Korg SQ-1 :

 

 Korg SQ-1 Step Sequencer

What Can I say about the SQ1 that you wouldn't have already picked up within thirty seconds in front of a google search bar?   Not much, but let me give you my opinion anyway.

This device is currently a bit of a niche product, being that analogue/cv implementation isn't exactly on top of the world's manufacturer's list right now but unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last three years like me you'll be begining to suspect that that might be about to change.  I know I'm not the first person to notice the rise in cv implimentation on new gear right?
Perhaps the companies that be have finally noticed the demand, perhaps it is just a cheaper way to produce?  To be honest I don't care why it's making a come back I'm just glad of it...
Either way like many people who have got hold of one of these Korg units I needed something to do a job amd this black box with flashing lights ticked all the metaphorical boxes.

So what is it like?
Well it 'feels like it should', by that I mean it feels like a product that is built to last... heavy, sturdy feeling.  The kind of weight that suggests it is a quality product. 
The buttons?  Likewise, chunky rubber like the Electribe range im so fond of.
The small dials however I'm not so sure about, put it this way I'll be careful not to drop it.

Ease of use?
Fiddlyness of those small dials aside it is pretty straight forward, it behaves in the way you would expect it too... assuming all you expect is a handy box for on the fly pattern sequencing or as a useful trigger device.  There are certainly more powerful step sequencers out there, but not many that are both in the <£100 price range AND portable.


I got mine because despite already owning a room full of sequencers I required a cv-capable sequencer that could work in unusual time signatures to send gate signals to a drum module, and that was about it.  Just one single application, and i have to admit it did the job as well as expected.
The only problem with the SQ-1 for this application (and I suspect for many other situations) is it's limited in/out possibilities meant I had to make it the primary sequencer, rather than a slave (driving a chain of MIDI and CV sequencers) as for some reason I cannot fathom Korg did not make it capable of recieving MTC (MIDI OUT only).   But I can't entirely count that as a flaw as as far as I was concerned (at the time) I considered the MIDI OUT as a bonus, it meant I could make use of the note quantising features at a later point on a 303 module that doesn't have a built in sequencer rather than use a larger midi sequencer.


To be honest I'm not a fan (infact Im something of the anti-fan) of Korg's recent mini module range (Volca and the like) but this little box has me optomistic that Korg's "let's throw it in a cheap plastic enclosure" mentality has come to an end.  ...When something feels like a toy it doesn't fill the end user with the required confidence that it wont fall apart and this does feel professional enough to merit some serious experimentation.
It's size, although fiddly when it comes to changing those value dials, is also a bonus...  Small enough to slot in between midi gear on a restricted surface area and also small enough to fit near (or on) a modular setup for patching.   ...and if it is going to be used as part of a modular setup I can imagine it wouldnt be too dificult to DIY-mount it in to a modular enclosure permenentaly by adapting blank spacer panels.



The sequencer's biggest bonus for me is its ability to be split in to two (8nt) parallel patterns, for my uses this is particularly handy!   It means I can use it to trigger two modules or up to two pairs of sequenced cv signals in to the eurorack (whilst freeing up a MDI/CV module for other things).
So, unlike the similarly priced "lets throw them in a plastic enclosure" range of small boxes from Korg I'd have to give this little sequencer my stamp of approval.  ^_^

Korg SQ:1 Specifications  : 

• Sequencer Mode ALTERNATE, ORDER, PARALLEL TURN, PARALLEL ORDER, CV/DUTY, CV/SLIDE, CV/DUTY RADOM, RANDOM
• Step Mode GATE ON/OFF, ACTIVE STEP, SLIDE, STEP JUMP
• Sequence Step Resolution quarter notes, eighth notes, sixteenth notes
• CV OUT Pitch Linear, Minor, Major, Chromatic
• CV OUT Voltage 1V, 2V, 5V (Oct) 8V (Hz/V)
• GATE OUT Polarity + (positive polarity), - (negative polarity)
• SYNC IN/OUT Polarity + (rise), - (fall)
• Connectors - littleBits OUT jack (mini monaural phone jack)
• OUT (MIDI OUT) jack (mini stereo phone jack)
• CV - A OUT - GATE jack (mini monaural phone jack, CV OUT : Output Level 1V, 2V, 5V, 8[Hz/V], GATE OUT: output level 10V)
• CV - BOUT - GATE jack (mini monaural phone jack, CV OUT : Output Level 1V, 2V, 5V, 8[Hz/V], GATE OUT: Output Level 10V)
• IN – SYNC – OUT jack (mini monaural phone jack, SYNC IN: Max Input Level 20V, SYNC OUT: Output Level 5V)
• USB jack (type B, USB MIDI)
• Power Supply Two AA batteries OR USB power
• Battery Life around 5 hours
• Dimension (W x D x H) 93 x 84 x 63 mm/7.60" x 3.31" × 2.48"
• Weight 641 g/1.41 lbs.
• Includes a mini plug – DIN cable (*for outputing tempo etc)

It's been a while...

