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Machines can be connected together in two ways, either by snapping them directly together or by using the pink coloured byte beat line. If two machines are separated the tempo and keys can be altered independently of each other which gives you even more flexibility. If joined by the byte beat line once again the tempo and keys should match. The byte beat line also is used to connect the byte beat switch that permits lights and electrics to be controlled by the notes, rhythms and melody.
I really enjoy playing with the Byte Beat machines. Despite the limitations compared to other DAW software like FL Studio or Ableton Live and so on, it is very powerful. When building your base, It is a very, very clever piece of programming, a hidden gem within the game.
It would be nice to have longer and more flexible playlists and perhaps a visual way to name each byte machine. However it is possible to colour the machines like other base building parts, which can help identifying each machine while creating a tune. Yeah some simple midi or easier way to copy and paste notes and melodies would be super. The copy and paste of tunes from one machine to the other is a bit awkward but works well.
What is not so stable is copying the tunes from the machines to the Byte Beat library (in the quick menu) and then sending them back from the library to machines. Doing that replaces any tunes on the machines nearby, with the one being transferred. Effectively copying the tune so it can be edited or learned from.
It can be fun to try this with the Hello Games tunes found in the library and see how they have been constructed and is a great way to learn how to make tunes.
The tunes from the machines seem to rely on the proximity of your character to the machines in front of you. In the library you can not easily determine how many machines make up each tune, especially when transferring them back to new machines. Transferring say a tune that only uses 3 machines to a new arrangement with 8 machines (connected or unconnected) spreads the tune across the entire sequence with unpredictable results. But it can lead to some happy accidents.
If you have a tune in your library that was created with 8 machines, then you will see a text notification warning if you attempt to send the tune to only 4 placed bye beat machines. if you want to transfer a tune to your base machines to hear it correctly played, then the correct number of machines must be present. Also the machines should be connected together correctly, either with a byte beat cable or snapped directly together. The arrangement of the machines matter. Was the original song created with 8 machines connected together or were they in 2 groups of 4 for example or some other combination. This s because connected machines share tempo and keys. Without the correct arrangement the songs may not play back as expected.
Once you have created your masterpiece of musical composition you can share it with other players by exchanging tunes with your friends, similar to transferring any other items to players at the Anomaly.
The library only has room for 8 custom songs (collected or created songs) so any more than that must be stored at each base. It would be cool to have a new feature base part added, to store more tunes at a base or a larger library device to visit, for selection or playback. It would be cool perhaps to identify the machine arrangement by numbers or maybe a symbol, so they can be perhaps more easily be shuffled about into the original placement and connections, before transferring a song correctly to them. from the library.
The quick sllver vendor at the Anomaly has a few other Hello Games songs you can purchase, if you have not done so already. They get added to the Other tab and can then be selected to play. In the same way sharing a song with a friend adds it to your lists for selection. The music is by the excellent band 65 Days of Static from their album that accompanied the release of the game.
If for example you visit a base and discover a song, you can stand in front of the machine and add it to your playlist by interacting with the device. Then you can play it anywhere like in your ship, on foot or in the exocar by playing it from the quick menu or your chosen hot bind key. : )
If you hover over one of your library songs (holds up to 8) in your quick menu song collection, then you should get the option to transfer a song to a nearby player. Follow the tool hints to transfer them one at a time. If you have text on the screen in multiplayer you should see a notification that you have transferred a song and the other player received it.
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The layout of the UI , notes, rhythm, drums etc are simpler than you might first think. It does look overwhelming and to anyone at first glance who has never encountered a digital audio synthesizer. However placing notes and the use of colours and using the clever 'AI' to create random tunes can be quite intuitive once you know what the buttons do. The sequencer only functions when at least two machines are linked. There is a useful solo mute button too to concentrate on one machine at a time.
When you first place them you have discovered all ready they default with random tunes. This is really useful if you are not musical and quite clever to conjure up instant music. Of course when you want to start from scratch and empty each machine of sound yeah you simply delete the music from each machine. Perhaps is would be useful to have an 'empty' button but its not really needed.
The apreggiator section defaults with patterns of notes and octaves ready to play. However if you make it use only a single note layout then you can control individual notes. Try experimenting with the sliders to minimise the notes into a single line of notes. If you disable it of course you get single notes.
Playing with the device without instructions is best to discover what each section does. When you change the keys the melody section will shift notes about but the UI does not clearly show which blocks contain which note ie using musical notation. There are some online byte beat references you can google though on youtube.
