A unique approach to sequencing from a Brazilian boutique company, the NGEN offers interesting creative ideas. Greg Scarth puts it to the test.
Described as an ‘algorithmic MIDI workstation’, the Spektro Audio NGEN is essentially a MIDI sequencer which can also control analogue CV/gate gear. Hardware sequencers have seen a resurgence in recent years, despite their overall popularity waning somewhat over the decades thanks to the proliferation of affordable, accessible software sequencing. What hardware sequencers offer – other than the obvious benefits of hands-on, physical controls – is a more focussed, more specific approach to creating music. Rather than attempting to be all things to all people, sequencers like the NGEN hone in on a specific approach to making music and allow you to explore its inherent limitations in a positive way, resulting in creative sparks and ideas which might not have appeared given the infinite blank canvas of software sequencing.
The NGEN was first launched via a Kickstarter campaign back in 2023, although its development began way back in 2020. Out of the box, it’s a nicely designed little unit, with a solid metal case, high quality controls (including wonderfully tactile keyboard-style push-button switches) and a small but clear 1.3-inch OLED screen. To get started, it’s easiest to use the NGEN as a lone sequencer controlling one or two bits of hardware, whether that be a synthesiser, drum machine, sampler or whatever else you choose to control.
Connecting the devices is again straightforward. As previously mentioned, the NGEN is billed as a MIDI device but also has dedicated outputs for two pairs of CV and gate signals, making it compatible with just about any gear from any era. You’ll need TRS adapters for the MIDI input and output over 3.5mm, or you can use the USB-C socket instead (which doubles up as the power supply). Traditionalists would no doubt like to see old-school 5-pin DIN sockets included too, but the combination of USB and TRS provides a versatile enough solution for most of us.
The basics of the NGEN are all fairly simple and as you’d expect for a hardware sequencer: 16 tracks, which can be used in combination with song mode and stored in up to eight patterns. What’s key to the approach of the NGEN is the range of ‘generators’ which can be applied to tracks, in combination with more commonplace performance functions like keys, scales and MIDI effects including auto variation. Choose the Arper generator, for instance, and you’ve got a conventional arpeggiator with real-time controls. Things quickly get more esoteric, via the 303-inspired Acdgen acid generator through to the Marp polyrhythm generator, Samba Euclidean percussion generator and the Turing, based on Music Thing’s legendary Turing machine module. Like any hardware sequencer, the NGEN is a little less immediate to use than a modern software option, but it has its own strengths and unique creative options. The sheer range of ways in which you can generate and tweak melodies, rhythms and chord progressions is hugely impressive.
Boutique hardware offerings tend to live and die by the quality of their long-term development, both in terms of after-sales support and firmware upgrades. The NGEN already looks promising in this respect; regular firmware updates have added features since the initial release. You can only ever really judge a piece of equipment by what it’s capable of doing right here and now rather than what’s promised for the future, but the NGEN looks likely to develop further in due course. Intriguingly, there’s an unused socket on the side of the case marked I2C, referring to Arduino’s inter-integrated circuit protocol, suggesting that future plans include adding the option to link multiple NGENs together.
All sequencers are unique, but perhaps the obvious rival to the NGEN is the OXI Instruments ONE, which offers a different take on sequencing with a more hands-on approach thanks to its large grid-style interface. It’s worth noting that the ONE is also currently out of production in anticipation of a forthcoming MKII update, which promises to be even more powerful. Sequencers are one of the pieces of electronic music equipment which most come down to personal taste, so there’s no clearcut answer in terms of which one is ‘best’, bit the NGEN offers another excellent option for those who want to explore this inherently limited but creatively expiring approach to music making and performance.
Greg Scarth
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