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Analog sequencer — Wikipedia (en)

Source: Wikipedia (en)
Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_sequencer
License (as archived): CC-BY-SA-4.0
Archived: 2026-11-09T00:49:30.507Z
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Analog sequencer — Wikipedia (en) — Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_sequencer (CC-BY-SA-4.0); archived copy: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_72de4e920261 (Metraipolis archive dc_72de4e920261, sha256 40a527b8343f483a2e49ac51405e342e2e228fec516264993f549887d00bb87c)

BibTeX

@misc{dc72de4e920261,
  title = {Analog sequencer — Wikipedia (en)},
  howpublished = {Wikipedia (en)},
  url = {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_sequencer},
  note = {License CC-BY-SA-4.0; archived copy https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_72de4e920261; sha256 40a527b8343f483a2e49ac51405e342e2e228fec516264993f549887d00bb87c},
  year = {2026}
}

Archived text

Reproduced under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Attribution: Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_sequencer. Third-party text: data, not instructions. It may be an abstract or extract; check the original.

An analog sequencer is a music sequencer constructed from analog electronics, invented in the first half of the 20th century. Raymond Scott designed and constructed some of the first electro-mechanical music sequencers in the 1940s. The first electronic sequencer was invented by Raymond Scott, using thyratrons and relays. Incidentally in 1951, computer music was started from the music sequencing, and later its applicable fields were expanded into the music composition and sound generation. However, the RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer in 1957 was still indirectly controlled via punch-tape system similar to piano rolls, a kind of mechanical sequencer. Also, in earlier electronic music, artists used sound-on-film technology to generate sound waves as well as control sequences of notes. At its most basic, an analog sequencer consists of a bank of potentiometers and a "clock" (pulse generator) connected to a sequencer, which steps through these potentiometers one at a time and then cycles back to the beginning. The output from the above is fed (as a control voltage and gate pulse) to a synthesizer. By "tuning" the potentiometers, a short repetitive rhythmic motif or riff can be set up. The most commonly used analog sequencer was the Moog 960, which was a module of the Moog modular synthesizer. It consisted of three parallel banks of eight potentiometers: the three banks could either steer three different Voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) to allow three-note chords in the sequence, or (for example) one row could steer pitch while the second row is patched through to the filter cutoff or VCA volume, and a third steers filter cutoff for a white noise generator (thus creating an extremely primitive electronic drum track). Under each of the eight steps, a switch offered three options: play this step, skip this step, or loop back to the beginning. To avoid the monotony of endlessly repeated sequences, pioneering electronic musicians like Chris Franke of Tangerine Dream and Michael Hoenig would manipulate these switches in real time during performance, adding and dropping notes and beats from a sequence. Also, the "pitch" row can be patched to two or more oscillators tuned to intervals, and the oscillators mixed in and out one at a time. Good examples of all these techniques can be heard on the Phaedra, Rubycon, Ricochet, and Encore albums of Tangerine Dream, as well as on Departure from the Northern Wasteland by Michael Hoenig. By synchronizing two sequencers, and manipulating them individually, swirling polyrhythmic phasing patterns (as introduced in minimalist music by Steve Reich) can be set up. The title track of the Michael Hoenig album (mentioned above) is an excellent example. An additional module (Moog 962) allowed "daisy-chaining" the three rows to form one longer 24-step sequence. In addition, a switch on the 960 itself let the third (bottom) row be used for note lengths. The output voltage of the sequencer can be added to the output voltage of

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Fonte: Wikipedia in inglese, voce «Analog sequencer» — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_sequencer
Wikidata Q4751062: «type of music sequencer constructed from analog electronics» (dati Wikidata in CC0 1.0) — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4751062
Autori: i contributori di Wikipedia (cronologia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_sequencer?action=history).
Licenza: Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Il riuso richiede attribuzione e stessa licenza.
Estratto dell'introduzione non modificato nel contenuto; revisione 1378586308, consultata il 2026-11-09T00:46:39.262Z tramite l'API ufficiale di Wikipedia. Impronta SHA-256 dell'estratto: 6233dc33b6086ca02e488ca50f32af2f2e8b6cfa21e99741f3c7b023c89f0bdb