Steinberg Sequel - 2.0 Operation Manual

Operation Manual

Original Sequel Operation Manual by Steve Kostrey, Michael Baggley Revision and Quality Control for this version: Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows XP is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The Mac logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh are registered trademarks.

6 Introduction

7 Welcome 7 About this manual 7 Key command conventions

8 System requirements and installation

9 About this chapter 9 Minimum requirements 9 Installing Sequel 9 Activating Sequel 10 Register your software 10 Read on…

11 Tutorial 1: Recording

12 The tutorials 12 Recording audio 17 Recording instrument parts

19 Tutorial 2: Editing

20 Introduction 20 Editing audio events 23 Editing instrument parts

26 Tutorial 3: Mixing

27 Introduction 27 Setting levels 27 Setting Pan 28 Mute and Solo 28 Adding EQ 29 Audio effects 31 Adding automation 33 Exporting

35 Tutorial 4: Live Pads and

Chain Play mode

36 Introduction 36 Arranger parts 36 Live Mode 37 Chain Play Mode

38 The Pilot Zone

39 Introduction 39 The Sequel menu (Mac only) 39 The File, Project and Edit menus 42 The Automation buttons 43 The Edit Remote Control Assignment button 43 Minimizing, maximizing and closing 43 The ruler 44 The Tuner 44 The Transport controls 46 The Metronome 46 Computer Usage 46 The Pilot Zone display 48 The Virtual Keyboard

49 The Arrange Zone

50 Introduction 50 The Track list buttons 51 Resizing the Arrange Zone 51 About tracks and track controls 56 Timeline and grid 56 Zooming in the Arrange Zone 57 Working with the Smart Tool

59 The Multi Zone

60 Introduction 60 The Mixer Page 62 The Track Inspector Page 67 The MediaBay Page 70 The Editor Page 75 The Arranger Page 77 The Program Settings Page

79 Advanced features

80 Introduction 80 Adding silence 81 Audio quantization and warp 83 Smart Transpose 85 One button record 85 Remote-controlling Sequel

Table of Contents

88 Setting up your system

89 About this chapter 89 General notes on how to set up your system 89 Defragmenting the hard disk (Windows only) 89 MIDI requirements 89 Audio hardware 91 Setting up audio 94 Setting up MIDI 94 Optimizing audio performance

96 Key commands

97 Introduction 97 The available key commands

99 Effects reference

100 Introduction 100 Track/Global Effects 101 Instrument parameters

102 Index

Table of Contents

Introduction

Welcome

Congratulations and thank you for your purchase of Steinberg Sequel 2. You have now become a member of the world's largest community of music production software users. Looking back at more than 20 years of innovation in computer-based music production, Steinberg has always been the driving force behind software technology.

Sequel is an entry-level sequencer designed to be an easy-to-use, all-inclusive music production platform. Sequel provides all of the tools needed to record, edit and mix music.

Sequel 2 can be used in the ‘traditional’ way to record, edit and mix audio or virtual instruments. For example, a home musician could record himself playing an instrument (either an acoustic or a virtual instrument) or singing. An electric guitar can be plugged directly into an audio interface and then be recorded with Sequel’s on-board effects.

Music enthusiasts may want to take a wholly different approach to creating music. Their starting point is Sequel’s extensive library of loops and phrases. Pieces of music can be assembled based entirely on loops and without actually playing a single note on a keyboard or instrument. Typically, this is a more DJ-oriented workflow and very popular especially for current dance and electronic music styles.

Another key-application of Sequel 2 is live performance. The concept of mixing and remixing is familiar to practically everyone today and has become a creative act in its own right, sometimes totally unrelated to creating new music itself. Sequel provides all the tools necessary to mixing and remixing music.

The act of performing music on stage using a computer has become standard in today’s music and club scene. The goal of performing music on stage might be someone’s primary motivation to use his/her computer for making music. Sequel puts a special focus on the live aspect of making music, which separates it from traditional sequencers. Instead of linear playback, it has special tools to perform and interact, by mixing and re-combining sections of a song or project.

After you have registered Sequel online, take some time to explore the community section at www.sequel-music.net. You will find lots of useful information and get to know other users in our discussion forums. Registering at www.steinberg.net/mysteinberg also gives you access to special offers from Steinberg in the future.

Have fun creating your own music! The Steinberg Sequel Team

About this manual

This manual is divided into three sections. The first section guides you through several tutorials showing you how to use Sequel.

The second section gives you a brief description of every feature in Sequel. At the end of this manual you will find useful tips for your work with Sequel and information on how to set up your computer.

We are sure that after you have completed these sections you will be on your way to having a lot of fun and making exciting music.

Key command conventions

Many of the default key commands in Sequel use modifier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system. For example, the default key command for Undo is [Ctrl]+[Z] under Windows and [Command]+[Z] under Mac OS X.

When key commands with modifier keys are described in this manual, they are shown with the Windows modifier key first, in the following way:

[Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]+[key] For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Z] means “press [Ctrl] un-

der Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press [Z]”. Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]+[X] means “press [Alt] under Windows or [Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”.

Introduction

System requirements and installation

About this chapter

Installing Sequel

This chapter describes the requirements and installation procedures for the Windows version and the Mac version of Sequel.

Minimum requirements

Ö The following requirements are based on performance measurements for a typical project with an average 12 tracks (incl. 3 to 5 instrument tracks), global effects, compressor and EQ per track, measured at 512 samples buffer size. Slower computers can still be used, but only using fewer tracks and/or higher buffer size.

To use Sequel, your computer must meet the following minimum requirements:

Windows

• Windows XP (Home SP2), Windows Vista (Home Basic)

• Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon 2 GHz Desktop, 1.7 GHz Mobile or Dual Core 1.6 GHz

•1 GB RAM

• 6 GB of free hard disk space

• Windows DirectX compatible audio hardware; ASIO compatible audio hardware recommended for low latency performance.

• Display resolution of 1280x800 pixels

• DVD ROM drive required for installation

• Internet connection required for license activation

Macintosh

• Mac OS X 10.4

• Power Mac G5 1.8 GHz or Core Solo 1.5 GHz

•1 GB RAM

• 6 GB of free hard disk space

• Display resolution of 1280x800 pixels

• CoreAudio compatible audio hardware

• DVD ROM drive required for installation

• Internet connection required for license activation

The installation procedure puts all files in the right places, automatically.

Windows

1. Insert the Sequel DVD into the DVD drive of your computer.

2. Locate and double-click the file called “Setup.exe” on the Sequel installation DVD.

3. Follow the instructions on screen.

Macintosh

1. Insert the Sequel DVD into the DVD drive of your computer.

2. Double-click the file called “Sequel.mpkg”.

3. Follow the instructions on screen.

Whether you install Sequel on a Mac or Windows computer you will need to activate Sequel.

Activating Sequel

After installing Sequel you will have to activate the program on your computer.

• As the last step in the installation, the Syncrosoft License Control Center is opened. The “License Download Wizard” is displayed.

• If the Licencse Download Wizard is not opened automatically, open the Wizards menu and select the License Download function to open it.

• Follow the instructions and enter your Sequel activation code.

System requirements and installation

Register your software

We encourage you to register your software! By doing so you are entitled to technical support and kept aware of updates and other news regarding Sequel. There are two ways to register:

• In Sequel, open the File menu and select the “User

Registration…” option.

This is an Internet link that will open the Registration page of the Steinberg web site. To register, follow the instructions on screen. When you launch Sequel, you will also be prompted to launch the registration process.

• Included on the Sequel installation DVD you can find a

registration form in pdf format. To register, print out the form, enter all required information and send it to Steinberg.

Read on…

…to learn how to use Sequel:

• First, you will find tutorials that will get you up and run-

ning quickly.

These tutorials refer to projects located in the default project folder, and a video file that you will find on the program DVD.

• Detailed descriptions of all program functions can be

found in the chapters covering the various Sequel “zones”.

• At the end of this manual you will find information on

more advanced techniques, tips on how to set up your computer system for audio work, the effects reference, and a list of the Sequel keyboard shortcuts.

System requirements and installation

Tutorial 1: Recording

The tutorials

The Pilot Zone is described in the chapter “The Pilot

Zone” on page 38.

Details on the Arrange Zone can be found in the chapter “The Arrange

Zone” on page 49.

The Multi Zone and its various pages are described in the chapter “The Multi Zone” on

page 59.

The following chapters provide a quick introduction to Sequel. But first, please take a look at the figure below, as it gives you an overview of the Sequel program interface:

In this first tutorial, we are going to show you how the Pilot Zone, Arrange Zone, and Multi Zone work together when recording audio events and Instrument parts.

Recording audio

In this section, we are going to take a look at recording a guitar line, adding a drum loop and playing it back. Make sure that you have your audio card set up correctly, see the chapter “Setting up your system” on page 88.

Creating a new project

By default, Sequel creates a new project when you boot up the program. You can change this on the Program Settings Page. See the chapter “The Program Settings Page” on page 77 for more details.

To create a new project if a project is already open

• Open the Project menu and select the option “New Project”.

This will create a new project with nothing in it and close the project that was already open. If this project contains unsaved changes, you will be asked whether these changes should be saved.

You’re not done yet! So far we’ve created a blank Sequel project. We still need to save the project.

Tutorial 1: Recording

Setting the save folder

Click here to select a different input.

In order to save projects in Sequel, it is important to make sure you know where the projects are going to be saved.

1. Go to the Program Settings Page.

2. Click on the “Project Location” button.

3. A dialog opens allowing you to browse you computer

and find a suitable location. When you installed Sequel it automatically created a location for saving projects.

4. You can click “Create” to create a new folder if you

would like to save your projects elsewhere.

5. Let’s leave it set to the default folder Sequel has cre-

ated. Click “OK”.

To save a project

Now let’s add an audio track to record onto. For our example we are going to record a guitar. You can also record bass or whatever instrument you want. The method is the same for any instrument you wish to record.

Ö By default, the audio input for the track is set to the first input available in the “Input Selection” pop-up menu. To be able to see the Input selection, make sure the track height is set to Large at the bottom of the track list.

1. Click the “Add New Track” button above the track list.

2. In the dialog that appears, select the “Audio” button.

1. Open the Project menu and select the “Save Project”

option.

3. Select “empty” and click “OK”. This adds an audio track to the project.

2. Type in a name for your project – you can use “First

Sequel Project” for example.

3. Click “OK”.

The project will automatically be saved in the folder you specified on the Program Settings Page.

Adding an audio track

Ö The following sections make references to tutorial projects, located in the default Sequel project folder.

Load the project called “Recording” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 1” folder.

Tutorial 1: Recording

4. Double-click the track name and change it to “Guitar”.

Turning on the Metronome click

Choose a drum loop… …and drag it into the Arrange Zone.

We’ll want to have a click or metronome play in the background as we record the guitar so that what we record aligns with the bars and beats displayed in the ruler.

• Activate the Metronome button in the Pilot Zone.

The metronome is automatically set to add a two bars precount before recording starts.

We now need to set the speed or tempo of our project. This directly affects the speed of the metronome click. You can change the tempo in the Tempo display field. For more on changing tempo, see “The Tempo (TEMPO)” on page 47.

We have a default setting of 120 which means 120 BPM or beats per minute. We can leave it at that.

4. In the Style column, select a style that suits the style of guitar line you would like to record.

5. Activate the Preview button and browse through the list on the right until you find a suitable loop.

6. Drag the selected drum loop into the Arrange Zone and line it up with bar 1, just below the guitar track.

You can adjust the metronome volume using the “Metronome Level” slider on the Program Settings Page in the Multi Zone.

Adding a drum loop

Let’s add some drums to the project.

Ö Adding a drum loop to your project is not only great for supporting the metronome when you are recording bass or guitar, it's also great if you aren’t a drummer or if you don’t have the ability to record drums at home.

1. Select the MediaBay Page in the Multi Zone.

2. In the Category column, select “Drum&Perc”.

3. In the Sub Category column, select “Beats”.

Tutorial 1: Recording

7. Use the Repeat function to make the loop 4 bars long.

Indicator moves left and right Note and octave

Just click in the middle of the right edge of the event and drag right until the loop is repeated to the beginning of bar 5. See “Repeating events” on page 57 for more detailed information on repeating.

8. Rename the track “Drums”.

Ö Note that the tempo of the project has now changed to match the drum loop. When you drag a file into a project and it is the first file to be added, its tempo will define the project tempo.

Read more about defining or changing the project tempo in “The Tempo

(TEMPO)” on page 47.

Setting levels

In our example, we have a guitar playing through an amplifier with a microphone in front of the amplifier’s speaker. This microphone is plugged directly into the Steinberg MI|4 microphone input. We have set the level on the MI|4 so that we have enough volume without clipping.

Activating the Record Ready button will allow us to hear the guitar. You should see the audio coming in to the right of the track.

Do the best you can to send the maximum amount of volume to the audio inputs of your audio card before you hear any distortion. Most audio cards show some kind of level or volume indication. If yours doesn’t, don’t worry; we can change the amount using the track volume slider.

Tuning your instrument

Sequel features a built-in tuner for tuning instruments like guitar or bass.

1. Make sure that the guitar track is selected and that the Record Ready button is activated so that we can hear the input.

2. Activate the Tuner in the Pilot Zone.

3. Pluck a string on your guitar.

The Tuner automatically detects which string you are hitting as long as it is in fairly close proximity to the right tuning. The tuning indicator will move left or right. If it moves to the left, the string is flat. If it moves to the right, the string is sharp.

The Tuner also displays the current note and octave that your string is tuned to. In our case, the D string is a little flat, so the tuner is displaying “d 2”.

4. Tune up each of your instrument’s strings.

5. Deactivate the Tuner.

You are now ready to record!

Tutorial 1: Recording

Recording the guitar

1. Click in the ruler at the position where you want the re-

cording to start to move the project cursor to this position.

You can also click the the “Jump to Previous Marker” and “Jump to Next Marker” buttons in the Pilot Zone to position the project cursor in the Arrange Zone.

2. Make sure that Cycle is deactivated (not highlighted).

3. Activate the “Record Ready” button for the track you

want to record on.

4. Click the “Record” button to record the guitar – you

will automatically get two bars of precount.

This is indicated by two cursors: a red cursor appears at the position where you start recording and a black one jumps two bars back and advances towards the record position. This allows you to see the remaining count in time and the record start position at the same time. The red cursor will not be shown if the record start position is set to the first bar.

Playback

To listen to what you have just recorded, you have to play it back. Playback in Sequel is easy, but there are a few tricks to learn so that you’ll be playing back with precision!

Load the project “Playback” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 1” folder.

To start playback

There are a few ways to start playback in Sequel.

• Click on the play button.

• Press the space bar on your computer keyboard – this toggles between start and stop.

• Press the [Enter] key on the numerical computer keypad.

• Double-click in the lower half of the ruler.

To stop playback

• Click on the play button during playback.

• Press the space bar on your computer keyboard – this toggles between start and stop.

• Press the [0] key on the numerical computer keypad.

Cycle playback

Sequel has the ability to cycle (or “loop”) a section of your project. To set the cycle location, you need to use the left and right locators.

1. Let’s draw in a cycle region from bar 2 to 3. This tells

Sequel that we want to cycle the section between bars 2 and 3. Turn snap on to help you create a precise region.

You can press [J] on your computer keyboard to toggle Snap on and off.

5. Press the space bar when you are finished, to stop recording.

Congratulations! You have just recorded your first piece of audio in Sequel. Move ahead to the next section to learn how to play it back.

2. Move the mouse pointer up to the top of the ruler. It will

turn into a pencil. Click and drag from bar 2 to bar 3.

Tutorial 1: Recording

3. Make sure the Cycle button is activated.

Recording

Now that we have a track and we have our sound, let’s record something. Recording instrument parts is very similar to recording audio events. Make sure you read the beginning of this chapter where we discuss recording audio.

4. Click the “Jump to previous marker” or “Jump to next marker” buttons until the song position cursor is sitting directly on bar 2.

5. Press the space bar to start playback. Sequel will play looping over and over again until you press the space bar a second time.

Recording instrument parts

In this section we are going to take a look at recording instrument parts into a project using instrument tracks.

Load the project called “Recording MIDI” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 1” folder.

Creating an instrument track

Let’s start by adding an instrument track to our project.

1. Click the “Add New Track” button in the Pilot Zone.

2. In the dialog that appears, select the “Instrument” but-

ton.

3. Use the “Category” filter and choose a sound that fits in with your song. We are going to select a Synth Pad sound.

Ö Sequel automatically finds and uses any MIDI devices that we have on our computer.

Ö The MIDI input to an instrument track is always set to “All Inputs”.

1. Activate the “Record Ready” button for the track and

press a few keys on your MIDI keyboard. You should see and hear the MIDI signals coming in to the right of the track.

2. Make sure the Cycle button is turned off.

3. Press the [.] key on your numeric keypad to set the

song position to bar 1. This will ensure that we start recording at the start of the song.

4. Press the [*] key on your numeric keypad to start re-

cording. Record 4 bars.

5. Press the space bar when you are finished.

6. Turn off “Record Ready” so that we don’t hear the in-

put any more.

4. Rename the track “Synth”. Feel free to give this track a different name if you chose a different type of sound.

Tutorial 1: Recording

Congratulations! You have just recorded your first instru-

ment part in Sequel.

Load the project “MIDI Playback” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 1” folder.

Press the [.] key on your numeric keypad to set the song position cursor to bar 1 and press the space bar to listen back.

Move ahead to the next chapter to learn how to edit the audio events and instrument parts we’ve recorded.

Tutorial 1: Recording

Tutorial 2: Editing

Introduction

In this chapter, we are going to show you how the Pilot Zone, Arrange Zone, and Multi Zone work together when editing audio events and instrument parts. Refer to the chapters “The Pilot Zone” on page 38, “The Arrange Zone” on page 49 and “The Multi Zone” on page 59 if you aren’t sure about a specific function.

