Atom Piano Roll 2

AUv3 MIDI Sequencer and cliplauncher

App type: AUv3

App store link:

Developer: Victor Porof

Developer AB Forum Handle: @blueveek

See also:

• Atom Piano Roll Scripting and CSS
• ATOM Piano Roll FAQ

(App Store Text)

The most advanced MIDI note editor, modular sequencer and clip launcher on iOS.

Notes:

• This plugin does not run as a standalone app and require a compatible host to work.
• MIDI is not sound. To make sound you'll have to feed the MIDI into a synthesizer or instrument app. Bring your own synths!
• Hardware integration with controllers requires latest iOS version and iCloud Drive.

Tested hosts: AUM, ApeMatrix, Audiobus, BeatMaker, Cubasis, Drambo. Not supported by GarageBand. Performance issues from NanoStudio 2 on older devices. Limited support in Zenbeats.

Build live sets for clip launching, or an entire track with unlimited length. Play the whole sequence, or adjust the loop markers to iterate over a single section. Step input, or record as played, all with perfect timing accuracy.

Write your own code, share it with the community! You can control hardware devices, adding support for new controllers or completely changing the behavior of existing ones. Build your own styling with custom layouts and themes. Change colors, fonts, sizes… make it yours!

Piano Roll 2 takes all the features you love about the first installment, and expands them into an entirely new breed of modular sequencer and clip launcher, unparalleled in flexibility and depth on iOS. We redesigned it from the ground up to incorporate a plethora of new features and workflows.

• It's a sequencer that augments the capabilities of your host or DAW.
• It's a composition tool that helps you to write beautiful melodies and complex polyrhythmic patterns.
• It's a clip launcher that integrates seamlessly with supported hardware controllers.
• It's a scripting playground that lets you customize your workflow with code.
• It's a swiss-army knife of possibilities when working with MIDI.

Here are just some of the many use cases this modular architecture supports:

• Build live sets for clip launching.
• Compose patterns with touch, Apple Trackpad and Apple Pencil, or use the step input mode to write melodies step-by-step.
• Capture performances in real time and export your patterns as MIDI files.
• Import and edit MIDI files created in other apps, or from commercial packs.
• Record generated MIDI of other plugins or sequencers.
• Write harmonies and counterpoint melodies by superimposing the patterns of other Atoms as ghost lanes.
• Construct complex polyrhythms by taking advantage of custom time signatures and grid fractions.
• Sequence the sequencers for full modular mayhem.

from an AB forum post.

A couple of naming conventions in the world of Atomics, that hopefully helps people moving forward until all the videos and documentation are released

Organisation Clip A Clip is an instance of Piano Roll 2 itself, so every new instance loaded is a new clip, Piano Roll will auto name these accordingly.

Track A track is a column of pads on a connected and supported pad controller. Tracks are exclusive, if a slot is launched (See below) while another is already playing on that track, it will be unlaunched.

Scene A scene is a row of pads on a connected and supported controller. Scenes are kind of the opposite to tracks in terms of exclusivity, the row of pads on a supported controller will generally have a scene button, this will launch every slot in that scene at the same time.

Slot A slot is a pad on a connected and supported controller. Slots are grouped in to tracks and scenes (See above)

Playback Launching Launching is the act of launching a clip, launching may not be immediate, because it is not playback, it is defined by launch settings. Example, if launch settings have a trigger beat of 4 beats, playback will start 4 beats AFTER you launch the slot.

Unlaunching Unlaunching is the act of unlaunching a clip, again unlaunching may not be immediate because it is not stop playback, it is also defined by launch settings. Example, if launch settings have a release beat of 4 beats, playback will stop 4 beats AFTER you unlaunch the slot.

Play We all know this, this is when the pattern in the clip is playing, after being launched.

Stop Again, we all know this, so I will erm, stop.

(extract from the upcoming manual, posted by tk32)

Ableton Emulates Ableton Live-style clip launching. This means the clip starts whe receiving a matching note on, and re-launches from the beginning if it receives a repeat note on. The trigger and release beats are both set to 4 which means that clips will sync-start and sync-stop in sync with each bar (4 beats).

Launchpad Style (Synced) Emulates behavior of the Launchpad iOS App. This means clips start with the first note on, and then stop with the second note on. You can think of this as a ‘toggle mode’.

Hold (Un-synced) Clip begins playing whilst note on is held, and then unlaunches/stops when the note is released. Trigger beat and trigger release values are set to 0, which means this clip launches immediately when pressed. Stop on host scrub is also enabled to make this mode more compatible with linear DAWs like BeatMaker3.

One shot (Un-synced) Enables one-shot launching. Starts with note on, and doesn’t stop until it reaches the end marker. Pressing note on during playback jumps back to the start again. Trigger an release beats are set to 0 so that launching is instant.

On release Creates a clip that launches on note off. Might sound useless, but enables some highly creative setups.

Pick up Pick-up launching means that the pattern is permanently running in lock-sync with the host, but runs silently until it is launched. It is especially useful for patterns that you want to start mid-way though, such as a pattern that includes a lead-in/anacrusis.

Dark mode/light mode: Atom respects the OS light mode / dark mode setting. If using Atom in AUM, switch the OS to dark mode and reopen AUM to update. To change the OS light/dark setting, slide from the top-right of your iPad screen to open up Control Center. Long press the brightness slider and tap the “Dark Mode” button. This will toggle your iPad between light/dark mode, and Atom will respect that.

Velocity Editing: Bottom-right “process” button, pick “velocity”. Processing is on all notes if there's no selection, or only on selected notes if there is one. You can also add “chaos” in the same panel.

Looping without cutting off notes: If you have notes that extend beyond the loop boundaries, use “Loop With Legato” so that the notes aren't cut off when looping. Long press the launch button and enable “Loop with Legato”.

• Double tap select button to select all notes.
• Long press the loop marker on the ruler to select all notes within the loop.
• Some standards across all edit tools in the grid…….
• Tap - Selects a note.
• Long press a note - Toggles selection.
• Long press empty space on grid - Enables a marquee for multi note selection.

Scripting Atom Piano Roll 2 is possible. [PLEASE ADD INFORMATION IN THIS SECTION IF YOU CAN]

Documentation for scripting can be at https://github.com/victorporof/atom

See also: Atom Piano Roll Scripting

Extensive styling is possible. [PLEASE ADD INFORMATION IN THIS SECTION IF YOU CAN]

See also: Atom Piano Roll Scripting

Please add links to videos and tutorials

Please add links to related pages

Atom Piano Roll 2 Release Announcement – a must-read.