Hermod users - happy?

Another thing that blew my mind is when you record/play unquantised; the abillity to actually record a performance EXACTLY like you played it…this has to do with timing and resolution of the sequencer; but it is way more accurate than recording in Ableton for example where i tend to just record with quantise💩
Also, this means there is no distinction between play or record. And it just gotten better with the hard rec feature!

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What do you mean by ‘Live Loop’ exactly? I’d like to know what this is, because I’ve already used the Hermod for live looping in a way, by setting length enabling record and just playing live/improv. in overdub mode…So I guess this ‘live looping’ function is something else I’m not aware of.

I’m pretty happy with Hermod, except for the lack of chord editing. One thing I need to try on it soon is using it as a CV recorder.

Thanks y’all for the feedback. Happy customers :slight_smile: Trying to plan out a first rack from scratch that integrates with my other stuff without any serious nasty surprises. Way more headaches/anxiety than I thought it’d be… Hermod’s looking like it’ll probably be OK for what I need it to do. Missing some stuff I’d like it to do, but that’s always the way :wink:

Is it possible to auto-start this type of loose improv sequencing with a note-on? And then hit stop and the sequence instantly loops? Like the sequencer in some organelle patches? Or is this like the ‘live loop’ thing people are talking about?

I mean not having to set the length of the sequence before recording actually :slight_smile: At the moment I use another module as a “click”, or sometimes the light of the steps, it’s helpful, but it would be better not having to think about the tempo and sequence length before you start playing and recording.

You press record, record a loop, then press play and the sequencer starts looping, it determines and set the tempo. Eventually you can even double the length of the sequence, etc Like Ableton Live.

From the Pyramid manual, their description is better than mine maybe :slight_smile:

Live looper
Pyramid provides you a new way to capture your performance in the style of looper pedals! In this mode, the length of a track grows to fit your initial performance. Press rec to start recording a loop. Press rec a second time to stop recording. Track length is now fixed. Perform freely without worrying about pre-determining track length.

As i understand it, you play notes it records these and when you stop playing, the loop engages. With a next sequence as well, this gives the possibillity to record odd number patterns without having to manually define how many steps the sequence will be-or think Guitar loop pedal

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exactly :slight_smile:

As with most modules, there is a perfect pairing with another module. In my setup that would be Hermod with Marbles (the french Revolution😂) these two play really well with each other…well Marbles is a perfect match to a lot more Modules anyway, but with Hermod you have a Dimension of creating Music in real time out of Random and Perfect scales and progressions

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Gotcha! Thanks for the explanation, that does sound really cool!

Update went well for me. Clock seems more stable to me too, normally would have a 10 minutes of 1 bmp difference that seems to have gone. Would be good to be able to cv the effects on and off, like glide you can do time but not turn it on and off as far as i can tell. Would also be good when scrolling through individual notes if it highlighted the note and then also could slide / rotate the note in the same way you can to the whole track. Great work though, very much feeling the Hermod.

Yep, we have to rely on other modules, Hermod cannot do everything on its own and the vast majority of the features requested in Hermod Firmware Wishlist will probably never happen because of technical limitations etc. But at least they are making it stable… that’s a good thing. I think I would buy it again. Now (September 2018), Hermod does what was advertised in the first place, with a very few bugs. :clap: What makes a user happy is not only frequent updates, resolved bugs and possibly new features (I want this live looper so much, it would be a game changer) but also great communication with the company. Imo that was not always the case, that was the cause of negative comments probably, but the module does its job now, not a crazy modular brain yet, not a Pyramid, but a very useful midi sequencer and midi effects processor, etc in a Eurorack case.

Interesting to read about what it does well and what it does not so well. I don’t mind using other modules for things eventually when I fill my case. Just trying to plan ahead without unwittingly building walls I’m gonna hit later. I’m someone who tends to better understand how things work from hands on use. Modular from a novice PoV is quite a lot of angles to try to assemble in imagination and there’s a lot to learn… some further questions, any help much appreciated-

Drones. I read that a note will cut at the end of a bar. Is it possible to trigger a constant, indefinite note? For drones etc.

Glide on/off. Surprised this isn’t possible per step in hermod, but can I do stuff like use a random square lfo in to one of the Cv inputs to turn glide on/off? Or use my Octatrack to send precise per step glide param per step?
Eventually I’d like the modular to be self contained tho, no Octatrack…am I correct in thinking I could apply/define glide post-Hermod with another module? Something more hands on/playable perhaps (any suggestions?)…Or does glide need to be applied/defined from the same source module as pitch(Hermod)?

Is it accurate that you can’t have an odd number amount of steps?

Clock/transport. Is it flexible/solid/practical between different configs involving Octatrack, iPad, Ableton, Pams New Workout? Both as master and slave?

