Sequencing + max/msp

[JonasEdenbrandt]

Yesterday i made a patch using max/msp. It's very inspired (almost just an emulation) by the z8000 seuqencer from tiptop audio but a bit modulated so it uses midi and only one clock. To compensate for using one clock i added a thing that divides the length of sequences instead so they can be 4, 8 and 16 16ths long (gonna add 12 as well).

So whats the point of this thread except for me bragging about my new sequencer patch. Well i was wondering if any one else has done some experimenting with sequencing in max and if they would like to share some input. If any one wan'ts my patch i'll be happy to try and clean it up and make it understandable for other people.

Most importantly: If you (like me) more or less only sequenced stuff from piano rolls before. Try something new. After just using this for an hour or two i feel like i never wan't to see a pianoroll again.

[AK]

Id like to do this stuff but never know where to begin. You did this in ableton?

[JonasEdenbrandt]

No it's all max.

I've been interested in doing stuff like this for a long time but never really could figure out were to start. Thats why I chose to pretty much just copy an already existing sequencer that seemed fun to use. While implementing it i've already gotten tons of new ideas that im eager to try out.

And it also just took an afternoon to implement with pretty limited max/msp skills (though i know how to program c++ and a few other languages so programing isn't new).

[::BLM::]

I use the step sequencers in Max to control all my hardware. been doing this for quite sometime now and really enjoy it. I would prefer an outboard step sequencer, but there really isnt any point at the moment as Max can do it all.

[steevio]

dont know if its possible, but try emulating the A155 doepfer sequencer and A154 controller which is paired with it.
I have a Z8000 and the above, and the above is in another realm altogether. better still control the A155/154 with the Z8000. i run two A155/154s from my Z8000, pure bliss.
the Z8000 isnt really a trigger sequencer, its a CV sequencer, the combination of these things gives you infinite possibilities.

yeah piano rolls are hard work compaired to analogue style sequencing.

[JonasEdenbrandt]

Wow thanks for the tip steevio. Downloaded the manuals and had a quick look at them looks interesting. Gonna try and get some max/msp time into this weekend.

Excuse me for beeing lazy but could you point me at some good material on cv and trigger signals? If i understand correctly cv (controll voltage) is a defferent voltages that can for instance be interpruted by for instance a synth as note values? Are triggers more like a digital hi messeage wich only has an on and off status? So if you wan't to sequence different notes in a synth you could send triggers there for the ons and offs and get the note values from elsewhere (like a lfo for instance).

In my interpretation of the z8000 i send different midi note values to my synths depending on how i turn the knobs. Any suggestions for what else i could trigger? I guess i can trigger all sorts of things in max but the end result has to be a midi messeage since my synths are midi only.

[steevio]

Wow thanks for the tip steevio. Downloaded the manuals and had a quick look at them looks interesting. Gonna try and get some max/msp time into this weekend.

Excuse me for beeing lazy but could you point me at some good material on cv and trigger signals? If i understand correctly cv (controll voltage) is a defferent voltages that can for instance be interpruted by for instance a synth as note values? Are triggers more like a digital hi messeage wich only has an on and off status? So if you wan't to sequence different notes in a synth you could send triggers there for the ons and offs and get the note values from elsewhere (like a lfo for instance).

In my interpretation of the z8000 i send different midi note values to my synths depending on how i turn the knobs. Any suggestions for what else i could trigger? I guess i can trigger all sorts of things in max but the end result has to be a midi messeage since my synths are midi only.

Control Voltages are everything in analogue synthesis, even triggers are just sudden changes in CVs. imagine a waveform, it is just a fluctuation in voltage, a sine wave is a steadily rising and falling voltage. Voltages can do anything, they can determine what the pitch is, the shape of an envelope, the amplitude, etc.. and in analogue synthesis all these things are interchangeable, a waveform can be a rhythm, a rhythm can be a waveform, you're not restricted by algorythms and form, everything is just electricity.
but to compare it with digital synthesis, a CV is a bit like a midi value, infact a midi/cv or CV/midi convertor converts one into the other, only in the analogue domain it becomes free to be anything you want it to be.
the best synths in the world like Buchla are constantly swapping between the two domains using the benefits of analogue and digital where they are best suited to a task. theres nothing stopping you doing this in your set-up.
triggers are simply a 'start doing something' message. for instance an analogue squarewave can be a trigger, everytime a certain threshold voltage is reached say +3 volts, then a process can begin, so everytime the rising part of the squarewave goes above +3V a circuit is triggered.

its a BIG subject, get reading up about it bruv, analogue synthesis is fuking cool, it blows my mind every day

[JonasEdenbrandt]

Thanks for the run through. I recently jammed with a friend who has a modular system and for the first time saw first hand exactly how interchangeable a modular system is. This idea how a signal can become anything is really amazing and is actually something computers are really good at doing. I'm constantly amazed at how any input to a computer can become almost anything (like video or audio or whatever). it just seems that this interchangeabilty has been lost in a lot of modern music production software. Max/msp is a pretty good example of a program that has some interchangeabilty though so it's fun to experiment with.

If i understand correctly most digital synths from the 80's and 90's can be set up with for instance a midicontroller so that a knob on the controller controlls a paramater (for instance filter coff) in the synthesizer. If thats correct i should be able to send these messages directly from max and controll paramaters more freely in the synth?

Guess i have a lot of reading to do...