It was Five12’s fault I caved and bought a Eurorack case. Their Vector sequencer’s mix of MIDI, USB and CV connectivity was perfect for use with my desktop synths. And then there was a gap in the case that needed filling...
Vector Sequencer II
The Vector is a digital sequencer with eight parts assignable as quantised mono or chord tracks, or four‑lane drum tracks. Recallable Projects, Presets and Scenes make the Vector ideal as the brain for a live or DAWless rig. But what makes it interesting to me is its capacity for self‑modulation. Multiple threads of chance, step operations and cyclic variation can weave complex results from simple patterns.
The original Vector has been around for five or six years and was conceived as a physical manifestation of Five12’s modular sequencing software Numerology. All the core sequencing features of Numerology were teased into a 42HP module with nine encoders and a generous OLED display strip. The discipline of reformatting the elements into a hardware controller made the Vector a more focused, interactive and fun environment. The MkII Vector maintains the same heading as the original, but adds more memory, extra ports, an updated and slimmed‑down jack expander and, perhaps most significantly, an extra layer of chance.
Work on the Vector centres around the eight endless push encoders, setting values on multiple pages selected from the top button row. The master encoder mostly scales all values. Note sequences can be dialled in or you can capture in steps or in real time from a MIDI source, which handily can be a directly connected USB keyboard or Novation Launchpad.
Often the initial creation process in modular sequencing is semi‑random: you dial in some notes on knobs, listen to the result and iterate, rather than programming a melody you had in your head. The creative input is then a reaction to that initial seed, and sound design. The Vector provides a shortcut to fun with Generate and Evolve algorithms that work in various styles like Acid, Berlin School or Euclidean.
The Vector provides a shortcut to fun with Generate and Evolve algorithms that work in various styles like Acid, Berlin School or Euclidean.
Gate, Velocity and Slide get their own pages, as does Groove, where you can nudge each step’s timing. The Length, Repeat and Ratchet pages are what piqued my interest in the Vector. These work similarly to the RYK M185 and Intellijel Metropolis/x sequencers, providing individual control of step duration, repeats and divisions. A great feature is that as you adjust these a display keeps track of the total sequence length.
A Numerology superpower that the Vector inherits is subsequencers. Each part has two extra eight‑step subsequences (plus external sources) that can modulate parameters in the main sequence. Pitch obviously, but also fun things like sequence start, rate and direction.
Then there’s Chance, of which there are now two lanes per Part in the MkII. This is a suite of step operations that can affect far more than just gate probability. You can, for example, adjust pitches, trigger ratchets and jump to different steps, and can set both a chance and frequency with which an operation will occur. The only things missing are the accumulators found on the Metropolix, TE OP‑XY and Cirklon, which can walk notes up or down incrementally over multiple cycles.
Jack Expander MkII
Five12 Jack ExpanderI/O was already generous on the MkI, with two Pitch/Gate/Velocity sets, two TRS MIDI outputs, external mod inputs and both host and device USB. The MkII gains two more assignable outs, and the mod ins are now bipolar. The next‑gen Jack Expander has been shrunk to 8HP, swapping MIDI DIN for TRS. Its velocity ports have been upgraded so all can be used for full‑range, calibrated Volt/octave output. As well as the four additional CV voices, the expander is especially useful for the multi‑channel drum parts, which eat up trigger outs. But even when idle they can all generate various useful clock divisions.
While you can get seriously deep into programming, the Vector can shift gears and become a live performance/improvisation hub, supported by all that connectivity. On the Part level you can store and recall multiple patterns, then store combinations as global Scenes. Fills are a new feature that MkI users also get, providing template pattern modifiers that you can trigger with different strengths.
Fills take a bit of setting up and are currently mainly effective on drum parts. Melodic parts can be bent in real time with the Skip and Mute buttons and you can jump between variations in step, but I wish there was a step/loop repeat feature where you could freeze sequences on a single step or range.
My favourite feature — unique to the Vector, I think — is direct support for Novation’s Launchpads. Plug into the USB host port and many of the Vector’s features automatically spill out onto the pads. There’s a command page with track mute/arm/select and scene launching. A second layer gives you an Ableton‑style view of your project. There are even gate and piano‑roll sequencing views, and a note mode for playing and recording.
The Vector is deep, and requires some learning and muscle memory development, but it’s an outstanding sequencer that can integrate your whole system, in and out of the rack.
Vector MkII £739, Jack Expander MkII £365
Vector MkII $759.99, Jack Expander MkII $289.99