Newb sequencer / note edit question

alexwhite · 2013-12-27T12:28:01.000Z

hi,
I just picked up an Analog 4 a week ago, so very early days but one thing i am finding challenging as a new elektron user is the way the sequencer works. I love the grid record mode and I think the implementation of realtime record and its relationship to the grid record style sequencing makes sense but I just want to confirm that it is actually working how I think it is and that the limitations are what I think they are.

I have been through the manual a few times and have also combed the forums (also tried searching but had some weird issues there), so I hope I’m not soubling up - if so please point me in the right direction.

I’m using OS 1.1 and the 1.1 manual.

SO if I record in realtime record mode inputing notes with the keyboard, and in the GLOBAL quantise is set to off, and in the track settings quantise is set to zero, in theory what I input is unquantised.

If I then switch to grid record mode I can see the notes as if they were recorded in grid mode. However they are not occurring on the exact time the grid represents they are shown on, just the grid location closest to the note event occurring.

So far this all makes sense and is great.

Then I thought - what happens if two events occur so close together that they would be in the same grid location?

So I slowed the BPM right down and played a bunch of very fast notes that I would have thought would occur in the same grid location, however most of these notes were missing, it seemed like the sequencer is just rejecting them if they come too close together.

So if I have a single bar pattern, running at 16/16 then it is impossible for more than 16 note events to occur on a single track in that pattern?

I also noticed that if I hold down a grid step that has a note event in it and then hit the arrow left and right keys I can move the note forwards and backwards in time - is this exactly the same as the micro step parameter but with some visual feedback? I can’t find any mention of this in the manual.

So if I was making circa 98 Squarepusher / Aphex Twin style tunes ( not that I am!) with crazy fast drum and bass sequencing I would turn up the BPM and run sequencers over 4 bars and hope the resolution is enough? Or is there a way to get an amplitude env to loop?

I hope this makes sense - any help much appreciated!

avantronica · 2013-12-27T18:04:03.000Z

the sequencer only records 16 events per page or more importantly 16 within certain windows of time - no more no less snapshots (note or not) - they can’t overlap, but notes can be microtimed to almost effectively double up - if you want longer sequences than 64 steps, you’re looking firstly at using chains or other audio tricks (inc arps) to possibly get more mileage out of your 64 trigs per pattern !

Skab · 2013-12-27T18:19:36.000Z

Hi Alex. Welcome to the forum! As Avantronics said, the sequencer can only hold 16 events per page. If you want to get higher than that you’ll have to use an arp to trigger more notes per sequencer event or LFO to modify the volume of a sequencer event so that it sounds like more than one event. Don’t forget that each individual track within a pattern can have a different step length, but currently, each track must play back with the same multiplier (1x, 2x, 1/2x, etc). Multiplier per track is currently only available on the Octatrack, as far as I know.

alexwhite · 2013-12-27T19:55:50.000Z

Thanks for the clarification! Seems like a great machine and a great forum also!