My hunch is that mixing pre and post together using two knobs would result in some weird phasing issues. Ribbons has a reverb/resonator sibling in the works that has more controls and focuses more processing power on the reverb.
It would be possible to merge speed and direction onto the same knob (noon would be ‘stopped’, fully clockwise 2x forward, fully counterclockwise 2x backward). But then we’d have two unassigned knobs for the looper. Currently, the looper is just about maxing out CPU when all four loops run simultaneously, so feature requests relating to it are sort of tricky – I am open to requests for the one unassigned knob but it will need to be something with pretty minimal overhead (e.g. changing the quantization scales or something of that nature).
So there are two types of presses:
Momentary – just a quick tap of the footswitch, less than 0.25 seconds. A momentary press latches the Touch effect in tape mode (or latches your recording in looper mode). A second tap unlatches it.
Sustained – Holding down the footswitch for more than 0.25 seconds. Sustained presses activate while pressed and stop when released.
What I think you’re pointing out is that the 0.25 second threshold is too short, so it basically prevents you from latching. I can collect some more data on this and fine tune it.
Yes, so in Touch Mode 1 (MD) Ribbons is constantly recording to a 1 second loop. When you press the touch footswitch it starts to play back the loop using 4 read heads. It’s up this way so you can do things like freeze / drone notes and chords with a single action (sort of like EHX’s Freeze pedal).
You know all my secrets! This is possible but the short answer is that it probably won’t be a feature of Ribbons. There is a reverb/resonator sibling pedal in the works that does way more with the reverb (including infinite verb).
Like the static/clicks and pops to be more extreme? Or another parameter?
I wrote the Tape Stop code quite awhile ago and it was implemented in a way that doesn’t allow attack and release times to be changed mid-stop or start. I have some new tricks up my sleeves and plan to re-write it so that it can do exactly what you’re mentioning here! This is a bigger lift but it will get done eventually.
Originally I set things up so the parameters could be modified in a “relative” way but there was something about it that I really didn’t like (fml - I can’t remember what it was and am not finding any notes on it). I’ll add this to my backlog of things to revisit.
With buffered bypass, Ribbons will continue to play reverb trails and magnetic dance when the effect is bypassed but new incoming audio will be dry / not affected.
I guess that makes sense for reverb? I feel like I’ve seen both in action, but maybe not. I do think it would be cool if the bottom knob added something other than Pre/Post.
Ehh… I feel like this would be weird with the middle position unless it is notched. But maybe another parameter or effect?
Ah! Yeah, maybe closer to .5 second? I was (per a demo video) wearing socks, so I’m guessing the press time could have been slightly on the longer side.
For me, if I’m wanting to sample a 1 second loop, I might want to be able to nail down the start time of said loop instead of just trying to line that up with the beginning of a loop that started 1 second before I hit a button. It was kind of weird with guitar, but I get it for grabbing a sustained note from a synth.
Yep, you’re right that it’s non traditional. For me the idea is: as tape degrades it loses more high frequency response, so as you turn up the knob clockwise you lose treble and get more of an aged sound. I think this could be set up differently but only if it weren’t called “tape age.”
@randycrouton mentioned this too. Short answer is that there’s not enough processing power left to run them simultaneously. One thing that could be done (in theory) – if loops are running and you jump back into tape mode, the Touch footswitch becomes a tape stop effect for all four loops (but not incoming audio). This would be less CPU intensive.
That’s exactly what I would want! I think it would be totally fine (and great) if the touch modes effected incoming audio in regular mode, and only effected the looped audio in looper mode. I can imagine many situations where I would record in audio to “load up” the loops, and then mostly manipulate playback.
having a lot of fun in loop mode, would love more gradation/steps to the pitch knob, also maybe a way to clear all loops ? or is that just switching back to tape mode
also is it just me or is the reverb incredibly quiet? also seems locut at like 150hz. I just cant rly hear it.
I love this pedal, Jaak! I have very little experience with complex digital pedals but the learning curve didn’t seem nearly as steep as I anticipated.
A few initial impressions…
I think the LP filter knob would make more sense reversed.
Having the knob functions labeled with the first page’s info was a little confusing at first but then I got used to it. The 4 pages don’t seem very hierarchical when you’re using it, so it seems a little confusing to have the first page info printed on the enclosure. It seems to imply that page one’s functions are primary functions but the knobs each seem to have four functions that are of equal priority, rather than a primary function and three alternate functions. Maybe others see that differently.
It’s probably not possible but it’d be cool to be able to “play” the chord table chords in magnetic dance with a MIDI controller or something, rather than being limited to turning the knob. Maybe I’m overestimating the possibilities, but my initial thought would be that you could make a song out of playing the “chords.”
Also maybe not possible, but I wonder if there would be a way to have more control over what you’re looping in magnetic dance mode. “Previous second” is fun but it’d be nice to be able to control the start point (and possibly the end point.)
This has become a common request. Should be in the next firmware update!
