Re: JamMan modifications

[Ed Drake <ejmd@erols.com>]

On Tuesday, Andy at SoundFNR@aol.com posted this to Looper's Delight which
seems to be from Bob Sellon at Lexicon:

>In a message dated 07/04/97  12:43:45, you write:
>
>>We have been considering the issue of different sized loops
>>simultaneously but are not sure of how to implement it cleanly. For
>>instance, if you created a loop in 4/4 then wanted a second loop of a
>>different size, would you want the second loop to be in a definable
>>relative time signature (5/4, 13/4) or just "tapped" in on the fly? Our
>>current software approaches the traditional multi-loop concept used in
>>Jamman (play the current loop then switch to the next one) by switching
>>"Pages". Each Page can have up to 4 simultaneous loops which change when
>>the Page changes. The Page changes at the end of the loop. How do I deal
>>with this if the loops are of different size. If I wait for the end of
>>each loop, the loops on the second page will be out of sync even if they
>>weren't intended to be. Any ideas? We have the capability to have loops
>>of different size but we have been backing away from them because of
>>problems like these. We also weren't sure how many people would use them
>>if we did work it out. Obviously there are some.
>>
>>If you have a preference on how you would like the thing to work, let me
>>know. I can't make any guarentees but would like to put this kind of
>>functionality in the new rom if we can.
>>
>>Bob Sellon
>>Lexicon/Stec
>>
>>

Bob, is there a way to offer both functions to the JamMan upgrade depending
on which "mode" you wanted? Obviously if you are in the "synced" mode you
would want all loops to be the same length. One thing I've found
frustrating if not impossible to do with the JamMan is if I'm playing a
rhythmic loop with the JamMan but I'm not synced up to anything (drum
machine, sequencer), say I'm just playing guitar and I want to switch to a
second loop it is very hard if not impossible get the second loop to be
exactly timed right. My timing is pretty good but but it still takes
several passes, if I'm lucky, to get the second loop to line up. This
limits trying to use this live. If the loops didn't have to be exactly the
same length though, you could switch loops and even if the second loop was
slightly shorter or longer than the first it wouldn't matter as each loop
would maintain its own "integrity".
There are times when I do want to sync so it would be nice to have either
mode available. Maybe there is a way to implement both depending on which
mode you want to access, synced or non-synced. What do you think?

Also, do you know what other new features you hope to have in the new 
upgrade?

Thanks  Ed