Gate + CV Sequencer

1. Length Selector Adjusts the sequence length from 1 to 8 steps.
2. Pitch Input Connect to Keyboard Pitch output to transposes the sequence.
3. CV Range Start Knob Sets the lowest voltage for the CV output.
4. CV Range Knob Sets the voltage range for the CV output.
5. Quantize Switch When enabled, CV output will be quantized to the closest note.
6. Per-step CV Knob Sets the CV output for that step. Double-click to set to the same voltage as the previous step.
7. Per-step Gate Switch Sets the gate output state for that step.
8. Per-step Gate LED Shows whether the gate is enabled for that step.
9. Active Step LED Shows which step is currently active.
10. Record Trigger Input When triggered, records a voltage from the Record Input and stores it into the active step, to create evolutive sequences.
11. Record Input voltage to be recorded in the active step when the Rec Trig input is triggered.
12. Per-step Record LED Shows which steps contain a recorded voltage. For those steps, the CV Knob has no effect.
13. Reset Input When triggered, Gate and Pulse outputs are set to low (0V), all recorded steps are cleared, and the next clock signal will start the sequence from the first step. Can be triggered manually with the push button.
14. Clock Input When triggered, the sequencer advances to the next step. Can be triggered manually with the push button.
15. Gate Output High (10V) if the active step’s gate is enabled, low otherwise. If the gate is enabled for two consecutive steps, the gate output remains high.
16. Pulse Output Like the Gate output, but only remains high (10V) for as long as the input Clock signal is high. Guaranteed to go low (0V) between each step.
17. CV Output Voltage corresponding to the active step’s CV knob position, or to its recorded voltage.

Overview ⚓︎

The Gate + CV Sequencer is an eight-step sequencer with Gate and CV, designed to create melodic patterns or complex CV modulation curves.

In Depth ⚓︎

Playing ⚓︎

The sequencer doesn’t work by itself; it needs a clock signal. It will advance by one step every time a trigger signal is detected on the Clock input, or when the push button next to the Clock input is pressed.

The Clock input will usually be connected to the Clock output of the Master Clock or of a Clock module, although it could be connected to a LFO or any kind of gate or trigger, such as the Gate output of the Keyboard.

The red LED to the right of each step shows the active step. No step is active until the first clock signal is received after the sequencer has been reset.

In the image of the module at the top of this section, the active step is step 7.

When the sequence reaches the last step, it will loop back to the first step on the next clock signal. The length of the sequence can be adjusted with the Length selector, and can even be modulated while the sequence is playing for some interesting polyrythmic effects.

Outputs ⚓︎

Every time a new step becomes active, its gate and CV settings are routed to the outputs.

If the active step’s gate is enabled (green LED), the Gate output will be high (10V) for as long as the step remains active, and the Pulse output will be high for as long as the Clock input is high.

Use the Gate output if you need a continuous gate spanning multiple steps, and the Pulse output if you need the gate to be retriggered at every step.

The CV output is either the voltage or note set by the active step’s CV knob, or a voltage that has been recorded for that step using the CV Recording feature.

For steps that have not been recorded, the CV output range is set by the controls of the CV Range panel. When Quantize is enabled, the CV will be shown as a note, and the output will be quantized to the closest note. If you want to quantize the sequence to a different scale, you can connect the CV output to a Quantizer module.

When the module is first created, or when a preset is freshly loaded, the initial CV output is 0V.

If you use the sequencer in a melodic context, you may wish to transpose the whole sequence to follow the current note being played. This is done by connecting the pitch source, for example the Pitch output of the Keyboard, to the Pitch input of the sequencer. Since 0V is middle C (MIDI 60), you will have the best results by setting up the sequencer in a scale based on C.

Resetting ⚓︎

The sequencer will return to its initial state when the Reset input is triggered, or when the Reset push-button is pressed. After a reset, the next clock signal will play the first step.

CV Recording ⚓︎

When the Rec Trig input is triggered, the value at the Rec In input is recorded and replaces the active step’s knob value. Once a step has been recorded, the red record LED at the left of the module is lit and the CV knob will have no effect.

The settings from the CV Range panel are not applied to recorded CV. Any value can be recorded and will be played back as-is.

The recorded values are not saved in patches, and are lost when the sequencer is reset.