Audio Damage Sequencer 1 User Manual
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Audio Damage Sequencer 1 User Manual

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Sequencer 1 User's Guide
Audio Damage, Inc.
For Firmware Version 1.2.3
25 March 2015

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Summary of Contents for Audio Damage Sequencer 1

  • Page 1 Sequencer 1 User’s Guide Audio Damage, Inc. For Firmware Version 1.2.3 25 March 2015...
  • Page 2 The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Audio Damage, Inc. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Audio Damage, Inc.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Introduction ......................... 5 If You Don’t Like Reading Manuals, At Least Read This ............6 Terminology ........................6 3.1. Typographical Conventions ..................6 What’s New in Version 1.2.3 ....................7 4.1. Live CV Outputs ......................7 4.2. New CV Mapping: Pulses per Step ................7 What’s New in Version 1.2 ....................
  • Page 4 8.1. Entering Notes, Gates, Etc..................14 8.1.1. Tempo Mode ......................15 8.1.2. SEQ Mode ......................15 8.1.3. Step Mode ......................20 Low-Frequency Oscillators (LFOs) ..................21 9.1. Selecting LFOs ......................21 9.2. LFO Parameters ......................21 9.3. Using LFOs .........................26 9.3.1. Pattern Synchronization ..................26 9.3.2. LFOs As Simple Envelope Generators ..............27 9.3.3.

  • Page 5: Introduction

    1. Introduction Sequencer 1 is a pattern-oriented control-voltage step sequencer with the Eurorack form factor. Inspired by the control-voltage sequencers from the dawn of modular synthesizers and the pattern sequencers of more recent drum machines and tabletop groove boxes, Sequencer 1 provides a flexible and powerful control center for generating melodic and rhythmic patterns with your Eurorack system.

  • Page 6: If You Don't Like Reading Manuals, At Least Read This

    3. Terminology For the sake of clarity, we’ll explain what we mean by a few specific terms. Sequencer 1 operates by playing patterns. Only one pattern is active at any time, but Sequencer 1 stores up to 64 patterns, arranged in four banks, 16 patterns per bank. Each pattern consists of up to 64 steps, which are grouped into 16-step measures.

  • Page 7: What's New In Version 1.2.3

    4. What’s New in Version 1.2.3 Version 1.2.3 is a minor update, released in late March 2015. It corrects a bug with the pattern- reload feature introduced in version 1.2, and adds two new features: 4.1. Live CV Outputs The Pitch and CV1-3 outputs now change value immediately when you change the corresponding parameter (either the step’s note or one of its CV values).

  • Page 8: Reload Pattern

    Pitch CV parameter to “Free” will make the Pitch CV output behave as it did with previous versions of the firmware. 6.4. More Blinky Lights The Note buttons now light up while Sequencer 1 is playing, indicating the note of each step as it plays.

  • Page 9: Tour Of The Panel

    7.1. Jacks All of Sequencer 1’s jacks lie in a row across the bottom of the panel. The jacks in the group on the left, circled with grey, are inputs; those in the group on the right are outputs. 7.1.1. Inputs These three inputs let you synchronize Sequencer 1 with other modules, so that Sequencer 1 starts and stops upon their command and follows their tempo.

  • Page 10: Outputs

    The Accent output does not have the ratcheting feature of the main Gate output. These outputs provide timing and control information for synchronizing other devices to Sequencer 1. The Clock output emits a +5V pulse for each step, with a duration equal to half the...

  • Page 11: Knobs

    Run output is zero when the sequencer is not running, and +5V when it’s running. If you connect these three outputs to the corresponding inputs on a second Sequencer 1, the two sequencers will start, stop, and play in sync. Yes, having two Sequencer 1s is more than twice as fun as having one.

  • Page 12: Repeat Buttons

    7.5.1. Repeat Buttons Step buttons 11 through 14 have a second function while Sequencer 1 is playing and is not in any edit mode. This function, inspired by Replicant, our wildly popular beat-repeater plug-in, causes the sequencer to repeat some of the steps it played just before you pressed the button, for as long as you hold the button.

  • Page 13: Ratchet Buttons

    Pressing the button, short for Escape, takes you out of whatever edit mode Sequencer 1 is currently in, returning you to the default mode that Sequencer 1 starts in when powered up. 8. Making Patterns So far we’ve been waving our hands a little bit in that we haven’t really described how...

  • Page 14: Entering Notes, Gates, Etc

    Sequencer 1 all by yourself. The three edit modes you’ll use most are Tempo, Step, and Seq. We’ll look at each in turn, but first we’ll describe some features which apply to all three modes.

