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.
Very interesting brainstorming and good ideas! Here’s another iteration on the subject.
-Aux A-D assignable to any function by holding assign and pushing a slider. The slider works as an attenuverter.
-Mute/select/save button to swap between mute channel and select channel modes. Holding button and pressing somewhere in pulses section saves current pattern.
Configure 1/2 & 3/4 buttons enter channel configuration pages on slider pad. Functions of each column indivated with grey text above the pad. Pitch section has controls for channel 1 or 3 and pulses section for channel 2 or 4. Slide/skip section indicates which patterns are chained together, and gate section how many times each is repeated. (Length determines overall length of sequence despite chaining.) Chaining allows for more than 16 stages.
-Configure master page has controls indicated in black text above slider pad. Values of eg BPM indicated with leds on slider pad as text. Pulses section of pad allows loading saved patterns. There could be also a swing type parameter with different profiles, and not just the basic 16th note.
-Channel buttons to swap between sequences/ to mute channels if mute mode is active. Holding a channel button and pressing a slider allows for using a cv of a channel to internally modulate parameters.
-Buttons could have leds to indicate which channel/page is active.
There’s still room for othe functions on the panel (function x)…
I’m not sure if separate accents are neccessary, one could just use one of the other channels for accents and modulation.
Loving these mockups and concepts! Great ideas and discussions
One thing I would caution though is that the resolution of the touch pads is probably not fine enough to be able to comfortably fit small, precise switching. You would need a stylus to really be able to do that or a much larger and spaced out tetrapad (like a Linnstrument). Every time you lift your finger off the pad it will change the position and you would not be able to see the leds as you are setting them. So unfortunately things like the 8 position switches would probably be very hard to adjust; Also when you change direction of measurement (like the horizontal row) that would have to be isolated from the linear positioned elements. It would be fun to make a giant Metropolis in this style!
These Tetropolis mockups look very cool. I think they lose the spirit of the Metropolis, which is aimed at that specific style of sequencing. But in return they seem more versatile, and I’d be more interested in them as a flagship/one-stop sequencer than the Metropolis.
I’d think they’d have to be able to do everything Steppy can. What about modes for the touchpads instead of showing everything at once? You could fit more steps on the panel with a dedicated gate mode. You could also do all tbe probability/ratchet/etc. modes that way.
I agree! Apple’s done a lot of research on this for the iPhone, and they settled on about 7mm square for a comfortable touch target. Here’s a mockup that ensures the touch targets are big, and also takes a crack at reimagining things in a potential future Intellijel style that uses black PCBs.
It’s 36HP, and has accent just on the first 2 sequences. Once again, the buttons are a bit hand wavy on how they’d all work. Most would likely be mode switches, with a few exceptions that are actions (run, reset etc). They could also be in a better order.
Probability and being mode driven would be great. It’s always nice to have things immediately available, but as modules do more, modes are definitely a great way to reuse the input for lots of features. I’d definitely be all for that. I think having the screen helps with feedback, too (it’s easy to get lost without very explicit lights or text letting you know where you are).
Here’s another mockup, this time with some LEDs under the gate outputs, and with things reshuffled a bit to make more sense. Oh, and probability added, as @Minatorymodular suggested. The pitch, pulses and probability mode selection buttons are all in a row now, with the lit state matching the blue LEDs in the touch area.
Ok, time for some new mockups! I’ve switched to Rogan PT Series Round Control Knobs, rather than some quick made up thing. These are similar to the current encoders Intellijel are using, just with a white cap, that looks great with a dark module. I’ve also moved the buttons around, so they’re a lot more sensible, and added another row.
Run and Reset are actions. Seq toggles between sequences 1 to 4 (which includes pages of a sequence, if a sequence is longer than 8 steps). These all have white LEDs behind them. Run would blink with the clock pulses. Reset would blink when a reset external input is detected.
Scale, BPM and Config all jump to the relevant page on the display. These act as radio buttons (only one mode can be active at once).
Pitch, Pulse and Probability buttons jump to the relevant page for the blue touch areas.
Skip, Slide and Accent buttons jump to the relevant page for the green touch row.
Other actions and settings not mentioned would all be available via the top encoder and the display. Hopefully the GIFs below demonstrate how easy this would be to understand and use while performing.
@Danjel I really want this to exist! Please feel free to use any or all of these ideas. I realise this is now a long way from the initial Metropolis, but I do think it would be an incredible performance sequencer.
I feel you. Personally I think the metropolis is a classic, but I think buyers these days crave features for larger modules that may cost as much as a poly synth. It’s only natural to daydream about what you can add. And they probably will, at some point, come out with another big sequencer with tons of features, but I hope they always keep the original in production.
