P10 Split/Stack Mode Observations

[Starkstrom]

The split and stack mode for the P10 introduced with OS 2.0.4 is very much appreciated. However after creating a bunch of stack and split sounds I started to dearly miss an option to independently transpose the A and B program to their most useful octave rang in a given split or stack context.

Of course one can transpose the oscillators to the desired octave but often this is not quite enough as frequently the filter cutoff needs to be transposed as well to match the original sound when played in a different range. (This is always the case when the cutoff is following key tracking.) In my experience it is very cumbersome - sometimes impossible - to match the so transposed sound to the original program especially when using filter FM (Osc B modulating the cutoff at audio rate using the Poly Mod section) as in this setup even the most minuscular cutoff tuning discrepancies will have an impact on the resulting timbre.

I guess the most straightforward way would be to offset (transpose) the incoming CV/MIDI/Keyboard per program. This way no reprogramming of the A/B sound is needed. Similar to adjusting the pitch bend range per program by holding down the Freq A button in the LFO section, octave transposing could be implemented by holding dow the Freq B button and pressing the in/decrement buttons to apply the octave offset per program.

If the above would also work in single mode this feature could also be used as a convenient octave switch for a program.

On a related topic… stack/split mode already allows to the set the A/B volume balance for a stack/split program by holding down the Preset button and turning the Volume knob. It would by great if this also worked in single mode allowing the user to roughly match the output volume across all single programs. (Actually I already use this stack/split feature as a workaround to do just that. See forum topic: https://forum.sequential.com/index.php/topic,5486.msg62556.html#msg62556 )

It would be interesting to hear how you guys feel about this.

[KenM]

Yes it would be nice to have a way to octave-shift one or both layers when using stack or split; for now, must save a separate version of the program(s) with oscillator pitch and filter cutoff changed. In that case, I'm storing the layer B program in the next program slot after the layer A program, so that I don't overwrite the original program that layer B came from. Changing the name of the stored program helps remind that it's a "layer B" program.

btw as a way to keep the two layers together on the computer, I've tried storing this sequence in one file:

MIDI control change 80 value 0  (choose layer A)
edit buffer SysEx dump for layer A program (with stack or split mode chosen)
MIDI control change 80 value 1  (choose layer B)
edit buffer SysEx dump for layer B program

Seems to work, since internally OS version 2 must have separate edit buffers for each layer (after the stack or split program is initially recalled, you can temporarily change parameters of one or both layers without affecting the stored programs, unless those are saved again). An incoming edit buffer dump populates the active layer, and an edit buffer dump request will return the program dump from the active layer.