MOTM

In a message dated 2/6/99 6:08:38 PM, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@...>
wrote:

>How about a small sequencer design contest? On paper, a 2U or 3U wide panel.
>Design it out, scan it or fax it to me (817-498-3782) and I'll eye-ball it.
>In fact, there is no 'winner'. What I'll do is summerize each one.

I like this idea a lot! Maybe the final design could be an amalgam of the best
parts everyone has submitted, and could be posted on a MOTM DIY page of the
SYNTH TECH web site (if Paul has the space). We could call it the Son Of a
Bitchin Sequencer (the SOB story)! I hope in the future there will be MOTM
inspired spinoff projects that can be shared amongst us users; I think Paul
had envisioned this in the beginning as well.

>So a 3U wide, 8 pot/8 LED with a manual STEP button (counts as a switch),
>int CLK pot,and
>EXT CLK IN, 1 MASTER CV out, 8 individaul stage jacks (gate/trig cv
>whatever) would be.....
>
>65 + 36 + 9x10 + 5 + 8x3 + 10x5 x 1.2 = $324 kit price (roughly!)
>In reality, there are games to play with the pot quality (shudder!), but the
>point is that sequencers
>can get expensive quickly in the MOTM way of thinking. Note that it really
>does NOT matter
>what the exact nature of the electronics is: this is the rule in every
>module so far (the VCO is
>another story!). The cost everyone pays for is NOT the electronics: it's the
>quality of the pots, jacks,
>and panels.

Yeah! $325 for an 8 stage sequencer is IMHO way too much money to justify it's
construction. Better to wait and see what the MOAS is all about. However, if
you really want a sequencer, I will be more specific in my suggestion --
PAUL, STOP READING HERE UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE -- get those cheap carbon pots
from Mouser (maybe $70 for 100) and those cheap knobs (maybe $40 for 100),
and build one as described earlier, while saving your money for the MOAS. You
will still find uses for a second sequencer when the MOAS is out, and in many
instances the drift from the cheesy pots will not be noticeable (eg, VC
panning, VC filter Q or freq, etc). Paul and I have discussed pot quality in
the past, and I'm glad he didn't listen to me and went with the expensive pots
for the MOTM. None the less, for my own projects, I continue to use the
cheapos since my projects are nothing like the MOTM kits in terms of quality.

OK PAUL, YOU CAN START READING AGAIN. My original idea was to keep Paul out of
the breadboarding idea, so he can spend his MOTM time on the kits in the
pipeline and designing the MOAS, so I hope this doesn't distract him too much.

I'd still like to hear more about digital sequencers (pros and cons). Larry?
David? Anybody?
John B.

> From: JWBarlow@...
> I like this idea a lot! Maybe the final design could be an amalgam of the

best

> parts everyone has submitted, and could be posted on a MOTM DIY page of

the

> SYNTH TECH web site (if Paul has the space). We could call it the Son Of

a

> Bitchin Sequencer (the SOB story)!

ROTFL.... but wouldn't that be SOBS?

> I'd still like to hear more about digital sequencers (pros and cons).

Larry?

> David? Anybody?
> John B.

Well, OK, I can say a little about digital sequencing, although a lot of
controversry exists in the subject which is not related to MOTM at all.
But here goes.

# 1:
I have a hardware sequencer in my Korg T1 (my main 88 weighted board) I use
at home in my studio. Sometimes I sit and play whatever comes out as I
like to write music. Whenever that critical mass of inspiration and
ability meet I occasionally find myself playing something I want to save
for later development. Bingo! Turn on digital sequencer, ignor everything
like timing, measures, channel number, etc, and just play. Later, I can
capture that inspriation when I want to get serious about arrangement and
refinement.

# 2 :
My ability as a player has always been good enough to play in a variety of
cover bands over the years and to actually have people pay considerable
sums of money to hear the same (translate considerable to mean at least a
fin a night for me). However, I did discover that if I intended to use my
musical abilities to provide substanance for myself and family, we would
somehow have to adjust our living standard to somewhere around the 50% of
poverty level. So, I use a sequencer when I have those difficult passages
to commit to recording that stretch past where my ability leaves off. I
play it the best I can and then use the editing features of the sequencer
to "fix" my mistakes.

Cons: You have to be careful to resist the temptation to "over-fix"
anything. Drums tend to sound like machines when every tick is exactly on
the beat or PPQ place where it belongs. Music is not perfect and should
never be mechanically altered to be so. However, sequencers can be great
composition tools if not abused. People like me who tend to be
"perfectionists" have to slap themselves to keep from doing the wrong
things with them.

OK, now I will shut up and let's here more cool analog sequencer stories.