Seeker II

Seeker II is a compositional interface for creating and procedurally manipulating phasing music and visuals. Record phrases, layer overdubs, chop samples, sequence changes, distort video, open the next.

Eight musical lanes can be run in parallel with each performing its own motif with sequencable transformations. Motifs can be written with a tape-loop, a heavily parameterized chord sequencer, or chopped samples.

Seeker is the center of my studio and connects to the things I regularly use. If you're reading this, you likely use them too. Eurorack via i2c (Crow, TXO, Just Friends, W/, Disting EX), OSC for visual apps like TouchDesigner, and MIDI for external equipment.

It's intended to travel with you and scale to what you have on hand. I've been relentless about the user-experience and I hope that it's easy to pick up but deep enough to always spark something new.

Requirements

Required

• Norns
• Grid (128)

Recommended

• Arc — Seeker has a lot of configurability. The Arc makes that configurability pleasant. Encoders 2 > 4 are mapped to different significant figures for high-resolution control and realtime performability.
• Seeker TouchDesigner tox — Seeker connects fairly naturally to TouchDesigner and enables a kind of visual painting that I think is a lot of fun. I've included toxs for each type of output. More on this further down.

Optional

• Crow — Lots of CV and gate output patterns. Clock-synced modulation with some unusual approaches.
• TXO — More CV and trigger outputs. TXO forever.
• i2c modules — Control the playback and settings of Just Friends, W/Syn, and Disting EX
• MIDI — external synths and DAWs

Installation

In Maiden:

;install https://github.com/brokyo/seeker_ii

Quickstart

When you first boot the app you will be on Lane 1 in Tape mode.

1. Select a voice — Open lane config (4A) to choose an output (MX Samples, Just Friends, MIDI, etc) and configure its timbre.

2. Play notes — The 6x6 "modal Tonnetz" keyboard (2A) is ready. Bright keys are root notes. Vertical = 4 scale degrees, horizontal = 1.

3. Record a motif — Hold the record button (5B). A metronome appears above the keyboard. Play a phrase. Press again to stop—it loops automatically.

4. Overdub — Hold record again while the motif plays. New notes layer onto existing ones.

5. Add a transform stage — A phrase can be manipulated after an arbitrary number of loops. Open stage config (1A). Turn on a new stage and a transform (Harmonize is my favorite) to evolve the composition. Your motif evolves each loop but can always be reset to the start.

6. Try another lane — Select a new lane (4A). Record a variation. Now two voices phase against each other.

Next Steps

• Composer mode — Switch a lane to Composer and build an evolving arpeggio with harmonic (1A) and expression (1B) stages. Connect it to Eurorack and create unorthodox patterns, timing, and velocity curves.
• Sampler mode — Built on Softcut. Load an audio file or record from input, then trigger chopped segments from the grid. Each pad has configurable envelope, filter, pitch, pan, and rate. Record performances and transform them across stages.
• Eurorack integration — Configure Crow outputs (3C) for clock-synced modulation—LFOs, bursts, random walks, or knob recorders that capture Arc movements.

Motif | Mode

The main performance space. Eight lanes run in parallel, each playing one of three motif types. Each type has its own keyboard and stage system.

All motif types share these controls:

• Lane Select (4A) — Choose lane and configure voices. Multiple voices can be active per-lane.
• Create (5B) — Hold to record/generate. Tape records keyboard, Sampler records pads, Composer generates from parameters.
• Play (5A) — Control playback: offset pitch, change speed, quantize events, swing timing. Hold to play/stop.
• Clear (5C) — Hold to erase the motif. With overdubs, select a specific generation to remove just that layer.
• Perform (5D) — Hold-to-activate Mute, Accent, or Soft with configurable slew time.

Tape | Motif Type

Record motifs on a 6x6 Tonnetz keyboard (2A). After recording, motifs can be overdubbed by holding Create Motif (5B). Motifs play through a configurable number of loops and then move to the next "Stage" (1A) where they can be algorithmically manipulated. The "Harmonize" transformation is my favorite. Scale and intervals can be set in Keyboard Config (3D).

Controls:

• Stage Config (1A) — Configure transforms and loop counts.
• Note Velocity (1B) — Four dynamic levels (pp, mp, f, ff). Select from grid.
• Dual Keyboard — Toggle the option in Create (5B) to split the keyboard into two zones with separate octaves.

Try: Record a simple melody and add a second stage with the Harmonize transform.

