Implemented Global Blocks

UPDATE (I'm posting here, under the Global Blocks WISH, because it seems like a subset of Global Blocks, rather than a separate thing):

I don't exactly know whether to WISH for this, or not.

But, I think the presence of Channels in the Axe-FX III may alter the desire for "Global Blocks" a little bit. it seems to me that "Global Blocks" might be made better by having "Global Channels."

Here's what I mean: Let's say you have your favorite Fender Tweed sound. Sometimes you use it in a song which also features a Plexi and a Dumble. Other times you use it in a different song which features an AC-15 and a Mesa IIC+.

So, if you're using a different Preset for each Song, what do you do?

Well, in Preset #1 (for the first song) you add an Amp Block and start assigning certain Amp Sounds to the channels. You put your Tweed on Channel A, your Dumble on B, your Plexi on C, and something else on D.

In Preset #2 (for the second song), you add an Amp Block and assign the Tweed to Channel A, the AC-15 to Channel B, the Mesa on Channel C, and something else on D.

As time goes by you find yourself using other combinations, but you always come back to that Tweed sound, but each time with different combinations of other amp models occupying the other channels.

Now, Global Blocks by themselves don't really help in this scenario.

What would help would be Global "Channel Definitions", which could be assigned to a particular channel in a block. (And THAT block could be either a normal block, or a Global Block.)
 
I was actually thinking about the idea of Global Channels just a few minutes ago. That would be an excellent feature.
 
I have been thinking about this for a few days... I actually think that global *channels* are the "right" feature in a sense (see below). I had some frustrations with global blocks in the AxeFx II because of the scenario described by Dr. Dipwad above (only with x/y states instead of channels). Now, with 4 channels, that's becoming more pressing (still on the European wait list.. but one can plan ahead).

The reason IMO (if anyone cares) is that we have lots of "means of combination" of all kinds of entities in the AxeFx: scenes, presets, blocks in a layout, modifiers etc. What we have very few of is "means of abstraction" to reuse certain things. In fact I can only think of global blocks (in the II, so far), and global switches (like power amp on/off, cab modeling..) and levels (noisegate/reverb/delay corrections and the like). And of those, only global blocks are useful for a certain given playing environment.

But global blocks are *not only* a means of abstraction, they also force you to combine things, namely the x/y states (or channels in the AxeFx III). Global channels would be purely for abstraction, and that, I think, would make them much more useful.
 
I really would like both. There is still a strong need for some blocks to be global, unless I’m misunderstanding the global channels concept.
 
greiswig said:
I really would like both. There is still a strong need for some blocks to be global, unless I’m misunderstanding the global channels concept.
Click to expand...
Well, some Blocks don't have Channels.

So, if a set of Block Settings could be saved-and-recalled Globally for one of the non-channel Blocks, the thing you're saving would be (by definition) a Global Block.

But for the Blocks which have Channels, we could either have JUST Global Blocks, or JUST Global Channels, or BOTH.

It's hard to say which would produce the optimal balance of simplicity and convenience.

OPTION ONE: Only Global Blocks (all Channels are Non-Global):
With only Global Blocks, not Global Channels, you can create a block with your perfect set of channels. But if you wanted to have the same Block with only one of those channels slightly different, you'd have to un-global-ize it...or save the new combination as a new, separate Global Block. If you choose to save it as a new, separate Global Block, then the channels you have in common between the two Global Blocks could start out identical, but become out-of-synch over time.

OPTION TWO: Only Global Channels (all Blocks That Support Channels are Non-Global):
With only Global Channels, but not Global Blocks, you save your perfect Fender Vibroverb Channel in one place, your perfect Tweed in another, your perfect Marshall Silver Jubilee in a third, your perfect Vox AC15 in another, and your perfect Cornford in another.

Then, whenever you want to use a combination of those perfect Channels, you place an Amp Block on the grid, switch to Channel A, pick your perfect Vibroverb; switch the Channel B, pick your perfect Silver Jubilee, etc. And you could re-use those same Favorites in other Amp Blocks, in different combinations. But all the Silver Jubilees would remain "in synch," as would all the Vibroverbs, etc.

OPTION THREE: Global Blocks AND Global Channels
Finally, you could have BOTH: A Global Block which contains a mix of Global and Non-Global Channels. The Global Channel for your favorite Tweed would remain in synch across all the Amp Blocks you used it in (both Global and Non-Global).

But that might get too complex for some folks to wrap their heads around. And I'm not sure Option Three offers much improvement in workflow over Option Two.

Whatever they come up with, the UI/UX will need to be well-designed so that how all this stuff works together becomes obvious and intuitive to the user.
 
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