Review: Manikin Schrittmacher {long}

Abstract: The Schrittmacher is an analogue-style MIDI step-sequencer. It's great.

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Manufacturer: Manikin Electronic, GMBH

Website: http://www.manikin-electronic.com

OS : 1.0d

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Setup

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You have a choice between a desktop and 19" rack build, and the rackmount version, reviewed here, is a sturdy aluminum and steel affair. The front is dominated by sixteen rotary encoders and about two dozen buttons. Visual feedback is provided by 16 tri-color LEDs above the encoders, several LEDs embedded in buttons and a massive LCD. The software-controlled power button is located on the front panel and requires a good five seconds' hold time to turn off, ensuring there'll be no accidents when you're in the swing of things. On the other side, we find two MIDI outs, one MIDI in, a jack for the external 9v power supply and a knob to adjust the display's contrast, which is a nice touch. These are oriented very low on the rear panel, making table or lap operation difficult. If you were to make your own end-cheeks for a low-rent desktop version, you'd have to add a couple of inches' height for cable clearance. Bummer.

Global

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The Schrittmacher preset is comprised of four sequences of eight tracks {lines, in Schrittmacher-speak} that are freely assigned one of the following types:

+ off

+ note

+ drum grid

+ velocity

+ gate

+ note length

+ MIDI channel

+ add

+ control

+ playback mode

A track can modulate other tracks in the same sequence - use an add track for random octave jumps, a velocity line to make the note lines more dynamic, and a MIDI line for cool hocketing tricks. Furthermore, tracks can have independent lengths, playback modes and gate values, which define track resolution. Up to eight MIDI controller assignments for external gear and tempo round out the preset. The Schrittmacher can store thirty presets, which are easily backed up and reloaded via system exclusive messages.

Press Play

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Powered on, the Schrittmacher loads an initial preset with a single note track of sixteen steps, all set to C3. The LEDs over the encoders indicate steps' status. Steps are muted by pressing the corresponding encoder or, by toggling the stepmode button, skipped, turning a sixteen-step sequence into a six-step one without truncation. I first encountered this on an ARP sequencer, and later the Signal Arts MAPS, and it's a very cool effect. Skips and mutes can be mixed freely per track, so an eight-track sequence might have a bewildering combination of skipped, muted and active steps, running in different directions and at different rates.

When it's time to expand the sequence by adding more tracks - more notes for polyphonic sequencing, a drum track for the essential beat, or any of the modulating tracks enumerated earlier, we encounter my first operational gripe: you have to stop the sequencer in order to define a track type. It's a fast and easy operation that is unlikely to disrupt the creative flow in the studio, but that's a lot of stopping and starting when each sequence has eight tracks, and it would be frustrating to build a sequence from scratch in a live setting without considerable preparation, and sometimes compromise.

Once you've selected a type, you can tie other tracks to it with a few button pushes, and start modulating them by editing the new track's sequence. The first thing I wrote was a simple, cyclical, Autechresque bassline - additional tracks, sequencing velocity and adding a single octave jump every ten steps, made the bassline breathe and dance nicely. Then, I added a MIDI track, duplicating the add track's ten-step sequence, so every octave jump would trigger a second patch that had a reverb send, instead of the first patch. This only took seconds to effect, and sounded great. That's four tracks in the sequence used, leaving four more to sequence note length, track time signature via a gate track, CC values and, in admirable attention to detail, playback mode. You can even force time-based resynchronizations globally or per-track. It's easy to overdo the modulations and turn your long-awaited "Mass after Palestrina" into a sample and hold serenade if you're not careful, so a little trial, error and judgment are key to realizing your musical ideas.

The drum matrix track, added with OS 1.0d, complements the note track. You pick a static note value {say, C3 for kick drum} and sequence velocities. All other modulating tracks and sequence parameters still apply, so you're only a minute from composing inscrutable polyrhythms for people to scratch their heads over online.

Less glamorous than the sequencer, but equally necessary, are the modal operations. The "enter" button toggles between track sequence and parameter view, where you would define track type, playback mode, MIDI channel, sequence length, and so on. You can also statically transpose and rotate the track's events in this menu. The "loop" button toggles between the sequence and a start+end view, which allows you to change the sequence endpoints quickly. Use the "global" view to activate or deactivate tracks and quickly edit the values of the eight MIDI controllers you have defined in the "setup" view. On paper, this may seem like so many words, but Manikin deserve extra credit for keeping their modal operations accessible, logical and consistent; many crucial functions are just a single press of a button away.

Skipped Steps

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There are a improvements I'd like to see in the Schrittmacher. Some parameters yield undesired output when edited live. If you want to change the MIDI channel from, say, one to four, there's a good chance you'll fire off notes on channels two and three while you're turning the encoder. Similarly, changing the playback mode from forward to pendulum might cause repeated notes or zipper noises. It would be ideal either to wait until the sequence restarts or for the user to push the encoder to effect the change. The global menu doesn't behave as expected. When I mute a modulating track, I expect my note track to play back exactly as it's sequenced, with no changes effected by the vel, gate, add or whatever tracks I have muted. In use, the first step of the muted modulating track affects the target track - you might muting that muting an add track transposes the entire note sequence by a fourth! The only way to disassociate a track and a modulating track completely is to disable the routing, but that's a lot slower than using the global view, which ostensibly designed for operations like this. The repeatable behavior when there's a "first step" suggests that this is a programming oversight, but I sent an email requesting clarification to Manikin. I'd like to see add tracks accept modulation from other add tracks, feeding the jones for aleatory. Page copy and paste functions would be useful. Assigning track types without stopping the sequencer tops my list of feature requests, but the manual says that you have to stop it in bold letters, so I guess that's not going to change any time soon.

