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Gregory Taylor

image.png

I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about step sequencers

I expect that an image of a particular step sequencer pops into the head of everyone who utters the phrase “step sequencer” out loud (Go on… try it!): Your very first step sequencer. The step sequencer you’re wondering about perhaps porting to Max/MSP. The last step sequencer variation you saw popping up on 

. That step sequencer named after Euclid. The step sequencer that’s in your Eurorack setup right now. The step sequencer you wish you could afford….

You get the picture, I hope. While I wrote 

 with the somewhat abstract goal of trying to communicate how Max users think about large-scale projects and think with Max, the choice of the kind of project to approach was easy - 

 loves step sequencers. Since the book’s appearance, I’ve gotten all kinds of questions about things I didn’t put in the book, too (that’s what follow-up books are for, after all). But there’s one thing I really didn’t put in the book that I’d like to talk about here: examples of really cool approaches to sequencing that are a bit off the beaten track.

I’d like to introduce you to one of those sequencers that definitely fell into the “sequencer I wish I could afford” category for me, and turn you on to a beautiful Max standalone application implementation of it: The Klee Sequencer.

First hint of the awesome? Naming the sequencer for the Swiss-German artist 

. As Scott Stites, the sequencer's creator, tells it in his entertainingly written 

, it's an inspired bit of naming, indeed.

So what makes the Klee Sequencer different? As Scott Stites describes in his 

 to the device, the difference has to do with an insight that’s straight-ahead to someone with a background in electronics (or programming), but maybe less so to the rest of us:

Instead of thinking of a step sequencer as a counter, think of it as 

 that correspond to individual steps. Instead of counting through the sequence, you trigger it by taking that pattern and rotating it to the right (or left) and using the pattern to select which event to trigger.

Here’s a simple pair of Max patches that demonstrate that difference. The left-hand example cycles through a set of steps to generate a note offset to create a sequence, while the right-hand example creates the same output by cycling through a pattern of ones and zeros to generate the note offsets.

Hardware and software engineers use the term “shift register” to describe that principle, and that’s what’s basically at the heart of the Klee sequencer. The crucial insight behind the sequencer lies in the idea that you can use the shift register technique to generate 

 at a time by modifying the pattern of ones and zeros, and then sum the offsets associated with each step in the sequence to create interesting and complex sequences.

 object when they work with shift registers (and I'm sure that lots of them could share versions of the above patch that are 

-centric with you. I invite them to do so, in fact). I use the 

 object instead because it lets me do two things that aren't that easy with the 

 object: I can rotate my register backward (by setting the step for the 

 object to a negative number), and I can also "count" through the register by different numbers than 1 (again, by setting the step value for the 

Here’s a Max patch that demonstrates how it works:

Klee_examples.zip

Cool, huh? Of course, this simple example is working with note offsets rather than the control voltages associated with the Klee hardware sequencer. And one of the other reasons for the Klee sequencer's fabled status is that there are a myriad of wonderful variations that can be generated by building out from this simple example. If you'd like to get a sense of what those features are now that you've got the basic idea, here's a great video that covers some of the sequencer's features:

This is a brief demo of the key features of the Klee Sequencer.

Klee Sequencer Tutorial Demo Part 1

If you’re like me, you probably finished that video and started wondering about spending a little quality patching time.

You’re not alone. In fact, someone’s already done all the heavy lifting: Dan Nigrin has - in cooperation with the Klee sequencer’s designer - created a kick-ass standalone version of the Klee which is not only faithful to the original, but also extends it in some interesting new directions.

 would suggest that he’s just as interested in variations on the traditional step sequencer as we are. In addition to his standalone version of the Klee sequencer, you’ll also find Max-based versions of RYK’s 

, a really fascinating sequencer developed in collaboration with 

Here’s what Dan had to say about his experience with the Klee sequencer:

Dan's implementation of the Klee sequencer.

standalone version of the Klee (updated to version 2.3 just this week, with some nice new features added) available as a 

 supported by video tutorials covering topics from basic functionality and 

new Klee features specific to the Max implementation

. It's well done, and well worth your attention, either as an addition to your software toolset, or as a source of ideas and inspiration. Check it out!

As you may have noticed, I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about step sequencers. 

