Sequential Circuits Six-Trak // 80's Poly, and the OG Groovebox 

Wow, the sound of the Six-Trak is awesome, you're really showing how rad it can be. And the thought of a vintage, analog groovebox is absolutely stellar.

I am a Six-Trak owner and lover, and I didn't know anything about this updated firmware you speak of. Off to search for it now! Thank you for uploading, great video. :)

Great modern demonstration of this little charmer. Hope if you ever sell it, you find another one to repair! It's really fun to explore with modern eyes and ears what Sequential designed way back when MIDI was being implemented, especially when you look at the bit allocation they did for sysex to squeeze it all in (only the filter cutoff has resolution for 128 unique positions). For me, this synth sits right on the boundary between being truly vintage and modern, like the proverbial fish who grew legs and walked out of the ocean. Don't you love to watch the LEDs flash as each voice independently fires off? I would forever hold onto a six-trak, preferably modded with 6 outs, because of the haunting FX sounds, totally unforgiving filter/res and inescapable dialing in of the cem3394 parameters to find the sweet spot in amongst its easily cheesy fundamental timbres.

Love it! Very thorough run through of the SixTrak!

Thanks for the insightful vid Jorb. Some of those wonderful sounds you get from the Six-Trak would make for a great sample expansion.

I own one and I love it to death ❤ It’s a box of magic. You can make such unique, cool, lovely little loops with the sequencer

I've had about 13 synths all in all but SixTrak was without doubt the one i had most fun with... loved it!!!

Everyday that Jorb uploads is a holiday

It is kind of crazy how so many modern synths brag about being bi-timbral when like 40 years ago, there were synths like this that could play 6 different sequences with just 6 voice poly!

This is a super thorough demonstration! Thank you for making this! It’s given me lots of inspiration for things to try out with my six trak. Cheers!

The sequential multitrak has six individual outputs. It was branded as the update to the six trak. Just got mine working. Awesome!

Gotta love the pitch envelope! Both this and the Multi-Trak are absolute Sequential Circuits Gems that can be had for around $1000. The Multi-Trak is basically a Six-Trak with a longer, velocity sensitive key bed, and 6 individual outs (one per voice). However, the build quality of the Six Trak is much better. Both are super portable, especially considering what they provide sonically. The Split 8 is solid too! Lovely video Jorb!

That filter sweep at 21:54 reminds me of beastie boys! I like the six trak it preforms super well with pedals, it's pretty much became symbiotic with my zoia

i found one of my favorite albums of all time thru the wikipedia article of the six trak

One of the synths I drooled over in Keyboard magazine and broke teenager. This and the Max had a certain appeal because of the different look and certainly the 6 track sequencer of this unit. I ended up eventually getting an Ensoniq ESQ-1 for its 8 polyphonic-though limited voices-tracks. Had to learn to create my own drums on the ESQ-1 because I could afford a drum machine as well, but I managed to create some decent demo tracks.

Wow. I can't believe I've never heard of this synth before 😳🤦🏾‍♂️ I was in high school in 1984 and was definitely into the synths of that era. I still have my sequential circuits drumtraks. This sounds awesome!

I like the light you put on this one. Didn't even know that the AX-60 used the same voice/filter/vca chip.

I’ve been wanting to build a diy 6-voice polysynth for a while, with simple controls in the style of a Juno-6 (no presets). But I think the 3394 chip might make it even easier, sure it’s not DCOs but it sounds damn nice. Might be worth keeping in mind. Thanks again for the quality videos!

Imagine that sat next to a Drumtraks mmm. Great video Jorb.

I had one already back in 1985..and i new already then how good it was..i loved it...decades went people snorted at it but my love for this synth held on....and what do i see..it's popping up everywhere now..finally folks are understanding this little beast of a synth...sadly mine went to synth heaven..and today i can'¨t afford to buy a new one with these insane prices...perhaps a Behringer clone..but it will not be the same.

Utilizing mono/stereo options on your output is totally useful. I notice a lot of people assuming that mono is inferior. As a recording engineer, you learn to use mono tracks more frequently, when stacking and layering sounds. Stereo tracks take up more field-space, and ultimately will start to smudge and phase each other the more you use. Mono tracks will cut through when you you need, and are easier to place in the stereo image; when mixed with the stereo content that help ‘dictate’ the perceived space of your track. This in turn, allows you make the space seem even more grand. To anyone turned off by a mono output, you can easily do what Jorb mentioned and get a cheap pedal that will allow for “stereo” output. A small detail, but the fact that you covered it at all, with a little extra, “I don’t care that it’s mono” attitude, is quite a positive 😎 it’s ok to be in mono sometimes.

Hahaha dude I just got one of these the other day. It is an absolute unit. I love this thing and it is about $1000 undervalued in my opinion. If any body sees one , go buy it . It’s worth it’s weight in gold and I’m sure a lot of people will crack the case soon and the price on these will eventually go up.

Really nice explanation video! Thanks 🙏 I got a six-trak and sometimes I'm fucked up with the interfacing but on the other end it's really a beautiful snth 👍 Wish, the envelopes could be a little bit faster. Would be a useful mod..

Sounds way better than software....

Great Job!! You can plug in a foot switch then press it to lock held notes in the arpeggiator... when not using the sequencer or the arpeggiator the foot switch will increment the presets. The theme in my comment is... use a foot switch!! I don't know if the Tauntek upgrade removes the foot switch integration though. The Poly-Glide Portamento is really a great quirk on the Six-Trak... between that and the multi-track sequencer... I'll be holding on to my Six-Trak for a looong time to come.

Hopefully this means sequential uploads this week.

hey jorb. could you do the organ and the main lead from chamber of reflection by Mac Demarco love the vids keep it up

I've had my 6T for...10 ish years. I think I bought it on ebay. It was not super expensive at the time. Its the first vintage analog synth I owned (and kept) and I love it. The sequencer is amazing... I've never managed to make the sequencer listen to clock. Really wanna figure that out..any tips? Also, a feature not mentioned as far as I noticed: You can clock the ARP from a trig into the footswitch input when in ARP mode. The rate/speed knob needs to be fully counterclockwise as well. If your not in ARP mode it will just switch between patches... An SQ-1 is great for this. I've spent many hours making ARP counterpoint with channel A of the sq-1 gate out driving the 6T and channel B on a Jupiter 6 (SQ-1 clocked on my MPC1000). F-U-N !

great demo video. Question: I own a take 5 and pro-800. Do you think with that much "sequential" overlap I would gain much picking up a six track?

Great video, man! My legato do nothing... I read the manual to try to find any hidden fuction to active it, but no. Any tip?

There’s a third party programmer from Stereooping which makes it easier to tweak parameters on the fly. Also, there’s an iPad programmer called Model610 that looks good.

👍

what is Vengelis?

I used to sell these when they first came out, I thought they were terrible! There were so many better options at the time 106, dx7, hell even the Korg poly 800! Still, as usual, superb review.

I have the multi output mod but don’t know what to do with it.lol

Six Track Multitracks recordar since 23:43

We need a duet of sixtrak and poly61

I am sorry I sold mine but was wearing out and buttons not always catching .. sold for 450$ several years ago rather than put money into repair..

Starting to sound like Mike Post toward the end ;)

Sounds like the factory patches.

However more importantly can it sound like an angry toaster?

Ohh no. I was trying to buy one of these! Dammit Jorb. Now they will double in price. :(

L99king at 9ne f9r sale here.

I almost bought one of these for a really decent price but I'm stupid, so I didn't

Bally Sente essentially copied this synth's hardware into their arcade systems SAC-1 and SAC-2