Ö The following sections make references to tutorial projects, located in the default Sequel project folder.

Editing audio events

In this section we are going to look at some of the audio editing functions that are available in Sequel.

Let’s take a look at how to edit events. This includes rename, resize, move, copy, repeat, and erase.

Load the project “Event Operations” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 2” folder.

Importing

You can import audio events by simply dragging them from the MediaBay Page or your desktop and dropping them in the Arrange Zone.

Resizing

You can resize an event by adjusting start and/or end of the event. Used in combination with splitting and repeating, this is usually all the editing you’ll need.

1. Click on the event you would like to resize. In our case

let’s resize the “Guitar” and “Synth” events.

2. Position the cursor over one of the triangles at the

lower left or right of the event. Click and adjust the “Guitar” and “Synth” events so that there isn’t as much empty space on the left and right of the event.

Renaming

Renaming events is easy in Sequel. It’s important to rename your audio files to keep your project clean and organized. Let’s rename the audio event on the drum track “Drums”:

1. Double-click the name field on the event.

2. Type in “Drums” and when you are done, press [Enter]/

[Return].

The name has now changed to “Drums”.

Tutorial 2: Editing

Splitting

Splitting is used to cut events.

You can split or cut an event wherever you want or you can split them evenly at positions defined by the bars and beats position grid displayed in the Arrange Zone.

Splitting with Snap off

Splitting with Snap off allows you to cut the event anywhere you like, without locking to the grid.

1. Make sure that Snap is deactivated. You can now split the event anywhere you like.

You can press [J] on your computer keyboard to toggle Snap on and off.

2. Select the “Synth” event.

3. Hover the cursor along the bottom of the event. The

cursor turns into the Split tool.

4. Click anywhere along the bottom of the event to split it. Create as many splits as you like.

5. Undo your actions by selecting the Undo Split option from the Edit menu. Make sure there are no splits in the “Synth” event any more.

4. Cut on bar 1 beat 3, bar 2 beat 3, bar 3 beat 3, and

bar 4 beat 3.

5. Undo your actions by selecting the Undo Split option

from the Edit menu. Make sure there are no splits in the “Drums” event any more.

Moving

Let’s move all of the events in the project so that all the events on all tracks line up with bar 2.

1. Make sure that Snap is activated.

You can press [J] on your computer keyboard to toggle Snap on and off.

2. Click and hold the mouse in an empty area of the Ar-

range Zone. Drag to create a selection of all the events. When you release the mouse button, all of the events will be selected.

3. With all of the events selected, click and drag them so

that the events line up with bar 2.

Splitting with Snap on

Having the Snap button activated allows you to split or cut with precision, directly on bars or beats.

1. Make sure that the Snap button is activated.

You can press [J] on your computer keyboard to toggle Snap on and off.

2. Let’s split the “Drums” event on the third beat of every bar.

3. If you can’t see beats in the grid, zoom in using the [H] key on your keyboard until you can see them.

Tutorial 2: Editing

4. Click on an empty area of the Arrange Zone so that no

events are selected. All of the events have moved together, and have stayed in

the same relative position.

5. Select all of the events again, and drag them back to

bar 1.

Muting

Muting an event stops you from hearing just that event. You may want to mute events on a track so that the track continues to play except for the muted events.

Ö Note that this is different from muting a track.

1. Hover the cursor over the event you wish to mute. The mute button will appear in the top right hand corner of the event.

2. Click on the Mute button. The event will turn gray. This means that the event in muted.

3. To unmute the event click on the “Mute” button again.

Repeating

The Repeat function is great for repeating something over and over directly after the event you want to repeat. This function is built right into events in Sequel.

Let’s repeat the “Drums” event:

1. Click on the “Repeat handle” on the middle right side of the event and drag until the “Repeat Count” is three.

Copying

Copying can be used to copy an event to another area in the Arrange Zone.

Using copy and paste

1. To copy an event, click on the desired event and choose

“Copy” from the Edit menu. In our case, let’s copy the “Guitar” event.

2. Position the cursor at the point in the project where

you would like the copy to be made. We’ll place the cursor at bar 5 beat 2.

3. Select the track that you want the event to be copied

to by clicking on it in the track list.

4. Choose “Paste” from the Edit menu.

Ö If a different track is selected, the Paste command will paste the event to this track instead. Therefore, always make sure that the right track is selected before choosing Paste.

5. We have now two “Guitar” events.

Using the [Ctrl]/[Command] key

1. Place the cursor in the center of the Synth event and

hold down [Ctrl]/[Command].

2. We are going to copy the “Synth” event. Click and

hold the selected event and drag to the position you wish the copy to be made. In this case, drag until the copy is lined up with bar 5.

3. Release the mouse button.

4. Now we have two “Synth” events.

2. We now have five “Drums” events. Two original ones

and three repeats.

Tutorial 2: Editing

Erasing

1. Select an event to erase.

2. Press [Delete] or [Backspace] to delete the event.

You can also select the Delete option on the Edit menu.

About the Sample Editor

The Sample Editor is used for detailed editing. It can be used for the following:

• Quantization

•Time Warp

• Adding Silence

• Reversing These features are described in the chapter “Advanced

features” on page 79.

1. To open the Sample Editor, select an audio event and then select the Editor Page in the Multi Zone.

You can also double click the event in the Arrange Zone to display it in the Sample Editor.

Editing instrument parts

In this section, we are going to look at some of the editing functions for instrument parts that are available in Sequel.

Key Editor

The Key Editor is where we can make changes to the instrument data on our instrument tracks.

Load the project “Key Editor” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 2” folder.

Importing

You can import Instrument parts by simply dragging them from the MediaBay Page or your desktop and dropping them in the Arrange Zone.

Deleting notes

Select the “Synth” event and go to the Editor Page in the Multi Zone to view the Key Editor. Here you can see the synth notes lined up with a keyboard or piano roll on the left. At the bottom the velocity of each of the notes is shown and at the top we can see the time ruler.

Let’s delete all the notes in bar 1.

1. Click once and hold the mouse while dragging a selec-

tion rectangle over the first bar.

A common term for this is to “lasso” the notes.

2. The selected audio event is displayed in the center of the Editor Page. Here you can see a detailed waveform rendering of the audio file.

The functions along the left side of the window such as Volume, Mute, Transpose, Transpose lock and Reverse are described in the section “The Editor Page” on page 70.

2. Press [Delete] or [Backspace] on your computer key-

board to delete all the notes in the first bar.

Tutorial 2: Editing

Copying notes

Let’s copy all of the notes from the second bar into the first bar.

1. Lasso all the notes in bar 2.

2. Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag the notes from

bar 2 to bar 1 to copy them.

Resizing notes

We can shorten or lengthen notes using the Key Editor. Let’s make all the eighth notes in the first two bars into quarter notes.

1. Lasso all the notes in the first two bars.

2. Put the mouse pointer at the end of any of the lassoed

notes. It changes to look like two arrows pointing away from each other.

Creating or drawing in notes

We can use the Key Editor to draw in notes. This is great for creating instrument arrangements that you are having trouble playing in yourself.

Let’s add some notes to the first two bars of the song:

1. Make the Key Editor larger by clicking on the bar along

the top of the Multi Zone and dragging upwards.

2. Make the notes in the Key Editor larger by adjusting

the zoom slider along the right hand side of the Key Editor.

3. Let’s draw in a G above the first C in bar 1 so that two

notes will be played instead of one.

4. Hold down [Alt]/[Option] so that the cursor becomes a

pencil.

5. Click and drag to draw in an eighth note G.

6. Next, draw in notes above the rest of the notes in bar 1

and 2.

Have fun and experiment with different note placements.

Pressing [Alt]/[Option] is the magic way to get the Pencil tool, for drawing in instrument parts in the Arrange Zone or events in the Key Editor!

3. Click and drag right to resize the notes.

Tutorial 2: Editing

The Controller lane

The controller lane

Pop-up menu

The Controller Lane allows us to add in or modify instrument data such as velocity and controller information. The most common use for this is to edit velocity or pitch bend. If you find that the velocity is too strong or weak on certain notes, you can view and edit them at the bottom of the Key Editor.

1. On the pop-up menu, select the information you wish to view or change; in this example, choose “Velocity”.

Along the bottom, you can see the velocity setting for each note contained in the instrument part.

2. Hold down [Alt]/[Option] so that the cursor becomes a pencil.

3. Click and drag to move the velocity information for a note up or down.

4. You can also click and move the cursor across the controller lane in a wave-type motion to draw in curves or ramps in the information.

Move ahead to the next chapter where we will discuss mixing, EQs, automation, effects, and exporting.

Tutorial 2: Editing

Tutorial 3: Mixing

Introduction

In this chapter, we’ll show you how to get to a mix ready with proper levels, EQs and effects. Automation will be added and then we’ll export the audio.

Ö The following sections make references to tutorial projects, located in the default Sequel project folder.

Setting levels

The first thing that we need to do is set the levels for our project. This helps us get a great starting point for the mix so we can add EQ and effects later.

Load the project “Mixing 1” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

1. Select the Mixer Page in the Multi Zone.

2. Press the space bar on your computer keyboard to

start playing back the project and listen to your mix.

3. Move the faders on each track so that you hear everything the way you like it.

That’s it for setting levels. Let’s check out pan next.

Setting Pan

Load the project “Mixing 2” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

Setting the pan for each track moves its position in the stereo mix. You can either keep the signal balanced in the middle of the left and right speaker, slightly to the left or slightly to the right or be completely in the left or right speaker.

Keep the “Drums” track in the middle. Move the “Bass” track slightly to the left and move the “Guitar” track almost all the way left and the “Synth” track almost all the way to the right. This will give the mix a little bit more of a feeling of space.

Ö If for any reason you need to reset a fader back to its default position of 100, [Ctrl]/[Command]-click directly in the fader area.

Ö Be careful how high you raise the faders. Make sure that everything is at a good volume without clipping or distortion or any other unpleasant sounds. You will know that your tracks are too loud when the Master fader area turns red. If this happens, lower the levels and click the red Audio Overload indicator to reset it.

Tutorial 3: Mixing

Ö If you need to get the panner back to the center, [Ctrl]/ [Command]-click directly in the panner area.

That’s it for pan, let’s move on to Mute and Solo.

Mute and Solo

The different sections where Lo, Mid and Hi EQ are shown

Load the project “Mixing 3” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

For each track, there are buttons for Mute and Solo. Mute will prevent you from hearing the track, and Solo will only play that track or tracks that have Solo enabled.

Ö You can have several tracks muted or soloed at a time.

Ö When you Solo a track, the other tracks become

muted. To disable a Solo or Mute simply click the button again. To simultaneously mute a track that is soloed and solo an-

other track, [Ctrl]/[Command]-click on the solo button of the track that you wish to solo.

That’s it for Solo and Mute. Let’s move on to adding EQ.

3. Click on the “Equalizers” tab.

Ö Make sure that you have a section of your project playing that features the “Drums” track so that you can hear your EQ changes.

Each track in Sequel has a 3-band EQ. The low shelf or bass frequency sets the frequency at which the low tones will be affected. The parametric mid or middle frequency sets the frequency at which the middle tones will be affected. The high shelf or treble frequency sets the frequency at which the high tones will be affected.

Adding EQ

Load the project “Mixing 4” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

EQ or equalization adds or subtracts frequencies, so that you can place each instrument correctly in the mix. EQ is subjective and can be influenced by the kind of music you are mixing or the kind of music that you like to listen to.

We are going to run through the EQ features that Sequel has to offer, but feel free to experiment and try our different presets on your mix.

1. Select the “Drums” track in the Arrange Zone.

2. Solo the Drums track and select the Track Inspector

Page in the Multi Zone.

You can adjust the frequency of each EQ by clicking on the corresponding frequency slider and dragging left or right.

The exact frequency that is being affected is displayed in the EQ settings display.

Tutorial 3: Mixing

The middle EQ is a parametric EQ. That means that the

Track Effects tab

frequency range of this EQ can be widened or shortened. To do this, click on the middle width or “Q” slider and drag right to widen the range and left to shorten it.

You can adjust the EQs level by raising or lowering the bass, middle, or treble gain slider. To do this, click and drag up or down on the desired slider.

To bypass the EQ, click the Bypass button.

You can reset any slider by [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking on it. You can also reset the EQ from the EQ Presets pop-up. Simply click in the EQ Presets field and select “Reset”.

Experiment with the EQs on all your tracks.

Ö A good tip when using EQ is that it’s usually better to take away EQ (lower the gain) than to add it.

Audio effects

Load the project “Mixing 6” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

Let’s add some effects to our project. In Sequel, there are three types of effects that we can manipulate:

• Track Effects

• Global Effects

•Output Effects.

For details on each effect and its parameters, see the chapter “Effects reference” on page 99.

• You can also add effects to instrument parts. This is

described in detail in the section “The Event Effects tab

(instrument tracks only)” on page 64.

Track effects

Track effects are commonly referred to as insert effects. This is because they are inserted into the signal flow.

1. Select the “Bass” track.

2. Make sure you have the Track Inspector Page se-

lected and click on the “Track Effects” tab.

Listen to, and see the changes we made to the EQ by loading the project “Mixing 5” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

Now let’s move on to effects.

3. Begin playback and loop (or “cycle”) a section of music

so that you can hear everything.

The tutorial project has its locators and cycle already set for this. Feel free to change this if you like.

4. Let’s use the Compression fixed insert on the “Bass”

track to smooth it out a little bit.

Tutorial 3: Mixing

5. Adjust the Threshold slider until the bass sounds

Effect Preset menu

Send effect 1 Send effect 2Amount 1 enabled

smoother and there isn’t such a big difference between the notes that were played quieter versus the notes that were played a little louder.

9. Make changes to the effect manually, or select a pre-

set from the “Effect Preset” menu.

6. Raise the “Channel Level” to compensate for the reduction in Gain that the compression has caused on the “Bass” track.

7. Next let’s add some flange to the “Synth” track to make it stand out a little bit more. Select the “Synth” track in the Arrange Zone.

8. Click on the first insert slot and choose “Flanger” from the Modulation submenu.

For details on each effect and its parameters, see the chapter “Effects reference” on page 99.

At the end of this section, you can load the next tutorial that will contain all of the changes we have made.

Global effects

Load the project “Mixing 7” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

Each project can have two send effects. These are referred to as Global Effects.

1. Make sure you have the Track Inspector Page selected

and click on the “Global Effects” tab. Reverb and StereoDelay are set as the default send effects.

You can change them if you like, but remember you only have two slots that will be used for all tracks.

Let’s add some reverb to the drums:

2. Select the “Drums” track and make sure “Amount 1” is

enabled. This will send the “Drums” to the “Reverb” effect which is in the Send 1 spot.

3. Move the “Amount 1” slider until you hear the desired

amount of the “Reverb” effect. For details on each effect and its parameters, see the

chapter “Effects reference” on page 99.

Tutorial 3: Mixing

Output effects

Edit/Write Automation

Make sure Volume is selected here.

Show Automation

Output Effects, like track effects, are inserts, but in this case, they are applied to the Master channel. The “Output Effects” tab features two changeable effects and two fixed effects.

The two fixed effects are Maximizer and StereoEnhancer. Both are controllable via sliders and a Bypass button.

Let’s use the “Maximizer” to raise the overall volume of the project and the “StereoEnhancer” to create a more spread effect of the mix.

1. Move the “Maximizer” slider until the effect is at a suitable level.

2. You can bypass the effect by clicking on the button above the effect slider.

3. Crank up the “StereoEnhancer” a little bit to add some spread to your project.

For details on each effect and its parameters, see the chapter “Effects reference” on page 99.

That’s it for effects. Let’s move on to automation.

Let’s make the whole song fade out by changing the volume automation on the Master track.

1. Activate the “Edit/Write Automation” button in Pilot

Zone.

The “Show Automation” button will be activated automatically and the Master track will appear in the Arrange Zone.

2. Make sure that “Volume” is selected on the automation

pop-up menu of the Master track. Let’s create a fade-out in the last bar of the project.

3. Create two anchor points by clicking on the volume

automation line – one at the beginning of the last bar and one at the end of the last bar.

To delete an anchor point that you may have created by mistake, select it and press [Delete] or [Backspace] on your computer keyboard.

Adding automation

Automation allows us to make things like faders, pan, knobs, and effects be adjusted automatically. This is very handy, especially when you have a lot of tracks in your project. Any changes you make will be remembered and occur again automatically without you having to worry about them.

Load the project “Mixing 8” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

Tutorial 3: Mixing

4. Drag the anchor point at the end of the song down until you can’t drag it any further.

Listen to the fade out automation you have created.

Ö You can also create automation during playback or recording, simply by wiggling a fader or knob.

Let’s select a parameter to automate. In this case, let’s use the “Panner” on the “Synth” track.

1. Make sure that the “Edit/Write Automation” button is activated.

2. Select “Panner - Left-Right” from the automation popup menu on the Synth track so that you can see the automation writing itself to the track.

3. Start playback using the space bar and move the panner back and forth.

Experiment more with this exciting tool! It is so helpful in making your project sound great. Remember that pretty much any knob, slider or fader can be automated in Sequel.

Removing and disabling automation

To remove automation, proceed as follows:

• To remove the track automation for the current parame-

ter select the first option (“Remove Volume Automation”, or “Remove Panner – Left-Right Automation”, etc.) from the automation pop-up menu.

Note that this will also delete any automation events for this parameter.

• To remove all automation data from the selected track,

select “Remove all Automation of Track” from the automation pop-up menu.

All automation events will be removed from the selected track.

• To remove all effect automation data from the selected

track, select “Remove Effect Automation” from the automation pop-up menu.

All effect automation data will be removed from the selected track.

• To remove all EQ automation data from the selected

track, select “Remove EQ Automation” from the automation pop-up menu.

