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The Vector Sequencer is a digital sequencer in the Eurorack modular 

format. It provides a flexible sequencing engine with support for eight 

independent parts. Parts may be monophonic, chords or drum type. 

There are two sub-sequencers per part for internal modulation, as well 

as chance operations, and presets with a playlist function. The Vector 

has both MIDI and CV connections for interfacing with a wide variety of 

electronic musical instruments.
An optional Jack Expander module adds support for 4 more analog 

voices (Pitch, Gate, Velocity), 8 more trigger outputs (6 can also be 

used for input), MIDI in and out on DIN jacks, and dedicated jacks for 

DIN Sync (in and out). 

Installation

Take the Vector out of its protective anti-static bag and have a look at 

the back. The power connector is on the right side of the circuit board 

and is labeled 'Power'. Connect a 16-pin Eurorack power cable if you 

have not already, red stripe DOWN per usual.
If you have the Jack Expander module, you should connect it to your 

Vector before adding them to your case. Lay both the Vector and the 

Expander face down in front of your case, with the Expander just to the 

left or the right of the Vector. Identify the two 20-pin connectors on the 

Vector labeled 

'J20' 

and 

'J13'

. On the Expander, the matching 

connectors are 

'J200' 

and 

'J130'

.  Using the two ribbon cables that 

come with the Expander, connect 

J20 

to 

J200 

and 

J13 

to 

J130

. Make 

sure to keep the orientation of the red strip UP for these connections.
Now add the Vector (or Vector/Expander combo) to your Eurorack- 

format case. Don’t forget to power down first! The Vector consumes 

140mA on +12V, 20mA on -12V. The Expander adds 30mA on both +12 

and -12. Anything plugged into the USB A ‘to device’ jack may draw 

additional current on +12V. Most controllers (including Launchpads) pull 

less than 100 mA, but a cellphone or tablet may pull up to an additional 

210 mA.

Firmware Updates & Support

It is a good idea to check regularly for firmware updates at http://vec-

tor.five12.com. For questions & support, and to be added to a mailing list 

for announcements (firmware, videos, etc), email [email protected].

Limited Warranty

Five12 warrants the Vector Sequencer to be free of defects in assembly or

materials for one year from the date of purchase by the owner. This 

warranty does not cover damage due to misuse such as: Incorrect

power supply voltages, extreme heat or moisture, modified firmware

or physical damage. Determination of misuse is at Five12's discretion.

During the warranty period, defective products will be repaired or replaced 

as determined by Five12.
To return the Vector for repair, contact [email protected] for further 

instructions. The owner is responsible for shipping fees to Five12. Return 

shipping will be paid for by Five12.

Acknowledgments

A very special thank you goes to Joe Grisso, without whom this could not 

have happened. Many thanks also to Charles Buckingham, Jason Fink, 

Michael Koehler, Henry Jackson, Chris Meyer, Eric Williamson, Jeff 

Wojciechowski, David Small, Michael Stearns, Ron Sunsinger, and Andy 

Yih.

1

Getting Started

Summary of Contents for Vector Sequencer

Page 1: ...User Guide Vector Sequencer ...

Page 2: ...ientation of the red strip UP for these connections Now add the Vector or Vector Expander combo to your Eurorack format case Don t forget to power down first The Vector consumes 140mA on 12V 20mA on 12V The Expander adds 30mA on both 12 and 12 Anything plugged into the USB A to device jack may draw additional current on 12V Most controllers including Launchpads pull less than 100 mA but a cellphon...

Page 3: ...nd types output assignments Shift Sequence Ops Use Shift other buttons to trigger operations global to a sequence Shift Pitch to reset all pitch values to their defaults ditto for gate velocity etc Use Shift skip mute select to un skip mute select all steps One Octave Keyboard Use for step recording transposing in Rec mode Use white keys for skip mute select in other modes Presets Scenes Per part ...

Page 4: ...are Use Next Prev to edit steps other than the first 8 Pitch Sets the pitch value for each step in semitones from C1 to C9 Glide For monophonic parts sets the glide time for pitch from 0 to 100 Use longer gate times for smooth glides Chord For chord based parts sets the output chord from unison through all dyads to an octave then triads and seventh chords To set a part to chord mode see Parts on p...

Page 5: ...1 1 16 16 Fractions of a beat 4 The X and P modes are phase based where the rate deviates faster or slower from a default rate of 16th 8th note triplets or 8th notes The X modes have a wider range than the P modes OCT TRANS Add an octave or semitone transposition to all notes Sequence Controls Page 2 VEL VAR TIM VAR Add random variations to velocity and timing groove KEY SCALE Override the global ...

Page 6: ...a Adapter PARTS See Parts on page 11 for more on these settings ROUTE For each output on the Vector you can set which Part it is assigned to 5 CV OUT These are two sets of Pitch Gate Velocity outputs on the Vector and four more on the Expander Use the encoders to set the part assignment for each output For Chord and Drum parts hold Shift and twist the encoder to set which voice is output RUN CLOCK...

