A complete guide to patching a custom sequencer

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hello everyone! I got some questions about a quick custom sequencer setup on my basic system, so thought I'd dive a bit deeper and tell the full story in a patch-packed video :) Cheers!

[@martebar]

More than sound design, ambient or other typical modular pursuits, complex sequencing has always been what I found most interesting about having access to CV

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Nice! Let me know if you discovered fun tricks I didn't mention :)

[@LowGainElectronics]

Happy to see people talking about modular sequencing!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you like it! :)

[@ericMT]

Thank you for being the Max Verstappen of the Eurorack education community! All your videos have taught me so much.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

My pleasure! As long as people are enthusiastic about these it's worth it! Cheers :)

[@attichatchsound-bobkowal5328]

Excellent! A lot of neat ideas! I typically (basically) go Gates>Mixer>Polarizer/Offset>Quantizer. Regarding "skipped" gate input resulting in the base note: You can go: Duplicate of Gate Pattern>Envelope>Post-voice VCA. Then rather than constant rhythm you get rests in the output where the base notes would otherwise sound. Also handy if you want more than one voice sounding different portions of the same sequence.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, nice! The polarizer is a great addition for sure, I thought of adding that too :) And adding rests is a great tip as well, didn't think of that. Enjoy!

[@keschgelb]

Your channel is a goldmine! I never would have thought about these possibilities. Thanks for the inspiration 👍👍

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you like it! Happy to make these as long as people are happy with them :) Cheers!

[@rayderrich]

I often watch your videos at least twice to complete the list of items I need to buy ;-) Great ideas again, thank you Sir.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Haha, thanks for that ;) And glad you like it!

[@pmumble76]

Another amazing video. Thanks.

[@simoantere7283]

Doepfer A-151 is a gem of a module. I just got A-134-2 as well. Gotta try these techniques more in depht with my 4ms RCD. Thanks for the inspiring video!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Very true! The switch is still on my list to make a full video about one day. And the crossfader is really fun to, made a video about that one a while ago :) Cheers!

[@simoantere7283]

Yeah, I have seen that video many times. Taught me the importance of utilities. I would love to see a full video about the mighty A-151!

[@allardhooisma6537]

Great video. Letting the box run itself.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks, glad you like it! :)

[@mikegeary8056]

I like this. I had and idea to put together a patch programmable gate sequencer.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, nice. Glad you like it!

[@oldmossystone]

I like to use a 4 step shift register as an intermediate module. So a slow clock division pushes new notes to the shift register. Then a much faster division clocking a sequential switch that switches between the four outputs of the shift register. That way you get a repeating pattern that updates every N repeats, there is always continuity because each time the ASR updates, you get one new note, lose a note, but the other three remain, just in a different order. You can still do all the other fun stuff like modulating clock rates, switching between sources etc. I like feeding it with random sources, or from a pre-programmed pool of notes in a sequencer...

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Nice, thanks for sharing! The shift register is a really nice tool. I'm having a lot of fun with the step-8 to create melodies with it's tricks. Very worth exploring for sure. Cheers!

[@BenA718]

Excellent video! I especially like your pacing and how you leave the overlays up long enough to actually read them! It's worth noting that if you have a Subharmonicon, you can do a lot of what's presented here with a couple of utility modules added.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you enjoyed it! And the Subharmonicon is for sure a lot of fun! Already on it's own, but with some tools even more :) Cheers!

[@Taipou]

Sick! I feel so silly that I didn't realize before how complex sequences can be realized without a sequencer... 🤦 I may ditch my sequencer soon to make room for additional switches and mixers!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to shine some light on the subject :) But take a second before you ditch the sequencer! ;)

[@chmyr]

A lot of super cool tips and tricks! Thank you so much!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're very welcome :) Cheers!

[@nilskozstum8256]

If you have a quad offset generator and a bidirectional switch such as the Doepfer, you can save the mixer in most of these patches and put the 4 offsets into the 4 switch inputs and patch the switch output directly to the quantizer. I use the intellijel quadratt and the Doepfer sequential switch for this. The quadratt sends out offset voltages when unpatched, but single steps can also easily be patched with other sources like sample and hold or LFOs to override the offset and add variation as you described in the video.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, awesome! That's an idea that would have been worth mentioning indeed :) A lot of these offset modules like Quadratt are mixers as well, so you can use them both ways, but it opens up some new patching ideas. Cheers!

[@AndreaArturoGiuseppeGrossi]

Hello there and friendly greetings! Great tutorial! Also, for some reasons, this video made me ponder about one of my biggest limit in patching and exploring: I am almost "scared to dare" because something in my brain is wired (pun intended 😄) with some boundaries because of which I often find it difficult to think outside the box (and use, for example, an ADSR to modulate a low-pass filter). The fun part is that once I dare to move away from the "beaten tracks" I discover literally new worlds, like in a fractal musical prysm. Maybe that could be caused by the fact that so far I am only using softwares to build my patches and the software I use got thousands (literally. I'm not even kidding) free modules that emulate nearly every hardware modules around. Too many possibilities lead me to some sort of creative empasse and watching your videos every time remind me how, maybe, it's not really the gear that makes the composition "right", it's how you use it and the stories you can create with it (yes, that video also is seminal for me!). And sorry for yet another textwall! Have a great weekend! 👍

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hi there! Thanks for sharing :) Happy to hear you get some value out of these videos. And for sure think it's worth it to dive deep with a limited set of options/gear, and see how far you can push it. I do think a lot of creativity and good sounds come from understanding what's possible with restrictions, rather than having all the options. Cheers!

