At the risk of sounding even -more- elitist… I did UX for a loooooooooong time and as I wrote, I often intuit contradictions without having the proper words.
My problem with using pitch for colour is this: It’s -already- clearly indicated with the grid and keyboard at left. So no need to have the colour do so as well. That’s ‘belt and suspenders’. I also dislike the fact that having pitch for colour is a double loser because it takes away info I already had on screen (Velocity/Part/Channel/et. al.)
IMO, the colours should be used to indicate things that one -cannot- quickly suss out with the existing visual cues. Hence: Part, Channel, Velocity.
I’d welcome the whole ‘range’ thing on the virtual keyboard @left because, again, it would add -new- info that one couldn’t get any other way, while not robbing from the existing cues for Velocity/Part/et. al.
My primary need is to maintain focus. I -hate- having to hit a keystroke to get new info (like changing colours). I want it all there without having to select different modes.
However, since SB rarely if ever pays attention to these suggestions, take heart that my stupid notions have even less chance of being realised than your brilliant ones.
How does having the ability to color by Pitch get in the way of anything for you? It already exists and has been there for ages. Did it get in your way yesterday or last month? Like you, I never need to use that option, so I just ignore it. Having an option that I never select on a menu never gets in my way - it doesn’t “takes away info I already had on screen (Velocity/Part/Channel/et. al.)”. It would only take that info away if I used the option. If you don’t select it, it’s almost like it doesn’t exist. And if someone else does find the option useful & enables it, well great for them but that shouldn’t get in my or your way.
I gather you’ve memorized the usable ranges for all the different instruments & singers and can quickly sus out when you’ve gone out of range. I envy your ability to do that. But I don’t have that skill and would welcome a bit a visual help to let me know when the melody has gone too high for a baritone to easily sing. I guess since you’d know when that happens, it makes it illegitimate for me to want an assist.
Just because other folks may think and work differently from you doesn’t make the way they work wrong, as you regularly imply in your posts. You make a lot of requests for features that I wouldn’t find useful myself. But I don’t begrudge you for asking for a tool that will improve the way you like to work. But you seem to begrudge other folks when they ask for tools they’d find useful that you are certain cannot be useful for anyone because it isn’t useful to you, even though for the way the requester works it probably is useful.
As I wrote, if everyone else wants -five- ways to see the pitch of a note? Cool Breeze. I don’t take -any- of this stuff too seriously—certainly not -my- suggestions.
I never use the Pitch option for event colours because I already see the pitch on the left. It’s got nowt to do with my knowing/not knowing the ranges of the instruments.
That said, I would -love- if your key range idea was… again… on the left… as it works in every sampler where the range of notes is indicated on a horizontal virtual keyboard. I just wanted it implemented on the -left- rather than on the -notes-. YMMV.
I don’t like using pitch for colour because then I can’t see their Velocity without switching modes. And I get SICK of ‘switching’ between modes to see bits of info that I expect to see all at the same time. (Eg. see my previous post on having to switch Tools to select notes on different Parts.) In my ideal UI, somehow I can -easily- ‘see’ the pitch, the part, the velocity, the expression, etc., etc. of all the notes… ALL AT THE SAME TIME because I do orchestral stuff and I have to be able to manipulate all that crap all at the same time and it currently takes (as my daughter would say) fooooor-ehver.
First, Suntower, I love the little piano picture. It reminds me of that band called Pianosaurus that played on “toy” instruments.
I, for one, find all the Pitch coloring Cubase offers to be very helpful. If I’m using a chord track, the “match to chord track” function is great for identifying chord tones and tensions at a glance, and, the note velocities are easily seen on the controller lane below. So, I’m getting two different pieces of information in one view. If I’m working without a chord track, I can set up a custom set of Pitch colors, be it a basic two-colors (keyboard color match) or to match the Key I’m working in or to other patterns.
After discussing this here and mulling it over further, I realized that what I want is to have the Colors → Pitch selection to be able to “Save Presets.” This would allow saving a two color setting, as mentioned above, but also also saving other Pitch → Color settings to match chords or scales of choice.
This would be a very useful feature for many sorts of users. Music Teachers would be able to save Patterns for Scales or Modes to be used in lessons in elementary music theory. Arrangers and composers might employ this feature in myriad ways.
Will SB listen? Probably not, but if they did this I think would be a useful, musically relevant, addition to the DAW’s feature set and would add a touch of refinement to the program’s functionality. I’m not holding my breath over this.
But I wasn’t being entirely facetious. I think it would be -fantastic- if the keyboard at left actually -could- be colourised -and- it did a ‘follow the bouncing ball’ animation as the notes scrolled by. IOW: I think it would be -much- more helpful if the currently playing notes were highlighted -and- if they were colourised.
thanks Stephen57. true and I don’t know exactly why i posted that here. I guess I was directed by a search on the topic and then skim read. I ended up working it out but I just wanted to say thank you for your help anyway.
+1 … I use some custom scales, from Sundog, and yeah i would love to visually see if my notes are on or off key with a custom made set of color.
Yeah doin it is cool and easy but doin it everytime is exhausting, saving could really be USEFUL !!!
I’m absolutely serious. When you add a scale to the Chord Track the drop-down menu offers a selection of 29 different scales (I just counted). I’d love to be able to add additional customized scales to that list but as far as I know both the scales and chords are limited to those that are included in Cubase. Customized chords would be even better.
PS. What would lead you to believe this wasn’t a serious question? Or are you suggesting I’m not a serious enough person to be worth answering, which may have some merit.
Because it’s a quiproquo…lol
As we can’t put custom scales into the custom track, I was saying that I do use “pitch color” to map my own. And that not being able to save them is a pain in the #ss.
I thought you were trolling me because I (only) said I use custom scales (mostly from Sundog), my bad…
I think “custom chord track” would be heaven, but at last saving pitch color scheme would be a great trick.
never had to do this, as i’m a rap beatmaker…got no limit to stay in the “real world”…but I totally understand how it could be useful to oters !
+1 (again both for CustomChord Track and saving color scheme pitch presets.
PS: aahahaha my “to oters” thats so funny i wont edit it !!! Viva Otters
I don’t take -any- of this stuff too seriously—certainly not -my- suggestions.
Or are you suggesting I’m not a serious enough person to be worth answering, which may have some merit. 