Bacara Changes version history

Changes in v2.0.0

Bacara 1.x had one melodic sequencer and one generator. Bacara 2 has three sequencers, each with two generators, and every part they write can leave as MIDI. Seven months of work, hence the new major number.

Everyone who bought a 1.x licence gets 2.0 free.

Three sequencers

• A rhythm sequencer: up to 21 polyphonic voices, each with a generator, a length and a feel of its own. Per voice: swing, nudge, humanize, mute, name and note.
• A chord sequencer: a progression as blocks on a lane, played polyphonically, with per block inversion, octave, accent, slide and lock.
• The chord can rule the scale the melody plays in, per block, in seven coupling modes.
• Each sequencer keeps its own scale, key, speed, swing, swing grid, length, mute and output channel.
• A sequencer switch in the top toolbar, with the three players always named. Cmd-1, Cmd-2 and Cmd-3 pick chord, melodic and rhythm, Cmd-R cycles them, and each has its own row in the View menu.
• Mute per sequencer and per rhythm voice. A muted chord stops ruling the melody as well as going quiet.
• Rhythm maps: one pick sets the lane layout and the notes together. General MIDI, Chromatic, TR-808, TR-909, TR-606 and Analog Rytm. The TR maps follow each machine's own front panel order, and a new pattern starts in the map you picked last.
• Moving a rhythm voice to another note plays that note once, so you hear what you picked.
• Played, held and imported chords are read by their real root: E G C is C over E, and the melody follows C.

Two generators for every sequencer

• Trained: the character level model you already know, now for chords as well as basslines, and a trained drum model of its own. Bach cello suites, Irish tunes, TB-303, Alberti, minimalist, Satie, Romantic, gypsy, baroque ground bass, and the acid sets.
• Algorithmic: a style system with 46 styles and 66 flavours across the three sequencers. A style is a written specification of how a part behaves, so every roll writes fresh material from it.
• Styles carry flavours, and you can write your own or patch a factory one.
• Character knobs per sequencer, in a dedicated Generator panel.
• Abstract Impression: a drawn picture of what a style does, next to the style that made it.
• Temperature runs 1.0 to 5.0.
• Before you roll, the die says what the throw rewrites and what it keeps.

Patterns and banks

• 128 patterns in eight banks, A01 to H16, replacing the 12 variants.
• The pattern selector is one automatable plugin parameter, so your DAW can drive it.
• MIDI program change and bank relative notes select patterns too.
• A queued pattern blinks and takes over at the page turn, so a switch lands on the beat.
• New Pattern starts one slot over. New Preset lists what it will empty before it does.
• Every factory preset now has a rhythm part under its line, muted, ready to switch on.
• Four new factory presets play all three sequencers at once: Sharp Red, Puny Earwig, Fierce Flamingo and Dusty Scarlet.

Steps and pages

• Up to 128 steps, up from 64.
• Elektron style pages of 16 with page LEDs: pages that exist, the page you are viewing, and the playing page flashing.
• Selectable page size: 16, 32, 64 or 128.
• Per voice length in the rhythm sequencer, for polymeter. Drag the end marker to set it.
• Zoom, double and halve, all live while it plays.
• Shift-click a page LED to end the phrase on that page.

Per step

• Trig conditions: probability, ratio, FIRST, PRE, NEI and FILL, with their inverses, checked byte for byte against Elektron hardware.
• Spice: one button that writes trig conditions for you.
• Micro timing: place a step anywhere in 384ths of a bar, with a small mark on the edge it moved to.
• A context menu on every step, on every grid.

Deviation and automation

• 43 deviation lanes: eleven aspect lanes and 32 freely assignable automation lanes.
• A new Entropy lane.
• Lanes reorder, hide and show, and now sit in the strip as chips rather than in a dropdown.
• Automation lanes belong to the sequencer that owns them and run on its clock, at their own length.
• A gate strip above the curve decides where a lane bites.
• A play range per automation lane: set a minimum and a maximum on the slider beside the lane and the curve plays inside them.
• In the Automation view, a lane's name, type, channel and number are set in the left panel.
• 16 macros, with the eight deviation thresholds on macros 1 to 8 by default.

