Standalone sequencers are a luxury in today's music landscape. Even the cheapest synths and samplers these days have basic sequencing capabilities. And while many MIDI controllers have built-in sequencers, they're generally designed to support live performance, not replace it. Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule (Arturia's Beatstep Pro is still wildly popular eight years after its release), but in the complex and often intimidating world of Eurorack and synths you have to start looking. The sole purpose of Regular is to play note lines for you.
Famous for high-end effects units like the Eventide H90 And TimeFactor is not an obvious candidate to enter the world of Eurorack. But that's what he decided micha , is the first order of Now, no one would accuse the company of playing it safe with its first foray into space. Instead, he decided to throw conventional conventions out the window and create something unique that's both fun and confusing, especially if you're deeply entrenched in traditional music theory and keyboard composition.
I am not a competent pianist. I don't have a deep understanding of western music theory. And yet, at first it was difficult for me to understand Misha. Because its front buttons don't play any specific note. Instead, they play intervals corresponding to the last note played in the scale.
So far so good, right? But if you press +1 again, you don't get the second D and instead get an E that is one step higher on the scale. You have to press 0 to get the second D note. If you want to go back to C, you have to press -1. It's not necessarily complicated, but it does violate a basic expectation that any musician will understand: if you do the same thing, you should get the same notes. If I play a low E fretted fifth on the guitar, I expect to get an A every time. If the notes keep going up five steps without moving my hand, I'll have trouble playing anything .
But this is the main idea of \u200b\u200bMisha. It's not necessarily based on pitch, and instead forces you to write based solely on the relationship between notes in a scale. If that thought makes you run for hills, it's probably not a match for you. If you're like me and interested in Misha's unique approach, let's go ahead and dig a little deeper.
machine
Before we go too far down the rabbit hole of scales, modes, and sequences, let's take a step back and look at the hardware. Although my device came with a special module to connect it to Misha, it is apparently designed to be in a Eurorack configuration. At 28hp it's a pretty big module, but at 19mm deep it's pretty modest, which means it should fit even the most portable of boats. Although this breadth is somehow necessary. 17 buttons, two buttons, a microSD port, a microSD slot, and 16 ¼” jacks for MIDI, audio, and control voltage are impressively packed into something small.
The design is spacious enough to be reliable as a performance tool without completely overwhelming a small Eurorack setup. The nine space keys are well spaced, the screen is large enough to convey all the necessary information, and the keys are firm. From a hardware perspective, my only complaint is that the switch buttons are spring-loaded, a bit cheap, and noisy.
12 CV (control voltage) taps divided into three ways, three pairs of gates and CV outputs, as well as two inputs. It gives you several options for controlling multiple synth sounds or modulating mixer sequences. There's also a MIDI input and output, as well as a stereo output and clock. The microUSB port can also be connected to a computer keyboard for use with a custom keyboard. You don't want any dating opportunities here.
The idle screen gives you all the information you need to navigate the mixer interface, although it may take some time to figure out how it works. I recommend reading the manual. It doesn't take long and can save you a lot of time and frustration. Once you understand how Misha works, it's almost deceptively simple. In fact, I often felt like something was missing. Of course this module hid the functionality from me with all the knobs and buttons and the 1 inch screen.
Be sure to take the time to customize these four user buttons. While the default functions of one octave up and down (keys one and two) and one chromatic step up and down (keys three and four) are useful enough, they can provide a lot of performance when tailored to your specific needs. I personally like to change the "motion pitch" of the chromatic steps and set it to fifths. It adds a bit more flavor than an octave, but it generally works well with anything musically.
One last thing to note is that Misha has a built-in oscillator that you can enable in settings. However, aside from providing a simple sound source for listening to tracks and generally getting a feel for the sequencer, it's useless. Actually, it is not mentioned in the manual.
to compose
comes with misha 100 preloaded scales From fundamental (melodic minor), to exotic (deep), to microtonal madness (48 equal-tempered notes). And if that's not enough, there are 100 user locations to upload your Scala files to. Between the different ranges, modes, and keys, the musical possibilities built into the Mixa seem endless.
The most immediate way to start exploring them is to select a scale and then press the Range key to start. It's actually a satisfying way to play an instrument. I don't have a great tool to fix this, but I put it together Beast from the East and Plague from the West by Cre8Audio , as Moog is subharmonic And all the electronic digitons give a nice effect.
That's not the process you go through when you want to bring a tune you hear in your head into the real world. Maybe someone could train Misha to think from time to time to use it this way, but it would take a lot of work. Instead, it can lead to happy accidents. You have to pay close attention to what you're playing to make sure you can play anything that catches your eye.
Now, yes, there are ways to lock down a driver like Misha a bit, it's basically impossible to screw up. But something about playing intervals instead of notes feels intuitive and surprising in a way a keyboard never could. Rather than a frustrating attempt to use my limited knowledge of theory to turn ideas into reality, creating melodies becomes a rewarding exploration where I essentially have to relinquish control.
One of the things I have to decide beforehand is how many octaves I want to play. For example, setting the note range to two octaves means that the range will move back two octaves if I go over that limit. Under my root entry. It's probably best to try to go all the way. Jumping two octaves sounds difficult.
The octave limits also apply when using Misha as a sequencer, so you can play a melody line divided into four octave scales before starting. However, things get a bit more complicated in the sequencer. It is "built around the idea of" ton range A device used in serial composition in which the twelve notes of a chromatic scale are played without repetition to form a pattern. What's new here is that this tone row concept can be applied to any scale, not the western twelve-note chromatic.
This composition method is definitely on the experimental end of the spectrum and can be a bit awkward with certain ranges. This means that the number of steps in the sequence depends on the scale you are using. An octave sequence in the minor pentatonic scale will have only five steps, while the quarter-tone scale will have 48 steps over two octaves. While I like the new look, a part of me really wishes there was a way to turn the tone bars on and off. I hope Eventide adds a traditional sequencer via a firmware update where recordings can be played back.
There's also a chord mode, which allows you to send three notes via MIDI or split them between three CV outputs. If you have a Eurorack setup with a lot of synth sounds, this is a great way to create complexity and variation, especially if you have other utilities that can further modify what Misha says. For example, you can send a lower root note through a simple arpeggiator while using other notes to drive a track or pad. Unfortunately, there is no way to sequence the voicings of the chords. You can manually change it at runtime, but it's a bit of a pain. Alternatively, you can use another sequencer to send MIDI CC to Misha and edit layered chord voicings.
Arguably the best way to use Misha is as a performance instrument combined with an external MIDI controller. Here, the white keys provide a wide range of pitch jumps (nine in a row) and quick access to root notes, while the black keys can repeat a note, play a random scale note, or move up and down chromatically. One step up, and of course you can always press the four user-programmable buttons on the front of the module, or assign other notes to the keyboard for even more variable.
collection
For $599, micha It is not cheap. If you need the Eurorack pod and power adapter, it's down to $699. But it's really special. If you're looking for interval-based performance or a lot of sequence appeal, this is the only game in town (at least that I know of). Of course, there are ways to achieve a similar effect using software, but in terms of hardware, that's about it.
I wish Eventide would make more concessions to traditional songwriting. I'd like to be able to repeat notes or program passages of arbitrary length instead of being limited by the number of notes in the scale. Perhaps these will be added in a future software update, in which case you'll be hard-pressed to find a reason not to buy them. For now, Misha is an affordable, fun and creative niche tool.
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