anyone use an analogue step sequencer?

[MarcAshken]

mainly for cv but also with midi clock would be cool. Ive been looking into them, the oberkorn mk3 looks cool but kinda limited, really id like an snd sam 16 but cant afford it atm, any ideas?
M

[oblioblioblio]

they've been discussed in very good detail on this forum.... not sure whther search function is up to scratch. there's a way you can use google to search a specific site I think.

all analogue sequencers will look very limited compared to software, but this is is where they can come alive. just like how a simple monosynth can go deeper than a very fully featured poly.

could be worth starting a small modular to take advantage of the wealth of sequencers available there, especially the possiblities for customisation. A doepfer a155 and a154 on it's own doesn't offer loads compared to ableton, but add a few more pieces of the puzzle and it will ofer you something completely unique.

[MarcAshken]

yep this is the plan, im selling some old gear and have just ordered the vx 351 and 352 expanders for the voyager, ive got a borg modded 303 and a Murf105 but never got involved with the cv side of things (I've only just started using the 303's internal sequencer) and I know a step sequencer is the next move. I loved the matrix in reason an have missed it ever since I stopped using it. The obenkorn mk3 is looking good at the moment, but I dont like the pots on it at all, I love the way the dotcom Q960 looks but its only 3 sets of 8 steps or 1 of 24 with an add on mod, an I really want 3 of 16, cant find anything suitable at a reasonable price yet, the snd sam 16 seems to be the one

[oblioblioblio]

hold out and give a little though to modular dude, although Doepfer and Analogue Solutions both sell good standalone sequencers... there's not much difference in price between them and modular seqs though and being able to add or remove circuits to your exact taste really lets you free.

8 steps... if you modulate direction, and you modulate first and last step like on the Doepfer a155 with a154 expansion, this gives you near infinite combinations and the 8 steps extends almost infinitely.

CV is it... midi was a fuckin waste of time. Infinite resolution versus, what 127 steps? lol!

[oblioblioblio]

for me personally... I like these analogue sequencers:

Livewire "Chaos Computer", Scott Stites "Klee" ... both fairly similar designs, which allow the user to modulate certain inputs, and complex repeating patterns are generated by intereactions inside the machine. No pots like regular sequencers, and control is highly unconventional. I like to surrender an amount of control to machines.

Blacet "Binary Zone", this a a very simple circuit, and very cheap. It is surprisingly musical in effect, and I find it inspiring to use, although often frustrating. It's hard to explain what it does, but the concept is simple enough to grasp.

I do not differentiate completely between step sequencers and other machines to generate patterns in time. Many electronic machines when broken into small peices, are basically oscillators. An envelope is effectively an oscillation, although you interrupt it's cycle. A step sequencer is a slow oscillator, although one with discrete steps. An oscillator can be slowed to low frequencies, and you can sample it's value at different points in time to get individual steps, which will be the same function as a step sequencer.

[oblioblioblio]

blacet binary zone (it's the one doing the tonal patterns, not the circular one doing choppy percussive sounds)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLwXGYwlDEU

klee sequencer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCbtqgHu ... r_embedded

chaos computer explain by it's creator with an interesting patch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCbtqgHu ... r_embedded

[tone-def]

mfb do a good one called the urzwerg.

[gosh]

Doepfer maq 16/3 is excellent for creativity and features but a bit fiddly and you have to stop the sequencer to change settings reliably. I sold mine for a Cirklon and I don't regret one bit. For me its all the best bits of analogue sequencing but with all the best bits of standard sequencing and storage / recall.