Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 16:42:02 -0500 (EST)
From: Richard Misenheimer <richm@ncren.net>
To: analogue@hyperreal.org
Cc: richm@ncren.net
Subject: Re: Schaltwerk (was [AH] MAQ info needed)

ok, i'll bite. 

yes, it is 8 x0x style step seq's put into an led monster. what makes
it different/neat is the following:

- the machine is always in edit mode. all actions can be done while it
is playing, including saving a pattern. 

- each row (one of the 8 seqs that make up a pattern) can have it's
own time sig, note duration, delay time, global velocity, first step,
last step, direction (up, down, up/down) and base scale. you can
mute/unmute each track in three different modes, multi (mute more than
one at atime), inverse (mutes the one you press, turn's on all of the
rest) and solo (mutes all but the track you press). once again, this
can be changed real time.

- each event can has it's own note and velocity. these can also be
mapped to controllers. you guessed it, it can be edited in realtime. 

- you can go from one pattern to another by pushing the button
corresponding to it's pattern location, link 2 or 4 patterns together,
and string a bunch of them together to make a song. the song can have 
different versions of the same pattern. ie, it's the same pattern w/a
different muting scheme. you can pop in and out of song mode and
pattern mode. real time, yadda, yadda...

- there is also an "effects" section, which turns your schaltwerk into
a arpegiator, step sequencer, or realtime sequencer that is accessed
from a midi keyboard. this is pretty cool, but i haven't used it much
since i was using it for live gigs and intended to be
keyboardless. there is also a mode that allows you to transpose a
track based on midi input. keepin' it in real time, beeeyatch.

as you may have noted, doing the above realtime is a key. i bought it
because i was doing alot of live work. at the time i was doing the ol'
dance of writing on a computer, dumping it to the mmt8 (oh, the pain!)
and muting tracks all nite. the schaltwerk allowed me to take the
tools i compose with to a live gig. it also allows me to modify the
tune on the fly, beyond muting/unmuting. hence, we never played the
tunes the same way twice. a double edged sword, let me tell ya. it has
also changed the way i compose, i need all the fookin' help i can get.

it is alot of small tools/ideas inside of it. you can get some great
results when you figure out how to combine them. happy accidents
happen quite regularly, which don't happen too often for me on a
computer based sytem.

weakness - NO KNOBS! if it had an assignable knob per track, it would
be great. the lcd screen that you use to access the parameters is...ok
i guess. trying to sucker me into a regelwerk, most likely.

it's expensive, it's reliable and it looks cool. i got laid alot, thanks
to those leds. and being married. 

richm

umair haque writes:
 > any opinions on the schaltwerk would be appreciated as well...im seeing 
 > it as 8 x0x style seqs, which makes it a little more limited than the 
 > MAQ (no knobs per step)...anyone...?
 > 
 > as you can tell, im having a sequencer crisis...i'd be interested to 
 > know what you guys do when you wanna toss your laptops out the window...
 > 
 > umair