Antimatter Audio Brain Seed
Real-time CV step recorder with cycle modes, quantizer, and CV scrub
4 HP Eurorack module
The Brain Seed is a 4HP real-time CV step recorder. It samples whatever voltage is present at Seed In each time it receives a Cycle clock, building a sequence of up to 1000 steps that it plays back through Seed Out. Variable or fixed (8/16/32) length, four cycle traversals (forward, bounce, random, CV-addressed), and three quantizer scales make a tiny module that acts as sequencer, sample-and-hold, motion recorder, mono arpeggiator, and quantizer.
Features
- Real-time CV step recorder with up to 1000 steps in Variable Length mode
- Three fixed length modes: 8, 16, 32 steps
- Four Cycle traversal modes: Normal, Bounce/Pendulum, Random, CV-addressed scrub
- Built-in quantizer with three scales (Semitone, Major, Minor) plus pass-through
- CLIP LED warns when summed output exceeds +/-5V rails
- Trig Out fires per Cycle step in all modes — vital in CV-addressed mode
- Freeze input halts sequence (or resets, via internal jumper)
- Shift CV input transposes the entire sequence at the output stage
- Generates random 0-5V steps when Seed In is unpatched and ReSeed is armed
- Hold Length 1s to save state to non-volatile memory
- 4HP — extremely compact for a step recorder
- Bicolor Seed Out LED shows polarity (red negative, green positive) and level
Controls & Jacks (17)
- Seed In — -5V to +5V CV input recorded by the Brain Seed. Can be sourced from LFO, sequencer, MIDI-to-CV, controller, etc. With nothing patched and Re
- Shift In — -5V to +5V CV input that transposes the Seed Out. Sums with the recorded sequence; if the result exceeds +/-5V, the Clip LED lights.
- Length — Sets sequence length mode (4 LED states): Off=Variable up to 1000 steps, Green=8, Orange=16, Red=32. Hold for 1 second to save everything to
- Length LED — Indicates the active Length mode: Off (Variable), Green (8 steps), Orange (16 steps), Red (32 steps).
- ReSeed In — Gate input: any signal over +1.5V toggles the ReSeed recording state (momentary action — flips the latch). Use a clock/gate to automate when
- ReSeed — Toggles/latches recording arm. When armed, every Cycle clock the module samples Seed In and stores it as the next step. Disengage to play th
- Cycle In — Clock input. Accepts triggers (>+1.5V) in trigger-based Cycle modes; in CV-addressed mode (Red), accepts -5 to +5V to scrub the sequence pos
- Cycle LED — Step indicator. Green = a regular step. Orange = the start of the sequence. Red = ReSeed is armed (recording).
- Mode — Cycles the Cycle jack behavior (4 LED states). Off=Normal trigger, Green=Bounce/Pendulum trigger, Orange=Random step selection, Red=CV-addre
- Mode LED — Indicates the active Cycle mode: Off (Normal), Green (Bounce/Pendulum), Orange (Random), Red (CV addressed).
- Quant — Cycles the quantization applied to Seed Out (4 LED states). Off=Unquantized, Green=Nearest semitone, Orange=Major intervals, Red=Minor inter
- Quant LED — Indicates the active quantization: Off (None), Green (Semitone), Orange (Major), Red (Minor).
- Seed Out LED — Output level indicator. Green = positive voltage, Red = negative voltage. Brightness scales with magnitude.
- Seed Out — Main CV output. Carries the playing-back step sequence (post-quantization) plus any Shift In offset. Patch to V/Oct of an oscillator, filter
- Freeze In — Gate input: any signal over +1.5V halts the sequence (it freezes on the current step). A solder jumper inside the module reconfigures this j
- Trig Out — Outputs a trigger pulse for every Cycle step. Patch to an envelope generator to articulate filters or VCAs in time with the sequence — espec
- Clip LED — Lights when the sum of recorded data + Shift In exceeds +5V or drops below -5V, signaling that the output is clipping at the rails. Reduce S
How-To Guides
- Record a manual CV performance, then loop it
- Capture an LFO into a stepped sequence
- Live random quantizer (no recording)
- CV-addressed scrub for evolving melodies
- Freeze-and-shift stutter trick
Explore the interactive Brain Seed panel on BleepDex — tap any control to learn what it does.
