Korg - SQ-64 Polyphonic Step Sequencer + Software Bundle

Product Information

So the SQ 64 is definitely released and out in the wild, I picked mine up about four weeks ago now, but from what I understand, production has been hit by Covid issues and quantities are limited.

With its powerful built-in Arpeggiator you can easily bring to life and create interesting patterns out of any of your soft plugins, analog or digital synths, for immediate inspiration. The SQ64 is one of the most useful pieces of gear in my studio right now, after owning it for 6 months, I love it even more than when I first got it. Tracks A,B,C can also be set as Mono, Poly or Arp - this provides a sort of tempo based flam or strum for the notes in a chord on a particular step - its not really a full Arpeggiator which would be nice to have.Three are melodic, with up to eight notes of polyphony, while the fourth is rhythmic and capable of pumping out 16 monophonic paths of percussion (eight over CV). The Force was a great sequencer, but it have way more stuff in it like sampling/effects/mixing/clips and I didn't want all that and felt that it was convoluted if you don't need that. The SQ-64 has 64 beautifully LED-lit Step button pads that not only let you see the whole picture at once, but also allow for super-fast and satisfactory editing with its encoder knobs and dedicated mode buttons that will simplify and speed up your workflow. Each of the Melody tracks (x3) has 16 Patterns of up to 64 steps each, and the Drum track (x1) has 16 Subtracks also with up to 64 steps each, that can be played, chained and edited in a variety of ways. The 3 melody tracks include a MODULATION output, so every step on your sequence can be creating complex modulations on your gear of choice, greatly expanding your options and possibilities for sound creation.

I had a blue monotron die randomly sat in a drawer having been only powered on a few times, i do wonder if this tendency they have to shrink products makes them a little more prone to electronics issues. For instance, Slides only appear over CV, whereas the velocity ramping in the Step Divisions will only happen over MIDI. This track doesn’t accept any pitch information, tie or slides but you still have Length, Offset, Probability and Step Division.

It should be a setting or something, they just introduced copy paste so maybe we’ll see it in a future update. Powered through USB or external 9V DC adaptor, a choice of power options offer both versatility and flexibility. The SQ-64 won't just allow you to create incredible sequences; it packs several features and modes that will let you edit on the fly and play any of your gear real-time.

The process feels rather convoluted and seems to involve too many confusing button combinations, which achieve not quite what you were hoping for. The buttons are raised, the lights break the surface, and the decals give it a roughness beneath your fingers.I must say that overall, I am enjoying the SQ 64 very much, it's been years since I've used a hardware sequencer, and I'm finding it quite inspiring.

OK so I’m using the new OSv2 “step copy” feature on one of the drum tracks because I’m trying to speed up the process of dialing in velocity changes to multiple notes in a track. I guess I should ask over in the Landscape Noon thread, but at their site they said that while a Beatstep Pro (which I have) works well, they can't recommend the SQ-64 because it has "low power, can activate some voices but not all". All of the patch sockets are on the back, which means I can’t butt the SQ‑64 up against my rack because of all the cables. You can record melodies with different keyboard mode but it is just not possible to play rhythms and record them into the drum sequencer.You can specify a linear or exponential curve to govern the rate of change from one modulation value to another from step to step, or have it jump to the next one. When the device is set to a brightness above 7 it introduces these vertical lines and often scrambles the screen, it is otherwise fine. 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.