Is there a way to quantize pitch bend to a musical interval, not time?

[Jim]

In the old DX7, it was possible to program pitch bend so that the bend wasn't fluid and notes wouldn't glide in a smooth linear fashion, but could be made to "step" or jump to musical intervals, like a third, a fourth, a fifth, and so on, with an octave at the extreme end of a pitch bend wheel's excursion.

There may be a term for this that eludes me, making it hard to consult the manual.

Perhaps this is something that would have to be programmed in the VI as opposed to the DAW.

I think the answer is "No," but maybe one of you elders knows better.

[sethares]

Possibly you are thinking of the "pitch bend range" parameter. This would be in the VI (in the old days, it would be in the synth module). It would usually be set to a small number like 1 or 2 (1 meaning the pitch bend wheel goes up and down a semi-tone, 2 meaning it goes +/- whole tone). If you set it to something large (like 12 or 24) then the wheel would bring you up or down and octave or two. Since the physical resolution of the pitch wheel is limited, the latter case would often be stair-stepped, which may be what you are remembering. Typically, such stair-stepping would be considered a bad thing, but for special effects it could be useful.

[Jim]

"Stair stepping" sounds like a good term to describe it. In certain applications, it can sound like an arpeggio. I'm remixing a piece I constructed more than 20 years ago in which I used that effect. The FM4 in Kontakt Komplete has a sound close to my original patch, but without the stair-stepping pitch bend.

Thanks for pitching in, Professor!

[bayswater]

I can’t look for it right now, but isn’t there an option to change the resolution of controller events in DP, or maybe I’m confusion that with changing the resolution of their timing.

[Jim]

I can see how this could be a challenge in the DAW side, but not insurmountable, given the math.

PB Range is set in the instrument. Some give options between 1 and 24 semi-tones. So, the DAW would have to "know" the PB range of the instrument in order to divide the range of +/- 8192 into steps.

If we assume a PB range of one octave / 12 semi-tones, the PB CC values would be limited to increments of 682.666. That should be a breeze for an algorithm.

But, as pointed out, maybe the desire to have this as a feature wouldn't warrant the time spent coding it. However, as developers are continuously looking for features to add to apps that are already near perfect...

This could inspire a new thread: What would you like to see in DP that isn't already in it?

[HCMarkus]

"Stair stepping" sounds like a good term to describe it. In certain applications, it can sound like an arpeggio. I'm remixing a piece I constructed more than 20 years ago in which I used that effect. The FM4 in Kontakt Komplete has a sound close to my original patch, but without the stair-stepping pitch bend.

I think the DX7 used to call it "Glissando" mode. A cool effect.

The thing that makes it a bit complicated is the interaction between pitch bend messages and the associated VI. The size of each stair step would need to vary depending on the max pitch bend range set in the VI. Setting the VIs max range to one or two octaves plus/minus is probably a good idea.

If you are seeking to replicate the effect in a project, you could create a stair-step pitch bend graphically in DP. I'd suggest doing so in one spot for the maximum range of pitch required (set the VI to respond to that range), then copying and pasting wherever the effect is desired; you can edit the range and scale time as necessary for each place the effect makes an appearance.

You could make a small library of pitch bend effects that would cover all the situations that arise in the project.

[Jim]

I messed around with Thin Continuous Data, and went from this:

Screen Shot 2023-02-03 at 1.29.45 PM.png (84.87 KiB) Viewed 420 times

To this:

Screen Shot 2023-02-03 at 1.30.24 PM.png (62.29 KiB) Viewed 420 times

That approximates the effect, but finding the value to insert into the Maximum Value Change field is going to take some math or trial and error.

[James Steele]

I've never tried this. I think HC is on track here in that once you figure it out you might be able to make clippings of pitch bend values that correspond to different intervals and then drag them onto a track.

I'm low tech about this. I guess what I would do is record a long sustained note on one MIDI track, then rec-enable a second MIDI track, put that in record and then move my pitch bend wheel until it reached the pitch I wanted and hold it steady for a while, then go into the MIDI editor and select one of the pitch bend events in the "clump" where it was more or less maintaining the pitch I wanted and note the value of that event. You could then use the pencil tool to add a pitch bend event manually, select it, and then type in the exact desired value.

I'm not in front of DP at the moment, but seems like once you have an isolated, single pitch bend event in an empty MIDI track, you could select that event and add it to a global clippings window and name it for the note interval, and then in the future perhaps drag that clipping into a MIDI track? Of course, different VIs or external MIDI devices, may respond to pitch changes differently and what might equal a m3 on one VI, might not be a m3 on another.

[HCMarkus]

How 'bout this:

Set your VI synth to respond to Max PB with a One Octave Shift.
In Sequence Editor, place one octave of chromatic ascending whole notes in a stair-step pattern
Draw a straight PB Line from 0 (mid point) to Max over the time range of the chromatic notes.
Vertically Scale the display so the chromatic notes fill the vertical area of display for the track
Use the notes as a guide as to where to put each step in the PB data.

The above assumes PB Data maps linearly as displayed to PB Depth in the VI.

Is there a stair step version of the pencil tool? If there is, that might be nice to use.

[James Steele]

Sounds like a better plan.