Korg SQ-1 MIDI-behavour

[chris-korg]

As the actual SQ-1 - manual is rather "homeopathic" conc. its MIDI-capabilities I did some investigations which I would like to share:

SEQUENCER-MODES:
Connected the SQ-1 via MIDI first to my Volca Bass, then to my Volca Keys and finally to my Windows PC (MidiOx).

Sequencer-Modes 1 and 2 behave as expected: 16 step-sequencer; step knobs change pitch; const. gate length (Duty)

Sequencer-Modes 3 and 4 are interesting: 2 x 8 step-sequencer; (pitch) step knobs of row A behave as expected; step knobs of row B change pitch on Midi channel "A+1" (!!); const. gate length (Duty)

Sequencer-Mode 5 and 7: 1 x 8 step-sequencer; step knobs of row A change pitch, step knobs of row B change gate-length; (Duty-knob is in-active)

Sequencer-Mode 6: 1 x 8 step-sequencer; step knobs of row A change pitch, BUT I could not find out, what step knobs of row B are doing (according to the Manual they should "smoothen out the slides); the step buttons of row B are only for activating slide-function. (which in my opinion is a waste of ressources, as row A has the same function)

Sequencer Mode 8: RANDOM - 16 step-sequencer; step knobs change pitch; const. gate length (Duty)

SEQUENCER STEP RESOLUTION:
Here in my opinion the manual is very vague! ("specify the resolution of the steps")

Changed my setup as follows:
Volca Beats (master clock) - sync-out to SQ-1 sync-in; SQ-1 Midi-out to Volca Keys Midi-in

Changing the Global parameter settings as described with the Sequencer-Mode-Selector:

Modes 1-3: SQ-1 (slave) runs in the same tempo as the Volca Beats (master-clock); BUT sync-out from SQ-1 to the Volca Keys changes (4x, 2x, 1x compared to SQ-1)

Modes 4-6: SQ-1 (slave) runs in at half tempo as the Volca Beats (master-clock); BUT sync-out from SQ-1 to the Volca Keys changes (4x, 2x, 1x compared to SQ-1)

Modes 7-8: are equal to Mode 6

SCALES - Func+CV Behavior:
Changed my setup as follows:
SQ-1 Midi-out to (midified) Monotribe Midi-in

Linear: does not behave as decribed - no difference to "chromatic" mode
(but maybe because of my Monotribe)
Minor / Major: this is only C-Minor resp. C-Major !!! This is not sufficiant as
the Music-world is more than "C" (either it should be possible
to define a root-note or it is possible to define your scale by
selecting the notes)
Chromatic: works as described


GENERAL:
- note-range: the lowest possible (C)-note is in my opinion still (at least) an octave too high !!
- whenever a step is marked as "slide" changes in the gate-length (Duty) of this step has no effect
- right now the step knobs can only change pitch and gate-length; that´s a huge "disadvantage" to the CV-out which can change much more. I do hope that the SQ-1 has some hidden features where we can define Midi-CC-values instead of pitch. (this should be easy to program )
- I also hope that it will be possible to define a Midi-channel for A and a Midi-channel for B; MidiB = MidiA+1 is somehow limiting (but at least we do have 2 Midi-channels !!)
- the manual refers to "SQ-1s Midi-implementation chart" - it´s still not online
- a "transpose"-feature would be highly appreciated
- the possibility to chain several SQ-1s together would be great

[meatballfulton]

Does the SQ-1 send MIDI clock as well as note data?

Linear mode over MIDI makes no real sense...note msgs are limited to the chromatic scale, which is what you discovered.

[chris-korg]

Does the SQ-1 send MIDI clock as well as note data?

Yes, pls refer to "SEQUENCER STEP RESOLUTION:" in above text: depending on your setup MIDI-clock out will be 1:1, 2:1 or 4:1

Linear mode over MIDI makes no real sense...note msgs are limited to the chromatic scale, which is what you discovered.

Agree, BUT I tested in the meanwhile the CV/gate-mode as well, and here LINEAR does not work either....

[ronni]

hi! thank you very much for providing all this information about the sq-1.
i haven't got one yet, so i wonder if you could please clear out if it's posible to have the sequences running in step numbers different that 1x16 or 2x8, so that, for example, one could have a 1x12 steps sequence, or have seqA running 8 steps while seqB runs 5 steps etc etc to make polyrythms. is there a way to do this, and, if yes, how?
thanks.

