Hi all. I misspoke; it was Moritz Klein who did a tutorial on how to build a step sequencer for Eurorack. Sorry for any difficulties!

Thank you for contributing this series of clear-headed and pragmatic tutorials! Although you stated that you don't know if you plan to create more tutorials I would encourage to create more videos discussing your thoughts on some of the finer points of electronic theory. For instance, why electrolytic capacitors have polarized leads, or why do we connect certain pins on the 555, or how to modify a diy sequencer. I know there are other videos on these subjects but you communicate so clearly, I bet there are a lot of people who would receive your lessons more readily than the others that have been published. If that doesn't appeal to you, I'll simply be pleased to hear more of your electronic music!

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, Patrick. Very kind of you. I’ll consider your suggestion. For now, I highly recommend EEVBLOG for such ‘deep dives.’ He is an engineer and I am not. I did enjoy doing this series. Brought me out of my shell a little to do so. I really appreciate you, Patrick.

@pbartmess

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers Good suggestion!

@joeneoj

Жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I agree with Patrick! Me and youtube in whole would appreciate more of your tutorials. Maybe a more advanced sequencer as a follow-up to this video! Thanks a bunch for this

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

8 ай бұрын

Patrick, I wanted to ask you, does your sequencer (you bought from me) oplay nicely with Eurorack? Have you hooked it up to a quantizer and had success?

@pbartmess

8 ай бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I have found that it works best as a stand-alone instrument. I send the audio through effects pedals, much like you have demonstrated, and it sounds great. I have not tried to integrate it with my modular system because the clock would need to be synchronized with the rest of the modules. I haven't attempted to quatize the signal because my quantizer will only process control voltage. I have seen a module called Disting 4 which will quantize audio signals but if I wanted to change the tones I would rather use the pitch correcter in my DAW. I quite like the way your all-in-one sequencer sounds anyway - it suits my needs well.

Nice tutorial, thanks for sharing this 👍👍😍

Oh this is amazing. I just followed Tutorial and made one. Thank you.

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

That’s so great! I was hoping this would inspire and help others to build their own sequencer! I am endlessly enamored of them, myself!

Big like 👍 8 and subscribed! Thank you so much for sharing this fabulous video!

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Hi! You’re SO welcome! I hope you’ll actually follow along and build your own! Please let me know if you do! 😃 I hope you’ll check out my other videos as well! I also build sequencers to sell in case you or a friend is interested.

Sarah, this series has been great. Thank you so much. ☺

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

You’re very welcome! Thank you! Are you going to build one or have you already?

@Stephens8x6Workshop

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I am in the process of building a synth style device to emulate northumbrian pipes which will incorporate drones, drums and acompaniment rythms. It started off as a simple project but is taking on the shape of a modular synth. Your videos have helped me get my head around sequencer principles. Keep doing what you do lovely lady ☺

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

@@Stephens8x6Workshop Wow, Stephen, you’re quite ambitious with your projects! I’m curious to see and hear what you build-achieve!

@Stephens8x6Workshop

Жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I'll let you know when things take shape 🙂

I thoroughly enjoyed this series. Well paced and the production was spot on. I hope to see more in the near future. *Subbed

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Hi Kick, thank you and thanks for subbing! Very much appreciated!

Sarah 🎉 wow thank you so much, the follow along was easy ! I managed to finally get me a little 4 step sequencer going with 5V and 20k pots , you gave me all pieces to the puzzle I need just those principal connections you explain clear as days, bless you mam I can finally sleep at night 😂🎉❤

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

Hooray!! You’re just the kind of person I made this series for! I am thrilled you’re up and running with a freshly made sequencer of your own! 😃

Hi Sarah! I have several of your videos with the step sequencers, and you have gotten me very intrigued by these! You were very clear on how to wire the circuit and I honestly thought it would be much more complex! It's a very basic circuit and I will have to give this a try, will need to get some parts before I can! I can totally see myself getting lost with this circuit and fidgeting for hours!

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@brendajanes4139

Жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers You know what? I forgot to ask a question, which pots would work the best? Audio taper or linear taper? I would think audio taper, but could be wrong.

A quick update! I got it working finally! It was poor wiring and forgetful wiring! Thank you Sarah for your tutorial and your extra help with trouble shooting! Just uploaded a short thank you clip to my channel haha! Take care, speak soon! Lee : )

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Success!!! 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😃👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻That’s great, Lee! It’s a happy moment to get a seqeuncer up and beeping! I’ll check out your clip, thanks.

@leovonfitzy

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers haha! It was a very happy moment for sure! Thanks again Sarah and best wishes! ! !

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

@@leovonfitzy I *know* that feeling when your sequencer fires up and comes to ‘life’ at last! I practically jumped up and down when I got my first one working! It was like Christmas as a child!

