XOR electronics Nerdseq User Manual Download

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NerdSEQ

Hybrid Tracker Sequencer, Synthesizer

and Toolbox

User Manual

Please be aware that this is an ever growing manual. Save the trees by not printing it out!

NerdSEQ – a tracker based Eurorack sequencer

Page 1

User Manual Revision V1.26 for Firmware V1.26

12 July 2022

Summary of Contents for Nerdseq

Page 1: ...ynthesizer and Toolbox User Manual Please be aware that this is an ever growing manual Save the trees by not printing it out NerdSEQ a tracker based Eurorack sequencer Page 1 User Manual Revision V1 2...

Page 2: ...screen 80 Project screen 82 Setup Screen 85 Calibration 86 Track Assign Screen 89 Track Setup Screen 90 Track Setup CV Gate Track 90 Track Setup Audio Track 92 Track Setup Midi Track 93 Track Setup T...

Page 3: ...are Update Screen 126 Launchpad Integration 127 Tips Tricks FAQ 130 Firmware update 131 Cheat Sheet 132 Disclaimer 133 NerdSEQ a tracker based Eurorack sequencer Page 3 User Manual Revision V1 26 for...

Page 4: ...special functionality for sample playing pitching sample effects retrigger and many more as well as a synthesizer engine to create waveforms or act as a 4 Operator FM Synthesizer Samples can be loade...

Page 5: ...Front overview NerdSEQ Grey Silver Frontpanel NerdSEQ a tracker based Eurorack sequencer Page 5 User Manual Revision V1 26 for Firmware V1 26 12 July 2022...

Page 6: ...ble on frontpanel 10 pin boxed bus connector power Expander connector 12 pin boxed for IO Expander Midi In Out Sega Gamepad connector Expander must be ordered seperately Expander connector 14 pin boxe...

Page 7: ...direct FX possibilities per pattern per step Groove per step per pattern to create different step lengths shuffle and weird rhythmic with the possibility to create poly rhythmic tracks Patches with a...

Page 8: ...etween waveforms with dedicated FM synth functions Flexible Live player to switch between different patterns clips on different tracks Live mode to trigger mute solo patterns Live editing while playin...

Page 9: ...etc into one of it s destinations eg CV Gate outputs or Samples On top of that these sequences can be for example further manipulated by the Automators or the Tables Some functions can also be routed...

Page 10: ...l show up waiting for you to get started Attention if the Splash screen the text or the background light appears to be weird somehow then it is a good indication that there is something wrong with the...

Page 11: ...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...

Page 12: ...lues Furthermore some trackers can show all content on one screen while some have to scroll to get to other content and some have to switch to a different screen to get to the other content As the Ner...

Page 13: ...ons One footnote here you can t enter the pattern screen if there was no pattern created first Those button have also a 2nd function which can be reached by pressing the Shift key together followed by...

Page 14: ...le navigation you use the cursor keys Cursor up down left right for simple navigation and scrolling In most screens you can move your cursor and navigate like this For example in the sequencer screen...

Page 15: ...en if muted Solo Unsolo track Using SHIFT UP START solos the current track That means all tracks will be muted and the current track unmuted if needed Unsoloing will unmute all tracks Also unmuting ot...

Page 16: ...are the Project and the Setup screen Below a hopefully simple view of the Sequencer Patterns Patch Table Automate Sample relations Basic relations between the different Screens Functions Note that you...

Page 17: ...is that the different types have some common but mostly different parameters which are not interchangeable The same is true for a track that is dedicated to an expander The patterns that are created...

Page 18: ...w the row numbers Those go from 00 to FE 254 rows The screen scrolls down on navigation You can always see 16 rows in the sequencer screen The next 8 columns show the available tracks Some are empty t...

Page 19: ...point of the starting point on the top and bottom Main Clock Indicator STOP stops the pattern after it s finished and no other pattern on this track is being played after that STOP twice finishes the...

Page 20: ...live as in triggering patterns live or giving a demonstration Right in the middle there are indicators for the recent played music notes the gate trigger state and the modulation state for the 6 CV Ga...

Page 21: ...lete empty only the current cursor position press SHIFT DELETE to empty the recent position or SHIFT UP DELETE to really delete the position in the column and move the following rows one up With SHIFT...

