1 Reply by ecb_pspseq

(16 replies, posted in Other Vintage Computers & Consoles)

Hey, PSPSeq creator here.  Hadn't checked around for a few months to see if there was still any PSPSeq chatter in the world and found this.  Nice to see a couple familiar names.  smile  I haven't worked on the program for quite a few years now but when I listen to the tracks some people made I'm happy with what I created; just wish more people had jumped on it.

As for the controls; yeah I know how they work and find them fast and intuitive but I wish I'd had more testers of the UI at the beginning since my opinion is in the minority here.  I think one key thing people miss is that the left and right bumpers can be used to change the rate of various controls.  Left bumper makes changes go way more slowly, right bumper way faster.  The D-pad is generally used for very precise changes and is also used in conjunction with the L/R triggers.

The other controls I think people miss is when you're in the synth editing menu where you see all the gen/fx/env parameters.  There's a few cool things you can do from there.  First you can control a single parameter for all steps, either locking them all to the same value or keep their relative values but sweep the whole lot together.  You can also do some interpolation of control values and randomization of control values.

There's a 1 page cheat sheet for all the controls in PSPSeq that comes with the download.  Here's a link to it directly:

http://www.dspmusic.org/psp/PSPSeq301QuickReference.pdf

Definitely try and understand what everything means on this page.  There's a lot of things you can do that aren't immediately obvious but let you make some really interesting sounds pretty quickly and take the UI from crazy twitchy to fast and precise.

I may still write an audio app for a mobile.  I actually started working on a Java port of the PSPSeq synths so I could run it in Android but the audio story on that platform is so bad I kind of lost motivation.  Also I just started a new job (at Beats by Dr Dre) and they are keeping me seriously busy so no time for fun music projects other than the ones I'm doing for my job!

If anyone has any questions I'm happy to answer; I may even do so in less than 6 months!  smile

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2 Reply by ecb_pspseq

(15 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

droffset wrote:

I'm just taking first steps with PSPSeq since this thread mentioned it. The youtube tutorial videos you have up are turning out to be really helpful for learning this stuff.  The PDFs are helpful too but it's useful to have the video running while messing with the program.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iNHUYH0YEI

Cool, glad they're helpful.  I wasn't sure how helpful they'd be since they're so long and everyone's so busy these days.  But as long as you have the time to sit down and watch they'll show you how to control just about every feature in the program.  How to use these features to make music is left as an exercise for the user.  smile

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3 Reply by ecb_pspseq

(15 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

matt.nida wrote:

Hey Ethan,

Good to see you on here and glad to hear that PSPSeq is still under development. I didn't mean to sound so down on it, the program is a fantastic achievement and the synths are *wonderful*, I just think some of the input methods could use a little refinement so that those of us weaned on other mobile tools such as LSDJ/LGPT and Nanoloop can get creating tunes quickly.

I haven't used the app in a while, I must confess, so I'll sit down with it in the next few days and post up my thoughts in more detail. From memory, it's the basic note/pitch entry that I'd fix primarily - even with the sensitivity controls, that analog stick is a really hopeless way to plug in notes. I'd suggest using the D-pad for this, a la LSDJ - so you press a button to enter a new note, then hold the button and use the D-pad to edit a pitch (e.g. left and right for semitones, up and down for octaves).

As I said above, my workflow general involves whacking in some notes and then refining, and general button+Dpad entry has to me proved the quickest way of doing this, so that would be my suggestion.

In any case, will report back when I've had another play with it!

Heh, I'd actually never used a portable music app like LSDJ before writing PSPSeq so I just sorta figured out my own way of doing things.  Looking back having that experience might have been useful, though I think there's only some natural crossover between the two worlds.

As for entering pitches, you can use the D-pad for this.  If you have a synth that is set for 12-tone tuning you use the D-pad up/down plus the L-trigger to move a semitone and the R-trigger + up/down to move an octave.  This is true both on the main sequencing screen and the synth edit controls.  The D-pad along with L/R trigger can also modify any of the other synth data in controlled steps.  One way you can use this for particularly good effect is with the WAV synth if you load in a drum loop.  If you use the L-trigger with the D-pad to set start/end loop points the location moves by 1/512 (I think) and if you use the R-trigger it moves 1/16.  This makes it really easy to make drum and bass as you can set loop points that align with normal 4/4 timing.  Does that make sense?  If not try it out; it's a lot of fun.  smile

I think your workflow would work well with PSPSeq as it's generally how I work too.  You can lay out the basic pattern in the sequencer screen then enter the synth edit menu (L-trigger+R-trigger+triangle gets you there fast) and modify each step to get the exact sound you want.  One thing that might not have been obvious is that you can jump from triggered step to triggered step by pressing the A-pad to the right while you're in synth edit mode.  The X value changes each time you jump from step to step so you know where you are in a loop.

The quick reference page included with all the documentation is really useful for this kind of stuff, assuming you can parse the nomenclature.

Looking forward to the feedback.

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4 Reply by ecb_pspseq

(15 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

zebra wrote:

I looooove PSPSeq. I really don't have any issues with the button combos, although the top of my analog stick fell off so it hurts my finger. As far as synthesis on the PSP it's the best, with several different kinds of synthesis and multiple effects... If you want to hear the program pushed to limit you should check out HS' Moon Glider EP on Running Jump Records (http://runjump.iiichan.net/main/).

The developer is very friendly and helpful and is always looking for suggestions to improve the sequencing side of PSPSeq. You should e-mail him some time if you have issues with it!

Hello zebra!

FYI You can buy a new top to the analog stick for a pittance:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Analog-Joystick-Sti … 4a9ede3096

Moon Glider is pretty amazing.  I remember when he started using PSPSeq and sent me his first FM demo I was floored.  I had no idea PSPSeq could sound like that, especially without any FX.

And yes I'm always happy to hear suggestions on how to improve the sequencing.  Unfortunately that part of the code is a rat's nest so it's not always as easy to change things to make life better but perhaps something can be worked out.

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5 Reply by ecb_pspseq

(15 replies, posted in Other Hardware)

matt.nida wrote:

PSPSeq frustrates me. The synth engine is deliriously brilliant (I mean, really astonishing), but I find the sequencing endless frustrating. It seems to me that what should be the easiest functions (entering notes, mainly) require quite unintuitive key combos or fiddling around with that horrid analog button.

Maybe it's just me, but my workflow is that I like to bash in a few notes, then tweak the sounds and fine-tune accordingly. My fantasy version of PSPSeq 4.0 would keep the (amazing) synth engine but really refine the sequencer input until it reachs LGPT / LSDJ (or even Nanoloop!) levels of simplicity. At the moment it feels back-to-front - it's very easy indeed to create an awesome, inspiring synth sound, but frustratingly tough to actually make something nice with it.

Hi!  I'm the guy who made PSPSeq.  Mr Lazerbeat pointed me this way.  I'm curious to know what exaclty you'd like to change in workflow with PSPSeq.  I know it's not great (particularly on the loop sequencing side) but I find it pretty fast to work with.  One thing some people miss is that the left and right triggers can be used to change the rate of change with the A-pad and D-pad for most controls (and also that the sensitivity of the A-pad can be reconfigured if you want parameters to move faster or slower).  I'm not sure if/when a true 4.00 release will happen but I should put out a small release with a couple workflow improvements I've done since 3.01.

That said, I do know I'm way too close to the design to know what's easy or hard or unintuitive.  Feel free to post here with your thoughts or PM, whatever you're comfortable with.  Glad you're digging the synths at least!  smile

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