Hey ! Thank you for the tutorial. I'm currently building this ! I'm wondering if you can make a fourth Part to explain how to mute a step, how to make a legato mode, et ceatera ... Thank you for your videos

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

You’re so welcome! I hope you have success with your sequencer! I hope you’ll Like, Subscribe and share these videos! Sorry, but no, I only wished to do a 3 part series to get people going, building their own step sequencer.

Great you are so talented my friend 👍👏🏻🥰🤩

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Oh, thank you so much, Specsygirl! I subscribed to your channel. I hope you’ll enjoy my channel as well. ☺️🌸❤️🙏🏻

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Will you try to build it?

@Specsygirl

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers afcrse

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

@@Specsygirl great! Let me know how it goes, ok?

@Specsygirl

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers yeah a bit

Woohoo! I feel like bally made a working one after watching this series. One question I have though... When the first pot/led wasn't working at the end, what was it that you moved to make it work? I seem to have the same issue of that one not working

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

3 ай бұрын

I had placed the led one row over. Happy to hear you built this!!

@SuperHeaphy

3 ай бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers thank you! I've changed that and it's working now 😁 These videos have been the best tutorial I have found online because you step through each bit with good detail and it's been a lifesaver ❤️ I find the 100k pots have the most tone difference in a small area at the top end - is there a way to adjust this? Once I've got my head around it all a bit better, I think I'll try customising to have more tone controls

Had I not seen the channel name, I would’ve sworn you were either Ann or Nancy Wilson from Heart 😮. Seriously though, your tutorial is very informative 👍🏼

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

That would be Ann, the brunette, and thank you *very* much! I think she’s so pretty!

Hey! This was extremely helpful, thanks! Where’s the link to that ben eater project? I wanna make a eurorack compatible version…

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

11 ай бұрын

So happy you liked it! Please Like and subscribe. I misspoke. It was actually Moritz Klein who did the Eurorack sequencer build. Here’s his link: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qHyCs7NvqbitqdI.htmlsi=zDU1DsPWUo8Es1CV

Hello and thank you for this upload! Been waiting for clear breadboard instructions on KZread for ages ha! I have never had luck with sequencers involving a 4017...! I have followed your video very carefully and built it numerous times and everything works apart from the sound haha! Do you have any trouble shooting tips for when the sound fails but everything else works?? Thank you very much for this series! Best wishes! ;)

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Hi, Lee! Sorry to hear you’re having a hard time with the sound aspect! If you are certain you’ve built it carefully, I recommend you replace your 555 timer on the far right. The one you add in part 3. That’s the sound/ oscillator circuit. It may be damaged. They can be easily damaged by static electricity. As long as the leds are sequencing, something you did in part 3 build went wrong. So, don’t worry that it happened in the two earlier parts. Also, set each of the potentiometers to the midway point. Once you get it right, you’ll be sure to get sound. Also, be sure your speaker works by trying it with something else if you can. If none of this works, please let me know; I really want you to have success with this build - I KNOW how it sucks when you can’t get something to work. Try again and let me know, ok, Lee? 🙂

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Also. When you connect the led to pin 3 of the potentiometers, ensure you connect the positive side of the led. That’s the side with a wire from the 4017.

@leovonfitzy

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers Thank you sarah for such a detailed response! It sounds really helpful! I will have time later today to give it a go, and will let you know as soon as i get my first bleep ! Ha! Kind regards! Lee!

@leovonfitzy

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers You definitely hit upon something there! It seems I might have overlooked the step bizarrely, and I thought I was so thorough! :) I will need more wire it seems that I ran out ha! When it arrives in the post, I will get building! Thank you for your replies Sarah they have been a great help! I will let you know!! : )

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

@@leovonfitzy just checking in to see if you’ve been successful with your sequencer build..?

Hi! Thanks for this very helpful tutorial series ! I was wondering what would prevent this design to work with eurorack? I split your circuit in two by isolating the clock part in a 1U module. Now I'd like to build the second part with the 4017 circuit in a standalone module. would that not work with typical eurorack signal levels? Again thanks and take care !

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

8 ай бұрын

Honestly, I think it would, but since I don’t know Eurorack, I can only say that it’s not designed for Eurorack. I don’t have Eurorack, so I don’t know whether it’s compatible. I offer the disclaimer so people understand It’s their risk.

@antimoustique3175

8 ай бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I understand! I'll give it a try then :) and let you know if it ends up working or not

Awesome series! I think you might have been talking about Moritz Klein's sequencer video around 15:00 Ben Eater is amazing too but I don't think he does much music tech stuff. Here is the link for anyone curious: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qHyCs7NvqbitqdI.html Thanks for the video Sarah!

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, you’re correct. Thank you for adding Moritz’s link!

Thanks for sharing this tutorial..Excellent reference series.... I wonder if you can take Pin 8 & route that to another chip sort of like a clock divider and merge the clock divider with a sequencer so that way you can get all sorts of glitchy Division. Have you tried that before? is that possible Sarah?

