Hi Fegi,

No news on instrument file support, but I have found the odd moment to add some innovations. reViSiT 1.6 Pro will add a few major features:

• Pattern Layers, where patterns can be played on top of each other. They will function a bit like masks or layers in photo editors, where non-overlapping notes in up to 4 patterns are mixed together at playback time. Where two patterns have notes at the same column/cell, the topmost layer will be played, overriding those underneath. What this means is that you'll be able to dedicate patterns to different parts - have seperate patterns for drums, chords, melodies, etc. and combine them in the Order List. To accomodate this, pattern indexes can be replaced with alphanumeric labels (Dr1, Ch3, etc.), and the Order List will have 4 pattern entries per order.
  . 
• Polyphonic MIDI-triggering Patterns, to dynamically combine pattern layers. Split drum or instrumental parts over different keys, then play chords to dynamically trigger different musical textures. This creates the potential for jamming at the arrangement level - and improvising with your song live. Set up a keyboard split on your controller, and you can use reViSiT as an arranger keyboard - left side for triggering backings, write side for performing melodies, etc.
  . 
• Pattern Arranger. My research has highlighted the limited availability of broad overviews and macroscopic control of the whole song as a weakness in tracking - keeping tabs on all the different patterns in your song can be a challenge. This "Arranger" view is an extension of the Pattern Editor, allowing you to zoom out from a single pattern to view multiple patterns at once, each appearing as thumbnails. You can move between patterns visually, and also select them and move or copy them around, using pattern-level clipboard.

Work on all of this is about 80-90% done. Pattern layer support has been added to the audio engine, and MIDI triggering seems to work well. Most of the UI work to accomodate the features is also done. There are still some final work on the Order List and Arranger left, which I hope to find time for over the coming weeks, after getting one of the last major chapters of my thesis out of the way. To give you an early taste, see the new screenshots on the website.

Anyway - hope this whet's your appetite!

Best,
Chris

Think of it like the Clipboard Mix function, but done at playback, on the fly. For example:

Trigger and hold Pattern 01 with C5 on your MIDI keyboard:

C-5 E-5 G-5
--- --- ---
--- --- ---
--- --- ---

Then press C#5 on your MIDI keyboard to trigger Pattern 02:

--- D#5 ---
--- --- ---
--- E-5 ---
--- --- ---

Is mixed together to create:

C-5 D#5 G-5
--- --- ---
--- E-5 ---
--- --- ---

The later E-5 doesn't collide with anything in the original pattern, so is added in. However, the D#5 collides with the original E-5, replacing it, and briefly converting the chord from major to minor. So, as long as notes don't overlap, between patterns, things are just added together. For example, have patterns with harmonies in channels 1-3, and other patterns with percussion in 4-6, then combine them in the Order List, or live with MIDI triggering. Naturally, things get more exciting if you do overlap or interweave column cells, with lots of fun creative possibilities. And there are other tricks, too. For example, you can simply mute cells in the underlying pattern, by making a dummy entry in the higher layer:

C-5 01 .. .00         ... .. .. .00         C-5 01 .. .00
C#5 01 .. .00    +    ... .. .. H00    =    ... .. .. H00
C-5 01 .. .00         ... .. .. H00         ... .. .. H00
C#5 01 .. .00         ... .. .. H00         ... .. .. H00

The trill is replace by a held C, and the H00 (a zero amplitude vibrato) effect does nothing to it. Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing and seeing other uses people come up with.