All EQ automation data will be removed from the selected track.

• To enable/disable the master automation, click on the

“Disable Automation” button on the master track or in the Master channel of the mixer.

The Read and Write functions as well as all automation on the master track will be disabled. The initial automation value will be used as a fixed value for the whole project. You can still modify this value using the master automation controls in the track list. If you deactivate the button again, the master automation will be enabled again.

4. Stop playback when you are done.

Ö Sequel automatically smoothes out the automation for you.

If you don’t like the automation you created, press [Ctrl]/ [Command]+[Z] on your computer keyboard to undo it.

Tutorial 3: Mixing

Exporting

Now that we have our project mixed, we’ll want to export it so that we can send it to others, burn it to a CD, or listen to it on our iPod.

Load the project “Mixing 9” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.

Exporting to iTunes

To export your project directly to iTunes, open the Project menu and select “Export Project to iTunes”.

Your project will be exported from start to finish in the default file format of iTunes. This will launch iTunes and you will find your exported project is already part of your library for easy transfer to your iPod. In iTunes, the project name will be shown as the title and your computer user name as artist name.

Ö Note that iTunes must be installed on your computer for this function to be available.

Exporting audio files

1. To export your project in a different format, open the Project menu and select “Export Project as Audio file”.

2. A dialog opens where you can choose a file name. Let’s name ours “First Mixdown”.

Ö The Export Location is where you wish to save the exported file on your computer. Click in the field to the right to select a destination. Make sure you choose a destination that is easy to remember. Choosing the Project folder is recommended so that your file won’t become erased or lost.

Ö Normally you’ll want to save your exported file as a “Wave File”. This is the most universally compatible file type for audio. If the application you need the file for demands a different format, you can choose one from the pop-up menu.

3. A bit depth of 16 bit is common for CD burning. Let’s

use 16 bit.

24 bit will give a higher (better than CD) audio quality, but the file will also use up more hard disk space.

4. When you are finished choosing all of your settings,

select “Export” to begin exporting the file.

The progress bar along the bottom will let you see your progress.

Load the project “Mixing 10” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder to hear the results of our export.

Exporting mp3 files

Using advanced audio compression algorithms, mp3 files can be made very small, yet maintaining good audio quality.

This version of Sequel provides a function for exporting your projects as mp3 files. This function is limited to 20 trial encodings or a period of 30 trial days from the installation date (whichever comes first). After this period, the function will be disabled until you purchase the mp3 encoder for Sequel.

• When the MP3 format is selected, and you click the Ex-

port button, a window opens showing you how many trial encodings you have left. You can upgrade to an unlimited MP3 export function by clicking the “Go to Online Shop” button in the dialog.

This will take you to Steinberg’s online shop where you can purchase the upgrade. Note that a working internet connection is required.

Tutorial 3: Mixing

In the Write Project to Audio File dialog, specify the export location and the file name in the corresponding fields and activate/deactivate the following options for mp3 files:

Option Description

Bit Rate In this field you can select a bit rate for the mp3 file. As a

Sample Rate Determines the frequency range of the audio – the lower

High Quality Mode

Insert ID3 Tag When you activate this option, the ID3 tags that you

Edit ID3 Tag button

rule, the higher the bit rate, the better the audio quality and the larger the file. For stereo audio, 128kBit/s is often considered to result in “good” audio quality.

the sample rate, the lower the highest audible frequency in the audio.

When this is activated, the encoder will use a different resampling mode, which can give better results depending on your settings. In this mode, you cannot specify the Sample Rate, but only the Bit Rate for the mp3 file.

specified in the ID3 Tag dialog will be included in the file. When you click this button, the ID3 Tag dialog opens, in

which you can enter information about the file. These text strings (tags) can be displayed in most mp3 playback applications.

Audio Mixdown of selected tracks (bouncing)

Sometimes it may be necessary to combine multiple tracks of a project into one or to convert CPU-hungry instrument tracks to audio. This is called “bouncing tracks”. In order to do this, follow these simple steps:

1. Activate solo on the tracks you want to bounce. Bypass any global or output effects. You can add them again later.

2. Open the Project menu, choose “Export Project as Audio File…” and pick a name and format (preferably 24-bit WAV but 16-bit will do as well).

3. Locate the newly created audio file and drag it into the open project into the empty space below the last track. A new track will be created with the bounced file.

4. You can now mute or delete the original tracks and adjust your mix.

Tutorial 3: Mixing

Tutorial 4: Live Pads and

Chain Play mode

Introduction

Live Mode

In this chapter, we’ll show you how to use Sequel to make Live Performances fun and easy. We’ll take you through creating Arranger parts and using the Arranger Page.

Arranger parts

Ö The following sections make references to tutorial projects, located in the default Sequel project folder.

Load the project “Live Mode 1” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 4” folder.

Let’s use Arranger parts to separate intro, verse, chorus, and extro into different sections.

1. Activate the Show Arranger Track button above the track list.

2. Place the cursor within the Arranger track and press and hold [Alt]/[Option] on your computer keyboard. The cursor will turn into a pencil.

3. Click and drag to create an Arranger part from bar 1 to bar 5.

4. Create three more parts from bar 5 to 13, 13 to 17, and 17 to 25. New parts will be labeled alphabetically from A to Z.

You can create up to 26 parts – one for each letter of the alphabet. If you want to use a different project, feel free to create as many Arranger parts as you like.

Load the project “Live Mode 2” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 4” folder.

Now that we have Arranger parts set up, let’s use them to play back our project.

1. Select the Arranger Page in the Multi Zone.

2. Make sure that the Pad Mode is set to “Live Pads”

mode. This is represented by four small pads in the shape of a box.

3. Below the Pad Mode button you can select the Jump

mode. Make sure it is set to “End”.

4. Click on “Pad A” and it will begin looping the intro.

You can also press the [A] key on your computer keyboard. Notice that the pad is highlighted. This signifies that the pad is currently playing back or active.

5. Click on “Pad B”.

Notice that pad B starts flashing. This signifies that this pad is next in line to be played.

The order in which the pads will be played and the exact time at which a pad is played depend on the settings to the left of the pads.

Option Description

Now Jumps to the next section immediately. 4 bars,

When one of these modes is selected, a grid of 4 or 2 bars (de-

2 bars

pending on the setting) will be placed on the active Arranger part. Whenever the respective grid line is reached, playback will jump to the next Arranger part. An example: Let’s say you have an Arranger part which is 8 bars long and Jump mode is set to 4 bars. If the cursor is anywhere within the first 4 bars of the Arranger part when you hit the next pad, playback will jump to the next part as soon as the end of the fourth bar of the Arranger part is reached. If the cursor is anywhere within the last 4 bars of the Arranger part, playback will jump to the next part at the end of the part. If a part is shorter than 4 (or 2) bars when this mode is selected,

playback will jump to the next section at the part end. 1 bar Jumps to the next section at the next bar line. 1 beat Jumps to the next section at the next beat. End Plays the current section to the end, then jumps to the next section.

Tutorial 4: Live Pads and Chain Play mode

6. [Alt]/[Option]-click along the bottom of pad A and name

Current Chain

it “Intro”.

7. Let’s also name pad B “Verse”, pad C “Chorus”, and pad D “Extro”.

8. Click on the “Stop” pad to stop playback.

9. Now you can use the pads to play live. Just click on a

pad to play it and click on the pad you want to play next to queue it up.

Experiment with the Jump modes and have fun creating different arrangements with your project.

Ö Using remote controllers together with this mode allows for even more flexibility, see “Remote-controlling Sequel” on page 85.

Chain Play Mode

2. Click on “Pad A”. Notice that an “A” appears in the “Current Chain” display.

3. Add B, C, and D to the Current Chain display.

You can also drag parts from the Arranger track onto the current chain.

4. Press the space bar on your computer keyboard to start playback. Each Arranger part will play in the sequence found in the “Current Chain” display.

Right now the “Current Chain” is playing back our project in its original arrangement, so let’s change things a bit.

5. Click on the “Play” button to stop playback.

6. Click the “Reset” button to clear the “Current Chain”

display.

You can also move the insert cursor in the “Current Chain” and then press [Delete] or [Backspace] until the chain is empty.

Load the project “Live Mode 3” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 4” folder.

When using the “Live pads” mode, you have to physically click each pad as you would like it to be played. This is great for a more spontaneous performance, but what if you want things planned out a little more? That’s where “Chain Play” mode really comes in handy.

1. Change the pad mode to “Chain Play” mode. This is represented by three small pads with an arrow underneath.

7. Use the pads to enter a pattern. We’ll use A, B, C, C, B, C, C, D.

Feel free to enter any pattern you like!

8. Click “Play” in the Pilot Zone to start playback.

9. Activate the Cycle button.

If Cycle is activated, the Current Chain will loop when it gets to the end. If Cycle is off, playback will stop when it reaches the end.

• Click and drag to change the order of the parts in the current chain.

• To delete a part, you can use [Backspace] or [Delete] on your computer keyboard. Note that the cursor must be placed at the position where you want the part deleted.

Tutorial 4: Live Pads and Chain Play mode

The Pilot Zone

Introduction

Pilot Zone Arrange Zone

Multi Zone

File menu Project menu

Edit menu

The Sequel window is divided into three main sections: the Pilot Zone (explained below), the Arrange Zone (see the chapter “The Arrange Zone” on page 49), and the Multi Zone (see the chapter “The Multi Zone” on page 59).

The Pilot Zone in Sequel puts you in the pilot seat so that you can control all of Sequel’s main functions.

In this chapter, we are going to take you through the layout and functions of the Pilot Zone.

Preferences

Not used. You will find the main preferences of Sequel on the Program Settings Page, see “The Program Settings

Page” on page 77.

The rest of the functions on this menu are related to the Mac OS and are the same as the functions you would find in any other program you run on a Mac.

The File, Project and Edit menus

On the Mac, the File, Project and Edit menus appear along the top left of the screen.

On the PC, these menus are opened via the three buttons in the top left corner of the screen.

This chapter is great to use as a reference if you aren’t sure what a button is or does in the Pilot Zone.

The Sequel menu (Mac only)

The Sequel menu is only found in the Mac version of Sequel and contains a few options related to the Mac OS.

About Sequel

This option allows you to view the exact version of Sequel you have installed and also take a look at some of the people involved in putting it together.

The File button/menu

The File menu (opened by clicking the File button in the top left corner of the Sequel window under Windows) contains the following options:

Help

Selecting this option will open the manual which you are viewing now.

• The key command for this is [F1].

The Pilot Zone

About Sequel (Windows only)

This option allows you to view the exact version of Sequel you have installed and also take a look at some of the people involved in putting it together.

Credits and Copyrights

Lists credits and copyright information. This menu also contains links to the Steinberg website, e.g. to the Sequel merchandise shop.

User Registration…

Selecting this option opens your computer’s web browser and takes you to Steinberg’s online registration service. We encourage you to register your software! By doing so, you are entitled to technical support and being kept aware of updates and other news regarding Sequel.

Quit

Selecting this option will exit the program. A dialog will open asking you to save your project if you haven’t done so already.

• Click “Save” to save your project before you quit.

• Click “Don’t Save” to quit without saving.

• Click “Cancel” if you aren’t sure.

• The key command to quit is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Q].

Open Project…

Selecting this option allows you to open an existing project.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[O].

Save Project

Selecting this option allows you to save your project.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[S].

Save As…

Selecting this option allows you to save your project under a different name.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Shift]+[S].

Manage Projects…

Selecting this option opens a dialog which allows you manage all of your Sequel projects.

The Project button/menu

The Project menu (opened by clicking the Project button in the top left corner of the Sequel window under Windows) contains the following options:

New Project

Selecting this option creates a new blank project.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[N].

The Pilot Zone

Along the bottom of the dialog you will find a pop-up menu where you can select the location of your projects. Any projects located within that location will appear in the list on the left side of the dialog. You can then click on a project to select it and perform the following functions.

Option Description

Rename… This allows you to change the name of a project. Delete… Click this button to permanently remove a project from

Pack… This packs (or compresses) all of the components of your

Unpack… This will open packed files and restore file and directory

Open Opens the selected project.

the specified location.

project into one file for transfer or backup.

structure for editing.

• You can also use the key command [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Shift]+[M] to access the Manage Projects dialog.

Export Project as Audio File…

Selecting this option opens a dialog which allows you to export your project, e.g. for burning to CD. To burn a CD you will need the appropriate software on your computer. You can specify the file name, the path to save the file to, the file format and the bit depth. See also “Exporting audio

files” on page 33.

Undo

Selecting this option will undo the last action that you performed. You can undo any action that you have performed since opening the project.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Z].

Redo

Selecting this option will redo any action that you deleted using undo. When there is nothing left to redo, the option will be grayed out.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+ [Shift]+[Z].

Cut

Cut can be used to move an event or a group of events to another area in the Arrange Zone.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[X].

Export Project to iTunes

Selecting this option allows you to export your project to an iTunes compatible format for easy uploading to your iPod, see “Exporting to iTunes” on page 33.

Recent Projects

This allows you to quickly access the projects you recently worked on.

The Edit button/menu

The Edit menu (opened by clicking the Edit button in the top left corner of the Sequel window under Windows) contains the following editing functions:

Copy

Copy can be used to copy an event or group of events to another area in the Arrange Zone.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[C].

Paste

Paste is used to insert cut or copied material at the new location.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[V].

Delete

Delete is used to remove an event or a group of events from your project.

• The key command for this is [Delete] or [Backspace].

Duplicate

Duplicate is used to create copies of an event. The copy will be pasted in the project directly after the selected event.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[D].

The Pilot Zone

Split at Cursor

Project name

Edit/Write Automation

Show Automation

Split at cursor allows you to split the selected event at the cursor location.

If no event is selected, all events (on all tracks) that are intersected by the project cursor will be split.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[T].

The Reset Instruments function

In some cases, problems e.g. hanging notes or a constant vibrato may occur after loading an instrument preset and hitting a key on your keyboard. If this is the case, use the Reset Instruments function on the Edit menu. This sends out note-off messages and resets controllers on all instrument channels.

Select All

Selecting this option will select all events in the Arrange Zone. This is useful for performing large scale editing.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[A].

Select None

Select None will clear any selection you have made in the Arrange Zone.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+ [Shift]+[A].

Add Track…

Selecting this option will bring up a dialog which allows you to add tracks to your project. You can create audio tracks or instrument tracks.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[+].

The project name

Below the File, Project and Edit buttons, the project name is shown.

The Automation buttons

Show Automation

Activating this button will reveal your project’s track automation. Deactivate it to hide all automation.

• The key command for showing/hiding the automation data is [A].

Remove selected tracks

Selecting this option will remove any tracks that you have selected in the Arrange Zone.

• The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Delete] or [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Backspace].

• To select multiple tracks, hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on them.

Edit/Write Automation

Activating this button will allow you to edit and write track automation. Deactivating it will lock the automation and you won’t be able to perform any editing.

Note that any automation you have created will always be reproduced during playback, even if both automation buttons are tuned off. If you do not want the automation to be reproduced, you have to delete all automation data you recorded/wrote into your track(s).

The Pilot Zone

The Edit Remote Control

Edit Remote Control Assignment

Minimize Maximize Close

Minimize MaximizeClose

Ruler

Assignment button

Macintosh

In the top left hand corner the program window, there are buttons for minimizing, maximizing and closing Sequel.

If you activate this button the main user interface becomes dimmed, so that you can clearly see which elements can be assigned to remote controls (indicated by black frames). Click on the button again to switch into “normal” mode.

For further information, see “Remote-controlling Sequel” on page 85.

Minimizing, maximizing and closing

This works slightly differently for Windows and Macintosh:

Windows

In the top right hand corner the program window, there are buttons for minimizing, maximizing and closing Sequel.

• Selecting the Minimize button will hide the window in the dock.

• Selecting the Maximize button will stretch out the program window to fill your screen.

Selecting the Maximize button again will shrink the window and allow you to manually resize it by clicking and holding the bottom right corner of the program window and dragging until you find a window size that feels comfortable.

The ruler

The ruler is located just above the Arrange Zone. It displays the project’s timeline as numbers corresponding to the bars and beats of your song.

• Selecting the Minimize button will hide the window in the system tray.

• Selecting the Maximize button will stretch out the program window to fill your screen.

Next to being a useful display the ruler also is a great tool for editing.

• You can use the ruler to move the cursor around by clicking in the lower portion of the ruler bar at the position you would like to move the cursor to.

The Pilot Zone

• You can zoom in and out to see your project in more de-

The Play button

tail by clicking and holding in the lower portion of the ruler bar and dragging up or down.

Dragging up zooms out and dragging down zooms in.

• You can also create a loop region for Cycle mode by clicking and dragging the mouse in the upper portion of the ruler.

You’ll notice that the pointer turns into a pencil, if you position the mouse in this ruler area.

The Tuner

Sequel features a built-in tuner used for tuning instruments like a guitar or bass before recording.

When the Tuner is activated for the selected track, that track will become soloed. All track effects are bypassed and sends are disabled and the Pilot Zone display is replaced by the Tuner display.

Grid Snap Status

The Grid Snap Status is displayed on the right-hand side of the ruler.

When the Grid Snap Status icon is green, grid snap is activated. This is will cause all editing you do to snap to the grid. The grid resolution is determined by how far in or out you are zoomed. See “Zooming in the Arrange Zone” on

page 56 for more information.

Click on the Grid Snap Status icon to deactivate grid snap. The icon will turn red meaning that the grid status is in free mode. In free mode, events and event edits will no longer snap to the grid.

Ö You can also press [J] on your computer keyboard to toggle between snap and free mode.

When deactivated, solo is cancelled and all instruments, EQ, and effects are returned to normal.

Ö See “Tuning your instrument” on page 15 to find out how the Tuner works.

