Piano Roll to Step Sequencer Bug

[Spekular]

Steps to reproduce:

1. Create four notes on the first four tombstones in a BB pattern
2. Double click the fifth tombstone to open in piano roll
3. Ctrl-drag to select the first four notes
4. Shift drag them one 1/2 note to the left (tombstones 9-12)
5. Close piano roll. Tombstones 9-12 should be lit.
6. Add a note on tombstone 6. Tombstones 9-12 should go dark.

This can be reproduced in many more situations than this one, it's just a specific example tat's easy to reproduce.

Related: #5902 (comment)

[tresf]

Piano Roll to Step Sequencer should be banished (or notes should be interpolated with some assumptions) 👍

This has been around for ages.

[Spekular]

@tresf "Piano Roll to Step Sequencer should be banished". Can you explain what you mean by this? I'm a bit confused.

[Sti2nd]

Me too, cause you are creating tombstones = steps in the B&B Editor, not anywhere near the Song Editor.

Confirmed, kind of. Only 9th and 10th step went dark.

Strange behavior. If you then click anywhere in the Piano Roll they appear again.

[tresf]

Can you explain what you mean by this? I'm a bit confused.

One should never use the piano roll to put steps in the step sequencer. The functionality of going to piano roll should be irreversible, unless through a potential "undo" action.

-Tres

[Spekular]

@tresf aha. That makes sense. In this case I'd actually definitely vote that double clicking is removed as a method to change to piano roll, as it's a very small/minor action for a rather major change. Even if undo is implemented. I'd also suggest we add some method to change panning in the sequence editor. I vote shift scroll. This way bb-patterns would distinguished by playing at their base note and having "infinite" length, but still keep the ability to change volume and panning.

[tresf]

I'd actually definitely vote that double clicking is removed as a method to change to piano roll

Well, perhaps, or perhaps we just switch it to a piano roll once a note is clicked.

-Tres

[Spekular]

@tresf I guess it's very "usable" that way, but I feel like it should be a more explicit change that the user has to more "actively" decide to do. And maybe we should add a button to add piano patterns next to the bb pattern and auto pattern buttons

[tresf]

add a button to add piano patterns next to the bb pattern and auto pattern buttons

I'm confused by this comment. Where would this button go? You can right click -> open in piano roll now or double click. Once a note is clicked, it should switch to a piano roll IMO.

[Spekular]

@tresf Oops. Never mind the piano pattern button, that was a stupid idea. I honestly don't know how that would work.

[Sti2nd]

It could be discussed if editing beat notes in the Piano Roll is supported or not.

To set the record straight, we did not create beat notes (or any notes) in the Piano Roll, we only duplicated and moved them in the Piano Roll.

[zonkmachine]

@Spekular It looks like the case you're describing has been fixed. I haven't been able to reproduce this or any similar glitches in master as of e40a6bc and I can definitely reproduce this in 1.1.3 .

[Spekular]

@zonkmachine I just tried, and i can't reproduce either. There are other issues, unfortunately
Moving a beat note off of 1/16th makes it completely disappear, and the pattern is not converted to instrument track view. In instrument track view, beat notes are invisible.

Should I leave these for this issue or close this and open a new one?

[zonkmachine]

Moving a beat note off of 1/16th makes it completely disappear

In the BBTrack, yes. This is by design. Only notes that adhere to the 1/t6th agenda are allowed in there ( in a 4/4 beat...)

and the pattern is not converted to instrument track view.

Same as in 1.1.3 . A BBTrack is converted to an InstrumentTrack when there are other notes than beat notes in it. It's not a new behaviour.

In instrument track view, beat notes are invisible.

😮 No?! From where I'm looking they're still there...
Can you describe more precisely how to repeat the issues you're experiencing?

Should I leave these for this issue or close this and open a new one?

Stick with this one for now.

[Spekular]

@zonkmachine Obviously we can't represent offbeat notes very well with the BB pattern view, which is why I'd prefer if we transformed into an instrument track whenever a note ca't be represented (regular length or not on 1/16). It's not exactly ideal to have notes that aren't visible.

As for invisible beat notes, this is what I mean.

The first track and second track are the same, except the second contains a full length note and has therefore been converted to an instrument track view. Notice the beat notes aren't drawn.

[zonkmachine]

@Spekular Sorry, got it now.

I'd prefer if we transformed into an instrument track whenever a note ca't be represented (regular length or not on 1/16). It's not exactly ideal to have notes that aren't visible.

I agree on this.

As I understand it this is two changes.

• Make beat length notes visible in ordinary patterns.
• Make 'off beat' notes turn a pattern into an ordinary pattern.

The second change depends on the first.

[zonkmachine]

Something like this?

@Spekular Are you looking at this or do you want me to have a go at it?

[Spekular]

@zonkmachine that looks good to me. I haven't looked into this any further, if you want to that would be great.

[zonkmachine]

Make beat length notes visible in ordinary patterns.

This was fixed in #3375

Make 'off beat' notes turn a pattern into an ordinary pattern.

This is the last remaining issue to solve then in order to close this issue. In PR #3361 I implement @Spekular's idea to turn beat patterns with notes that are not visible into melody patterns. It works fine but there could be better ways to signal this and keep the beat patterns. A different colour around the beat note frame for instance if there are notes there that are not visible. This is a fast way to fix the issue however.

[zonkmachine]

Unfortunately I had to revert #3361 so I'm reopening this issue.

[Rossmaxx]

Is there any chance #5902 fixed this?

[Rossmaxx]

Looks like there's a partial fix but let someone confirm.

[zonkmachine]

Is there any chance #5902 fixed this?

Not completely, see answer here: #5902 (comment)

[Rossmaxx]

How difficult is it to fix the remaining issues?

[Rossmaxx]

Re milestoned because this issue is almost stale, and we have more things to prioritise before release.