Overview
The Matrix Sequencer is a polyphonic note sequencer with 12 rows, one note per row.
It can be used for polyphonic or monophonic pitched sequences, or for drum parts. With the right
settings, it can also be used as a programmable arpeggiator. It is very similar to the
PolyNote sequencer but differs in some important ways:
- The MatrixSeq does not generate MIDI CC or Aftertouch messages.
- The MatrixSeq has a grid that is always 12 rows high. Instead of having
direct access to all notes at once, you choose 12 notes, and have to work within
that set.
- You can mute each row of the note grid independently.
- The MatrixSeq can be used as a programmable, polyphonic arpeggiator
To program the matrix, just click anywhere on it. If you click on an empty cell, that
cell will become active, and if you then drag the mouse, you can 'paint' more cells
as active. Clicking on an active cell will deactivate it, and here also you can then
drag the mouse, in this case 'un-painting' cells.
The Arpeggiator
Thanks to a set of flexible options for triggering the MatrixSeq via MIDI, as well
as for setting its note values, the MatrixSeq can be used a powerful programmable arpeggiator.
In the Module Library, there are two prototypes for the MatrixSeq. The first of these is the regular sequencer,
setup for polyphonic sequencing. The second of these has some settings adjusted to make it immediately usable
as an arpeggiator.
Sequenced Parameters
All of the sequenced parameters in the MatrixSeq are accessed via the pitch grid and rows of either sliders or buttons
that live in the center-section of the front panel of the module.
Step Labels, Start Step & End Step
The step labels are in a row along the top of the sequenced parameters section. They are not parameters
in themselves, but two important non-sequenced parameters are
embedded here: the start step (which has a green marker), and the end step (which has a red marker).
Together, these two settings (drag them with the mouse to change them) set the range of steps that are 'active' in
the sequence. For instance, the easiest way to set the length of the sequence to 8 steps is to drag the end step
to step 8. These parameters are completely flexible: the start can come after the end step, or they can even
be the same (for a one-step sequence).
Skip Steps
This row of buttons allows you to remove a step completely from the sequence. This is a surprisingly useful
feature for creating variations on a sequence -- particularly during a live performance.
For instance, if you have a 4 step sequence: C, D, E, F, and you skip the 2nd step, you will then have a 3 step sequence: C, E, F.
Skip Action Menu
To the left of the skip buttons is a small action menu with several items that operate on the skip steps.
These are very handy for manipulating the state of the skip buttons.
- Skip One
- Skip a Few
- Skip Some
- Skip Most
- Skip All
- Unskip One
- Unskip a Few
- Unskip Some
- Unskip Most
- Unskip All
Pitch Grid : Note Numbers & Row Mute
This is where you program the pitches in your sequence. On the left side of the grid there is
a note name box for each row. You can re-program the note for each row individually by clicking
in the box and dragging the mouse vertically to change the key, or horizontally to change
the octave. You can also enter a note by clicking on the box and then typing the note name
on the keyboard. Use lower-case 'b' for flatted notes. Between the note name box and the
grid itself, there is a small mute button for each row, labelled 'm'.
To program notes on the grid itself, just click on any grid cell. To activate a series of adjacent
cell, click on an empty cell and drag the mouse. To deactivate a note, click on its highlighted cell.
To erase a series of activated cells, click one one and drag the mouse.
Select Steps
This row of buttons appears between the pitch row and the timing row. It allows you to select arbitrary sets of sequencer
steps for further modification. In particular, anytime a slider for a selected step is moved in the timing row,
all other selected steps will moved by the same relative amount.
Select Action Menu
As with the skip steps, there is an action menu to the left of the select row that has some handy operations you
can perform on the select buttons:
- Select One
- Select a Few
- Select Some
- Select Most
- Select All
- Unselect One
- Unselect a Few
- Unselect Some
- Unselect Most
- Unselect All
Timing Sliders : Gate Length, Groove, Step Length, Step Repeat, Step Divide, Random Jump & Velocity
The row of sliders below the select buttons supports six different parameters: all of the ones
normally in a timing row for a note sequencer (gate length, step length,
step repeat and step divide), as well as two more parameters that are usually in a separate
row: Random Jump and Velocity.
The Groove parameter allows you to adjust the timing of the step a bit forward or backward in time, up to
30% of the total step time.
Gate length controls the length that a note is on during the step: Shorter
values produce staccato notes, longer values produce more legato melodies. When the gate is at its minimum
value, 0.0, which is displayed as "--", no note is generated. When the gate is at its longest value, 1.0 -- displayed
as "Tie", the note generated for the step is tied into the next step. This is a way for you to produce notes
that span multiple sequencer steps.
The Step Length parameter allows you to modify the length of any sequencer step individually. It is calibrated
into sixteen commonly used musical divisions, expressed in fractions of a step. The minimum value is 1/16th,
which if the rate of your sequence is a quarter note, would make that step 1/64th of a beat. The maximum value
is 4, which would make a step four beats long. If you need longer values, you can always tie two steps together.