The Transport controls

The Transport Controls in Sequel

The transport controls are similar to those you would find on a VCR or DVD player.

The Play button

The Play button allows you to listen back to your project.

The Pilot Zone

To start playback

The Record button

The Locate buttons

The Cycle button

• Click on the Play button.

• Press the space bar on your computer keyboard – this

toggles between start and stop.

• Press the [Enter] key on the numeric keypad.

• Double-click in the lower half of the ruler.

To stop playback

• Click on the Play button during playback.

• Press the space bar on your computer keyboard – this

toggles between start and stop.

• Press the [0] key on the numeric keypad.

The Record button

The Record button allows you to record audio events or instrument parts.

To start recording

• Click on the Record button at any time during playback.

• Press the [*] key on the numeric keypad during playback

or while stopped.

To locate the previous marker or go to the beginning of the project

• Click on the “Locate Previous Marker” button.

• Press [Shift]+[B] on your computer keyboard.

To locate the next marker or go to the end of the project

• Click on the “Locate Next Marker” button.

• Press [Shift]+[N] on your computer keyboard.

About Cycle mode

The Cycle button activates/deactivates Cycle mode. Cycle mode allows you to loop a section of your song so that you can hear it again and again.

• To create a cycle region, move your mouse to the top edge of the ruler (the pointer turns into a pencil), click and drag.

To activate/deactivate Cycle mode

• Click on the Cycle button.

• Press the [/] key on the numeric keypad.

• Press the [-] key on you computer keyboard.

To stop recording

• Click on the Record button during recording.

• Press the [*] key on the numeric keypad.

The Locate buttons

The Locate buttons are used to switch between marker positions or to go to the beginning or end of your project.

The Pilot Zone

The Metronome

Sound Input Activity indicator

Musical Keyboard Input Activity indicator

The Pilot Zone display

To add a click sound to playback and/or recording (as specified on the Program Settings Page, see “The Pro-

gram Settings Page” on page 77), activate the Metro-

nome button. The metronome will follow the project tempo and time signature.

Deactivating this button will turn off the metronome click.

Ö You can also adjust the Metronome volume. For more information on the Metronome and its setting, see “Turn-

ing on the Metronome click” on page 14.

Computer Usage

On the right side of the Pilot Zone, there is a Computer Usage indicator.

The Pilot Zone display contains important information about your project. Displayed from left to right are the Song Position, the Tempo, the Time Signature and the Project Root Key.

The Pilot Zone display.

Sound Input Activity

This indicator shows upon any input activity of connected audio sources.

Musical Keyboard Input Activity

This indicator shows upon any input activity of connected USB/MIDI keyboards, including controller activities.

If your computer is trying to do too many things at once, it may overload. The indicator shows the current processor load of your computer. If two or three bars light up, the workload is quite high. In case of an overload, the circle to the far right will also light up. If this happens, you should try to reduce the processor load, e.g. by freezing tracks, see “Freezing Audio tracks” on page 52 and “Freezing in-

strument tracks” on page 52.

The Song Position (POS)

The Song Position shows the current position of the cursor in your project.

The Song Position can be displayed in the time formats “Bars and Beats” or “Seconds”. To set the time format, click in the top right corner of the Song Position field.

To change the Song Position, you have the following possibilities:

• Double-click the Song Position field and type in the desired position.

• Click in the song position field, keep the mouse button pressed and drag up or down.

• Click in the lower half of the ruler at the desired position.

The Pilot Zone

The Tempo (TEMPO)

The tempo display shows the current project tempo at the cursor position.

To change the tempo, you have the following possibilities:

• Double-click the tempo field and type in the desired tempo.

• Click in the tempo field, keep the mouse button pressed and drag up or down.

• Select a loop within your project that has the desired tempo and drag it onto the Tempo field.

This will change the tempo to the tempo set in the loop file.

Using Tap Tempo

The Tap Tempo function allows you to specify a tempo by tapping:

1. Click the Learn button in the upper left corner of the Tempo display to activate the Learn mode.

The button turns red to indicate that you can now tap the tempo.

2. If you want to tap the tempo of some recorded material with unknown tempo, activate playback.

3. Tap the tempo on the space bar of the computer keyboard or on a connected MIDI keyboard.

4. When you stop tapping, the program calculates the average tempo of the taps and displays it.

The tapped tempo is now shown in the Tempo display.

• To activate Rehearsal tempo, click in the top right corner of the tempo field.

Rehearsal tempo is activated.

• To use the normal project tempo again, click again in the top right corner of the Tempo field.

The Time Signature (T.SIGN)

Your project time signature is displayed here. To change the time signature, you have the following pos-

sibilities:

• Double-click the Time Signature field and type in the desired time signature.

• Click in the time signature field, keep the mouse button pressed and drag up or down.

The Project Root Key (KEY)

The root key of your project is displayed here. You can change this in the following ways:

• To change the project root key, click on the value and select a key from the pop-up menu.

• Select a loop in your project that has the desired key and drag it onto the key field.

This will only work if the key information was saved with the original file.

Ö When you create a new project, the first audio event that you drag into your project will define the key, provided that the audio event’s data contains key information.

Using the Rehearsal tempo

If you are recording an instrument with Sequel and you find that at some moments, it is impossible for you to keep up with the project tempo, try activating Rehearsal mode. This reduces the project tempo, making it easier for you to record even tricky parts with Sequel.

The Pilot Zone

The Virtual Keyboard

The Virtual Keyboard allows you to play and record MIDI notes by using your computer keyboard or mouse. This is useful if you have no external MIDI instrument at hand and you do not want to draw in notes with the pencil tool.

1. Create or choose an instrument track and activate the “Record Ready” button for it.

Which type of sound is played depends on the selected preset.

2. Activate the Virtual Keyboard by clicking on the “Activate Virtual Keyboard” button or by using the key command [Ctrl]/[Command] + [K].

3. You can now choose between two different keyboard display modes: computer keyboard and piano roll. To switch between these two modes, click the “Change Virtual Keyboard Display Type” button or use the [Tab] key.

The Virtual Keyboard in computer keyboard display mode

• In piano roll display mode you have two full octaves at your disposal. That way you can enter two voices simultaneously: for example bass and lead voice or bass drums and HiHats.

Hit the second and third row (“z”, “s”, “x”, etc.) for the lower octave and the forth and fifth row (“q”, “2”, “w” etc.) for the higher octave.

When the Virtual Keyboard is active, the usual key commands are blocked. The only exceptions are: [*] (“multiply” on the numeric keypad) for recording, [Space] for start/stop and [Home]/[Command]+ [Home] to jump to the project start.

5. Use the fader “Note velocity level” to the right of the virtual keyboard to adjust the volume.

You can also adjust the volume using the up and down arrow keys.

6. Use the “Octave Offset” icons to the left and the right of the virtual keyboard to offset the octave range of the keyboard.

You can also use the left and right arrow keys to switch the keyboard range to a lower or higher octave, respectively.

Ö You can also use the Virtual Keyboard for previewing instrument presets on the MediaBay Page.

The Virtual Keyboard in piano roll display mode

4. Strike one key at a time or several keys simultaneously if you want to enter polyphonic parts.

Note that the maximum number of notes that can be played at one time varies between the different operating systems and hardware configurations.

The Pilot Zone

The Arrange Zone

Introduction

Track list

Audio events and instrument parts

Show Transpose Track

Show Arranger Track

Add New Track

Show/Hide Track Pictures

Click here to show the Transpose track.

The Transpose track with transpose values.

The Arrange Zone is where all of the main elements of your project will reside. This is also where all of your recording, editing, and arranging will take place.

To the left of the program window you will find the track list. The Arrange Zone in the center displays the instrument parts and audio events of the project along the timeline.

The Track list buttons

Show Transpose Track

The Transpose track allows you to set global key changes. Activating the “Show Transpose Track” button reveals the Transpose Track just below the ruler.

• [Alt]/[Option]-click to add a global transpose change. You can add as many as you like.

• To change a transpose value, click in the Transpose Value field and drag up or down.

• To hide the transpose track, deactivate the “Show Transpose Track” button.

Add New Track

Clicking this button will open the Add Track dialog, see

“Add Track…” on page 42.

Ö Even when hidden, the transpose track will still affect your project.

If you do not want the transpose settings to affect your project, you have to delete all transpose parts on the transpose track.

Show Arranger Track

Activating the “Show Arranger Track” button will reveal the Arranger track just below the ruler.

• To add an Arranger part, hold down [Alt]/[Option] and click.

Ö Even when hidden, the Arranger track will still affect your project.

If you do not want the Arranger track to affect your project, you have to manually delete all parts from the Arranger track.

For more information, see the chapter “Tutorial 4: Live

Pads and Chain Play mode” on page 35.

The Arrange Zone

Show/Hide Track Pictures

Click here to resize the Arrange Zone.

Track name

Track number

Track height buttons

When you activate this button, the track list will be expanded to the right to make room for the Track Pictures. These are set up on the Track Inspector Page in the Multi Zone, see “The Pictures tab” on page 62. To hide the Track Picture section, click on the button again.

Resizing the Arrange Zone

Selecting tracks

You can select tracks by clicking on the track name. You can select multiple tracks at once by [Ctrl]/[Command]clicking on each track you wish to select.

Renaming tracks

You can rename tracks by double-clicking on the Track Name field and typing in the desired name.

The Arrange Zone can be resized by clicking on the divider, i.e. the bar at the bottom of the Arrange Zone and dragging up or down.

The cursor will change letting you know when you can resize. If you want to reset the Arrange Zone to its default size, just double-click on the divider.

About tracks and track controls

There are two types of tracks in Sequel: audio tracks and instrument tracks. All of the tracks reside along the left hand side of the Arrange Zone. In the retail version of Sequel, there is no limit to the amount of tracks you can create.

Track numbering

Tracks are automatically numbered based on the order they are arranged in. You can rearrange tracks by clicking on the track name field, holding the mouse button pressed and dragging up or down.

When you move the track, the track number will change according to its new position in the track list.

Track height

In the lower left corner of the Arrange Zone track list are four buttons for controlling the track height.

• The first button, “Minimal Tracks”, sets all tracks to “Small”. You can also use the key command [Shift]+[1].

Only the Mute button, the Track name and the Track meter will be visible.

• The second button, “Normal Tracks”, sets all tracks to “Normal”. You can also use the key command [Shift]+[2].

The following controls become visible: Solo, Track Number, Color Selector, Volume, Record Ready, Freeze, Musical Keyboard Input Activity (instrument tracks only), Automatic Fades (audio tracks only) and the Panner.

• The third button, “Large Tracks”, sets all tracks to “Large”. You can also use the key command [Shift]+[3].

The Automation pop-up (in Automation mode) and the Input Selection pop-up (audio tracks only) are displayed.

• The forth button “Maximal Tracks” sets all tracks to maximal size. You can also use the key command [Shift]+[4].

The events on the track are displayed in maximum size.

The Arrange Zone

Track controls

Mute

Solo

Record Ready

Click on the button “Large Tracks” to display all available track controls.

Each track includes a set of track controls. These are described next.

Freezing Audio tracks

Effect plug-ins (see “Effects reference” on page 99) can sometimes require a lot of processor power. If you are using a large number of track effects, you may eventually reach a point where the computer cannot play back the track properly (the Computer Overload indicator lights up, you get crackling sounds, etc.).

To remedy this, you can freeze the track by clicking the Freeze button in the Inspector.

Mute

Mute will stop all output from any track that it is activated on.

To mute a track, you have the following possibilities:

• Activate the “Mute” button.

• Select the track you wish to mute and press [M] on your

computer keyboard.

Solo

Solo will stop all output from any track other than the one with Solo activated on it.

To solo a track, you have the following possibilities:

• Activate the “Solo” button.

• Select the track you wish to solo and press [S] on your

computer keyboard.

Record Ready

Record Ready will enable recording on the respective track. You can record on up to 8 tracks at once.

To enable recording, you have the following possibilities:

• Activate the Record Ready button.

• Select the track you wish to record on and press [R] on

your computer keyboard – this toggles Record Ready on and off.

The Freeze button is activated for this track.

• The program now renders the output of the track, including all track effects, to an audio file.

This file is placed in the Freeze folder within the project folder.

• The frozen track is locked for editing in the Arrange Zone.

Frozen track effects cannot be edited, added or removed.

• On playback, the rendered audio file is played back. You can still adjust the level and panning, make EQ settings and adjust the Global and Output Effects.

After freezing, you hear the track play back as before but the track effects don’t have to be calculated in real time, easing the load on the computer processor. Typically, you would freeze a track when it’s finished and you don’t need to edit it anymore.

If you need to edit the events on a frozen track or make settings for the track effects, you can unfreeze the track by clicking the corresponding Freeze button again. This reactivates the frozen track effects and the freeze files will disappear. After editing you can freeze the track again.

Freezing instrument tracks

Instrument track presets may require a lot of processor power. If you are using a moderately powerful computer or if you are using a large number of instrument tracks, you may come to a point where your computer cannot handle all instrument tracks playing back in real time (the Com-

The Arrange Zone

puter Overload indicator lights up, you get crackling sounds, etc.). In this case you should consider freezing the instrument track. This is also useful for sounds that use a lot of RAM, e.g. for pre-loading samples. By freezing the instrument track, the RAM becomes available for other processes or plug-ins, etc.

This is how it works:

• When you freeze an instrument track, the program renders an audio file of the instrument track output (taking into account all unmuted instrument parts on that track). This file is placed in the “Freeze” folder within the Project folder.

• The frozen instrument track is locked for editing in the Arrange Zone.

Frozen instrument settings and track effects cannot be edited, added or or removed.

• When you start playback, the rendered audio file is played back from an “invisible” audio track, routed to the instrument track’s mixer channel. Thus, any effects, EQ or mixing automation will still be applied.

The result of the Freeze is that you get exactly the same sound as before, but the computer doesn’t have to calculate the sound of the instrument track in real time.

The instrument track freeze function is available in the track controls section.

1. Set up the instrument track so that it plays back the way you want it to.

This includes making parameter settings in the Instrument tab of the Track Inspector Page.

3. A progress dialog is shown while the program renders the Instrument track to an audio file on your hard disk.

The Freeze button lights up and the instrument parts on the frozen track are locked and cannot be moved.

4. Play back the project.

You will hear exactly the same sound as before freezing the instrument track – but the CPU load will be considerably less!

• Any track effects and instrument settings for the Instrument track are frozen. However, you can always adjust Global and Output Effects, level, pan, and EQ for frozen Instrument tracks.

If you need to make adjustments (either to the Instrument tracks or to the Instrument settings on the Instrument tab in the Track Inspector Page) you need to unfreeze the instrument track by clicking the Freeze button again. The instrument track and the Instrument settings are restored and the rendered “freeze file” is deleted.

Color Selector

You can change the track color by clicking on the Color Selector button and choosing a color from the Color palette that appears. All events and parts on that track will change their color accordingly. Note that you can also change the color on the Mixer Page, see “Setting the

color” on page 61.

2. Click the Freeze button in the track controls section.

You will still be able to edit, replace or remove event effects on the Instrument track channel after the Freeze, but you will not be able to change the settings on the Instrument tab.

The Arrange Zone

Automatic Fades (audio tracks only)

The Automatic Fades Function is disabled.

The Automatic Fades Function is enabled.

The Musical Keyboard Input Activity

Track meter

Track pan

Track volume

Found next to the Freeze button, the “Automatic Fades” button applies a short fade to the edges of all the events in the track.

Ö This button is only visible when the corresponding audio track is selected.

This is useful for eliminating pops or clicks that can occur when playing over event boundaries.

Track volume and pan

The track output volume and pan can be controlled directly on the track itself. When your mouse is positioned over the volume or pan control, the respective values will be shown to the left.

To adjust volume or pan

• Click and hold and drag left or right to adjust the volume or pan.

• Double-click on the volume or pan values and enter a new value – for volume the range is from 0 to 120, for pan the range is from -100 to 100. Negative values represent left values and positive values represent right values. You can also enter L for all left, C for center, or R for all right.

• [Ctrl]/[Command]-click to set the volume to 100 or the pan to 0, which is C.

Musical Keyboard Input Activity (Instrument tracks only)

The indicator lights up upon any input activities of connected USB/MIDI keyboards including controller activities. It also lights up when you play the Virtual Keyboard, see “The Virtual Keyboard” on page 48.

Input Selection (audio tracks only)

The Input Selection pop-up menu allows you to switch between the inputs on your audio interface. Click in the Input selection field to reveal the pop-up menu. All of the available inputs on your audio interface are shown here.

For more information on setting up your interface, see the chapter “Setting up your system” on page 88.

Track meter

On the right hand side of the track controls you can find a meter. This is a visual representation of the output level of audio and instrument tracks.

The Arrange Zone

Track Pictures

Track automation controls

Automation pop-up menu

Master automation

If the “Show Track Pictures” button is activated above the track list, and track pictures are assigned, they are displayed to the right of the track controls. Track pictures are set up on the Pictures tab of the Track Inspector Page, see “The Pictures tab” on page 62.

Track automation

Track automation allows you to make things such as volume, panning, and various other settings be adjusted automatically while the project is playing.

An example would be if you wanted the drums to be quieter at the start of the song and then get louder at the end. You can make Sequel do this automatically.

When the “Show Automation” button is activated in the Pilot Zone, you’ll notice that new track controls appear. These are the track automation controls.

Ö You can only edit automation events if you activate the “Edit/Write Automation” button in the Pilot Zone, see “The

Automation buttons” on page 42 and “Adding automation” on page 31.

Note that the Master track is now visible at the bottom of the Arrange Zone and you can automate parameters there, too. One of the most popular parameters to automate is volume, for example to fade out at the end of a song.

Clicking on the control on the top will open a pop-up menu. Here you can choose which setting you would like to automate. You can automate multiple track settings, but you can only view one automation parameter at a time.