[chris-korg]

hi! thank you very much for providing all this information about the sq-1.
i haven't got one yet, so i wonder if you could please clear out if it's posible to have the sequences running in step numbers different that 1x16 or 2x8, so that, for example, one could have a 1x12 steps sequence, or have seqA running 8 steps while seqB runs 5 steps etc etc to make polyrythms. is there a way to do this, and, if yes, how?
thanks.

YES - you have "Active Steps" on the SQ-1 which works identically as on the Volcas and/or the Monotribe.

[ronni]

thanks a lot for the reply.
so, if i have it right, this means that, if i want to have, say, a 5 step sequence, i just have to activate the first 5 steps and this will result in a 1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-5 and so on cycle? and also, may i supose that the "step on-off" function is for creating rests?

[chris-korg]

Correct - but in Active-Step-Mode you are not limited to succeeding steps, you can also activate for example steps 1,3,6,7,8 then the SQ1 will only play thoses steps again and again. Then you can (while it is running) deactivate step 3 and activat step 2 instead and so on...

Within the active steps you set in Gate-Mode the steps either ON (note is triggered) or OFF (=note is not triggered; "rest" as you call it)

In this respect the SQ1 is very intuitive - you just turn it on and you will understand it within a few minutes...

[ronni]

ah, i see! that's great. thank you again very much for your replies, you've been really helpful.

[genshi]

thanks a lot for the reply.
so, if i have it right, this means that, if i want to have, say, a 5 step sequence, i just have to activate the first 5 steps and this will result in a 1-2-3-4-5-1-2-3-4-5 and so on cycle? and also, may i supose that the "step on-off" function is for creating rests?

I made a video to demonstrate this (on the CV side, not MIDI) as well as the fact that you can use the SQ-1 to play the MS-20 mini paraphonically; meaning the CV-A (SQ-1) is sequencing VCO 1 (MS-20) and CV-B (SQ-1) is sequencing VCO 2 (MS-20). So you can have one Oscillator doing the bass part and the other doing a lead!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE0oQO8zYFE

[ronni]

great demostration! thanks a lot. also, the sound manipulation at the end of the video is amazing.

[genshi]

great demostration! thanks a lot. also, the sound manipulation at the end of the video is amazing.

Thanks ronni! I truly appreciate the kind words!

[Jamie Munro]

now we just need a bloody supply of the damn thing in the UK

[SMK]

I'm really interested in this new SQ-1 but I don't plan on getting any gear that uses CV. I have the new Electribe 2 and it not only has 5 pin din midi in and out but also the Volca type Sync in and out.

Are there any videos that only focus on just the Volca Sync and 5 pin din midi? Can someone who has this gear make videos showing these type of examples in use?

Thanks!

[SMK]

Alright I just found a good demo for those of use not using CV based gear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyOfQhDNbHQ

This is not bad...give me an idea of what I can expect if I get this for my Electribe 2.

Question; so if I set the SQ-1 to the Major Scale then that means those pitch knobs will only play those major notes and not full chromatic...right? I'm guessing the answer would be yes but I am just checking.

Thanks!

[genshi]

Alright I just found a good demo for those of use not using CV based gear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyOfQhDNbHQ

This is not bad...give me an idea of what I can expect if I get this for my Electribe 2.

Question; so if I set the SQ-1 to the Major Scale then that means those pitch knobs will only play those major notes and not full chromatic...right? I'm guessing the answer would be yes but I am just checking.

Thanks!

I'm not sure you realize exactly what the SQ-1 does and doesn't do. Yes, it has a MIDI Out, but where it really shines most is in its CV sequencing (for things like the Korg MS-20 mini, the forthcoming ARP Odyssey and just about any other Analog Synth that doesn't have it's own built-in sequencer.)

It wouldn't make sense at all to get it for just the Electribe 2, since the Electribe has it's own powerful sequencer. The only reason to sync the Electribe 2 with the SQ-1 is so the SQ-1 can be sequencing something else (again, like the MS-20 mini) and have that synced in time with the Electribe via the SQ-1.

But having only the SQ-1 and the Electribe 2 would not make much sense...