The Repeat parameter allows you to have a step repeat multiple times. As with skip steps, this is a great
way to modify a sequence while it is playing.
The Divide parameter is quite unusual. It both causes a step to repeat itself, and adjusts the length of each of those
repeats to be shorter, so that the total length of all the 'sub' steps remains the same. In musical terms, it is
like changing one quarter notes to a pair of eight notes (for a divide of 2), or changing one quarter note into 4 sixteenth
notes (a divide of 4). Depending on the overall rate of the sequencer, divide values greater than 4 produce
notes whose speed approaches the range of audio frequencies (around 30 cycles-per-second), which can create some
interesting 'buzzing' effects.
Velocity, of course, sets the velocity of the notes generated for that sequencer step.
The random jump parameter allows you to set a probability, for any step, that the next step chosen
by the sequencer will be random selection, instead of what it would normally play. This is a great way to
introduce some random variation in a sequence, without varying it too much from its original sound.
Mute Steps
The mute buttons mute note generation for a step, regardless of their settings for gate and velocity. Like the
skip and select buttons, there is an action menu (to the left of the button row), for making broad changes to
the state of the mute buttons:
- Mute One
- Mute a Few
- Mute Some
- Mute Most
- Mute All
- Unmute One
- Unmute a Few
- Unmute Some
- Unmute Most
- Unmute All
The Left Side
One the left side of the sequencer rows, there are several controls grouped into three sections. From top to
bottom, they are the transport controls, rate and direction controls, and pitch controls.
Reset
Performs an immediate reset of the sequencer. Useful for generating
out-of sync rhythmic effects.
Play/Stop
This is a two-state button that allows you to start and stop the sequence. By default,
this control is tied to the master transport. You can change this behavior by changing
the RunMode of the sequencer.
Rate
In Numerology 1.4, this parameter was called "Clock Division". It controls the default length of the sequencer's steps,
and thus, how quickly it plays. By default, this control is calibrated in tradition musical rhythmic values, but the
Rate Mode parameter allows you to change this.
Rate Mode
This allows you to change how you specify the rate (or tempo) of the sequence. There are three modes:
- Normal : Use traditional rhythmic values where 1/4 (a quarter note) equals 1 beat
- Ratio : Use small-integer numeric ratios where 1/1 equals 1 beat
- Percent : Use a percentage value where 100 equals 1 beat, 25 equals 1/4 beat (a sixteenth note), etc.
Direction
Sets the direction of the sequence to forwards, backwards, a combination of the two, or random. The 'Alt1' setting
causes the sequence to move alternately forwards and backwards without repeating the start and end steps. The 'Alt2'
setting is similar, except that the start and end step are repeated.
Hard Sync
If this parameter is set to anything other than 'None', it will force a sequencer reset at regular musical intervals
calibrated in beats. This is a good way to force the sequence to a repeatable pattern regardless of its other settings.
For instance, if the clock division is in 16th notes, you can set the hard sync to every 4 beats, then change start step,
end step and skip step settings while still maintaining a pattern that repeats every 4 beats.
Mute
This will mute the generation of any MIDI messages from the module. It does not mute the
generation of CV output values.
Key
This parameter sets the
key that the built-in scale quantizer will use to quantize notes.
Scale
This menu allows you to set a scale
for quantizing pitches before they are used to generate MIDI note messages. The set of scales
includes the 12 "church" modes common in western music. Setting the scale to "chromatic" deactivates
any quantization.
Octave
This parameter can be used to shift the pitches of all the notes in the grid up or down
in octave increments.
The Right Side
Skip, Select & Mute Clear Buttons
To the immediate right of each of the skip, select and mute button rows, there is a small button
with an 'x' on it. These buttons will clear (deactivate) all of the
step values for that parameter type.
Randomize Menu
This allows you to roughly control how many parameters are modified by the randomize operation.
Randomize Button
This 'action' button triggers randomization of parameters based on the setting of the randomize menu.
Shift Left/Right
This 'action' will shift all steps values in the sequence one step to the left or right (with rollover of the
boundary values). This is a very useful way to vary a pattern: by shifting it relative to other patterns.
Zero All
This will clear the pitch grid of any activated cells, thus erasing any existing note pattern.
Gate Normalize All
This action button sets all gate values to 0.5.
Gate Adjust
This applies a smart-scaling algorithm to gate values after they are read from the sequence, but before
they are used to calculate note lengths. When move to less than 1/2 of the parameter's range, the gates
are scaled from 100% to 0%. When moved to more than 1/2 of the range, the gate values are scaled from their
current values, to a Tied value.
Gate Zero-Out
This action button sets all gate values to 0.0.
Velocity Normalize All
This action button sets all velocity values to 0.5.
Advanced Parameters