I expect that an image of a particular step sequencer pops into the head of everyone who utters the phrase “step sequencer” out loud (Go on… try it!): Your very first step sequencer. The step sequencer you’re wondering about perhaps porting to Max/MSP. The last step sequencer variation you saw popping up on maxforlive.com. That step sequencer named after Euclid. The step sequencer that’s in your Eurorack setup right now. The step sequencer you wish you could afford….

You get the picture, I hope. While I wrote Step by Step with the somewhat abstract goal of trying to communicate how Max users think about large-scale projects and think with Max, the choice of the kind of project to approach was easy - everybody loves step sequencers. Since the book’s appearance, I’ve gotten all kinds of questions about things I didn’t put in the book, too (that’s what follow-up books are for, after all). But there’s one thing I really didn’t put in the book that I’d like to talk about here: examples of really cool approaches to sequencing that are a bit off the beaten track.

First hint of the awesome? Naming the sequencer for the Swiss-German artist Paul Klee. As Scott Stites, the sequencer's creator, tells it in his entertainingly written Birth of the Klee Sequencer:

Romeo Fahl built a version of this shift register sequencer and named it the "Klee Sequencer", using the word "Klee" as a play on words combining my reference to programming the thing being like "molding clay" with the similarity of its innate abstraction to the work of the artist Paul Klee (which is, of course, pronounced "clay").

 And yeah - if you know Paul Klee's work, it's an inspired bit of naming, indeed.

So what makes the Klee Sequencer different? As Scott Stites describes in his introductory guide to the device, the difference has to do with an insight that’s straight-ahead to someone with a background in electronics (or programming), but maybe less so to the rest of us:

Instead of thinking of a step sequencer as a counter, think of it as a pattern of ones and zeros that correspond to individual steps. Instead of counting through the sequence, you trigger it by taking that pattern and rotating it to the right (or left) and using the pattern to select which event to trigger.

Hardware and software engineers use the term “shift register” to describe that principle, and that’s what’s basically at the heart of the Klee sequencer. The crucial insight behind the sequencer lies in the idea that you can use the shift register technique to generate more than one event at a time by modifying the pattern of ones and zeros, and then sum the offsets associated with each step in the sequence to create interesting and complex sequences.

Note: Lots of Max programmers use the Max bucket object when they work with shift registers (and I'm sure that lots of them could share versions of the above patch that are bucket-centric with you. I invite them to do so, in fact). I use the zl rot object instead because it lets me do two things that aren't that easy with the bucket object: I can rotate my register backward (by setting the step for the zl rot object to a negative number), and I can also "count" through the register by different numbers than 1 (again, by setting the step value for the zl rot object to something other than 1).

A little judicious clicking around on Dan’s website would suggest that he’s just as interested in variations on the traditional step sequencer as we are. In addition to his standalone version of the Klee sequencer, you’ll also find Max-based versions of RYK’s M185 Step Sequencer, along with CycliC, a really fascinating sequencer developed in collaboration with Mutable Instruments’ Olivier Gillet. 

When I first stumbled onto the Klee, I was thoroughly fascinated by it, in reading all the documentation I could find, watching online videos, etc... - but I found that I kept asking myself how I would effectively use it in my studio. The hardware Klee sequencer works with control voltages, and I only had a few voltage controlled synths that I could use with it. That would have been fine, but I kept thinking about clock sync with other MIDI gear, etc... - in short, although I was sure it would have made a great addition to my studio as a control voltage-based unit, I kept coming back to the fact that I needed a MIDI version of it, both MIDI sync-able as well as MIDI note transmitting. I read through a few posts in the Electro-music.com forum about these issues, and saw that some people had created the ability to integrate MIDI into the Klee (or at least ideas for such). But then it dawned on me that I could reproduce most of the Klee's functions in software, which would allow me to get that MIDI integration I wanted!

Although there was mention of some software-based Klee sequencers on the forum, none were available in a format that worked for me; they were built for a Nord Modular G2, for a ComputerVoltageSource module, for the Numerology program, or for the ChucK programming language. No regular old Mac or Windows applications that I could use with the rest of my MIDI gear. So I decided to build it myself.

The result is Dan's implementation of the Klee sequencer. It's an impressive piece of work - a well-documented standalone version of the Klee (updated to version 2.3 just this week, with some nice new features added) available as a tire-kicker's demo, supported by video tutorials covering topics from basic functionality and new Klee features specific to the Max implementation, to more practical matters like syncing the Klee to Ableton Live. It's well done, and well worth your attention, either as an addition to your software toolset, or as a source of ideas and inspiration. Check it out!