Composer | Motif Type

An algorithmic chord sequencer is represented by an interval keyboard (2A). Hold Create Motif (5B) to begin a sequence. Optionally, select from expression presets to give it character by changing the timing of events. Arpeggios move through stages with configurable chord voicings and performance characteristics.

Controls:

• Create Motif (5B) — Select expression preset and generate.
• Harmonic Config (1A) — Per-stage chord root, type, length, inversion, octave.
• Expression Config (1B) — Per-stage velocity curves, strum timing/shape, note duration, pattern filtering.

Try: Generate an arpeggio with Center Out shape. Change phasing and length across stages.

Sampler | Motif Type

Load a sample or record from the Norns input (4A). The sample will be chopped and distributed across a 4x4 pad grid (2A). Record pad performances and transform them across stages just like Tape mode. "Scatter" and "Slide" transformations manipulate the sample playhead. Good for percussion and textural sound mangling.

Controls:

• Chop Config (1A) — Per-pad envelope, filter, pitch, pan, and rate.
• Create (5B) — Record from Norns input or load a file.

Try: Load short samples of birds. Add a stage with Scatter.

Motif Voice Types

Tape and Composer can play the following voices. Each lane can output to multiple destinations simultaneously for interesting effects:

• MX Samples (internal engine)
• MIDI (external gear/DAW)
• Crow/TXO (CV/Gate to eurorack)
• Just Friends (i2c)
• W/Syn (i2c)
• Disting EX | Multisample, Rings, Plaits, DX7 (i2c)
• TXO Oscillator
• OSC (note events to TouchDesigner)

Eurorack | Mode (3C)

I find Seeker most interesting when it's directly communicating with Eurorack rather than just being played through it. Accordingly, I've included a bunch of Crow and TXO output options that stay true to the music and its timing.

Every output supports high-resolution editing allowing you to create very precise CV effects.

Crow Outputs:

I tried to write algorithms for most of the CV things I've encountered in Eurorack. Seeker supports incredibly fast (1/64 beats) and incredibly slow intervals (124 beats). I've found this brings entirely new character out of my modules. Generally, things break into two "Modes" that can be individually selected:

• Gate - Simple clocks, pattern generators, and a burst that spreads triggers over a curve. The burst is really fun.
• CV - LFOs, envelopes, random walks, and a knob recorder that can produce incredibly subtle changes.

TXO TR:

Seeker was originally built for a TXO and indebted to it. Clock, Pattern, Euclidean, and Burst modes matching Crow's Gate category. Some CV stuff but more limited.

Try: Set a burst with an accelerating curve. Patch to anything that takes CV. Tune CV max to taste.

OSC | Mode (3B)

Alongside the Seeker II tox components you can directly manipulate param values in TouchDesigner and sequence them with the Norns clock and events. Set the IP in the config menu (3B) and values should automatically show up in TD. Component preview window gives you a sense of values and their path.

Drag the .tox files into your project or My Components folder. Each component provides 4 CHOP outputs.

Float — Float Component Set float values through a base and multiplier. Useful for tuning images or finding the right range for LFOs. Better with Arc.

LFO — LFO Component Tempo-synced lfos using stock TouchDesigner shapes. Set mix/max ranges for interesting parameter editing.

Envelopes — Envelope Component Clock-driven triggers with TD-based envelope parameters. Cool with rhythms.

Try: Map an LFO to Displace.

W/Tape | Mode (3A)

Transport control for the Whimsical Raps W/ module in tape mode with a particular focus on Frippertronics/buffer manipulation. Designed to act as a looper for foley or as a decaying delay.

I think this is such a cool module (the W/Synth used in Motif mode is amazing) and I shimmed in a bunch of convenience methods so you can focus on sound design rather than config.

Quickstart: Hold Frippertronics (2C) to mark loop start and begin recording. Perform, then press again to close the loop—playback engages automatically. Set Buffer Decay (2D) to control how quickly layers fade. Long-press Frippertronics to clear and start over.

Try: Set buffer decay to 80%, record a short loop, then play over it. Each pass fades the previous layer—instant Frippertronics.

Settings | Mode (3D)

Global configuration: BPM, root note, scale, and MIDI clock settings. Tap tempo available. "Sync All" restarts all lanes and outputs simultaneously.

Etc

Disting EX Setup

Triggerable Polyphonic Voice:

1. Select Disting Voice > All on Norns
2. Navigate to Macro Osc 2 Settings (P encoder)
3. Set all voices to trigger on I2C: Instance n > I2C trigger 1
4. Set all voices to share params: Instance n > Share Params 1

W/ Setup

W/ Mode Change Requires physical controls.