In his latest software video, your pal Wes (soffter) offers his take on the Squarp Instruments Hapax Advanced Polychronic Sequencer.
The Hapax is designed to be the centerpiece of your rig. It can handle up to a million notes and events; has MPE compatibility; offers input and output via DIN MIDI, USB MIDI & CV/Gate; features more than 180 physical controls; supports saving and loading to SD cards and more.
Is the Hapax the best sequencer ever made? Check out the video and share your thoughts in the comments!
West is right.
The Hapax is fantastic. On the surface the Ableton Live meets Elektron is clever but it’s the under the hood stuff like midi-CC definitions, encoder macros, midi-FX sequencing, transpose track, midi-mixer & dual projects set it apart from every other sequencer on the market. It’s surprisingly easy to learn too.
The midi-CC definition function becomes essential when you understand it. Wish other manufacturers and developers would implement them.
The balance of form & function Squarp have achieved is brilliant.
“16 tracks per project, 16 patterns per track.” so basically a techno sequencer.
I don’t own the hapax, but I’ve owned the Pyramid for almost 10 years and assuming they didn’t ditch the polyrhythm/polymetric functionality, nor the ability to make patterns effectively as long as you want, then no not a techno sequencer at all.
“ability to make patterns effectively as long as you want,” – ah, that’s a good piece of info. can i play keys into it and any rate, without quantization, and capture both modwheels at the same time? that would alleviate the pattern/track issue. but 16 tracks per project is still thin gruel for me.
Yep, you can play as sloppy as you like with a midi controller. You should hear the unquantized abominations my hands are capable of producing -I’d call it jazz but you’d call it comedy.
You can have 2 projects at a time, meaning 32 tracks at the same time (useful for transitioning between projects).
What about 16 tracks and 16 patterns makes it a techno sequencer?
Are you sequencing your generative ”music”. No? So you need some kind of measure for literally any genre of music ever created…. Yes… also Techno.
Far more than your average techno sequencer… https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LFybO-B5HFw&pp=ygUQSGFwYXggZnJhbmsgemFwYQ%3D%3D
For linear sequencing, MOTU Digital Performer is the best sequencer ever made. It has best-in-class quantization options (including any imaginable tuplet ratio). Custom scales, custom arpeggiation, transpose, harmonize, invert, retrograde, etc. etc.
For linear hardware sequencers, the sequencer in the Kurzweil K2500/K2600/K2661 is my favorite. It’s a powerful sequencer with linear record/play/edit features. It has flexible time-signatures. It provides a one-of-a-kind ARRANGE mode that allows you to play any number of full sequences from note triggers (with an option to scale the volume of the sequence’s playback to velocity (Velocity scales all the CC7 messages). It also have reference quantize so you can quantize one track to another’s timings. It’s super-powerful. Unfortunately, the arrange features didn’t quite make it to the newer generation of Kurzweils.
What is disappointing about most (all?) of the hardware sequencers is the scarcity of importing SMF, complete lack of tempo control (realtime or recorded tempo events), lack of step rate options, and pretty sparse sequence triggering abilities.
I really hope Squarp takes this platform and adds synths/samplers to it. Deluge is the current champion but it would be good to have some competition in the grid sequencer/groovebox department. Absolutely love the Deluge so I have not been able to justify getting a Hapax.. yet
Maybe for MIDI. But OXI One if you eurorack: 8 CV + 8 Gates. Lovely kit.
Apologies, if this is a repeat post, my other reply seems to be stuck in limbo for a few days now.
My favorite linear software sequencer is MOTU Digital Performer. It is often referred to as a composer’s DAW, with very powerful MIDI tools for rhythm, melody & harmony. It has best-in-class quantization features that allow any tuplet-ratio imaginable; flexible and customizable groove, scales/transposition/harmonization, arpeggiator, etc. And what it can’t do (e.g., chord triggers, etc.) can be accomplished with 3rd party plugins.
My favorite linear hardware sequencer is the one built into the Kurzweil K2000/K2500/K2600/K2661. It allows flexible time-signatures, with ARRANGE mode you can string together complex series of sequences, you can even trigger sequences via MIDI notes where the velocity scales the volume of each track (essentially scaling CC7’s with the velocity of the trigger note). It has reference-quantize allowing you to impose the timing of one track onto another. It’s the real deal. It’s not fun to edit on, but has everything I need. The newer models have lost some of the features of the ARRANGE mode, that were replaced with (IMHO) less powerful alternatives.
What is lacking in most standalone hardware sequencers are: the ability to control tempo in realtime or via recorded tempo events; flexible triggering of sequences; more step rate options, and higher clock resolutions. There’s more that is lacking, but I suppose people just find the feature sets that serve their purposes.
Obviously linear sequencers have different use cases and feature-sets than step/loop-based sequencers.