As a Berlin School enthousiast I am hooked to the razor sharp, and often, complex sequences by Chris Franke (Tangerine Dream), Klaus Schulze and other artists…
While I’m working my ass off to expand my studio with a Synthesizers.com modular synthesizer including 2 Q960 Sequential Controllers and other analog hardware, I was getting bored by the same sequences and the inability to change a sequence like a 960 module can (skip/normal/stop per step).
After searching for usefull codes I came across the FBxx code (which I never thought was usefull).
First I was copy/cut/pasting the code at the appropriate location but it took way too much time.
So while I was jamming, there it was! Brilliant! Why not place the code after each note and edit it on the fly?
This actually works amazing, you can even play the sequence backwards without stopping it.
I have made a short video to demonstrate how it works:
To do this fast you should know where the notes are in the sequence and where you’ve placed the previous codes, so a bit of concentration is essential.
If you would like to make some retro Berlin School without an expensive modular sequencer, try this!
Normally I only use one pattern to keep overview of the sequence, but you can also use this to switch to sequences in other patterns.
I’m trying to find out if this works with breakbeats using two Renoise windows (one for the usual stuff like basslines, and one for mashing the breaks realtime).
Nice. I was just thinking that on my way home from work… if you had two sync’d (sunk, ha!) renoises you could go nuts doing this on the fly. one for some 09breakage and the other a melody loop like in that vid. (or a whole song in a single pattern for that matter). theoretically anyway. fun.
After trying some things I discoverd that the FBxx code works in one Renoise window while the other is playing the patterns like it should, so I think it’s possible.
Now the question remains how to do this as fast as hell…
I used to do the same thing with 2 crossfading (looped) breaks and the block loop. I will try to combine this with the FBxx codes when I have the time for it.
I tried it with a bassline and an Amen break but is takes some serious preparation to do it fast. You must arrange the sequence in a way that at every point you make it loop, it will crossfade between 2 looped breaks (this creates a fast breakage effect if you use breaks that are looped at different positions).
I think you can do the same with normal 09xx breakage though, but not that fast…
There was a command in IT2 that would jump to different areas of the pattern, and only be active a certain number of times… this allowed for intricate nested looping and such. I really wish Renoise had this feature
