All of a sudden new sequencers are sprouting under every bush, each focused on particular aspects of sequence creation or manipulation.

Burl Audio, under the direction of owner/designer Rich Williams, has developed some of the best new recording equipment over the last eight years. From here you can mix up your beats thanks to an onboard looper with touch strip, randomizer and swing settings, making it a perfect choice for performance on the stage. re a live performer looking to add intelligent improvisation to your shows or a modular fanatic in need of additional rhythmic options, Arturia?The melodic sequencers offer up to 64 steps per sequence, 16 sequences per project and 16 projects, making it one of the most impressive step sequencers ever made. There’s no user control over whether notes, velocities, lengths or triggers are to be randomised; the results are a mixture of all these attributes. Ive never found a case where I DIDNT need it to control my modular, I dont know why they didnt just make a power supply for it in the first place. Actually, it’s hardly rocket science to make a few CV and gate connections instead, but however you start, the means of building sequences is consistent — and there’s nothing to stop you driving MIDI and CV gear simultaneously.

You can not only control instruments in your DAW; plug-in all the outboard gear that you have and it can become the nerve centre for your whole rig. The pitch CVs can operate in either volt-per-octave or Hertz-per-volt mode, allowing them to integrate smoothly with both Moog and Roland gear (and of course, Arturia?

Alternately, you can enter your note information directly via the knobs, with the note names mirrored in the LED display, which helps greatly. Patterns running on each of the three concurrent tracks are independent in terms of length, clock division and direction — ideal for polyrhythms and complexity! The box and packaging are really well done, and if the box had a handle on it, it could almost double as a road case.