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andym00
Registered: Jun 2009
Posts: 45 |
Your choice of keys for playing on 64 ?
My brain is fading and find it unable to come up with a descriptive title for this..
What I'm curious to know, is there a preferred standard amongst the musicians for where on the physical keyboard their virtual keyboard is mapped for playing notes live ?
I mean.. One row ? Two rows ? Top row ? Bottom row ?
And any preferences for other controls relating to that ? I mean with relating to shifting octaves with shift or suchlike ?
Just curious as I slowly put something together that hopefully won't commit every sin in the book, if possible :)
I don't just want to go with what I see as being the norm, unless it's actually what people prefer.. Whatever the norm actually is.. |
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Mixer
Registered: Apr 2008
Posts: 452 |
I think the main purpose is to get the notes to track data with minimal editing.
Jamming/playing live is a secondary thing to me.
I've used 2 upper rows from q to p and numbers from 2 as black keys, then also lower rows from z in the past and s-> for black keys.
Then it is good to make sure that jumping around or going backward/forward in the data(cursor) is simple and does not require complex key combinations.
There are, I am sure, many opinions on this.
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andym00
Registered: Jun 2009
Posts: 45 |
I realise most people probably don't want to use it to jam or play live, but it's something I want to get right in this..
Your keyboard preferences are the ones I'm kind of assuming are considered the standard actually, also what I went for without actually thinking about it, and can't for the life of me see any better configurations, but just thought I'd ask if there was anything better that's been used before in any editors or things..
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MC
Account closed
Registered: Jul 2009
Posts: 71 |
I use a Yamaha P90 stage piano with 88 weighted keys and a number of guitars and bass guitars to come up with bass lines, chords and melodies while leaving the unfinished track or sequence looping on my c64. Back in the eighties I couldn't play any instruments and just edited everything straight from the top of my head into the sequences.
There is however a small keyboard in music ass starting from qwerty with the top row of number keys designated to C#, D#, F#, G# and A# which is only accessible from the preset editor window. This is used to (tadaaaa!) test new presets.
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Wisdom
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 90 |
JCH's Editor used the Q and numbers rows as well. If I'm not mistaken, DMC's layout was also similar. I stumbled a program or two, where they used A/Q rows as white/black key rows, which felt a little awkward after getting used to Q/numbers for so long. Besides, it is wasteful in terms of keyboard layout, in my opinion.
Employing both Q/numbers and Z/A rows at the same time would cover a wider range, and thus, is immensely useful. A set of keys near to this layout for switching octaves would be also nice.
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Stainless Steel
Registered: Mar 2003
Posts: 966 |
I use the standard SDI keymapping which i guess is pretty much like JCH etc.
I've got an external usb korg nano keyboard (which totally sucks ass btw) for chords and stuff.
I dont use the jam mode in the editor but just lay down the notes and keep hitting play to hear the pattern. |
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andym00
Registered: Jun 2009
Posts: 45 |
So if it was to be Q & Numbers and (maybe optionally) Z & A row as well, which keys would be favourable for quick access to incrementing and decrementing the current octave ?
The Q & Numbers row does seem to be the most supported from my lookings so far and from what I see hear.. I guess that's also the Commodore Music Maker keyboard mapping as well ?
Adding MIDI support is a definite, although I guess the number of people in a position to actually use it will be minimal, if not quite zero.. Though I do quite fancy adding support for MIDI controllers as well if only for some personal noodle adventures :) |
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Wisdom
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 90 |
Regarding the octave keys; I think it would be best to make them configurable, as probably everybody will have a different opinion about what might be the most convenient setting. The <- and 1 keys seem suitable for quick and convenient access though. |
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andym00
Registered: Jun 2009
Posts: 45 |
Hmmm, now why didn't that cross my mind to just make the entire thing user-configurable from the keys point of view..
But <- and 1 as octave shifts do work rather well, better than my choices anyway..
Oh well, an entire keyboard config page to write now :)
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