Rick's b.log - entry 2024/02/18

Dude...

A blackbird is sitting in the tree singing along with it.

The song has changed to "Shadowmaker" by Apocalyptica. Blackbird has gone, not interested.

So the wildlife (from a sample of one) has given a chirp of approval to Therion...

Later: It has come back to enjoy "Vienna" by the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

I can just imagine it with its wings slightly out, bobbing its head to the beat. A long time ago I had a budgie that used to do that to Meatloaf. 🤘

SimpleSeq v0.23

• Numerous internal changes and bug fixes that I won't bore you by describing.
• After loading a voice map file, you'll get some status saying how many voices were loaded and if you wish you can list them. It's a simple text list so probably not overly useful, but it's there if you want it.
  
  Yamaha PSR-E333 instrument list.
• Created a new Program setup dialogue for things that don't belong in the music; for example the dark mode setting belongs as a part of the program, not each piece of music.
  
  Program setup.
• Playing music no longer has that status bar at the top of the screen, it's now a proper dialogue.
  
  Playing music.
• The input channel (for entering notes in the editor and transcribing) can be selected from all channels, channel 1 only (for sane keyboards like my Yamaha), channels 1-8 only (for gonzo keyboards like my Roland), or the current channel only (for specific controllers).
  The utility of the middle two (ch1 and ch1-8) is to allow music input without inadvertently picking up on whatever percussion may be playing at the same time if you're playing to a selected drum track/style.
• The drum channel (#10) now has a specific setup where you can directly give the Program Change and Bank Select values.
  
  Drum channel setup.
  Note that you specify the Program Change value, which is usually one less than is printed in most user guide instrument/voice/tone lists.
• Added new controller types: 91 Reverb, 92, Tremolo, 93, Chorus, 94 Detune, 95 Phaser.
  Which are supported depends upon your instrument, typically 91 (Reverb) and 93 (Chorus) are supported, refer to the MIDI implementation chart in your user guide.
• Added Program Change as a pseudo controller. This means it is possible to hijack a channel for the special effects present on one of the extended drum channels.
  This example uses the Bank Select LSB (0) and MSB (126) and Program Change (112) shown in red in the left column to set the channel to a set of special effects voices, so the following notes actually play "Yo, Get up! Yo! Get up!". This is a more advanced setting and will require you to know the Program Change and Bank Select values for your instrument. Note that SimpleSeq will behave as if the channel default voice was in use. Technically changing voice mid-channel isn't a supported action, but if you know what you're doing then you can. ☺
  
  Overriding the channel voice.
  Don't ask me. "Yo!", "Go!", "Get up!", "Whooow!", and various pitches of "Huuaah!" (the universal sound of constipation) are supplied within my instrument. <shrug>
• The two-octave Pitch Bend has been removed. What it was intended to do is much better handled using the octave shift.
• Added the ability to exchange (swap) two channels. It's called "Exchange" to justify using the keypress ^X.
• As a last minute addition, the voice selection menu is now available in the channel setup dialogue by clicking MENU over the instrument name in the selection choice. This seems to work okay for me, so please let me know if it doesn't for you.
  You can still press ^F6 to call it up directly because, well, sometimes that's just simpler.

Oh, and I updated the user guide too. Whoo!
It's been a busy rainy day.

Here's the update for you:

Here is the updated, now 28 page, user guide for SimpleSeq v0.23.

Your comments:

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David Pilling, 19th February 2024, 03:43

No midi, no musical talent, but I read the user guide, work of art.

Rick, 20th February 2024, 11:31

Thank you. It was your work of art that made it possible. ;)

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