Squarp Pyramid is great.
i have only owned one for about a month, and have only played the production game for about one year. So my opinion is very limited by a lack of knowledge and experience of the techniques and capabilities of sequencing and music production in general. (reading most of rick_monster’s posts is like trying to learn how to fly a spaceship by reading a manual translated from gronkytonk. not a criticism of you, i just dont understand half of the words you are saying let alone the concepts behind them)
In a way this is the first endorsement point of the Pyramid. It just works for someone who doesn’t really know what they are doing. It is straightforward enough for fledglings, but deep enough for masters.
The physical interface is compact and easy to become familiar with. One handed operation is fairly easy despite needing to push multiple buttons at the same time. Navigating between functions and changing parameters is quick, with minimal button combinations and scrolling. One drawback of the UI is that the screen is to the left of the main rotary dial, so the screen gets blocked when turning the knob with the left hand. Fortunately the multiple- page menu diving is minimal, and most features can be accessed while only needing to go a couple of screens deep. But for some of the features its easier to use the left hand to press buttons while turning the dial with the right so you can see what you are changing on the screen without having to contort your hand around.
Some other things i’ve found useful or just like about it:
the resolution of note input is good, it doesn’t lock you in too rigidly, allows for sloppy play, but will quantise and tighten up as needed.
Bar length and meter can be set independently for each track. I don’t fully understand polymeter/polyrythm, but it allows for these things. I just know that it sounds neat as the patterns overlap when the lengths vary, and this is easy to accomplish.
Polyphony seems more limited by what is being sequenced than by the Pyramid itself. It juggles multiple tracks, notes, parameter changes, automations etc really well; you can have a lot going on at the same time.
The effects list is varied and the quality sounds good. I especially like that you can add randomness in varying degrees to note length, pitch and velocity for each track. So even the most simple sequences can be morphed into unexpected and interesting areas that continually change. The chance effect is also really fun, you can set it to play any percentage of the notes from nothing to everything. i’ve enjoyed taking busy note filled sequences and disintegrating them over time then putting it back together again. Layering and changing the order of the effects is easy and induces varied results.
Euclidean mode makes generating and changing patterns fun, quick and easy and allows for realizing patterns which would be difficult to make without it.
Plenty of knobs and buttons to assign things to, but no so many that they become overwhelming. Ability to draw in automation etc adds another way to interact.
And so much more.
Overall it has really opened things up for me, it has coalesced a workflow, integrated multiple instruments, and vastly expanded my production capabilities. It is fast and easy to use without necessitating a computer and all the cascade of difficulties and learning curves involved. i’m really excited to continue exploring and producing with it.
For comparison i tried:
Beatstep pro; easy with great layout but mono timbral input, three tracks is too few, limited to 64 steps
Digitakt; could never get it to communicate properly with the virus ti, it would act as a controller, but i couldnt input notes from different midi channels from the virus keyboard, the clacky small buttons were awkward, screen is too small for all of the necessary info, but it is sharp and clear. cant enter chords. Unrelated to sequencer aspect; the sampling functions were good, though editing audio lengths was fiddly, twisty and tedious for me. one could get better at it with practice though.
Only other sequencer experience has been from the onboard ones with various machines, which is inherently limiting. But he Roland ones are fun and easy, and the Korg motion record is really good.
Sorry for the long and rambly post. i just hope this helps someone out there who is looking for the ‘right’, not necessarily the ‘best’ sequencer. Ultimately i think you just need to try as many out as you can and see what works for you, this goes for other gear as well. i’ve wondered whether it was best to just settle in and learn whatever i had and not gone on an acquisition spree. But i think some things just work more easily and intuitively for different people and you’ve gotta spend some time with it to know. And it is fairly easy to resell, trade, or return gear. i feel like i got lucky trading a Digitakt for a relatively hard to get Pyramid and each has fit better with the new owner.
(please excuse the blatant materialistic consumerism)
good luck in your search, hopefully it is a fun journey.
(btw for those disgruntled with the few cv outs on the Pyramid, Squarp is coming out with a new sequencer for modular gear called the Hermod which looks to have similar sequencing capabilities but with lots more holes)
