Biafra! sequencer

I built this sequencer during Hrup smo mi - Noise is us festival organized by Circulacija2. The workshop Advanced electronics and electronic sound workshop by Uwe Schuler and Jördis Drawe from KulturGüter- Schuppen was based on Uwe’s LuSy_Seq sequencer, which is what powers Biafra.

I am not going to talk a lot about the circuit. This is so because the electronic design is from Uwe and, apart from some minor decisions along the way, my job was simply to solder everything together. It is a sophisticated application of 4000 series of logic circuits, a 8-step sequencer with three independent pulse outputs and one output for control voltage, intended to control three drum lines and a sequencer, respectively. Additionally, keeping with the modular spirit, there are provisions for connecting it to other sequencers via inputs and outputs for the clock and other control signals.

Assembling the electronics was a couple of days’ job in the workshop. Somehow I got seriously carried away with building a case for the sequencer. Some kind of craftsmanship binge, I guess. A lot of effort went into making the wooden outer structure. For this, I had the pleasure and power of using the cnc milling machine built by Stefan from Circulacija2. That was my first introduction to such machine tools, and a really positive one. Another important phase was painting the case is bright colors.

As a finishing touch, I made neat unique knobs for the potentiometers. The starting point was the mayonnaise bottle caps that Uwe preferred as reasonably priced knobs. He had also laser-cut holders that went between the caps and potentiometers’ shafts. The final touch, my own innovation, was to use the coincidentally arrow shaped leftovers from the laser cutter. I painted them red and attached them to the caps, the end result being really nice looking knobs. Extra satisfaction comes from the fact that the use of wood is optimal no. No leftover pieces were left at all.

As LuSy_Seq is designed in a very modular manner, and I added inputs and outputs for all the options, it seems clear that this is to be the first part of a modular synthesizer system. Unfortunately, I have not concentrated much on musical equipment lately. Thus Biafra remains the sole module of the system. However, it has found its use by being included in the Brain stimulation setup.