Hardware Sequencers under $300

[Cryptowen]

*see topic title*

I never actually get to bust out my hardware & use it for anything beyond making weird noises to sample, because I can never figure out how to get my usb -> midi setup working & give up in frustration after five minutes. Also when people see you at a live show sequencing off a laptop they go BOO PLAY SOME REAL MUSIC but when you use a hardware sequencer they go OH MY WHAT IS THIS SPACEMAN SCIENCE MAGIC DO GO ON SIR

 

I have $300 in my Paypal & I wouldn't be too keen to spend more than that anyway

 

I really want a CV sequencer for messing around with my MS-10 patchbay, but digital would probably be way more usefuller overall seeing as everything else I've got is strictly midi & I do have a Kenton Pro Solo

[YEK]

yamaha rm1x

[sweepstakes]

Alesis MMT8

Akai MPC500/1000

Roland MC303/505

Korg Electribe

Roland TR505/626/707/727

Casio RZ-1

Ensoniq ESQ1/SQ80 (if you're lucky)

Nintendo DMG/GBA SP with MIDI out version of LSDJ and Arduinoboy

GP2x/32/Caanoo with low-gain MIDI converter and LGPT

That Kawai one with the macros

Yamaha QY/SU series

[sweepstakes]

when people see you at a live show sequencing off a laptop they go BOO PLAY SOME REAL MUSIC but when you use a hardware sequencer they go OH MY WHAT IS THIS SPACEMAN SCIENCE MAGIC DO GO ON SIR

 

Also LOL

 

Oh yeah, Yamaha made some kickass drum machines too. Can use those as seqs too if you're clever.

[modey]

Yamaha QY/SU series

I've got a QY70, and I found it quite frustrating, even after only sequencing some very basic four-on-the-floor techno stuff in the pattern editor. Is there some easy way to use it or am I just dumb?

[foresense]

I have a QY70 as well.. you can get into it and it's very cool that the data you enter is like an etch-a-sketch, no need to save your songs or anything... the biggest flaw IMO is that it doesn't have a jog wheel for data entry... you have to +1 -1 all the data with two buttons or enter it with shift + number combos.. can be time consuming.. I'm not using it much now, but it's a cool little device. would love to try out a QY700.

 

here's legowelt playing one live:

[ryancolecreate]

haha that thing is so small. :D

[BCM]

i used to have a QY-70 and a QY-10, liked them but as people have said, a bit fiddly and can be frustrating...made a couple of QY-70 only tracks (posted on here somewhere about 5 years ago) but can't remember what they're called and don't have a copy of them anywhere :(

[ascdi]

I rocked a QY-10 for a while. And I semi-rocked an RM1x for a while.

 

It's really different, as people are saying. I always felt like you needed to really make a commitment to learning the Yamaha workflow and like, needed to PRACTICE your sequencer to get anything good out of it. I had like a month of working on the QY like every day and got pretty fast with it, but you do start to wonder, what is the point of what I am doing?

 

The RM1x is even more of a beast. Very powerful, but you have to "buy in" to the way it works and unlearn all you know about computer sequencing to do it. In the end, I didn't find it very useful to "dabble" in these alternate sequencers, because it's like trying to have a split personality. Didn't really work for me.

 

I do regret selling the QY-10 because the internal sounds are squishy and lo-fi and really mental. And it's so portable it's insane. I do not regret selling the RM1x because it was just like, a huge commitment that I ultimately didn't want.

 

I should say that I am a big MPC fan though, but more for the sampling/playing features than the sequencer. Although the sequencer on the MPC is totally adequate, just nothing special (to me).

[ryancolecreate]

The RS-7000 Yamaha can be found in your range, and looks awesome. I'd love to play around with one.

[SCONES TO DIE FOR]

This was my first sequencer. Can do a lot and be found cheap.

 

Probably not as fun as an Akai MPC or Alesis MMT-8 and some others, but easy enough to program.

 

You can loop parts and do track mutes and whatnot, which is fun.

[awepittance]

I think an often overlooked midi sequencer that's quite powerful is the Boss DR-5 . It's one of the only midi controllers i've used that has the notes laid out like frets on a guitar, and it has a fully featured chord maker. All you do is hold down a chord type like m7 and then hit the note you want it to be. It has a very high note resolution too. The only drawback to it is the step sequencing mode sucks like a lot of similar kits from the time, it really shines for real time inputting with or without quantization on. But as awesome ex watmmer Benboi says, Quantization is for pussies, but derivative off the grid wonky is for fucking awesome people with huge balls and vast imaginations.,

[modey]

lol

 

Are there any hardware sequencers that act like a loop pedal, ie. they allow recording of loops but instead of being all one audio channel like a loop pedal, they allow muting/un-muting/re-recording of individual channels? Would be perfect for my hardware setup. I got something similar going with seq24 on my laptop but it was a bit clunky. I think I also managed something like that with an mmt-8 but something about it didn't quite sit right with me.

