hardware step-sequencers / drum machines

i've been having a hard time choosing a new drum machine/master sequencer for some of the new gear i have.

I'm really happy with my machine drum and electribe sx1. The main thing lacking with both of these as purely sequencing units is the

inability to draw 16th notes, 16th triplets, 32nd notes, 32nd note triplets, 64th notes, custom note lengths all on the same pattern. I also require a 16-step style layout for my sequencer. Can these two things co-exist?

Can somebody recommend a complex sequencer unit that has that ability?

do that stuff on a pc then record it into the hw box?

  analogue wings said:

do that stuff on a pc then record it into the hw box?

i want to be able to do it without a computer, i should have said that in my last post

make a "song" that is just a library of complicated bars that you can cut an paste on the box into other songs. it's a one off dump from the pc. you're not tied to it.

mpc's can send sequence information up to 64 steps if i remember right with notes ranging from whole to 32nds*

*i dont have an mpc...but i've seen them used to control grooveboxes/tritons etc...

  analogue wings said:

make a "song" that is just a library of complicated bars that you can cut an paste on the box into other songs. it's a one off dump from the pc. you're not tied to it.

that is a good idea, but ideally i would like to be able to make them from scratch on the piece of hardware. The truth of it is im kind of getting composers-block when i sit down at a computer. i want to be completely indepedent of it for a while, at least while im making my beats and composing melodies. Of course i'll probably use it in the end to reconstruct and resample what i made, but its a challenge i want to set up for myself to be able to make a complete song using my mixer, eq, a couple drum machines, and a synth.

  pantsonmyhead said:

mpc's can send sequence information up to 64 steps if i remember right with notes ranging from whole to 32nds*

 

 

 

*i dont have an mpc...but i've seen them used to control grooveboxes/tritons etc...

that is true, a lot of drum machines like the Boss Dr-5 are capable of this type of note quantizing but im looking for something laid out in the same way the machine drum is. When you switch over from 16th - 32nd notes on the machine drum, it uses the 16-step visual layout and doubles it. In other words when you change to 32nd it creates two rows (that you can switch between) of 16-steps going at twice the speed as it normally would, kind of like a ghetto zoom in tool. Im looking for something that takes this same concept but further.

<------ the answer is in my avatar / user name

  md16 said:

<------ the answer is in my avatar / user name

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_artic...heetahmd16.html

good luck finding one, I've wanted one for a while...

i picked one up free in 1993

  md16 said:

i picked one up free in 1993

the cheetah is not quite what im looking for. currently the best one i have found that has what i need is the Yamaha Qy700

If you compose at double the tempo then surely you then have double the resolution to play with (i.e. if you could only compose 1/4 length notes before, you now can do 1/8 length ones). That's the software tracker method of gaining extra resolution anyway.

  mcbpete said:

If you compose at double the tempo then surely you then have double the resolution to play with (i.e. if you could only compose 1/4 length notes before, you now can do 1/8 length ones). That's the software tracker method of gaining extra resolution anyway.

a lot of hardware has a limited bpm though...

the mpc1k has 96ppq and will quantize up to 1/32nd triplets. you can put notes anywhere though, it just gets a little more tedious that way.

  Ascdi said:

the mpc1k has 96ppq and will quantize up to 1/32nd triplets. you can put notes anywhere though, it just gets a little more tedious that way.

you are all offering good suggestions but let me try and be more detailed in my request.

i require the following

- 16-step sequencer style layout with an asthetically pleasing flashing light cursor to move along the steps (electribe, machine drum, etc).

- the ability to have an intuitive horizontal display interface (ideally id like to use the same 16-step interface but it seems unlikely this would exsist) for adding in complex notes like 16th triplets, 32nd, 32nd triplet, 64th, and 64th triplet notes

- the built in sounds are totally secondary to me, for all i care this could be a purely midi unit with no sounds.

- random, lfo based, and humanized(fake errors) beat manipulation would be an added bonus as well.

