Announcing Quad Note Generator

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antic604

04 Dec 2018

Creativemind wrote:
04 Dec 2018
Was gonna ask Mattias if there may be a video tutorial on this but perhaps you should do one showing us all what you just described?
Ok, so here's a "track" I did with it - bass, chords, arp and melody are generated by QNG and the "QNG" track feeds the device with root note. It's pretty fun, although I struggle to understand how the lower section works, especially Steps, Rate, Pattern & Shift knobs. I thought there will be more control over the outcome, but so far it sounds pretty random. Still, if you're gonna run this few times you'll definitely catch some awesome moments :)

I used only native devices (+drum sequencer) so it should work for anyone with 10.2 - here's the project file:

Code: Select all

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eJmzSEAErdj_3n8eTaX3gTvWvfcysX6-/view?usp=sharing
Enjoy!

Last edited by antic604 on 04 Dec 2018, edited 1 time in total.

ltbrunt00
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04 Dec 2018

is this not in the rent to own section?
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antic604

04 Dec 2018

ltbrunt00 wrote:
04 Dec 2018
is this not in the rent to own section?
I don't think Props will add it to Rewards or Rent-To-Own very soon, because people are hyped and will buy it for the full price for now. Once the sales drop, they'll add it there as well.

ltbrunt00
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04 Dec 2018

this will more than likely be the next thing I buy. I haven't been home to try this but this may be one of those rare devices that may be an instant classic.
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dvdrtldg
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04 Dec 2018

antic604 wrote:
04 Dec 2018
I don't think Props will add it to Rewards or Rent-To-Own very soon, because people are hyped and will buy it for the full price for now. Once the sales drop, they'll add it there as well.
What's this "Rewards" thing?

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MrFigg
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04 Dec 2018

antic604 wrote:
04 Dec 2018
ltbrunt00 wrote:
04 Dec 2018
is this not in the rent to own section?
I don't think Props will add it to Rewards or Rent-To-Own very soon, because people are hyped and will buy it for the full price for now. Once the sales drop, they'll add it there as well.
Maybe they’ll do Rent to Own but I don’t think we’ll see it in Rewards seeing as it doesn’t cost €99+.
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Faastwalker
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04 Dec 2018

This looks EXCELLENT. Right up my street. Price wise I guess it comes down to how useful & worthwhile you find any particular device. Straight up this looks extremely useful, powerful, fun. I've not tried it yet but already I can see me buying this one.

Would be fantastic if I could finally use my Rewards on something I actually want. But Rewards seem to be reserved for older RE's or ones that maybe are not selling particularly well? Quad Note looks like gold so I don't think we'll be saying it in the Rewards section any time soon. I'd go for a rent-to-own on this one for sure if it was an option ;)
Last edited by Faastwalker on 04 Dec 2018, edited 1 time in total.

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selig
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04 Dec 2018

antic604 wrote:…I struggle to understand how the lower section works, especially Steps, Rate, Pattern & Shift knobs. I thought there will be more control over the outcome, but so far it sounds pretty random.
All of these controls are specific for each note lane and are somewhat interrelated.

Steps sets the number of steps in each note lane.

Rate defines the base note length, as it relates to the Pattern. With a Rate of 1/16 and Pattern #32, you will get a steady stream of 16th notes, with the length set by the Steps control. At the same rate, Pattern 16 will give you 8th notes with a 16th note rest between each.

Pattern selects from preset patterns (32 notes long), with pattern 1 playing one note of 32, and pattern 32 playing all 32 notes - pattern 16 plays 16 notes, or every other note. Combined with Rate, determines the density of the pattern.

Shift simply offsets the pattern one step at a time, forward or backwards. handy for turning on-beats to off-beats, as one example.


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Resonator
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04 Dec 2018

Since I bought a Behringer Neutron, I’ve been using it with every sequencer, arpeggiator, and player device available inside Reason. Some were more fun than others. But all of them were missing certain things. This looks like it might just hit the spot.

