is is possible to randomize the start of a multi-instrument? I use it to randomly trigger “addendum” sounds in my “base” music cue, but right now they are all lined up at the beginning of the music loop (1). I like the instruments to start anywhere in the timeline.
Yes, it’s possible. If you select the instrument and look at its panel in the deck, you’ll see the words “Trigger Behavior” written sideways. Clicking on those words expands the trigger behavior drawer. In the trigger behavior drawer, there’s a section labelled “Delay & Quantization.” In your case, you want delay, so click on the “Time” button. This will give you a ribbon slider that lets you specify the minimum and maximum time after the instrument is triggered that it should start playing.
You’ll also want to set the instrument to be asynchronous, so that it starts playing its assets from the start instead of from part-way through.
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thanks a lot - much apreciated.
let’s make it more complicated:
Aside from the randomization, can I snap it to the bars or randomize it by beats instead of time?
You can, yes.
In that same trigger behavior drawer, if you select the “quantization” button, you’ll be able to specify what beats or bars the selected instrument is allowed to start on. To determine the locations of beats and bars, FMOD uses the tempo markers on the event’s timeline: Each tempo marker defines the time signature and BPM of the section of timeline to the right of that tempo marker. You can see the beat and bar markers in the timeline by clicking the “beats” button in the transport controls.
However, as you’ve probably noticed, delay and quantization is an either/or thing: You can’t specify both delay and quantization for the same instrument. If you want to randomize when an instrument plays and ensure that it only plays on specific beats and bars, you’ll have to use some other method of randomizing when it plays - like, for example, giving it a parameter trigger condition based on a parameter with velocity and a random modulator, such that that parameter starts at a random value and so takes a varying amount of time to reach the value that meets the instrument’s trigger condition; or alternatively, giving the instrument a parameter trigger condition based on a parameter with an LFO modulator set to “noise” mode, such that its value changes randomly at regular intervals.