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Add 500 extra arpeggiator patterns to Cakewalk


Starship Krupa

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(Crossposted in the Deals subforum because there's not 100% overlap in readers)

@scook (who else?) has unearthed a file that I've been searching for for literally years: The Alesion Arps . He's been kind enough to host it for download by the Cakewalk user community. The link is to the top level of Steve's page, because it has a bunch of other stuff that Cakewalk users should know about. It's the first link on the page.

These were created in the late (lamented by many) Project5, by a user identified only as "b rock." The website goes into greater detail about the theory behind the creation (and possible application) of these patterns. They were apparently derived from the patterns built into an (unnamed) Alesis hardware synth.

To install them for use with Cakewalk, place the Alesion ARP Presets folder from the .ZIP in your C:\Cakewalk Content\Cakewalk Core\Arpeggiator Patterns\ folder.

The next time you start Cakewalk and open the built-in arpeggiator's preset browser, you'll see the new folder, and within it will be 33 subfolders, each with 15 or more new arpeggiator patterns to use. Wish we could edit them, but for now we can at least double the number of ones available to us.

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Ok, i just followed your instructions and it works. I now have those Alesion patterns and can use them.

About editing. I'm not sure if i understand the intention but to the newbies...

I start with selecting a synth and a patch with a nice and usable sound.

Open the midi tab in the inspector and push the on button for the arpeggiator. Look under preset/load preset and choose one from one of the folders there.

If it is boring choose another one. You can shift to another preset while you're holding down the keyboard key.

Then select the synth-track, arm it, get ready and record what you play.

Finally select and rightclick the clip and use "bounce to clip" and you will have the midi notes to edit as you wish. By using only one key when recording you get the original pattern. Using two or more keys will give so many notes that the original pattern would be near impossible to pick out.

💩 I think i now know what the edit intention is about.

When i edit a recorded pattern and save it as a pattern in the arpeggiator menu it does not keep the change, it plays the original pattern. Which means it have to be saved as a midifile to retain the changes.

 

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2 hours ago, Kurre said:

When i edit a recorded pattern and save it as a pattern in the arpeggiator menu it does not keep the change, it plays the original pattern.

Right. I think the "presets" that exist in the arpeggiator's preset browser consist of the arpeggiator's current settings, including whichever pattern is currently active.

Arpeggiator patterns come in .PTN files, 1 pattern to a file. There are .ZIP's on the Technetos site that include all 500 individual .PTN files. Cakewalk can open them via the Open Preset menu. Presets that use them can be saved and recalled, but you'd have to repeat that process 500 times to have them all available for future projects. I don't know about anyone else, but I might not want to see or hear another arpeggiator pattern after the first hundred or so.

 The files in Alesion ARP Presets.ZIP save us from having to go through that miserable process, as they're already in Cakewalk's preset format, therefore ready to go complete with all intended settings.

Edited by Starship Krupa
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On 8/17/2022 at 8:50 AM, User 905133 said:

OK.  You talked me into it.  I will try the built-in arpeggiator again to see if it will work for me.

So, I did a handful of simple tests of the Remote Control / MIDI Learn problem I documented previously.  It still exists.  Until someone either fixes it (which I gave up on) or tells me what I am doing wrong, the built-in arpeggiator does not work for me.  😞 

In brief, I found a disconnect between UI states and actual functionality.  In other words, midi learned remote controls can be used to change the visual states (appearance) of the buttons, knobs and drop downs, but the functions do not change.  They need to be changed by mouse clicks.

This is probably not a show stopper for many, but for some (like me) it is.  Don't get me wrong--I like the arpeggiator.  In fact, the reason I spent a lot of time trying to make it work, and documenting the issue (and hypothesizing possible causes) is because I like it and had hopes that the disconnect would be fixed. 

Having looked at the Project 5 documentation recently, I suspect the code for for the arpeggiator might be derived from Project 5 and therefore is so deeply embedded (and built-upon over the years) that the issue would be a nightmare to try to fix.  Just a guess. I also suspect that newer features (such as automation) are tied into the issue.  Resistance to providing a midi data flow chart (so to speak) to show what happens with midi data "under the hood" goes hand-in-hand might somehow be related. Again, these are guesses.   

NOTE: I would love to be wrong and to find there is a simple setting such as a check box toggle or maybe a configuration parameter setting that would get rid of the UI status/functionality disconnect. So, if there is, please let me know.  I would gladly go back to using CbB's arpeggiator. I had some really good results with it. 

Edited by User 905133
(2) underscored that my suspicions are just guesses--I did not and have no desire to examine the raw code; (1) fixed typo (On --> In)
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On 8/17/2022 at 8:12 AM, Starship Krupa said:

(Crossposted in the Deals subforum because there's not 100% overlap in readers)

@scook (who else?) has unearthed a file that I've been searching for for literally years: The Alesion Arps . He's been kind enough to host it for download by the Cakewalk user community. The link is to the top level of Steve's page, because it has a bunch of other stuff that Cakewalk users should know about. It's the first link on the page.