Endpoints

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None of the behaviors described above are dealbreakers. On the whole, the Schrittmacher's capabilities and runtime use betray the significant thought and experience called upon to design an instrument that can perform remarkable operations typically unavailable to its less specialized competitors, yet remain instantly grokked and fun to use, unlike the P3 and MAPS, which are extremely powerful, but have steep learning curves and deeply modal interfaces - in short, the ideal step-sequencer. In comparisons, I keep returning to an effects unit, Eventide's Eclipse, which may seem spurious, but beyond their generous displays and quality builds, you'll find a limited, but flexible architecture and a robust user interface that may encourage more use and experimentation than their more modular, and theoretically more liberating, counterparts. Whether you consider it a Polymorph for the 21st century or a P3 for the rest of us, the Schrittmacher promises to take your MIDI-based composition to exciting, often fruitful, directions.

This review is fairly high-level, but I'm bored of writing it. I'll happily answer any detailed questions about the Schrittmacher in subsequent posts.

Thanks for this review. As a long time Schrittmacher user (unit #2) I think you did a very good review of it.

I just may add, that the 16 encoders of the sequencer lines having clicks. And one click is one parameter value step. So turning the encoder 7 clicks chamges the pitch of a note line by a quint. This is very nice when doing editing on the (sequencer) run when performing live. And the huge display is giving way more feedback about what is going on then the tiny P3 display.

HaJo and I team up playing 1976-77 TD like music 100% live under the name EL-KA. And HaJo uses his Schrittmacher for all sequences. And he edit the sequencer programming while the sequence runs.

Mario Sch

The schrittmacher is an expensive dream toy for me. I really need to play one some day before I could commit that kind of cash to a non-sound making device.

Thank you for the in depth review.

I need to start keeping checklists when I write these things. These are also on my wishlist:

+ A retrigger track, with the number of triggers sequenced

+ A tie track that allows concurrent notes on to stay on, even when a subsequent note in the sequence is fired. I may not be describing this well, but the Signal Arts MAPS has this function, and it's pretty cool.

+ I'm not as keen on a force to scale function as other users, but it's definitely a cool feature of the MAPS, and I've heard people use it on the P3.

Cheers to Qwave for noting that the encoders are detented. They're great tactile feedback.

Nice. I wish Manikin had a trade-in program, because I really want a desktop =

This is definitely handy on the P3 and on the Monomachine.

Thanks for the detailed review. Sounds like it gives you a lot of the options of the P3 without being as write-only.

Tony - these hardware sequencers are pricey but they can make all of your other gear more interesting, so although they don't make any noise they can exponentially increase the noise-making potential of the rest of your rig.

it doesn't even come close to the p3. That's not to denigrate it (I've owned it twice - it's a great sequencer)...but there is nothing at all like the p3 aux events, which is really why you'd buy a p3 in the first place.

If I were in the States, I'd just lend it to him and wait for the magic to happen - and it would happen.

If they could crib the aux events and chords from the P3, the Schrittmacher would be a monster, for sure. I'd also like to see Pong.

No, the P3 is much deeper. It just sounds like the SM can do some of the odd-length, odd-tempo, odd-direction sequencing stuff.

I also had a P3 for a while. I sold it because it was so hard to keep track mentally of everything that was going on in a complex sequence.

I wish Elektron at least allowed for varying track lengths, clock divisors and play directions in the Monomachine. I guess it would destroy some of the essential simplicity of the machine.

HaJo is doing the sequences. And he drives the four full analog voices of a Vermona Perfourmer and a Vermona anlog drum synth from the schrittmacher. He always got 4 lines of notes for the Perfourmer preprogrammed. And he than changes them on the fly by muting, skipping and retuning them. He also changes the direction mode.

The Drum sounds are triggered in the TR 808 way by 6 sequencer lines. He just mute or play steps.

All other sequenced things are done by using arpeggiators. HaJo is using the MAM arpeggiator for doing these old style PPG 350 sequencer like arpeggios. I do all the other ones. But not that often. I am more the chord and melody player.

The recordings of our April 2007 concert in Eindhoven/The Netherlands is mastered right now. And we hope to release the CD within a few weeks. It is an progression from the Galactic Sequences. This time we use transposing of sequences. While the Schrittmacher on stage is a HaJo's rig, I remote control transpositions to keep them parallel with my chords. When you improvise everything you need this kind of work around. OK, the sound of the intros and the preselection of the starting point of the sequences is set recalled from the patch/sequence memory. And the starting key is always c minor. Just like most Berlin School EM from 30 years ago.

I think slides a la Elektron would be great too, though I don't know how that is.

thanks for the review, niall. a good read.

is there a way to subdivide the notes at the step level at all? gate divide has always been a favorite of mine, but of course there's always ways to pull that off post sequencer, it's just easier (and more fun) if you can modulate...

Thanks, Jason.

Gate length is a track destination, and can be sequenced. Here's the clock/time table, I think you'll like what you see: