promise. At one point, I was as excited about X as any other app.
Adding instruments and recording a simple phrase should be simple. It is not. It is unnecessarily convoluted.
Thanks -- I'm always open to suggestions how to improve the workflow (actually, Xequence 2.4 -- due to enter public beta soon -- is all about workflow!), so let me know your ideas!
Will see what I can do!
Minimally, it seems that Xequence will have to become at least a basic AU3 host. Few people are willing to “setup” routing
Or it could be a AU3 itself. Anything else seems to be wishful thinking at this point.
The thing is, people have been saying exactly this for years at this point
Minimally? Writing a reliable AUv3 host is a major undertaking.
Actually, the development version of Xequence is already a "minimal" AUv3 host -- but what exactly defines "minimal"? At the very least, you need:
1) a mixer
2) basic window management for the plug-ins
3) weeks of testing and fixing with all imaginable plug-ins
4) mixdown functionality
5) settings for sample-rate and latency
If you want to be able to do anything meaningful, you also need:
6) insert effects
7) sends
8) groups
etc...
(I've done all of the above already, but there's simply so much work involved in optimization and accounting for all possible edge-cases, plug-in bugs etc. that I've given up -- for now at least
)
.
I agree with this, but an AUv3 plugin version would be very very welcome by many.
@SevenSystems Xequence fanboy here. Thank you for this app and your continued development. (Hope your personal travails have settled somewhat)
Thanks for being a loyal fanboy! 😄 Personal travails going up and down, but I guess most people, except if rich, aren't doing totally amazing in these times.
I guess I wasn’t clear when I said basic. And I followed that up by saying it could be an AU3. So, yes.
Alternatively, could have provided a basic ensemble of instruments.
1 through 5 would be a hit! Again, to be clear, I think your design skills are extraordinary.
Also, please note that SevenSystems has done exactly that. See screenshot above
Thanks for this clarification. I’ve been doing music on computers for many years but only got into doing it on iOS in the last 2-3 years, so AUv3 and IAA are really all I know. Sometimes I forget how different things are on iOS. Most of the last couple years I’ve been using MultitrackStudio (after briefly using Auria, which endlessly crashed) and since MTS is on both computers and iOS, it blurred the distinction for me even more.
Ok, I have to ask: Who is Old Ross?
@SevenSystems
For what it’s worth, Xequence doesn’t feel like an old app to me. The MIDI editing feels (and looks) state of the art to me.
The only thing I did have a problem with when I began using Xequence was indeed what @audiobussy mentioned, adding instruments and recording a simple phrase. I found that unintuitive and complicated. But once I learned how to do that, I found most everything else to be quite intuitive.
😄 I've just gotten into the habit of "named" releases. I've decided to name them by random places I used to live / visit. (named releases seem to be all the rage in the past few years, for reasons I'm not entirely understanding.)
Thanks. Yes, I didn't mean "old" as in "obsolete", quite the opposite -- "old" mostly has a positive vibe to me, especially in times where most new stuff is somehow... odd 😄 (maybe I'm just getting old myself!)
Xequence's looks are definitely "old" though in a sense that they respect one of the most important rules of UI/UX design: Make actionable items look actionable. Something that Apple has boldly abandoned since iOS 7 and which I'll oppose with the last bit of mental energy I've left
(I'm not saying that buttons and other actionable items have to look like shiny exaggerated 80s style 3d bubbles... but a slight design hint at their actionabibility 🤣 is certainly required.)
As I said, I'm open to suggestions how to improve this (as in: How to subtly change the user interface or placement of options, etc.)
Super cool @SevenSystems Good luck with all of this. I can only imagine what a huge undertaking it is for you.
Looking forward to an IAP for this special mode of Xequence….or new version number. 👊🏼™️
Cheers