Page 22: ...Note To enter music notes C 4 for Note C in octave 4 D 5 for Note Dis or d sharp in octave 5 is the lowest note and it is for note off In case the Autogate function Setup Screen is turned on then the...

Page 23: ...late many FX functions at the same time from every step Press OK to create a new patch Press SHIFT OK on a filled in patch to Clone the filled in patch into a new patch SHIFT DELETE will remove the pa...

Page 24: ...ave a value then the trigger will repeat The first digit is for the trigger length where again 1 is the shortest trigger and F the longest Trigger Pause times are equal here The 2nd digit is for the a...

Page 25: ...th several lengths and higher percentages do ratchets F9 Random trigger length ratcheting combination within selected random range 1 FA Random trigger length ratcheting combination within selected ran...

Page 26: ...umn can be directly shifted either up or down while the values are wrapping around The shifting is also applied within the pattern length Triggers can also have a fixed delay per track That means that...

Page 27: ...NerdSEQ a tracker based Eurorack sequencer Page 27 User Manual Revision V1 26 for Firmware V1 26 12 July 2022 Figure 3 Trigger Functions...

Page 28: ...ing to your CV output or to change the probability setting Beside several effects also most of the general track functions for CV Triggering etc can be started manipulated within the FX as well Some F...

Page 29: ...mething like 6 15 and finetune with the GL C settings with low values MOD Modulate changes the MOD CV output same as the MOD column The MOD values can generate pitches from 000 to FFF 5V 5V 0V 10V Wit...

Page 30: ...e but then for the values in the Table column PRF1 Probability percentage for the FX1 effect column Here every kind of effect parameter from the FX1 column can be involved in the probability PRF2 Prob...

Page 31: ...o maximum CV6 So as example if Play Chord with Minor 6th is used on Track 4 then CV4 and CV5 will both play the 2 note Chord based on the basenote used in the note column The status field will show al...

Page 32: ...lower then the lowest depending on the calculation type of the effect For example if the maximum value of the effect is FF 255 and the current value is FE 254 and the calculation would be ADD 0A 10dec...

Page 33: ...rom Random Ranges Screen The first digit selects the type of the function 0XX Random next FX value 1XX Enable random for the FX column This will overrule all FX commands in the selected FX column with...

Page 34: ...s are used around the regular clock See track setup The first digit got an additional function to either let the new clock change with a new pattern after the end of the current playing pattern or to...

Page 35: ...layback Order now Same as the 2XX command except that the new playback order is directly active 4XX Transpose track Transposes the track same as track settings up or down The middle value no transposi...

Page 36: ...attern to the mainclock directly BPM Changing the main Tempo to the desired Beats Per Minute BASE Basenote transposes all following notes from the recent pattern with the value of the basenote 00 is h...

Page 37: ...hown if the total amount of groove ticks doesn t match the pattern length and the main groove tick setting Pattern Screen Audio Track The audio tracks have different columns This is because the sample...

Page 38: ...unctions Let s first explain the pattern audio screen for the samples waves synth First the sequencer row up to 64 Then the following columns Note To fill in the musical notes It changes the pitch of...

Page 39: ...unds command Be aware that the Oscillator function is not a true replacement for analogue oscillators but for many applications they will do the job well Pressing the OK button on the Sample Waveform...

Page 40: ...this is used to play the sample backwards xxx1 Plays it backwards Can also be used in the middle of a sample to change the playing order xxx0 Plays the sample normal If a waveform is playing then the...

Page 41: ...th a given percentage Same as the Note probabilities for the CV outputs see description there Both pattern parts can have a different probability setting Also here it is a setting that you can turn on...

Page 42: ...ltiply Subtract Divide Is also the same as the ADD SUB functions for a CV Gate track with the exception that from this FX all 4 calculations can be done The first 2 digits define the calculation type...

Page 43: ...ttern So also when working with different timings in one pattern the pattern will completely be broken and resynchronised with the next pattern If a value is filled into the lower digits then the patt...

Page 44: ...screens Waveforms can be mixed or synchronised and even manipulated from the Automators Pattern Screen Midi track If a track is assigned to Midi then the midi pattern screen is used You can assign a t...