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cognitive
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04 Dec 2018

Great. Thanks for feeding my generative music addiction. >:(

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ryanharlin
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04 Dec 2018

antic604 wrote:
04 Dec 2018
I struggle to understand how the lower section works, especially Steps, Rate, Pattern & Shift knobs.
Steps lets you define the length of your generative pattern on a per-lane basis. So for example you could have an 8 step generative pattern in lane 1 doing an 8th note pulse on a bass range of notes. Then in lane 2 you could set up a 32 step pattern doing 16th notes on a higher range of notes. You also of course and use non-divisible numbers like 7 steps or 29 steps for polyrhythmic patterns that don't quite line up. Though it's worth pointing out that if you want to make those patterns noticeably drifting out of sync, you'd want to use the freeze function to create consistent sections of each pattern so the ear can hear the patterns moving around in polyrhythmic drifting ways.

Shift is used to do just that - shift the pattern. So for example if you set up a bass pattern with quarter notes and then shift it +1, it'll play on the upbeats not the downbeats. I found that really a useful knob to play with to get it so that not all pattern generator lanes were pulsing in the same exact way.

Hope some of that makes sense.

The real art of this device to me is in dialing in the vary knobs to behave in cool ways. So for example, if you set up a busy rhythm but then turn up vary a lot you'll get a more sparse pattern. And by automating that you can kinda "play" the vary knobs to move from sparse to busy notes as you like. The same is true for dynamics with velocity or the pitch vary and spread. Then there's the master vary knob that lets you do them all and it has it's own element of that where you can sorta ride that master vary on certain patches to increase the density of the pattern, the variation of pitch, etc. on a global scale.

I love this little device!!

VariableX
Posts: 564
Joined: 02 Apr 2018

04 Dec 2018

Only been playing with it for a little bit but the triggering chords combinator patch example is amazing for getting some funky guitar down!

Starting to wonder if I should sell a few of my guitars, I hardly pick them up since I got Reason maybe just keep my favorite electric and my favorite acoustic :o I thought I'd be doing a lot of recording but i'm mostly playing with all these REs n virtual instruments...

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Reasonable man
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04 Dec 2018

Reason has so many devices . I'm a late comer to Reason/Electronic muisc/Daws (in general). I've spent 18months now systematicaly going through the reason devices i have ... hooking everything up to everything , getting into modular synthesis and generative music.
I intailly planned to get into reason just to write music i.e just playing midi into the sequencer from a controller..but thats not how electronic music works. I still have to finish the psq manual and for my sins i bought Kron which is a rabbit hole within a parallel rabitt hole.
Now this thing comes out.
Are we even required to have actual musical ideas of our own anymore? Ha ha how things have changed.
I dont mind telling you my once comfortable and adequate musicianship has gone right down the toilet since i stated using all these soft note/gate/trigger manipulation devices. I'm going to have to put a cap on the generative randomness somehow and get back to a simpler purer time when playing intruments (hard or soft) was a way of getting the backbone of your composition down. :lol:
Its like i've forgotten when where and why and everythin inbetween

VariableX
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04 Dec 2018

Reasonable man wrote:
04 Dec 2018
Reason has so many devices . I'm a late comer to Reason/Electronic muisc/Daws (in general). I've spent 18months now systematicaly going through the reason devices i have ... hooking everything up to everything , getting into modular synthesis and generative music.
I intailly planned to get into reason just to write music i.e just playing midi into the sequencer from a controller..but thats not how electronic music works. I still have to finish the psq manual and for my sins i bought Kron which is a rabbit hole within a parallel rabitt hole.
Now this thing comes out.
Are we even required to have actual musical ideas of our own anymore? Ha ha how things have changed.
I dont mind telling you my once comfortable and adequate musicianship has gone right down the toilet since i stated using all these soft note/gate/trigger manipulation devices. I'm going to have to put a cap on the generative randomness somehow and get back to a simpler purer time when playing intruments (hard or soft) was a way of getting the backbone of your composition down. :lol:
Its like i've forgotten when where and why and everythin inbetween
haha i'm hearing you, but its just so much fun!

Yonatan
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05 Dec 2018

When testing this Quad thing out, I guess many of us use it everywhere, for drums, for melodies etc. That is so much fun and can be a lovely composition starter. And especially I found it handy when on a laptop, not hooked up to midi keyboard, as I find myself not even touching my midi keyboard, but still having a whole cascade of notes going on.

