Bug? (since 16.04) in Sequencer and breaking of backward compatibility of Run control

yyz67

Fractal Fanatic
16.04

Improved Sequencer functionality. The Run control has now been expanded to STOP | PAUSE | RUN. When set to PAUSE the sequencer will halt but not reset the sequence count. The Step control allows manually stepping the sequencer when the sequencer is paused or running.

I appreciate this added functionality! Unfortunately several of my (Axe-unique!) Sequencer-based presets prior to 16.04 that don't work any more since 16.04. This appears to be due to two separate issues:
  1. ON state (pre-16.04) not being mapped to RUN but rather to PAUSE. [@yek has noticed this as well]
  2. RUN | PAUSE | STOP precluding previously allowed ON <-> OFF state changes. Thus RUN <-> STOP is not possible. This means I can't use a continuous modifier like an Envelope Follower to stop and restart the sequencer.

Issue 1 seems like a minor preset translator bug.

For issue 2, I don't know how to go between RUN <-> STOP as PAUSE is in between them. Perhaps someone has a work-around suggestion?

A couple design change ideas that could rectify the incompatibilty from pre to post 16.04:
  • Add another 'run' state after the STOP state: RUN | PAUSE | STOP | START. This would be the most backward compatible.
  • Reorder the states: STOP | RUN | PAUSE. This would be allow STOP <-> RUN and RUN <-> PAUSE switching possibilities.
 
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Hi @Bakerman @GlennO,

Any ideas on a workaround for going between sequencer RUN and STOP states (effectively skipping PAUSE) with a modifier curve, e.g. attached to Envelope Follower? Essentially I want to trigger the sequencer starting and stopping with a guitar in a staccato manner.
 
Can you assign the Envelope or ADSR to the Run switch and set the curve with:

Start: 0
Mid: 50
End: 0

Or maybe just set Min: 0 and Max: 50?
 
Hi @Bakerman @GlennO,

Any ideas on a workaround for going between sequencer RUN and STOP states (effectively skipping PAUSE) with a modifier curve, e.g. attached to Envelope Follower? Essentially I want to trigger the sequencer starting and stopping with a guitar in a staccato manner.
This is what I do. In the attached preset, in scene 8, extern 2 starts the sequencer.

seq.png
 

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Thanks all and @GlennO will try it out!

I tried playing with a steep curve but it was intermittently triggering incorrectly orrectly and unusable.
 
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I tried but couldn't get a stable triggering behavior (between STOP and RUN) using Envelope Follower even with the steepest curve. PAUSE state in between seems to mess it up.
 
I’m not sure what you mean by stable, but the steep curve is effective making the pause brief. If that’s still not working, then I’d report it as a bug. Although for that matter, IMHO the insertion of pause between stop and run should be considered a bug. I’m sure it was just an oversight by Cliff. He probably just forgot that it’s common to trigger a stop/run transition. It would be better if it had been an implemented the way you suggested above.
 
I'm not picturing how quickly passing through "pause" would be much of a problem here, but things might improve if you set attack & release to 0 ms. It would make more sense to go stop-run-pause as you mentioned though. I'm wondering if the envelope attack & release times (in the controllers menu, not the modifier) might also be set too high.

You could get an immediate stop-run switch by assigning a square LFO's B output to the run control, and assigning envelope to the LFO's duty percentage. If you set B phase to 90 degrees, 25% duty would be the point where the output goes from 0 to 100% (I think). But try envelope & modifier attack/release at or near minimum first if you haven't already done that.
 
Bumping for a 19.x fixes for old preset translate bug (since 16.04) and allowing some way to switch directly between RUN <-> STOP.

🙏
 
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