SEQ - Sound tool / 4-track sequencer utilising built-in synth

SDK Development Discussion
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SEQ is essentially frame based 4-track/16-step sequencer with the Playdate's built-in synth

The tool was created during the development of the game oom to help with its sound design. It’s main goal was to quickly test the multiple synth tracks beats playing simultaneously on device.

SEQ can be really useful for development if you’re going for code-generated sound. This approach can make your sound design be more versatile and reactive and also drastically reduce the file size.

HOW TO USE

Menu items:

fps (frames per second) - change the refresh rate
fpb (frames per beat) - how much does one beat lasts in frames

Edit beats (dock the crank to enter this mode)

B - place/erase beat
A - play/pause

D-Pad - move between the beats

Edit Parameters (undock the crank to enter this mode)

B + Up/Down - change between the tracks
B + Left/Right - change the wave form
B + Crank - change the pitch

B + A - play/pause

A + Crank - change track’s volume

Up + Crank - change Attack
Right + Crank - change Delay
Down + Crank - change Sustain
Left + Crank - change Release

Hope it will be helpful or even entertaining to play with this little thingy :wink:
seq.pdx.zip (28.3 KB)

6 Likes
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Nice! It is fun to play with and make simple electronica tracks with. The UI is nicely intuitive too by switching modes with the crank dock. Any chance of the source code, or a way to export tunes? I realise I'm being lazy and could just stand up four synths myself in code. Ah probably should do that :slight_smile:

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Here you go! But that code is Balatro-style)))
Curious, how do you imagine export functionality to work? To what format?
seq.zip (94.0 KB)

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Hey thanks for the code!

You have a simple sequencer, next step would seem to be replaying a sequence in game. You mentioned using it for Oom? How did you translate from the tool into Oom? I can see it would be easy enough to do by hand I admit but I'm lazy. Json export of all the settings and 'tracks' so you can load that into a small player class was what I was imagining.

I found that Balatro stuff amusing. We're writing games, they're inherently messy surely because creating games is a process of experimentation at pace. I work in dull commercial software and even keeping that clean is a challenge, let alone solo game programming.

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synth
On the subject of synths I made a simple keyboard to try if it's possible to play with the crank and I think it works pretty good.

Select key with :crank: and press it with :b:.
Change settings with :d_right:

I think it would be possible to build a pretty decent pocket-daw. But my knowledge of synths and daws are limited.

synth.pdx.zip (86.3 KB)
(waveform not implemented yet but adsr works)

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Nice! Need to try these during the weekend. I've been waiting for someone to make some sequencer (or a tracker) for the Playdate. :slight_smile: :muscle:

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Oh. The thing is that oom is actually operating as a sequencer because it's kinda rhythm game. So all I needed is the parameters of the notes to play and that's why I created this tool.
But I agree save/load would be great! I already save in json the current state on exit and load it on start. So functionally – not a problem. But I didn't come up with elegant solution ui-wise :person_shrugging:

For me that Balatro moment was when the source code of VVVVV was published. That's what gave me the courage to code a game by myself!

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there's this thing Modular Play by Orllewin , not really a sequencer, but it can make some tunes for sure!

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Ah that's elegant and I can see how that works for Oom. As a fan of both Oom and Omaze I also have to say nice work on both those games which are also minimalist and elegant!

Right time to play around with the code then, thanks again!

1 Like