OF COURSE, the Japanese are the true masters of releasing essentially the same product over and over again, lopping off a bit here, adding a bit there. But it seems that the Americans are learning fast.

And before you get the mistaken impression that this is merely a ruse by which large companies gaily fleece both their own R&D departments and the general public with equal gusto, there are times when this method of launching products works to our distinct advantage.

The Linn Sequencer is a case in point.

You remember the Linn 9000 (reviewed March 1985)? OK so it had its teething problems, but these have been sorted out, placing the 9000 — with its fiercely powerful drum voices, user-sampling, and outstanding ability to function as a 32-track MIDI Keyboard Recorder — into the technological stratosphere. And at the not insubstantial cost of four grand plus.

The Linn Sequencer then, as you have by now probably gleaned, is the keyboard-recording part of the Linn 9000, sold as a free-standing unit.

The point is that, although the 9000's barrage of accompanying drum sounds are impressive, and the user-sampling is useful/fun/necessary/a-waste-of-time (delete where applicable), most people who are toying with the idea of spending this sort of money already possess an Ensoniq Mirage or be on the Prophet 2000 waiting list! What they won't have, however, is any form of 32-track MIDI Keyboard Recorder, (Synclavier owners please ignore and continue counting money.)

I'd say that the Linn sequencer redefines the meaning of those ghastly over-used words "user-friendly". The necessary commands are kept to a bare minimum at all times; most functions have dedicated switches, and you appear to be able to perform musical tasks, not half-assed computer-crazed assignments dreamed up by some stone (stoned?) deaf boffin in Silicon Valley, in no time the Linn Sequencer should become your slave, not your master.

For those unfamiliar with the Linn 9000, the recording attributes are as follows: 100 sequences can be stored, each comprising 32 simultaneous, polyphonic tracks. When you first think about this you may wonder how 32 tracks can be individually controllable when there are only 16 MIDI channels on which to communicate with the sound sources. Provided you don't exceed the polyphony limit of any particular sound source/MIDI channel, however, complete individual control is no problem.

You can create songs in two basic ways. Either you can simply tell the sequencer to run for, say, 200 bars — the total length of the song — and then blat through the song, part by part. Or, you can record section by section (as on most drum machines) and finally chain the sections together. Frankly, the sequencer is so easy to control, edit, and manage, that piecing songs together section by section is hardly necessary.

Initial recording is, at the moment, always in some form of real time. Various levels of auto-correct can be used (the strictest being 16th notes), but you can edit, both inserting or deleting notes, using the single-step function. For my money this seems the ideal application for step time recording.

Now let's talk about being user-friendly. When you set up a length of sequence, track and MIDI channel number, the sequence will loop ad nauseam, allowing you to add notes (and erase previously recorded data) up to the polyphony limit of your sound source. A click track keeps you in time, of course, with an accent on the down beat.

OK, so you find that you really like a portion of what you've recorded. Fine, then you can simply (and speedily) lop off unwanted parts of your sequence, allowing the "good" part to remain looping. This is ideal when, as is often the case, you're using a sequencer to get ideas from — what we in the trade lovingly refer to as songwriting.

Having laid down a reasonable basic track, you'll want to overdub using another sound. Changing track and MIDI channel numbers is once again a speedy and simple operation, and one which can take place while your original sequence continues to play. There's none of this stopping, farting around with the controls, and then overdubbing, by which time of course any inspiration you might have had has long disappeared.

Further down the line you may want to re-inspect one particular part. This too can be done without interrupting the flow; any track can be muted or soloed in seconds.

Individual tracks or all the tracks can be transposed, and you can copy or insert complete bars anywhere you want at all times.

One of the neatest features to appear this year, both on the Linn 9000 and E-Mu's SP12, is the "repeat" function, and it's widely included here. By pressing the relevant button along with a note, the said note will repeat at the speed set by the auto-correct level. On drum machines this is an unbelievable asset for things like fast rolls, but it has considerable use for pitched Instruments.

In MIDI terms there appear to be few things that the Linn will not get along with. Velocity sensitivity from keyboards will be retained, as will after-touch, and pitch bend/mod wheel effects, program changes and sustain pedal info.

As with the Linn 9000, the Linn Sequencer has its own built-in disk drive, accepting the same 3½-in disks as its big brother. 110,000 notes can be held on one disk, and of course, since they are related devices, a disk that has been programmed using the Linn 9000 can be inserted into the sequencer for further recording.

Although the price and ease of operation would seem to indicate that this sequencer has been designed for, let's say, "mid-tech" users, the Linn has wide and fully professional applications. For a start, tempo can be specified not only in regular beats-per-minute, but also frames-per-beat — at all the viz-kids variables of 24, 25, or 30 frames per second. SMPTE code generation is an option here, but the Linn must be an ideal tool for video and film synchronisation.

The Linn Sequencer is impressive not only because these facilities are far from difficult to fathom out. To look at, there are not that many controls. A 32-character display screen imparts quite sufficient information; below are standard tape-type controls for forward, reverse, locate, record, stop, and play, and alongside are similar large control buttons for erase, repeat, and tap tempo.

Further to the side are a number of membrane switches — 10-digit keypad, command buttons, and then dedicated switches for creating songs, looping, auto-correct, MIDI parameter, insert/copy, time signature etc.

Although this is capable of being a freestanding unit, with its computer-type underside prop presenting the sequencer at a suitable usable angle, you can also slip the Linn into a rack mountable casing.

Obviously one of the ideal companions for the Linn must be Yamaha's TX816. To make the best use of the sequencer one must have access to a fair number of MIDI sound sources, and I doubt that hooking up all your friends' Juno 106s, DXs, and DW8000s via umpteen MIDI Thrus will do much for your timing in the long run. Mind you, the Syco people (From whom this can be bought) have run the Linn with a Casio CZ synth, using the synth in MIDI Mono mode. They claim impressive results.

At this level of sophistication and ease of operation there are few rivals to the Linn Sequencer. And even at just under two grand, this still has to be viewed as a bargain.

Linn Sequencer: £1994

CONTACT: Syco Systems, (Contact Details).