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Hey guys, very much enjoying the Altura, checking in to see what I might be able to expect with the new model. Any new features? BTW, if I had one request it would be to be able to set the tempo with precision, like using the up/down buttons, rather than just the tap tempo. But I’m really loving this device and hope to do some cute mods to my next one. Please let me know what I can expect.
Oh, I guess when I say “to set the tempo with precision,” I guess what I’m interested in is a visual readout of the BPM on the LCD, so I know for sure.
Coffeepal, thanks for your comment. That’s actually a great suggestion. The new version is primarily a significant hardware upgrade; we were not contemplating any changes to the software or feature set. We are experiencing the same supply chain and labor shortage issues as the rest of the planet, and we may not have the resources to implement any changes to the software. But if I can pull it together, I might look into your suggestion.
There is this issue, hosever. The Altura MkII and MkII+ use an oscillator inside the micropcontroller to measure time, and these oscillators are not perfectly accurate or stable. Their notion of how long a second is can depend on other components and on voltage fluctuations. Thus, even if I keyed in a tempo of 120 BPM, you might actually get something a little faster or slower. Thus, if your Altura is performing along with a home studio full of stuff, after a minute or two of continuous play, the beat may begin to drift. On the other hand, if you are playing live, or only intermittently (as this device is usually played), then I think you would never notice a difference.
How do you envision using such a set-tempo, if it was available? What I am picturing is this: when you tap a tempo, the calculated BPM appears on the display for 3 seconds, during which time you can use the increment/decrement keys to adjust the tempo by integers.
Hi, thanks for the response! My main deal is really wanting to sync up the arp with whatever else I’ll be playing. I want to have the Altura synced with the synth, and whatever effects I want to put it through, or failing that, as close as to not be very noticeable. I can get pretty close with the tap tempo, but I never know how close exactly. For example, I have been using the arpeggiator on the Altura to control the NTS-1, and then switching on the arpeggiator on the NTS-1 as well. I’m sure you can see how I’d like to be as perfectly in sync as possible for that kind of thing.
But in any case I wanted to tell you just how crazy I am for this gadget, I think you really have something here. Real Theremins aren’t all that fun to play once the initial gee wiz wears off, but this really is.
And I guess if I had my way, I’d have one of the pots optionally adjust the bpm, in addition to having the tap tempo available. I’ve been playing around a lot with an NTS-1 and their device has both a tap tempo and you can also adjust the time with a rotary dial, once you find it in the menus. I guess most important is just that visual feedback.
[quote]How do you envision using such a set-tempo, if it was available? What I am picturing is this: when you tap a tempo, the calculated BPM appears on the display for 3 seconds, during which time you can use the increment/decrement keys to adjust the tempo by integers.[/quote]
Aside from not wanting the display for something else possibly during those 3 seconds, I see no problem with this implementation.
