Trigger Man User Manual
V2
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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.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6
7
1 2 3 4
6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2
5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2
4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2
2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
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!
