Joranalogue Audio Design: Sequencing Alchemy with STEP 8 and ROUTE 4

Simon dives into the patch breakdown, starting with the left-panned voice sequenced by STEP 8. The right-panned voice, a Generate 3 oscillator, initially sits silent—waiting for its pitch data to arrive via the secondary sequence. The trick lies in routing: the divide-by-2 output from Bias 2 is patched into STEP 8’s signal input, providing finer pitch control. The sequence itself is shortened to seven steps by patching the eighth stage’s gate output to the reset input, a neat modular hack for non-standard sequence lengths.

To generate the secondary sequence, Simon sends selected analog outputs from STEP 8 into ROUTE 4’s routing inputs. He notes that the exact mapping isn’t critical—what matters is the concept. The first voltage (zero volts) is sent to the first stage of ROUTE 4, setting up the foundation for the secondary line. This approach allows for the extraction of a new melodic pattern, derived from but distinct to the original, simply by creative patching and signal selection.

The process is less about rigid replication and more about exploring the possibilities. Simon encourages experimentation, emphasising that the beauty of this method is its flexibility: you can rewire the patch to taste, finding new melodic relationships without needing extra sequencers.

With the basic routing in place, Simon demonstrates how gate outputs from STEP 8 can be patched to ROUTE 4’s control inputs, dictating which voltages are passed through at any given moment. By matching gate outputs to their corresponding voltage outputs, the secondary sequence closely mirrors the original, but with certain notes omitted—a subtle but effective way to create variation.

Simon then explores ROUTE 4’s operating modes, toggling between exclusive and multi-channel behaviour. In exclusive mode, only one input is routed at a time, while multi mode allows several signals to pass simultaneously. This opens up a world of rhythmic and melodic permutations, all controlled by the interplay of gates and voltages. The demonstration makes clear how ROUTE 4’s flexibility can be harnessed for dynamic, evolving sequences.

The patch’s creative potential is pushed further by introducing randomness and logic. Simon patches a chaotic output from Orbit 3 into ROUTE 4’s control input, injecting unpredictable variation. However, he notes that pure chaos isn’t always musically satisfying, so he tempers it using Compare 2’s logic section—specifically the AND and flip-flop outputs—to quantise the randomness and bring it back into a more musical domain.

This section highlights the modular ethos: combining sources, logic, and routing to sculpt sequences that are both related and ever-changing. By blending deterministic gates with chaotic or logical modulation, Simon demonstrates how to keep a patch lively and engaging, without losing the thread of musicality.