You can’t sequence the Woovebox polyphonically, but it has one dedicated track that plays pre-fabbed chords. The remaining tracks can be set to “follow chord” so that when you change that dedicated chord track, all other tracks set to “follow chord” adjust the notes they play to fit the chord track’s harmony. In other words, when you change the chord track’s chord, everything else automagically plays notes the chord track plays and some it doesn’t play, but those outside ones remain in the chord track’s key.
I don’t normally mess with step sequencers (hardware or software), but of course I do with the Woovebox, whose primary appeal to me, and I guess its whole reason for existing, is its ultraportability. So now I wonder if there are any other hardware synths with built-in sequencers that have such an easy way to have all tracks conform to one track’s harmony. I don’t mean restrict themselves to the same note, just to the same harmony as the chord track’s notes imply. If synths I’ve owned in the past had this functionality, then I’ve forgotten because I was not interested at the time, but the Woovebox has interested me in this feature. Are there any others?
There’s a master track on the OP-Z, you can select which tracks will it affect. It detects the key and then lets you transpose other tracks (including the chord track).
There’s often snap to key which will take whatever you are playing and snap it to permissible notes in the key.
A chord is just a further restricted scale so if you can do custom scales with < 7 notes you can make everything snap to a chord.
The Hydrasynth can do something like this, go to Voice -> Scale, scroll to the left until you hit Custom, go into the Scale Edit submenu that now appears and make your scale a chord (C-E-G) now all your notes will map to that chord.
Not just expensive but big, too. I’ve considered Hapax and Oxi One in the past, but never bothered because they’re less flexible than I want with rhythm, particularly modulating tempo (Hapax’s elasticity just doesn’t offer enough control, and they’re not developing that feature). This might be a good time to try out an Oxi One, though.
My principle constraint here is that I like all in one grooveboxes so I can be on the sofa. If I have to plug things into each other then I’m at a desk in which case I might as well use a daw.
Me, I’m looking for a sequencer that will make a convenient accompanist while I focus on playing other stuff. Something I can reach out and adjust or tweak without breaking my attention too much. It would be nice to change harmonies as I please without having to hunch over the device or use two hands, which I have to do with the Woovebox and the Torso T-1. I love them both, but they shine best when they’re the star of the show. I’m thinking I could handle an Oxi One at arm’s length, where I can tweak as well as have a more constant bird’s eye view of what’s going on with it. WB and T-1 demand two hands when you want to check on things going on in various parts of the box.
Oxi one is super easy for this. You can make a chord progression on one track and then set the others to harmonize with it. I think that will be a lot less finnicky than the woovebox.