But, arranging and giving a song structure and adding vocals with lyrics, will still take a lot of effort, so that is where I guess it will settle down; as a creative play-tool to come up with new ideas, as well as a great tool to bring in with an already structured song, to add some new elements.
Some of it could be done before with "random notes" in the sequencer, paired with Scales & Chords etc, but this device surely takes it to another level with several lanes separately. Great device! And when it comes to the debate of AI (some negatives in the facebook comments), I still find one have to use ones ears and knowledge to make this device do certain jobs. It is not a "one knob plays a whole song"-device. One still have to be a producer. I wonder if the ones who complain on Facebook, use any drum machines themselves or virtual instruments. It is no difference. Even a sequencer could be seen as "cheating". No sense, so these tools are highly welcome!
We who produce simply now have time to develop further and not just make a 4 bar beat and an arpeggiator melody with a bass-line, and call it a masterpiece of electronic music. We can go deeper, find new ways of combining and arranging.
As much of an production tool this may be, I find it also very good for learning, you really feel the different scales and keys in a whole new way with several lanes interacting. I sense I learn more, and that in itself is refreshing. And I have not even scratched the surface of what this device could do inside of Reason. Quite some CV-connections and I am not that good at that cable stuff yet, but even without CV-connectivity, I can see this device as being vast in its usefulness. Have to read the manual and look to see what videos comes out about it from other users etc. Good bye creative block!? In Reason, there is always a way...but with midi-players a bit faster than before.

madmacman
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05 Dec 2018

Is this Lectric Panda's "RND" on steroids?

Looks like there's much overlap, packed into a more convenient (and pleasing) GUI?

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dvdrtldg
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05 Dec 2018

Yonatan wrote:
05 Dec 2018
When testing this Quad thing out, I guess many of us use it everywhere, for drums, for melodies etc. That is so much fun and can be a lovely composition starter. And especially I found it handy when on a laptop, not hooked up to midi keyboard, as I find myself not even touching my midi keyboard, but still having a whole cascade of notes going on.

But, arranging and giving a song structure and adding vocals with lyrics, will still take a lot of effort, so that is where I guess it will settle down; as a creative play-tool to come up with new ideas, as well as a great tool to bring in with an already structured song, to add some new elements.
Some of it could be done before with "random notes" in the sequencer, paired with Scales & Chords etc, but this device surely takes it to another level with several lanes separately. Great device! And when it comes to the debate of AI (some negatives in the facebook comments), I still find one have to use ones ears and knowledge to make this device do certain jobs. It is not a "one knob plays a whole song"-device. One still have to be a producer. I wonder if the ones who complain on Facebook, use any drum machines themselves or virtual instruments. It is no difference. Even a sequencer could be seen as "cheating". No sense, so these tools are highly welcome!
We who produce simply now have time to develop further and not just make a 4 bar beat and an arpeggiator melody with a bass-line, and call it a masterpiece of electronic music. We can go deeper, find new ways of combining and arranging.
As much of an production tool this may be, I find it also very good for learning, you really feel the different scales and keys in a whole new way with several lanes interacting. I sense I learn more, and that in itself is refreshing. And I have not even scratched the surface of what this device could do inside of Reason. Quite some CV-connections and I am not that good at that cable stuff yet, but even without CV-connectivity, I can see this device as being vast in its usefulness. Have to read the manual and look to see what videos comes out about it from other users etc. Good bye creative block!? In Reason, there is always a way...but with midi-players a bit faster than before.
Agreed. These devices are fun and inspirng but when it comes down to actually producing finished pieces of music, you still have to make all the usual choices & decisions about composition, arrangement, sound palette, production and so on. If you suck at making music, these players won't magically give you great results. What they will do is give you the chance to learn about scales, modes, time signatures etc if you're willing to put in the effort. People who dismiss these devices misunderstand their potential as learning tools

seqoi
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05 Dec 2018

Mode7 wrote:
04 Dec 2018
Seems to be cool but 69€ is way too expensive.
I strongly disagree. It's bargain for what you are getting.

seqoi
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05 Dec 2018

dvdrtldg wrote:
05 Dec 2018

Agreed. These devices are fun and inspirng but when it comes down to actually producing finished pieces of music, you still have to make all the usual choices & decisions about composition, arrangement, sound palette, production and so on.
Well noone say this is "magic button" song maker and this new tools does not pretend to be it.

It's fun and inspirational tool made to boost creativity (that's how i see it). You still need to sit and make proper arranging and fine tuning and that's a job of being an artist or hobbyist or pro or call it whatever you want.

I don't get it. Not pointing this to you i am observing things from other forums.