Getting the MIDI out

• A Clips panel: every part that sounds becomes a MIDI clip you can drag into your DAW, one clip per rhythm voice, named after its source and cut to its natural length.
• The drag renders everything that sounds, with swing and automation baked in, not just the bassline.
• The Clips panel makes its clips when you press Prepare, so editing stays quick. A clip runs to 4096 bars, and one that had to be shortened says so.
• MIDI clip import: drop a MIDI file on Bacara and it reduces to a melodic, rhythm or chord part, with a key hint offered.
• Freeze the melodic line, or the chord, into a rhythm voice, so it can be edited step by step and leaves with the clips.

Keeping track of what you did

• A History panel: the undo stack as a list, newest first. Every step says what changed, which pattern you were on, how many edits it held and when. Click a row to jump back to it.
• One gesture is one undo step, including preset loads, pattern switches and pastes.
• Paste Special: copy anything, paste any part of it into any pattern.
• A Credits panel: which moves were yours and which came from a style or the trained model, with the preset's liner notes.

Finding your way around

• A guided tour that starts once on a fresh install and can be reopened any time. It walks the panels and dives into each one. The bubbles read your session as it stands, and anything the tour puts on screen to show you is marked and taken away again.
• Pointing bubbles on every control, everywhere. A bubble says what the control is, what it holds and which modifier clicks it takes, and a greyed control says why it is greyed.
• Text shortened to fit is shown in full when you hover over it.
• The context menu of any control offers everything its click does, and ends with "Tutorial of this", which opens the tour paused on that control.
• Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All on every text field.
• A panels button on the bottom toolbar closes the side panel, or lists the panels to open when none is showing. The View menu shows which views are on.
• A flow strip across the top: Style, Write, Vary, Keep, Send, with the three players as rows. It lights where activity is and clicking a stage opens the panel that owns it.
• The grid tells you when nothing is receiving what a sequencer plays, when a sequencer is muted, and when nothing has sounded for two bars.

Licence and trial

• Generation runs on your own machine. It needs no account and no connection.
• An offline licence file, and a trial that counts locally: 14 days and 30 generations anonymous, 30 days and 50 registered.
• Licence and preset files open by double click from the Finder and from Explorer, with their own icons.

Looks and behaviour

• One colour system across the whole interface, with a single accent.
• Every dialog opens inside the window in Bacara's own style, rather than as a system window.
• Menus are drawn in Bacara's own style too, with icons, and a lit LED on the current choice.
• Every icon redrawn in one house style: amber on the top toolbar, white on the bottom one.
• The toolbars are rearranged, and as the window narrows they give up the least used items first, always in the same order.
• The melodic blue and the link colour were too dark to read on black. Both are lighter now.
• Non blocking notifications instead of alert boxes that stop everything.
• Keyboard navigation and accessibility names throughout.
• The window scales down properly: panels yield in a fixed, predictable order as it narrows, and come back in the same order as it grows.

Engine and platform

• Built on JUCE 9, and compiles with zero warnings on both platforms.
• The same state always produces the same notes. A golden MIDI harness compares every factory preset against a recorded capture, so a change that alters output cannot pass unnoticed.
• Time signatures, including 2/2, 3/8, 5/8 and 11/8.
• Fixed: MIDI input crashes on device disconnect, hung notes on the melodic path, crashes on sleep and wake, crashes when stepping through patterns, a one bar DAW loop silencing the melodic sequencer from its second pass, and a long list of thread safety faults found with the address sanitiser.
• Fixed: loading a pattern saved without a B side rolled a random one, or wiped both sides. A preset value that is missing or out of range now loads as that setting's default.
• macOS 12 (Monterey) or later, Universal 2. Windows 10 or later, with an MSI installer.