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your compliment, R, firstly. Means a lot. You could actually use a clock divider chip, say, the cd4024, to create clock divisions. Simply run a wire from 555 pin 3 (clock out) to 4024 pin 1. Then you’ll have numerous divisions to work with. As far as cascading 555’s, yes, this too can be done and Jason from Skinney R&D demonstrates this nicely here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/n3Z1m9eJlajgp5c.html Hope this helps you, R. 🤗

@rhampton1914

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I like the way he explains how the LEDs wood Plank and series one after the other and he compared it to an aircraft. I like that part in the video. Well you are motivating me to get back into my breadboard I must say. I'm using the breadboard in the different way actually because I'm building robots as you can see from one of my videos.... I'm trying to program an Arduino. It's not easy to be honest with you I'd rather use the manual tools to build robots instead of programming code.

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

@@rhampton1914 R, you know it’s very admirable that you’re attempting code. I am near-computer illiterate. I can surf the web, check email and that’s it. And that’s on a MAC. I find PC’s very difficult and code, etc. are way beyond my grasp. But, I don’t mind as I love CMOS technology. As Steve Jobs described Apple products, with CMOS, “It just works.” No glitching, etc. Anyway, I hope you’ll have great success at Arduino, etc. There is no shortage of tutorials for it and you can do so much with it. Robotics is really interesting, but I worry about installing AI into them. Dicey territory. A machine that’s capable of pulling your arms and legs off while you watch should be well under our control! 🤪

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

@@rhampton1914 Jason’s really great. And it’s his trademark to draw his schematics on brown paper bags. 😊 He spends lots of time exposing 555’s, too.

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Btw, did you mean pin 8 from the 555 or 4017? In either case, the answer is no. Pin 8 of the 555 is the positive pin and pin 8 of the 4017 is the GND pin.

Just a suggestion , you could use tweezers to mount some of the parts

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

10 ай бұрын

Yes, and I might try that. I’m just used to using my hands. I do have a few different size tweezers.

Thank you very much for the video!!! : ) Is there a way to connect this to Atari Punk Console and make it work together? = )

@RepublicofFoigWerg

18 күн бұрын

I'm making it for the APC too and luckily it's a fairly simple process. Just rewire the pitch control POT to the output of the sequencer so that it only receives pulses coming from your sequence and isn't affected by VCC. (You _could_ outright remove it and wire your output directly to pin 7 but if you keep the punk console's potentiometer you get a transpose dial afterwards which is a pretty sweet feature if you ask me!) After that just make sure the positive and negative terminals are connected to their respective rails and you should be good to go!

@BPEMETO

18 күн бұрын

@@RepublicofFoigWerg Thanks a lot!!! : ) Tomorrow I'm going to the store to get all the parts and try to make it.

@BPEMETO

13 күн бұрын

I just finished the sequencer from your video. Thank you so very much for uploading it!!!! : ) It works great! I have a APC , but I'm actually a beginner with this electrical stuff and I can't quite understand how to connect the APC to the sequencer. : ( I think I know which one is the pitch POT. Is the "output of the sequencer" the positive of the speaker? And also "You could outright remove it and wire your output directly to pin 7 " is that output the positive of the sequencer and pin 7 of which IC? : ) Thanks!

@RepublicofFoigWerg

13 күн бұрын

@@BPEMETO Glad to hear that it works! When I said "output of the sequencer" I was referring to the daisy chained potentiometers from the tutorial. What you want to do is connect their common ground to the input of your APC used to control pitch, just like how Sarah connected it to pin 7 of the 555 timer used to generate noise. that aforementioned input will depend on whether you're using two 555 timers or one 556 dual timer, but since you already know where the pitch control POT is you don't have to concern yourself over which pin is which. Just disconnect pins 1 and 2 of the pitch control POT from the positive rail and reconnect them to the chain of potentiometers from the sequencer. Then connect the power rails of the APC to the power rails of the sequencer and it should work for you. Hope this helps!

Hi Sarah, I just finish the build but I have only extremely low sound out from my sequencer like "pop , pop, pop, pop" and I can control there speed with the clock pot. What did I mess ? And what I need to do to have same range of sound as you ? thanks for reply 😁

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

To be clear, the clock IS working and you can speed it up or slow it down? Do your leds work as they should? Did you use 1N4148 diodes? It’s difficult to diagnose the issue. I suggest you rewatch part 3 and check *every* connection.

@KurtichMusic-xi9wp

Жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers yes, the clock is working and I can speed it up or slow it down. the leds work as they should and I use 1N4148 diodes and I ever check all the connections with the part 3 I think the issue is coming from the pitch of the oscilator but I don't now how to have the great pitch for my oscillator. Like when I max one of the 8 pots I just have a really really low pitch sound like "pop pop pop.."

