Compact, but incredibly musical sequencer/quantizer/arpeggiator – you name it! Popcorn sequencer embraces the idea of making a selection of 8 notes that can be browsed in many different ways. It all just depends on the signals you feed it with.

It is incredibly musical when used with a rhythm sequencer such as Knit Rider because it has two triggers A and B which will go 1, 2, 3, or 4 steps forward or backward depending on the settings of the dedicated knobs. You can also address the steps with CV or 3 binary gates. You can use CV to transpose the pitch or transpose it in a quantized way or change minor major settings of the quantizer with the gate.

Features

• CV out selectable range (1, 2, or 5 octaves)
• CV input with an adjustable destination ( transpose, quantized transpose, offset, reset offset, trigger steps, invert steps, random step, etc.)
• Gate OUT
• Gate Time
• Gate Active per step
• Quantizer (chromatic, scales – diatonic, pentatonic, blues, chords – 7th, 5th, minor/major)
• Slide Active per step
• Slide Time
• trigger A and B for moving thru the pattern – each can go 1, 2, 3, or 4 steps forward or backward
• Reset Input
• trigger / reset priority settings
• dual mode: connect two sequencers to get 16 steps! (3 different modes)
• handmade locally by Bastl Instruments in Brno, Czech Republic
• more CV inputs for enhanced control of nonlinear browsing thru the steps with Popcorn CV Exp
• individual gate outs for every step + jump button to change step manually with Popcorn Gate Exp

Technical details

• 10HP width
• PTC fuse and diode protected 10pin power connector
• 35mm deep
• current consumption: +12V: <65mA, -12V: <5 mA
• v1.1 update for units manufactured before 2018/05 – bug fix log and new feature manual >>> added manual output calibration to match tuning with your oscillators pdf
• pdf user manual download

DIY kit

You can build your own Popcorn with our DIY kit. Go through the complete assembly guide below and make sure that you understand all the steps.

• BUY DIY KIT
• complete assembly guide pdf v1.1
• schematics pdf v1.1
• board diagram pdf v1.1

Popcorn v1.1 firmware upgrade

Did you know that Popcorns from May 2018 and earlier can be easily upgraded to current firmware v1.1 offering manual calibration mode to
achieve precise quantizing? You can find all the information here. You can get the upgrade pack either from our shop or from your local dealer.

V/Oct Tuner mode in firmware v1.0

The V/Oct Tuner mode on Popcorns with v1.0 firmware is intended to help you to tune your oscillator volt per octave scaling trimmer. When Popcorn boots into the boot menu (holding down FN button during the power-up) the V/Oct Tuner mode is accessed by pressing STEP button number 8.

Now the Popcorn is in the measurement mode. It sets 1 volt, 2 volts, and 3 volts at the CV output and measures the frequency of an oscillator at the TRIG B input. By increasing the output voltage always by 1 volt the measured frequency at the TRIG B should double each time 1 volt is added.

To start measuring connect the CV OUT to the V/Oct input of your oscillator. Connect the output of your oscillator (preferable square wave) to the TRIG B input. Now the Step Leds show you whether you are above or below the proper V/Oct tuning range. The goal is to have only step 5 lighten up and all the 6 LEDs by the TRIG inputs turn into GREEN color (otherwise they are RED). At this state, the V/Oct scaling of your oscillator should be correct.

Note: the measurement precision tolerance is not proportional to the absolute frequency. Therefore we think it is easier to make coarse trimming at frequencies above 400Hz and make the fine trimming in the bass region – above 80Hz because the precision of the frequency counter in the bass region is much higher.