When designing the front panel, I made up with this requirement that “the knobs should display four parameters that hint at some key things Ribbons is capable of”. This may feel inviting but it prevents any sort of hierarchical / thematic layout for the parameters. I realize now that this thematic layout is pretty important for Ribbons and I’d like to address it. We’ve got some good ideas going about how to resolve this on this thread. Feel free to chime in there if you have more to add or, at the very least, vote on the polls going there.
This is possible with the current setup. I could add another notch to the chord table called “midi” or something. I’d just have to decide what to do about the 4-voice sine synth, which also responds to MIDI note-on/off data. I could ditch the 4-voice synth all-together in-exchange for this feature or just disable the synth when the “midi” option is selected from the chord table. I’ll add this to the feature request list and prioritize it if it’s something others are interested in.
Someone else mentioned something similar to this. It’s totally possible but I think I need some more encouragement to change it. I like the current implementation of MD because a single-action produces an immediate output/reaction. Sort of like an EHX freeze pedal. I could change it to a two-action process where you can hold or tap to define the start point but that would break from the other touch modes being single-action / immediate reaction.
Sadly, the touch/bypass LEDs are just Blue / Green. I’m using a 16 channel LED driver chip inside the pedal and RGB leds. 3 led colors x 6 leds = 18 channels, which is two too many! I dropped the red channel on both touch footswitches because of this.
In general, I feel like they’re pretty distinct but if others report similar feelings, I could try to dial it in or try a different approach.
I did claim that “everything is controllable via CV/MIDI”. I guess I forgot about the touch footswitch! I’ll add this to my to-do’s. Do you have a model # for a sustain pedal that you like?
Totally possible and a cool idea but I think I’m going to reject this. I can’t think of another button combo to implement it.
A great idea but hard to manage with a CV/Exp input. It would be much easier to manage with a MIDI Clock. It would be a big project to add clocking/synchronization to all the DSP blocks but I could see it being pretty cool. I’ll add this to the feature request list and think about how it might work.
I’ll play around with this and see what I find. How were you using the pedal – mono in / mono out ? stereo in / stereo out? Make sure you have the mix settings set correctly for your setup.
See my response to @mount_curve below. I did try a relative/less jumpy approach once upon a time, I just remember there was something awkward about it. Can’t recall now though! I will do “jump” or “relative” but not both. There are already enough menus and not enough combo presses to allow the user to change a setting like this.
Unless something is wrong, I feel like ‘nonexistant’ might be a little exaggerated but I agree it does seem to get quieter. Can you send me an audio clip (text or IG message is cool)? Just want to make sure something isn’t wrong.
Ah! I got you. I’m starting to feel like the ‘unassigned’ looper knob would be great for choosing a scale (no scale, chromatic, fourths, fifths, octaves, octaves + fifths). Maybe that seems uneventful but Ribbons is currently maxed out at 95% with all four loops running simultaneously and additional looper features are tricky.
well i just feel like the knob could be stepless entirely like a real pitch shifter knob on a 4 track tape recorder, it doesnt rly need to be constrained to a scale (tho personally id really rather it didnt)
1st IMPRESH - THE SOUND
Had my first go with this thing and WOW. The sound is really, REALLY good, which is the whole point right !?
I ran a Prophet X through it, which has a sterile digital character and this thing made it sound warm & lush.
1st IMPRESH - THE TOUCH MODES
MAGENETIC DANCE is simply amazing. The best freeze function I’ve ever used. Better than the Particle, in my opinion. Very useful!
TAPE STOP made my wife’s jaw drop. Don’t know how much I’ll actually use it, but it works well. Still wrapping my head around how it winds back up!
BROKEN MACHINE was interesting. Mostly got lots of very (very!) high pitched squeaks and squawks, but it looks like it’s capable of more than that, so I probably just need to get better with it.
1st IMPRESH - THE LOOPER
The Looper is super, dooper neat. I’m not a big looper guy, but the fact that it’s asynchronous AND has speed functions had me creating all kinds of actually useable nonesuch.
As has been mentioned … if the touch modes could effect the loops OR if the touch modes could be resampled into the looper, this thing would be sent into the stratosphere, but I understand you got limitations.
1st IMPRESH - THE FILTERS
Is it just me or does having a LP … AND an HP seem unnecessary? I personally found myself coming up with really cool sounds and wanting to add resonance to the LP to really craft them. Not sure if adding resonance is even an option or whether other people found the HP helpful? I never seemed to use it.
1st IMPRESH - CONCLUSION
For a beta version, this thing performed incredibly well. No lockups. Handfuls of sounds I’ve never gotten out of any other single piece of gear. Super dig it. Kudos to you Mr. Jensen!
This is directly how I have started to use it in my productions. Build a loop layer, then go back to mess with the amount of compression, tape effects, and filters. Adding on the tape stop would be a great way to add some additional texture.
Busy week here and just getting some time with Ribbons. Mainly just chiming in to say this is a really fun unit, and I think your inclusions throughout are excellent. I’ve played a ton of lo-fi modulators like this (Gen Loss, Bygones, Golden Era, etc. etc.) and this one packs the most into it for sure. Will offer some more constructive feedback as I encounter it, but lots of good suggestions has already been covered.
I dropped the red channel on both touch footswitches because of this.