new feature idea: FREELOOP

i have an idea for a new feature that i want to send to JJ, but i wanted to post it here to get some feedback first.
plus, if a lot of people like this idea, we have a better chance of getting JJ to put it in the os.

so i call it: FREELOOP!

the idea is simple: to be able to hold down a key at any point while your sequence is playing, then when you release the key the sequence starts looping over the exact place and duration that you held the key down.

example: lets say you have a 4 bar sequence that is playing. at bar 2 you hold down the FREELOOP key for half a bar and then release it. your sequence now starts looping for half a bar (starting at bar 2 and going to bar 2.5). turn FREELOOP off and then your sequence continues playing normaly.


quantized: FREELOOP would follow your current TIME CORRECT settings. let's say your TIME CORRECT settings are set to 1/16. when you press and then release the FREELOOP key, the beginning and ending points of your loop would be set to the nearest 1/16 note. if your TIME CORRECT is turned off, then the start and end points will be set exactly at whenever you pressed/released the key. so you could either have a tightly synchronized loop right on the beat, or a looser more irregular-timed loop, depending on how you wanted to set it.


how it would work: FREELOOP could be activated from multiple screens and remain active no matter what screen you went to.

MAIN screen: hold down the SHIFT key and the LOOP tab changes to say FREELOOP. hold down the F1 key and then release it. the FREELOOP tab turns dark to show that it is active. hit the FREELOOP tab again to turn it off.

PROGRAM screen: same as MAIN screen. hold down the SHIFT key and the FREELOOP tab appears at the bottom of the screen.

NEXT SEQ & TRACK MUTE screens: there is still some empty space left at the bottom of the screen to put the FREELOOP tab.

GRID EDIT: unfortunately, there is no more room to put a FREELOOP tab! while FREELOOP would remain active in this screen, if you wanted to turn it on or off you would have to do it from another screen.


i see this as a great live performance tool to switch up your sequences. it makes it really quick and easy to loop certain parts of your sequence and change it up on the fly. you could loop a really tight 1/32 note part for a stuttering effect, or a longer part to create a different type of rhythm. it would be cool if you could even put your cursor over the grid display in the MAIN screen and use the data wheel to move the looping part forward and back over the sequence (the looping part would be hilighted with a dark area in the grid display).

let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions to improve this idea. after we get it finalized i can send it to JJ as a request and point him to this thread to show that other people like the idea.

I think that's actually a great idea. I think having a way to activate/deactivate freeloop without having to use shifted function keys would be best. Like maybe shift+play to activate the feature and set the loop region and play to deactivate? That way it becomes screen-independent. I do like the idea of being able to adjust the looping region in the MAIN grid and/or GRID mode.

Also how do you think sustaining notes should be handled? Would they play out at their full duration (which could be problematic for longer notes and shorter loops) or would they be cut off at the loop's end (which may not be an accurate representation of the sequence as constructed)?

sounds like a good idea, not something i would personally use but i see many people using it.

mp3 wrote:I think having a way to activate/deactivate freeloop without having to use shifted function keys would be best. Like maybe shift+play to activate the feature and set the loop region and play to deactivate? That way it becomes screen-independent.

this is a great idea. i wanted to do this but i couldn't think of any key combos that aren't currently used. SHIFT + PLAY is already set to jump to the sequence end, but who really uses that? i know JJ usually doesn't like to change existing functions for fear of users complaining but i don't think that this would be one that people would miss. anybody use that?

Also how do you think sustaining notes should be handled? Would they play out at their full duration (which could be problematic for longer notes and shorter loops) or would they be cut off at the loop's end (which may not be an accurate representation of the sequence as constructed)?

good question. i think they should play out for their full duration (even tho that could cause some polyphony problems) but maybe it could be a user preference set globally (like with the TRACK MUTE type). i imagine that just letting everything play out it's full length would be easier for JJ to implement, but if JJ could put both options in there as a preference that would be ideal.

That sounds great. Would be a thing that i would use alot for live stuff.

great tool for liveset. please submit the idea to the jenius!
the opportunity to change TC while in freeloop quantized mode would be killer!
very similar to how the looping feature works in cdj's or in traktor. a very valuable tool for live performances!

I always like features that almost force you to create something that you would have never thought of without that feature. This sounds like one of those. I aprove.

Yeah I like that idea!

hyena wrote:the opportunity to change TC while in freeloop quantized mode would be killer!

good suggestion! i hadn't thought of that.

it should renamed to freeze loop. scnr

The ability to fine tune the start and end point of the loop would be really useful.

Sooty_G wrote:i have an idea
so i call it: FREELOOP!

good idea.

yep its like a 'capture' of the sequence, i like this, and with a 'button' option ie: it could be part of the JJ's recent addition of any button is customisable......so the user could assign this function to any button, no?

Also how do you think sustaining notes should be handled? Would they play out at their full duration (which could be problematic for longer notes and shorter loops) or would they be cut off at the loop's end (which may not be an accurate representation of the sequence as constructed)?

good question. i think they should play out for their full duration (even tho that could cause some polyphony problems) but maybe it could be a user preference set globally (like with the TRACK MUTE type). i imagine that just letting everything play out it's full length would be easier for JJ to implement, but if JJ could put both options in there as a preference that would be ideal.[/quote]


um.. correct me if I'm wrong, isn' that allready sorted out in the "continuos sample track" settings? in "Other"??
otherwise you could just set that longer sample to play "mono", as in :programm mode-sample, amp-voice, set to mono/poly.

that way it would cut itself off

i think the easieast way is to let it as it is, where we have a master option where we choose if the samples are truncated at the end of the sequence or not...(atm im not on my mpc so i cant exactly remember where it is , but it's there )

-niN wrote:

Also how do you think sustaining notes should be handled? Would they play out at their full duration (which could be problematic for longer notes and shorter loops) or would they be cut off at the loop's end (which may not be an accurate representation of the sequence as constructed)?

good question. i think they should play out for their full duration (even tho that could cause some polyphony problems) but maybe it could be a user preference set globally (like with the TRACK MUTE type). i imagine that just letting everything play out it's full length would be easier for JJ to implement, but if JJ could put both options in there as a preference that would be ideal.

um.. correct me if I'm wrong, isn' that allready sorted out in the "continuos sample track" settings? in "Other"??
otherwise you could just set that longer sample to play "mono", as in :programm mode-sample, amp-voice, set to mono/poly.

that way it would cut itself off[/quote]