Step sequencer needs (wishing out loud)

Klaus_Christensen · 2016-09-20T23:10:36.613Z

I’ve been going through all the sequencers i could find and while some come close, they all seem to have some kind of deal breaker.

Drums i have covered. Ended up with good old molar vst (again). it’s overly complicated but it has the functions I need and it’s rock solid.

It’s not very good for bass lines though, and I would just love to space out with the wonderful 303 emulator Phoscyon from D16. It’s so acidic.

My ideal bass sequencer would have:

Accent per step. Each step can have either low or high velocity.
Slide per step. Each step can optionally overlap slightly into the next.
Octave per step. One octave up or down.
Modes or scales. preferably selectable on the grid. so just the common ones, no need for the hungarian gypsy mode
Tonic of selected scale. Again, preferably selectable on the grid
Multiple patterns. Ability to switch between patterns, quantized. Ability to edit non-playing patterns.
swing.

I also have great ideas for a drum sequencer, but that’s for another day

tehn · 2016-09-21T00:15:12.765Z

kria does nearly all of this. have you checked it out?

Klaus_Christensen · 2016-09-21T07:09:22.083Z

Hi tehn,

Yeah, I’ve drooled over the demo video, it looks amazing. Unfortunately my monome is from the pre-varibright era, so that’s a no-go right?

Besides, I would have no idea how to use it since it’s not a max patch. Does it trigger midi?

I guess I’ll have to make peace with one of the existing apps, since future sequencer apps are most likely to be varibright only. Mark Eats Sequencer comes really close, but it has an issue with receiving sync from Ableton live and (like Kria) it has a MLR-like feature that I’m scared of. Really don’t want to offset the playing pattern by accident. Also, a lot of the features, like swing, mode and tonic, is off the grid in Mark Eats Sequencer.

sensum_clunch · 2016-09-21T16:01:52.939Z

+1 on Kria being a good fit.

Is there a Max patch of Kria available? I’ve got WW but have held off doing the swap as I really depend on clocking everything with clicks. I’m sure I could hack my own sync if I could make it live in Max MSP for now.

rdfm · 2016-09-21T16:57:30.075Z

Was wondering the same about Kira in max

@tehn could you possibly shed some light on when to except the ansible max patch? Also will Kira be included?

kisielk · 2016-09-21T17:04:10.369Z

Since we’re talking about sequencer features… one crucial feature of sequencers that surprisingly few include is the ability to duplicate and then modify a pattern without stopping the sequencer.

rdfm · 2016-09-21T17:05:55.622Z

Do you like mark eats sequencer? Very capable of this

kisielk · 2016-09-21T17:10:41.209Z

I haven’t tried it yet, I guess I’m talking more about hardware sequencers.

ppqq · 2016-09-21T17:59:40.740Z

Another vote for a max patch when time permits!

ermina · 2016-09-21T18:03:16.554Z

kisielk:

duplicate and then modify a pattern without stopping the sequencer

that is the only pattern-related feature i have yet implemented in my monome+chuck sequencer.
I am not used to any hardware or software sequencer (except seq24) but it seemed to me something i would need in a live situation: start with a pattern, loop it, then duplicate, modify, switch to new, ad lib.

scanner_darkly · 2016-09-21T18:45:37.599Z

i’ll mention that orca does it, you can copy a pattern, switch to it, modify, switch back etc etc, all live without interrupting the clock. same for banks (a bank consists of 8 patterns).

tehn · 2016-09-21T19:35:41.864Z

kisielk:

Since we’re talking about sequencer features… one crucial feature of sequencers that surprisingly few include is the ability to duplicate and then modify a pattern without stopping the sequencer.

WW does this. i should make sure kria can as well.

kisielk · 2016-09-21T20:01:47.675Z

Not only for live, but it’s quite helpful to be able to try out variations without interruption when composing as well.

kisielk · 2016-09-21T20:02:03.760Z

tehn:

WW does this. i should make sure kria can as well.

Yes, and it’s a WW feature I use all the time

rick_monster · 2016-09-21T20:44:14.056Z

this WW feature also caught my eye! In sguenz I’m trying to extend the concept to include a class of operations overdub-copy or appending-copy of ‘grid sequences’ into human-timed ‘gesture sequences’. Makes for some entertaining programming puzzles…

Klaus_Christensen · 2016-09-22T04:12:29.177Z

this thread took off al of a sudden

it’s all very exciting and I’m definitely enjoying watching videos of white whale, orca and kria, but for someone who “just” wants to make acid basslines it’s all very much too much. I can appreciate the pushing of envelopes and artistic approach to creating these tools, but what I’m missing is something simpler, at least to use.

take my favorite sequencer which is still molar, and probably what I’ll end up using. it’s so many things crammed into such a small device. it’s a brilliant drum sequencer with velocity, flam, randomize, collapsing and meta sequencing, but it’s also a beat slicer and midi keyboard and so on, so when you use a feature you have to be very careful not to trigger another feature by accident.

I know, I know, I should write it my self. I just don’t have those capabilities.

sakul · 2016-09-22T05:54:29.002Z

Klaus_Christensen:

I just don’t have those capabilities.

Sorry to say so, but don’t underestimate your mind! (you also learned/remembered molar )

And nowadays it’s easier than ever to build your own sequencer http://monome.org/docs/grid-studies/

jasonw22 · 2016-09-22T12:45:46.561Z

sakul:

don’t underestimate your mind!

Can’t be restated enough.

Klaus_Christensen · 2016-09-22T15:10:19.378Z

you also learned/remembered molar

yeah, well, that was before life caught up with me

I did write a sorry excuse for a M4l patch once upon a time, so it’s not completely strange to me, but opening up more advanced patches still makes my brain hurt.