[BCM]

Are there any hardware sequencers that act like a loop pedal, ie. they allow recording of loops but instead of being all one audio channel like a loop pedal, they allow muting/un-muting/re-recording of individual channels?

 

you mean like looped overdubbed MIDI recording kinda thing? where you set a loop length, set it to record and just jam on the keyboard/guitar-with-MIDI-pickup/whatever whilst it records? anyway, yeah loads - a lot of the 80s sequence recorders have this function where you just plug a MIDI source into it, jam & loop - i've got a Yamaha QX7 that does this (can do 2 channels simulaneously), i think most MIDI sequence recorders - ie something you can't program a sequence into without hooking it up to a MIDI source, can do this.

[modey]

cool, yeah pretty much. set a loop length, record channel 1, change to channel 2 and record, etc.. Then mute/unmute/modify each channel separately as required.

 

I'll look into the QX7, thanks!

[BCM]

i'm actually selling mine...i think shipment to australia might be impractical though :(

 

there's not much info about them online it seems, but it's basically the same as the QX5 but with dual channel recording:

 

 

Yamaha QX5

 

(click to enlarge)

The QX5 is an 8-track MIDI/FSK sequencer with a feature known as 'macros' in which snippets or phrases can be thrown into a sequence live. Real and step input modes, punch in/out and precise editing control for making sequences are available. The QX5 has real-time track muting, 15,000 to 20,000 note capacity, 32 patterns, 1 song, 4 set-up memories and MIDI dumping for external storage (no disk drive). Although a mere 14 buttons make operation difficult, the QX5 is a sophisticated stand-alone sequencer with adequate live and studio uses. (1987) Image from Perfect Circuit Audio.

[th555]

[sweepstakes]

lAre there any hardware sequencers that act like a loop pedal, ie. they allow recording of loops but instead of being all one audio channel like a loop pedal, they allow muting/un-muting/re-recording of individual channels? Would be perfect for my hardware setup.

 

This is basically the default MPC1000 sequencer workflow. Quick, easy, and flexible. You're talking MIDI, not audio, right?

[modey]

Yeah, MIDI, but I already have a sampler and synths. I'd love an MPC but I don't think I could justify spending so much money.

[awepittance]

i think the boss dr-5 can do this as well, but it only has 4 midi tracks. At a certain point most if not all midi sequencers don't have enough resolution to do a true midi loop pedal type situation. You will have a maxing out point where notes will start overwriting other notes when you stack too many. It's still possible on many sequencers for it to be not noticeable, but at the same time the effect of this happening can lead to interesting results

[modey]

I'm willing to live with that, as you said the results could be interesting. Plus my stuff wouldn't really be very complex anyway, for a liveset. Probably just minimal techno.

[ryancolecreate]

4 tracks could actually be kinda cool.

 

Can the dr-5 do program changes and CCs?

 

On a slightly different topic, how do you guys with electribes sync them up with a sequencer? Do you just send clock and make pattern sequences using the built-in pattern sequencers? I know you can change the patterns with prog change messages, but there is always that delay before the pattern starts.

[awepittance]

its possible that i own a defective electribe but mine has a noticably laggy midi clock sync, only if i slave everything to it does it sound perfectly in sync.

dont now if the dr-5 can do cc or program changes, i would guess it probably can't do CC changes midi out, but im sure it has CC receive.

[modey]

On a slightly different topic, how do you guys with electribes sync them up with a sequencer? Do you just send clock and make pattern sequences using the built-in pattern sequencers? I know you can change the patterns with prog change messages, but there is always that delay before the pattern starts.

I only ever use the electribe sequencer when using it on its own or with unsequenced synths. If I'm sequencing it with other stuff (ie. seq24 on my netbook) I'll just sequence in the software. This might change if I get a hardware sequencer though.

[ryancolecreate]

ah ok. That's always been the hanging point for me with them. For instance I love the xoxox style sequencing for drums, but when you send a prog change message it always waits until the next bar to actually switch. I wish there were a way to play a pattern with a note for instance. That would be sick and would let you really do some cool stuff playing sequences like a sampler and stuff.