A recreation of the Classic ARP 1601 Sequencer from 1976. Used by such pioneers as Vince Clarke, Jean-Michel Jarre, John Carpenter, The Who... A 16-step sequencer that is simple to use but with great depth, and endless playability and modulation possibilities! The AP-16 can double up as 2x8-step sequencers, plus 3 Gate Outputs, 2 CV/Pitch Outputs, built in Quantizers, Clock Modulation, Skip and Reset Triggers, the list goes on! An amazingly fun sequencer has come to Voltage Modular!

Controls

Sequencer Panel

Gate Bus Switches - For each step you can select between 3 Gate Buses; when the step is active a GATE signal will output at the corresponding Bus Output. Gate Bus 1 is also connected to the Clocked Gate 1 Output as well as the Clock FM. Gate Bus 3 is also connected to the Skip/Reset Function, so depending on that setting, when Gate Bus 2 is selected the step will either reset or skip.

Voltage Sliders - Per step - control the output voltage. The slider covers a range of 0-2v/ 2 Octaves for the Quantized Ouptut (for controlling pitches), but also a -5..5v range in the Sequencer Outputs (for controlling other parameters).

Single / Dual Mode Switch - In single mode, you have 1x16 step sequencer, which will send duplicate values to Output & B. In dual mode, you now have parallel 2x8 step sequencer; the left half routed to Output A, the right to Output B.

Sequential / Random Switch - Determines whether the sequencer will advance sequentially, or pick steps at random.

Skip / Off / Reset Switch - Determines the function when Gate Bus 3 is active for a given Step. OFF will do nothing, SKIP will skip to the next step, while RESET will reset the sequencer back to the first step.

Step Button / Input - Sending a GATE signal to the input or pressing the button will advance the sequencer one step (or jump to a random step if in Random Mode).

Reset Button / Input - Sending a GATE signal to the input or pressing the button will reset the sequencer to Step 1.

Gate Bus Outputs - Sends out GATE signals based on the GATE BUS switch. For example, if Step 1 is the active step, and it is set to Gate Bus 2, then Gate Bus 2 Output will be HIGH, the others will be low.

Position 1 Output - Sends a GATE signal if the first step of the sequence is active. Great for synchronising with other sequencers.

Clocked Gate 1 Out - Combines the Gate Bus 1 Output with the Clock Output. This will only send a GATE signal if Gate Bus 1 is active and the Clock is running.

Clock Panel

Start Input - Pressing the button or sending a HIGH signal to the input starts the sequencer. If already running this will do nothing.

Stop Input - Pressing the button or sending a HIGH signal to the input stops the sequencer. If already stopped this will do nothing.

Start / Stop Button / Input - Pressing the button or sending a HIGH signal to the input toggles the sequencer on/off, based on the setting of the TRIG/GATE switch.

Trig / Gate Switch - If set to TRIG, A HIGH signal will toggle the sequencer on/off. If set to GATE, then the sequencer will only run whilst receiving a HIGH signal.

Clock Frequency - Sets the speed of the Sequencer.

FM Slider / Input - Here we can Modulate the Frequency of the Sequencer. The slider is hard-wired to Gate Bus 1 but can be overriden by plugging a signal source into the input, so setting the Slider above 0% and setting some Gate Bus Switches to Gate Bus 1 will cause the sequencer to speed up on those steps, essentially causing a swinging rhythm. Get creative with this one!

PWM Slider / Input - Sets the Pulse Width of the Clock (or how long the Clock is HIGH during a cycle). Useful for setting how long you want your sound to last (sending an LFO into this input gets things funky!)

Clock Out - Sends a Clock Pulse out (only when running).

Output Panel

Sequencer Outputs A & B- Raw -5v to 5v unquantized outputs. Great for sending signals to modulate other modules.

Inputs A & B - Any signal connected here will be quantized and output on the Quantized Outputs A&B.

CV Input - Connect your Keyboard Pitch control here to be able to transpose your sequencers.

Quantized Outputs A & B - Sends out the quantized values from the Sequencer Sliders (plus the signal from the CV Input/Inputs A&B).

Tips & Tricks

I heartily recommend live-toggling the Gate Bus Switches to alter your sequences on the fly, shortening, skipping, etc.

If you want a sequence length less than 16, say, 7 - set Gate Bus Switch to 3 on Step 8, and make sure the Reset/Skip switch is set to Reset.

Look for the ARP 1601 Sequencer manual online, it's a great source of patch examples

ARP is a registered trademark of Korg Inc. There is no association, affiliation, or endorsement of this product by Korg Inc.