Changes in v1.0.62

• Fixed velocity formula and raised default accent velocity to 100
• Custom install path option in Windows installer
• Windows installer improvements (shortcuts, icon, .bcr file association)
• Updated user manual
• Updated MIDI Definitions DB
• Lower CPU usage
• Reworking the Shortcut Key handling, so it now works, even if a menu is open
• Now shortcuts need an extra ⌘ (Apple) or Ctrl (on Windows) with most shortcut keys, as seen in Smiley Menu
• Retuned several badly tuned controls
• Macro Panel can now be switched off, and can be resized
• Some small cosmetic updates

Changes in v1.0.61

• Windows version

Changes in v1.0.60

• Scrollbar showing progress through all possible deviation pages (combined), and (when not playing) lets you scroll to a desired page for editing
• Some UI fixes (like disallowing deviation step values set to zero)
• Disallow multiple modal windows, which was confusing
• Latest MIDI hardware definitions
• Honour Ratchet when drawing UI for Slide
• UI for background notes are drawn in colour, just darker
• Preset cleanup
• Allow Automation Type (CC7/CC14/NRPN) be selectable

Changes in v1.0.59

• Fixed MIDI Clock timings
• Fixed generate bug in demo version (since v1.0.55)
• Some cosmetics

Changes in v1.0.58

• Ratchet Deviations
• Velocity Deviation is hidden now, to make room for Ratchet Deviation). No loss, as it had very low impact anyway
• Fixed deviation glitch (thread) bug (was even visible sometimes as short ghostly deviations)
• Build with JUCE v8.0.12

Changes in v1.0.57

• More explicit Deviation Step State text, plus an explicit Threshold Line description, to (hopefully) explain deviation lanes better.
• Bubble explaining Smiley Menu
• Shortcuts now visible in Smiley Menu
• Startup default reviewed, larger window, edit mode
• Macro MIDI feedback bug fixed
• Added Aftertouch & Pitchbend as automation types
• A more straightforward way to access custom or external chords: simply choose the desired scale. The extra step of setting a User Scale is no longer required.
• Fixed small bug showing the Generic Controls in the Automation Library menu.
• Fixes bug in CC7 calculation (when CC14 is used from the DB)

Changes in v1.0.56

• Dedicated UI for Pattern Target, for Pattern Lists, Next & Previous as well as for the Generate button.
• Build with JUCE v8.0.11

Changes in v1.0.55

• Pattern Deviation (now there is pattern A and pattern B, and this deviation determines which patterns is consulted per step. With this you can morph patterns.
• Key Deviation is hidden now, to make room for Pattern Deviation). No loss, as it was very out of bounds anyway.
• Build with JUCE v8.0.10

Changes in v1.0.54

• Program Change as automation type
• Build with JUCE v8.0.9

Changes in v1.0.53

• Some small improvements
• Build with JUCE v8.0.8

Changes in v1.0.52

• Windows version
• Some small bugs squashed

Changes in v1.0.51

• Preparations for the upcoming Windows version
• Some small bugs squashed
• Some performance improvements

Changes in v1.0.50

• Refactor of some base parts
• Setup branche protection
• Show a BubbleMessage to get you started

Changes in v1.0.49

• New Smiley Menu option to Cleanup Patterns (delete non-favorites)
• Paste Pattern icon in top toolbar
• Training now reflects the patterns original training
• Steps now reflects the patterns original steps, and determines the actual steps used in that pattern
• Temperature now reflects the patterns original temperature
• Added some new shortcut keys
• ]: Doubles current pattern
• [: Halves current pattern
• f: Toggles Pattern Favorite state
• r: Re-Seeds deviation (change dice color) of focused deviation lane
• Macro drag lines to give hit and miss indications (and some UI updates)
• Some more shortcut conveniences

Changes in v1.0.48

• Stability & Fixes
• BacaraDocument icon & association (Standalone APP)
• Virtual MIDI ('Bacara') now only available to the Standalone APP (was confusing)
• Input Settings combined & some rework of certain phrasing

Changes in v1.0.47

• Preset extension changed from generic .xml to more specific .bcr
• Favorites in Patterns

Changes in v1.0.46

• Auto store every pattern generated
• Bottom toolbar UI for accessing any previously generated pattern
• Some styling (bottom tool bar icons colour)
• For "Show Preset in Finder" right mouse click on Preset List
• For "Show Pattern in Finder" right mouse click on Pattern List

Changes in v1.0.45

• New Instance Option "Output notes only when there are active input notes"
• New top toolbar icon design
• Bottom toolbar labels

Changes in v1.0.44

• MacOS Universal Binaries (for both arm64 and x86_64) architectures
• Simplified Play/Stop UI (when using Ableton Link in the Bacara APP)
• Native Standalone Window Chrome

Changes in v1.0.43

• Installer allows for choosing the desired plugin format(s)
• Play Stop state visible (when using Ableton Link in the Bacara APP)

