Considering the motion under the section Articulation there a section named User. How could I save motions from midi editor? Is it possible to extend motions creating patterns to use to decore progressions ans the built in ones?
Hi @acorrias and welcome to the community. User Motions and Editable Motions coming in Scaler 3.3 which we are working on now!
Hi @davide,
Thank you sooo much for keeping up your good work and equipping Scaler 3 with more and more Features!!! Really amazing what Scaler 3.3 is able to do with the new Motion Workflow. The (in my opinion biggest game changer) I am still waiting for, and truely I’m waiting now since early Scaler2 - are the User Motions - Custom User created Midi patterns that can be bound to chords.
In the Release notes you are mentioning it as an incoming feature:
"User” has been renamed User Track throughout the track headers and Motion Browser, to distinguish it from incoming User Motions.
I roghly can estimate that it must be lots and lots of work, to finally bring some userfriendly solution, that matches single notes of a pattern to the ‘correct’ chord, in the sense of music theory… but I hope you and yor team will soon cut this Gordian Knot. Please first recover from all that hard work that went into 3.3.and if you feel, let us please know a little bit more about when we can expect to finaly holding this long awaited feature in our hands.
All the best, Alex
Hi Alex. We had Editable Motions and a couple of other huge features ready for 3.3 but they just were just a little complex for me to approve. We need more time on those but we should be good for Scaler 3.4 which we are aiming for Q4.
The main thing I wanted with 3.3 is stability and ease of use- trying to remove as many pain points for our users. I didn’t want to introduce another one with a complex Editable Motions flow.
Hi @davide,
Thank you for your fast reply and for the transparency, I really appreacheate that! I can understand your decission (going for stabiliy) and now I’m looking foward to Scaler 3.4 
Just one thought - if this feature is too complex or still remains as a “pain point” for an average user before releasing v 3.4 maybe the software can at least offer a mechanism for export and import of Motions, so that an advanced user can still find his way in editing those exports (assume it could be some json format). I mean that import/export feature of User Motions will be needed anyway at some point, right?
That’s the thing. It’s not that simple. We could literally let you drop any MIDI file In there if we didn’t need to worry about Motions following the Chord Track but we do. So there is a process to of identifying and pinning notes to Scale types and modes to make these Motions follow Chords.
So there needs to be a ‘guiding’ process where when creating or editing a motion you need to:
- Remain within an existing Chord length (so we know where to loop the Motion)
- Remain within certain scale/chord notes (to help maintain following any chord)
- Retain certain parameters etc
It’s this ‘Guiding’ process that needs work and I would prefer we all spend some time getting it right.
Edit 17.07.26: Hi @davide, I edited this post, to make some points more precise and better to understand
Thats exactly the point!
I mean the currenty integtated Motions where ‘handcrafted’ following exaclty that rules. This was not a simple midi-drop but a time conuming proccess for your team.
Why not opening the already implemented Motions data freely to the user base, and let them create, share refine Motions. (this could happen with a simple export/import feature as mentioned in my previous comment)
No need to worry about complexety of the exported data, a code and music affine user will defenetly understand and, in no time, build his own Motions!
Music has two big elements that can easily be handled with Scaler: Harmony and Rythm.
For Harmony we already have the freedom to create, share, refine - but Rythm (Motions) are still hard coded and sitting there “locked in” in the VSTs DLL-file.
My only ‘fear’ is, that the implementaton of a real complex ‘guiding editor’ can take really long (I do not know, how to call this new part of the software, but I’m referring to all logic and GUI implementation needed, to fullfill your thought on a ‘Guiding’ flow, to map a melody to chords with all the restrictions needed to transpose correctly)
Maybe in Q4 the feature User Motions still will not be approved, users will have to wait even longer… while in the meantime (if a simple export/import Button for Motions exist or if Motions would have simply been storend on the user’s file system an not inside the plugins DLL file) the community could already have been built hundereds of Motions. That will contribute to push Scaler to the front of music theory Software - not only for sharing harmonic but also rythmic ideas.
Maybe there is also a good reason, to not do that (keep Motions closed source/wait until an Editor is inegrated in Scalers GUI) , but I can’t think of one.