HAYDN Step Sequencer 2010 - 2017

HAYDN 01-00

ZEIT was a big, chunky lump of metal. The instrument was sturdy and meant to survive the abuse that gets heaped on instruments whilst they're being moved from gig to gig. I decided that, next time around, we would make an instrument that was just as robust physically but also a lot less ambitious in terms of size and weight. The end result was HAYDN.

HAYDN was, like ZEIT, an eight-track, sixteen step sequencer but rather than gifting the instrument with a huge, feature-rich front panel we instead opted for a more minimal approach - just eight rotary potentiometers, sixteen dual colour switches and a big 40 x 2 LCD display.

We designed a prototype instrument as a proof of concept and, once that was up and working, we jumped to version 02-00, which featured improved electronics and added a natty little case. Both versions were demo'd at Maker Faire 2013 and initially seemed to go down well. However, we soon discovered that the majority of users couldn't understand what was going on because the interface was just too minimal. The front panel design and layout might have been okay in 2001 but not 2013. A re-design was essential.

HAYDN 02-00

HAYDN 02-00 came about in 2015. Physically, the instrument was larger and intended to occupy the middle ground between Haydn 01-00 and ZEIT. I reduced the number of sequences to just four to keep the design as simple as possible and replaced the rotary potentiometers with long-throw faders because I felt they would both simplify editing and give a better representation of what was happening musically. Each fader had an integrated LED which looked amazing. As with ZEIT, we used push buttons to jump into the various menus and I also swapped the four-way navigation switch for an encoder wheel because changing values by stabbing at a push button is just tiresome.

Overall, I was quite pleased with Haydn's design, which performed well both in the studio and out on the road. Better still, it looked good and survived a fair bit of abuse. I made a second rack-mounting version although it was never finished. Why? Because as good as Haydn was, it was years behind the competition in terms of design. A step sequencer with just a single MIDI interface and a 40 x 2 LCD wasn't going to cut it. In addition, there was no USB, no SD Card, no iPad application etc.

I think HAYDN is a good design, one which deserves to be revisited because I reckon that, with a bit of tweaking, it could be a winner.

Watch this space.