I really hope I’m wrong about this, but the three “Use random…” step components don’t appear to be at exactly 50%. Below are my findings, methodology, and a suggestion I emailed TE so we could change probabilities:
- “Use random trig”: ~48–49%
- “Use random component”: ~52–52.5%
- “Use random parameter lock”: ~73–75% (!)
So two of them are fairly close to 50%, but the parameter lock in particular seems significantly higher. I don’t own an OP-Z, but I hear they share similar step components, maybe they share the same probabilities.
These values were measured over 200 bars, with one run of 200 at 100 BPM and another of 200 at 120 BPM. Maybe the first two types of “Use random…” would converge to 50% over time, but the last one I doubt it.
I genuinely hope my measurements are off though, because I don’t see a clear reason for these probabilities not to be 50%, but this is what I’ve observed so far.
All tests were performed from the Aux MIDI track. I wrote a simple Web MIDI app on my laptop, connected the XY via USB-C, and let a single bar loop repeatedly, collecting statistics programmatically until I reached 200 bars.
Here is the methodology:
“Use random trig”
- Place C4 on step 5.
- Place C5 on step 13.
- Place a “Use random trig” step component on step 13.
- Play 200 bars, count the C4s (should consistently count as +1 per bar), count the C5s (should be random per bar, either +0 when skipped or +1 when triggered), and compute the C5/C4 ratio.
“Use random component”
- Important: remove all existing step components.
- Important: make sure velocity sensitivity is Off (COM → System → Keyboard → Velocity), so skipped velocities default to 100.
- Place a “Force velocity to 64” step component on step 5.
- Place a “Force velocity to 127” step component on step 13.
- Place a “Use random component” step component on step 13.
- Play 200 bars, count the Velocity 64 events (should consistently count as +1 per bar), count the Velocity 127 events (should be random per bar, either +0 when skipped or +1 when used), and compare the latter vs the former. Confirm that a skipped velocity comes through as the default 100, so it’s neither counted as 64 nor 127.
“Use random parameter lock”
- Important: remove all existing step components.
- Important: pick a CC to send (e.g., CC 10), go to the M2 page of the Aux MIDI track, and set that CC to 0 to act as the default when a parameter lock is skipped.
- Important: make sure parameter-lock smoothing is OFF in the Bar UI page.
- Set a parameter lock on step 5 (e.g., CC 10 = 10).
- Set a parameter lock on step 13 (e.g., CC 10 = 20).
- Place a “Use random parameter lock” step component on step 13.
- Play 200 bars, count the CC 10 = 10 events (should consistently count as +1 per bar), count the CC 10 = 20 events (should be random per bar, either +0 when skipped or +1 when used), and compare the latter vs the former. Confirm that a skipped parameter lock is received as the default CC 10 = 0, so it’s neither counted as CC 10 = 10 nor CC 10 = 20.
Changing the probability
As far as I know, there is currently no way to adjust the probability. However, the position of this step component on the keyboard suggests a “simple” solution. The random step sits on the last key of the “accidental” row (the “0” key), which leaves nine keys to its left.
All other “Use every nth–” step components (except the random one) can be tweaked by pressing them repeatedly, with the pattern indicated by blinking and non-blinking keys to the left. For example, selecting “every 5th trig” lights keys 1–4 and makes 5 blink, and pressing 5 again cycles the pattern.
If the same pattern could apply to the “0” (random) step, each key to its left could represent a 10% probability increment. For instance:
- Press “0” once → keys 1–5 lit = 50% chance.
- Press “0” again → keys 1–6 lit = 60%, and so on up to 90%, then cycle back to 10% (only key 1 lit).
There would be no need for 100%, since that’s equivalent to removing the random step entirely.
This would be straightforward if the current internal probability were 50%, but based on my tests above, none of the “Use random…” variants appear to sit at exactly 50%, or even a multiple of 10%. That’s not a deal-breaker: whatever base probability TE has chosen, the keys 1–9 could instead act as multipliers (e.g., 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8), scaling the underlying probability up or down to achieve the desired behavior.