Page 45: ...he special values have the following functions together with the Note or Note off Local track CV Output functions A Does only a note change on the CV output No gate change if a note is filled in Gate...

Page 46: ...te change C6 Note change on CV 6 Output no Gate change M1 Note change on MOD 1 Output no Gate change M2 Note change on MOD 2 Output no Gate change M3 Note change on MOD 3 Output no Gate change M4 Note...

Page 47: ...set to 0 then the midi channel which is setup up for the track is used Additionally the Control Preset can be set to Program change in the setup screen The meaning of the digits is the same as with th...

Page 48: ...t 5th Minor 6th Major 6th Minor 7th Major 7th Triad Major Triad Minor Triad Diminished Triad Diminished 5th Triad Diminished Augmented Triad Suspended 4th Triad Suspended 2nd 7th Dominant 7th Minor 7t...

Page 49: ...description Specials for the Midi tracks A track can be set up to a channel multiple tracks can have the same channel but be wise with crossing notes On top of that CC values 1 8 can also be send to o...

Page 50: ...mns TR1 TR8 Are the columns for the first 8 trigger outputs The values are exactly the same as on the local Trigger columns see CV Gate Pattern screen for explanation As a side note this can also be t...

Page 51: ...al trigger functions All Triggers Gates Off turns all Trigger Gate outputs off Swap Outputs Off On Swaps if on the 8 trigger columns to be triggers 9 16 same as the track setup setting but then from t...

Page 52: ...16 The outputs for the columns are decided using the swap track function Additionally the same outputs on the drum matrix are affected Page 3 First of course again the sequencer row up to 64 Patch Se...

Page 53: ...rigger Using SHIFT OK CURSOR DOWN moves the currently selected trigger column in the drum matrix one step down Triggers that shift out of the last row will be inserted in the first row Using SHIFT OK...

Page 54: ...ires a trigger on local trigger output The trigger settings are the same that are used for the Drum Matrix Note that the drum matrix triggers are also firing with that If you want to avoid the drum ma...

Page 55: ...ge to the note value if no modulator is running on that output Depending of the offset switched the Voltage for Note C 0 is either 0 Volt or 5 Volt After the highest note C A as in scroll the note val...

Page 56: ...ator and returns to it s original note pitch Envelope stages continue from the current voltage so if a release phase was not finished and an envelope is started again it will continue with the attack...

Page 57: ...ate like the normal pitches from 000 to FFF which represents 0 to 10 volt 5 5 As a sidenote the pitch values are scaled so not all 4095 FFF values are available In fact you will find out that instead...

Page 58: ...re TYP The type of the selected LFO eg Sine Sawtooth etc SPD The speed of the selected LFO AMP The amplitude of the selected LFO Pressing PATCH again will bring you back to the regular column editing...

Page 59: ...ttings from 00 to FF Be aware that the current settings will be filled in automatically when starting to edit ST A to ST H Start Modulator With this you can start or stop any modulator on any CV outpu...

Page 60: ...the other columns Even more multiple chords can be played at the same time on one step using more chord fx commands with other base column selections XxXX defines the selected chord different chord us...

Page 61: ...Pattern screen functions Now we return to the general pattern functions which are valid for all pattern types If Navigation Wrap is enabled in the settings then the cursor will jump back to the top w...

Page 62: ...copy insert a before copied area to another row column and Delete to empty or delete the marked area or to delete empty the recent cursor position A delete will also copy the deleted values to the cl...

Page 63: ...so be used for a cut paste function Copy and paste actions can be made between all compatible columns regardless of the type or where they are Notes to Notes Triggers to Triggers Grooves to Grooves et...

Page 64: ...type you either press OK to generate a new patch or select an available patch With SHIFT OK a Patch can be cloned into a new patch To enter the patch screen you navigate to the patch number and press...

Page 65: ...e Pattern Screen if not on the patch column and not on CV16 Pattern screen by pressing the PATCH button The screen is updating live and all values can directly be manipulated by selecting the needed p...

Page 66: ...e of the first sample waveform FX 1 1 Probability Current FX1 Probability setting for the first sample waveform FX 1 2 Probability Current FX2 Probability setting for the first sample waveform Note 2...