The Arrange Zone

Ö You’ve been introduced to the automation features of Sequel. For more detailed information on creating and editing automation, see “Adding automation” on page 31.

Timeline and grid

Timeline GridAt this zoom level, we can split on

quarter notes. If we zoom in, we can split on eights and sixteenths.

Zoom In

Zoom Out

Zoom Commands

Horizontal scroll bar Vertical scroll bar

The timeline and grid serve as tools to help editing be more precise and to help lock events to time.

The resolution of the grid depends on how far zoomed in or out you are.

The Zoom Commands

To the right of the “+” and “-” buttons you can find the “Zoom Commands” pop-up menu with three quick zoom settings:

Option Description

Zoom Full Zoom full will zoom out so that all of the events in the Ar-

range Zone are visible.

Zoom Part Zoom part will zoom in and center the event that you have

selected in the Arrange Zone.

Zoom Last Zoom last will return you to the last zoom setting you used.

Scrolling

After you have zoomed in you will most likely want to use the scroll bars to get around.

Zooming in the Arrange Zone

There are a couple of ways to zoom in and out in Sequel.

• Click in the bottom half of the ruler, hold the mouse button and drag up to zoom out or down to zoom in.

• Click the “+” or “-” buttons in the bottom right corner of the Arrange Zone. “+” zooms in and “-” zooms out.

• Press the [H] key on your computer keyboard to zoom in and the [G] key to zoom out.

• The vertical scroll bar is located along the right side of the Arrange Zone. This will scroll your project up and down.

• The horizontal scroll bar is located along the bottom of the Arrange Zone. This will scroll your project left and right.

• You can also use your mouse wheel to scroll up and down or use [Shift]+Mouse wheel to scroll left and right.

The Arrange Zone

Working with the Smart Tool

Click here to mute the event.

Repeat button

Resize event handles

The events in Sequel have a bunch of functions built right on to them. When you hover your mouse over an event, the functions appear. We refer to this behavior as the Smart Tool.

Changing the event name

Along the top is the event name. To change the name, double-click on it and type in the new name.

Muting events

In the top right corner there are two lines that look like a pause button. Clicking this will mute the event. The event will turn gray. Click again to unmute.

While clicking and holding, drag to repeat the event.

When you let go of the mouse button the event will be repeated.

Resizing events

In the bottom left and right corners are handles for lengthening or shortening the event. Click and hold either one of them and drag left or right to lengthen or shorten the event.

Repeating events

Just below the Mute button is the repeat handle. Click and hold, and drag to the right to create multiple copies of the selected event.

Click and hold the repeat handle on the event.

The Arrange Zone

When you are resizing an event, the tool tip beside the cursor displays the bar position and length of the event.

You can’t make an event any longer than it was when it was first created.

Splitting events

Position the mouse over the line to get the Split tool

Two events after using the Split tool

Also notice the line going across the bottom of the event. When you hover the mouse over it, it changes to the Split tool. Just click to split the event.

The Arrange Zone

The Multi Zone

Introduction

Mixer Page

Track Inspector Page

MediaBay Page

Editor Page

Arranger Page

Program Settings Page

Click here to resize the Multi Zone.

The Multi Zone is where all of your project’s mixing, effects processing and advanced editing will take place. The Multi Zone includes a media browser for finding all of the audio and MIDI loops and an Arranger Page for taking your project out to the world to play live. This is also where you will find all of the program preferences.

There are six buttons along the left-hand side of the Multi Zone. Only one button can be activated at a time. The Multi Zone changes depending on which button is activated. To activate a button, simply click on it.

• Note that you can completely hide the Multi Zone by clicking the button in the middle of the lower edge of the Sequel program window. Click the button a second time to show the Multi Zone again. You can also press [E] on your computer keyboard to hide or show the Multi Zone.

The Mixer Page

The Mixer Page is where most of the mixing in Sequel will take place. The Multi Zone becomes a horizontal track mixer when the Mixer Page is activated. Any track that you have created in the project will be represented here.

Resizing the Multi Zone

The Multi Zone can be resized by clicking on the bar at the top of the Multi Zone and dragging up or down.

The Multi Zone

Channels

Mute

Solo

Record Ready

Channel Level (Volume)

Panner

Track Number

Track Name

Hover mouse here to display the Color Selector.

Master channel with normal levels

Master channel with clipping (overload)

Disable Automation

Each track has its own channel which includes a Record Ready button, a Mute button and a Solo button. These buttons have the same functionality as the respective buttons in the track controls area in the Arrange Zone.

Each channel is labelled and numbered. These labels and numbers correspond to the ones found on the tracks in the Arrange Zone.

Channel Level (volume) and Pan

Each channel has a fader for controlling the track volume and a panner. The controls work in parallel with the ones found in the track controls. If you lower the volume here, the volume is also lowered in the track controls section and vice-versa. Remember that you can reset these controls to their default settings by [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking on them.

Setting the color

When you set up a track by dragging a loop or instrument preset into the Arrange Zone, Sequel will automatically assign a track color. Which color is assigned, depends on the type of instrument, i.e. drum sounds will be assigned one color, guitar sounds another and so on.

Each channel on the Mixer Page also features the option to change the track color. To do so, hover the mouse over the right-hand side of the channel. A Color Selector in the form of a small box appears.

Click on the Color Selector to choose from a range of colors. All events on the track will also change color.

Scrolling

When you have multiple tracks in your project, you may not be able to see them all at once on the Mixer Page. Use the scroll bar along the bottom to scroll left or right to find a specific track.

The Master channel

The Master channel is the output of all of the tracks combined. It is found on the right-hand side of the Mixer Page. This channel features a volume fader, a panner and a button to disable the master automation (see “Removing and dis-

abling automation” on page 32).

The Multi Zone

If you are clipping the Master channel, the channel will be-

…and on the Mixer Page (you might have to resize the Multi Zone in order to see the pictures).

…in the track list…

The selected picture is displayed on the Pictures tab…

come red. Lower the fader to return the channel to normal, or alternatively lower all track faders by the same amount to reduce the level going into the Master channel. Click the Audio Overload button to reset the clipping indicator.

The Track Inspector Page

The Track Inspector Page is where you find the track-related settings in Sequel, including all of the effect settings. The Track Inspector Page has a few similarities to the Mixer Page in that the Master channel is still present on the right hand side. This time however, there is only one channel strip present, which represents the selected track in the Arrange Zone.

You can only edit one track’s settings at a time. To edit a certain track, select it in the Arrange Zone to make its settings appear on the Track Inspector Page.

The Track Inspector Page features seven tabs. You can click on a tab to access its controls and see what settings you have already applied to it.

Adding Factory Track Pictures

Proceed as follows:

1. Select the track on which you want to insert a track picture and open the Pictures tab.

The track pictures available in the included Factory content are displayed.

2. Choose one of the pictures from the Factory content by clicking on it.

The Picture will be displayed on the Pictures tab, in the corresponding channel strip on the Mixer Page, and in the track list for the selected track in the Arrange Zone (if the Show Track Pictures button is activated).

The Pictures tab

On the Pictures tab of the Track Inspector Page you can choose a Track Picture for the selected track. This is useful if you want to be able to recognize your tracks at a quick glance, e.g. in live performances. You can choose pictures of the Factory content or add new ones to the User Library. You can also change the size and the tinting of the pictures or even rotate them.

The Multi Zone

On the Pictures tab, you can now edit the track picture in

Zoom slider

Tinting slider

Rotate Picture button

Clear Picture button

Remove selected pictures from library button

Library content

the following ways:

• Increase the tinting of the picture in the track color, or reduce the tinting to zero by moving the slider up or down.

• Change the size of the track picture by using the Zoom slider and click and drag the picture in the Track Picture display to show the desired part of the image.

• Change the orientation by clicking on the Rotate Picture button.

3. If you do not like the assigned track picture, you can either select a different one or click on the Clear Picture button.

• You can also hide all track pictures by clicking on the Show/Hide Track Pictures button above the track list.

Adding custom Track Pictures

You can also add your own pictures, which will then become available in the Library selection on the Pictures tab. The following formats are supported: *.bmp, *.jpeg and *.png.

Proceed as follows:

1. Go to the location on your computer where you store the picture you want to assign, click on it to select it and drag it to the Track Picture display.

As soon as you release the mouse button, the chosen picture will be displayed in the track list, in the mixer and in the Library content on the Pictures tab.

The assigned track picture is stored in the User content folder specified on the Program Settings Page, see “User

Content Location” on page 77.

2. To delete a picture from your library, select it and click the Remove selected pictures from library button. To delete several pictures at once, you can select these by [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking on them.

Note that this is only possible for your own pictures, Factory content cannot be deleted.

The Multi Zone

The Event Effects tab (instrument tracks only)

Click here to access the presets

The Event Effects tab only works with instrument tracks. It includes two effects: a Chorder and an Arpeggiator.

Adjust the effect parameters until you get the desired result.

Chorder

The Chorder automatically plays chords when you press a single note on your MIDI keyboard. This is great if you have trouble playing in keyboard parts.

Use the “Bypass Chorder” button to bypass the effect. You can select the type of chords you would like to be generated from the pop-up menu.

Arpeggiator

The Arpeggiator automatically creates patterns based on the notes you play, creating great rhythm and a really cool effect. It creates this pattern as long as a note is held. Once the note is released, the pattern stops.

Transpose Play Direction determines whether the pattern’s key will go up, down, or a combination of the two.

Arpeggiator Play Mode determines what type of patterns will be played back. When it is in Phrase Mode, pressing a single note will play a scale and the Arpeggiator will not recognize chords.

Use the “Bypass Arpeggiator” button to deactivate the effect.

The Instrument tab (instrument tracks only)

The Instrument tab only works with instrument tracks. It contains eight controls that are fixed for each preset.

• You can change the value of a control by clicking and dragging left or right.

For details on what each a parameter does, see the chapter “Effects ref-

erence” on page 99.

• You can apply an instrument preset by clicking on the preset button to open the preset pop-up menu.

The Quantize value allows you to set the resolution of the patterns the Arpeggiator creates.

The Octave Range value allows you to determine how many octaves the pattern will go above or below the note you are playing.

Transpose Step determines how many steps the pattern will change each time it starts again.

The Multi Zone

• You can then use the Category and Sub Category filters to find a suitable preset. Select a preset along the right hand side and click the Close button to close the menu.

For more details on category filters see the section “The MediaBay

Page” on page 67.

The Reset button will switch the instrument back to the original preset and settings made prior to opening the pop-up menu.

The Track Effects tab

Effect Presets Select Effect TypeEffects list

Effect parameters

Bypass Effect

Bypass Compressor

Treble (Hi EQ)

Middle (Parametric Mid EQ)

Bass (Low EQ)

Each track can have two insert effects, which are prefader. That means that raising or lowering the track fader doesn’t affect how much audio signal is sent to the effect.

Use the “Select Effect Type” pop-up menu to select an effect and apply it to the track. Every effect also features presets which can be accessed by clicking in the effect preset field. Select a preset from the menu and click the Close button to close the preset window.

The Track Effects can be bypassed by activating the “Bypass Effect” button.

Each track also features a built-in compressor which is also pre-fader, but is post EQ, meaning that the audio is routed through the two insert effects, then the EQ, and then the compressor.

The Equalizers tab

The Equalizers tab features a three band EQ. It features a low shelf or bass frequency, a parametric mid or middle frequency, and a high shelf or treble frequency.

The low shelf or bass frequency sets the frequency at which the low tones will be affected. The parametric mid or middle frequency sets the frequency at which the middle tones will be affected. The high shelf or treble frequency sets the frequency at which the high tones will be affected.

The Threshold slider determines how much compression will be added to the signal. This sets a threshold level. When the signal goes above this level, the Compressor reduces the signal. Or in other words: the further to the right you drag, the more compression you get. Gain Reduction reflects how much gain or volume is being attenuated.

Ö You can also select a preset from the Compressor presets pop-up menu.

The Compressor can be bypassed by activating the “Bypass Compressor” button.

Adjusting frequency

You can adjust the frequency of each EQ by clicking on the frequency slider and dragging left or right.

The Multi Zone

Adjusting level (gain)

Bypass Equalizers

You can adjust the EQs level by raising or lowering the bass, middle, or treble gain slider.

To do this, click and drag up or down on the desired slider.

Adjusting width

The middle EQ is a parametric EQ. That means that the frequency range of this EQ can be widened or shortened. To do this, click on the Middle Width slider and drag right to widen the range, and left to shorten it.

EQ Presets and Bypass Equalizers

Sequel has built-in EQ presets which you can access by clicking in the presets field and selecting a preset from the pop-up menu. Select Reset to clear all EQ settings.

To bypass the EQ, click the “Bypass Equalizers” button.

The Global Effects tab

Each project can have two send effects. These are referred to as “Global Effects”. You can select any of the available effects as global effects.

Using global effects can help reduce CPU load on your computer. If e.g. you find you are using the same reverb on every track, you can create a “Global Effects” reverb and use the Amount fader (see below) to send signals to that reverb.

Every global effect also features presets which can be accessed by clicking in the “Effect Preset” field.

Here you can select a preset from the menu. Click the Close button to close the preset window.

Ö Note that the global effects exist only once for your project, i.e. the effects on this page will not change when changing to another track.

For details on each effect and its parameters, see “Effects

reference” on page 99.

The Amount fader

To adjust the amount of signal to apply to the send, use the Amount fader. You can deactivate a send for a particular track by clicking on the respective Bypass button.

The Multi Zone

The Output Effects tab

You can apply two custom and two fixed output effects to the Master channel. These effects are similar to the track effects in that they are pre-fader.

The two fixed effects are Maximizer and StereoEnhancer. Both are controllable via one fader and a Bypass button.

The “Maximizer” raises the overall volume level without clipping the output.

The MediaBay Page

The MediaBay Page is a browser for audio and instrument loops, instrument presets, and track presets. This page is extremely useful because not only can you manually enter a name to search for at the top of the page, but you can also define so called tags, i.e. attributes for each of your media files to narrow down the result list.

Filtering media files

The tags predefined for the included media files include items like Category/Sub Category, Style/Sub Style, Character, Rating, Tempo, Bars & Beats and many others.

The “StereoEnhancer” spreads the stereo image out to give a project a larger sense of space.

For details on each effect and its parameters, see the chapter “Effects reference” on page 99.

The MediaBay Page is made up of five columns (or “filters”) for narrowing down the list of media files. Click on one of the items in the column list to only show files containing this attribute. The results will appear on the far right of the MediaBay Page. When you set up the category filter, only the sub categories, styles and sub styles for which files were found will be available, all others will be grayed out. The number displayed before a filter name indicates how many files match this criteria.

If the MediaBay Page has the focus, you can use the arrow keys to step through the different columns and press [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Space] to select or deselect the current filter item.

The Multi Zone

At the top left of the MediaBay Page you will find the con-

Show Loops

Show Sounds

Show Tracks

Search field

Search results

tent selection pop-up menu. Here you can decide which content you would like to use the MediaBay Page to search through.

Although Sequel comes with thousands of great loops, you may want to add loops from other libraries or content you created yourself. In order to separate factory content from your own libraries, Sequel has a folder structure for a clean organization of media files. To add a new library from a CD or DVD, create a new subfolder inside the “VST Sound” folder on your hard drive, pick a meaningful name for this library and copy all its files into this subfolder. If your content is located elsewhere, create a shortcut/alias for this subfolder. You can later browse this folder by selecting it from the content selection pop-up menu on the MediaBay Page.

Selecting “User Content” will only show files that you have added to the User Content folder on your hard drive. Loops that you add to the MediaBay Page by drag&drop will automatically be saved in the User Content folder, see “Adding

Content” on page 70. You can specify the User Content

Location on the Program Settings Page, see “The Program

Settings Page” on page 77.

Showing Loops, Sounds and Tracks

Using the Show Loops, Sounds, and Tracks buttons you can decide what kind of files you want to search for.

By activating the “Show Loops” button only audio and instrument loops will be shown. With the “Show Sounds” button only instrument presets and instrument track presets are shown, and the “Show Tracks” button is used to show audio track presets.

Searching by file name

At the top right of the MediaBay Page you will find the Text Filter field. Here you can type in a name to search for. Pressing [Return] will show the results to the right.

Ö After you added new content to Sequel, the MediaBay Page has to learn about which content has been added and scan for this new content. On the PC, this happens automatically when the transport is stopped, so make sure Sequel is not playing when you add loops. On the Mac, you will have to restart Sequel after adding new content.

To specify attributes for your media files, select the file so that it is displayed to the right on the MediaBay Page, click in the tag columns and select a tag value from the pop-up menu, or enter a new numerical value (depending on the type of the tag value).

The Multi Zone

Setting a rating filter

Next to this there is the Rating Filter setting. You can use this to automatically get rid of loops and patches that you have given a low rating to. Any files with a lower rating than the one you specify here will be filtered out.

Show Family Items

Go Back

Family Name

Preview Volume slider

Activate Preview Mode button

When you select a loop, the “Show Family Items” button at the far right becomes available. Activating this button filters the results to only show loops that are part of the same family.

The Family Name menu also appears, allowing you to browse all of Sequel’s loop families.

Use the Go Back button in the top left hand corner to return to the previous menu.

Delete Selected Media

Next to the “Show Family Items” button there is the “Delete Selected Media” button. To delete a media file (a loop, track preset, or effect preset), select it and click this button. A dialog will appear where you have to confirm that you want to delete this media. Select “Delete” to continue or “Cancel” to close the dialog without deleting.

Reset Filters

To reset all of the filters, click the “Reset Filters” button in the top left hand corner of the page.

Adding Media to the project

Once you have found the media you are looking for you can click on one of the results and either drag and drop it directly into the Arrange Zone or preview it to hear it first (see below).

