I've had an idea for an analogue synth sequencer, but I'm not sure what to Google

[Bob Reaper]

Basically, I've built a simple drone synth from four of LMNC's oscillators. It sounds great, but without CV tracking it's difficult to get it to work with a sequencer.

My idea would be to use some kind of potentiometer controlled on/off switch, with the pot changing how large the gaps between the notes are (or the on/off state). That way, I could have 4-8 next to each other, which if put to the correct speeds would produce the effect of 4-8 notes playing in a row.

I've tried to breadboard a vactrol style LED blinker and LDR to get this working with some success, but it seems an overly complicated method.

So my question is, what kind of circuit turns a switch on and off repeatedly at a variable speed?

 

[kellys_eye]

what kind of circuit turns a switch on and off repeatedly at a variable speed?

A variable ASTABLE oscillator will change the frequency at which a pulse is created.

with the pot changing how large the gaps between the notes are (or the on/off state).

But a device that has varying SPACE between pulses can also be a Pulse Width Modulation oscillator (PWM). This keeps the frequency the same but varies the time between the pulses