GenoQs Machines Updates Octopus OS To 1.4 With BlackSea Edition
GenoQs Machines is celebrating an update of their Octopus MIDI sequencer’s OS to version 1.4 by releasing a special BlackSea edition.
OS 1.4 Enhancements:
• EDIT mode replaces Preview mode
In Page mode, pressing the EDIT button from default state activates the EDIT mode (previously Preview mode). In EDIT mode you can hold a step button pressed and directly edit its VEL, PIT and LEN via the circles and the matrix respectively. The velocity is shown and editable in the numeric quadrant of the outer circle, the pitch in the inner circle. The length can be adjusted in the matrix, by pressing another button at a distance to denote the length in 1/16th intervals.
• New GRID EDIT
In GRID mode, there is now the notion of an Edit state that is toggled via the EDIT button. The Edit state contains the traditional functionality of the GRID. When not in Edit state, the matrix buttons will act as toggles for the respective pages. This provides more immediate and intuitive handling of material in live situations.
• New GRID-TRACK edit mode
In GRID-TRACK mode, there is now the notion of an Edit state that is toggled via the EDIT button. The Edit state contains the traditional functionality of the GRID-TRACK mode. When not in Edit state, the matrix buttons will act as toggles for the respective tracks. This provides more immediate and intuitive handling of material in live situations.
• MIDI CC map resolution
Per default, MIDI CC messages are sent on each step, according to the respective track and step MCC values. In addition, intermediate CC messages may be sent between CC steps. This effectively increases resolution of the CC stream, resulting in smoother flows. In MAP mode, with MCC as the selected attribute, the resolution for the current track may be selected by using the chord button block. The minimum (and default) value is 1, meaning that one CC message is sent per step. A value of 5 for example, denotes that 5 messages will be sent for this step. The first one right on the step, the other 4 distributed evenly across the interval of time until the next step is triggered. The intermediate values automatically create a linear slope to the next value.
• Bank mute toggles
In Grid mode, the buttons in the MUT column act as bank mute toggles. Pages in muted banks will continue playing in sync with all active ones, but their output will not be sent out to MIDI. This provides more immediate and intuitive handling of material in live situations.
• Step selection stores
In Page mode, active step selections are stored for later recall in one of 5 stores available per page. This allows to group steps and modify them at once beyond track boundaries. The stores 1-5 are accessible while a step selection is active via the buttons labeled 1,2,3,4,5 in the MIX TARGET row below the matrix.
• Inverse step selection editing
In Page mode, active step selections are edited using the EDIT encoders for the respective attribute. Additionally, when a step selection is active, the steps that are not selected in the page may be edited as well, using the MIX encoders of the respective attribute. For example, assuming a step selection is active, the EDIT encoder PIT modifies all steps in the step selection, while the MIX encoder 8 will modify the pitch of all steps that are not currently selected.
• Step LEN multiplier
Steps now have a LEN multiplier, allowing them to play up to 8 times their actual length. Multiplier value is in the range 1-8. The step multiplier value is shown (and editable) in STEP mode in the transport area, using the pattern used for track clock multipliers. The maximum step length is therefore 8 full notes at master clock speed. The multiplier can be adjusted manually, and is computed automatically when recording notes in a track. This allows for recording long-holding notes to a much larger degree as before.
• Step LEN representation
In Step mode, increasing the LEN of a step will show a wrap every 12/192, increasing the step LEN to the next 1/16. In the past the representation was skewed to have the value wrap at 16.
• MIDI Clock may be echoed in slave mode
MIDI clock that is received while the machine is in MIDI slave mode can be sent out to the MIDI out, so other devices can be slaved along the same chain. When switching to slave mode using the 200 key, the default color of the 200 LEDs is green. Pressing it once toggles it to red, with a red setting meaning that the clock information is passed through. Note that the color of the 200 LED is no further used to show which port the clock signal is coming from.
• Step VEL and PIT attribute range increased
The available range for VEL and PIT offsets of steps is now -127 to 127. Previously the range was much smaller.
• SYSEX dump of all pages and full machine state
Two more options for SYSEX dump: dump all pages at once via the SEL key, and dump the full machine state at once via the EDIT key. The same results used to require several partial dumps in the past. Track clock multiplier queued for change on next 16th In Track mode, changes of the track clock multiplier are effective on the next 1/16th beat of the master clock and not immediately. This provides better track alignment and improves the general feel of the sequence without the need to explicitly align.
• Step focus shifting with step
In Step mode, a POS event will not cause the step in focus to change, but the focus will be shifted together with the step. This provides for easier step editing on a track that is shifting.
• Step event reset by amount of 0 (zero)
Setting the offset caused by a step event to 0 required disabling the step event. A step AMT of 0 will now achieve the same result. This means that AMT events become more consistent with the model.
• ALL NOTES OFF message
When the sequencer is not running but is defined as MIDI master or slave (the 200 LED is lit either orange or green), pressing the Stop button will send out an ALL NOTES OFF message (controller 123) on each of the 32 MIDI channels.
The GenoQs Machines BlackSea that adds a new coat of black paint on the outside and the 1.4 update to their OS inside is free. More information on the GenoQs Machines Octopus 1.4 update.