Previewing media

At the top center of the MediaBay Page you will find the “Preview Volume” slider and the “Activate Preview Mode” button. If the Preview Mode is active and you click on a loop or sound, you will hear it play. To stop the preview, click again. When you preview while playing back your project, the project’s tempo and key will be used for preview. When you wish to preview the media file in its original tempo and key, make sure that playback is stopped. The “Preview Volume” slider controls the preview volume. Click and drag it left or right to lower or raise the volume. When you drag a file from the MediaBay Page into the Arrange Zone, the preview volume will be adopted, but only if you drag it to an empty area, creating a new track. You can click on the “Activate Preview Mode” button to deactivate the Preview function.

Ö This button only appears for user content. Loops from the Factory content cannot be deleted.

The Multi Zone

Changing media file attributes

You can also change the attributes that are associated with a file. To do this, click on the corresponding Loop, Sound or Track file in the MediaBay Page and do one of the following:

• To change the rating, click in the corresponding field to highlight it, then drag with the mouse in the rating field to the desired value.

• To change the Name, Tempo, or Bars & Beats attributes click in the corresponding field to highlight it, then click again and type in the new value.

• To change the Key, Sub Style and Sub Category attributes click in the corresponding field to highlight it and click again to open a pop-up menu where you can choose a new value.

• To change the Character attribute, click in the corresponding field to highlight it, then click again to open a dialog where you can change the settings.

Ö Note that you can select several files simultaneously and change their tags all in one go holding down [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command].

Here you can apply meta data to the loops based on the attributes listed along the left-hand side of the window. Click beside the attribute and select a value from the pop-up menu that appears. Setting these attributes will make it easier for you to organize and find the files later.

You can name the loops at the bottom of the window. Click “OK” to add the loops to your user content.

The Editor Page

The Editor Page allows you to perform advanced editing of your audio events and instrument parts, including audio warp, reverse and quantize. The Editor Page will be blank unless an event is selected in the Arrange Zone. If you have an audio event selected, the Editor Page will become a Sample Editor. If an Instrument part is selected, the Key Editor will be shown.

Adding Content

You can drag and drop your own events, parts and even entire folders onto the MediaBay Page. A duplicate of the corresponding files will be saved in the “User Content Location” specified on the Program Settings Page.

Select an event and drag it onto the MediaBay Page. If you are dragging an audio event, the “Save Audio Loop” dialog opens. If you are dragging an instrument part, the “Save MIDI Loop” dialog opens.

The Multi Zone

The Sample Editor

Zoom in and out

Volume

Mute

Transpose Lock

Transpose

The Sample Editor allows you to edit audio files. The selected audio event is displayed in the center of the Editor Page. Here you can see a detailed waveform rendering of the audio file.

You can zoom in and out using the plus and minus buttons in the bottom right corner. You can also click in the ruler along the top of the Editor Page and drag up to zoom out and down to zoom in. Once you are zoomed in, you can use the scroll bar along the bottom to scroll left or right.

Adding silence

You can add silence to an event by selecting a section of the event (by clicking and dragging) and then pressing [Delete] or [Backspace] on your computer keyboard. This is non-destructive and will not affect the audio file in any way.

Note that if you change the event settings for Stretch Mode, Optimization, Quantize and Swing, or use the Transpose Lock function, all copies of this event in the Arrange Zone will be modified as well. However, the original file in the MediaBay Page will not be affected.

The Multi Zone

Volume

You can adjust the event volume. This is not connected to the track volume in any way.

• To adjust the volume, click and drag up or down.

• You can also double-click and enter a value from -64 to

24. Zero is the default.

Mute

You can mute the event by activating the “Mute” button. Deactivate it to unmute the event.

Transpose

You can change the key of the event by adjusting the transpose value.

• To change the key click in the value field and drag up or down.

• You can also double-click and enter a value from -24 to

24. Zero is the default.

Transpose Lock

Stretch Mode

Optimization

Free Warp

Reverse

Root Key

Quantize

Warp Beats

Activating transpose lock will lock the original transpose value of the event. The event will no longer follow any global transpose changes throughout the project.

Stretch Mode

Here you can switch between either the “Song Tempo” or “Original” stretch modes. Simply click to switch between them.

• Activating “Song Tempo” will lock the event’s tempo to

the project tempo. This function does not quantize the audio, but adjusts the size of the event so that it is playing back at the project tempo.

• “Original” allows the event to stay in its original tempo.

Any changes you make to the file in “Song Tempo” mode will be reverted when you switch to “Original”. When you go back to “Song Tempo” mode, the changes you made there will return.

Please note that this does not include any settings you made with the Free Warp tool, see “Free Warp (“Song Tempo” mode)” on page 73.

Reverse

This function reverses the selected audio, as when playing a tape backwards. You can also select a region and apply the Reverse function only to this selection. Note that if you click the Reverse button, all warp tabs (see below) you have made until then will be discarded.

If you have several copies of one event and use the Reverse function for one of them, only this event will be modified. All other copies will leave as they are. The modified event will change its color.

Quantize (“Song Tempo” mode)

Select a quantize value from the pop-up, used for all quantize related functions such as swing and triplets. It also determines the grid resolution for the sample editor.

Warp Beats (“Song Tempo” mode)

Warp Beats will auto quantize the audio event to the project tempo based on the “Quantize” value. See the chapter “Ad-

vanced features” on page 79 for more information.

Optimization

Depending on the type of instrument recorded in your audio file, you can set a different option to achieve the best possible stretch result. For example, select the “Drums” option for percussive sounds or try “Solo” for solo wind instruments. “Mix” is the default, but it might be worth to try any of the other options if you are not happy with the result of a tempo adjustment.

The Multi Zone

Swing (“Song Tempo” mode)

Warp Beats activated

Swing

Number of Bars

Reset Warping

Free Warp

Horizontal zoom Vertical zoom

Quantize grid (which varies depending on the value set in the Quantize pop-up menu) and change it with the Warp tool. See “Audio quantization and warp” on page 81 for more information.

Ö The warp settings are saved with the project.

If you have several copies of one event and use the Free Warp function for one of them, only this event will be modified. All other copies will leave as they are. The modified event will change its color.

Number of Bars

This allows you to manually enter the length of the audio event in bars. This is helpful if the length of the audio event has not been detected, but you know its length in bars.

Swing appears when “Warp Beats” has been activated. Swing allows you to add a more human feel to an audio event. Click and drag the slider left or right to add or remove swing. The effect of using swing is dependent on the “Quantize” value. If the “Quantize” value is set to eighth notes for example, only eighth notes will be affected by changing the swing amount.

Free Warp (“Song Tempo” mode)

“Free Warp” allows you to manually adjust how the audio lines up to bars and beats and essentially “warp” the audio. You can draw Warp tabs and move them left or right to change the timing and to timestretch the audio. By clicking the “Warp beats” button, you can display the

Reset Warping

Reset Warping will reset any changes that you made with Free Warp activated. This function deletes all warp tabs, and restores bars and beats to their original settings. The Warp Beats mode will also be deactivated.

When the Stretch mode/Optimization section is highlighted, free warping has been applied to the active audio event.

Root Key

This indicates the key (A, Bb, C#, etc.) that the event is in. If this information is not contained in the meta data, nothing will show up here.

The Key Editor

The Key Editor allows you to make various changes to the instrument part. The Instrument part selected in the Arrange Zone is displayed in the center of the Key Editor. Here you can move, edit, and even draw in data.

The Multi Zone

You can zoom in and out using the plus and minus buttons

Mute

Transpose Lock

Transpose

Quantize

Perform Quantize

Swing

Legato Slider

Triplets On

in the bottom right corner. You can also click in the ruler along the top of the Editor Page and drag up to zoom out and down to zoom in. Once you are zoomed in, you can use the scroll bar along the bottom to scroll left or right and the little scroll bar on the right hand side to scroll up and down. You can also use the mouse wheel to scroll up and down and [Shift]+mouse wheel to scroll left and right.

The slider along the right-hand side zooms the Key Editor in and out. This makes the notes and the piano roll on the left hand side larger and smaller.

You can click on the piano roll to hear a specific pitch. The most important editing functions in the Key Editor are

described in the section “Key Editor” on page 23.

Mute

You can mute the instrument part by activating the “Mute” button. Deactivate it to unmute the part.

Quantize value

You select a quantize value from the pop-up menu. This will be used for all quantize-related functions such as swing and triplets. It also determines the grid resolution for the Key Editor.

Triplets On

When activated, Triplets On allows you to enter triplets in an Instrument part. The resolution of the Triplets that can be entered is determined by the Quantize value.

Perform Quantize

Activating “Perform Quantize” (or pressing [Q] on the computer keyboard) will move all the notes to the nearest bar or beat, depending on the Quantize value. If this is set to quarter notes, all notes will be moved to the nearest quarter note.

Transpose

You can change the key of the event by adjusting the transpose value.

To change the key, click and drag up or down. You can also double click and enter a value from -24 to 24.

Zero is the default.

Transpose Lock

Activating transpose lock will lock the original transpose value of the event. The event will no longer follow any global transpose changes throughout the project.

The Multi Zone

Swing

Swing allows you to add a more human feel to instrument data. Click and drag the slider left or right to move the notes. Which notes are affected depends on the Quantize value. If the Quantize value is set to eighth notes, only eighth notes will be affected when changing the swing amount.

Legato Slider

This slider increases or decreases the amount of legato in the selected Instrument part. Legato is defined as a smooth, even style without any noticeable break between notes. Therefore, when increasing Legato, you are stretching out the notes such that there is no noticeable attack between two notes. Decreasing this value will create shorter notes, sounding more “staccato”.

Activated Step Input

Nudge left

Root Key

Activated Step Input

Nudge right

Controller LaneController Lane pop up

“Activated Step Input” allows you to enter instrument data note by note and beat by beat, using a MIDI keyboard or controller. It’s great for quick entry of instrument parts.

When activated, this button puts Sequel into step input mode. A blue vertical position line appears. Each time you press a key, a note will be entered at the vertical position line. The length of the note is determined by the Quantize value.

You can use the left/right arrow keys on your keyboard to move the position of the vertical position line.

Nudge Left

This moves the selected note left based on the Quantize value.

Clicking on the Controller Lane pop-up menu allows you to decide what specific controller data you would like to view or modify.

For more information about editing controller data, see

“The Controller lane” on page 25.

The Arranger Page

The Arranger Page allows you to change the project by creating different arrangements. This allows you to play back the project in a non-linear way and is great for live performance.

Nudge Right

This moves the selected note right based on the Quantize value.

Root Key

This indicates the key (A, Bb, C# etc.) that the part is in. If this information is not available (i.e. if there is no “key” attribute), nothing will show up here. Newly recorded parts should show the key defined for the project.

Controller Lane (Velocity, Pitch Bend, etc.)

The Controller Lane allows us to add or modify instrument data such as velocity and controller information. The most common use for this is to edit velocity, pitch bend and controller numbers for things like sustain, etc.

The Multi Zone

In order to do this, you first need to create Arranger parts.

Show Arranger Track

Pad “A”

Arranger part “A”

Scroll left and right

Make sure that the “Show Arranger Track” button above the track list is activated, see “Show Arranger Track” on

page 50.

Pad assignment

[Alt]/[Option]-click along the top of a pad to open a pop-up menu allowing you to choose which part will be linked to that pad. You can also set this to “None” or to “Stop”.

Pad name

[Alt]-click along the bottom of the pad to name the pad.

Pad modes

There are two Pad modes in Sequel which you can actually switch during playback. You can choose between “Live Pads” or “Chain Play” mode (for a detailed description of these modes, see “Tutorial 4: Live Pads and Chain

Play mode” on page 35).

Live Pads

Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and move the mouse cursor over the Arranger track. The mouse will turn into a pencil. You can then click and drag to create an Arranger part.

Pads

The 16 rounded squares in the center of the Arranger Page are known as pads. Every Arranger part that you create in the Arranger track can be represented by one of these pads. There are only 16 pads though, so you can only access 16 Arranger parts at a time.

In this playback mode you can click on a pad at any time to play it. The part will loop until you click on another pad or hit stop. You can also press the corresponding key on your computer keyboard to activate the pad.

Chain Play

In Chain Play mode, you can create a preset order for the parts to play in.

The Multi Zone

Just select each pad in the order that you want them played.

Insert Cursor

History menu

Reset

You can also press the corresponding key on your computer keyboard to add the pad to “The Current Chain”. As you select them “The Current Chain” will begin filling up. “The Current Chain” resides along the top of the Arranger Page and is only active in “Chain Play” mode.

Scroll left/right

You can scroll left and right through the current chain using the buttons on the left hand side.

Insert Cursor

The insert cursor allows you to decide where to insert an Arranger part into the “Current Chain”. Click and drag to move the cursor left or right to the desired position and then click on a pad to enter it into the current chain at the cursor location.

The Program Settings Page

The Program Settings Page is where you define all of the main settings in Sequel.

Sequel Projects

History menu

The History menu will save various chain configurations you have made for future use. Click to reveal a pop-up menu. You can then select a number, enter a chain. Then select another number. The previous chain will be saved.

Reset

Select “Reset” to clear the current chain. See the chapter “Tutorial 4: Live Pads and Chain Play

mode” on page 35 for more details on the Arranger Page

and parts.

The Multi Zone

Project Location

Click in this field to select the directory to store projects on the hard drive. A dialog opens allowing you to browse the hard drives and find a suitable location or select Create to make a new folder.

User Content Location

Click in this field to set where you would like user created content to be stored. A dialog opens allowing you to browse the hard drives and find a suitable location or select Create to make a new folder.

Once set, this is where any content that you create will be stored. If you own media files that you wish to use in Sequel, copy the files to this location, and they will be displayed on the MediaBay Page.

You can drag and drop your own events, parts and even entire folders onto the MediaBay Page. These will then automatically be added to the User Content Location folder, see “Adding Content” on page 70.

Start-up Action

This pop-up menu allows you to decide whether Sequel will create a new project when you load up or load the last project you were working on.

Audio Settings

Audio Connection

Clicking here brings up a pop-up menu where you can select which ASIO driver you would like to use for audio playback.

• Click the “Setup…” button to bring up the control panel

for you audio interface.

• Click “Reset” to reset the ASIO driver settings.

Output Selector

Clicking here brings up a pop-up menu where you can select the output on the interface that you would like to use as the output for the project.

Record Format

Here you can select the bit rate you would like to use for recording. There are two options:

• 16 Bit is the format used for CDs.

• 24 Bit provides noticeably better quality than 16 Bit, but

it also requires more storage space on your hard disk.

Show Tips

Show tips, when activated, will display tips when you hover over a button or object.

Options

Instrument Recording – Auto Quantize

If this option is activated, anything recorded on a track will automatically be quantized.

Instrument Recording – Record Placement Method (Windows only)

When a MIDI interface sends notes to the application, this data includes timing information (so-called “timestamps”) to correctly position the MIDI events on the Sequel timeline. There may be situations in which these timestamps are not in sync with the internal timing information of Sequel, so recorded MIDI events will not be positioned correctly (usually, they occur “too late”).

If timing problems with the recorded MIDI events occur with your operating system, try changing the Record Placement Method from “A” (uses timing information of Sequel) to “B” (uses MIDI timestamp) or vice versa.

Metronome – Record/Playback

You can activate or deactivate the Metronome buttons so that the click will only be active during Record, Playback, or Playback and Record.

User Interface

Panel Color

Use the slider to apply different colors to the main Sequel program window.

The Multi Zone

Metronome – Level

You can also adjust the Metronome volume using the Level slider in the Metronome section.

Remote Controller Source

If you have connected more than one external controller, use this pop-up menu to select the corresponding input.

Advanced features

Introduction

In this chapter, we are going to go over some of the advanced features found in Sequel. Make sure you have gone through all of the previous chapters before proceeding.

Ö The following sections make references to tutorial projects, located in the default Sequel project folder.

Adding silence

Adding silence allows you to strip out or mute sections of an audio event to erase unwanted clicks or glitches. This is great for removing headphone bleed from vocal tracks or any other extraneous noise when there should be silence.

4. Find an area where the guitarist wasn’t playing. There is an area right at the beginning and in between the first and second bar. Click and drag to highlight a section of the event. You may want to zoom in.

Notice that the selection area becomes gray.

Ö The process is non-destructive. It only mutes the selected section of audio.

Load the project “Adding Silence 1” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 5” folder.

Here we have a simple project with drums, bass, guitar and an organ track.

The guitar track was recorded by placing a mic in front of the amp. Therefore, there is a lot of noise present when the guitarist wasn’t playing anything. Let’s clean it up.

1. Select the “Guitar” event.

2. In the Multi Zone, select the Editor Page.

3. Notice that, when you hover the cursor over the sam-

ple editor, it changes to a selection tool.

Let’s make sure that the selection doesn’t contain any audio that we want to keep.

5. Place your cursor at the left and right edge of the selection. The cursor changes allowing us to adjust the size of the selection by clicking and dragging.

Adjust the selection so that it is as tight as possible to the audio that you want to keep.

6. When you are done, press [Delete] or [Backspace] on your computer keyboard to remove the selection and create silence.

Advanced features

Add silence to any other areas in the Guitar event that you

Turn the Metronome on to hear the poor timing.

Quantize set to 1/4

think might need it.

Load the project “Adding Silence 2” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 5” folder to hear the project now that silence has been added.

Audio quantization and warp

4. Change the Stretch Mode to “Song Tempo” and change the optimization to “Mix”.

Audio Quantization

Audio quantization and warp allow you to lock events to the project tempo. This is great for correcting audio that has bad timing.

The quantize function in Sequel is automatic and is great for quickly locking drum tracks to tempo.

Load the project “Audio Quantize” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 5” folder.

Here we have a “Drums” event that has a few timing issues.

1. Start playback using the space bar to hear how the

drum beat strays off time.

2. Turn on the metronome to hear the mistakes more

clearly.

