chunk_chops

Compose new patterns using a set of meta commands to chunk existing patterns into a new one.

Provides two key-bindings in Pattern Editor / Tools

Render Chunk Pattern
Render Chunk Pattern With New Seed

They are available in the context menu of the pattern editor as well.

setup #

Create an empty track to serve as your chunk track
Name it as @
Have two FX columns

usage #

Type chunking information into your chunk track
Run one of the Render… commands mentioned above
Alternatively, enable Render / On Change in the settings (enabled by default)

chunking #

The first FX column controls what pattern to take the chunk from
The second FX column can control what lines to take

pattern commands #

You need to have one of these in the first FX column to start a new chunk

-Pxx : chunk from pattern at index xx
-Sxx : chunk from sequence step xx
-Uxx : chunk from xx above the current sequence step
-Dxx : chunk from xx below the current sequence step
-Rxx : chunk from a random pattern with seed xx
-Exx : chunk from a new random pattern every line with seed xx
-O-- : stop chunking (works like OFF commands for notes, without it the chunk will continue until the end of the pattern or another pattern command)

pattern flags #

Append to the front of an existing pattern command

S--- : only chunk a single line

line commands #

By default, chunks start copying from the same line where they start at. For example a chunk starting in the middle of the pattern will copy from the middle of the other pattern. You can modify this using line commands in the second FX column.

The first character will determine the type of line selection

--xx : the default mode, offsets by xx lines
Bmxx : specify the line offset in terms of beats
Lxxx : specify an absolute line number
Rmxx : start from a random line with seed xx

The second character will set what the xx values mean

-Dxx : start chunking xx below the current line
-Uxx : start chunking xx above the current line
-Rxx : sample random lines with seed xx (for beat mode only the beat will be picked randomly, the rest of the chunk will stay as it was, otherwise each line will be sampled from a new random location)

examples #

chunk from pattern 1

-P01 ----

chunk from beat 4 of the pattern at the second sequence step

-S02 B004

chunk from 4 lines below the current line from a random pattern

-R00 -D04

chunk at a random line from 4 sequence above

-U04 R000

chunk at a random beat from 5 sequence above

-U05 BR00

chunk completely random lines from pattern 8

-P08 RR00

copy a single line from 8 from the pattern 4

SP04 L008

additional commands #

There are a few more commands you can use inside the Vol or Pan columns of the first note column.

K- : keep the line as it is (useful for when you want to preserve some handwritten lines while chunking the rest)
C- : clear the line
N- : no rendering, everything will be skipped after this

If you want to protect an entire pattern from re-rendering simply mute the chunk track at the particular step in the pattern matrix (middle click on a pattern).

Transpose the chunked notes

Dx : lower by x semitones
Ux : raise by x semitones
Bx : lower to x octaves below
Ax : raise to x octaves above

Transpose the instrument of notes

Ix : raise by x
Jx : lower by x

If you want to cover more lines with the same transposition your can repeat any of these with zero for x, this will transponse to whatever value is at the top of the chain. For example this will raise four consecutive lines by 4 semitones.

U4
U0
U0
U0

OFF: you can put an OFF into the note column to write a note off across all tracks

track selection #

By default tracks that come after your chunk track will be modified on render. If you wish to render to only specific tracks you can use one of the following techniques.

Prepend a # (hashtag) character to the names of the tracks you want to preserve
| @ | chunked | #kept | chunked | chunked |
Every track that comes before your chunk track will be left alone
| kept | kept | @ | chunked | chunked | chunked |
Name your chunk track as @Tx where x is the number of tracks to modify after it (for example @T2 will only affect the two closest track on the right)
| kept | kept | @T2 | chunked | chunked | kept |
Name your chunk track as @G and put it inside a group, this will only render to the tracks inside the group | kept < @G | chunked | chunked | chunked > kept |

settings #

Track Prefix sets what you need in your track’s name to be recognized as a chunk track

Render #

On Change - enable to have your chunking get auto-rendered whenever you change lines
Watch Interval - ticks to wait before auto-rendering after lines changed (increase this if the auto-rendering is too quick for you)
Render - run a render now

Randomness #

Random commands use a seed to have randomly generated values stay reproducible, you can unlock this seed to have each render get a new seed, otherwise you can change the xx values after random commands to have a new offset from the seed (and so a new random output). You can also force a seed change using the Render with new seed commands.

Lock Seed - keep the random seed locked
$eed to Track - write the seed into the name of the track as $seed to preserve the seed for the song, otherwise your seed might change between project (since it is saved globally with the tool preferences)

Pattern #

Pattern Format - set how numbers are interpreted for pattern commands (decimal or hexadecimal)
Line Format - same for line and beat indices
Automation - toggle chunking automation info (this might not work as well)

Note: if you set a format to decimal but have a hexadecimal value in you chunk track like -P0A it will still get interpreted as hex.

Colors #

Change - enable changing the chunk track’s color while editing and rendering
Assign Edited - press this to assign the currently selected track’s color as edited color
Assign Rendered - same as above for the rendered color