[@lukepettett5075]

Great stuff. Simple yet deep. Appreciate the super clear breakdown. Goons have to get patching…

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Haha. Glad you like it, and thanks for watching! :)

[@WernerSempels]

Thanks 4 the inspiration, cool, I swapped the mixer for a matrix mixer, so jou have a lot of voltage sources, I klokt it all with Pamela, peace

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Nice, enjoy the explorations!

[@jurgendabeedin441]

Great tips and tricks again. Great stuff! 😎

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@AmbientMusicStudio]

This is great. I use these concepts but haven't pushed them as far as what you've demoed. I just discovered that a S/H signal can be used to control morph position on the Joranalogue Morph 4, turning it into a four step sequencer with tons of variation from level and position. Try it out. Pretty sure you'll like it a lot :)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear it! And that's a great idea, love the morph 4, really unique device :) Cheers!

[@silaspitch9485]

Awesome vid. My favorite way of cooking up sequences.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you enjoyed it! And let me know if I missed your favorite trick ;) Cheers!

[@silaspitch9485]

@@MonotrailTechTalk Hi! One of my favorite things to do is to send various slow voltages to the Doepfer A-156 transpose input, most often using two of these quantizers. So, for instance, after setting up a random melody on each quantizer, I'll send pitch CV from two different sequencers, each to its own transpose input. If the sequences are slow enough, I can dial in nice changes that are harmonically pleasing. If I use, say, the two sequencer outputs from a Subharmonicon, it is easy to dial in pleasing complex transpositions that weave in and out, yet are still rhythmically and harmonically related. Sometimes, I'll instead feed one of the quentizers with two different cyclical wave forms free-running at different rates, then alternate between the two with a VC switch of some kind or a cross fader, or a manual switch for performance control. Or, I might opt to do that with both quantizers. Or, instead of sending pitch CV from sequencers, I'll send any number of processed voltages to the transpose inputs.

[@silaspitch9485]

I forgot to ask for your thoughts about the use of trigger / gate combiners for these purposes. I recently acquired an old Doepfer A-186-1 Trigger Combiner and you were the first person I thought of to ask about clever and interesting use cases for this kind of circuit. Many thanks for all of the hard work you do!

[@pzanardi]

Pretty awesome video, thank you.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers :)

[@xpump876]

Nice!

[@SimplyChrisRLP]

Thanks for making this video! Someone recommended me it. It would be cool if you did a VCV-rack version so it would be possible to follow!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you like it! I have VCV on my list for a day when I want to make content when I'm not in the studio. Would be interesting to tackle some basics. You should be able to follow along though, I use pretty basic functions!

[@Doc_Underkraut]

Great! 👍

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@kaszaniarz]

If you like analog delays, make sure you try Xaoc Sarajewo, clock sync, hi and low feedbacks and is capable to make really long delays (for BBD). Anyway I like to use slew limiters to create sequences/complex arps, for example I patch like 4 step sequence to slew limiter. Then changing slew amount and slew type from linear to exponential to get variations.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Oh, yeah, the Sarajewo is lovely. Really like the Xaoc stuff in general :) Slew is a great way to add subtle variations to the sequence indeed! Cheers :)

[@gregvittore5004]

Nice!!!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@tychoclavius4818]

Yes yes yes more like this

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Nice, glad you like it! Cheers :)

[@binarybotany3218]

I've been doing sequences with just a clock source, clock divider and mixer as well when I didn't have that much modules. /32 to reset and /2 /4 /8 and /16 into a mixer, gives unpredictable results haha :')

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Nice! Mixing clock divisions for sequences is a lot of fun, even when you do have a lot of modules :)

[@shlermjuice8068]

Love the double ONA's! What was the thought process behind two of them, do you just like their sound? Somewhat of a lesser known module but great little oscillator I love mine.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hi there! I like them a lot. Think they are excellent oscillators for a competitive price. I wanted this setup to feel and patch a bit more 'classic' so like the same oscillators. It's very easy to tune, patch, and sound like a solid oscillator block. Might want a third :)

[@Cantrip1957]

Great ideas, and I want to wrap my head around them. Do you have this rack on modular grid? It’d be great to look at what’s there, coz it’s impressive to me to see/hear how you get such great patches out of what you have.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you like it! And yes, you can find the modular grid of my setups here: modulargrid.net/e/racks/command_center/46250

[@Cantrip1957]

@@MonotrailTechTalk cheers. Just signed up on your Patron!