These were created in the late (lamented by many) Project5, by a user identified only as "b rock." The website goes into greater detail about the theory behind the creation (and possible application) of these patterns. They were apparently derived from the patterns built into an (unnamed) Alesis hardware synth.

To install them for use with Cakewalk, place the Alesion ARP Presets folder from the .ZIP in your C:\Cakewalk Content\Cakewalk Core\Arpeggiator Patterns\ folder.

The next time you start Cakewalk and open the built-in arpeggiator's preset browser, you'll see the new folder, and within it will be 33 subfolders, each with 15 or more new arpeggiator patterns to use. Wish we could edit them, but for now we can at least double the number of ones available to us.

Sorry, but what I find at http://project5.technetos.com/download/Alesion_PTN_Construction_Kit.zip is an Alesion PTN Construction Kit not an Alesion ARP Presets folder and what's inside are PTN files not ARP files. I don't see any other links. What am I doing wrong?

Edited by Bill Phillips
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17 minutes ago, Bill Phillips said:

Sorry, but what I find at http://project5.technetos.com/download/Alesion_PTN_Construction_Kit.zip is an Alesion PTN Construction Kit not an Alesion ARP Presets folder and what's inside are PTN files not ARP files. I don't see any other links. What am I doing wrong?

Did you look at scook's site?

On 8/17/2022 at 8:12 AM, Starship Krupa said:

@scook (who else?) has unearthed a file that I've been searching for for literally years: The Alesion Arps . He's been kind enough to host it for download by the Cakewalk user community. The link is to the top level of Steve's page, because it has a bunch of other stuff that Cakewalk users should know about. It's the first link on the page.

 

Edited by User 905133
to add a quote from the OP that has the link with the ARPS
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On 8/17/2022 at 1:12 PM, Starship Krupa said:

(Crossposted in the Deals subforum because there's not 100% overlap in readers)

@scook (who else?) has unearthed a file that I've been searching for for literally years: The Alesion Arps . He's been kind enough to host it for download by the Cakewalk user community. The link is to the top level of Steve's page, because it has a bunch of other stuff that Cakewalk users should know about. It's the first link on the page.

Thanks a lot for this, Superrabbit 🐇, very interesting. I have downloaded and installed them and will definitely try them for my next melodic techno track.

The page on the B Rock website was very ambitious in its explanation of these. In summary, there are 32 different arp patterns and each of  those is also available in 15 different variations, truncated to shorter lengths to make it very easy to achieve polyrhythms when layering them on top of each other or other sequences. Cool!

It makes me think of the arp in U-He's Diva synth. It has a Restart parameter which lets you do the same thing, i.e. it allow you to restart the arp sequence earlier. Very useful for more organic patterns!

Edited by GreenLight
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1 hour ago, GreenLight said:

It makes me think of the arp in U-He's Diva synth. It has a Restart parameter which lets you do the same thing, i.e. it allow you to restart the arp sequence earlier. Very useful for more organic patterns!

Cool. Love to hear what you do with it. I love messing with arps for my 90's-inspired ambient stuff.

If you check out "Sensation," on my Bandcamp page (link in sig), I used retriggered overlapping arps. I found an arp pattern in Hybrid 3 where if I slid the notes earlier by slightly differing amounts, I'd get cool-sounding (to me!) lags and variations. All variations are still following the project tempo, but they sound like they're dancing around each other. It adds a random element. I started out playing it myself on my keyboard, recorded it, then nudged the note starts around.

Couple that with a sync'd delay....things get....interesting. It's a strange sensation. 😁

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6 hours ago, Bill Phillips said:

I somehow went to a Project5 Technotes site instead. I don't even know how I did that.

You clicked on the "b rock" link instead of the first link (to Steve's site). I put it in there to give credit to b rock and to show the deep dive for people who wanted more info.

Glad you got it sorted. Have fun!

I think that Cakewalk's built-in arpeggiator is a sort-of-hidden powerhouse. Now, thanks to Steve, we have double the number of patterns to play with, and they are more "out there" patterns.

I need to post this info on the Cakewalk Reddit....

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47 minutes ago, Starship Krupa said:

You clicked on the "b rock" link instead of the first link (to Steve's site). I put it in there to give credit to b rock and to show the deep dive for people who wanted more info.

Glad you got it sorted. Have fun!

I think that Cakewalk's built-in arpeggiator is a sort-of-hidden powerhouse. Now, thanks to Steve, we have double the number of patterns to play with, and they are more "out there" patterns.

I need to post this info on the Cakewalk Reddit....

Thanks for clarifying. I needed that:)

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  • 3 months later...

Okay, here's a mystery.

I just got a new laptop and I'm in the long process of installing all the ancillary goodies.

One of which is the Alesion arp patterns. I followed my own instructions, placing the folder in C:\Cakewalk Content\Cakewalk Core\Arpeggiator Patterns\ and restarted Cakewalk. They don't show up in the arpeggiator's preset browser.

It's worked as it should on two other computers. What's going on?

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Was it already set to the correct folder (and it's still broke), or did you change it to the correct folder (and now it works)??? 🤔

...not that it matters. If that didn't work, I've got no more ideas 🤷‍♂️

Edited by Variorum
To mention that I is dumb as a rock
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