3. Double-click on the “Drums” event to view it in the

sample editor.

• First of all, make sure that the right number of bars is set and that the grid lines are positioned at the visible beats.

In our example, these settings should be OK, so leave everything as it is.

5. Make sure that the Quantize value is set to “1/4”.

You can see the audio file locking to the nearest quarter note.

6. Click on the “Warp Beats” button.

This will automatically snap the audio to the selected Quantize value.

7. Play back the project and you will find that it is now in perfect time.

Advanced features

Free Warp

Sometimes, an event might need a bit of manual adjustment as well. That’s where “Free Warp” comes in handy. Free Warp tabs are a kind of anchor that can be attached to musically relevant time positions in the audio, e.g. the first beat of every bar. They allow you to effortlessly stretch and warp audio as you please.

Ö Make sure to read the entire section “Audio Quantiza-

tion” on page 81 above before moving on.

Load the project “Audio Warp” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 5” folder.

1. Double-click on the “Drums” event to view it in the

Sample Editor.

2. Make sure that the Stretch Mode “Song Tempo” is se-

lected and activate the “Free Warp” button.

In this mode, we can adjust the timing of the audio file by creating Warp tabs and dragging them to match up properly with the bars and beats in the ruler. Warp tabs are a kind of marker or anchor that can be attached to musically relevant time positions in an audio event, e.g. the first beat of every bar, and dragged to the corresponding time positions. The audio will be stretched accordingly.

3. Determine where the first beat of a bar in the audio event does not match the corresponding ruler position in the waveform. Click at the beginning of this beat to create a warp tab.

The Stretch mode/Optimization section is highlighted to indicate that free warping has been applied to the active audio event.

The warp tabs you draw will always snap to bar and beat positions.

4. Once set, the position of a warp tab relative to a beat is fixed. If you didn’t hit the desired position (i.e. the beginning of the offset beat) in the first go, you need to delete the warp tab, and create a new one by clicking at the right position. (Zooming in might be useful.) Moving a warp tab in the waveform always affects the timing.

5. Drag the Warp tab left or right to the ruler time position you want it to be in order to adjust the timing.

The audio will be stretched accordingly.

Advanced features

6. Repeat this procedure for any drum beats that appear

Enter “Bb guitar” in the search field. Search Results

Project Root Key

off time. Keep listening back to make sure that you are getting the desired result.

If you are not satisfied, you have two options:

• You can delete a warp tab by clicking on the triangle at

the top of the ruler.

By deleting the Warp tab the stretched audio will also be reset.

• You can click the “Reset Warping” button.

This way, all manually adjusted Warp tabs will be reset.

Smart Transpose

When you set the Project Root Key in the Pilot Zone, it becomes the reference that any audio file or MIDI loop will follow when it is added to a project. What this means is that when you add a file to your project that has a defined key, it will be changed to match the root key of the project.

What Smart Transpose does is make sure that the loop is transposed to the nearest interval or pitch. This way, no loop will be transposed by more than six semitones. This ensures that loops never sound too unnatural because the pitch was raised too high or too low.

Let’s see this in action.

Load the project “Smart Transpose” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 5” folder.

1. Go to the MediaBay Page in the Multi Zone.

2. In the search field, type in “Bb guitar”. Press [Enter]/

[Return] on your computer keyboard. Sequel will filter the results for us.

• You can also perform a new auto-quantization by se-

lecting a new quantize value from the Quantize pop-up.

Note that any manual changes of grid lines you have made will be lost when you click the “Warp Beats” button.

• If you activate the Free Warp function with the “Warp

Beats” button activated, the Quantize grid will be displayed by Warp tabs.

You can now adjust these Warp tabs with the Free Warp tool.

Congratulations! You have just successfully warped an audio file to fit the bars and beats of your project. It doesn’t matter how off your audio is, because you can always warp it on time.

Advanced features

3. Drag the “03 105 Bb Guitar” loop to bar 1.

4. Notice that the project’s “Tempo” and the “Project

Root Key” changed to match the loop. The Project Root Key is now “A#” which is the same thing (enharmonic equivalent) as “Bb”.

5. Go back to the MediaBay Page. This time enter “D horns” in the search field.

6. Drag the “02 112 D horns” loop to bar 1 underneath

Transpose = 0

Root Key = A#

Transpose = -4

Root Key = D

the guitar.

7. Click on the “03 105 Bb Guitar” event and go to the

Editor Page. Notice that the Root Key is “A#” and Transpose is set to “0”.

8. Now click on the “02 112 D horns” event. Notice that

the Root Key is “D” and Transpose is set to “-4”. Smart Transpose has automatically transposed the “02 112 D horns” loop to the closest interval.

9. Play what we have so far and hear that the guitar and horns are in the same key without any extraneous transposition.

Let’s add a drum loop to the project. Drum loops aren’t affected by the Project Root Key or Smart Transpose. They can only be transposed using the “Transpose” feature in the Sample Editor.

1. Go back to the MediaBay Page and enter “Bb drums” in the search field. Drag “03 105 Bb drums 03” into the project at bar 1 underneath the “02 112 D horns” event.

2. Select the “03 105 Bb drums 03” event and press the [P] key on your computer keyboard to create a cycle region that is the exact length of the event.

3. Activate the Cycle button and press “Play” to listen to the project. Notice that the “03 105 Bb drums 03” event was not transposed – that’s Smart Transpose!

Ö Another great thing about Smart Transpose is that when you use the Transpose track for global transpose (see “Show Transpose Track” on page 50) or change the Project Root Key, the loops won’t all transpose in parallel, which usually results in a more natural sounding transposition.

4. Keep the project looping and try changing the Project Root Key around to test this out.

Ö Remember, if you want to transpose a loop manually, you can do so using the Transpose feature in the Sample Editor, which is not “smart” but absolute.

Advanced features

Locking transpose

Transpose Lock

Transpose

You can also lock the key of the loop using the “Transpose Lock” feature.

• Drum, percussion and FX loops are transpose locked by

default.

One button record

Normally, when you want to record something you need to record enable a track and click the Record button in the Pilot Zone. Recording will start after a two-bar precount, and will end when you deactivate the Record button or stop playback.

Sequel provides a second recording mode that allows you to record only in the area defined by the cycle markers. This is very handy, e.g. if you have just one little inaccuracy in an otherwise perfect recording: you can simply re-record that little section, and don’t have to record everything all over again.

1. Set up a track to record on, and make sure that it is

record enabled.

2. Set up a cycle that exactly encompasses the area in

which you wish to record.

3. Press [Ctrl]/[Command]+[R].

The project cursor jumps to a position exactly two bars before the left locator, and playback starts.

4. After the normal two bar precount, recording will start

automatically as soon as the project cursor reaches the left locator, and will stop when the cursor reaches the right locator.

Playback will continue until you stop it.

• You have three options to start this recording mode:

• By pressing [Ctrl]/[Command]+[R]

• By pressing [Ctrl]/[Command]+[*] (“multiply” on the numeric keypad)

• By [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the Record button.

Remote-controlling Sequel

It is possible to remote-control certain Sequel functions by assigning external controllers, i.e. small mixers or keyboard controllers with USB or MIDI connection and the ability to send MIDI messages. This way, you can control special program parameters using the assigned faders and knobs on your external controller. The control assignment is saved for the application and will be available for all projects.

You can map the following Sequel parameters and functions to your external controller:

• The transport controls

• The page selection in the Multi Zone (except for the Program Settings Page)

• The Mixer Page controls

• The controls on the Track Inspector Page tabs (except for the Pictures tab)

• The tab selection

• The Pads on the Arranger Page

•Metronome on/off

Ö The remote assignment will only be active if the mapped controls are displayed.

Ö If you assign a MIDI controller or a key on your keyboard to a Sequel function, this controller or key will be filtered, i.e. it will not be available as input for Instrument tracks.

If e.g. you assign the note C-3 on your keyboard to remote control an on/ off function in Sequel, you will no longer be able to trigger the C-3 note with this key. Note that this filter will only be active, if the corresponding controls are displayed.

Ö If you have connected more than one external controller, use the Remote Controller Source pop-up menu in the Options section of the Program Settings Page to select the corresponding input.

Advanced features

Assigning Controllers using the mouse

Sticky Browser

Reset Remote Assignment

Remote Object List button

The name of the Sequel function

The default or user-defined name for the assigned remote control.

Assigned Remote controllers

Additional Info

Proceed as follows:

1. Connect your remote device with the USB or MIDI port on your computer and start Sequel.

2. Click the Edit Remote Control Assignment button in the Sequel Pilot Zone.

The main user interface becomes dimmed, so that you can clearly see which elements can be assigned to remote controls (indicated by black frames).

3. Select the function you would like to control with your remote device by clicking on it in the user interface.

The button turns red and the assignment browser appears to indicate that you can now assign a remote control to this function.

The assignment browser consists of the following elements:

• The Sticky Browser button in the top left corner of the assignment browser indicates if the browser is fixed (closed padlock symbol) or closes automatically after a few seconds (open padlock symbol). Click on the button to change its status.

• Click on the small button in the additional Info column to let the program know that the assigned control is an endless fader (two arrows forming a circle will appear).

• The Reset Remote Assignment button allows you to remove a controller assignment from a specific control.

• The default name for the assigned remote control (at the bottom of the list) can be changed allowing you to keep an overview of the assigned controls. Just click on the name and enter a new descriptive and unique name, e.g. the name of the control on your external device.

5. Move the desired control on your external device to

map the physical control to the program function.

The selected function is now assigned to the control on the remote device. This is indicated by the corresponding program control turning blue. At the bottom of the assignment browser it is now indicated which Remote item has been assigned to the selected function.

4. Click on the Remote Object List button in the right corner of the assignment browser to show all elements of the assignment browser.

Advanced features

Ö Each time you assign a new remote controller to a Sequel function, a new entry appears in the list of available Remote Items. By default, these entries are named Remote Item x, where x represents an incrementing number.

6. To assign another remote controller, click on the next program function with the mouse.

You can also step through the assignable functions with the arrow keys, see below.

Ö If you assign the Multi Zone pages first, you can use the controls on your remote device to switch between the different pages.

7. To get an overview of the assigned remote objects, click the Remote Object List button in the lower right corner of the assignment browser.

All remote controls that have been assigned are now shown.

8. When you are done, click the green button at the top of the page to switch back to normal mode.

Congratulations! You can now use your remote device to control the assigned Sequel functions.

Assigning Controllers using key commands

You also assign controllers to Sequel functions using key commands. Proceed as follows:

1. Press [F] to enter the Edit Remote Control Assignment mode.

The main user interface becomes dimmed, so that you can clearly see which elements can be assigned to remote controls (indicated by black frames).

2. Use the arrow keys to step through the assignable functions.

The selected control element turns red and the assignment browser appears to indicate that you can assign a remote control to this function.

3. Move the desired control on your external device to map the physical control to the program function.

• Use the arrow keys on your computer keyboard to step through the available parameters.

• Use the [Enter] key on the numeric keypad to make selections, activate functions or to confirm your settings.

• Press [Esc] to exit a List or browser window or deactivate the Edit Remote Control Assignment mode.

Advanced features

Setting up your system

About this chapter

MIDI requirements

In this chapter, you will find information on the basic computer setup (audio card and drivers, etc.) and on more advanced audio and MIDI system setups.

General notes on how to set up your system

On the Steinberg web site, under “Support-DAW Components”, you can find detailed information on what to consider when setting up a computer system dedicated to audio work.

• RAM – There is a direct relation between the amount of available RAM and the number of audio channels that you can have running.

The amount of RAM specified above is the minimum requirement, but as a general rule “the more the better” applies.

• Hard disk size – The size of the hard disk determines how many minutes of audio you will be able to record.

Recording one minute of stereo CD quality audio requires 10 MB of hard disk space. That is, eight stereo tracks in Sequel use up at least 80 MB of disk space per recording minute.

• Hard disk speed – The speed of the hard drive also determines the number of audio tracks you can run.

That is the quantity of information that the disk can read, usually expressed as “sustained transfer rate”. Again, “the more the better” applies.

• Wheel mouse – We recommend that you use a wheel mouse.

This will speed up value editing and scrolling considerably.

Defragmenting the hard disk (Windows only)

If you plan to record audio on a hard disk where you have already stored other files, now is the time to defragment it. Use the Windows Defragmentation tool to optimize your system’s performance.

If you intend to use the MIDI features of Sequel, you need the following:

• A MIDI interface to connect external MIDI equipment to your

•A MIDI instrument

• Any audio equipment required to listen to the sound from your

Installing a MIDI interface/synthesizer card

Installation instructions for a MIDI interface should be included with the product. However, here’s an outline of the necessary steps:

1. Install the interface (or MIDI synthesizer card) inside

your computer or connect it to a “port” (connector) on the computer.

Which is right for you depends on which type of interface you have.

2. If the interface has a power supply and/or a power

switch, turn it on.

3. Install the driver for the interface, as described in the

documentation that comes with the interface.

You should also make sure to check the manufacturer’s web site for the latest driver updates.

Audio hardware

Sequel will run with audio hardware that meets the following specifications:

•Stereo.

•16 bit.

• Sampling rate: 44.1kHz.

• Windows – The audio hardware must be supplied with a spe-

• Mac – The audio hardware must be supplied with Mac OS X

computer

MIDI devices

cial ASIO driver, or a DirectX compatible driver, see below.

compatible drivers (CoreAudio or ASIO).

Setting up your system

Using the built-in audio hardware of the

Macintosh

As of this writing, all current Macintosh models provide at least built-in 16 bit stereo audio hardware. For detailed information, refer to the documentation describing your computer.

Depending on your preferences and requirements, using the built-in audio hardware may be sufficient for use with Sequel. It is always available for selection in Sequel – you don’t need to install any additional drivers.

Some Macintosh models have audio outputs but no inputs. This means that you can only play back audio – recording is not possible without additional audio hardware.

About drivers

A driver is a piece of software that allows a program to communicate with a certain piece of hardware. In this case, the driver allows Sequel to use the audio hardware. For audio hardware, there are different cases, requiring different driver configurations:

• A DirectX driver for the audio card, allowing it to communicate with DirectX. If the audio card supports DirectX, this driver should be supplied by the audio card manufacturer. If it isn’t installed with the audio card, please check the manufacturer’s web site for more information.

• The ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver, allowing Sequel to communicate with DirectX. This driver is included with Sequel, and does not require any special installation.

If the audio card communicates via the Generic Low Latency ASIO driver (Windows Vista only)

If you are working with Windows Vista, you can use the Generic Low Latency ASIO driver. This is a generic ASIO driver that provides ASIO support for all audio cards supported by Windows Vista, thus allowing for low latency. The Generic Low Latency ASIO driver provides the Windows Vista Core Audio technology in Sequel. No additional driver is needed.

Ö Though the Generic Low Latency ASIO driver provides low latency for all audio cards, you might get better results with on-board audio cards than with external USB audio devices.

If the audio hardware has a specific ASIO driver

Professional audio cards often come with an ASIO driver written especially for the card. This allows for communication directly between Sequel and the audio card. As a result, audio cards with specific ASIO drivers can provide lower latency (input-output delay). The ASIO driver may also provide special support for multiple inputs and outputs, routing, synchronization, etc.

Audio card-specific ASIO drivers are provided by the card manufacturers. Make sure to check the manufacturer’s web site for the latest driver versions.

If your audio hardware comes with a specific ASIO driver we strongly recommend that you use this.

If the audio card communicates via DirectX (Windows only)

DirectX is a Microsoft “package” for handling various types of multimedia data under Windows. Sequel supports DirectX, or to be more precise, DirectSound, which is a part of DirectX used for playing back and recording audio. This requires two types of drivers:

Setting up your system

Installing the audio hardware and its driver

1. Install the audio card and related equipment in the

computer, as described in the card’s documentation.

2. Install the driver for the card.

Depending on the operating system of your computer, there are different types of drivers that could apply: card-specific ASIO drivers, DirectX drivers (Windows) or Mac OS X (Mac) drivers.

Even if the drives are included with the card, you should always make sure to check the manufacturer’s website for most recent drivers.

Testing the card

To make sure the audio card will work as expected, perform the following two tests:

• Use any software included with the audio card to make

sure you can record and play back audio without problems.

• If the card is accessed via a standard operating system

driver, try playing back audio using the computer’s standard audio application (e.g. Windows Media Player or Apple iTunes).

Setting up audio

Always make all connections with all equipment turned off!

Connecting audio

Exactly how to set up your system depends on many different factors, e.g. the kind of project you wish to create, the external equipment you want to use, the computer hardware available to you, etc. Therefore, the following sections can only serve as examples.

How you connect your equipment, i.e. whether you use digital or analog connections, also depends on your individual setup.

Stereo input and output – the simplest connection

If you only use a stereo input and output from Sequel, you can connect your audio hardware, e.g. the inputs of your audio card or your audio interface, directly to the input source and the outputs to a power amplifier and speaker.

A simple stereo audio setup.

This is probably the simplest of all setups – once you have set up the internal input and output busses, you can connect your audio source, e.g. a microphone, to your audio interface and start recording.

• External mixing means having a hardware mixing device

with a group or bus system that can be used for feeding inputs on your audio hardware.

In the example below, four busses are used for feeding signals to the audio hardware’s inputs. The four outputs are connected back to the mixer for monitoring and playback. Remaining mixer inputs can be used for connecting audio sources like microphones, instruments, etc.

A multi-channel audio setup using an external mixer.

Ö When connecting an input source (like a mixer) to the audio hardware, you should use output busses, sends or similar that are separate from the mixer’s master output to avoid recording what you are playing back. You may also have mixing hardware that can be connected via FireWire.

• When using the Mixer inside Sequel, you can use the in-

puts on your audio hardware to connect microphones and/or external devices. Use the outputs to connect your monitoring equipment.

