With the lead track, you’re blocked at 3 notes per step max, which means 48 notes in total for, let’s say, 5 second of a 16 step sequence. But if you extend the step length by 6, it makes (3*16)/6 = a maximum of 8 notes for the same 5 seconds… Do I miss something ?
Ultimately I don’t really get the idea of limiting a track to a specific purpose… If I don’t need a arpeggiator ? Or a kick ? I just lost 2 track to nothing? Why am I limited to 4 notes per step in the best case ?
Sorry if my questions are stupid, I just got my opz today and watched a few tutorials
I think it’s 4 notes per step. Extending the track length essentially divides each step by the track length multiple (Track+shift+numeric key). You still only have 4 notes per step, but there are 24 ticks of quantisation that notes can be recorded to. Notes can also be nudged with the +/- keys while holding the step, but all notes for each step will move together. Ultimately, extended tracks are more useful for less dense phrases.
Dig in and learn the step components. They will allow you to repeat or move around parts of your sequence to get more versatility out of 16 steps. For example, a jump component with a value of 1 could be placed on the 8th step to send the sequence to the first step each time it is reached instead of playing through steps 9-16. Add a component spark to this, and you can designate how frequently the jump occurs and sends the sequence to step one, or continues to the end. I also don’t think the manual is too clear on this, but when setting your component sparks, you can press the same numeric value key more than once to cycle through iterations of the number (2/2 instead of 1/2, etc).
For the chords it’s 4, for the lead it’s 3… it depends of the track Which kind of annoys me because i don’t understand why. The step components are indeed really cool, but I don’t think it could help do what I want to do (basically having more notes in long steps), maybe with tonality but it would be very difficult to achieve…
Yeah the documentation refers that as polyphony, even tho this could not be polyphonic as you could play a note after the other within the same step. But that my issue, you really lacks of note in longer sequences
Well, you CAN place up to 24 notes/chords (on the 24 ticks) inbetween each step, but you have to record them live (and if necessary quantize them afterwards). Without recording live, yes, there are only 16 steps available/programmable directly at the moment, which can be stretched/doubled/varied via various step components. In combination with the master track you can achieve single patterns, that feel like several different patterns in a row.
For me the OP-Z is less used for “exact programming” but for unforseen surprises that complete my ideas and make them feel alive.
They likely gave a purpose to each track and added the polyphony restrictions to enhance the usability (by making it more straightforward to use) and also avoid note stealing while keeping the CPU usage within what is possible.
I find this incredibly frustrating too. Have a nice off-step melody in mind? Can’t record it - especially if moving steps by triggers. Any solutions to this gang?
I also don’t think the manual is too clear on this, but when setting your component sparks, you can press the same numeric value key more than once to cycle through iterations of the number (2/2 instead of 1/2, etc).
Pretty sure you can nudge steps by holding down the step and pressing the +/- buttons. The blinking on either side when doing this represents how “off” it is.
