WISH: Channel Modifier

brianv4

brianv4

Fractal Fanatic
I know this has been briefly mentioned but here's the wish; Channel Modifiers so we could use Control switches to change channels. This way we could setup an amp and cab (or whatever) to change together.


I just came across this idea for a single preset, 2 layout rig for us on-the-fly effect stomping maniacs.

Select a preset, it goes right to the effects layout. Setup all my "meat and potato" effects. Hit a switch that takes me to channels. Utilizing control switches, I could easily switch amp/cab's (4 or 8) and bounce back to effects.

I know technically this would be 3 layouts; presets, effects and channels but once you've selected the preset it's only 2
 
brianv4 said:
I know this has been briefly mentioned but here's the wish; Channel Modifiers so we could use Control switches to change channels. This way we could setup an amp and cab (or whatever) to change together.


I just came across this idea for a single preset, 2 layout rig for us on-the-fly effect stomping maniacs.

Select a preset, it goes right to the effects layout. Setup all my "meat and potato" effects. Hit a switch that takes me to channels. Utilizing control switches, I could easily switch amp/cab's (4 or 8) and bounce back to effects.

I know technically this would be 3 layouts; presets, effects and channels but once you've selected the preset it's only 2
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Why wouldn't you use scenes to do this?
 
in addition to @yek 's comments; I like to use scenes for specific changes in a song. f ex scene 1 crunch rhythm with reverb, scene 2 turns off reverb and adds phaser, fuzz and reverse delay. Channel modifiers for amp/cab would add more versatility for on the fly changes. Not necessarily for all blocks (i.e. effects) as that could be accomplished via scenes.
 
FractalAudio said:
Why wouldn't you use scenes to do this?
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I think the answer is because sometimes you want to change some blocks while ensuring others don't change at all. With as much information as individual patches can store now, it seems like it could be really useful to setup things this way.

For example, I've talked about the concept of having two sets of Scenes before, Scenes A and Scenes B, with the ability to select which blocks were controlled by which Scene group:

GreatGreen said:
What if we had the option to split each patch into 2 banks of Scenes, calling the 1st bank "Scenes A" and the 2nd bank "Scenes B," and then we could pick which blocks in each patch were controlled by which group of Scenes.

For example, I'd setup the "Scenes A" group to control the patch's "core tone," so like the Drive, Amp, and Cab blocks + channels basically, and everything else would be controlled by Scenes B. That way I could setup Scenes A1 - A4 or whatever to control my basic amp tone and gain levels, then setup Scenes B1 - B4 to control the on/off and channel states of all the "non-core" effects like delay, verb, solo boosts, etc.
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This seems like a neat kind of middle ground between Scene functionality and traditional pedalboard functionality to me, which could be highly useful in my opinion.

Also, having 4 "Scene A" instances and 4 "Scene B" instances would effectively give you a total of 16 Scene combos (Scene A1+B1, A1+B2, etc), so this functionality would double your total number of Scene configurations if you wanted to think of it that way.
 
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I struggle with this as well. I really like the idea that @yek pointed out with scene independent blocks. Right now, I'm using one Control Switch to modify Amp Gain, and another to dynamically bring a drive block in and out. This is strictly to modify the core tone. My scenes are all setup to add various delays, multi-delays, reverbs, etc into the mix.

On a side note, the one thing I don't like about the Control Switches is the unnecessary complexity involved. I'm ok assigning the Control Switch, but I wish I could adjust the parameter directly vs in the modifier window. For example, if the Amp Drive has a modifier on it, just let me turn that dial and it automatically assigns it to the Control Switch based on the switches current state. Then I'm not menu hunting.

Seriously love the power of this box though! My mind is blown away every time I power it on.
 
i think this idea goes hand-in-hand with the "ignore some blocks on Scene change" idea. people have wanted things to not change during Scene changes, or be able to change certain things together without changing Scenes. more like a traditional rig where the amp channels are separate from the effects board. sometimes it's nice to change one without affecting the other. yet many times we do want to change all at once. we basically want all ways of doing it plz :D
 
FractalAudio said:
Why wouldn't you use scenes to do this?
Click to expand...
I've mentioned the same idea on a couple threads. For me, I see it as a way to get additional pseudo scenes. I like kitchen sink presets and I've already got all 8 scenes in use.

For many, I could use a Control Switch instead except for a block or two where I want to change a channel.

Optionally, more scenes :D
 
For me scenes are amazing when it comes to play written songs with planned parts and sounds to use. But when it comes to improvisation I find them less useful compared to the traditional stomp approach . The idea to be able to change channels of multiple blocks at the same time with control switches is very good.
Also for improvising the idea to have some blocks scenes independent is awesome.
 
unix-guy said:
For me, I see it as a way to get additional pseudo scenes. I like kitchen sink presets and I've already got all 8 scenes in use.

Optionally, more scenes :D
Click to expand...

WISH: 12 scenes +1

I am loving scenes with being able to name them and see the names on the FC-12. You can do almost anything in a scene. Select anything, turn anything on or off, select channels, etc. I'd set up all my presets to use just 5 scenes on the Axe FXII, but with the Axe FXIII and the FC-12 I could see myself using 12 scenes in one layout.
 
It looks like Helix 2.8 is getting block exemption for scenes:

  • Per-Block Snapshot Bypass—Select a block and press ACTION. Turn Knob 5 (Snapshot Bypass) to "Off" to disable snapshot control of that block's bypass state. "On" remains the default for all blocks
 
Adding scenes is not a solution for the request in the OP.

Also, I think that the impact of adding scenes on the architecture, user interface and remote control is too large. But I’m not a developer.
 
There's a couple ways to look at this:
1) Allow multiple actions where only one is allowed today per tap or hold on the FC
2) Allow blocks to link channels so when one is changed, they are all changed. This would certainly be simpler for situations where you want the drive/amp/cab/reverb changed together.
 
When given the choice, I think I’d prefer a solution on preset-level for several reasons, including flexibility and transparency.
 
hippietim said:
It looks like Helix 2.8 is getting block exemption for scenes:

  • Per-Block Snapshot Bypass—Select a block and press ACTION. Turn Knob 5 (Snapshot Bypass) to "Off" to disable snapshot control of that block's bypass state. "On" remains the default for all blocks
Click to expand...
As Yek stated, this won't accomplish what the OP asks for
 
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