I may be wrong but if say you set the key of A Minor, I think the bottom row of the melody section will be A and then in order above that, rows B, C, D, E, F and at the top G. That can be helpful to arguably make it easier to transpose perhaps a familiar song and make it easier to recall notes. Of course if you change key then those blocks of notes will shift about and not begin with A at the bottom. Knowing musical scales can help decipher what block has which note and what pattern of note scales follows another in any key.
Not being musical I use some scribbles on a piece of paper reminding me which key has which notes. The I can tell which block is playing which note. Technically what I have done by writing my own reference is to learn the musical keys. Once that all makes sense then you can use the melody writing your own tunes or transposing familiar ones.
However a casual player does not need such complication as the device has buttons for each section to instantly come up with random beats and melodies etc. Once you have a tune that works to your musical ear you can refine it with the knowledge you have from knowing music.
The waveform manipulator does kind of what it says it alters the sound wave and potentially has many variations to make the sounds of all sorts of instruments as a single note. Notes can be sustained and the shape of the sound can be altered too. On device itself you can see the sound waves playing which is kind of cool. It can be a way to identify which machine is playing too.
Starting a new tune from scratch I think you discovered it helps to early on in the song process, to choose a sound you like for a note on the byte beat device first. SImply slowly tweak some of the waveform buttons on the waveform tree. Using a controller does actually make the process fun. Don't worry about the math just go for it find a sound you like. Then return to the melody and continue tweaking. The musical bars can be divided to into more notes. The apreggiator can divide notes further.
The limitations of the device become clearer when you want fine control over notes and bars being able to make very small patterns of fast playing notes. Using more than one machine in a sequence can help divide notes further by layering single or apreggiator notes above one another. Clunky but can be effective if you run out of note division possibilities!
It can be a good exercise to take say a simple tune you know or like and try transposing it in the game using the melody, apreggiator and sequencer to layer notes that might not first glance seem possible to play. That way you can sort of learn how things work together to create the tune you expect. : )
The drums too have fine control I think about 10 variations for each. The volume of drums can also be regulated over the main melody.
Also it is useful to remember that the sound is designed to be heard from a distance in your base. The attenuation of the melody can be adjusted at the top of the UI. That can make a huge difference to the overall clarity of your sound when approaching your base if there are objects blocking the sounds. The best soundscape is heard when listening in the open to the tune. If you listen to a song directly from your playback list the equalisation is different and can have a 'flattening' effect to the sound.
Once you get familiar with the limitations then you can design some cool tunes and sound effects for your base. It can take some time to get used to and that is best discovered through trial and error. Play with the wave forms and graphs with the buttons and tweak them slowly to see how the sounds alter.
You can take screenshots of the UI if you want a crude way to store songs visually. Otherwise make a new base and copy songs to a set of machines to store a huge library of songs for yourself or others to visit.
Hopefully updates might make some of the UI even easier to use. But for a musical device it is a remarkable piece of programming to do what it does and is just a small part of this amazing game. The byte beat has the potential to create some great music within the limits of the game. Maybe mods will expand its functionality one day but how much complexity is needed before it loses its simplicity and fun making music on a rainy day, on the couch, perhaps playing games or collaborating making music with friends? What we have is quite complex within a simple fun game but is can always do with improvement of course.
The 'fun' thing about the waveform is that it potentially can create any musical sound without needing samples, just by using math. But the clever bit is you don't really need to know math. (Leave that to the genius at Hello Games or the band 65 Days of Static! who created the byte beat allegedly over one Christmas weekend!) Simply hover over the symbols in the wave form and change them. Settle on a sound that you like. Then return to the main UI and play with adjusting that sound.
The waveform is best thought of a sound and not really a note. The sound is altered again by flipping back to the main UI and experimenting pressing buttons there, changing the graph shapes until you settle on a unique sound you like. There you can change notes, pitch and also widen the sound, sustain it (half, quarters, thirds) and clip it using the shape of the graphs. Play with the buttons and simply settle on a sound you like. Once happy with the sound of your melody you might go back to the waveform screen and finely tune your sound, perhaps by increasing the number 0-255 and see how that affects the sound.
You can capture a screen shot of the waveform you like if you create a unique sound. You can then easily re-create it again. There is no easy way to store and recall your 'samples'. However you can of course make a collection of bases you build, with your byte beat devices holding the samples (and tunes) and visit your bases to copy your samples before starting a new composition at a new base.