Korg - SQ-64 Polyphonic Step Sequencer + Software Bundle

Product Information

You can create a sequence ‘offline’ by holding a step and pressing a note in the keyboard layout, which is fine, but it doesn’t quite have the efficiency of conventional step‑recording. I’m impressed with the combination of features and compromises that Korg makes on their “budget” gear.

If the item comes direct from a manufacturer, it may be delivered in non-retail packaging, such as a plain or unprinted box or plastic bag. Hitting the global button allows you to set various aspects of the device so it fits with the rest of your gear, including things like 5 or 10 volts for pitch output, CC control mapping and the like. Use the integrated arpeggiator to add further intrigue to your sounds - squeezing every bit of potential out of your digital/analog synths and soft plugins too. All your patterns can also be freely chained and looped, making this the ultimate device for machine live! The moments of probability, of randomisation, of stochastic movement and Fill brings a level of interest and enjoyment that’s beyond my fingers’ meagre abilities.The percussion track has 16 sub‑tracks that all share the same number of steps and tempo/timing of the master track, but you can program them independently for 16 channels of percussive sound over MIDI or eight over CV. It has never been easier to create polyphonic chords patterns, melodies, complex poly-rhythms and modulations on the fly and record them as data on each of the 64 project slots available. It should be a setting or something, they just introduced copy paste so maybe we’ll see it in a future update.

So gating things on and off, for example a sample on a sampler module or an ADSR envelope won't work. Instead of playing the step chord normally, it arpeggiate it one or more times within the step duration. KSP has a terrible clock when it’s acting as a slave or USB-midi converter and this was dealbreaker in the end for me. Solid case, the knobs could be more user friendly, also the lighting of the knobs, where you cannot tell from time to time if they are lit or not. That vibe of playfulness is carried through in the Loop Mode and under the Shift key as you discover new ways to run or ruin your patterns.With a 64-step pad matrix, OLED display, and aluminium body, SQ-64’s wealth of connections and modes will quickly make it an indispensable part of your live and studio rig.

SQ64 may have been lacking at launch, but the updates they did to it over the last couple years made this one of the best, most versatile pieces of CV-generating gear that exists. All three mod channels output negative voltage below 64, 0 voltage at 64, and positive voltage above 64.So if you play something and want to have it set to the grid you have to go back and edit every steps one by one to set the offset to 0. The sequencer has to make a decision as to whether the next step will be one forward, one backwards, two forward or the same step.