@marcedwards, I was so inspired that I had to post your mock-ups in the Eurorack group on Facebook.
Please let me know if you want to remove that post!
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I’m all for this idea spreading. I would love it to become a reality, somehow. I’m not done yet… I still have lots of ideas that could improve things. More coming!
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That’s great!
Let’s make it happen. 
Can I tag you on Facebook?
How about this: take your first Tetropolis design. Add another two aux ins under the first two. Add a second CV out per track and put the clock, reset, etc. outs to the right underneath track four’s outputs.
Just imagine the possibilities!!
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Yeah, I think having 4 generalised aux inputs that can be used for additional clocks, or modulating more things would be amazing. There’s definitely space to add them.
I’m not on Facebook, sorry!
Here’s another mockup that cleans up a few things, shuffles some buttons so they make more sense, and adds countersunk screws.
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Tap to set the value for a step, or swipe to create an entirely new sequence. That’d be so much quicker and easier than using sliders or encoders.
Tap to edit the gate type.
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Quartet is probably a better product name for this.
(Quad sequencer, based on the Tetrapad.)
Here’s another possible interaction: To copy the values for gate, skip and slide, just tap and hold the value you want to copy, then drag across the other steps you’d like to copy it to. This would also serve as a very quick way to reset or clear a specific row (just set one to the desired value, then swipe to the others, as shown below).
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How about QUATROPOLIS?
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Yes! I’d be all for that. They can call it anything… if it happens, I’ll still buy it.
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Haha true. Whatever the name, as long as they make it.
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Is there anything else I should prototype, to show how it could work?
Yes, the three things I mentioned above.
Extra inputs, extra CV outputs, move the clock & reset jacks.
I don’t think I’m really a fan of these mockups. I use the OG just about everyday and ergonomically there is nothing else like it. If there was a Metropolis 2, I would hope all the sliders, switches and buttons stay! The great thing about the OG now is that there are no menus (other than config). It is totally performance based and playable.
Of course I wish for more channels but I think I’d rather have knobs w/ adjacent OLED microscreens rather than tetrapad style sliders. Same with pulse counts. Gate mode could be a single button row with 4 different colors. I think I would also like more stages.
I’m not sure why you separated the slide/skip into 2 rows. It works great on just 1 row now.
A new version should have a 3rd output per channel, accent, that should correspond to a new row of buttons.
Also, having a knob for clock division but not for #stages seems like a weird choice. In my setups, the aux’s are almost always assigned to steps/div and # stages, and I either have them assigned to a random voltage or a simple attenuator so I can play them along with gate/slide time.
EDIT: An added benefit of having a microscreen per stage (for note and # pulse display) is that when you transpose or change scale, you can see all the notes in each stage change simultaneously. Right now I just have to wait and see how it sounds, etc.
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@MikeLeeBirds working on some ideas now. What would the additional CV do for each sequence? Would that be for accent?
I wonder if this should only have 2 sequencers (to keep the number of patch points similar, once accent and others are added), and have a separate expander?
That means missing out on recalling sequences, missing out on having more than one sequence, and missing out on lots of other potential features. I like the physicality of the Metropolis, but it’s difficult to expand its abilities without adding more size and cost.
Because there’s space, and to allow for a simpler interaction. Also, take a look at the shortcut for copying values across the entire sequence (shown above). Why? Because it makes things better.
Accent would be great.
The steps encoder in the mockups is stages.
Maybe the best approach would be to keep the Metropolis, and add this as a new product?
Another mockup. 
- Accent added for each sequence.
- Grouped CV, gate and accent better.
- Removed aux attenuators (that would be done via the display now).
- Added aux C input.
- Renamed to “Quartet”.
It‘s a shame 16 patch jacks don’t fit across the top — that way clock and reset could be on the top row, allowing for 4 aux inputs. They probably would if it was 36HP or 38HP, but I think keeping it to 34HP is good, if possible.
How would you edit the accents? There’s a few ways that could work. I’m not sure which is best yet.
If it becomes 36HP wide, it could be a bit cleaner. Aux D can also be added.
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These mockups look great. But I think if there was a new metropolis, it would be crazy to not have more steps. 16 at least really. My biggest grumble with the original was only the 8 steps. I know you can have repeats on each step, but still…
You could have 8 sliders and a page option to scroll through steps 1-8 / 9-16 / 17 - 25 / 26 - 32 etc
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Thank you!
I completely agree! I think a way to handle that would be via pages. Each page could have 8 steps, and there could be 8 pages (because you could hold a modifier and tap a zone to change to each of the 8 pages). That could give you 64 steps for each of the 4 sequences. It could work like this.
Turning the steps encoder = changes the number of steps.
Pressing the steps encoder = jump to the steps options on the screen.
Holding the steps encoder while tapping one of the 8 areas = jump to that step page.
Those would just be shortcuts. I think the steps options and steps page selection should also be available via menu diving using the main display navigation. This means it’s discoverable, but slower, or fast via the shortcut of using the steps encoder for pressed and chorded actions. The steps don’t take up much memory, so there could really be as many as is sensible to access via the front panel.
It’d also be awesome to have some per-step randomisation.
I totally agree.
I think that also shows why using the Tetrapad input is a good way to go for the future. With the hardware sliders and switches, there’s just no way to add more features without making it massive and expensive.
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