Page 7: ...y shows parameters for recording mode and source 6 The recording modes are OFF No recording activity STEP MIDI notes are used to program the pitch values for each step of the sequence one by one Use encoder 9 to move the cursor TRANS Incoming MIDI notes are used to transpose the sequence MIDI Note number 60 is used as the center point THRU Incoming MIDI notes are sent directly to the outputs for t...

Page 8: ... three pages for chance ops use the Chance button to cycle between them CHANCE PROB Set the probability that op will happen CHANCE OP Pick an operation the default is mute CHANCE BAR Limit the operation to specific bars A couple examples 7 Mute a Step Un Mute a Step Skip a Step Un Skip a Step Jump Backwards Anywhere Forwards Velocity Less More Max Gate Shorter Longer Tie Ratchet 2 3 4 Pitch Up Ran...

Page 9: ...16th notes with a variety of pitch tones including minor seconds and tritones Gates and Velocity steps are set to 50 and then a few accents Velocity 100 are added ACD2 Acid 2 similar to ACD1 but adds in a few pitch glides ACD3 ACD4 Similar to ACD1 2 but no changes to SEQ CTL settings BRL1 Berlin School 1 Generates an 8 step sequence at 1 8th notes emphasis on octaves and fifths BRL2 Similar to BR1...

Page 10: ...Min Max values will automatically update to match the range of the target parameter Also the initial values of the sub sequence will be set to the current value of that parameter 3 Enable the parameter modulation by turning encoder 8 to ON 4 Turn encoder 9 to page over to the steps for the sub sequence so you can edit them There are three rows of numbers here The top row are the step numbers of co...

Page 11: ...allest value for the parameter to the largest Modulation Targets GATE Gate time STLN Step Length STRP Step Repeat RCHT Number of ratchets PROB The probability amount for Chance Ops STRT Start step LEN Sequence length DIR Sequence direction RATE Sequence rate For all targets modulation is calculated at the start of each step The current value for the modulated param is read and then adjusted up or ...

Page 12: ...tly jump to the other Part PART SETUP To edit the name colors maximum length or type of a Part look in GLOBALS Press Global and use Next Prev to find the 2nd page titled PARTS There are two sub pages here use the encoder 9 to move between them On the first PARTS page use encoder 1 to select the Part you want to modify Using encoders 3 4 you can set the LED colors for the foreground current step an...

Page 13: ... built in chords These chords progress through all dyads two note chords up to an octave represented by semitone values from 1 to 12 followed by triads M major m minor A augmented D diminished S2 sus2 S4 sus4 then seventh chords M7 maj 7th D7 dominant 7th m7 min 7th h7 half diminished d7 fully diminished If you want to make a custom chord which allows much greater flexibility in both note selectio...

Page 14: ...originally The D is for drums 5 is for Part 5 and 1 is the first Drum Voice From there release the Shift key and turn the encoder to pick the Drum Part and Voice you want the trigger to output Then push the encoder to latch the mapping change To setup a MIDI output for a Drum Part use encoder 9 to scroll to one of the MIDI outputs on the ROUTING page then turn any encoder to select the desired Dru...

Page 15: ...oject will be automatically generated DISK MODE Running the Vector in disk mode allows you to mount the contents of the SD card onto your computer which makes it very quick and easy to back up copies of your Projects and calibration files and for loading new firmware To run the Vector in disk mode connect it to your computer Mac PC Linux with a USB A B Printer cable and hold down the Shift button ...

Page 16: ...ame and Playlist settings for a Preset push Preset then Prev or Edit Alternatively use Prev Next to move between Preset Edit Preset and Scene pages The Playlist is simple in concept but very flexible Each Preset can Play forever by default Play for x beats bars then go to a later Preset Play for x beats bars then go to an earlier Preset and repeat y times Use encoders 4 8 to edit the Playlist sett...

Page 17: ...usual MIDI Beat Clock 1 Connect a MIDI Beat Clock source to the Vector via the USB A or B jacks on the front panel or use the 5 pin MIDI Input connector on the Jack Expander 2 In Globals page 1 select USB A for sync via the USB to device jack USB B for sync via the USB to host jack or JxMID for sync via the MIDI Input on the Jack Expander 3 Start playback from your MIDI Clock source External Clock...

Page 18: ...and the current value for the parameter To change the parameter being edited you can turn encoder 9 or press any of the white keys on the mini keyboard The white keys will page through the parameters in the same order that they appear on the SEQ CTL page START LEN DIR etc In addition to the 8 parameters from SEQ CTL there are 3 additional parameters only available in the Dashboard You can reach th...

Page 19: ...nd out of disk mode without having to power cycle your entire system Disk Mode Hold Shift while starting up and the Vector will run in Disk Mode If you then connect the Vector to a computer via USB you can access the contents of the SD card without having to remove the Vector from your case External Resets Triggers The Reset jack and triggers T1 T6 on the Jack Expander can be used to reset individ...

Page 20: ...SD Card Part Eight parts per project Note Sequence 16 32 or 64 steps long Preset Up to 20 presets per part depending on sequence length Sub Seq 1 Sub Seq 2 Ext Mod Preset Playlist Scenes Globals Tempo Key Scale Sync Output Routings etc www five12 com v1 4 ...

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