Creative use of sequencers?

horse

Growing up I always thought of sequencers as like the midi equivalent of a portastudio - something on which you'd create the backing for an entire song - drums on one midi channel, bass on another etc...

Instruments with built in sequencers like the minibrute 2s make me think there's a whole way of working with them that is different / more creative - what am I missing / how are these typically used?

wave100

I have a minibrute 2S - I've also had a beatstep (not the pro version) for a couple of years. It's really just a pretty hands on way to generate rhythmic and melodic midi patterns  in a kind of semi random way - you just press some buttons and twiddle some knobs and hey presto! Instant music! It's more for "electronic music" than traditional guitar band stuff although obviously there are many exceptions - you definitely come up with different ideas than you would using a keyboard.

The sequencer on the MB2 is pretty sophisticated as it has 4 "tracks", one for notes and three for different modulation things and by using the patch bay you can set the 2nd oscillator to play different notes from oscillator 1 giving an effectively duophonic sequence. However usually I just synch it to the computer via USB and record the output of the MB as audio while twiddling the knobs on the synth. It's loads of fun if you're that way inclined.

Some modular synths don't have a keyboard and are entirely sequencer driven.

Loopop on youtube has a pretty good video on the MB2s if you are interested.

PS I don't know if that is how these are typically used, it's just how I use it!

horse

Thanks @wave100 - It's probably because I'm so unfamiliar with electronic music and how it is arranged that it isn't obvious to me how the kit would be used.

I've been enjoying creating evolving ambient type modulating synth sounds lately where how the sound evolves introduces a randomness to how what I play sounds, which in turn seems to influence what I play next - kind of circular, with the sound equally important as the notes. I guess that using the sequencer how you describe is in a way a bit similar to that, only you are actively changing the sound in realtime rather than playing different notes, and with much more rhythm (maybe?!)

octatonic

horse said:

Growing up I always thought of sequencers as like the midi equivalent of a portastudio - something on which you'd create the backing for an entire song - drums on one midi channel, bass on another etc...

Instruments with built in sequencers like the minibrute 2s make me think there's a whole way of working with them that is different / more creative - what am I missing / how are these typically used?

This is where modular synthesis will blow your mind.

I have 6 different hardware step sequencers available to me, some in Eurorack format, some in standalone that output cv and some that interface with midi via a eurorack midi to cv converter.

I can use a sequencer as a free running sequencer of something other than note information, for instance a VCA, or to trigger an LFO, or to stop/start another sequencer for a short period of time.
I can use it to sweep a VCA through its range in discreet steps, or to have it go between two notes using a really slow tempo, and then output to a quanitizer, so that the notes conform to a scale (or not).

With the Elektron sequencers I use conditional trigs, that only fire under certain conditions, either as a percentage or when other conditions are met.

Even this is barely scratching the surface, there is an entire world of exploration in there, sequencing midi note information is the least interesting aspect of a sequencer imho.

horse

octatonic said:

horse said:

Growing up I always thought of sequencers as like the midi equivalent of a portastudio - something on which you'd create the backing for an entire song - drums on one midi channel, bass on another etc...

Instruments with built in sequencers like the minibrute 2s make me think there's a whole way of working with them that is different / more creative - what am I missing / how are these typically used?

This is where modular synthesis will blow your mind.

I have 6 different hardware step sequencers available to me, some in Eurorack format, some in standalone that output cv and some that interface with midi via a eurorack midi to cv converter.

I can use a sequencer as a free running sequencer of something other than note information, for instance a VCA, or to trigger an LFO, or to stop/start another sequencer for a short period of time.
I can use it to sweep a VCA through its range in discreet steps, or to have it go between two notes using a really slow tempo, and then output to a quanitizer, so that the notes conform to a scale (or not).

With the Elektron sequencers I use conditional trigs, that only fire under certain conditions, either as a percentage or when other conditions are met.

Even this is barely scratching the surface, there is an entire world of exploration in there, sequencing midi note information is the least interesting aspect of a sequencer imho.

So you're mainly using them as sound design / manipulation tools? I've had a little go at that with the sequencing options in my rev2, but obviously not on the same scale - like a different modulation source. What type of sounds are you making, for what type of music?

Interesting what you say about the elektron / conditional. With my experiments I have found myself thinking how useful conditional logic might be - like if I've chained a number of modulators and mostly like the results, but sometimes an element goes too far and I can't stop that without losing some of what I like, I'd like to be able to say send resonance down if it goes above a certain level, but it guess you can trigger pro-active conditional actions as well as '''preventative' ones, which must be interesting.

octatonic

I guess I do glitchy electronic music but the tech will do more than that- it is just down to what you want to do with it.

Conditional trigs are great, I have been meaning to do a small video explaining the brilliance of them- I'm finishing off some video work this week, once that is done I'll have time to do it.

Funkfingers

horse said:

a whole way of working with them that is different / more creative

With hardware MIDI sequencers such as the venerable Roland MC-50, each Track has a dedicated mute button. These can be exploited for all manner of real time variations.

horse said:

drums on one midi channel, bass on another etc...

This simplistic approach under-exploits the possibilities on offer. 

The ROM Play Demo Songs included in many digital synthesizers make greater use of each MIDI Track by using Patch Change messages to flip between sounds as the song progresses. Skilful composer/demonstrators can coax amazing pieces of music out of instruments as pedestrian as the Roland D-110. 


One of the disadvantages of modern DAW computer music is the temptation to synchronise modulation sources to the track tempo. Things sweep neatly to the bar line. No nasty surprises. Some times, leaving some of the modulation elements free running yields random but fascinating results. 

The general idea is to be open to anything, to break rules, to allow some aspects of your music to be arrived at by chance.

horse

That's interesting thanks @Funkfingers ;

The only thing I tend to regularly use midi for at the moment is to capture input from an electronic kit, so I can edit it where necessary to improve timing. I'm well on board with letting the synth modulations take on a life of their own.

Interesting re patch changes - think I've seen the lack of step sequencer patch change criticised on some mono synths, presumably as it prevents building a backing track by switching patch between notes.

Funkfingers

Not all monosynths have patch memories between which to switch.

Seamless patch changes within a single MIDI sequencer track depend on leaving enough time between notes for envelope releases and any built-in time-based effects to fade to zero.