Nerdseq accompaniment

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but hopefully...

Hello. I have decided to become a Nerdseq guy. I've been recently playing/working in a group where I program songs and perform them live with a drummer using the Polyend Tracker somewhat fot samples but mostly as a MIDI sequencer/clock for a couple synths and effects I fiddle around with. Basically, I want to adapt this workflow to my existing modular setup as well, and I want to try it with the Nerdseq and all its CV outs rather than a MIDI to CV converter. If I like it, I will probably get the more CV and video expander, and maybe the one with the encoder if I'm feeling rich one day. I don't have enough things to trigger to need 16 triggers and I'm not on the hunt for new voices or anything, but I can't rule anything out.

I have the stuff I want to control with it already - a Moog Mavis, a Pico System III, a small Buchla Tiptop based system that is slightly cramped but a lot of fun, and I suppose my Dust Collector counts as well (though it mostly modulates itself, and I soend maybe half my time onstage playing with it anyway because it's my favorite). It all sounds pretty great to me, but I want to organize it a bit and have a repertoire of structures I can work through.

My question is: what would you add next to a Nerdseq to make it more "playable"? Like, to mess with basic sequences on the fly as they progress and evolve over an arrangement that I've considered in advance (at least in skeletal form). Basically things to make a single patch for a single show as flexible as possible.

I have an 84hp rack and an endorphin.es 2hp power supply for the Nerdseq and whatever else when I get it, and I plan to build this up slowly as and carefully as money becomes available, buy while I have this set up as an 84hp setup, I'm not married to that amount of space for this task. These were my thoughts so far, though:

• Matrix mixer to move CV to different places on a whim
• Maths to do Maths stuff. I've always wanted to try a Maths and I like the idea of access to stuff like slew limiting, envelope rise and fall, attenuverting, etc. as I go. I can even use it to filter one of the samples if I feel crazy.
• Precision adder for moving notes around so that they're still notes.

Maybe a sequential switch as well? I know this isn't an exact science, but I'm trying to see if there's any other cool utilities for this task I haven't thought of yet (I already have a mixer that handles Eurorack). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, the Nerdseq is not initially designed to be the most 'playable' sequencer. But it frees your hands to act on the other modules! So, alongside its own powerful CV programming, you can be very active by tweaking the knobs: the cutoff of a filter, the attack of an envelope, the intensity of a folder, of an attenuator / attenuverter, etc. You can also act to open or mute a signal, switch a control...

This advice. I think you should include controller modules: joystick, touch-sensitive surface, ribbon controller, Theremin and so on. For my part, I use and particularly appreciate modules like Planar2 and Tetrapad.

I don't own the Soundmachines LP1lightplane (power hungry) but it's obviously a great module.
I have already had the opportunity to present this video here. One of Luis Codera Puzo's mottos is (and I quote from memory): 'We don't need more modules, we need more discipline'.

On Nerdseq, first get some patience because it's a bear to get a handle on 80% of the things it can do.
The company is just one (occasionally cranky) engineer, and the documentation is... challenging.

Instead of getting more modules to feed, I'd recommend getting a Doepfer A-185-2 Precision CV Adder.
It makes combining and tuning CVs from Nerdseq a lot easier than doing it in the Seq's interface.
Much fun to be had there adding CVs together.

NS does a lot with midi too, and I liked the price and footprint of Xor's 2hp midi in/out.
You get lot of utility for the 2hp of space it takes. I put it on a longer ribbon cable for ease of placement and it works great.
The Video/Keyboard works well if you think you need that, but it causes a bit of a ribbon cable rat's nest.
I have a CV-16 Expander, but it's very much a seperate device as far as programming it.
The high effort/reward ratio kept me from using it much and it's back on the shelf.

In all, NerdSeq is well made, reliable and if you need to spit out series of notes that you set up ahead of time,
it's a great choice, especially if you enjoy a tracker paradigm interface.

I just got a Frap Tools Usta today (so beautifully made) and I'm expecting that it and the NS will get along wonderfully.

http://noodlehut.bandcamp.com

EDITED Feb 27th, 02:00

Thanks everyone.

The precision adder feels like a good idea. I don't necessarily plan to obsess over melody and tuning in the modular, but it still seems like a nice simple way to change stuff. Joysticks and touch interface stuff are also cool - the latter is probably more practical and intuitive to me, but something about manipulating Nerdseq CV with a joystick feels appropriate.

I won't be rushing any of this auxiliary stuff anyway - for now, just getting the Nerdseq itself will give me plenty to do and play around with. Really, I have about 3-5 voices to mess around with here at any given time and they are all well-equipped with modulation for now, so I'll probably only need the expanders (except the MIDI one, which seems like a good call) if I become a die hard fan. The video one is almost more interesting to me since we've got some video elements to play live with as well and I think it'd be charming to include images from it as we play.

The video interface is intended for displaying the interface on an hdmi monitor, and it does that really well.
The video output is clean and records well. I wish that more/every manufacturer would provide that functionallity.

The video-art mode is low-res, unsupported, unfinished, and mostly undocumented (as of firmware v2.0).
I think Xor just thought it was an interesting hack, and kept what he had in the release, but it's sort of borked.
I got it to do some "things" but I was dissapointed I couldn't do basic drawing with it (draw a pixel/line at XY with this color).
It has a some potential, but also is limited by what the embedded video controller hardware is capable of.
Graphics mode also eats up one of the precious few tracks when using it for visuals.
Video synthesis it ain't, so don't buy it for that, but some audiences might enjoy seeing the tracker interface.

EDITED Feb 27th, 02:55

I've also only recently gotten into NS with plans to use it live, but I've only barely scratched the surface of what it can do.

Don't forget about the 4 CV ins on the Nerdseq, which can be mapped to pretty much anything, including generating euclidean patterns on the fly (it used to require the trigger expander, but I think you can do it in a regular track as of the most recent firmware, haven't tested it yet). The Nerdseq isn't the most immediate or "playable" sequencer out of the box and requires some setting up, however, once you have some stuff going, the CV ins can be invaluable to mess with your patterns and evolve them on the fly. I'd consider a joystick or something like the Lapsus Os with several CV slider offsets to pair it with the NS.

The video interface is intended for displaying the interface on an hdmi monitor, and it does that really well.
The video output is clean and records well. I wish that more/every manufacturer would provide that functionallity.

The video-art mode is low-res, unsupported, unfinished, and mostly undocumented (as of firmware v2.0).
I think Xor just thought it was an interesting hack, and kept what he had in the release, but it's sort of borked.
I got it to do some "things" but I was dissapointed I couldn't do basic drawing with it (draw a pixel/line at XY with this color).
It has a some potential, but also is limited by what the embedded video controller hardware is capable of.
Graphics mode also eats up one of the precious few tracks when using it for visuals.
Video synthesis it ain't, so don't buy it for that, but some audiences might enjoy seeing the tracker interface.
-- lumpytapioca

I did just mean the tracker interface. It fits the older aesthetic of the video sources (and even the old Edirol video mixer) we have.