Don't you hate shareware that doesn't tell you what it is in the first line of it's readme file? Guilty; this is the second line. 'Log Seq is an emulation of an analogue sequencer created using Opcode's Max. It lets you create repeating musical patterns in the way it used to be done before Midi sequencers came along – except of course it uses Midi to do it.
What you have is an 8 step sequencer that lets you control note value, velocity, note legnth, portamento and a Midi controller of your choice for each step of the sequence. Only 8 steps? Actually, no; you can chain together your 8 step sequences to build up to 128 note patterns. You can also transpose the sequences in real-time and of course set whatever tempo you choose.
Best of all, you can sync the whole thing to anything that supports Opcode's OMS timing ie. your favorite sequencer; I've tested it with Opcode's Musicshop, and it works fine - I haven't had a chance to test it with Cubase yet as I'm waiting for an upgrade to arrive.
OMS
You need Opcode's Open Music System installed to be able sync to anything else; if you don't have it it's available for free from www.opcode.com. and you'll find it on a lot of Mac/music mag cover discs too. If you're serious about Midi you'll want OMS.
When you first open 'Logseq, you'll get an OMS setup dialogue box - you can't go far wrong if you select 'Auto setup', though bear in mind how channel and port selection works under OMS. On 'LogSeq's channel select box you can choose up to channel 48; this means that your first port (a in the setup dialogue) covers ch 1-16, the second (b) 17-32 and the third (c) 33-48. Be careful of ceating timing loops if you send 'LogSeq's output to another app via IAC bus- check that the other app is not receiving sync info down that bus (if you don't know what that's all about, then it doesn't really matter;-)
Mode
At the top left of the screen you've got a switch marked 'Mode' – think of it like the 303's 'pattern/song' switch. In pattern mode (button not hilighted) you can build your basic sequences and edit them in real-time as you play them. Simply hit the 'Start' button and tweak the various sliders.Note: to hear anything the notes must have velocities greater than zero and be switched on (the 'Note on/off' boxes above the 'Note Value' sliders must be checked); the sync button should also be 'up' ie. not hilighted, meaning you're running on 'LogSeq's internal clock. For a quick start just click on one of the preset boxes (see below).
Sync
As mentioned above, 'LogSeq can sync to OMS timing which can be controlled by another app. With the button not hilighted 'LogSeq will run on it's own. With the button highlighted, 'LogSeq will be waiting for 'stop/start' messages from elsewhere, so it will not run until you click the start button on your sequencer. Note; you need to have pressed 'LogSeq's Start button for it to receive incoming messages. I repeat; to play in sync, both the start and sync buttons need to be down before you hit 'play' on your other sequencer.
Don't be confused by the Sync options in Musicshop; it's probably best just to set them to off.
Presets
Below the mode button is Max's famous preset waffle (the 16 little boxes that look like a waffle?). Shift-clicking on one of the squares saves everything as a preset pattern; clicking on one of the squares recalls the preset; a little dot in the box indicates that there is something saved in it. Once you've saved a few presets, click on the Mode switch ; the sequences will then cycle through the presets, either 2, 4, 8,12 or 16 of them depending on what you select from the pull-down menu marked 'Bars'. Note that in Song mode, with the exception of tempo, transpose and note order, you cannot do any more real-time tweaking; well you can try but things will keep re-setting themselves!
Read, write and clearall
Above the waffle you'll see a pull-down menu containing 'read','write' and 'clearall' messages; as you'd expect these call up standard 'load' & 'save' dialogue boxes and clear all the presets respectively.'Logseq comes with 16 patterns installed- a demo song, if you like. It's nothing particularly inspiring but it does mean you can just plug n' play to get an idea of what it does. Presets store everything except the tempo, transpose and note order settings. You don't have to fill all the preset boxes; if ,say you'd filled the first 3 but selected 8 bars from the menu in song mode, 'Logseq would play the first two patterns once then play the third 6 times and so on. At present you can only load/store all 16 patterns at a time; maybe the next version will be a bit more flexible...
Normal,reverse and osc. (note order)
Above the Start button is a menu which selects the order in which the steps are played. It was added as an afterthought and it's function is not saved as part of the presets. If you select Osc(illate), the notes play in forward and then reverse order but the 8th and first steps are not repeated each time, which makes for some interesting shifting patterns, especially when used in 'song' mode.
Velocity
Even if your synth or CV box doesn't recognise velocity, many devices interpret a velocity value of zero as a note-off message, so make sure the velocity sliders are above zero if you want to hear the notes.
