Is it just me … Xynthesizr is still amazing!

jsmonzani

@wim said:

@jsmonzani said:
I really enjoy the sequencing capabilities of this:

• a grid to quickly enter notes in a scale
• controlled mutations
• controllable sequence length

Speaking of grid-based notes sequencers, what are our AUV3 options?

• locked-to-scale piano-rolls could somehow fit the job, but adding a note is not as easy as tapping a cell (you often have to drag to the right to set the notes length).

Zoa - Living MIDI Sequencer. It's very much in the same vein as Xynthesizr and has complete control over how and when sequences morph, as well as probability of notes being skipped in the sequence.

• drum-specific sequencers have these easy grids but the number of notes is limited. One can simulate this with drambo as well (a single pitch per track, then tap on the grid to activate a note)

I enjoy Senode for a different twist on sequencing, including drums. Not a grid. It's a blank canvas that can be as rigid or generative as you like.

• There's NoteSeq in miRack, but isn't obvious as notes aren't displayed and setting your min/max range can lead to have to lines assigned to the same pitch.

As hard as I've tried, I've not found any of the many sequencers in miRack to my liking. I mean for "intentional" sequencing. For generative stuff it offers endless possibilities.

I don't own but watched a video StepPolyArp but removing notes isn't "a tap away" it seems.

Sure it is. It's just a bit difficult to get the tap right. It's not strong as a general purpose sequencer IMO though.

Drambo is my #1 sequencer for all non-generative midi these days. It does pretty much all I need for pattern based stuff.

Thank you for your answers! Ooda is also interesting.
The thing with Zoa and Ooda is that timing and notes are decoupled.
So not really straightforward if you wanna change a note and it's timing at the same time. All options are great for generative stuff though!

Thank you for taking the time to answer me! It's much appreciated!

mrdrbobo

Maybe the wrong place, but I have a question concerning Xynthesizr. I like the functionality and the musicality of it very much, but one thing bugs me enormously: how can I scroll the note grid up and down? I see only a handful of octaves/colors, and there are 10 or more. I searched everywhere and nobody seems to have this problem (let alone an answer). How do you input notes above or under the displayed grid???

Polyphonix

@mrdrbobo Under the SEQ tab in the 'Key and Transposition' section, you can move the octave to enter notes above or below the displayed grid. However, this only moves the grid, but the input/output is unfortunately limited to a range within the four visible octaves.

mrdrbobo

Thanks a lot! I saw those controls, but now I understand more what they do:
A) "transposition" doesnt move the notes (green notes stay in the green octave) but makes them sound octave(s) higher or lower
The "move" arrows on the other hand move the notes but doesnt change how every octave/color sounds. What I just now discovered is that when the "move" arrows push a note over the top, they reappear at the bottom. That was confusing. Ehr, I still find that confusing.
My conceptual misunderstanding was that I had the Ableton workings in mind. I thought that what you see on the screen was just a window on a bigger grid. But in fact, what you see is all there is, there are no notes above or below the grid that you see. And how much you see depends on the scale that you choose. So with a chromatic scale you see less then 2 octaves (and you can only play with notes in less then 2 octaves). When you choose pentatonic you can play with a little more than 4 octaves.
Am I right?

rs2000

@Polyphonix said:
@mrdrbobo Under the SEQ tab in the 'Key and Transposition' section, you can move the octave to enter notes above or below the displayed grid. However, this only moves the grid, but the input/output is unfortunately limited to a range within the four visible octaves.

Well it's not even 2 octaves when using the chromatic scale.
Anyway, using a scale and MIDI clock, it's a great melodic and chord playground in a setup with hardware gear that sends MIDI clock. It can also control older synths that don't support AUv3, running in the background.

Polyphonix

To be precise, the vertical display and input/output is limited to 22 notes. But I still think Xequencer is pretty brilliant. This limitation doesn't really bother me.

catherder

Xynthesizr is one of my absolute favourites. Not only great fun to link to external hardware: I have one instance running on an old iPad 2 running iOS 9. It syncs perfectly with the rest of the setup via Ableton Link. And although this is without MIDI, I can still feed the output into my mixer to add some sound to my hardware mayhem.

Antos3345

I have always loved the mood and sound of this synth. There’s a special character about it. I just wish it would mature into v2 with Audio unit support.