Analog Sequencers

[c7sus]

I'm pretty new to the Voyager experience, but I'm already digging that analog sequencing is the next step. I've been reading up on the Frostwave Fat Controller, and the Doepfer MAQ16/3 and Regalwerk sequencers. The MAQ looks cool functionally, but the voltage difference is a bit of a drawback. Looks pretty straightforward to use though.

The Regalwerk looks like it does a lot of very cool stuff, but I wonder how much time I'll spend figuring it all out. Ideally it would be extremely kewl to be able to control 2 or 3 synth/drum modules at once with a single controller. I'm also figuring I would need a 2in/4out splitter for the MIDI data to multiple devices.

Am I on the right track with that?

I spent the weekend cramming on these three. Of course the Frostwave looks to be magnitudes of order easier to figure out than the Doepfers; but the features on the Regalwerk look pretty seductive if the learning curve isn't too steep. I'd like to use it to sequence drum patterns with a DR-770 too. I think being able to move a slider and change the drum patch or volume or whatever while playing sequences on the Voyager would be pretty far out indeed.

Anyways, I see a few guys here have used the Frostwave and recommend it, so anybody have any comments about any of these???

http://www.frostwave.com/fatcontroller/index.html

http://www.doepfer.de/home_e.htm

[sir_dss]

Check these out.


http://www.blacet.com/BZ.html

http://synthesizers.com/q119.html

or for a little more... Moog copy.

http://synthesizers.com/q960.html

[rjm]

Hi.....

I have both a Frostwave and an Arrick Q119.

The Frostwave is great and has midi, but you can also route everything from the back of the Voyager into the CVs & Gates to control filter, pitch, volume, etc. It's really easy to use and has a lot of useful functions.

I also have the Arrick (Dot Com) Q119 analog sequencer, which is now what I'm using for everything, as I've abandoned midi completely. I absolutely love this sequencer. Three rows of eight channels, so plenty of ways to be creative and intuitive. It feels a little more "real" (more the asthetic than anything, really) to me than the Frostwave, but the Frostwave is definitely more practical, especially when put in the middle of a midi setup.

[pelican1]

It all depends on what type you want, something like the fat controller is nice, and a lot of fun, but it's basically just a pattern sequencer. Nice for playing live, arppeggios, and experimenting.
Do you have to have cv and midi?-heard some bad things about the doepfer- maybe check out sequentix p3. Step pattern sequencer with digital memory and pattern chaining.
Want a professional sequencer with couple thousand note memory? Check out roland mc4b - I have one, and I have not had the need to buy any other kind. Has 4 track sequencing with trigger, gate, and step time per track- so 4 different synths, 4 different applications, etc... The Signal arts performance sequencer is like a new mc4- midi, cv- big memory www.signalarts.ca

[newname]

the regelwerk's firmware doesn't appear to be as sophisticated as the MAQ's. i'm going to be borrowing a friends' regelwerk in the next week or so. i'll write up a report / comparison after i've done that.

fwiw, i owned an MAQ and then sold it - i found myself spending _a lot_ of time monkeying around with the thing, getting interesting results but ultimately not being productive. i found it very inspirational, but i did tend to lock into certain ways of using the thing.

although i'm considering another HW sequencer for my moog thingies, i'm also thinking about buying something like an Encore Expressionist, and use a SW sequencer to provide MIDI data for it. probably not as much fun as a knobby HW sequencer, but it would be a lot more powerful in use, and the skillset would be transportable

lx

ps: if you want a lowball solution that is a real blast, check out the technosaurus cyclodon. it's primitive as can be, but it's very well built, is cute as hell and has a very ingenious 'binary' style sequence length selector. i use mine a lot in conjunction with my moogs. unlike the MAQ, people seem to really like the cyclodon. probably because it is less intimidating...

pps: if you can live without the knobs, check out the futureretro mobius. it's got a neat 'roland-esque' user interface, and is pretty fast to use live. you change note values with cursor buttons, which might seem tedious, but actually works pretty well. like the regelwerk and the cyclodon, this unit also supports DINsync for those old roland drumboxes you have lying about.

ppps: i gotta learn to write more concisely. ;D

[nicholas d. kent]

It all depends on what type you want, something like the fat controller is nice, and a lot of fun, but it's basically just a pattern sequencer. Nice for playing live, arppeggios, and experimenting.
Do you have to have cv and midi?-heard some bad things about the doepfer- maybe check out sequentix p3. Step pattern sequencer with digital memory and pattern chaining.
Want a professional sequencer with couple thousand note memory? Check out roland mc4b - I have one, and I have not had the need to buy any other kind. Has 4 track sequencing with trigger, gate, and step time per track- so 4 different synths, 4 different applications, etc... The Signal arts performance sequencer is like a new mc4- midi, cv- big memory www.signalarts.ca

I think really important choice is do you just want to sequence notes via MIDI or do you want to sequence control voltages? What kinds of interaction do you want on the fly. You can pay a lot of money for something you can do for dollars with a computer (inconvenient or not) or get something you just can't do with a computer or MIDI if in deed you want to pay some good money to do it.

As for Doepfer, they make several sequencers and each has different strengths and issues as most everything does. I was impressed by their new-ish sequencer controller, you can alter your sequence in all sorts of ways by voltage control so it seemed like an excellent opportuntity to experiment with self altering sequences - or do just plain ones if you wish.

Just curious about the MC4b, unless someone gave it to you or you want to recreate a late 70s studio environment, why would you want an early microprocessor based unit today?

[pelican1]

It is GREAT, but obviously too old for midi. If you have vintage synths with cv, gate inputs and no need for midi, you'll be in heaven. !. You set the tempo, you can have as many steps as you want 2. has four outputs for 4 tracks/4synths/ or set up however you like bass, lead, harmony, melody. 3. Roland DIN Sync if you have an 808 909 or 303 like me -it's useful. 4. You can set however many notes per measure you want without changing the other variables- (each 'step' has a value like midi for cv (note), gate, and time)-or with quantization. 5. editing is simple- flip a switch to edit, cursor to the parameter you want to change, type in value, enter, and your result will play back automatically. Want to delete? Hit delete. 6. There are a lot of secrets to this sequencer. Many people hate it because they think it's too complex. 7. It is just pure class of design- it looks great, the UI is great, etc... Brand new it cost over $5000 which is why it's sort of hard to find. It takes analogue sequencers to the next step of evolution.

It sounds great with my arp2600!

The signal arts seq. is similar. I'd probably upgrade to one if I needed midi and cv, but I already have a mpc to seq. midi.

[Lengai]

The Future Retro Revolution has a lot of MIDI and CV capabilities in its sequencer, and you get another synth with it.