Korg SQ-64 Poly Sequencer

The Lounge Other Gear
#225

@darenager, be careful what you ask for, here’s five minutes of clicks :wink:

I dulled (and made snappy) a CR drum hit on the right channel, plock’d ‘accents’ twice a bar, and the SQ is only getting clock from OT which I do vary … started 90, ramped to 240, then down to 60 and back to 90

The SQ is MIDI following and it started in its ‘dynamic’ 1/16 tempo sync mode which equated at the current settings to twice per OT step (I’d meant to start 1/8 but do go to that next, and 1/4 and 1/32 etc) then along with occasional triplets toggling I dip in and out of all (individual per track btw) ‘rate’ settings a few times to see how it coped

It syncs just fine by me, but I’ll pop the mp3 up here and show a screen grab of a bar or so the file

Ot clock > SQ midi
SQ and OT(1 flex track) have 16 steps per bar, all steps on
The CV Gate-Out alone of the SQ goes into a Dark Energy which is directly monitored in the left channel

OT Mains simply recorded into a DR-100mkiii (mp3 was via osx)

It all reminds me that there’s a lot of fun in the OT and SQ64, but unlike some other gear, their depth is often a bottleneck (if out of practice) - the SQ64 has loads of options which isn’t always great - but it’s syncing very nicely imho and it could knock down a door if you lost your keys :tongue:

Left DE Right Sample
Left DE Right Sample1519×842 52.9 KB

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#226

I’ve no idea how you sync the SQ1 by midi to the OT btw (usb aside) - maybe a hack ?

#227

Thanks for that, seems pretty tight. I ordered one, quite looking forward to it!

Cheers :beers:

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#228

Mine arrived, only had a few hours with it but so far seems pretty nice, although a few odd things:

You can save a project with a name, yet you don’t seem to be able to view project names when loading?

CV outs are not as precise as I’d like, even when using the offset seems that I can get 1.00v, 2.01v, 2.99v etc

A bit disappointed to learn that different projects can’t different midi setups.

No quantise of live recording aside from manually moving notes, bit daft.

Hoped for different step lengths in drum sub tracks, but not possible.

Setting controller mode with latching buttons eg for CC using the editor, the LED does not indicate the button state on/off, daft.

Don’t like non active steps being dimly lit red, there is not enough contrast between inactive and active steps, it would be better if they were dim white.

The manual is a bit crap, some things I have not figured out yet, although most of it seems pretty intuitive.

Still, seems like a nice bit of kit, definitely good construction and value for money, timing/jitter indeed seems so far pretty good, although not pushed it yet.

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#229

Seems to be a recurring complaint.

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#230

Heh, welcome to quirktown. I have learned to live with them, given the price-to-features ratio. I like this little box, warts and all. Any updates that trickle out from Korg will just be a pleasant surprise.

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#231

I agreed initially - but albeit that a choice would be better, I kinda like the fact that this sequencer takes you on different journeys - yeah, but yeah, but no … sorta

I normally fry my head with poor contrast between states - I knew before it came - but I decided that as I liked the rest, it was time to accept - in practice it’s possible to get by - but it’s a shame there’s not a teensy bit more clarity

The non quantising does highlight other useful differences to e.g. an elektron sequencer, it may be you’ll find some of those will be useful, can’t recall what I mean, but I had eureka moments about this being different - it certainly works nicely to use it in a grid recording type mode for quantized material

I love the form factor and build, feel and spec and mainly those differences - it takes you away from the familiar - I’d been considering a second sq1, but no regrets going for this, being a bit of a korg fan probably made me overlook some less-than-ideals - but overall it does lots and really is a joy to behold

3 Likes
#232

Can’t remember if that’s stated in the “manual” or earlier in this thread, but contrast is improved if you use a 9V PSU or a beefier USB PSU. I’ve always powered it with a KA-350, never the computer or a USB PSU. But yeah, still not the best visual feedback.

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#233

Had a bit of a play this evening, real nice, good fun!

I just had a simple synth part on the 100m and a couple of EHX drum synths and Moog Werkstatt doing 3 drum parts, pretty fun just messing with the sequence. I didn’t really go in for the stochastic and random playback stuff, but the loop and random mod stuff kept me interested for quite a while.

I think for ambient stuff and more experimental music the stochastic and random modes will be more useful than they are for rhythmic things.

Great sequencer for the money, I hope some of the quirks get fixed, and I did manage to get the tuning acceptable, so even if the other things don’t get fixed its a keeper.

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#234

Totally agree that it has some quirks but I love it regardless as well. Already has taken a firm place in my workflow as I find the Sq64 can do some things other sequencers can’t. Glad you picked one up @darenager.

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#235

Can u use an external keyboard to insert notes or chords in step mode?
Thanks!

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#236

So, how do you like it guys?

#237

How does it.compare to say MC sequencer or in general the elektron sequencer, in practice?

#238

Not sure but I believe so, never tried it though as I use the built in keyboard mode.

I like it, it is basic in some ways but decent enough to make nice sequences with.

No plocks, aside from 1 mod event per step, easy to use, has playback directions and some other realtime options like step hold/jump or whatever they call it.

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#239

Thank you !

#240

Will it bring anything to the table if owning MC or OT?

#241

I think I’m right in saying it will not live-record the drum tracks, only the 3 melodic tracks.

If you always step-sequence, not a problem obviously.

EDIT: Very happy to be corrected if that’s not true.

#242

What did you really get it for that you didn’t already have?

#243

Mainly the CV sequencing with glide, and the direct simplicity of it. I like to have different sequencers for different things.

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#244

Mostly CV, really. Not only does it have a ton of voltage i/o, but it’s organized around the concepts of gate and CV in a way most other (non-modular) sequencers are not. Gate and cv each have their own “view”, for example, and can be sequenced independently (along with “modulation” which defaults to volume but could be anything). It gets my brain in a different place from X0X or :3lektron: sequencer.

But this is all a little difficult to explain. There are bunches of demos online. Seeing it in action makes more sense.

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