Hi! First up, I love the Arp. It is a wonder addition to my personal jamming set & almost meditative in it's use.
I am driving the Arp via my NDLR. The NDLR sends pad CHORD midi data to the incoming MIDI IN channel (set to channel 5) via the DAW (I found that routing works well). I can see the incoming chords on the Arp. The default Arp algorithm then expands on these notes to the four Arp sequencers. In short, the Arp is set up as follows:
MIDI Control Mode: In
MIDI Input Channel: 5
MIDI Input Arp Mode: Arp Default
This works well when the NDLR is sending major chords.
However, I am unsure if the Arp's algorithm is smart enough to interpret when I do a chord type change in the NDLR or when I select a non-Major mode and scale (Dorian A as root with triads and 7ths being a favourite to mess with) based solely on the chord MIDI keys being provided. From listening, I suspect not.
Do I need to send MIDI controls to the Arp when the NDLR chord mode and scale change to align the scale and mode of the Arp with the NDLR?
Honestly, this is not a huge issue because I usually stick to one mode and root note, and the Arp seems to be keeping notes well enough to the passed-in notes. I am just seeking clarification on how the algorithm works on the incoming notes so I can hack things a little better. 😀
....
Finally, a pic of me and two friends making music. Guess which one is me.
Here's my initial thoughts...
You shouldn't need to set anything else up if you are receiving chord changes on ARP.
ARP will use all incoming notes to build its scale.
If you are using NDLR's pad track to send the MIDI Notes, check how many notes are in the chord. You could capture this in your DAW. Perhaps there are not enough notes sent to build the full chord.
You should see this highlighted on ARP's note buttons.
A couple of other things to check...
You're not in One Finger mode?
Steps >> Pitch Filter is off?
How many steps are in the sequence? fewer steps than the number of chord notes can have a similar result. Depending on other parameter settings.
Let us know if this helps.
A short video of the setup and behaviour can help see what's happening. If you don't mind sharing it here I'll be more than happy to try to figure it out.
P.S. Great to see your music collective in action. You're all great movers! 😁