Hi Stoss,
I tried it out here and you're correct in that there is a flamming that sometimes occurs under the conditions you specified. The reason appears to be due to the way Note Quantize was implemented: all notes within a Quantize timing window surrounding the alternate 16th notes are delayed by the Swing amount. If you play the note later than where Swing will move it to, all is OK; however if you play it earlier than where Swing will move it, you'll hear the same note twice-- once where you play it live and another slightly later where it is moved to.
This implementation was a well-intended attempt by DSI to apply swing to unquantized beats, which unfortunately doesn't work so well. The basic problem is that Swing isn't really compatible with unquantized beats because unless your timing is excellent (mine isn't), sometimes your alternate 16ths are inside the "Move" window and sometimes they aren't, so it usually ends up screwing up your beats. However, it really doesn't matter. Just don't use Swing on unquantized beats. On all my drum machines included the MPCs, I never used this "timing window" method, so the Swing would only delay (add swing to) perfectly quantized alternate 16ths and therefore it never worked on unquantized beats.
Hi Roger.
Thanks for the reply. The bug I discovered here came from initially testing some simple beats that were unquantized and applying swing to them. I wanted to see how the method DSI put in place worked in real application. I quickly came to the same conclusion that you stated above. "Just don't use swing on unquantized beats"... because frankly, it sounds horrible. I'm actually surprised that this method was implemented. Not only is it ineffective at swinging unquantized beats, but as a bonus, it can't do what you had mentioned in an earlier post, which would allow for 16th notes to be swung while still being able to play triplets straight. It seems like the math to handle swing was put in place, but was then never tested to see how it actually works, particularly in the scenario it was a specifically designed for... unquantized beats.
This actually got me thinking about how all of this could have been handled that may have made for a better experience all around. If the parameters related to quantizing notes were a little different, I think it may have been easier to accomplish what everyone wanted. If these were settings related to how notes were placed and handled...
Record Resolution (1/4, 1/8, 1/8T, 1/16, 1/16T, 1/32, 1/32T): Chooses the recording resolution (or step locations) that your recorded notes will be recorded to.
Record Quantize (On, Off): Chooses whether the notes being recorded will have unquantized placement shifting data recorded. The length of shift applied is relative to the quantize resolution as it is recorded. For example, if you are set to 16th resolution while recording, if Record Quantize is off, notes can shift up to a 1/32 in either direction from the closest 16th note... splitting the difference to the closest available step location.
Playback Quantize (0%-100%): Reduces any unquantized placement shifting data globally across the entire beat by the percentage chosen.
...You would then be able to swing only the 16th notes located in the 2,4,6,etc. positions while still having them unquantized with the added bonus of recording with natural feel, but being able to tighten that up afterwards with the turn of a knob.
The scenario above is much like the Elektron Analog Rytm... but where the Tempest completely blows that product out of the water is by having available step resolutions up to 1/32T. The Rytm just can't touch the Tempest in terms of live performance recording because of that limitation.
Way to late for any of this now... but maybe on the next great drum machine!
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