  • Page 15: Tempo Mode

    50% means that every other step is delayed by half of a step’s nominal duration. This parameter has no effect if Sequencer 1 is using an external clock source. Note, however, that Sequencer 1’s Clock output is affected by this parameter, so you can pass the ability to swing on to other modules.
  • Page 16 we’ll use N to designate the number of steps in the pattern. (Thus the “Nth step” is the highest- numbered step in the pattern.) The modes are indicated in the LCD in a somewhat pictorial manner: Symbol Meaning The sequencer moves from left to right, one step at a time. After it plays the Nth --->...
  • Page 17 Note, however, that this control has a range of ±48, or up and down four octaves. Since the Sequencer 1 Pitch CV output has a range of five octaves, it’s entirely possible that extreme settings of the Transpose parameter would push your pattern outside of the available pitch range.
  • Page 18 The scale presets were drawn from Wikipedia’s "List of musical scales and modes," found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_musical_scales_and_modes&oldid=634940322 Sequencer 1’s complement of scales includes every entry on that list which can be expressed as a subset of the chromatic scale.
  • Page 19 one half step. The key of C Major starts with C and uses that series, playing the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B. If you set your pattern to use C Major, it will always play those notes, regardless of how you transpose it.

  • Page 20: Step Mode

    The CV output changes only when the step’s CV value is set to Non0 something other than zero volts. Note: The Pitch Hold and CV Hold parameters affect the Pitch and CV outputs even when the sequencer is not playing. When you change the step’s note or one of its three CV values, the output jack changes its voltage immediately if the corresponding Hold parameter permits it.

  • Page 21: Low-Frequency Oscillators (Lfos)

    Sequencer 1’s LFOs have a wide variety of wave shapes and are synchronized with the pattern, regardless of whether you’re using internal or external clocking. At the risk of getting carried away with ourselves, we’ll mention that you’d pay a substantial fraction of Sequencer 1’s price if...
  • Page 22 and Range parameters, which we’ll describe shortly. In the drawings we’ve labeled the scale with arbitrary values of MIN and MAX representing the LFO’s minimum and maximum output voltages.
  • Page 24 There are some randomly generated shapes which don’t lend themselves to drawings. They are: Shape Behavior (Short for Random Step) At the beginning of each cycle, the LFO’s RndStep output jumps to a randomly chosen value and stays there for the duration of its cycle.
  • Page 25 AmpRnd AmpRnd Rng Phase (Short for Amplitude Randomization) The AmpRnd setting LFO 2 introduces random variations in the LFO’s output level, and has a range of zero to 100%. If set to zero, the LFO’s output will travel predictably across the voltage range set by the Amplitude and Range parameters. As you increase AmpRnd, the maximum level of the LFO’s output will start to vary randomly.

  • Page 26: Using Lfos

    LFOs. 9.3.1. Pattern Synchronization Each LFO’s cycle is always reset to the beginning when Sequencer 1 starts playing a pattern. This means that the LFOs are always synchronized to the pattern, so that their effect on other modules is predictable and repeatable.

  • Page 27: Lfos As Simple Envelope Generators

    for example, the LFO will move out of phase with the pattern as the pattern plays, eventually lining up again with the beginning of the pattern. Consider also that each LFO can have a different length, and hence can drift in and out of phase with the pattern (and with the two other LFOs) in its own way.

  • Page 28: Copy & Paste

    10.1. Copy & Paste You can copy patterns from one place to another, so that you can create patterns similar to one another without creating each one entirely from scratch. You can also copy and paste single measures (of 16 steps) within the same pattern. 10.1.1.

  • Page 29: Saving Patterns

    Sequencer 1 uses a Micro SD card to store patterns and other information so that you don’t have to leave your modular synth turned on 24/7. (Maybe you do that already. That’s fine, but you should save your patterns anyway, just for safe keeping.)

  • Page 30: Control-Voltage Inputs

    1/10th of a second. A rising edge on the Reset jack will make Sequencer 1 reset the step index back to the first step of the pattern (where the first step is determined by the pattern’s cycle mode). The index changes in sync with the incoming clock signal;...
  • Page 31 Buttons. Positive voltage inputs activate repeats, negative voltages are ignored. There is a dead zone near zero so that a small voltage won’t park Sequencer 1 in an endless series of repetitions. A voltage of 1V to 2V causes one step to be repeated, 2V to 3V repeats the last two steps, 3V to 4V repeats the last four steps, and above 4V repeats the last eight steps.

  • Page 32: Measure Display

    Since a pattern has up to four measures of 16 steps, the display always shows four of the above symbols. Here’s an example of how the symbols might appear on the LCD: Audio Damage Sequencer 1 +Ξ-_ This tells you several things: ...

  • Page 33: Global Options

    (which starts with step 49) is unused. Global Options There are a number of settings which affect Sequencer 1's operation globally, regardless of which pattern is currently active. You probably won't have to change them very often.

  • Page 34: Display Contrast

    This page shows the version number of the software installed in System Info Version your sequencer. If this number is less than the version number 1.2.1.73 of the software available at Audio Damage's website, you may want to update your sequencer.

  • Page 35: Updating The Firmware

     Remove Sequencer 1 from your cabinet. You may or may not be able to get away with leaving the power cable connected. ...

  • Page 36: And Finally

    And Finally… Thank you for purchasing Sequencer 1. We make every effort to ensure your satisfaction with our products, and want you to be happy with your purchase. Please write to us at info@audiodamage.com...

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