So, I laser cut a new enclosure surface that included four EL Panel locations, a button pad matrix, and a potentiometer. This way, the sequencerВ can loop up to 16 beats for up to 4 different tracks.

My solution was to, instead of using pushbuttons, utilize this button pad matrix, that would allow the user to indicate which track theyвЂ™d like to edit, and which 4/4 measure theyвЂ™d like to edit. However, I also thought that this wouldnвЂ™t allow enough diversity in the musical creation since it would only be looping through the same four beats. I decided that it made more sense to only utilize four EL Panels (instead of six) because typically music counting occurs in sets of four.

I created two more prototypes after this one to build something similar in design, but more functional with the correct amount of magnetization and less layers to make it overall smaller and lighter.ДЄfter giving it some further thought, I landed on a few new ideas. As you can see, it consists of three layers (reed switch magnet, location snapping magnets, wooden topper): First Tile Iteration As you can see, there are six EL Panel locations, a potentiometer hole, and three holes for the pushbuttons: First Enclosure PrototypeДЄdditionally, I glued together one instance of what the EL Panel tiles might look like. Below is a picture of the first iteration of the sequencer enclosure. I started by buying the components needed for the EL Panels from SparkFun, and three pushbuttons to switch tracks. Coding, on the other hand, does not rely on outside resources, so I decided to first prioritize gathering and putting together the enclosure. It can take a long time to get parts (then realize you got the wrong part, too many, or too little), materials, and schedule laser hours. Since I knew that the fabrication of this might take the longest, I started on that piece first. This project went through several prototypes and iterations, but the very first iteration is outlined in my final project prototype, where I discuss in more detail how I will fabricate this object and what kinds of switches and buttons I will use. YouвЂ™ll notice as you read through this blog post that the deeper I got into building it, the more ideas came up to optimize it visually and functionally. In my project proposal, you can see my finalized thought process in exactly what I wanted to achieve, and brainstorming what I might have to do to make it a reality. Alternatively, it could be paired with a pre-made Ableton song and be used to add your own custom beats and sounds. I landed on the idea of a step sequencer, as it would challenge and advance all of my existing skills and have the functionality to make a simple song. You can see in my project ideation post, that I cycled through a few different ideas all of them surrounding creating or manipulating music. The naming is for a few different reasons: to show that the two devices are meant to be used together (in Spanish), that it is a sequencer machine, and that it is completely synched to your Ableton DAW. If you wish to jump to a certain section, utilize this jumping menu below:ДЄs you may cleverly notice, my last musical device was called the Quattro Mixer, and for this project, I chose to continue my trend of creating musical MIDI devices and build a step sequencer called Synqo.

This is a long post covering the process, challenges, and technical details. This device is effectively detected as a MIDI controller from Ableton to create the layered tracks. The potentiometer on the right is used set the note in a scale for instrument tracks that are not set to percussion (or otherwise generally pitch-less sounds). As you cover each panel with a magnetic square, that indicates to the program on which beat you would like to play a sound. The main section of the machine, the four glowing EL Panels, light up from left to right to the tempo set in Ableton. For my project, the button pad row indicates the selected track, and the button pad columns indicate 4 beats, 8 beats, 12 beats, and 16 beats from left to right. If you are unfamiliar with what a step sequencer is, here is an online drum sequencer that you can check out. For my final Object project, I chose to create a step sequencer that can loop up to 16 beats for up to 4 different tracks.

Best step sequencer ableton