Stepling
2U Rack Extension · CV step sequencer
Stepling is a compact eight-stage step sequencer for Reason, modelled on the workflow of classic vintage step-sequencer hardware. Each stage holds a pitch, a pulse count, a gate mode, a ratchet pattern, and slide and skip switches — so a single column of controls describes not just a note but how many times it repeats, how it is gated and how it connects to its neighbours. It drives any instrument in the rack over CV, quantised to thirty scales.
- Eight stages: pitch, pulse, gate, ratchet, slide
- 30 scales, 16 directions, live quantizer keyboard
- 70 CV inputs — drive every parameter or link units
// The device
Front & back
Front panel — logo and global knobs left, status display with the live scale keyboard centre, clock / sync / octave switches and transport below, eight per-stage columns (pitch, pulse, gate, ratchet, slide/skip) right.
Back panel — pitch / gate / sync outputs and the global and core CV inputs in the left band, external pitch inputs and per-stage pitch outputs centre, the per-stage modulation matrix (pitch, pulse, gate, ratchet, slide, skip) right.
// Overview
A few knobs, long evolving sequences
A single column of controls describes a note, how long it lasts, how it's gated and how it slides.
Each of the eight stages carries a pitch, a pulse count of one to eight (how many clock steps the stage lasts), a gate mode, a ratchet pattern, and slide and skip switches. A high pulse count holds a stage in place for several steps before the sequence moves on; ratchets subdivide each pulse into fast repeats or accent patterns; slide glides smoothly from the previous note. The result is a sequencer where a handful of settings unfold into long, musical phrases.
A built-in quantiser keeps everything in key. Thirty scales — from major and minor through modal, symmetric and world scales — combine with any of twelve roots, and every pitch snaps to the scale as it plays. The status display carries a live one-octave keyboard that shows which notes are currently in key and updates the instant you turn the scale or root knob, even with the sequencer stopped.
Sixteen play directions reshape how the eight stages are traversed: forward, reverse, ping-pong, pendulum, pivot, shuffle, chord order, and several random and Brownian walks, plus “fixed” variants that flatten the pattern to one step per clock. Global controls cover rate (1/1 to 1/32T) with swing, gate time, analog-style slide, octave range and transpose, step division and sequence length (1–16, wrapping past eight for longer patterns).
Stepling is a CV device — it makes no sound itself. It outputs pitch (as note values, 0–127), a gate and a once-per-cycle sync pulse to drive any Reason instrument. Run it on its internal clock to stay locked to Reason’s transport, or switch to external clocking to advance one step per pulse from another device.
Seventy CV inputs make nearly every parameter externally drivable — global and per-stage alike, right down to the scale, the direction and the sequence length. Patch an LFO into Scale or Direction and the pattern re-keys or re-orders itself in real time. Eleven CV outputs — pitch, gate, sync, and a direct pitch output for each of the eight stages — let you link units: feed one Stepling’s per-stage pitches into another and it follows the notes while keeping its own gates, ratchets, slides and timing.
Stepling is the compact 2U device in Doodov’s step-sequencer line. A larger 4U sibling, Step Farther, is in development.
// Detail
What's inside
The eight stages
- Eight stages, each an identical column of controls
- Pitch — 0–35 semitones (up to three octaves), quantised to the current scale and root
- Pulse count — 1–8 clock steps per stage
- Gate mode — 6 modes (Hold, Mult, Single, Rest, Dotted, Random)
- Ratchet — 8 variants (1–4 hits, Accent, Front, Back, Bounce)
- Slide and Skip switches per stage
Pitch & scale
- 30 scales — major, minor, the modes, symmetric and world scales; Chromatic leaves pitch unquantised
- 12 root notes
- Octave range 1–3 octaves; global transpose ±2 octaves
- Live one-octave keyboard on the display shows the in-key notes, updating with the scale and root knobs even when stopped
- Scale and root are both CV-modulatable in real time
Sequencing
- 16 play directions: forward, reverse, ping-pong, pendulum, pivot, shuffle, chord order, random and Brownian, plus fixed (one-step-per-clock) variants
- Sequence length 1–16 steps, wrapping past eight for longer patterns
- Rate: 12 divisions, 1/1 to 1/32T, with swing
- Gate time and analog-style slide time
- Step division — one step every 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 clock ticks
Clock & sync
- Internal clock locked to Reason’s transport (song tempo)
- External clock — advances one step per rising edge at the Clock input
- Reset input and Reset button return the sequence to its first stage
- Sync output — one pulse per cycle, at the first or last stage (Sync mode)
CV & routing
- 70 CV inputs — clock, reset, octave, 11 global parameters, and per-stage modulation of every stage control
- Per-stage external pitch inputs (1–8) replace stage pitch when External Pitch is on — the key to linking units
- 11 CV outputs — pitch (note value 0–127), gate, once-per-cycle sync, and a direct pitch output for each of the eight stages
- Front-panel and CV add together: a knob sets the starting point, CV moves around it
- Full MIDI CC mapping; remote targets grouped for the Combinator
Format & footprint
- 2U Rack Extension — CV Processor (helper device)
- Makes no sound on its own; drives any Reason instrument over CV/gate
- No patches — the entire state is saved with your song
- Reason 13 and later
// Documents & specs
Manual
The complete guide — every control, the display, the CV connections and a set of patch ideas. PDF.
- User manual Stepling_User_Manual.pdf Cover plus eight pages — quick start, every control, the display, CV & linking, patch ideas and specifications