"EasyEi8ht" trigger sequencer

[Hashtag Octothorpe]

STORY TIME!

My first trigger sequencers were all Baby 10s modified for 16 steps. They were hardware, switched and they all died after a month or so (????)

My first *good* trigger sequencer was LMNC's six-channel Big Button. Loved it, even though it really didn't make much sense sometimes -- what is "shift"???

My first self-developed trigger sequencer was an from-scratch copy of the Big Button concept with eight channels instead of six, and could do muuuccchh longer sequences since I used one byte per step (each channel was a bit) instead of one byte (or int!??!??) per step per channel.


I found out about the Robaux SWT16 and instantly built one, but 1) my switches are very bad and 2) there's just too much menu-diving. I do live jams, all improvised, so my trigger sequencer needs to be instantly responsive, no multi-step-button-press sequence for normal use. Deleting or muting a track has to be INSTANT.

So, disappointed, I started designing an eight-button, eight channel trigger sequencer. I got good switches this time, and while coding it, realized that this is actually a legit good project, and I'm not sure there's anything as streamlined or minimalist (with options for complexity) out there in the Eurorack ecosystem.

Quick rundown: eight channels, eight keys, one shift key, one three-position mode switch

Accepts external trigger, but also can be self-clocked, tempo set by tap-tempo WITH "tweak and nudge" to keep the timing playing nice with whatever.

Freestyle mode, including unquantized freestyling, which you could use attached to your synth as a standalone trigger generator.

Options include making triggers respond as one-shot or roll, making the sequence length be from 16 steps to 256 (could be longer might end up being longer), And also: SWING!!!

This can do swing using the internal clock (easy peasy) or the external clock. Externally clocked swing is tougher -- you have to be able to swing either way so you don't HAVE to only start your pattern on the upbeat. So you have to delay the playback of every other trigger input...

Anyway, I'm currently working on making it work as an unquantized event timer. The limited SRAM of the Arduino is forcing some compromises (bitcrushing two bits off the little end of the timecode for 4ms resolution, reducing the total possible length, limiting it to a certain number of events) but I think I'm figuring it out.

Anyway anyway, I'm open-sourcing the project, so here's the files I've got so far.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1M8DmQL3UY7Xs2aLK_WaZekHz2-gDhl9S?usp=sharing

[Hashtag Octothorpe]

Oh dang it...


I had a question. I'm looking for blank translucent keycaps for my Cherry MX keyswitches. One can even be round. There's plenty of options for keycap sets, but generally have to order a whole set.

Keycap source?

[wakyct]

OK, this sounds pretty cool, though I understand about half of it . Replying to stay in the loop.