Members The Hamburglar Posted February 18, 2009 Members Share Posted February 18, 2009 Guys... I'm totally ignorant about hardware sequencers and arpeggiators and I don't mean the arpeggiators that are part of a synth. Let me put it another way. I want a device that could function as both a step sequencer for an analog drum machine like a DRM-1 as well as an arpeggiator for a synth without one like, say, the Nord Wave. Am I just looking for a classic sequencer and don't realize it? What exactly differentiates a MIDI sequencer from an analog sequencer? Are there dedicated hardware arpeggiators? What is the right answer to my not-very-specific, poorly elucidated situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shaft9000 Posted February 19, 2009 Members Share Posted February 19, 2009 What is the right answer to my not-very-specific, poorly elucidated situation? i dunno. i guess you should find a synth with a well-regarded flexible arp that sends MIDI... and get busy, eh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Hamburglar Posted February 19, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 19, 2009 Thank you sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Juan Ebola Posted February 19, 2009 Members Share Posted February 19, 2009 ... analog sequencers do not have memory. so what you set is what you get, always. also analog sequencers use control voltage, so pitches can waver, fluctuate and cause the synth to sound out-of-tune. Digital sequencers, being wholly incremental, do not typically share these characteristics.... The fact that analog sequencers generally don't quantize pitch can be seen as an advantage. But usually they are part of a modular system, and so you'd expect to supplement it with a quantizer of some sort. Some analog sequencers absolutely require you to implement them as part of a larger system, for instance, the serge tkb, which needs an external clock of some sort. There are hybrid sequencers that quantize cv values for pitch (sam-16, signal arts), and the signal arts does have program memory. If you do have modular gear, there are advantages to working with analog sequencers over a midi sequencer with midi to cv conversion. Like modular gear, you're generally working directly with all of the values, inputs, outputs, available to you right there on the surface with no menus. There is an immediacy that you don't get with even stuff like the Octopus....plus there is stuff that a good analog sequencer will do that you can't get from a midi sequencer. You can clock them at audio rates, send out gates/triggers in various ways/patterns, that you don't get from a midi output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oldgearguy Posted February 19, 2009 Members Share Posted February 19, 2009 another box you might want to spend some time googling is the Oberheim Cyclone. It has some flakiness associated with it, but it does some really cool stuff. The interface used to be considered cryptic, but that was back in the days of using 2 seven segment LEDS to disply info. With the manual and a healthy editing of the presets, you can generate some amazing things. Note that it typically sits between some type of MIDI keyboard and a synth (module or PC or another synth) or feeds back into the synth driving it w. local control off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bloopbleep Posted February 19, 2009 Members Share Posted February 19, 2009 I imagined the Cyclone would be impossible to find these days. I remembered seeing ads of the Cyclone and other Oberheim gadgets back when it almost impossible to find a synth equib with arpegiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Acid Hazard Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 MAM SQ16 is exactly what you need. I just got one. Complicated but power sequencer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oldgearguy Posted February 20, 2009 Members Share Posted February 20, 2009 I imagined the Cyclone would be impossible to find these days. I remembered seeing ads of the Cyclone and other Oberheim gadgets back when it almost impossible to find a synth equib with arpegiator. Actually I have 2 and was condering selling one of them since i've cut down on the number of synths in my rig. One is just fine now. I'm sure they pop up on eBay from time to time too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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