From sngruhl@faui01.informatik.uni-erlangen.deSun Mar 12 14:54:04 1995 Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 17:04:09 +0100 (MET) From: "Stefan Gruhl (CIP 92)" To: analogue@hyperreal.com Subject: a NEW doepfer sequencer There was one thing I haven't reported yet about the musikmesse. Beside the new doepfer Modular they had shown a totally new sequencer beside their MAQ 16/3. While this one does one sequence with 16 steps and 3 Midiparameters - usually pitch, velocity , plus one extra - the new one does everything completely different. It's 19" about 10 HE. You see a monster. Price is about 1300$. It is designed like: ** ============ ** ============ ** ============ ** ============ ** ============ ** ============ ** ============ ** ============ oooooooooooooo """""" O """""" WOW! Here it try to descibe it. This ========= is one sequence with 16 steps. You have got 8 rows (eight seqhences) running simultanuasly ! Each row consists of 16 LED's whoch are blinking when the coresponding step is on, just like the Roland TR drumboxes. Under each step is a push button to activate or deactivate this certain event. Different to all other sequencers, you are able to mute steps ! Also there are mute buttons on the left side of the track to deactivate the whole sequence as well. Ok, whats done in a certain step? That's not that easy as with a MAQ16, as you have no "real" controll what is done there. A major drawback to me appears, that you have to assign the midi event at the bottom row, with the """ buttons and the O alphdial. You may do that even while the sequencer is running, but you have to hassle with that digital UI again :-( They told me that it is more designed for "drum sequences" ? Can you imagine the real plus for them ? I can't. Anyway, as a live sequencer it seems great. Once aour sequences are done, it's real fun. On the left side ** you have two times 16 pattern buttons (unlike the Roland machines unequal to the step buttons!). So you have direkt access to the next pattern to be played after the recent one is completed. (as the 8 patterns may vary in their length, you can define the master line to tell the aequencer when to start with the next pattern) Unlike the TR sequencers you have real access to a playing pattern. You can mute whole individual tracks. (think of each row to be a different instrument, also on different boxes) And you can Mute or put certain steps while running like a double kick for once. Finally, you have an extra row above the setup line with the alpha dial. There you can define 16 songs consisting of the defined patterns. All in all impressive. To me it appears to be more useful for live performances than for creativity like the MAQ16, except for the mentioned drum patterns. I still haven't got their idea with the event definition. They can't really think me to define every midi event with their silly dial. Well, perhaps you can figure out what you may want to do with that box. For all who are now interested in that, it has been a predesigned box and will not be available before at least 2 month. CU steve -- * real electronic composers don't like their music be restricted * * to the physical limitations of the human hand - AH - a great list * * Stefan Gruhl * sngruhl@cip.informatik.uni-erlangen.de *