After starting to build some drum modules, but not having built a drum sequencer yet, I cast about the modular world to see what the simplest way to sequence some drums would be given what I had built already. Happily, I found that the Pulses expansion for the Turing Machine was almost purpose built to be a mini drum sequencer.

Shift Register Stages is a clone of Music Thing Modular’s Turing Machine Pulses expander. This module connects to the Shift Register Sequencer via a ribbon cable and produces a series of clock signals based on the state of the shift register.

The design of the module is ridiculously simple, it’s just a bunch of resistors, jacks, light emitting diodes (for the blinking light effects), and a single CD4081 AND Gate to do the four outputs which are based on multiple stages being active simultaneously.