Affordable analog sequencer

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Permalink Reply by Lachlan Mooney on April 6, 2009 at 9:03am

hey steven, the saturn looks ace, just be aware that although it is a 10-step sequencer in theory, it won't retrigger the gate on consecutive steps, which kinda makes it a 5-step sequencer in reality. For that sort of price though, I don't really think you could go wrong.
Another few options to cheak out would be (an check out the rest of the site, there is some awesome stuff):
http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/TENSTEPSEQUENCER/TEN...
and
http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/SEQ16_2006/SEQ16_200...

There is no option to buy these in kit form (you can only purchase the PCB) so in the end they would probably be a fair bit more expensive, but on the flip side, more functional. (I'm not sure if they have a s-trigger out for moogs though)

If you end up going with the saturn, I've got a schematic which seperates the consecutive steps from a 4017 by using a couple of AND circuts. Its pretty simple and I'm sure you could use it to mod the saturn so that it'll retrigger on every step.

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Permalink Reply by Steven Harris on April 7, 2009 at 11:37am

Hi Lachlan, thanks for the reply!, and for the advice, I haven't owned a sequencer so this is all very helpful. I think I remember reading about that problem with retriggering the gate in a forum somewhere so that's good to know. The price aspect of it is winning me over at the moment, would that mod be simple to implement if I do go ahead with it? My skills with electronics are fairly basic, but I am capable of building with instructions.

The MFOS stuff always looks great, but out of my range at the moment, these guys are also doing some interesting things too if you are interested in taking a peek: http://www.chimerasynthesis.com/#/products/4529104833 ,they have a 16 step analog sequencer coming out shortly too, haven't checked the prices.

Cheers
Steve

Lachlan Mooney said:

hey steven, the saturn looks ace, just be aware that although it is a 10-step sequencer in theory, it won't retrigger the gate on consecutive steps, which kinda makes it a 5-step sequencer in reality. For that sort of price though, I don't really think you could go wrong.
Another few options to cheak out would be (an check out the rest of the site, there is some awesome stuff):
http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/TENSTEPSEQUENCER/TEN...
and
http://www.musicfromouterspace.com/analogsynth/SEQ16_2006/SEQ16_200...

There is no option to buy these in kit form (you can only purchase the PCB) so in the end they would probably be a fair bit more expensive, but on the flip side, more functional. (I'm not sure if they have a s-trigger out for moogs though)

If you end up going with the saturn, I've got a schematic which seperates the consecutive steps from a 4017 by using a couple of AND circuts. Its pretty simple and I'm sure you could use it to mod the saturn so that it'll retrigger on every step.

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Permalink Reply by Lachlan Mooney on April 7, 2009 at 1:12pm

hey Steven, I pretty sure (make that around 90% sure) that the mod would be simple to do and would work perfectly. Check out this link:

http://www.casperelectronics.com/images/finishedpieces/sequencers/s...

It is a version of the same ciruit that is used in the saturn (made to open and close gates rather than send a cv, but other than that it functions just the same), but with the use of AND gates (the mod in question) to seperate the steps. I've tested this circut before (I've got a 16-step version that I've designed on the to-finish-making-at-some-time pile) and it worked for me without a glitch.

I'd advise buying the parts for the sequencer (the chips cost around $1 each and resistors etc are in the cents) minus the pots and switches (cos pots and switches are expensive), or just buy the saturn kit, and breadboard (test) the mod before you solder it up. If you don't have a breadboard its worth investing in one as they allow you to test out any circuits you like without the hassel of desoldering if anything doesn't work out.

If you need help sorting out the circuit for the mod I'm more than happy to help.

cheers, lok

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Permalink Reply by Steven Harris on April 30, 2009 at 10:26pm

Hey Lok, thanks for all the info, it's been a great help and cleared up a few things!. I've just gone ahead and bough the Voice of Saturn Sequencer kit tonight with Rudd's stimulus package (he can buy my vote anytime!)......... Whilst browsing the forums over at Curious Inventor I've noticed a few posts on the implementation of AND circuits into the build, so it looks simple enough. Now I just have to wait for it to arrive then build it, hopefully I can finish it and bring it in for show and tell in TCP!

Cheers
Steve

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Permalink Reply by Sasha on May 1, 2009 at 3:34pm

MIDI Sequencer -> MIDI to CV converter (I think Frostwave might do one for about $175)

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