Beginner Patching Questions

Hi there,

So I’m building a somewhat basic setup with my Behringer neutron. I have doepfer A-180-2 Mult, a Doepfer A-138 mixer, Dnipro Dot, and a Black Sequencer.

I’d like to know how to patch my Dnipro Dot channels 1/2 into the channels 1 and 2 on the sequencer. Is this possible? Basically want to sequence/run each oscillator individually, but rhythmically with the Dot so that each step progresses with a trigger from the Dot.

Could you please tell me how I could patch this as I’ve experimented so many ways without any luck.

Grateful for your time!

I don't have any experience with either the Dot or the Black Sequencer, so take this with a grain of salt, but it looks there is just the one clock input on the sequencer, and the channels all run off of divisions or multiplications of that same master clock, so I'm not seeing how you can use two separate channels from the dot to advance channels 1 & 2 separately.

I don't have any experience with either the Dot or the Black Sequencer, so take this with a grain of salt, but it looks there is just the one clock input on the sequencer, and the channels all run off of divisions or multiplications of that same master clock, so I'm not seeing how you can use two separate channels from the dot to advance channels 1 & 2 separately.
-- adaris

I see. That makes sense. Honestly, don’t laugh, on top of being a noob, I can be dumb, too lol. …but is there a way to like split a clock signal or whatever so that we could somehow work around this? Or would you suggest a secondary sequencer to do what I’m trying to do?

This is basically what I want to do. I do notice he’s using two sequencers together.

Yeah I think if that's what you want to do your best bet may be to sell the Black Sequencer and get something like the TipTop Z8000 instead. You may lose certain features but you'll then have multiple sequencers in one module and you may also come away with a few $ in the transaction.

Yeah I think if that's what you want to do your best bet may be to sell the Black Sequencer and get something like the TipTop Z8000 instead. You may lose certain features but you'll then have multiple sequencers in one module and you may also come away with a few $ in the transaction.
-- adaris

Thanks so much for the tip on the sequencer. I’ll definitely check it out. In the meantime, I’ll add in my Dark Time to see what I can do. Do you by any chance know how he’s using that Matrix Mixer?

I'd definitely try working out how to use the black sequencer properly 1st...

you can do a lot in terms of clock division and turning gates on and off per channel - so a single clock source into the black sequencer - or using the internal clock - doesn't mean you are playing all 4 channels at the same speed - they will be at related speeds - and euclidean rhythms won't work - very well - but you have another sequencer anyway... it's nice to bounce a euclidean sequence of a non-euclidean one

matrix mixer: difficult to tell as there are a lot of black patch cables - but I suspect he's taking the 2 sequencers which are running at different speeds and mixing them together in different proportions - before sending to vcos, probably via quantizers

EDITED Feb 28th 2022, 05:09

EDITED Feb 27th 2023, 07:07

Love the Black Sequencer it’s powerful and easy to get started. For sequential switch, check out the Hikari Quad switch it’s really good and easy to use. I like using it with a comparator and matrix mixer for creative patching.

Love the Black Sequencer it’s powerful and easy to get started. For sequential switch, check out the Hikari Quad switch it’s really good and easy to use. I like using it with a comparator and matrix mixer for creative patching.
-- sacguy71

Thanks so much for the tip. I’m a beginner, would you mind explaining to me what a sequential switch does before I research the module you suggested? I’m a little overwhelmed by all this and need someone to dumb it down for me. I’ve been eyeing matrix mixers but I have no idea what they do. There’s not enough videos on YouTube or maybe I’m not finding the right videos. What’s the purpose of a matrix mixer, what’s the difference between that and a audio/cv mixer?

Sure in a nutshell a sequential switch let’s you split a signal and route it to different paths sort of like cv mixer but not quite. Chris Meyer of Learning Modular explains it better than my feeble fumbling:

This module comes in a few different forms; in the most common, a few different inputs are routed to one output (although they are usually symmetrical – one input can be switched between several outputs). A pulse or gate input then steps through the inputs one at a time, switching which ones is routed to the output. Fancier sequential switches allow you to set the number of stages, to divide an input clock so it switches at a slower tempo than the master clock, or might directly route a series of inputs to corresponding outputs (with usually a summed output as well).

https://learningmodular.com/glossary/sequential-switch/

It’s a great modular utility along with cv mixer, matrix mixers, attenuators, VCA and logic modules to make interesting patches.