Hello Internet peruser!

It's been far too long since I wrote something for this blog but thats about to change, so here is a condenced update on the past year :

Due to circumstancial changes I was unable to devote time to blurbing stuff here, what with most of my free time being dedicated to the more rewarding activities of writing music, experimenting with sound design and continued music production ediphication.
I have however still been creating and releasing music, three EPs released via GooglePlay (one of them 29tracks long).

Oh and more recently the music addiction went in a slightly different direction (which will be the subject of my next blog post), let me explain...
Now lets say for example that music production is an addiction akin to a mild narcotic, well my particular addiction went down a slightly more 'more-ish' route.  Having spent the last decade and a half in the MIDI/Software arena I got a taste for 'something a little more';
And where do you go from hardware production?  The answer is obvious ...Go Modular!
And 'going modular' isn't to be rushed in to (we'll not if your like me), the planning process alone took a few months (*but I'll leave that lenghy story for the next blog post)

So, apart from making music and building my modular rig I've also had a bit of an upheaval... Litterally, I moved.
Just imagine having to transfer all your gear from one side of the city to the opposite side!  Never again, I swear never again.  It's taken about two weeks to get everything from one place to the other and two days to re-arrange all the gear in to a logical and useable position. ...And a day and a half to actually get everything patched together.   It's always the same you think something is going to work the way you imagine and then when it comes to plugging stuff together you realise you forgot a crucial thing that means you have to go back to the drawing board eh?  ^_^

hmmm what else?
oh'  ....I bought a TV.  'Thats not interesting, OR music related!' I expect you'll be thinking...
We'll actually it is both, you see....
I havent owned a TV for around 17years.  I hate them.  So why buy one?  Because I realised large TVs are cheaper than large computer monitors.  And thats what I'll be using as a studio monitor.
'The bigger the better' was the phrase that was in mind earlier today when I picked it up, not quite realising quite how large it would be in-use untill I unboxed all 48" of screen a couple of hours ago.
'Thats pretty excessive' you might think to your self, and maybe you'd be right... but what the hell?!
17+years working on 17" screens or less and peering at were the mouse pointer is located whilst editing,  those days are gone my friend!   ^_^

And that also pretty much explains why, after almost a years hiatus from this blog, I have returned.
Having finished setting up the screen on the studio PC and almost finished assembling the studio in the new premisis I thought I'd sit down and try out the new screen.   ...which will do the job nicely ^_^



So that's it,
Time to get back to work for me...
stay productive people!
Peace,
L

For your ears only...

https://soundcloud.com/pure-sythesis/all-sigs-full-beats

- I've uploaded the above track ('All Sigs' -  Beats Instrumental) to sound cloud.
It is a work in progress, the idea was this:
I wanted to see what it would sound like If I based a beat on a combination of time signatures...
I got a bit carried away in production and ended up with this.  -  each rhythm part is (mostly) running at its own time signature. 11/8 is the dominant one though.

The track as a whole might sound a bit erratic at first, but after a few listens you'll see/hear whats going on....
the hats are derived from a 5/2 pattern...
The kick is derived from a 7/8 pattern
The rides are combinations of 7/3, 5 and 7/5
Percussion segments (like shakes etc, ticks) are derived from larger numbers like 7,,11,13...18
Snares start off in a regular signature and then become poly rhythmic

As for the breaks?  Lots of little things going on there...
Some of the samples are detuning independently of each other. (cant explain why I wanted to do that, or how)
The break sounds are following different time signatures at times, but after a while it gives the illusion of a set time signature.

There was a second synth bass pattern in there but all that remains of it are two notes repeated twice at the very end and the end of the previous section (4bars back).  ...Originally I had thought about having a 303 style bass running throughout the track and had built a sh101-style patch to suit but it didnt quite fit
...that bass turned in to a bland sawtooth style thing and was eventually stripped back to the two notes heard.  The other bass that remains was a sound I was playing around with when the 303-sound idea went titz up :D    -  seems to work well enough for now though.

Ear dis...

Listen to Analogue Fate 2c by The_Beat_Scientist #np on #SoundCloud http://soundcloud.com/the_beat_scientist/analogue-fate-2c

Electribes (ER-1)

Its been a long time since last I sat down and wrote something for this blog, so I thought I'd write a little something about one of the machines I've last been playing around with.. The Korg ER1.



