Gene Synths GENE 616: an analog drum machine with two CV sequencers
Gene Synths GENE 616: four analog generators and two threshold-based CV sequencers for polyrhythms, £1,799 on pre-order.
Small maker Gene Synths put the GENE 616 on sale on 5 November: an all-analog drum machine built around two independent control-voltage sequencers. No screen, and no pattern memory or MIDI mentioned on the spec sheet: everything is set with 32 sliders and 33 knobs. It is available to pre-order at £1,799 ($2,424 according to the maker), with delivery quoted at one month after ordering. The source for this article is the official GENE 616 page.
Four generators, two sequencers
The machine is split into two halves that follow the same logic, each driven by its own 16-step sequencer:
- upper half: a bass drum generator based on the classic analog bridge-T circuit, with pitch sweep time and decay controls, plus a first “synth drum” oscillator;
- lower half: a transistor-only snare drum generator with pitch and decay, plus a second oscillator of the same type, with slightly extended highs.
Those two oscillators are the most unusual part. Their pitch runs from high whistles down to subsonic frequencies, where they behave like an LFO (an oscillator too slow to hear, used for modulation). The Pitch CV control applies the sequence to their pitch and warps the waveform at the same time: lower down it turns into a growling sawtooth, higher up it stays close to a sine. Each oscillator has its own analog white noise generator that disturbs its pitch, from light air to blasts of tuned noise, and the noise level can also follow the sequence.
If these terms are new, our article on subtractive synthesis covers oscillators, waveforms and envelopes.
A sequencer built for polyrhythms
Each sequencer has 16 control-voltage sliders (CV, the voltage that drives a parameter; see our article on CV/Gate). Instead of programming each hit, you set thresholds:
- each generator has low and high thresholds defining which slider positions trigger it;
- a reset threshold on each sequencer restarts the sequence whenever a slider exceeds the chosen value, which changes the pattern length;
- with two different lengths, the two halves drift apart and create evolving polyrhythms;
- each generator has its own quantised swing that stays in sync; turned fully up, it drops the even steps or doubles the apparent length to 32 steps;
- the Trigger Swap button exchanges the triggers of the two halves while keeping the CV sequences, and a glide control smooths the move from one voltage to the next.
The approach owes more to the analog sequencers of modular systems than to the step grids of classic Japanese drum machines: you shape the pattern by turning knobs rather than writing it. The maker shows it in a first-look video:
Connections and options
As standard, the GENE 616 has just two 1/4-inch outputs, left and right, with the upper half on one side and the lower half on the other (summed to mono with a single cable), plus a guitar-pedal-style 9 V centre-negative 500 mA power input. The power supply is not included. The wooden case measures 27 × 22 × 5 cm. Options can be added when ordering:
| Option | Extra cost |
|---|---|
| External CV and trigger inputs for one of the two sequencers (0 to 10 V) | +£90 |
| External CV inputs for both sequencers | +£90 |
| Dual germanium diode overdrive, three positions | +£45 |
| Clock and reset outputs, Eurorack-compatible | +£90 |
| Clock output plus germanium overdrive | +£90 |
Without the clock option, the machine cannot sync with the rest of a studio: that is the decision to make before ordering.
Who it is for, what it costs, what it competes with
Who it is for. Techno, ambient and experimental players who perform live without a screen and want rhythms that evolve on their own, and modular owners, who can drive both halves over CV with the options. It is not a drum machine for programming a song section by section: with no pattern memory mentioned, each sequence lasts as long as the session.
What it costs. £1,799 for the standard version, or $2,424 according to the maker’s page, with options on top (£45 to £90 each) and no power supply included. Sold direct as a pre-order, with delivery quoted at one month after ordering; the maker asks buyers to check the import duties that apply in their country.
What it competes with.
- SOMA Pulsar-23: the benchmark experimental analog drum machine, with a semi-modular structure of 23 modules that runs standalone, over MIDI or over CV. More open to patching, where the GENE 616 bets on its two slider sequencers;
- Elektron Analog Rytm MKII: eight analog voices layered with samples, a sequencer with memory and MIDI. The complete tool for writing and performing songs, the opposite of the GENE 616’s memory-free approach;
- Moog DFAM: the single-voice semi-modular percussion synth with an 8-step sequencer, far cheaper, which we already compared with the Dreadbox Alecto. The GENE 616 shares its spirit with two sequencers and four generators.
The GENE 616’s strength lies in its threshold-based sequencing, which produces variation without step programming, and in its hand-built wooden case. Its limits are just as clear: no MIDI or clock as standard, no memory, and a price that reserves it for players who already know what they want from an experimental machine. All our drum machine coverage is in the Drum Machines section.
