#21

It’s a pretty big difference between sequencing drums/percussion (or mostly trigger based things) and melodic material (where you might want to control pitch, gate, envelopes or other parameters at the same time). I find I want different approaches depending on which sequencing I’m doing.

2 Likes
#22

Between Teletype and the ER 101 I can’t really ask for much more. The teletype is perfect for producing overarching structures and the 101 for specific phrases/melodies/rhythms at smaller scales.

1 Like
#23

whats the difference between the A4 and the Octa sequencer? or the main difference i guess

#24

I would love a sequencer that allowed you to create a graphic notation and allowed you to define how the transformation or traversal of the notation translated into musical information.

ORCΛ gets close to this but it already has a clearly defined language and as a result it has a certain aesthetic.

In this dream sequencer you could create a piano roll by defining a grid that corresponds to note values and a vertical line that moves to the right that will read the note information from underneath it.
But what if the note grid could shift or the vertical line could rotate or bend?

4 Likes
#25

Is it similar to the midi sequencer on the OT?

#26

i’d say 80% of it. the thing that you have a little keyboard always working is a big big plus for me

#27

the keyboard, having the parameters for retrig and probability on a specified button, the arpeggiator… i don’t know seems a little more fluid to me. but still, they are heavily similar.

1 Like
#28

The Koma Komplex is cool, but not quite what I was thinking. The Komplex is expensive, out-of-production, and rare plus it is a very big commitment space wise (I have a very tiny corner studio). I’m thinking of basically a one or two channel sequencer with similar functionality as the SQ-1, but with full sized knobs and some extra CV control. In terms of size I was thinking somewhere between the SQ-1 and the black Elektron boxes.

#29

Teletype is the perfect sequence in my book. After adding a hermod (for long melodies, midi sequencing and keyboard input) the perfect sequencer just got better, perfect sync between the two, synced parts switching.

2 Likes
#30

oh right. the digitone is similar. i do like that one a lot. and the model:cycles. they work perfectly together. if an elektron box had some sort of organic clocking (per step maybe) with clock dividers, lfo driven clocks, sequential switches, it would be almost perfect i think

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#31

i sold my digitone a year ago (trade it with an octatrack mk1) and really annyed me a lot the fact thaty i have to switch between the sequencer and the keyboard… still missing it for its sound capabilities tho

#32

I guess others have suggested similar, but I enjoy exploratory/surprising/performative sequencers (for me, Ansible- & Norns-based) supplemented with cv-recording “brain” sequencers (Hermod, in my case). I tend to write in Monome, record into Hermod, and edit as needed.

I doubt it would be possible to develop something with both qualities in a single device and I suppose my case has enough room not to need it.

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#33

My dream sequencer would consist of a mixture between organic and electronic elements. I’d like a knob-interface for clock division… like the LEP Multicassa or TipTop Trigger Riot… As well as a vegetal component … rustling leaves = velocity, perhaps note on, tapping a woody stem or trunk… marine tentacles to pull and twist send CC… pitch information handled by a soft Computer simulating spider life cycles or ant path-finding or bee dances (quantized to one of many scales)… also it should be very colorful, it should change color like a chameleon. A mouse skull panic button ceases all transmission of data from the sequencer to the synthesizer. In my dream I am very tall and can see very far. It’s very beautiful, but very still. The sky is red like in Doom 2 and my vision is pixelated. When I finally find the sequencer, it feels like taking a drug. Touching and pushing and twisting the sequencer produces alien tones from an invisible instrument.

8 Likes
#34

image

Sequencing for me is mostly about expression of repeating phrases, which is something I’m far more likely to use for rhythm than melody or harmony. But the ability to sequence monophonic pitches is handy for bass lines.

When expressing rhythm, the more ways I have to divide time, the more creative I can be. That’s why I love TidalCycles, it’s all about creating patterns through creative division of time. I happen to like the syntax, but it does have a learning curve.

If I need to sequence pitches and don’t feel like using a piano roll, I’m likely to use ansible kria.

Edit: five12 Numerology is really awesome for random, probability, mutation, humanization, and music theory.

6 Likes
#35

If there’s one thing I have learned about sequencers, it’s that there cannot be one sequencer to rule them all. Any design will involve seemingly-endless compromises that reveal the designer’s biases, and result in a sequencer that is probably really good at one thing, okay at a few other things, and miserable at the rest.

In other words, it’s actually best to have multiple sequencers, and many to choose from. This situation maximizes your opportunities to find the two or three (or six or seven, depending on whom you are) that are a good fit for you.

The only people who need only one sequencer happen to be people with extremely narrow requirements.

A healthy market means that designers can take greater risks and get more experimental instead of endlessly rehashing slight variations of the same models.

8 Likes
#36

mm sounds kind of like an oramics machine

#37

My favorite sequencer I’ve used is still the first one I ever used (this is probably related haha) which was the Novation Circuit. It’s just incredible intuitive and I’m so much faster on it than anything else. Unfortunately it really works best in the “scale” mode but you can change the scale per pattern so that hasn’t been too much of an issue for me. I really love the way you can use it as a “chord bank” instead of a sequencer if desired. When you click on any step on the sequencer lane (which have dedicated buttons) it will preview the notes, so you can set up a sequence with different chords on every note of the pattern, then mute that sequencer track and play them back in any order / with any timing you’d like. That really helps my writing a lot since I’m not a great piano player and I can’t always bang out the chords I want to play in the fastest manner when I’m just trying to figure out a progression.

I’m still hoping Novation will eventually release a Circuit 2.0 / pro as there are lots of improvements I’d want, not the least of which is just more tracks of the sequencer (right now it’s only 2)

2 Likes
#38

Maybe this exists but I would like, rather than a sequential sequencer for individual instruments a “state” sequencer where you could record where multiple parameters are at different moments and place them on an x/y grid then move through those states with a joystick. States would probably be recording something like midi CC parameters?

1 Like
#39

Dream sequencer ? A modern tracker like Renoise I could also program directly with Tidal Cycles langage and syntax. Or TC directly implemented in Live. Yeah, I love Tidal :smiley:

1 Like
#40

This is a difficult question, there are many different archetypes, and I can’t say I’ve settled on one that is perfect. I feel many come close, and there are different components that I like.

My favourite to play is the Lorre Mill Double Knot. Shift register sequencer is very simple, but I found it very intuitive. I am particularly fond of how it expresses the concept of relabi, it allowed me for the first time to feel sequencing in a very non-linear way (in a way like singing a round)

Grid sequencers never clicked for me. My dream is to try a grid one day. I drift between algorithmic sequencers, performative, and programmatic. Algorithmic, like Dunes, Teletype, or Sequins, I’ve wanted to try Omsonics Stochastic sequencer for this concept. I like not having to plug in each facet of the sequence and instead focus on creating the system of the sequence.

I’ve just plugged in the Varigate 4+ and I’m enjoying it as a performative sequencer. Maybe something with a similar concept but standalone, footprint and interface of a 16n would be really cool. Serge TKB, and Make Noise 0-CTRL are close but I haven’t tried them yet.

Programmatic sequencers are a new interest for me. I’m really taking by scripting in ORCA, Teletype, SC. Norns is already perfect for this, but something with a Norns brain and more physical interface (sliders, built in keyboard, bigger screen) all in one would be a dream.

1 Like