Klee_700pixel.png

I’ve been thinking a lot about step sequencers recently, and about different approaches to the idea. I’d like to introduce you to one of those sequencers in its hardware and software incarnations - Scott Stites' Klee sequencer.

softwarehardware-overview-let-us-praise-the-klee-sequencer

Had only heard of the Klee on various forums but never anything much in detail. Now I know what all the fuss is about, very cool sequencer.  Looking forward to trying out the software version of it...that built version eventually, I hope. :D 

Thanks for the kind words. There are a large number of YouTube videos out there from people who just got their Klee or were using it in the studio (in Eurorack and other formats, too) that really didn't give a very good idea of what was actually being modified when the person on camera was flipping switches or moving faders or dials, although it's clear that they were having a pretty good time. It was great to find the Noisetoys video, since it ran down the controls in nice detail - so all I had to do was to make my simple Max example and pair it with the YT video. Win-win. I hope it brought things about this interesting sequencer into focus.

And while it's only briefly mentioned, the Mutable Instruments/Defectiverecords collaboration on the CycliC sequencer is a subtle and amazing piece of work that's worthy of your attention, too.

Thanks for the fantastic article Gregory, not to mention all the super nice stuff you said about my work!

Software/Hardware Overview: Let Us Praise the Klee Sequencer

Along with all inhabitants of The Current Age, Maxistas and their Max for Live cousins are lucky enough to live in a time when the world is full of traditional acoustic and electronic instruments and software versions of them, as well; for the composer and musician, that leads to some interesting new conundrums: should we go physical or virtual? That question has become increasingly broad, too - it’s not just a matter of pitting an upright Steinway or a dual-manual Harpsichord against, say, their Pianoteq 

. I’m sure that nearly all of you can name the synth of your choice and rattle off any number of plug-ins or applications that do a magnificent job of attempting to reproduce the physical instrument you name, right? And - most recently - the arrival of initiatives such as the open source 

I'd like to spend a little time talking about software and hardware resources for a much-beloved electronic instrument where it's actually 

 to find someone waxing nostalgic for the physical original: the Mellotron.

 is an early 1960s-era proto-sampler that used recordings on audio tape as its sound source. The method of production was electromechanical - when you pressed down a key, a piece of tape corresponding to that pitch (it was polyphonic) would be brought into contact with a tape head to play back the sampled sound - sort of a keyboard with a one-shot tape player under each key.

That's not a description of the sound of the instrument though - which is almost immediately recognizable in recordings by any number of artists from the 60s on (we can start with the Prog trinity of Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis, step sideways into pop from The Moody Blues, The Beatles and Oasis and on through to Blond Redhead and Arcade Fire. Its iconic sound is seldom mistaken for anything else (with the possible exception of its forerunner the 

, which you probably know from recordings like 

a magnificent Spotify Mellotron-o-centric playlist

I think that nearly everyone I know who ever owned a Mellotron has their own stories, mostly having to do with the physical system. In my case, it's how I first learned what 

 meant when applied to recording heads and tape, and where I first heard that crumply and darkly garbled string sound that made me crazy back then (my unit wasn't in the best of shape when I acquired it at a bargain price), and then broke my heart when I heard its near relative appear during William Basinski's 

 (funny how things change). In fact, I first thought that that clunk noise that happened when I hit the end of my tape and released the key was something out of whack, too - you can imagine my surprise when I encountered Mellotron samples that included the clunk....

, who I’ve long appreciated for his particular cocktail of acerbic wit and gear-fu, puts the matter rather succinctly:

 That about sums it up, with two caveats: First (and most importantly), Mellotrons are still being made by the folks at 

, who’ve manufactured the Mellotron since the beginning. Their current version - the M4000 - will set you back bigtime, but the only person of my acquaintance who's been near one just raved about the thing. His opinion was that all of the things that made us crazy as previous owners of the physical instrument have been seen to. - it is, by all accounts, the instrument that any and all of us who've actually owned one wish we'd had. Second, there are physical instruments that seek to retain the sonic quality of the originals but make use of newer technologies that are an option for those folks who want a keyboard instrument. We'll talk about those instruments later.

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Software/Hardware Overview: Let Us Praise the Klee Sequencer

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