Sequencing
Turing Machine
The Turing Machine: a random melody that loops — and slowly changes.
Learn about it in Melody & chance: chords, arps and generative patches
How it works
A 16-bit shift register cycles on each clock. Bits fall off the end and come back round, so the pattern loops every Length steps. With Lock at 100% it repeats forever; lower it and bits occasionally flip, mutating the melody; at 0% it’s pure random. CV is the register as a voltage (scale with Range, snap with a Quantizer); GATE fires on 1-bits.
Inputs
| CLK | Advances the register. |
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Outputs
| CV | Stepped voltage — send through a Quantizer to a VCO. |
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| GATE | Rhythm from the same bits. |
Knobs and switches
| Lock | How stable the loop is. |
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| Length | Loop length in steps. |
| Range | CV span in octaves. |
Lessons that use the Turing Machine
Each one opens as a working patch in the synth.
Words to know
- Sequencer — Plays a repeating pattern of notes or values, one step per clock pulse.