You can come up with some very specific strategies for random behavior by using both Chance A and Chance B of a clip’s Follow Action settings. There’s also one particular gotcha you have to look out for.
Let’s say we wanted to modify the eariler beat variation tip so the main beat plays most of the time, with a variation firing only occasionally.
The Follow Action we previously set has a time of 1/16…
…to get a moderate amount of variation, we could use a ratio of 8:1.
On the 8 side we want to do nothing and just let the clip keep playing. On the 1 side, we’ll use Other to fire a random clip.
What might not be obvious is that Chance A (the 8 side of the ratio) needs to be set to Play Again.
If you select No Action, Follow Actions will stop being evaluated for this clip as soon as this action is chosen. That’s because Follow Actions only happen after a clip is launched. If the clip is simply allowed to continue playing, Follow Actions are done.
Also, don’t forget – (as mentioned in the prior tip), when you’re working in Legato mode, re-launching a clip just causes it to continue playing back.
