Random Sequence Lengths

video upload by boxoftextures

Follow-up to this post.

"So I was minding my business the other day and checking out Matrixsynth.com, as one does, and came across a post about a video from OZ Hall. He had patched up a Eurorack version of a 960 sequencer so it would vary the sequence lengths. I hadn't even watched the video yet but just from what was in the description I was able to see the whole setup laid out before my eyes. I could make this work in Voltage Modular with randomized sequence lengths picked automatically each time through the sequence. So I set to work and an hour late I had this patch, and in this video I go through it step by step to show how it all works.

The major difference between my version and what OZ Hall did is that I added a Random Task module and a couple of switcher modules so it could switch sequence length on its own without me having to manually do it. Could totally be done in hardware given the proper modules, of course.

To make this work what I've done is to connect each sequencer step's trigger output jack to an input on a switching module. Then, every time the sequencer hits step 1 it sends a clock to the Random Task module, which makes it pick a random voltage. That gets sent to the 1x8 Switch module which picks the output based on the voltage level. That voltage gets sent to the switching module which sends a voltage for the chosen step into the buss module and then on to the trigger input of the sequencer, forcing it to start over from step 1.

So every time the sequencer hits step 1 it essentially picks the step which triggers the reset to step 1 and you get random sequence lengths, picked by the Random Task.

So I'd like to thank both Matrix and OZ Hall, and there are links below to both the post on Matrixsynth.com and to the YouTube video that set all the bells off in my head.

Matrixsynth post: https://www.matrixsynth.com/2022/04/b...
OZ Hall video: https://youtu.be/1RBgkFnQRe0https://youtu.be/1RBgkFnQRe0

Modules used:
From Cherry Audio
960 Sequential Controller
962 Sequential Switch
Random Task
1x8 Switch
SynthVoice
Mini LFO
Stereo Delay

From Andrew Macaulay
Micro MixBus
Fixed DC

From Playertron
Switchboard

From haslo
HÄÄSchen

Lastly, just to make this super clear as I don't explicitly bring it up in the video, say you want to have a four step sequence. In that case, you'd want to patch the output jack of step 5 to the input jack of step one, What we're doing with the switching mechanism is having *all* the output jacks connected at once through the buss but we're letting the Random Task module choose which switch it closes on the switching module to let one of those signals through. So in a sense we're using a module to repatch the bottom row of jacks on the sequencer on the fly.

Featuring
Cherry Audio Voltage Modular https://cherryaudio.com/products/volt...

Recorded and edited in ScreenFlow https://www.telestream.net/screenflow/
Audio routing done in Rogue Amoeba Loopback https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/
Sennheiser XS Lav USB-C microphone https://en-us.sennheiser.com/xs-lav-u...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"