Multi-channel input and output

You may have other audio equipment that you want to integrate with Sequel, using several input and output channels. Depending on the equipment available to you, there are two ways to go: either mixing using an external mixing

Mixing inside Sequel

desk, or mixing using the mixer inside Sequel.

Setting up your system

Recording from a CD player

Most computers come with a CD-ROM drive that can also be used as a regular CD player. In some cases the CD player is internally connected to the audio hardware so that you can record the output of the CD player directly into Sequel (consult the audio hardware documentation if you are uncertain).

• All routing and level adjustments for recording from a CD (if available) are done in the audio hardware setup application, see below.

About recording levels and inputs

When you connect your equipment, you should make sure that the impedance and levels of the audio sources and inputs are matched. Typically, different inputs may be designed for use with microphones, consumer line level (-10 dBV) or professional line level (+4 dBV), or you may be able to adjust input characteristics on the audio interface or in its control panel. Please check the audio hardware documentation for details.

Ö Using the correct types of input is important to avoid distortion or noisy recordings.

Sequel does not provide any input level adjustments for the signals coming in to your audio hardware, since these are handled differently for each card. Adjusting input levels is either done in a special application included with the hardware or from its control panel (see below).

In many cases all available settings for the audio hardware are gathered in a control panel, which can be opened from within Sequel as described below (or opened separately, when Sequel isn’t running). In some cases, there may be several different applications and panels – please refer to the audio hardware documentation for details.

Selecting a driver and making audio settings in Sequel

The first thing you need to do is select the correct driver in Sequel to make sure that the program can communicate with the audio hardware:

1. Launch Sequel.

2. Select the Program Settings Page from the Multi

Zone.

Making settings for the audio hardware

Most audio cards come with one or more small applications that allow you to configure the inputs of the hard-

The Audio Settings section of the Program Settings Page.

3. Click in the Audio Connection field to open the driver pop-up menu and select your audio hardware driver.

ware to your liking. This includes:

• Selecting which inputs/outputs are active.

• Setting up word clock synchronization (if available).

• Setting levels for each input. This is very important!

• Setting levels for the outputs, so that they match the equipment you use for monitoring.

• Selecting digital input and output formats.

• Making settings for the audio buffers.

Under Windows, we strongly recommend that you access your hardware via an ASIO driver written specifically for the hardware, if available. If no ASIO driver is installed, we recommend that you check with your audio hardware manufacturer if they have an ASIO driver available, for example for download via the Internet.

Bring up the control panel for the audio hardware and adjust the settings as recommended by the audio hardware manufacturer.

Setting up your system

• Under Windows, you open the control panel by clicking

the “Setup…” button.

The control panel that appears when you click this button is provided by the audio hardware manufacturer and not Sequel (unless you use DirectX, see below). Hence it will be different for each audio card brand and model. The Control panel for the ASIO DirectX driver is an exception, as it is provided by Steinberg, and is described in the dialog help, opened by clicking the Help button in the dialog. See also the notes below.

• Under Mac OS X, you will find the control panel for your

audio hardware in the System Preferences (“Other” section), opened from the Apple menu or from the Dock.

If you are using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh, you use the “Sound” control panel in the System Preferences to set levels, balance, etc. If you are using ASIO audio hardware, you can click the Control Panel button to bring up its panel.

4. Click Apply and OK to close the dialog.

If you are using audio hardware with a DirectX driver (Windows only)

• You can edit the Buffer Size setting in this list if necessary, by double-clicking on the value and typing in a new value.

In most cases, the default settings will work fine. Audio buffers are used when audio data is transferred between Sequel and the audio card. While larger buffers ensure that playback will occur without glitches, the latency (the time between the moment Sequel sends out the data and when it actually reaches the output) will be higher.

• Offset

If a constant offset is audible during playback of Audio and MIDI recordings, you can adjust the output or input latency time using this value.

Setting up the input and output ports

Setting the inputs and outputs primarily depends on the configuration settings of your audio card. You can check the configuration by clicking on “Setup…” on the Program Settings Page.

If you have a stereo in/out audio card this will most likely be set up automatically.

If your Windows audio hardware doesn’t have a specific ASIO driver, a DirectX driver is the next best option.

Sequel comes with a driver called “ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Driver” available for selection on the Audio Connection pop-up menu on the Program Settings Page.

Ö To be able to take full advantage of DirectX Full Duplex, the audio hardware must support WDM (Windows Driver Model) in combination with DirectX version 8.1 or higher.

In all other cases, the audio inputs will be emulated by DirectX (see the dialog help for the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Setup dialog for details about how this is reported).

Ö During the installation of Sequel, the latest DirectX driver will be installed on your computer.

When ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Driver is selected on the Audio Connections pop-up menu, you can click “Setup…” to open the ASIO Direct Sound Full Duplex Setup control panel and adjust the following settings:

• Direct Sound Output and Input Ports

In the list to the left in the window, all available Direct Sound output and input ports are listed. In many cases, there will be only one port in each list. To activate or deactivate a port in the list, click the checkbox in the left column.

Inputs

Setting the recording input for Sequel is discussed in

“Adding an audio track” on page 13.

Outputs

Audio outputs can be selected on the Program Settings Page from the Output Selector pop-up.

Retrieving channel names (Mac only)

For some audio cards, it is possible to automatically retrieve the “ASIO” channel names for the ports of your audio hardware:

1. Open the Program Settings Page in the Multi Zone.

2. In the Audio Settings section, select your audio card

from the “Audio connection” pop up menu.

3. Open the control panel for your audio hardware.

4. Activate the “Use CoreAudio Channel Names” option.

5. When you now open the Output selector pop-up in the

Audio Settings section or the Input pop-up in track list for audio tracks, you will find that the port names correspond to the names that are used by the CoreAudio driver.

Setting up your system

Port selection and activation (Mac only)

On the settings page for your audio card, you can specify which input and which output port should be active. This allows you e.g. to use the Microphone input instead of the Line input or even to deactivate the audio card input or output completely, if required.

Ö This function is only available for Built-In Audio, standard USB audio devices and a certain number of other audio cards (e. g. Pinnacle CineWave).

About monitoring

In Sequel, monitoring means listening to the input signal while preparing to record or while recording. Sequel always monitors the signal in real-time.

The audio passes from the input into Sequel, possibly through Sequel effects and EQ and then back to the output. You control monitoring via settings in Sequel. This allows you to control the monitoring level from Sequel and add effects to the monitored signal only.

A typical MIDI Setup

Setting up MIDI

Always make all connections with all equipment turned off!

This section describes how to connect and set up MIDI equipment. If you have no MIDI equipment you can skip this section. Note that this is only an example – you might need or want to hook things up differently!

Connecting the MIDI equipment

In this example we assume that you have a MIDI keyboard. The keyboard is used for feeding the computer with MIDI messages for recording. Using Sequel’s automatic MIDI Thru feature you will be able to hear the correct sound from the instrument track while playing the keyboard or recording.

Setting up your system

Setting up MIDI ports in Sequel

Sequel automatically finds any MIDI devices connected to your computer and allows them to be MIDI inputs for recording.

Optimizing audio performance

This section gives you some hints and tips on how to get the most out of your Sequel system, audio performancewise. Some of this text refers to hardware properties and can be used as a guide when upgrading your system.

Two aspects of performance

There are two distinct aspects of performance in respect to Sequel:

Tracks and effects

Simply put: the faster your computer, the more tracks, effects and EQ you will be able to play. Exactly what constitutes a “fast computer” is almost a science in itself, but some hints are given below.

Short response times (latency)

Another aspect of performance is response time. The term “latency” refers to the “buffering”, i.e. the temporary storing, of small chunks of audio data during various steps of the recording and playback process on a computer. The more and larger those chunks, the higher the latency.

High latency is most irritating when using software instruments and when monitoring through the computer, i.e. when listening to a live audio source via the Sequel mixer and effects. However, very long latency times (several hundred milliseconds) can also affect other processes like mixing, e.g. when the effect of a fader movement is heard only after a noticeable delay.

A system that responds fast will always be more convenient to work with.

• Depending on your audio hardware, it may be possible

to “trim” your latency times, usually by lowering the size and the number of buffers.

For details, refer to the audio hardware documentation, or, if you are using a DirectX driver under Windows, the dialog help.

System factors that affect performance

CPU and processor cache

It goes without saying that the faster the computer’s processor, the better. But there are a number of factors that affect the apparent speed of a computer: the bus speed and type (PCI is strongly recommended), the processor cache size and of course, the processor type and brand. Sequel relies heavily on floating point calculations. When shopping for a processor, please make sure you get one that is powerful in calculating floating point arithmetics.

Note also that Sequel features full support for multi-processor systems. So if you own a computer system with more than one processor, Sequel can take advantage of the total capacity and evenly distribute the processing load to all available processors.

Hard disk and controller

The number of hard disk tracks you can record and play back at the same time also depends on the speed of your hard disk and hard disk controller. If you use E-IDE disks and controllers, make sure that the transfer mode is DMA Busmaster. Under Windows, you can check the current mode by launching the Windows Device Manager and

looking for properties of the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller’s primary and secondary channel. DMA transfer mode is enabled by default, but may be turned off by the system should hardware problems occur.

Ö In Sequel you can record up to eight stereo tracks at a time.

Audio hardware and driver

The hardware and its driver can have some effect on regular performance. A badly written driver can reduce the performance of your computer. But where the hardware driver design makes the most difference is with latency.

Again, we strongly recommend that you use audio hardware for which there is a specific ASIO driver!

This is especially true when using Sequel for Windows.

• Under Windows, ASIO drivers written specifically for the hardware are more efficient than a DirectX driver and produce shorter latency times.

• Under Mac OS X, audio hardware with properly written Mac OS X (Core Audio) drivers can be very efficient and produce very low latency times.

Optimizing processor scheduling (Windows only)

To get the lowest possible latencies when using ASIO under Windows XP (on a single CPU system), the system performance has to be optimized for “Background services”:

1. Open the Windows Control Panel from the “Start” menu and select “System”.

2. Select the “Advanced” tab and click the “Settings” button in the “Performance” section. The “Performance Options” dialog is opened.

3. Select the “Advanced” tab.

4. In the “Processor Scheduling” section, select “Adjust

for best performance of: Background services”.

5. Click “OK” to close the dialogs.

Setting up your system

Key commands

Introduction

This chapter contains a list of the available key commands in Sequel, structured according to the different edit categories in the program.

The available key commands

File commands

Option Key command

New Project [Ctrl]/[Command] + [N] Open Project [Ctrl]/[Command] + [O] Save Project [Ctrl]/[Command] + [S] Save As [Ctrl]/[Command] + [Shift] + [S] Manage Projects [Ctrl]/[Command] + [Shift] + [M] Help [F1] Quit [Ctrl]/[Command] + [Q]

Edit commands

Option Key command

Undo [Ctrl]/[Command] + [Z] Redo [Ctrl]/[Command] + [Shift] + [Z] Cut [Ctrl]/[Command] + [X] Copy [Ctrl]/[Command] + [C] Paste [Ctrl]/[Command] + [V] Delete [Delete] or [Backspace] Select All [Ctrl]/[Command] + [A] Select None [Ctrl]/[Command] + [Shift] + [A] Duplicate [Ctrl]/[Command] + [D] Split at Cursor [Ctrl]/[Command] + [T] Move to Cursor [Ctrl]/[Command] + [L] Solo [S] Mute selected track(s) [M] Mute objects [Ctrl]/[Command] + [M] Snap on/off [J] Quantize [Q] Record Ready [R]

Project commands

Option Key command

Add Track [Ctrl]/[Command] + [+] Remove Track [Ctrl]/[Command] + [Delete] or [Backspace] Toggle Automation Mode [A] Show Mixer [1] Show Inspector [2] Show Media [3] Show Editor [4] Show Arranger Page [5] Show/Hide Multi Zone [E] Show/Hide Virtual

Keyboard Change Virtual Keyboard

Display Type Metronome on [C] Show/Hide Tuner [T] Show/Hide Track Pictures

in Track List Enter the Edit Remote Con-

trol Assignment mode Show Program Setttings [6] Set Cycle to Selection [P]

[K]

[Tab]

[I]

[F]

Navigate commands

Option Key command

Left [Left Arrow] Right [Right Arrow] Up [Up Arrow] Down [Down Arrow] Add Left [Shift] + [Left Arrow] Add Right [Shift] + [Right Arrow] Add Up [Shift] + [Up Arrow] Add Down [Shift] + [Down Arrow] Bottom [End] Select/deselect MediaBay

Page filter

[Ctrl]/[Command] + [Space]

Key commands

Virtual Keyboard - Navigate commands

Ö When the Virtual Keyboard is active, the usual key commands are blocked. The only exceptions are: [*] (“multiply” on the numeric keypad) for recording, [Space] for start/stop and [Home]/[Command]+ [Home] to jump to the project start.

Option Key command

One Octave down [Left Arrow] One Octave up [Right Arrow] One Volume step up [Up Arrow] One Volume step down [Down Arrow]

Zoom commands

Option Key command

Zoom In [H] Zoom Out [G] Zoom Last [Shift] + [H] Zoom Full [Shift] + [G] Zoom to Parts [Shift] + [P]

Transport commands

Option Key command

Locate Selection [L] To Left Locator [Home] (PC)/[Command]+ [Home] (Mac)/

Start [Enter] (numeric keypad) Stop [0] (numeric keypad) Start / Stop [Space] Record [*] (“multiply” on the numeric keypad) or [Ins] Rewind [-] (“subtract” on the numeric keypad) Forward [+] (“add” on the numeric keypad) Return to Zero [.] or [,] on the numeric keypad Cycle [/] (“divide” on the numeric keypad) Locate next Marker [Shift] + [N] Locate Previous Marker [Shift] + [B] One Button Record [Ctrl]/[Command] + [R],

[.] (Notebooks)

[Ctrl]/[Command] + [*] (Num)

Key commands

Effects reference

Introduction

This chapter describes the effects and instruments included with Sequel. How to use these is described in the section “The Track Inspector Page” on page 62.

Distortion

Distortion is great for adding crunch to your tracks. This effect is easy to use with only two parameters, but it is extremely effective. “Boost” cranks up the distortion amount. “Output” raises or lowers the signal going out of the effect.

Track/Global Effects

Delay Effects

PingPongDelay

As the name implies, PingPongdelay creates a bouncing effect. This will bounce the signal between left and right.

“SyncNote” allows you to sync the bouncing effect to the tempo. “Feedback” determines how long the delay will last. Using the “Spatial” parameter you can increase the distance between the bounces. This sounds great on solos. The “Mix” parameter determines how much original signal you hear versus the affected signal.

StereoDelay

StereoDelay is great for giving your tracks a sense of space. It includes two delays. One for the left channel and one for the right channel. “SyncNote” allows you to sync the delay effect to the tempo. “Feedback” determines how long the delay will last. The “Mix” parameter determines how much original signal you hear versus the affected signal.

Distortion Effects

AmpSimulator

The AmpSimulator allows you to make it sound like your tracks were recorded through an electric guitar or bass amplifier.

“Drive” gives a boost to the signal and simulates an overdrive pedal. “Bass” adds low end to the signal. “Mid” boosts the middle frequencies of the signal. “Treble” adds high end to the signal. “Volume” allows you to give that extra boost to the signal without adding any distortion.

• There are a number of AmpSimulator presets available.

Try out the different presets to find the desired amp sound.

Dynamics Effects

Gate

Gate, as the name implies, allows you to create a “gate” which will let only audio through if it meets a volume requirement that you control. “Threshold” sets the volume level that the signal has to reach in order to be heard. “Release” controls how quickly the “gate” will close after it has been opened.

Maximizer

Maximizers are commonly used in the mastering stage to raise the overall level of the mix. The Optimize setting raises the level of your tracks without clipping the output. Turning this up all the way creates a “brick wall” type effect that is often used on drum tracks in electronic music.

Filter Effects

DualFilter

This effect filters out certain frequencies while allowing others to pass through. Moving the Position slider changes the focus frequency of the filter. If the position is higher, only high frequencies are heard. If the position is lower, only low frequencies are heard. “Resonance” adds a ringing effect to the filtered sound.

Modulation Effects

AutoPan

AutoPan automatically moves the track’s signal from left to right and back again. “Rate” determines how quickly the signal moves back and forth. “Width” adjusts how far to the left and right the signal will go.

100

Effects reference

Steinberg Sequel - 2.0 Operation Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

Introduction

Welcome

About this manual

Key command conventions

System requirements and installation

About this chapter

Installing Sequel

Minimum requirements

Activating Sequel

Register your software

Read on…

Tutorial 1: Recording

The tutorials

Recording audio

Recording instrument parts

Tutorial 2: Editing

Introduction

Editing audio events

Editing instrument parts

Tutorial 3: Mixing

Introduction

Setting levels

Setting Pan

Mute and Solo

Adding EQ

Audio effects

Adding automation

Exporting

Introduction

Live Mode

Arranger parts

Chain Play Mode

The Pilot Zone

Introduction

The File, Project and Edit menus

The Sequel menu (Mac only)

The Automation buttons

Minimizing, maximizing and closing

The ruler

The Tuner

The Transport controls

The Metronome

The Pilot Zone display

Computer Usage

The Virtual Keyboard

The Arrange Zone

Introduction

The Track list buttons

Resizing the Arrange Zone

About tracks and track controls

Timeline and grid

Zooming in the Arrange Zone

Working with the Smart Tool

The Multi Zone

Introduction

The Mixer Page

The Track Inspector Page

The MediaBay Page

The Editor Page

The Arranger Page

The Program Settings Page

Advanced features

Introduction

Adding silence

Audio quantization and warp

Smart Transpose

One button record

Remote-controlling Sequel

Setting up your system

About this chapter

MIDI requirements

General notes on how to set up your system

Defragmenting the hard disk (Windows only)

Audio hardware

Setting up audio