YES! I always do some research when adding new features. I could not find another comparable sequencer where you could modulate the scale. I feel like there must be something out there, but I did not come across it. (someone will correct me one day I’m sure)
We tried a few different things, but the combo mod Lock inside a bank and a limit of ten scales for modulation range felt like the right balance, and the easiest to keep track of in mod lanes and on the control knobs. Moving the mod lock inside the same bank can dramatically change your progressions as well, it turned out to be really fun. We lost more than a minute jamming with the scale editor open, hehe.
That’s what I thought – I’ve owned quite a few sequencers and I’ve been searching all over for this feature. I ended up spending way too much money on a Sinfonion which works well but it’s a behemoth of a module and it doesn’t really make sense in a 7u 104hp case. I knew this wasn’t possible with the Rene2 or the Usta – I even specifically asked Frap Tools about it and was given basically a hard no on this feature request. I also couldn’t find anything for the Vector/NerdSeq/Eloquencer, and wasn’t sure for the ER-101 (which isn’t a real option for most people anyways). There are just so many musical ideas that open up with this feature.
I’m just trying it out now and I can see that it is brilliantly implemented. I hope this doesn’t come off as overly adulatory but the Metropolix is just the perfect Eurorack module – anyone who asks me where to get started, this is where I’ll point them. It remains true to the Eurorack spirit while still being incredibly deep, which sometimes feels like an impossible design balance to manage.
Sorry for the over-the-top accolades but you might have just saved me $1000 now that I can sell some other modules.
Since Metropolix already supports i2c expansion, is it possible it could support other i2c messages as well? There is a modest-sized group of us using i2c for inter-module communications and it has been wonderful and surprising how well it has worked together.
Some current i2c supported modules:
Teletype, Crow, and virtually all of the Monome modules
Just Friends and W/ from Mannequins
Disting EX from Expert Sleepers
ER-301 from Orthogonal Devices
Nerdseq from XOR Electronics (future expander planned and on roadmap)
16n Faderbank
TXo and TXi i2c expanders
I’m sure that there are more that I am missing.
I would love to be able to hook up the metropolix to my ER-301 and a 16n faderbank! The possibilities are endless.
I don’t believe much in the way of infrastructure is required. In the case of the ER-301, only 2 command types are supported and it only receives i2c, it does not transmit. It receives CV values and triggers on address 0x31 (though it’s configureable from address 0x31-0x35 and that can be changed with firmware).
Right now we are using i2c to connector to support our own family of Expanders (CVx/Gx). And we don’t have any plans right now to extend support to any other modules at this time. It does require a bit of work on both ends to make this usable.
It’s always in the back of our minds to see what we can do with i2C, but in most cases direct patching CV and Gate will get you better timing and is easier diagnose when something doesn’t seem to be working right.
With all that said, do you have a specific way you would want to see the Metropolix operate with other modules over i2c?
The one I believe would be at the top of the list would be to accept i2c commands to change presets. So a teletype/crow could sequence the preset order into compositions.
An ‘easy’ one would be to accept virtual CV values via i2c to augment the current X, Y, and Z CV inputs. So in this way, a 16n faderbank could (in theory) control 8 mod lanes for each track. EDIT: Another radical thought would be to use a 16n as a ‘stage expander’ to allow tracks to have more than 8 stages.
Another seemingly ‘easy’ one would be to copy channel A/B pitch/gate/aux values outward to a particular i2c address…kind of like making a buffered mult with the module outputs and i2c.
Open up the i2c interface for the Gx expander so that others may address and control it.
A ‘medium’ ask would be to increase the per-channel outputs (right now OUT A & B) with additional i2c outputs.
A ‘difficult’ one would be increase the track count and offer a C/D track completely over i2c. I realize that is a huge ask, I’m just throwing out ideas. It also seems like you have already somewhat implemented this with the Gx.
I realize that none of these are easy to implement and non-trivial! However, I believe it would generate a good deal of interest in those folks already using i2c.
I already provided the specs for the I2C commands used in the Gx and CVx in another thread, so far I don’t think anyone has used them for anything though.
The Gx uses a TCA6408A GPIO Expander. The address is 0x40. You just need to send a configuration 0x03 command with a value of 0x00 to set all the pins to output, and then you can write by sending the output command 0x01 followed by a byte which is a bitmask of the gate values.
Mighta found a teeny tiny bug…When editing CV for Track 2, holding ALT then holding the encoder does not reset the CV for every stage. It works correctly for Track 1 but not for Track 2…?
EDIT: The ALT > hold encoder command seems to work randomly for me at the moment, on both Tracks. Sometimes it doesn’t work, then I go and make some new CV and then the reset function starts working again. But then it might stop working on me a few seconds later.
At one point it wouldn’t delete anything. So I tried going somewhere else, did something different, then came back and it worked for the first deletion, but then stopped working again. Same problem with writing CV in mod lanes. Switching to some other screen then coming back to that CV screen fixes it, but only temporarily. It seems to work for the first deletion then it stops working.
Is it possible that my firmware has been corrupted? Do I need to do a factory reset of some sort?
Don’t think it would be firmware corruption, You can do an Init Preset… for a fresh Preset. At you on the latest firmware? 1.2.0.0?
Shoot a video of it working and not working to support@intellijel.com, we can diagnose there
What’s your clock setup? Internal/External? BPM? any EXT Clock Div? Just trying to see if there is any config that could be causing the UI to hitch up, tho it’s not something we’ve seen.
The Scale Shortcut Preset menu is very powerful. It would be amazing if the Scale Shortcut Presets (white leds) could be saved and be attached to a specific preset - rather than at present where the eight Scale shortcuts apply to any preset loaded across the device.
Furthermore it would be great if a factory scale preset i.e. Dmin9 could be ‘dropped’ into a User Scale Shot, named with a ~ prefix to indicate its origin - i.e. ~Dmin9, making it easier to establish a known chord progression into successive slots, and also aiding legibility at a later time. At present its difficult to know which scale preset has been applied when using the current display terminology i.e. C SCALE 1-2.etc.
Shortcuts and stored scales are saved globally outside of presets, I don’t think this will change. One idea would be to align your preset bank numbers with custom scales bank numbers and mentally link them that way.
It’s on the wishlist currently to have “scale import” to copy one of the existing scales into a user slot. Coming up with a non-clunky UI is the biggest challenge for this. Will add your naming request to the item.
Any chance of a delay menu option for the CV inputs to account for CV delay coming from external sequencers? I always find my other modules are slightly late and so any CV going into the X / Y / Z inputs always misses step 1.
Are you clocking them with the Metropolix? In that case there’s a bit of a causality problem because it’s advanced to the next step when the clock is sent out, so it’s already used the CV inputs to calculate what will happen on that step, so any CV they send out won’t be considered until the next one…
Adding a delay to the CV inputs would make them come even later, and adding a negative delay would be time travel !