The Korg Electribe range of groove boxes still has a ot of creative potential despite the decade or so since they first hit the shelves... Yes they do.
I picked up my first (an ER1) one during 2001 at the princely sum of £325, which considering I'm still finding uses for it 13yrs later seems money well spent.

Out Of The Box Use :
 What attracted me to it (and at the time there was also a choice between EA1 or an AN1X) was the sequencer layout and the soundset which features 808-esque kick. The ability to gate-in external audio sources was a handy bonus.
 ...I currently have two ER1s at my disposal, and an ES (second version), which can open up a small but interesting world of possibilities.
Its not typical for Electribe users to own duplicate machines, the tendency is to expand the pellet of sounds by adding new machines with their own character... But I REALLY like those hats and kick! And being able to layer hats on the fly (with their own swing settings) is great.

As a standalone unit I'll mostly use it to create a rhythm to sample, but I've also used it as a sound module when I really need that particular sound.
Unfortunately it's effects are universally-applied across all sound so render themselves useless in most situation. ..Unless using it as a fx unit.


On occasions where I've had a channel free I've found they can be used to create some really interesting sounds when making use of its audio in/out capabilities. - Audio Thru does what it implies where as there is also the option of gating-in sounds.
If you own one of these, and it hasn't already occurred to you, I suggest try using it as a midi-synced capable delay/ecco as part of your DAW. 
It's good for achieving anything from live-teekable dub style echo, to bpm-synced delay with stutter. And if using it exclusively as an effects box there is the option of using it as a stereo effect OR employing pan and using the machine as a two source effect. - ring modulation can also be applied.


Other Creative Uses :
If happen to have a sound module with no built-in sequencer an Electribe (or something similar) works well entirely as a standalone sequencer, there are clear limitations to using it like this but there are workarounds...  for example each of the machine's sounds can be assigned their own key (within the scale your working in).
In a 2+ groovebox situation ts also worthwhile playing around with the midinotes your machine is sending out to other devices as it often leads to amusing or interesting results  ^_^

The rest of the Electribe range :
I'm not sure if my opinions run against the grain here or with the consensus of the Electribe community at large but here they are all the same..
From what little I can remember about the last time I layed hands on an EA1 the sound was okay, and from what I've seen of the later models they looked pretty exciting, but wasn't for me.
The improved effects of the later models are appetizing but the whole 'valve' thing is too gimmicky

As for the sampler range (ES_), They do the job... I've found them useful to create backing sequences, jam with, and act as a dedicated sound module (with fx) as part of a midi setup. Their native capabilities are limited but there is potential to create some usique sounds with them if your patient.
Saying that compared to newer samplers, apart from it's sequencer and the samples you put in them, Electribe samplers dont offer much.

...on PLAY.

https://play.google.com/store/music/artist?id=Actgzsczwbbk7zo3cto3mstdcuy

#11 - Remixing Squarepusher

Started the preliminary work on the Squarepusher remix today...
Listened to the original mix 4 times in a row and just thought "wow".

...where do I start?  ..So many possibilities.  ^_^

#9 - Yamaha RM1x

To save myself needless repetition and until I have an actual reason to go in to this device in more detail ...check out this ^_^

What now?

So the blog is up... What do you think I should blog about?  What can I review?  Does anyone need any sampling/production/sunthesis advice?

Let me know!

#6 Patchbays - Why Bother?

This is a bit random but I have noticed an absence of people talking about them in general and a lack of appreciation of them in the home recording area, so I thought I'd say a bit.

...If you own a mixer and you find yourself plugging and unplugging gear get a patchbay, once you've done that read the manual on how to set it up for your needs.

A patchbay does what it suggests. It allows to to route the audio from your devices out puts to the mixers channels of inserts quickly (and neatly). It can also be configured so that things are automatically routed somewhere when not patched.
Another bonus with using patchbays is that your connection ports don't get worn down or damaged through wear & tear - so if you buy a piece of gear and patch its I/Os remain undamaged and there is less chance of damage to the rest of the machine because the machine is not being moved around.

Oh and patchbays cost virtually nothing and assuming you actually need to route audio frequently there isn't a better way.  -  all the channels permanently available for patching, labeled, and ready to go.
Patch cables also look a lot nicer than a room full or TRS and XLR cables too.

Patchbays come in different forms 1/4" TRS jack fronted and Bantam jack fronted, the later dating back to the days of telephone exchanges makes Bantam a rare find in the studio..