Analogue-sequencer

colin- 

first, sorry if this is already wrote down somewhere, but I can't find
it...

I have auxes C & D of each track set up to use the vertically adjacent
knobs to dial in velocity & length for patterns that don't musically
benefit from step-by-step settings (e.g. y'r berlin school pulse-trains).

what I'm not clear on is how the 0-127 of the length setting maps onto
the step length, which is normally 1-13. does it go up to 13 or just 12?

d.

--- In analogue-sequencer@yahoogroups.com, "duncan" <ferrograph@...>
wrote:
(e.g. y'r berlin school pulse-trains).
> 
What's that ? 
Can you suggest something to listen to where I can hear it ?

>>What's that ? 
Can you suggest something to listen to where I can hear it ?<<

it's a generic term for the types of sequencer parts & arrangements
that resulted from the use of several moog 960 step sequencers or any
of a number of simple devices that were modelled after it. 

the style was made popular by the mid-70s works of tangerine dream,
klaus schulze & others, & has enjoyed a small but energetic following
amongst collectors of analogue synths & other slightly archaic musical
paraphenalia.

you can hear chris franke (of tangerine dream) struggling manfully
with this early sequencer technology on "phaedra", made shortly after
he took possession of a large moog modular system. he blew a lot of
the band's advance from virgin records on this system, originally
built for the moody blues, if the stories are right. 

by the next album ("rubycon"), the 960 had been adapted to keep it
from playing out-of-tune (we take this sort of thing for granted now)
& had several companions. this enabled much more complex lines to be
written, & the band discovered counterpoint & polyrhythms. later the
band commissioned electronics engineers to build more elaborate
control systems for their strings of pulses, enabling the
synchronisation of many separate sequencer modules operating in
different synthesizer systems...

if you listen to these albums now, they can sound a little basic- we
have the sort of power in a p3 & a simple synth module that would have
cost as much as a car back then. compositionally, they're quite simple
too, but the arrangements ("orchestration", if you will) &
performances are still evident. 
personally, I think the uncertain pitch accuracy of the older synths &
sequencers has a certain charm, & the ever-present mellotron adds to
this; these are sounds still favoured by the current berlin-school
adherents. we've retired our mellotron from live use now, but still
use samples of the thing. :-)

duncan.

I never knew that, big fan of Pinder et al, but of course they produced
their "7 great works" while the boys were still messing about with pots &
pans. :-)

> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: analogue-sequencer@yahoogroups.com [mailto:analogue-
> >sequencer@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of duncan
> >Sent: 23 October 2007 17:34
> >To: analogue-sequencer@yahoogroups.com
> >Subject: [analogue-sequencer] Re: "berlin school" (was knob grabbing
> >events)
> >
> >the band's advance from virgin records on this system, originally
> >built for the moody blues, if the stories are right.

Almost missed this one... 

> I have auxes C & D of each track set up to use the vertically adjacent
> knobs to dial in velocity & length for patterns that don't musically
> benefit from step-by-step settings (e.g. y'r berlin school 
> pulse-trains).
> 
> what I'm not clear on is how the 0-127 of the length setting maps onto
> the step length, which is normally 1-13. does it go up to 13 
> or just 12?

'knob n to leng' only covered lengths 1 to 12.
I've changed it to include 13 in the next build.

Best regards,
Colin Fraser
Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
http://www.sequentix.com