  Ghostbusters III said:

  Ascdi said:

the mpc1k has 96ppq and will quantize up to 1/32nd triplets. you can put notes anywhere though, it just gets a little more tedious that way.

 

you are all offering good suggestions but let me try and be more detailed in my request.

 

i require the following

 

- 16-step sequencer style layout with an asthetically pleasing flashing light cursor to move along the steps (electribe, machine drum, etc).

- the ability to have an intuitive horizontal display interface (ideally id like to use the same 16-step interface but it seems unlikely this would exsist) for adding in complex notes like 16th triplets, 32nd, 32nd triplet, 64th, and 64th triplet notes

- the built in sounds are totally secondary to me, for all i care this could be a purely midi unit with no sounds.

- random, lfo based, and humanized(fake errors) beat manipulation would be an added bonus as well.

If you ever are sucessful in finding this, let me know... I'd love to make music in such a fashion.

  cloudbreaker said:

If you ever are sucessful in finding this, let me know... I'd love to make music in such a fashion.

i think with the help of the prof. i may have found the perfect sequencer

look from the manual (yamaha rs7000)

  Ghostbusters III said:

  cloudbreaker said:

 

If you ever are sucessful in finding this, let me know... I'd love to make music in such a fashion.

 

i think with the help of the prof. i may have found the perfect sequencer

 

look from the manual (yamaha rs7000)

hellaciously sexy, and not too expensive...

what's the top bpm? 999?

too bad it can't handle 128th notes :o

But 64th and triplets isn't shabby at all for hardware.

  cloudbreaker said:

  Ghostbusters III said:

  cloudbreaker said:

 

If you ever are sucessful in finding this, let me know... I'd love to make music in such a fashion.

 

i think with the help of the prof. i may have found the perfect sequencer

 

look from the manual (yamaha rs7000)

hellaciously sexy, and not too expensive...

 

what's the top bpm? 999?

 

too bad it can't handle 128th notes :o

 

But 64th and triplets isn't shabby at all for hardware.

actually it can do 128th notes, just nothing past that. Im debating right now between getting the Rs7000 , Qy700 or the RMX1. If they all have the same basic grid composing features and complex note lengths im kind of torn on which one to get. I've heard rumours that the knobs on the Rs7000 are midi assignable and can be used with soft synths. If this is the case im definitly going to buy one.

\

  Ghostbusters III said:

  cloudbreaker said:

  Ghostbusters III said:

  cloudbreaker said:

 

If you ever are sucessful in finding this, let me know... I'd love to make music in such a fashion.

 

i think with the help of the prof. i may have found the perfect sequencer

 

look from the manual (yamaha rs7000)

hellaciously sexy, and not too expensive...

 

what's the top bpm? 999?

 

too bad it can't handle 128th notes :o

 

But 64th and triplets isn't shabby at all for hardware.

 

 

actually it can do 128th notes, just nothing past that. Im debating right now between getting the Rs7000 , Qy700 or the RMX1. If they all have the same basic grid composing features and complex note lengths im kind of torn on which one to get. I've heard rumours that the knobs on the Rs7000 are midi assignable and can be used with soft synths. If this is the case im definitly going to buy one.

actually...

  Quote

Real Time Hands On Control

The RS7000 has 18 assignable knobs and two pads for subtle or radical real time control over sounds, samples and MIDI sequences. The knobs can be assigned to control the sounds, modify playback of MIDI data using processes like MIDI echo, harmonize and beat stretch, or assigned to standard MIDI CC messages for controlling external devices. With the RS7000 real time performance of MIDI sequences becomes a brand new art form.

sounds just like sex to me. :heart:

next stop ebay

  md16 said:

QY700

what is it about the qy700 that you find particularly impressive (besides the fact that squarepusher uses one )? i want to try one out but i cant find a reason to get one of these over an rs7000

  Ghostbusters III said:

  md16 said:

QY700

 

what is it about the qy700 that you find particularly impressive (besides the fact that squarepusher uses one )? i want to try one out but i cant find a reason to get one of these over an rs7000

ditto, i think it's a snob thing...