Note legnth/equal legnths
You can set each individual step to have a different legnth with the pale blue sliders or if you click the 'equal legnths' button you can adjust all the note legnths with the single darker blue slider. Note that when you change to equal legnths, no new note legnth message is sent until you move the slider. On some monosynths,depending on how notes are triggered you may lose notes if you set the legnths too long.
Portamento switches
Portamento on/off messages can be sent with each step of the sequence allowing you to emulate the 'glide' function of the 303. This only works of course if your synth recognises controller 65 (portamento) messages.
Controller
Beneath the controller sliders is a little box that lets you set what controller no. the sliders are sending out; click on it and drag to change.Default setting is 1 (modulation)
Tempo and Midi channel
The tempo and channel select boxes work as above; click on them and drag. When synced via OMS timing to another application, the tempo is controlled by the other application and the tempo control in 'LogSeq is disabled.
Note value displays and Transpose
Under each slider is a display of it's note value before being transposed. If you want that to be it's true value, hit the low C key on the transposer keyboard (ie. no transposition). The little window next to the transposer tells you the value of the note being sent out after transposition (see below).
'LEDs'
No analogue sequencer would be complete without a row of flashing led's - if you click on one after you've moved it's slider it's note value after transposition will be displayed in the box next to the transposer keyboard.
Hints and tricks
As an analogue sequencer emulator, 'Logseq really does work best with analogue monosynths, preferably ones that recognise portamento messages and have an additional controller input available via your Midi/CV box. This will usually be best routed to your filter cut-off, though if you have a Midi/CV box or synth that can recognise Midi velocity you can use that for your filter cut-off and use the controller for something even more exotic. But you don't need me to tell you that do you?
Having said the above, 'Logseq works just dandy with (digital) polysynths as well - play with those controllers! Use 'LogSeq to create drum patterns, using the velocity faders to create accents, with the controller set to 10 (panning) and playing with the note legnth faders on the hi hats etc.
Bummer
Unfortunately, when synced to another program you can't do any real-time tweaking at present; when you switch back to 'LogSeq, the OMS clock seems to stop (or at least it does with Musicshop). So it's best to build your 'song' first in 'LogSeq, complete with tweaks, before you switch to the other app. I'll try to fix this in the next version which will also have 16 steps per pattern; this will mean using more than one window, which should also allow space for a few more presets and maybe an 'LFO' or two........
About Max
Opcode's Max is one of the best things to happen to electronic music since the Mac itself. For those of you who don't know, it's an object oriented programming enviroment that lets you create your own Midi apps – but don't let that put you off:-}
It's actually quite simple to use and comes with an excellent manual of tutorials to get you started. This is my first ever Max app, so I'm sure there are probably more elegant ways of doing things. I did it as a learning excercise but also because it seemed the most obvious thing to do: I'll be surprised if it hasn't been done before.
There's loads of support for Max on the WWW, though a lot of it tends to be fairly high-brow muso stuff – lots of algorithmic things– but that's not really surprising as Max originated at Ircam in Paris. If you're a programmer (I'm not) you can write your own 'objects' for Max using C, and and there's plenty of them available on the Web too.
Best thing is you can save your Max apps, as I have done here, as stand-alone programs which you can distribute freely.
As if that wasn't enough, there is now a set of DSP objects for Max called MSP written by David Zicarelli (one of Max's original programmers) that means you can write your own digital audio stuff and there is a forthcoming plug-in that will allow you to turn your MSP patches into VST plug-ins !
For more on Max check out www.opcode.com and for MSP go to www.cycling74.com.
And for anyone out there unfortunate enough to be making music on a Windows box, there are rumours that Max and MSP are being ported over some time in '99.
And Finally...
This is freeware (hoorah!), a wonderful concept to be sure, but if you want to send me something that's ok by me; I like anything to do with music – software or schematics for analogue synths or bizarre Midi controllers. At the moment I am working on an interactive musical installation for my final year project at college and I'm desperately seeking a schematic for a simple pitch to voltage converter...oh, and DIY Midi light controllers anyone?
Also if there are any programmers listening out there, picture this: being able to work with Max and Director together; what an awesome multimedia tool that would be ! So, this Xmas I want an Xtra for Director that allows it to communicate with Max and/or a Max object that enables access to Director........(I know about the Yamaha MidiXtra, great on Midi output but no input facilities)
Any comments, mail me at rjcarrut@glam.ac.uk before 5/99, after that snail me at;
