Button Module similar to Macro
in progress
Nikolozi
Some interesting ideas from @Samu:
> The Macro module is nice, but equally nice would be a simple ‘button module' with on/off/latch mode that could control multiple modules?
> A '3 Knob Macro Module’ could also be quite handy? (Think using the 3 knobs as values in a calculation and the result of the calculation is the value that gets sent to the target, the values of the 3 knobs could be added, subtracted and multiplied etc.).
> This would be like a ‘modulation mixer’ enabling pretty weird modulation output.
> I can’t drop the thought of passing a modulation source (LFO, StepSequencer etc.) thru a filter/decimator/shaper etc. before it reaches its destination, call it total 'Drambo Damage’ but that’s how my brain rolls.
> The Note Event module is pretty nice and when you get a ‘note/gate/value sequencer’ in place things will start cooking.
> (This is were the ‘modulation mixer’ could come in handy, note/gate sequencer is one source, then you add another source such as midi-note to transpose the output and a 3rd one to add a random factor to it).
Nikolozi
Shipped as part of v5.3 update. But leaving the issue open until the module graduates from The Mela Lab.
Nikolozi
Build 251:
- The Macro Button module's Macro button now also has a title-label menu, making it easier to edit its modulation.
- Macro Button module's Macro button and Note Event module's Event button now trigger on touch rather than release.
- Additionally, toggling between the previous and new states can be done by sliding the finger in and out of the button area.
- These changes allow more performance-oriented usage of these buttons.
Nikolozi
in progress
Build 250 has a new Mela Lab module called Macro Button:
- It's a Mela Lab module.
- It's a modulator module similar to the Macro module but uses a toggle button instead of a slider.
- The toggle button is linked to the Macro parameter.
- When the toggle is off, the modulator signal is at 0%, and when it's on, it jumps to 100%.
- Transition between these binary states can be smoothed by adjusting the Smoothing parameter.
Nikolozi
Also, the '3 Knob Macro Module’ suggestion is also available for testing, check out https://mela-feedback.nikolozi.com/feature-requests/p/mela-lab-module-multiply-add
Jon Diercks
Nikolozi I like it... Can you add an option to make the button a momentary switch instead of a toggle? For things like triggers, sustain pedal simulator, etc.
Nikolozi
Jon Diercks In the latest build (251), if you touch and slide the finger out it will release straight away. The button can be used 3 ways:
- Toggle button
- Push/momentary button
- Lets you slide your finger back and forth to let you keep toggling
Jon Diercks
Nikolozi yeah I get that, and I can see how that would be useful, but it also seems desirable to have an option for a button that triggers quickly and briefly on a single tap - for example if triggering the new one-shot LFO in a rhythmic pattern. I wouldn't want to have to slide off on each hit. Not a huge deal, there's plenty of other ways to approach it, such as the on-screen keyboard, or a separate drum pad app like KB-1. But I like the idea of having a compact single button that I can drop anywhere in the Mela UI for that purpose.
related: I'm noticing that the Macro Button module does not show up in the +add menu in Instrument lanes, only MIDI and Audio.
Nikolozi
Jon Diercks just so there's no confusion in terminology by a "single tap" I'm assuming you mean the event occurs on touch, correct? Otherwise, a tap gesture is defined as the event being triggered on touch release.
Just to be clear, the event is not triggered on slide off, on slide off the button is put back to the previous state as before it was touched. The event is triggered instantly on touch. Oh, I think I know what you mean, by one-shot rhythmic pattern you want to keep tapping rhythmically. With this mode, you can slide the finger back and forth rhythmically.
With this approach, I wanted to introduce a button behaviour throughout Mela so that users could know intuitively that it could be treated in one of the 3 ways I described previously. Without needing to go into different modes. Modes switching requires more UI and complicates the interface. For example, the Note Event module's button also now behaves this way.
But anyway, I understand your use case and I'll have to think about what approach I can take. So, just to re-iterate your requirement is that you can keep tapping on it rhythmically?
Regarding not appearing on Instrument lanes is because unlike the Macro (slider) the Macro Button module doesn't support polyphony. Monophonic modulators can only be inserted on Audio and/or MIDI. Envelope Follower is another example.
Jon Diercks
Nikolozi yes you understand my intent correctly.
I understand the desire to keep UI behavior simple and consistent. Maybe another way to approach it would be to have two different modules: "Macro Button Toggle" and "Macro Button Momentary", or Trigger, or Tap, or Pad(s), or whatever makes the most sense.
Jon Diercks
That's an interesting distinction between Touch (trigger on contact) and Tap (trigger on release). I've never heard the terms paired and distinguished that way, is it an iOS/Swift thing?
And yes, by that definition I'm referring to how the button responds to initial Touch. I would want a button that triggers a modulation "on" at initial Touch and returns to "off" on release, regardless of whether it's a direct Tap-style release or a slide-off gesture.
And again, all of this is just a "nice to have" idea, as equivalent results can easily be achieved with external apps or hardware, or even with Mela's own on-screen keyboard, if there's a note that I don't plan to use for anything else.
Nikolozi
Jon Diercks Rather than having a separate module I'd rather add a mode.
> That's an interesting distinction between Touch (trigger on contact) and Tap (trigger on release). I've never heard the terms paired and distinguished that way, is it an iOS/Swift thing?
It's an iOS thing, and probably any smartphone / tablet thing. Take a UI element, like launching an app, you will notice the app launches after you release your finger, on touch it simply highlights (or shows the menu). It's not too dissimilar to clicking with a mouse on a webpage, the page navigates to the link after a release. And probably one the reasons why it works the way does on a touch screen is because of needing to support multiple gestures, the only way the system can know you don't mean a long press gesture is if you release quickly enough because the system can know that you meant a tap.
But in music, most of the time we want the event to occur on button touch.
Good to know your requirements. I'll think about it. I will leave the module in Mela Lab for now, so we can keep tweaking it.