Page 67: ...he MOD of the local track Trigger OK Current Last trigger setting for the local Trigger Can be triggered with the OK button CV1 Probability Current probability setting for CV column 1 CV2 Probability...

Page 68: ...rrent Row probability setting Table Screen A Table is kind of a sequencer in the sequencer So inside the regular sequencer you can start an additional table sequencer to manipulate your current patter...

Page 69: ...be a 6 step sequence one shot or it will iterate between the 6 steps if the loop setting is endless or restart Besides the ability to enter the row to jump to there are 2 additional special commands R...

Page 70: ...s are not enough Pressing the OK button on the FX command will bring you to the FX Selector menu where you can comfortably select the needed FX from a list Source Defines the timing source for the seq...

Page 71: ...s in Loop1 but only once 00 01 02 01 00 Range as mentioned before defines the transposing range of random values Change the lower value with SHIFT LEFT RIGHT and the higher value with SHIFT UP DOWN Th...

Page 72: ...random transpose sequence with also a hop 00 on a random step The random transposition range is selected by the Range lowest and highest transposition note Doubles Inserts FX commands to create a doub...

Page 73: ...available tracks This gives also an orientation on how the sequence is running Automator screen The Automator screen contains up to 8 possible slots for Generators Modulators Effects Manipulators An A...

Page 74: ...ules the next trigger setting with a ON OFF trigger where the length of the trigger is decided by the Automator output 10 C0 Delayed Trigger Gate length overrules the next trigger setting with a OFF O...

Page 75: ...the Midi assigned tracks are Pitchbend Sends pitch bend data to the midi device CC1 8 Sends CC data to the controller numbers which are set up in the midi track settings NRPN1 4 Sends NRPN data to th...

Page 76: ...are CV 1 16 Modulates the function onto the CV outputs 1 16 Column 1 Probability Probability for Column 1 of the pattern screen Column 2 Probability Probability for Column 2 of the pattern screen Col...

Page 77: ...ing except for that the speed is 100 times slower Tick Clock is synchronized to the sequencer ticks If speed it set to 1 then one LFO waveform cycle has the same length as one pattern while the LFO ad...

Page 78: ...can be reset only by pressing OK on the function or from the sequencer Automator FX functions ASLx 101 You can further set the Rst X value from 0 to 7 which means that the reset will additionally be t...

Page 79: ...ferent way through the modulation matrix You can see the current curve of the selected envelope on the bottom right You need to use the Envelope screen to edit the envelopes curve The following settin...

Page 80: ...ween the 8 envelopes within it s function Using the UP DOWN Button will jump directly to the next envelope To change parameters use the usual SHIFT LEFT RIGHT UP DOWN All settings except of the Source...

Page 81: ...e to release Loop The envelope will keep looping one flow as in the one shot way the envelope as long as the gate is set Source Defines the source from which the envelope can be triggered gated Gate 1...

Page 82: ...more manipulation of the envelope is available and these can then also be routed through all Automator destinations Keep in mind that the rate as in processing rate resolution of the envelope will deg...

Page 83: ...ock are all 12 sample slots together Here you can recall the whole block eg replace all samples in one go This can also be loaded nearly seamlessly while running a sequence using a command in the samp...

Page 84: ...h the live quantisation which you can enable by pressing start twice to trigger a new pattern the new pattern will start from the next Live Queue point You can see the live queue points on the top and...

Page 85: ...lay Time until the Key is being repeated Key Hold Repeat how fast a key is being repeated after the Key press delay Navigation Wrap Enable Disable if the cursor should wrap back when reached the begin...

Page 86: ...g SHIFT STOP Auto Gate on Note Turn On Off autogating CV Gate track If a Note is filled in in the pattern screen but no trigger then the Autogate function will automatically set the Gate with the note...

Page 87: ...his you use the Potentiometer POTI 1 to calibrate the 5 Volt offset When calibrated check again the 0 Volt and the 5 Volt position to be sure they are correct Now you don t need to touch the potentiom...

Page 88: ...h can be tested on the outputs beside to the autocalibrate function for the inputs you can manually calibrate the input together with the voltage source for example a CV keyboard you are using For tha...

