The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Ok, I admit it. I avoided it for the last 3 years.

I just played my notes and stayed away from the arpeggiator and the 
step sequencer. I preferred the control I have by playing them 
myself. So I tried the step sequencer out and it was fun. But I am 
sure I am not any good at this because of my tendency to try play 
everything.

So how about some tips?

What settings do you use?

Do you make your own seq programs?

Which parameters are your favorites to morph (so far, mine are filter 
cutoff, sync pitch, noise, and filter envelope decay)?

Do you use the knobs to "tune" the sequence? How in heaven's name do 
you get any accurate results in real time?

Do you have any advice for a step sequencer newbie?
Thanks,

Jerry

Hi Jerry,

I use the step sequencer for a few songs, mostly to add a pulse behind the beat, or to add a short riff that needs to happen while I'm busy doing something else.  Sometimes, I use it to control another module -- usually, my Alesis S4 -- to add a rhythmic feel to a song on shaker, triangle, claves, etc.  (An example of this is the rhythmic part behind Peter Gabriel's voice in the song "In Your Eyes."  In this case, I program a very small (1-3 notes) split part, then set the volume of the smaller end of the split to zero, and just use that part of the split as a MIDI controller and clock.

I wish steps could be polyphonic; that would increase the usefulness of the feature.  Vintage sequencers only did one note at a time, though, so I suppose the AN1x is remaining true to form.

>Do you make your own seq programs?

Yes, although I've kept a couple of the basic and/or UK patches to use as inspiration.  (I'm going to figure out a musical use for "Alan" someday -- it sounds so huge!)

>Which parameters are your favorites to morph (so far, mine are filter 
>cutoff, sync pitch, noise, and filter envelope decay)?

Those are good.  Filter resonance is also useful, sometimes in conjunction with cutoff and high pass.

>Do you use the knobs to "tune" the sequence? How in heaven's name do 
>you get any accurate results in real time?

Yes, I do use them from time to time, and it's a painful process!  It cannot be done in anything close to real time.  Most of the time, it's kind of like sculpting:  If you cannot focus on the end result, the "noise" factor -- be it wrong notes, or extra bits of stone -- can be overwhelming, and it takes at least 50% of the process before there seems to be any purpose to the work, then it just suddenly seems to leap out of the mess.  I wish the AN1x would allow notes to be played on the keyboard, rather than knob-induced.  It wouldn't have to be all that complex an interface; maybe, press Knob 1, then play a note, and the note value would be added.  The same could work for velocity.

>Do you have any advice for a step sequencer newbie?

Just keep plugging away at it until the process becomes second nature, or something like that.  Programming a step sequencer is not really intuitive, but like any skill, it can be acquired.

Also, programming a "null" sequence that has all of the note volumes set to zero, can be handy to quickly stop the sequence.  This is especially useful if you are using Select Mode and have the pattern set to Mode 2, which allows sequences to be queued up until the start of the next pattern.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions\ufffd   http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group and HiNote moderator
978.386.7389  voice/fax
bruce@...

Hi Jerry

It\ufffds great fun playing with the step sequencer.
I\ufffdm not saying I understand it completely. But it works best for me just to
play and see hat comes out of it.

Try "copy and paste" technique:
load sequences from other programs or what ever they were.
Experiment with different CC# . I have found that #27(Peg Decay) works great
if you get Peg Depth right and vice versa.
You may want to adjust values like Key Track and Vel Sens too.

Erkki
----- Original Message -----

From: tuskermusic <tuskerfort@...>
To: <AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 11:27 PM
Subject: [AN1x] How do you use the step sequencer


> Ok, I admit it. I avoided it for the last 3 years.
>
> I just played my notes and stayed away from the arpeggiator and the
> step sequencer. I preferred the control I have by playing them
> myself. So I tried the step sequencer out and it was fun. But I am
> sure I am not any good at this because of my tendency to try play
> everything.
>
> So how about some tips?
>
> What settings do you use?
>
> Do you make your own seq programs?
>
> Which parameters are your favorites to morph (so far, mine are filter
> cutoff, sync pitch, noise, and filter envelope decay)?
>
> Do you use the knobs to "tune" the sequence? How in heaven's name do
> you get any accurate results in real time?
>
> Do you have any advice for a step sequencer newbie?
> Thanks,
>
> Jerry
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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>
>
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>
>

Now here's where the AN1x Edit program is essential, IMHO.
Trying to use the knobs and buttons is stupid when you've got the editor.  Like
Erkki said, begin by observing one of the factory patterns.  Copy it and use the
editor to change it a little - just to learn how.  Then, once you've got this
technique down, try using the editor for the Free Envelope generator to march
along with your sequence.

This is why the AN1x kicks the butt off of a lot of other VA synths.  Sure, like
Bruce said, it's a limited sequencer... but think of it in some ways as more of
a programmable arpeggiator.


Ed Edwards
Leader: Ezekiel's Wheel      \ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffdRetro-Progressive Rock\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd
http://www.untiedmusic.com/ezekiel
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/227/ezekiels_wheel.html
\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd\ufffd.\ufffd\ufffd

Guys:

Thanks so much for the advice about the step sequencer. I'll try them 
out. I used the step sequencer for the first time in a jam session on 
saturday with mixed results. 

The drummer was clearly in awe of it, the bassist was disappointed 
that I wasn't playing any notes. "So thats how they do techno" he 
said in a disappointed fashion. "I thought they played all the 
notes." Nevertheless everybody wanted to crowd round the synth and 
fool around with knobs afterward. So the An1X clearly made friends, 
though I am not sure if I did. :)

I think I was over playing (continuously sounding patterns), and at a 
minimum, I need to learn to do tap-tempo to the drummer's  tempo and 
use short abrupt patterns so as not to dominate...... As well as 
incorporate the advice you guys have given me.

I do wish they would have that musical way of tuning the sequencer 
where you could hold down a knob and hit a key, instead of tuning 
with the knob. 

Thanks again,

Jerry

PS: To those of you who have other VA synths with step sequencers... 
are they easier to use or harder? more musical or less? Thx.