Yamaha QX3 sequencer

So there is a QX3 for sale locally here and it's dirt cheap. Looks like it's the highest end sequencer from that era (1987), and looks hawt.

I need to dig into it a bit more, but I think I might really like the oldscool workflow, just to get off the computer machine. :p

Anyone know this box? Anything real shitty I'm missing?

oh fuck how stupid. It DOESN"T DO PATTERNS.

That would explain the cheapness I suppose. :p

friggin do it

even without the ability to create and repeat patterns? That's a deal breaker for me. :/ You'd have to play in a whole song-length track for each instrument. :p

If I were more of a player it might be interesting haha. I'll look into it. If I can copy and paste segments it might work alright, and even be cool to not have any straight repeating bits. We'll see. Gotta find the manual to see.

could be rad though to sequence in numerology, and record those as tracks into this to use live or something. Meh I don't know.

ok so you can copy paste measures to build a track. I imagine this could be cool in a way, as you could make variations on each section really easy. It would be like working in a daw basically where "loops" are really independent from each other. Hmm.

If it's real cheap I'd get it. Even if it doesn't work you still can get stoned and throw a big blanket over a table and crawl under there with it and a flashlight and just push buttons for a while.

cool 80's doorstop

haha fine you assholes. I'm buying a launchpad instead. Are you all happy?

(crawls back under table with garage door opener and vape)

No, buy it.

yamaha sequencers tend to glitch during track loops

so the loops will have a really tiny bit of silence before the start of the next loop most likely

ain't actually tried a qx before, my qy300 has this problem and ive read qx reviews that say they have the same issue

ya it's got that issue. Mostly because it's not meant to loop in performance. It's meant to be a straight shot linear midi recorder.

You can c&p bars though so it might be more useful in that way. It's same as working in Logic or some in that regard. Write a phrase then c&p it out to build the song structure. It could be cool actually since each iteration of the "loop" is a discrete entity, and could be changed without changing the others.

If it's still up for sale in a week or 2 I might do it, but I just bought a launchpad (for numerology) so I'm set for the moment on new sequencing stuff. :p

sigh....... mmmm ever thought oh if i slave this to another sequencer and spit the midi notes out into the qx3 its a winner??? tr909 tr626 korg ea1 dopher dark time dsi evolver and so on then save on a floppy ??? no need for a computer sequencer live then is there?? these are a winner period !!!!

ya I ended up getting a qy70 and I'm liking it so far. Basically the same setup. Some patterns, but really limited, so it makes you think more in a multi-track way. Record a few bars, clean it up, then copy and repeat it to different locations. I made this to help planning out phrasing haha.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArQveT6NydeodEZ0VHg1ZVFBZ3NtaFdqdHdFZHhnMnc&usp=sharing

ya I'm like that. I'm going to print it and have it laminated. Then I can basically sketch out tracks with a dry erase marker.

I also found a cheap midi patchbay, and it's probably the absolute most useful piece of gear I own. I can basically hook all my shit up to it and reroute on the fly. Say I want to record some bars w/ a keyboard controller to the qy, just route it in. Then switch over the midi out from the MS2000, and record some knob twiddling. Then switch the qy's input to the midi interface and record in some stuff sequenced with numerology on the laptop.

It's all a bit slow and oldschool, but by removing the visual distraction of a big complex UI on a computer does wonders in getting you to focus on the music you are making. It's also a LOT easier not to get sucked into the sound design blackhole like you do with soft synths. I'm really like it so far.

  On 3/8/2014 at 9:55 PM, Hybernation said:

sigh....... mmmm ever thought oh if i slave this to another sequencer and spit the midi notes out into the qx3 its a winner??? tr909 tr626 korg ea1 dopher dark time dsi evolver and so on then save on a floppy ??? no need for a computer sequencer live then is there?? these are a winner period !!!!

Ya that's a huge benefit. If you are doing a show and playing fully sequenced stuff that's a great way to go. Super reliable.

  On 3/1/2013 at 11:41 AM, chunky said:

so the loops will have a really tiny bit of silence before the start of the next loop most likely

i have a yamaha QX sequencer, and this does indeed happen. you cannot do patterns or tradtional loops no, and do have to build the whole track sequence-by-sequence as it were, but yes the copy-paste funtions make this process pretty easy and on the whole, it's pretty usable if you're looking to move away from a computer-based workflow. they also have a really cool kind of groove, not sure how this is achieved really, but if you play a sequence into one of these things pretty randomly and quantise it, generally it comes out the other side sounding fresh as fuck. still, saying all that i hardly ever use mine (I have a QX7), it doesn't offer enough of an advantage over the other sequencing methods i have available.

Anyone here use a QY-700--would love to get some feedback on that machine.My mate Eddie has one f/s

I actually have a Yamaha QX-1 --(New Order used two for live) --now that is the most impressive looking piece of hardware I own

it wont boot --its been at my techs for two years -LOL

just made a whole tune on one ass kicker!!!!

  On 3/9/2014 at 10:37 AM, d2ba said:

Anyone here use a QY-700--would love to get some feedback on that machine.My mate Eddie has one f/s

I actually have a Yamaha QX-1 --(New Order used two for live) --now that is the most impressive looking piece of hardware I own

it wont boot --its been at my techs for two years -LOL

Qy700 is a great sequencer. In phrase mode its very much similar to live's clip view.

ya the qy70 is it's little brother, but from what I've heard it's way more powerful (the 700). I mean squarepusher wrote his first few albums on it ffs.

I can't get my head around the qy70's workflow, beyond just setting up a little loop and muting/unmuting parts. The event list seems somewhat similar to a tracker (which is my preferred method) but I just can't get into it!

ya it took a week or so for me to really grok it. It's goofy though. The workflow between pattern and song mode is a bit odd, so I really never use pattern mode. I just use it like a multitrack. Record in a bar or two, clean it up, copy it out a few times.

This came out the same time as the RX5 Drum Machine.

back to the QY-700

Robert Hood

he is making amazing music with just a QY-700 and Boss SP-404 and a MicroKorg