Trackers are often used to play samples (in a note scale) on different tracks as well as to control the
sound chips of old home computers directly. The workflow is different from other score based or
maybe piano roll based sequencing.
With most of the trackers the workflow goes from up to down, the sequencing running from the top
to the bottom. There you will find different columns and rows. Each row shows a step in the
sequence and the main columns are dedicated to the tracks and subcolumns to different commands.
Each track consists mostly of the same kind of sub columns. (Modern trackers allow different kind
of tracks and sub-columns). Getting to the subcolumns there is often a subcolumn for the music
note, one for the volume and sometimes one for a special command. Sometimes there are additional
columns, depending on what tracker it is. Music notes are mostly filled in with their real note,
followed by the octave. For example:
“C-3” means Note C on octave 3.
“F-5” means Note F on octave 5.
“D#2” is the note D sharp on octave 2 (half tone higher than D-2)
The exact look of the notes can differ between the trackers. With the NerdSEQ the notes are filled in
like in the example.
Other values of the subcolumns like the volume are often shown as a hexadecimal numerical value
I will explain only the very basics of it. Refer to the footnotes for detailed information.
We count and calculate usually in a base 10 system, we count like this:
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18…….On every 10
th
number (10 overflow) the left
digit increases. On every 100
th
number the left and the second left digit increases..etc.
In a hexadecimal system the base is 16 and so with every 16
th
number the left digit will increase.
The numbers itself are also represented differently. A hexadecimal count goes like this:
0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,1A,1B…….
So instead of getting to the 10, letters are used to show the hexadecimal values until the 16
th
number
which will create the overflow for the digit on the left.
7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexadecimal
NerdSEQ – a tracker based Eurorack sequencer
Page 11
User Manual Revision V1.26 for Firmware V1.26
12 July 2022
