Expanding Metropolix sequencing with MIDI 1U/CVx and your DAW

The MIDI implementation on Metropolix is fantastic. If you haven’t watched Intellijel’s video on using Metropolix with a DAW - watch it. Intellijel Metropolix 1.4 USB MIDI × Ableton Live Stream - YouTube
(go to 19:50 to get to the goods!)
A key feature of this is that you can use the Metropolix as an input device to record sequences as MIDI tracks.
If you have MIDI 1U, or better - one or more CVx expanders, this means you can effectively stack layers and layers of Metropolix sequences beyond the two Pitch/Gate channels on the module.
I have MIDI 1U, plus two CVx modules… so this effectively allows me to stack 12 tracks of Metropolix sequences (with MIDI 1U set to 2 channel mode)!
The process:

  1. Create a Metropolix sequence
  2. Set the Metropolix track to output to a MIDI channel (watch the video)
  3. Record as much as you want of that sequence to a DAW MIDI track
  4. Assign the output of that MIDI track to a CV/Gate output channel of your choice on MIDI 1U/CVx
  5. Disable the DAW track from receiving any further MIDI data from Metropolix
  6. Move the pitch/gate for the synth voice you were composing for from Metropolix to the MIDI 1U/CVx that is now playing back from your DAW.
    … at this point you have now cloned your sequence from Metropolix to a DAW track outputting to MIDI 1U/CVx, and your Metropolix is free to create a new sequence, and repeat this process for another MIDI 1U/CVx channel and a new DAW track. One cool idea is to just change a few elements of the first sequence (ie. Stage length, offset, # of pulses, skip/gate/Accum/Prob, etc.) and create another track, and keep repeating this so you can have a big stack of very similar, rhythmically and melodically related sequences.
    This is really fantastic if you want to create a number of static background or supporting sequences, and leave the actual two tracks on Metropolix for live performance and variation. Even though I have an Ableton Push2, I find that Metropolix gives me greater results, and has a far more creative workflow to come up with new ideas.

…unfortunately, if you’re one of those “I ONLY DO DAWLESS JAMS” hipsters, you will have to be satisfied with the two tracks on your Metropolix… or buy more of them.

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