Page 89: ...Soft Reset Resets the NerdSEQ when needed works only when Debug is ON Track Assign Screen In the track assign screen you can assign the different track types such as CV Gate Midi or Trigger16 to one...

Page 90: ...via the Nerd Screen Menu on the sequencer screen via Track Assign Screen press the OK button on one of the tracks by pressing the PATCH button while in the Current Values Screen pressing PATCH twice f...

Page 91: ...t to the Random Ranges Screen and change the ranges Midi MOD Defines if the track played or recorded via midi that either the CC value 1 MOD wheel movements or the velocity of the note will be recorde...

Page 92: ...y Type Sets the type of the audio delay for the track Delay Time Sets the amount time of the delay buffer Delay Send Sets the amount of the input amplitude for the delay Delay Feedback Sets the amount...

Page 93: ...e part You can use the UP DOWN button to switch between all 4 Wave Sample settings for both audio tracks Track Setup Midi Track Track Clock See track setup of the Track Setup CV Gate Track Transpose A...

Page 94: ...is completely recalled and might timeout for a while The setting is to minimize any possible problems glitches Automation Limit Limits the amount of data that is generated by the Automator and sent to...

Page 95: ...Notes can be played with either the local track trigger or not in the setting after the highest basenote The Black and White keys like on a piano are marked in Piano Roll Mode on top with the 16 trig...

Page 96: ...p to be a Trigger16 destination then Gates Triggers will be filled in instead of the envelopes Pure Overrule Defines if a modulator in Pure Mode should be stopped again when a note is filled in and pl...

Page 97: ...are automatically saved 10 seconds after the last CV value has been changed calibrated so be sure you don t turn off your system before having a 10 second pause With CV16 Firmware V1 2 or higher the...

Page 98: ...audio signal after the volume process can further be used to Frequency Modulate one or more of the 4 oscillators operators This enables FM synthesis generation The pre delay audio signal of audio tra...

Page 99: ...See the diagram below for the internal audio flow and routing NerdSEQ a tracker based Eurorack sequencer Page 99 User Manual Revision V1 26 for Firmware V1 26 12 July 2022...

Page 100: ...cts are available Wavefold Bitcrush and Distortion Each oscillator can also be Frequency Modulated by any other of the oscillators or itself and thus be used an FM operator By connecting multiple oper...

Page 101: ...his makes the envelope more effective Go to the Envelope screen double tap AUTOMATOR button Choose envelope 1 Set to One Shot for now Set the Source to T7 Audio 1 where each note on of track 7 audio 1...

Page 102: ...on Source to FM OP 3 Mute Sample Wave 4 if you don t want to hear it from audio output 8 set Clone notes to 1 on operators 2 3 and 4 of course you don t have to clone the notes from operator 1 but you...

Page 103: ...s Short HQ best quality but very short delay Lofi lower quality lower samplingrate but longer delay time More Lofi lowest quality and samplingrate but longest delay time Fast Good quality very short t...

Page 104: ...considering the limited memory and the embedded situation it is very tricky to defragment samples in real time on the fly so this is not implemented yet For now in most cases it will refuse to load th...

Page 105: ...n Menu The Nerd button opens a special function menu Depending on the current position of the cursor Sequencer or pattern screen and if a block is marked or not different choices are available to mani...

Page 106: ...ated immediately The clock will then be changed from the current stage on and not synchronized to the mainclock or patterns Playback Changes the playback order of the track Changing the value using SH...

Page 107: ...ns will end up being within the selected length SHIFT CURSOR LEFT RIGHT will increase decrease by 1 step and SHIFT CURSOR UP DOWN will browse between these standard step amounts 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 As yo...

Page 108: ...ked parts up and down including a wrap over Flip Rows Flips the order of the marked parts around up is down and down is up Randomize Row order Randomizes the order of the marked parts Randomize Values...

Page 109: ...is C 5 5 Volt input which means no transposition Voltages below will transpose the output down and voltages over 5 Volt will transpose up Note that transpose must be allowed track settings for the tra...

Page 110: ...o 7 8 Slot Defines the sample slot which is being played through the Sample Gate function If not defined then the last played sample will play As explained earlier if Live Input is turned off then the...

