ALM / Busy Circuits out of the UK has some tasty-looking new modular gear, including a very friendly little sequencer. You’ll find dual filters and stereo multi-effects added to their range, as well.
Let’s be honest – the second half of 2022 is looking like a tough time for hardware. (More on that to come.) But ALM is one of the makers getting stuff out the door – including their newest sequencer. (Checking Rubadub in their neck of the woods; other stockists have various gear of theirs, though not everything is in stock everywhere.)
And it’s looking like a particularly good year for sequencers. The ASQ-1 has a nifty little mechanical computer keycap octave, C to C, and focuses on simple pattern generation. Want notes? Enter them step-time, SH-101 style. Want drum patterns or pulses? Use simple x0x drum editing.
That simplicity and accessibility is draw enough, but this packs a punch as far as features, as you can run multiple sequencers at once:
- 2x step-time CV/gate sequencers
- 4x drum pattern sequencers (or for anything else that wants pulses…)
- 1x clock with external high-resolution CV quantization (and external and internal operation, naturally)
- Optional internal division per-pattern
- USB-C connectivity (both for firmware updates and backing up your sequences)
- Reverse power protection
It’s all made in the UK, 32HP. Watch it in action:
They also have a clock/modulator unit that might pair well with the ASQ-1, called Pamela’s NEW Workout (which has an accessory water bottle in their shop, if you start to break a sweat).
Product page:
That’s just out this month, but for other stuff introduced earlier this year:
MFX (ALM032) is a multi-effects processor in 6HP, covering a lot of classic digital effects (reverbs and echoes, especially):
MCFx2 is a dual filter with LP / HP / BP / notch outputs for each, 3-pole – and you can run these in parallel, serial, or with linked cutoff:
Keeping an eye on these; love that neat and tidy design.
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