Momentary snapshot switch

[zooey]

It'd be cool if you could make snapshot switches momentary, like you can stomps. Idea would be that that snapshot would be live as long as you held the switch down, then the previously active one would kick back in.

 

Use is the same as momentary stomps, but for full snapshots.

 

Worth putting on IdeaScale?

[PeterHamm]

I don't know. I haven't seen anybody else ask for this. I wouldn't use it but would vote it up I think.

[HonestOpinion]

It'd be cool if you could make snapshot switches momentary, like you can stomps. Idea would be that that snapshot would be live as long as you held the switch down, then the previously active one would kick back in.

 

Use is the same as momentary stomps, but for full snapshots.

 

Worth putting on IdeaScale?

 

Yes! This would be incredibly useful for going to a short lead or fill and not having to worry about stomping the correct footswtch to come out of it back into the rhythm or whatever, you would just release the switch. I could see this becoming my preferred method with any song that did not have a longer lead. Would also be fantastic for up-tempo tunes where your switching has to be fast and timed perfectly.  It would be great as well on songs/presets that require more tap-dancing with multiple snapshots switches. I am 100% for this as long as it does not add audible switching latency between snapshots. This is one of the best and most useful ideas (to me) that I have heard recently. Would be awesome and I would use it frequently!    :)

[mikeolivercgp]

Yes... please post this idea to IdeaScale. Something that might make implementing this idea difficult (which might be 'why' it's not a feature of snapshot) is deciding to which state Helix should return after depressing a momentary snapshot switch. What might work well is to return to whatever snapshot was previously active when the momentary snapshot switch is released. Thanks!

[HonestOpinion]

Yes... please post this idea to IdeaScale. ...

 

Seconded!

[talwilkins]

YES! 

I use this for a preset. Now I need to switch to stomp mode to get the feature.

Not a disaster in this case because i could get all needed features for this song in Stomp Mode but having it in Snapshot mode would lift a lot of restrictions.

[MusicLaw]

Awaiting the IdeaScale Link to add an affirmative Vote....

[zooey]

Sorry for the delay, here's the IdeaScale item: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Momentary-Snapshots/896192-23508

 

Vote away!

 

There are also some questions about exactly how it should work, feel free to discuss, there or here. (Not that you need my permission... anyway...)

[duncann]

How about a variation of your idea. Instead of the current eight snapshot limit, increase it to sixteen, or two snapshots per switch (unless your intention is to have sixteen snapshots but just didn't mention it?). Then each snapshot switch could be either latching or momentary.

[zooey]

Sorry duncann, I'm not following you.

My idea was just this:

1. Snapshot B is configured as momentary
2. You're on snapshot A
3. You step on B
4. B becomes active
5. As soon as you take your foot off B, Helix reverts to snapshot A

The behavior is the same if you started on snapshot D -- when you let go of momentary snapshot B, Helix reverts to the previously active snapshot, D in this case.

There are no "pairs of snapshots" involved, or additional snapshots beyond what exist today. It's a navigation convenience only - do this snapshot as long as I have my foot on the momentary switch, then go back to whatever snapshot was active before that.

[duncann]

I guess I saying if they were to implement a momentary function for snapshots, which implies a 'pair' of snapshots per switch, there may be an opportunity to expand the number of snapshots at the same time, or a 'pair' of snapshots per switch, that can be momentary or latching.

 

As far as pairs go, maybe it would be something like 1/9, 2/10, 3/11, 4/12, ...

 

So switching between pair 1 and 9 could be either momentary or latching.

[zooey]

I was just suggesting that when you let go, Helix would load whatever snapshot was current before you pressed the momentary one. Simple and flexible, and it fits my mental model of what "momentary" means. You're not in some new universe of available or current snapshots, you just load the momentary one temporarily, then unload it, going back to whatever was there before.

 

But this apparent confusion in our exchange may indicate that the idea isn't as straightforward and understandable as I thought.

 

What do other folks think?

[duncann]

I think I'm a little confused because the user still has to define a snapshot other than the active one, to be placed on the same switch as the active one.

 

So, for example, with eight snapshots, for switch 1, you want to be able to define the pair as snapshot 1 (active), and the momentary snapshot as any snapshot from 2-8? Likewise on switch 2, the momentary snapshot would be either 1 or 3-8. Switch 3, 1-2 or 4-8. And so on. Or am I over-thinking this whole thing?