Page 111: ...te and the trigger value of the cursor will be deleted The sequencer doesn t have to play or be in record mode Edit Mode must be enabled though for it to work This allows editing notes in the pattern...

Page 112: ...pitch of the destination track if possible For Midi tracks the Midi data is passed through into the track midi channel For Trigger16 Tracks all 16 Trigger outputs can be played through Midi notes star...

Page 113: ...ck column in the sequencer screen The cursor decides the selected destination track This works in all screens and the last selected Track is being used LAUNCHPAD MINI MK2 PRO MK3 PRO Set up this midi...

Page 114: ...m which can be used for multiple sequencer functions Each range can be set from 0 to 100 and this range can be mapped from another function to generate a random value in between this range The ranges...

Page 115: ...ur settings so they are recalled after a power cycle The Reset Colour option resets the colours to the original colour scheme Sega Gamepad Mapping Screen This screen can be entered form the Setup scre...

Page 116: ...ow Jumps to the new patterns of the complete row None Nothing selected for the gamepad The D Pad is only usable for the general navigation and can t be assigned to any other function The settings are...

Page 117: ...panders are connected to the NSA port of the NerdSEQ either directly or daisy chained from one to the next expander Please be aware that you should never connect disconnect an expander in a powered sy...

Page 118: ...e applied for each output Glide For each CV output there are Glide settings These work just like the glide setting on the NerdSEQ itself with the 2 parameters Speed and Steps The Speed decides how fas...

Page 119: ...nd it reaches the sustain voltage level it holds that level until the released phase is started Release Starts the release phase from the current sustain level Loop Fires the envelope going through it...

Page 120: ...the envelope and higher values would place the offset to a higher value LFO The LFO swings bipolar around the note pitch value Depending on the amplitude setting the bipolar LFO swing has values from...

Page 121: ...mn 1 and Column 4 envelope is for Note 2 on column 2 If the 3x3 mode is active then it records up to 3 notes each an envelope where the first 3 columns are the notes and the next 3 columns the envelop...

Page 122: ...ated If you want to play with them you can set a track to be visual beta These tracks got a special unfinished Pattern screen and you can insert several video functions Here is only a brief descriptio...

Page 123: ...binations the same as with the NerdSEQ buttons Delete Same as SHIFT DELETE on NerdSEQ including Page UP DOWN Backspace Remove Pattern line and shift up Insert Insert empty pattern row and shift down F...

Page 124: ...a better sharper screen when using with composite The following settings are possible Nearest which is the default for HDMI Sinc Blackman No Side Lobes Half 1st Side Lobe Hamming Hamming 3PI Hamming 5...

Page 125: ...aspect Ratio for the composite signal 4 3 default 14 9 16 9 Save and Restart Press OK to save the settings The settings will be stored in both the Video Expander and the NerdSEQ The Video Expander wi...

Page 126: ...date files Furthermore a connected Video Expander can be updated too It s file is always named KERNEL IMG and the NSA Type and Address is being inserted automatically Update Now If all was fine then u...

Page 127: ...ander The LP functionality can be enabled set up in the Input Record settings Set Midi Channel 1 to LP Pro Also don t forget to enable Midi Data input Beware that the LP also listens to other Midi Cha...

Page 128: ...Using the A or B together with SHIFT you can scroll a Page 16 rows up and down Button C combined with a Pattern pad from the Matrix will enter the Pattern Button D combined with a track from the matri...

Page 129: ...increments the triggers with the euclidean formular Button G decrements the triggers with the euclidean formular The current cursor position is the euclidean startpoint In the top row you can see whic...

Page 130: ...released in the future which allows connection of the LP via USB and it will add some additional functionality to complete the implementation Tips Tricks FAQ Some general tips and tricks general pitfa...

Page 131: ...ou have to press and hold these 3 buttons best pressed before powering up or just after the software reset SHIFT COPY and CURSOR UP Not the UP button Keep holding the buttons until the bootloader appe...

Page 132: ...Cheat Sheet NerdSEQ a tracker based Eurorack sequencer Page 132 User Manual Revision V1 26 for Firmware V1 26 12 July 2022...

Page 133: ...orrect content or maybe wrong interpretations I appreciate any help to improve manual so please inform me if something might be unclear or can be done better In the end I am a software developer inven...

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