Time to eulogise and recommend the sequencer from @Squinky
This brilliant module has a DAW-like midi interface, thoughtfully including functions to enter notes from the computer keyboard and/or a midi piano keyboard. It can behave like a step sequencer or a more subtle midi composer both of which are useful. Importantly, it can read/write midi files.
The way I’m using it is in the picture below. This is a patch for live and recording work - and it’s addressing the question of how to get variation in a performance, striking the balance between random and composed, which I think is important. I’ve put in a choice of three note sources - the Turing Machine, a classic step sequencer Phrase-Seq-64 which I’ve written about before - here set up to record/repeat a phrase played on the keyboard in the moment. Then Seq++ for which I will pre-record a set of midi phrases for each song.
I can switch the note source live, so if the Turing Machine has produced a nice phrase - repeat that for a bit, before switching back to a composed midi file, to ‘bring it back home’ so to speak.
Lovely bit of work, Seq++ I mean. Thank you!
BTW you’ll see I’ve got Squinky’s basic VCO in there too, to add a bit of sub oscillator to taste. I’m grateful for the low-resoruce-use on this as I know can just throw one in without overburdening the patch.
OK then! The gory detail… The purpose of this patch is to have enough to play with live, to augment an existing piece. Kind of like playing solos, but with sequences. I’ve kept the option to play straight off the midi keyboard so I can actually solo traditionally too.
I’ve laid it out vertically so I can scroll-wheel up and down. The first row is just midi stuff: keyboard and some midi-gates to get triggers to sync the clock from other sources.
Row 3: The main clock, with some kit on the left to handle run/reset. In the middle some modules to advance/retard the clock either if the sync lets me down or to give it a bit of advance/lag for musical feel. Then a 3-gang switch to route V/Oct, Gate and Retrigger from the note sources to the oscillator.
And finally…a little bit of drum machine to add some extra percussion using AS’s nice drum modules (I don’t know Alfredo’s handle on here for a name check)
That’s very nice of you. Thanks! Glad you are finding ways to mix pre-sequenced notes with “generated” notes. I’ve always thought there is much that could be done with some “in between” use cases.
You can also use 4X4 to switch between 16 different sequences. Seq++ will the function as the editor for any of the 16 sequences.
Oh, and while your usage of the word “eulogy” is technically correct, it is almost always used to refer to a dead person
Good point. I’ve always thought it’s appropriate for inanimate objects - maybe “It’s time to eulogise about Seq++” would be better here. Althought Seq++ is pretty animated, it’s not actually living - or dead for that matter
I’ll have a look at 4x4 too, that sounds like a good fit for this kind of thing. The problem with the generated sequences is not that they don’t sound good, more that things get a bit samey from piece to piece. Can end up sounding like noodling. I’m shallow, I like a hook.
Well, hopefully there is room in VCV for all kinds of music. From the start I’ve known that most VCV people want to make generative music, and the next big group of people are people who want to use a DAW. But somewhere there is still a small sliver of people who might want to use purely deterministic sequencers in VCV.
I’m now fully signed up to using generative ideas as part of the process. For one thing, in these times when we can’t get together to bounce ideas around so easily it’s a bit like having another musician in the room to suggest things.
But anyway the point here was to say thanks for modules, seriously.
