How to alter the gate length of notes like bounce
I'd like to alter the length of notes (note: not the gate length, but the actual time between when a note is triggered and when the next one is) so I can have the ARP play an alternating rhythm such as half, half, quarter, quarter, quarter, quarter (repeat), or more intricate or complex things. Ideally I'd like to have this be something like the way bounce works only instead of the note selection being altered, it's the timing/duration. This would allow rhythmic interplay with the lengths and offsets.
Is something like this possible with any of the current features? I still haven't wrapped my head around how it all works yet, though I'm starting to get a grip on it.
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I had to have a think about this one. The Rhythm Pattern ties are designed to eat the next note. We could look to change this but there are other factors in play and it might be possible to achieve the effects without using Rhythm Patterns. Legato effects, sliding between notes, is a tricky thing to do with MIDI. ARP is MIDI 1.0, so the only way to achieve this kind of effect is with Pitch Wheel messages, however this will affect all notes on a channel. It's a similar reason as to why microtonal scales are virtually impossible with MIDI 1.0. That said, different synths, that support legato, behave differently to incoming MIDI. If ARP is in MONO Voice Mode, the gate length of each note will be clipped; so you only get one note at a time.
If you set ARP to POLY consecutive notes will layer up. It's a case of trying it and seeing how your synth handles it when you push the gate longer than a single step length (see Time Division). Most cheaper MONO synths I've used will simply sustain the first note.
If you synth does slide the poly notes smoothly together, you can look at using ARP's Modulators or FX to change the gate length at different points in the sequence. I'd be interested to know how you get on and I'll add it to my to do list to explore further. Keep your thoughts and ideas coming, they are greatly appreciated.