Wanted to give my comments & questions to some of the new changes since 1.20. Feel free to respond with links that will share more light if the issue has been addressed somewhere else.
FROM 1.22:
[New] <js> Can now copy multiple patterns at once...
[New] <js> Added the Pattern Clipboard Manager to use more than one internal clipboard ...
Didn't think this would be a great feature, but the Clipboard Manager makes it easy to work with previously copied material. With a few good themes, i should be able to create a decent EDM or neo-classical chamber track in minutes.
Now that this feature is hooked in, would love to be able to name each clipboard piece, so i can easily identify the contents, as well as have MPT remember the window placement each startup.
[New] <js> Chord Editor: Added the possibility to make chords relative to a note entered in the pattern instead of a fixed base note...
Excellent addition! Would love a button to switch all current chords to "Relative". (After i saw this new feature, i went to reset all my current chords to make them relative, and it involved a lot of popup opening.)
[New] <js> Added shortcut to find nearest instrument number in a channel (tx coda).
Wasn't sure what good this would do, and i found that the "instrument seeking" only occurs backwards not forwards. This method would also take us in the right direction to a long-ago FR i made for a "Last Event" field above each column, so we can see what was the last event passed.
[New] <ks> Added hidden setting "RowDisplayOffset" in [Pattern Editor] to specify displayed row offset in the pattern editor (does not affect Goto dialog or pattern effects).
Couldn't figure out WHAT this was till i tried it. A better name would be "RowNUMBEROffset", as it simply starts the row counting at a different number, with the default being 0. If you want the row to start at 1, then enter the line "RowDisplayOffset=1" in any line between the "[Pattern Editor]" and "[Paths]" lines in the mptrack.ini file. I hope one day that this setting can also be translated for the Goto dialog and the pertinent pattern effect commands.
[Imp] <js> Mouse wheel and middle mouse button can be used in Sample Map ...
[Imp] <js> Next / Previous Instrument shortcuts and the tab key also work on the sample map now (tx coda).
Thanks! Very helpful and now the Sample Map section is much more intuitive. TIP: the mousewheel also works in the Sample Map dialog, if you middle-click the Octave slider (to give it the input focus) and move the mouse wheel.
[New] <js> Can now load and save FXB (plugin preset bank) files.
This is one of those dozen or so Holy Grails that we have been waiting for in ModPlug and should have received much more fanfare. After testing this out, i can herald that this is fully functional like the "big boys" in tracking software. Users no longer need Chainer for bank loading, and there are even MIDI tricks to call up presets in secondary banks. As far as i'm concerned, this is enough to prompt me to donate my share to the efforts to develop MPT and keep this website going. Where do i sign?
[New] <js> Added an option in the plugin editor to route a plugin's MIDI output to the pattern / sample / instrument editor.
I get the sense that this is a wizard's book of spells waiting to be read. How can one best use this new feature?
[Imp] <js> Instrument envelopes are now also evaluated if no sample, but a MIDI channel is assigned to the instrument - great for automating plugins using envelopes and macros.
Ditto -- more possible wizardry! How can we use this? Teach us some tricks, Master!
[New] <js> Added keyboard shortcut: Play song from start of pattern (same as play pattern from start, but doesn't loop the pattern).
Definitely helpful if you don't want to hear the song from the beginning as you listen for thematic development possibilities. Composers can quickly get sick of their track because they're constantly listening to it from the beginning, and this feature will help to keep the music fresh for him.
[Reg] <js> Removed poorly implemented Invert Stereo option. It's not 1995 anymore.
Alas, Invert Stereo, we hardly knew ye...**(bagpipes in distance)**
1.21
[Imp] <js> Dragging the mouse over the sample map doesn't invert every note's assignment but applies the same action to all notes now ...
Thank you for this correction. Works perfectly and intuitively.