Audiobus: Use your music apps together.
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus is an award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you use your other music apps together. Chain effects on your favourite synth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app like GarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface output for each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive a synth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDI keyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear. And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
Sequencers and logic (featuring Drambo and Mirack)
I have been playing with the technique of using a rotating clock divider combined with logic modules to produce rhythmic sequences drawing on a bunch of modular resources (mainly Omri Cohen vids and this article.
Basically, AND, OR, and XOR modules take various outputs from the clock divider and combine the gates coming from each to create semi-regular variations of the pulse. XOR, The main clock is produced by an LFO, and the rotation rate is modulated by another synced LFO. This produces great rhythmic sequences which are hard to predict but are always in sync with the pulse and have a certain regularity controlled by the rotation of the clock divider.
Here’s a simple implementation of this patch in Mirack.
Now, I recently got a Korg SQ-1 to pair with my NTS-1 and found this video by Mike Olson which suggests that you can add the two lanes of the sequence tor get more steps. Essentially, if you have two sequences of length A and B, you get longer sequences, specifically the LCM (least common multiple) of A and B, according to this table:
More interestingly, the resulting patterns are sequences in the technical sense that they keep the intervallic relations of the original one while transposing them, which creates very musical results.
Of course, this technique is not limited to the SQ-1, and the two lanes can be combined in various ways, not just added (or subtracted), but particularly using analog comparators, such as the Min and Max outputs in MI Kinks. Finally, I patch all the possible combinations of the sequence into a sequential switch and get extra long series of variations of the original sequence. Here is that section in Mirack:
Combining the two techniques, I get all these cool rhythmic and melodic variations on a simple 8 note sequence which can be set up to play completely automatic using all kinds of random generators or perform it in a little more intentional way (although still sort of unpredictably). Here is a short screen recording of the whole patch over some pads from the Microfreak recorded in Koala.
Messing with all of the cables in Mirack is really hard when performing—one of the reasons I purchased the SQ-1 was to have a cheap hands-on sequencer I could use. So I made a MIDI rack in Drambo, SQ-1XT, using the same principle for combining the two lanes from the sequencer. In the video below, the two lanes of the SQ-1 are combined with the MIDI Rack and sent to the NTS-1 with the CAIN C++ custom oscillator, which is by far the best I’ve tried. The Microfreak is receiving lane B straight off the SQ-1 via MIDI cable, which yields a third sequence. Everything is recorded in AUM via an iRig.
Download the Mirack patch from Patchstorage here
The Drambo SQ-1XT is here. I’ve uploaded it as a project including a rudimentary Drambo version of the SQ-1 for demonstration purposes.
A final step in this hybrid setup would be to output the gates from the rotating clock patch in mirack into the sync In inlet of the SQ-1 to have all the juicy rhythms, but this is already enough.
I hope this is useful to someone—I’ve had a lot of fun playing with these!
Edit: I made this post thinking I would post it in the thread about sound experiments and ideas, then I realized that that one was more focused towards sound design so I ended up creating a new thread. The point, however, was to share and invite others to share their experiments.
Modular, semi-modular, hybrid and everything in between to create sequencers, generative or not are very much welcome!
Comments
Modular sequencing is so cool. Send variations of that sequence to modulate timbral parameters and you’ve got orchestration covered too.
Thanks for sharing. Creating sequencers is my favorite thing too. Best part of modular.
Thanks! I realize I forgot the most important part of the post, which was to invite others to share their own experiments with sequencers and logic! It could be a fun thread if people share stuff! (Editing the first post with this invitation now).
Great idea!
You can use sequencers set to a slow tempo to create arrangements. Or, use a very slow LFO into a comparator to create arrangements.
You can make a sequencer out of almost any combination of modules. A LFO or an envelope into a window comparator is a sequencer. A clock divider into a mixer is a sequencer. On and on with such combinations.
@dvi some really great work here. Thanks for sharing 👊🏼™️
Thanks for putting this out there @dvi ! Looking forward to seeing what else gets posted on this topic.
Sharing one here with 4 sequence lanes from the SQ-64 to Enkl and Fractal Bits. 2 interacting melodic patterns sending notes and filter mods to the monosynth for the bassline, one pattern for mods to the synth env release, and the fourth is the drum pattern to Fractal Bits. PO-32 dropped in to fatten things up with its own drum sounds and pattern...so I guess its 5 sequences working together.
Thanks! Hopefully you’ll share some of your own experiments with that setup you shared the other day!
Oh this is great! The SQ-64 is like the kid who thinks his dad (SQ-1) is not cool anymore. Definitely one to lust after! Great stuff in your insta too.
Cool! Also the article is great. Thanks, have something to play with today.
Thanks @dvi !