Today, computer musicians around the world use special tools called sequencers, which can be presented in the form of hardware and software, to write their own compositions or create musical works of any complexity. But what is a sequencer? For novice users, the idea of \u200b\u200bthis is very vague. Let's try to understand the basic terminology, speaking about such definitions, so to speak, in "human" language, so that the material is understandable to any person, even very far from creating music.
The concept of sequence (Sequence) and sequencer (Sequencer): translation
First of all, let's define the term "sequence". In the future, this will help to understand what a sequencer is, as well as to understand the principles of operation of instruments of this type.
A sequence, by definition used in music, is a certain musical phrase ora sequence that constantly repeats either in its original form, or with an increase or decrease in tone, with a change in key (major / minor), volume, etc. Thus, speaking about what a sequencer is, it is easy to conclude that it is a hardware component or program installed on a computer that allows you to build a musical composition based on such pieces, which are often called patterns.
What is the MIDI Music System?
Batch recording can be done in several ways. On the one hand, you can record a melody using a connected instrument or a MIDI keyboard, for which an appropriate interface (MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is used, through which MIDI events of a standard type are transmitted and received, associated with choosing an instrument from the main or additional set, setting the pitch of its sound, adjusting the volume or pressing the key, setting the shift range in relation to the fundamental tone (Pitch Shift or Transpose), changing the panorama, adding effects, etc.
On the other hand, in today's music applications, using MIDI commands or recording from appropriate devices is completely optional.
Many applications of this direction provide for the presence of the so-called step sequencer (Step Sequencer), in which it is possible to create individual patterns by entering the desired part in the editor with a virtual keyboard (Piano Roll Editor) with full control of allrelated parameters mentioned above.
Note: although the standard sound set used for editing MIDI events includes 128 sounds (General MIDI - GM or GS), it is sometimes possible to use extended sets like XG (Extended General), representing is a standard developed by Yamaha. In addition, any modern program supports working with virtual hosts based on VST (Virtual Synth Technology) from Steinberg, DX (DirectX), RTAS, etc., which significantly expands the possibilities of editors and opens up unprecedented horizons for realizing creative fantasies.
In terms of hardware, this can be not only modern sound cards that support MIDI standards and work on the basis of appropriate MIDI drivers, but also many pads, say, for DJs or other external controllers connected to computers or electronic instruments.
Most Popular Apps
As far as music software is concerned, today it is customary to distinguish between several types of sequencers. First, there are MIDI sequencer programs that can only use the recording from the connected instrument and standard sound sets.
Secondly, one of the varieties are somewhat outdated tracker applications in which MIDI events or inputparts are edited using mathematical components.
Thirdly, the most common and popular can be called entire virtual studios like FL Studio, Cubase, Ableton Live, Studio One, Logic Pro, Reason, Cakewalk Sonar and many others (they are usually called digital workstations DAW - Digital audio workstation). True, among such applications one can often find sequencers based on the use of only preset (already recorded) patterns to combine them when creating your own project in any order. The brightest representative is MAGIX Music Maker. But such applications are more suitable for beginners who are just learning the basics of working with software systems for writing music, since they will not be able to realize their own imagination in them.
Summary of results
That's all in a nutshell and all about what a sequencer is. In principle, you will have to deal with the intricacies of functioning and try all the features of such software products directly in the chosen application, however, for most programs in this area, the principles for creating and recording musical parts, processing effects, using virtual synthesizers, etc. are very similar. The only exceptions are trackers and the rather complex Reason studio, which, without some necessary skills, will be somewhat problematic for a novice musician.