Changes in v1.0.42

• Build with JUCE v8.0.6
• Updated midi-definitions.db
• GUI changes for Automation Randomize & Automation Library
• New arrow near notes show impact of the chosen Scale Mode & Key

Changes in v1.0.41

• Some errors in the build system prevented the DEMO version to be a valid package
• Fixed a bug releated to the Smiley Menu
• Optional Channel Distribition per device (but makes slides impossible for that device)
• Round Robin
• Random
• Other (like Random but never the same twice)

Changes in v1.0.40

• Added a Standalone version of Bacara
• Ableton Link
• MIDI Clock
• Some cosmetic improvements

Changes in v1.0.39

• All Generator Dice can be triggered by incoming MIDI notes:
• Notes C5 - B5 will Generate Pattern (with increasing temperature)
• Notes C6 - D#7 will Generate Seeds for the Deviation Lanes
• Notes E8 - B8 will Generate Automation Values
• Keyboard shortcuts (for those with a DAW that allow for it)
• g: Generates new pattern
• n: New empty pattern
• e: Toggles Editor
• a: Toggles Aspects
• u: Toggles Automation
• m: Toggles Multiple
• d: Toggles Deviation
• s: Toggles Sidebar
• k: Toggles Keyboard

Changes in v1.0.38

• Smiley Menu change: Aspects

Changes in v1.0.37

• Overhaul of the caching mechanism inside Bacara: faster, much less UI lag
• Added more mode options to the Smiley Menu
• Modes are now stored in the preset/instance data
• Stability improvements
• Better visual Automation Range (7-bit vs 14-bit)

Changes in v1.0.36

• Paste Button reflects the pastaeability of the current clipboard
• Fixed velocity bug
• Added more mode options to the Smiley Menu
• Fixed macro pulses bug

Changes in v1.0.35

• Moved the 3 Mode buttons from bottom bar into the smiley menu
• Some Virtual Keyboard fixes:
• Fixed the channel settings for device A and B (red & blue) keys
• Shows incomming notes as orange
• Allows mouse interactions to mimick incoming (single) midi note
• Certain preferences have moved to 'Instance Preferences' and the one other to 'Global Preferences'. This was a design flaw.

Changes in v1.0.34

• Startup in Note Mode (click Macros to toggle to Lane Mode)

Changes in v1.0.33

• MIDI Definition usage labels with only one entry are ignored

Changes in v1.0.32

• Show automation type (CC & NRPN)
• Latest MIDI definitions (menu)
• Some small bugfixes (accent volume max, midi-def's)
• Build with JUCE v8.0.4

Changes in v1.0.31

• Automation lanes now provide CC & NRPN settings for parameters of about 60 manufacturers and more than 170 devices, neatly organized in a hierarchical menu.
• Build with JUCE v8.0.2

Changes in v1.0.30

• Some back-end improvements + clean/fresh build using XCode v16.0
• Released as Bonboa Plugin v1.0.30 (ending its initial beta phase)

Changes in v1.0.29

• User scale: works like arpeggiator (set "Incomming MIDI Note Mode" setting to "User Scale" set scale to "User /Extern")
• Sustain Pedal puts the current held User Scale to memory (as default, for when no keys are pressed), or clears the user scale if there are no keys pressed

Changes in v1.0.28

• Bug fix: (with doubling and halving patterns)
• Die for generating random automation

Changes in v1.0.27

• MIDI in: Second octave determines the Root Key
• MIDI in: optional insert notes (instead of transposing)
• Automation (8 new lanes)
• 8 more macros, with active/deactive detection in case of automation
• Deviation visualisation (every lane) (macro click toggle display mode)
• Macro Colours

Changes in v1.0.26

• Setting: MIDI input (Y/N) default = No

Changes in v1.0.25

• Menu (smiley)
• Menu options: Double & Half the pattern length

Changes in v1.0.24

• New Setting: Re-generate deviation seeds (Dice Colours) on Generate

Changes in v1.0.23

• Better Variant GUI (popup) handling
• Set StepsPanel CACHE on (faster UI)
• Pattern Shift (left & right) option (bottom toolbar)
• Custom Macro Knobs

Changes in v1.0.22

• Root Key (detection & preference)