Randomising single Parameters/Notes

[k3m4]

Hey Folks,
I got a Beatstep Pro a couple of days and I love it! I was just wondering if there's any way to only randomise a single note in the Drum Rack (e.g. the hihats) or to just randomise the Velocity/Swing?
Cheersio!

[megamarkd]

No, all drum notes are affected by random, so you can't use it to set random for hithats and not have it affect the kick drum.  It's a bit of a shame really as random kick really can make things messy at times.

[k3m4]

it sure is mate!
Thanks anyways

[Avon]

Just thinking out loud...
Don’t know how yer using your BSP (you might be using the MIDI output for the drum section for all I know) but what if you’d use one sequencer for the hats and constrict randomness to that sequencer and program kicks, snare and such on another sequencer?

[Avon]

Put my theory to the test and it works, somewhat:
Hats on sequencer 2
Kicks, snare etc. on drum sequencer.

I tested it on a drumcomputer via midi.

When randomizer/probability is set on sequencer 2 only using hihat closed (midinote 42 / F#2) and hihat open (midinote 46 / A#2) used in the sequencer it randomizes the sequence, giving variaty to the opening and closing as well as triggering of the hats.

However, during randomizing somehow midinote 60 / C4 also gets triggered, though not as frequently and seemingly on a fixed position while I’ve not used it in the sequence at all. I honestly would like to know why, and why specifically midinote number 60 is being triggered, I can’t see the logic 

Apart from that it works fine.

[megamarkd]

Yeah I've run kick using a VolcaKick and then the rest on BSP in the past to get around random making messy kicks, works okay except the VKick only has a 16 step sequence so requires chaining for doing 4 bar rounds.

Dunno what is up with your SEQ2 random triggering MIDI note 60 in such a constant manner.  To tell the truth I don't use random that often.  Have you looked at what you have random set to in MCC (like is it set to random octave)?

[Avon]

I solely used the BSP sequencer, both sequencer 2 and the drum sequencer, sending data to the same channel.

Cheers for the tip, I’ll check out random settings in MCC, it’s all new to me, just got started with the BSP

I’m getting to understand why you don’t use random often the way it’s used on the BSP, it’s not really ‘intelligent’. What I truly miss however is random step, which seems to be on board the BS but is traded for triplets on the BSP.

[megamarkd]

Random works nicely on the melody sequencers, especially with the octave randomiser on, but for drums I find it more successful to run a drum gate out to my Rhythm Wolf clock-in but send it a rhythmic pattern.  That steps it through a beat I've programmed in regular timing, but because it's not playing back as such it creates a polyrhythm.  That running along side a regular 4/4 timed beat will make the RW sound randomesque (but better than random to my ears).

I started doing it that way when the BSP was young and immature, but now the BSP has grown up, it's developed polyrhythms of it's own.  Although it's not the same as randomising a track, using an odd-numbered shortlength pattern for hats or cowbell or other percussive dressings you can actually effect a better way of varying the beat with a more musical feel to it than an obviously randomised pattern.  I really works well with instruments set to choke another such as open and closed hats.  Make one a slightly different length to the other and become a jazz drummer without going to a music conservatory to learn how to count in base13 while dropping a beat every 7 and 19 bars

To change a drum track to polyrhythmic, select the pad you wish to change then press and hold shift 16.  After that you can place the last step of that track anywhere you want.

[Avon]

Random works nicely on the melody sequencers, especially with the octave randomiser on, but for drums I find it more successful to run a drum gate out to my Rhythm Wolf clock-in but send it a rhythmic pattern.  That steps it through a beat I've programmed in regular timing, but because it's not playing back as such it creates a polyrhythm.  That running along side a regular 4/4 timed beat will make the RW sound randomesque (but better than random to my ears).

Cheers, didn’t think of that one, sounds really interesting. So the voltage for the clock is the same as for the drumtriggers.

[megamarkd]

Cheers, didn’t think of that one, sounds really interesting. So the voltage for the clock is the same as for the drumtriggers.

It would seem so. I think it's made to advance on pulse over +1v and I'd hazard a guess that it's +5 output.  Also you need to set the RW's sync to gate which does reduce the tempo division options to either 1/8 or 1/16 with 1/16 advancing one step per pulse and 1/8 requiring two pulses to advance.  Makes for interesting "happy accidents", to use the popular phrase for this sort of patching.

[Avon]

Dunno what is up with your SEQ2 random triggering MIDI note 60 in such a constant manner. Have you looked at what you have random set to in MCC (like is it set to random octave)?

Did that today, but - alas - ‘random’ wasn’t set to ‘octave’. This seems to be a bug, or a bad feature. I might email Arturia about this.

Set to ‘octave’ is indeed fun though.