[zooey]

Not to be disrespectful duncann, but please read my suggestion again.

 

As soon as you take your foot off a snapshot footswitch configured as momentary, Helix reverts to the previously active snapshot. There's no second snapshot involved, just whatever snap you were on before pressing the momentary one.

 

For instance, say you're on your Verse snapshot, and step on Solo. As soon as you let go of the Solo footswitch, it goes back to Verse. And if you're on your Bridge snapshot, but there's one Solo line in the middle of the bridge, you do the same thing -- step on Solo, hold it down for just that one line, then let go. You end up back where you were, Bridge in that case.

 

Make sense?

[duncann]

But where is the momentary snapshot coming from? Where is it configured?

 

The terms previous and current are being used, but how exactly would this work?

 

Just some examples (assuming all snapshots are set to momentary):

Say you're on ss1, or any ss, and there is no previous ss since turning Helix on. I guess it just won't do anything.

 

Say you're on ss2, and the previously selected ss was 8. It would go from 2 to 8 back to 2.

Now say you select ss4. Then ss2. Now the momentary ss for ss 2's switch is 4. It just used to be 8. It could get difficult to track this by memory...

 

There would have to be some sort of indicator as to the previous ss.

 

It seems like it would be easier to have a clearly defined momentary snapshot for each snapshot. Or two snapshots per switch that could be either momentary or latching.

[zooey]

There isn't one momentary snapshot. Individual snapshots within a preset are configured to be momentary or not, like stomp switches.

If you step on a momentary and let. go, you get the snapshot you were on before you stepped on the momentary.

You're right that there's no indication of what snapshot you'll go back to, but since the momentary is only active as long as you're stepping on it, I doubt you'd lose track. The momentary is just a temporary thing, for a quick hit of a different tone, then back where you were.

As to the scenario where there is no previous snapshot, there's always a current snapshot; patches remember which one is the default. If the default snapshot is momentary and you hadn't recalled another one, stepping on it wouldn't do anything, since you're already on that snap.

 

Your examples:

Say you're on ss1, or any ss, and there is no previous ss since turning Helix on.

See above, there's always a current snapshot.

 

Say you're on ss2, and the previously selected ss was 8. It would go from 2 to 8 back to 2. But where would be the indication that the previous ss was 8?

No indication, but the momentary's only active while you're stepping on it, not an issue I think.

 

Now say you select ss4. Then ss2. Now the momentary ss is 4. It just used to be 8.

See above. The momentary doesn't change, it always calls up its corresponding snapshot, same as if it wasn't momentary. The only difference is that if it's momentary, when you let go of the switch, Helix reverts to whatever snapshot was active before you stepped on it.

[zooey]

One more thing. I just noticed this phrase:

 

assuming all snapshots are set to momentary

That's not a likely scenario, which may be at the heart of this confusion.

 

Most snapshots would be latching, NOT momentary. When you step on them and let go, that snapshot stays in effect, like it does now.

 

But in some presets, you might configure one or two snapshots intended for short sections of the song as momentary. For example, in the current world, if you're on your Crunch sound, and step on Lead for your solo, you'd then have to locate and press Crunch again at the end of the solo to go back there. By making Solo momentary, you'd just step on it and hold it down for the whole solo, then let go, and you'd automatically be back in Crunch.

 

Clearly having to hold it down presents limitations -- no wah or stomp changes, unless you're sitting down and/or tricky enough to hold the snap switch down with one foot while doing stuff with your other one.

 

Still seems like this feature would solve a very common case in a simple way, and is 100% optional if you don't want to use it.

[duncann]

Ok. I see what you're idea does now. Way over-thinking it on my part, lol. Sometimes a simple notion escapes me entirely. Voted.

[zooey]

:)

[HonestOpinion]

Sorry for the delay, here's the IdeaScale item: https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Momentary-Snapshots/896192-23508

 

Vote away!

 

There are also some questions about exactly how it should work, feel free to discuss, there or here. (Not that you need my permission... anyway...)

 

Enthusiastically voted!!   :)

[genesound]

Yes absolutely!

 

I'd also like a momentary MIDI, that would return the value to the preset default or (preferably) the previous value when letting go of the footswitch. 

 

I tried to register for the IdeaScale account. Never received an email, never allowed to put in a password either. Tried to register again and then it said I was registered but not verified... ???

[pinetrax]

i didn't find this on idea scale this morning, so i started a new one for momentary snapshots, this would be huge