Replace/Overdub record mode w/ footswitch punch in/out

[bgParticipant]

Ok so, this one is probably gonna be not possible, but I’ll go ahead and describe what I wish I could do with the Zaquencer just in case. So imagine you’ve got an external midi keyboard plugged into the zaquencer as well as a footswitch. You press play and an empty sequence plays – no notes yet. You can play your midi keyboard and hear what you are playing in real time, but nothing is yet being recorded.

After figuring out what you want to record, you punch-in with the footswitch – as soon as you press the pedal, your playing starts being recorded (monophonic, no note length of course). If we have “Replace mode” enabled, as the sequence loops over while you are still recording, any notes already recorded will be erased/replaced by what is being played at the current moment. If “overdub mode” is enabled, as the sequence repeats, notes played will be recorded in addition to the notes already recorded to that sequence. (overdub mode would introduce the problem of what happens if you play one note exactly on top of a previous note in a chord track – since it seems we are limited to monophonic, i suppose in this case the new one would just have to replace the old one)

Sorry Christian if this is way out of the bounds of what’s possible with the Zaquencer project, it just struck me as something that would be a great complement to the step-sequencing the zaquencer already excels at.

[ChristianKeymaster]

Thanks for the detailed usecase description!
The way I see it this would be covered by two other feature requests that have been popping up every now and then. The one being monitoring in tap write mode and the other being a more flexible midi remote control functionality (to attach a floor board to trigger certain functions). That way you would have dedicated foot switches for enabling/disabling tap write and could also monitor your note input while it´s not recording.

You´ve already said it, overdub mode would probably not make much sense as a separate mode because of the monophonic nature. Also, as always it could only hold one note per step, so even adding these functions it would most likely not replace a full fledged midi recorder.

[bgParticipant]

Cool, the FR’s you described sound like they’d be great. If they were implemented, would overdub mode be possible at least in drum mode? since each note-step is on one of sixteen subtracks? that would allow the user to say, play a tricky hi-hat pattern against a kick-snare beat already in the pattern. My thinking was that overdub might also be of use in chord mode, even though its monophonic, since it would allow for example the user to program in multiple passes a funky, syncopated bassline which would be difficult or impossible to play in a single pass. Would that functionality be feasible? As always, thanks for everything!

[ChristianKeymaster]

Oh sorry, I guess I wasn´t so clear. The way it works now is basically overdub mode. It doesn´t erase anything unless there is a new note coming in. To erase a step you have to hold tap delete while it´s playing. What you ask for drum mode is already possible, to record the individual drum instruments in multiple passes. The only thing is that while recording, the notes are always quantized to the step raster. You can apply note delay afterwards though.

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