These days you are a company and you put out a tool which is so great that it is making noise and raise eyebrows. But then you have army of people complaining about literally least important things. Even trolls registered just for the purpose of bashing a product. Just look at Acustica ElRey thread on Gearslutz. Majority is gobsmacked by the sound of that plugin but then people started batch about social media appearance of a person which endorsed that plugin, his credibility and everything is spiraling out of control and people talk about everything but product itself.

What i am asking is - why people simply don't trial a tool and decide is it good to make music with it or not. And then they should - make music!

Again not pointing this to you directly i don't want this turn out i am bashing your opinion i am not. Just observing public perception on latest great tools. It seems to me majority is attaching to the wrong thing. I may be wrong though,..

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Boombastix
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05 Dec 2018

madmacman wrote:
05 Dec 2018
Is this Lectric Panda's "RND" on steroids?

Looks like there's much overlap, packed into a more convenient (and pleasing) GUI?
Hmm, my thought as well. Anyone who has RND and tried the new QND to share some thought on this?
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antic604

05 Dec 2018

ryanharlin wrote:
04 Dec 2018
Steps lets you define the length of your generative pattern on a per-lane basis. So for example you could have an 8 step generative pattern in lane 1 doing an 8th note pulse on a bass range of notes. Then in lane 2 you could set up a 32 step pattern doing 16th notes on a higher range of notes. You also of course and use non-divisible numbers like 7 steps or 29 steps for polyrhythmic patterns that don't quite line up. Though it's worth pointing out that if you want to make those patterns noticeably drifting out of sync, you'd want to use the freeze function to create consistent sections of each pattern so the ear can hear the patterns moving around in polyrhythmic drifting ways.

Shift is used to do just that - shift the pattern. So for example if you set up a bass pattern with quarter notes and then shift it +1, it'll play on the upbeats not the downbeats. I found that really a useful knob to play with to get it so that not all pattern generator lanes were pulsing in the same exact way.

Hope some of that makes sense.
Ryan, thanks! Yeah, I know what the parameters are supposed to be doing and in my example - to which you replied - I kind of succeeded to make it do what I wanted, e.g. bass plays mostly the root and +/-12 semitones and rarely in between, pad is a fixed at root long delayed note, arp is varying just a bit and main melody is all over the place with pitch, note lengths and velocity. But it felt more like fumbling in the dark, rather than a purposeful I-know-what-I'm-doing setup :D But perhaps it's what music is all about, ie. a series of "happy accidents" that you can recognise as working well and can capture?

I see QNG as an assistant. You still need to do "the big picture" of the song yourself, but all the small accompanying melodies or effects that provide background can be randomly generated by this Player, adding life and colour to - still - your creation. In a sense it's almost like an audio FX (a bit like Polar, actually) that can generate sounds around your core idea to complement it. At least that's how I see it :)

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Zac
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05 Dec 2018

The only way i could afford to get this would be on Rent To Own... just sayin'

It would be my Xmas present to myself :P

PhillipOrdonez
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05 Dec 2018

Guess after buying this I won't be using RND anymore!

And no idea what some users talk about in some comments above this, but fuck social media anyway.

botnotbot
Posts: 290
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05 Dec 2018

Boombastix wrote:
05 Dec 2018
madmacman wrote:
05 Dec 2018
Is this Lectric Panda's "RND" on steroids?

Looks like there's much overlap, packed into a more convenient (and pleasing) GUI?
Hmm, my thought as well. Anyone who has RND and tried the new QND to share some thought on this?
I haven't used this new one but the existence of the pattern knob in QND already means that it is 'tuned' for musicality in a way that RND isn't (no knock against RND, love this thing!).

So you will be adjusting the probability of variance within a pattern, whereas RND you create the pattern with probability and variance ;)

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selig
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05 Dec 2018

seqoi wrote:
dvdrtldg wrote:
05 Dec 2018

Agreed. These devices are fun and inspirng but when it comes down to actually producing finished pieces of music, you still have to make all the usual choices & decisions about composition, arrangement, sound palette, production and so on.
Well noone say this is "magic button" song maker and this new tools does not pretend to be it.
Exactly - none DID say it’s a magic button - both posters express how it’s a creativity booster.

But like all “tools”, you still retain creative control.

I don’t think anyone REALLY wants a tool that gives you a finished song with a single button press - what would be the fun in that?

What IS helpful is tools that move the process forward, especially on those days it is stalled. ;)


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