Noodlebox is a deep sequencer engine that plays like an Etch-a-Sketch
A fun and intuitive approach to creating complex patterns in four layers
Nearing the goal of its Indiegogo campaign, Noodlebox is designed to be an enjoyable and easy-to-use sequencer that has intricate and mind-boggling results. The four-part sequencer sports a graphic LED matrix that is tweakable, “just like using an Etch-a-Sketch”, says Jason Hotchkiss, the man behind the machine. Noodlebox is “perfectly paired with Eurorack and desktop analogue synths in improvisational setups”, he continues.
Noodlebox is designed to be an ideal live performance tool, with accessible looping and reverse functions with pitch transposition and the ability to add Euclidean gates and more expressive editing features. It features four independent sequencer layers, each with a CV/Gate output with each layer running separately to the other whilst staying in sync, plus having its own step count and clock division.
Each layer has four pages of up to 32 steps, and can be used to A/B/C/D type pattern variations, or chained to make a single pattern of up to 128 steps. You can also quickly save compositions to memory and recall them later, with an auto-save memory slot that is used when shutting down Noodlebox, allowing you to carry on from where you left off.
The four layers can all output MIDI notes or CC messages to either shared or separate MIDI channels. You can also record in your own notes with an external keyboard with realtime quantising to the grid. Noodlebox can be used as a MIDI looper just like a guitar looper pedal. Layers 2, 3 and 4 can internally modulate the CV output of the previous layer by summing with it or overlaying it.
Hotchkiss says: “As a passionate musician myself, I have always wanted to make the type of products that I would use. The idea of Noodlebox came about from experience playing with simple knob-based step sequencers such as the Korg SQ-1, and in particular, some experiments I did with linking multiple SQ-1s together in interesting ways (setting different sequence lengths/clock divisions, adding pitch CVs, multiplexing between CV outputs, swapping gates between sequencers and so on). What got me most excited were the quirky grooves and melodies that emerged; unplanned but inspiring to build upon, tweak and refine”
All perk levels for this campaign include a full Noodlebox product set from the first batch of units. Backing for Noodlebox starts at £305. The anticipated timeline for shipping units will be during June or July 2020.
Find out more at Indiegogo.com
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