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

@@KurtichMusic-xi9wp are you using 100K pots? It’s possible the 555 timer you’re using is bad. It sounds like you’ve checked it very carefully. Also, be sure your battery is putting out close to 9 volts. Try changing the 555 with a different one and see if this fixes the issue. And be sure you used a 0.1 uF capacitor from pin 2 to ground. And be sure all ground rails and positive rails are connected. I’m sorry you’re having trouble!

hi is this a 1n4148 or a 1n418 diode ?

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

Hi, Thomas. I’m sorry for the confusion. I misspoke. They’re 1N4148 diodes. I apologize for the inconvenience! Happy building! 👋🏻

The diodes used are 1N4148. I misspoke.

Hey, you mention 1n418 diode, but would 1n4148 work as well ? Thanks a lot !

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

Yes, I misspoke. It is a 1N4148 diode. Are you going to build one? I’d love to see when you’re finished if so!

@Matt-rq5yn

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers thanks ! Okay! I hope I will have time to do it soon

@Matt-rq5yn

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers I actually did it tonight, I will post a video soon ! The only issue I have is when I slow down the clock significantly, the sequencer start skipping steps, I only have two steps for instance at the lowest frequency, is it normal? This happens only when my small 8 ohm 1w speaker is connected to the circuit, otherwise everything's fine, the leds don't skip a beat. Thanks !

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

2 жыл бұрын

@@Matt-rq5yn no, that’s very strange! Here are some suggestions: ensure pin 13 of the 4017 goes to GND. Test to see if that fixes the problem if it’s not already connected to GND. Also, you can add a 100k resistor from pin 14 (4017 clock pin) to GND. Don’t remove the wire there from pin 3 of the 555. Test to see if this fixes it. Lastly, you can add a 1N4148 diode from 555 pin 3 to pin 14 of 4017 instead of the wire. The diodes black band needs to point to the 4017. Test to see if this fixes it. Also: what color led are you using for the clock led? If it’s blue or white, try red or yellow; blue, green and white require more power and might goof up the signal to the 4017 clock pin. Test to see if this works. If it’s still acting up, try replacing the 4017. Be careful to plug the new one into the exact same spot. Let me know if any of these fix the issue, k? 🙂

@Matt-rq5yn

2 жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers hey ! Thank you so much. It did’nt work unfortunately. But switching the capacitor on the first 555 (from 10 to 4.7uF) resulted in a higher range of frequencies and as a result the issue disappeared. It only happens when going to very low frequency with the 10uF cap, maybe should I put a buffer between the circuit and the speaker? Thanks a lot !!

Hi Sarah, is this meant to run just on 9v? When I hook one battery up, mine acts very erratic. When I put two 9v batteries together in series and hook it up, it acts normal.

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

Yes, 9 volts. 18 volts is too high for the 555, which has a maximum rating of 16 volts. Check your 4017. Pins 8 and 13 must be grounded. Don’t use white or blue leds for your clock circuit or your 4017. They require too much power. Use red or yellow, maybe green. Maybe check your batteries to ensure one has at least 5 volts. Without your breadboard in front of me, I don’t know what’s wrong. It could be your breadboard itself (try lightly touching the wires in various places to see if it’s behavior changes. If it does, it’s likely poor connections on the breadboard. It could be a damaged IC. You can try replacing one and testing it. If that’s not it, replace a different one. I’d replace the 4017 first. You may need to pull all the wires and begin again. Sometimes that’s best. Let me know if you have more questions.

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

Remember to tie all ground lines together.

@spectacularoptical9589

Жыл бұрын

@@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers i replaced the 555s and that seems to have done the trick! i should've done them one at a time but i have a lot of them, so oh well! thanks again!

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

Yes, those 555’s can be finicky. I’ve actually built a 555 timer tester and I use it whenever I use them.

Hi Sarah. Thanks a million for the tutorial but could you (or one of your viewers) add the list of components too? I didn't get the value range of the potentiometers. Here's what I got from viewing to save you some typing :) 2x 555 1x CD4017 3x 1K resistors 1x 10k resistor 1x 100k potentiometer 10 LEDs 1x 10uF capacitor 1x 0.1uF electrol capacitor many many many jumper wires of various lenghts "double" breadboard Thanks a lot, again

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

Жыл бұрын

Hi, P.! It seems you have the correct potentiometer value - all 9 are 100K in value. Let me know if you have more questions! 😊 By the way, you can use any type of capacitors with the same values. They needn’t be electrolytics.

Strange voice. what women have you ever met who builds this type of stuff? A: Zero

@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers

3 ай бұрын

You figured it out; I’m a transgender lady. Congratulations, you’re a genius. But should you have any difficulties building your sequencer, I’ll be here to help. Cheers! 🍻 ✌🏻