Sequencer – Dave Smith Instruments MOPHO X4 User Manual

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Sequencer

For many musicians, the term sequencer has become synonymous with MIDI

sequencer; that is, a computer-based application or dedicated hardware device

for recording and playing back notes and performance gestures via MIDI. But

sequencers were around long before MIDI. Mopho x4’s sequencer is much more

like the original analog sequencers typically associated with modular synthesizer

systems. The sequencer comprises four 16-step sequences that play in parallel.

Each sequence can be routed to a chosen destination, and each step in a

sequence can be set to a different value used to modulate that destination.

Strictly speaking, Mopho x4’s sequencer does not play notes, nor does it

transmit MIDI data. If none of the sequence destinations are routed to oscillator

frequency, the sequencer may not even affect the pitch. In Mopho x4 terms, a

sequence is just a series of events at timed intervals that changes the value of

one of the synth’s parameters in discrete steps. Because the four sequences play

in parallel, up to four parameters can be affected by each step, one per sequence.

For the most part, the sequence destinations are the same as the modulation

destinations, which is appropriate: a sequence is just another modulation source.

For each sequence step, the envelopes are gated on for half the step’s duration.

The duration varies according to the BPM and C

LOCK

IVIDE

settings (or the

MIDI clock, if synced to an external source). The envelope settings of the

current program ultimately determine how long each step plays, though, and

longer (more legato) or shorter (more staccato) effects can be achieved by

editing the envelope rates.

Mopho x4’s sequencer is a gated sequencer. That means it requires a note to be

gated on—that is played from the keyboard, the P

USH

button, or via MIDI—

in order for the sequencer to run. There is no dedicated start or play button and it