Well the downside of the metropolis is that you can’t really store patterns, but just about everything else about how it is designed make it s great for modular. The parameters you can control with external CV are well thought out and allow you to create melodic variations generativity while still feeling like you are sculpting the melodies by hand with the switches and sliders.
But I don’t actually own one, rather I get to use the ones at my friend’s house and that might play into my opinion on it. I associate it with fun times messing around on large systems.
While I don’t know of anything that beats the Metropolis for noodling and performing, I currently have my Metropolis removed from my main rack and stored in a 4MS Pod, because its features are too limited to justify its size for more deliberate composition.
Two features would probably change this for me, and I believe they can both be achieved via firmware update:
(1) The ability to load a new saved pattern via CV.
(2) The ability to configure Metropolis so when a new pattern is loaded (either using the physical interface, or via CV as per above), it starts playing the new pattern after the current pattern is finished, and not immediately.
This way I could load Metropolis with eight different patterns and use a different sequencer/controller (such as my Tete/Tetrapad) to control the order that the patterns are played, as a kind of voltage-controlled song mode.
That said, I suspect that Intellijel regards Metropolis as “finished” with regard to firmware. There hasn’t been any updates in a long time, and the module doesn’t facilitate easy updates anyway, so I expect that creating a new update probably isn’t worth the effort and trouble.
This is why I opted for an elektron sequencer plugged into a midi to CV module. Weirdly, this also removed the feeling that seems to be around that Metropolis’
I rarely use it for composition, except for recording 4-bar snippets and layering them on the OT.
Also I think sequencers present a special challenge to module designers, because a sequencer that is played live needs to be big, and if you start to store patterns then the knobs and switches may not represent the pattern that is loaded.
These is actually one of the gripes I have with the Varigate 4+, the module is so small you can only edit one parameter field at a time, and the sliders almost never represent the value of their position. I mean you get used to it, but then you use a Metropolis and realize that maybe Intellijel knows what they are doing.
Cleary Intellijel have the chops to make another big sequencer, and it seems like they have been paying close attention to what people want in the eurorack community. It will be interesting to see what they decided to do with the design.
I’ve been using the Omsonic Stochastic sequencer for a while, and I’ve gotta say, it’s reaaaaaally interesting. Not as linear/predicable as the Metropolis, but the ability to set probabilities for notes within a scale, as well as probabilities for rhythms, is extremely useful.
I love my Metropolis, won’t get rid of it any time soon, but would love to see some of the probabilistic elements from the Omsonic (or now the Vermona as well) get incorporated.
Technically speaking, one could argue that the Metropolis does 16 steps: set “STAGES” to 16, and get there through pulse repeats or looping around through the beginning (or ping-ponging, etc.). I’ve certainly done this more than once.
But yes, I agree, having 16 independent steps would be nice, as long as it doesn’t compromise interface too much. Otherwise I’m fine with it as-is.
Yep. That was honestly one of the main things to consider with these mockups, and why I opted for the Tetrapad-like touch areas with LEDs. That way the panel can easily show the state, which then allows for loading, switching pages, or even using the touch area to represent other things.
Hardware faders are great for being tactile and fast to use, but unless you’re going to use motorised faders, I think the only decent option is to move to touch + LEDs. If you have other suggestions, I’d love to hear them!
Yep! The mockups above allow for 8 pages of 8 steps without much trouble (64 steps). It’d be pretty easy to add even more, but it depends on how cumbersome you want the editing to be.
Yeah, probability would be great. (Please see the mockups above on how this could be done.)
Is there anything else you’d like?
That’s a pretty cool and interesting approach to a sequencer. Cool stuff.
I am pretty satisfied with the electron approach of having rotary encoders that always correlate to a value on a particular spot of the display, and directional pad to move a cursor. You can make the encoders velocity sensitive so you can sweep a lot of values by turning quickly, but zero in on a value if you need to trim something by modding the knob slowly.
I own an Analog Four MkII and I find their controls and UI to absolutely amazing. I haven’t actually used the sequencer yet! I sequence the Analog Four via MIDI. I should give it a spin.
The main thing I love about the Metropolis is that it’s all so immediate and everything so easy and quick to get to. Hopefully that spirit has been captured in the mockups in this thread.
The pitch, pulse, and probability buttons switch the value shown and being edited by the step encoders. Accessing other values (bpm, steps etc) would be done by pressing or holding shift, then turning the respective encoder.
Hold shift, and while still holding shift, turn the encoder.
That allows for quick access in cases where two hand operation is possible, while also allowing for single handed use. It’s no more steps than are currently required for the Metropolis to do things like changing the key, bpm, swing and other options — right now you have to press a button, then turn the main encoder. As I have it set up, you’d have to press shift, then turn the relevant encoder. It could even be set up to work by pressing the encoder, then turning as well.
I’m all for chorded actions as shortcuts, while also allowing for slower, but more obvious access to features.
