Saving PO patterns

LyingDalai

I am currently looking for a way to store patterns.

If for Rythm or even Sub I don't care much to loose a pattern, on Factory I feel really bad when I have to erase a pattern, although I need room.

This is my attempt to write my patterns. The only thing missing is the knob automation, but I find it hard to read, and I feel like it doesn't affect the sound that much, compare to the other parameters.

Would you see a way to improve this ?

To be able to write the Keys/Style part, I had to destroy the patterns and try to get as close as possible to the original.

So if you take this path, my advice is to use an empty pattern to do so, so that you keep the original while trying to get close to it.

flom

Hi @LyingDalai, i'am new here in the forum and got my Pocket Operators last week. 

This is my attempt to improve the patternsheets. The PDF's are interactiv, so the patterns can be edited in Acrobat. I also added a line for the patternchaining. 

I wanted to keep the look of the patterns similar to the actual Pocket Operators. The only problem on the sub/factory sheet is to insert the Minidrummachine numbers in pattern with the sound. I wrote them in a seperate one. I think the knob automation is impossible to write down.

Is there anything you would change? 

LyingDalai

Hey @flom thanks for your input.

The thing is that on each step you need to write both the key chain + the style/FX besides the note played.

That's what I tried to represent with my grids.

I added a fourth for the minidrum.

In your approach, you could divide each circle by 4 to get all these information.

But in the end, I found that it was more convenient to divide each pattern into 4 separate grids, to reveal the flow of each component.

Except for the PO-12 Rythm that needs only three of them, since it is amputated of the "key chain".

I like it that you introduce a meta-level for the pattern-chaining. And I find it accurate to have the bpm set at this level.

But the volume should be added at this level too, I think.

I have no clue what your +1 and +3 mean...

flom

@LyingDalai, thanks for your advice. You are right the volume should be set next to the bpm. The +1 and +3 shows the lenght of the note. 

I havent used the play styles yet, so i wasn't aware of them so much. It would be a good way to add a small box below each step, to define if the step has an effect and to add the playstyle number.

LyingDalai

@flom ;Instead of "+1", I would just write the note again, to match the pattern as written on the PO.

Plus the length of the note can depend on the Key chain (Sub's first line of Key o-o set the length of the note for instance)

So once you try to add the minidrum as well, you should get pretty close to my proposition I guess ^^

flom

@LyingDalai, what do you think about the changes. On the Patternsheet for Sub/Factory, I splitted the steps in Note, Key and the Drum. And below each step there is a space to add characters for example. //// or ||||||| ________ to show the effect.

LyingDalai

That's it, @flom, now you have everything (except the knob automation, that are extremely hard both to write and then to read).

But I think I'll stay on my system, because my workflow is more about playing separately notes/keys/FX than setting all of them for each step.

So in my mind having for grids for each pattern makes it clearer.

Now I'll steal your idea about the overall song abstraction with both tempo and volume besides the pattern chain.

 

spacetravelmadeeasy

A suggestion for the knob positions ...

use a red dot for left knob and a green dot for right knob and place them in the correct position (percentage) around the perimeter (with noon being 0% and 11.59 being 100%) of the circles representing each button.

would this work?

I guess you could use arrows/lines/scribbles in these same colours around the perimeters to somehow indicate any automation.

But visually yes using circles rather than a square grid makes things easier to read at a glance/

LyingDalai

@spacetravelmadeeasy For the knob positions, I just put 7/1 for 7 bars on the left knob, 1 bar on the right one. Max being 8, min being 0.

But a percentage is for sure more representative, you're right.

As for the circles... I guess we have different minds ^^

Working the whole days on Excel sheets must have twisted my mind somehow

spacetravelmadeeasy

@LyingDalai yup different minds find different things easier. My day-job is Digital Creative Director and Designer so it's pretty designed and visual things that do it for me

Kites

Sweet sheets fellas, will definitely be useful. I wonder if we can turn these into an iOS app or something, like those analog synth patches done with flash or whatever.

flom

@spacetravelmadeeasy @LyingDalai  Seems like Teenage Engineering made patternsheets for each PO and for Patternchaining.

LyingDalai

A pity they didn't check the good work that was done here before printing those sheets

JohnnyEgo

they should make this sheet printable. .......

flom

they should make this sheet printable. .......

Hey @JohnnyEgo, they made these sheets printable. https://www.teenageengineering.com/downloads 

Sheets for all the three pocket operators and one example sheet:

PO-12 rythm

PO-14 sub

PO-16 factory

example sheet

steveoath

Caught this thread and have been inspired to create a sheet for the arcade. Have based it on the te sheets. Need to clean it up, then i'll post up first draft. Probs on wednesday.

steveoath

Here is my first draft for PO20. I think I should move the chord chaining up to the top. I would appreciate some feedback to help with the design (I'm not particularly "arty") and functionality of the template. 

EDIT: In each box i would be looking to write the note for that sound - forgot to add that in.

SmallTownMusician

Here is my first draft for PO20. I think I should move the chord chaining up to the top. I would appreciate some feedback to help with the design (I'm not particularly "arty") and functionality of the template. 

EDIT: In each box i would be looking to write thenote for that sound - forgot to add that in.

If I were you I'd follow along the lines of TE themselves and make all of your lettering lowercase. Other than that, it looks pretty great! Mind if I use it? @steveoath

steveoath

Yeah, no probs. I'll have a look and see if I still have the original... I made it at work and I'm not certain I saved the idea! @SmallTownMusician