Tieing notes across patterns in a chain

[Chandler Holloway]

I’m getting used to using the XW-G1’s chain function to combine my individual step sequencer patterns into linear compositions, but I’ve recently run into a problem. While trying to make a bossa nova style jam, I found that I wanted the bass part to start a note on step 15 of one pattern and tie it forward so that note sustains “across the bar line” into the next pattern for a few steps.

 

Based on my experience with the XW-PD1, I figured I could just step edit the next pattern and put a tie in on steps 1 and 2 to continue holding the note when the chain switches to the next pattern. However, it won’t let me input a tie on the first step of a pattern (the manual mentions this). 

 

Usually in this situation I would try editing the step note value of the bass part and change it to eighth notes so that this “tie across the bar line” doesn’t have to occur on step 15. However, there are other parts in this same pattern that require the step value to be set to sixteenth notes to play back properly and flow into one another as the chain progresses. So if I wanted to switch from pattern A to pattern B after one measure of 4/4 time, and I had set the bass part to use a step value of eighth notes, then the resulting chain would only play through half of my intended bass part (steps 1 through 4) while playing the entirety of my other parts for this “link” of the chain. Thus, my parts don’t line up properly in the chain if I don’t have them all set to use sixteenth notes as the step value.

 

One possible solution would be to record the bass part as a phrase using the phrase sequencer, but I don’t want to give up any of my performance zones on the keyboard for phrase playback so I’d prefer to avoid this option if at all possible.

 

Another solution I thought of would be to use the max step settings to divide up my patterns in such a way that this “tie across the bar line” doesn’t have to occur on step 15, but my step value settings for all parts can still be sixteenth notes. So I’d split what is currently pattern A of my chain (one measure of 4/4 time, 16 steps) into two separate patterns, the first of which (pattern A1) would have a maximum of 8 steps (technically one measure of 2/4 time, but in context it’s “half” of a measure of 4/4). The second new pattern (pattern A2) would still have the full 16 steps, but because Pattern A1 contains all the material that would be the first half of my original Pattern A, pattern A2 now contains what would be the second half of the original pattern plus the first half of the next pattern in the original chain. Now my tie across the bar line starts on step 7 and can be tied through step 10 with no issues.

 

However, this second solution would require me to reprogram a fair amount of step sequences in order to implement the workaround. Before I sink time into that, I just want to make sure there’s not a simpler solution to programming ties across patterns in a chain that I’ve overlooked.

 

@AlenK @Brad Saucier

[Brad Saucier]

Uhh, let me get some sleep before I read that again.  Lol

[Jokeyman123]

I know what you are trying to do-speakes to the limitations of the step sequencer if you think in a linear manner for creating music-I know of no other way except those you've already mentioned, maybe Brad can say. I'd have to get the XW out for a minute-but I think I recall that within a pattern for each part-you can set different subdivisions within the same pattern which may not help you much. You might use the copy chain function too, so as not to lose your work while editing.   Here is where we all were about chains-6 years ago although again, not sure if this will help groan......