Unsung heroes - Tiptop Trigger Riot

Published on May 15, 2020 Signal Sounds

"The focus in this patch is on one of the modules I’ve had in my rack for a long time, the TipTop Audio Trigger Riot. Similar to their Z8000 it’s a matrix of sequencers. It generates 8 interrelated clocks/triggers/gates to drive all of the rhythmic elements of your modular synthesiser.

Here we’ve routed 4 triangle waves from the Snazzy FX Dronebank into the Future Sound Systems VAC1 and the Trigger Riot opens those channels with 4 gate patterns. It’s also providing the trigger sources for the kick drum generated by the Future Sound Systems Recombination Engine and the other voice from the Instruo Cs-L. The output is routed via the mixing desk with an auxiliary send and return from the Echofix EF-X2 tape delay.

Launched a little later than the Z8000 the Trigger Riot seemed, at the time, to be a natural companion to the matrix sequencer. Again, it's a matrix of 8 different sequencers but it outputs clock/gate/trigger patterns rather than variable CV sequences. The most interesting thing I've found with it on my rack for years now is how effortless it is to create seemingly complex rhythmic sequences. The Trigger Riot lets you write patterns over the top of patterns that interweave to give you a wonderfully intricate web of rhythms that all work together with one another. I've often looked at other trigger sequencers to see if I can replicate what Trigger Riot does in a smaller form factor but I've never found anything that could replace it. For me it is, without doubt, one of eurorack's unsung heroes.

https://www.signalsounds.com/tiptop-a...

https://www.signalsounds.com/future-s...

https://www.signalsounds.com/instruo-...

https://www.signalsounds.com/future-s...

https://www.signalsounds.com/echo-fix..."