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15. The Motion Sequencer

1 Like most of Bazille CM’s modules, the Sequencer takes a standard synthesis concept and infuses it with u-he ingenuity. We’ll use it to create chiptune arpeggios, which will make it very easy to hear the effects of the sequencer. Start off with the 00 User » Init patch, set Osc 1’s waveform to Square (click where it says ‘Saw’ beneath the PD knob), and reduce the Filter Cutoff to 125 for a chip-tastic bleep. 2 Connect the sequencer’s leftmost red output to the Pitch Modulation Depth input in Osc 1 – that’s the uppermost grey input node – and increase it to 50. Adjust the first four sliders in the Sequencer to 0, 6, 14, and 24. The sliders must be set to double the semitone transpose value required, so these values correspond to 0, 3, 7 and 12, ie, a minor triad with added octave note. 3 Increasing the Divide knob does what you’d expect to the rate of the sequencer, which is ultimately governed by the Time Base, currently at 1/16. Set Divide to 4 for speedy 64th-note arps, giving us that distinctive chiptune ‘fake chord’ sound. It’s sounding good, but it’ll be a real hassle changing those sliders every time we want a different chord. Thankfully, there’s an easier way… 4 Double-click the 2 on the Snapshot Dial to the left of the sliders – which gives us a fresh sequence to play with – then set them to 0, 8, 14 and 24 for a major arpeggio. Click a number on the dial to select a sequence for editing; doubleclick to activate; right-click for copy/paste and interpolation options. Drag the centre of the dial to smoothly blend snapshots, and flick the Rotate dial to set it in motion. 5 Only the first four steps of the sequencer are playing, because we’ve connected the first of the four output ‘taps’, which terminates at the fourth step. Connect the second red output tap to Osc 1’s Pitch Modulation Depth instead to use 4 extra steps – we set the sliders to 32, 38, 48 and 62 to continue the major arp. The ‘1’ in the dropdown next to each output can subdivide that tap’s speed. 6 As you may have twigged, you can use multiple output taps at once! Connect the Sequencer’s first red output to Osc 2’s Pitch Modulation Depth input, set all Osc 2’s controls the same as Osc 1’s, then connect Osc 2’s lower red output to the Filter’s spare input. Each voice runs at its own rate, playing a different chunk of our sequence. Try mixing tap speed factors – we like 1 for the first, and 4 for the second. 7 The Sequencer isn’t just for controlling pitch, of course. Let’s get creative: set the Fractalize mode of Osc 1 to Saw, then drag the second output tap to the Fractalize Modulation Depth knob before turning it up to 2.80. This creates a hard sync-style effect with a different sync amount for each note. You may want to reduce Osc 2’s level to balance the sound. 8 Let’s tighten the sound to a short blip: reduce Envelope 1’s Decay to 20 and Sustain to 0. We have a problem: the sequencer isn’t retriggering the Envelope. To make this happen, disconnect Osc 2 from the sequencer and filter, and connect output tap 3 to CV 2 in the MIDI & More section – this doesn’t do anything, but the tap needs to be connected for this to work. 9 Set Envelope 1’s Trigger to Modseq 2. Now the portion of the sequence between the first and second used taps (steps 9-12) will trigger the envelope when positive, and release it when negative. Set steps 9 and 11 to full, and 10 and 12 to minimum. Change the third output tap’s speed factor to 2 to calm things down, and activate the delay for a cascade of blips!