Delptronics Trigger Man User Manual download pdf (Page 18)

Trigger Man User Manual

18 of 20

Mixing Sequence Lengths

Each output can have a different sequence length. It bears repeating that an output’s sequence length is

the same for all patterns. For example, if output 1 has a sequence length of 6 steps, then its length will

be 6 steps for pattern 1, and 6 steps for pattern 2, and 3, and so on.

If all of the outputs have the same sequence length, then they all move in sync with one another. Each

output begins and ends at the same time. This is true when playing a single pattern, or a chain of

patterns. However, if some of the outputs have different sequence lengths, then things get more

complicated, and much more musically interesting. The different length sequences play different

numbers of times before everything repeats. We refer to the number of beats until the whole thing

repeats as a meta-pattern.

Playing a Single Pattern with Different Sequence Lengths

The chart below shows what happens when a single pattern is repeated with each output set to a

different sequence length.

Each cell in the chart shows the step number that is played. To highlight the point at which the

sequences reset to their first step, the sequences are shaded gray every other time they play.

The left column is the number of steps in the sequence. The top row is the beat number.

Each sequence plays out to its full length, then starts over again at step one. The different sequence

lengths reset to step 1 on a different beat. While the 8-step sequence is playing step 8, the 7-step

sequence has reset to step 1, and the 6-step sequence is already on step 2.

The point at which the meta-pattern repeats is determined by the least common denominator of the

sequence lengths. For example, a mix of 8 and 6-step sequence lengths will repeat after 24 beats. That

is three cycles of the 8-step sequence and four cycles of the 6-step sequence. This concept is illustrated

in the above chart, where you can see that all but the 5 and 7-step sequences reset to step 1 on beat 25.

Some combinations of sequence lengths can sound arrhythmic. An 8-step sequence and a 7-step

sequence repeat every 56 beats, but they do not quite sound right together. Having said that, feel free

to experiment!

1 2 ... 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

No comments

Delptronics Trigger Man User Manual Page 18