Digital Performer Users... Chunks question

[m.l.p.]

i have been looking for a software sequencer that will let me sequence similar to an mpc. on the mpc i can program a 4 bar sequence, then another then another and then chain them together in a song(basically drum machine style).

 

im using nuendo right now, and i've tried others and i dont care for linear sequencing. will the chunks feature in digital performer allow me to work the way that i want to? basically can i record separate four bar sequences, save them as chunks, then create a song by chaining chunks together.

 

i havent used digital performer since 96, so i'm pretty fuzzy on what exactly chunks is. thanks

[Stephen Fortner]

Short answer: yes, Chunks will let you do this, though you could also do it entirely in the Sequence Editor (i.e. within one sequence) by graphically arranging 4-bar musical passages as well.

 

Chunks really just describes sequences or songs as they appear in the song window, which is an arranger window for completed sequences and other songs. Yes, something named Song1 can contain Song2. I don't have much call for Chunks myself, as they seem to be a holdover from days when computer limitations supported a workstyle of creating relatively small bits, and then using some sort of chain mode to make them play one after another. But if you're looking for drum-machine feel plus a non-linear graphical way of arranging things, then arranging chunks in a DP song window is exactly that.

[Groovepusher Sly]

Yes, chunks will allow you to create as many phrases (4,6,8,12,16, bars etc.) as you want, then arrange and rearrange them to your hearts content.

I use chunks when someone wants to run sequences into DP from a workstation or drum machine. They don't always have the song structrue finalized when they first come in. We can swap verses and choruses, lengthen, shorten, etc. then merge the chunks in the song into a new sequence. At this point we start recording audio to the final "song" version of the tune.

 

Sly

[not Cereal]

hey, that sounds cool. i do a similar thing in pro tools, only its not as easy. i use grid mode and cut/paste w/midi to accomplish the same end result, but the chunk thing sounds like it works much better.

 

it sounds like a great concept

[Groovepusher Sly]

It is extremely cool. One of the guy's I was talking about, has a Roland XP80, he sequenced a whole song in the keyboard. When he brought it in to run into DP, I asked him, "Do we need to Chunk it up?" He said, "Naw, they're finished, just run 'em in, and I'll lay down some scratch vocals." So I ran 5 tunes into DP, played them back, then ran cassettes, and said, instead of doing a scratch vocal now, he should take the tape, go home and make sure the tunes were right, the way he wanted.

After he left, I sat at the computer and copied each section of his songs (intro, verse, chorus1,verse2, etc) into new sequences (chunks in song mode). You guessed it, when he came back next session, three of the songs had major structural changes that had to be made. We wrote the structure down (A-B-C-B-A etc), created a song, dragged the chunks into the song, and hit play. Much faster than cutting and pasting. Saves a ton of time when you're in the writing mode. Check it out,

 

Sly