Is there an option where the sequencer auto advances when you input an external keyboard note? Or do you have to select step each time, then hit note, then select step and so on?

Instant sequence jump? Can I switch between sequences without sync? Not expecting this function and it not a big deal if it’s not there but would be fun, especially if can do it via cv in…

I enjoy using the Seq-3 module in VCVrack and it seems like Hermod could be seen to cover the same bases but with 8 rows instead of 3, and a ton of extra other stuff. But I don’t fully have a grip on the modular thing yet, does the above sequencer feature comparison seem accurate?

Alright…

  1. the concept of a gate is that it will always override the last one…hence mono synth. But as OSCs are droning per se hermod can help you modulate, change gain through a vca these OSCs-this is modular basics 101. hermod can be be your brain for a drone!
    2.on glides: i dont use that effect much, but as all midieffects this can be engaged manualy on hermod-you can switch it in/out for a step😃 as for programming glides on steps you could have a sequence without and a modulation track programming an external slew that affects first track-thinking abt how to do that is more difficult than achieving it! Maybe someone has a plan on how to do it efficient…
    5.the whole clock/sync layout in Hermod is great! It can always output a gate clock for your modules AND be either master or slave via midi, the only thing you need to define is whether Hermod is being slaved! If you plug your hermod USB Device to your Mac and open Ableton, Hermod is instantly recognised-no fucking abt here…
    4.this is slightly different but clever: you hit a key/note and then press the step, meaning you could have several steps with the same note and when you want to change pitch on the next note, press a new pitch then a step-this gets fast results=clever!
    3.off course you can have odd numbered steps! Either from beginning when defining the length or after recording when you shorten your pattern or make it longer!
    6.Sequences can be switched either in time of the sequence or instantly in the middle of it!
    In the end its abt making music and finding new ways with a modular system-dont get too technical before you start, learn what your modules do and what not…and the online manual on Hermod is actually pretty precise, when i consulted it before having the machine in my system i was was like ‚wow, this can be done?‘ almost not believing the promises, hahaha

Hermod is wonderful in concept. The interface and general usability is intuitive and produces results quickly. I haven’t really been disappointed as far as it’s feature set is concerned. This thing does a lot of things very well and it’s flexibility is hard to find in euro.

While 1.1 does stabilize the unit quite a bit, I am not out of the woods as far as bugs are concerned. I have had bugs destroy hours of work that was unsaved at the time a crash occured. If this scenario terrifies you, I would wait to pull the trigger until the small user base unanimously confirms all bugs are gone. I have been a user since May and have seen this module come a long way, but I would be hesitant to use it in a performance in its current incarnation.

No, it’s more people looking for a sequencer seem to think that a sequencer should do everything that they can think of, and if it doesn’t, there shouldn’t be any issue grabbing a shoehorn and forcing a new major function into a what was considered a finished product. What is a “contemporary sequencer”? Is it a DAW based sequencer? I don’t understand why
every sequencer needs to be a workstation.

I fully agree to your comment on how Hermod works with keyboards. If you are a keyboard player, there is no other solution for quickly recording musical patterns. Hermod’s approach of being a fully polyphonic recorder with various options what to do with it is unique and great.
When using the MIDI effects in creative ways, Hermod is also great at creating generative musical patterns, I do this a lot.
As Hermod is a young product, there are some issues. Most of the “issues” reported can be fixed with firmware updates. It is nice to see that Squarp does listen to its customers and goes beyond “bug fixes”.
Hermod is conceptually very different from other sequencers. Certain users seem to struggle with this, and many “issues” raised in this forum are due to misunderstadings. For Squarp this means that they should work on documentation and especially tutorials. What is currently available does not to justice to the potential of Hermod at all. To me, it looks like Squarp is not a markting-driven company, which is good news. There are too many “companies” out selling obviously flawed modules with “great” videos.
Short answer: yes, happy.

What a lot of people don’t understand that there are different sequencer concepts out there, which each have their strengths but cannot be merged into a single module. I use Hermod a lot. But sometimes, I use my two independent 8-step sequencers or then turn CVs coming from all sorts of sources into musical lines using a simple quantizer. Many times, I actually combine Hermod with one of these alternative approaches or do all of it. Hermods CV/gate in functionality is important for integrating it. Much more can be done with it that just recoding/reset/start/stop.

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I just posted my workflow with Hermod and Ableton here:

yes overall very happy to have so much in such little package, to the point that I own 3 of them, I how ever wish you were able to mute steps like in the eloquencer for example, but hey cant have it all, my next purchase is going to be a pyramid since I maxed out my hermods

Cheers for the reply, that’s how I see it too. Different seq’s for different jobs, not one to rule them all. Jack of all trades; master of none…