Operation Manual
Sequel Operation Manual by Steve Kostrey, Michael Baggley Revision and Quality Control: Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, 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.
Table of Contents
6 Introduction 37 The Pilot Zone 7 7 7 Welcome About this manual Key command conventions 8 System requirements and installation 9 9 9 9 9 10 About this chapter Minimum requirements Installing Sequel Activating Sequel Register your software Read on… 11 Tutorial 1: Recording 12 12 17 The tutorials Recording audio Recording Instrument parts 38 38 38 38 39 40 42 43 44 44 46 46 46 Introduction The Sequel menu (Mac only) The File and Edit menus Minimizing, maximizing and closing The File button/men
88 Key commands 89 89 Introduction The available key commands 91 Effects reference 92 92 93 Introduction Track/Global Effects Instrument parameters 94 Index 5 Table of Contents
1 Introduction
Welcome After you have registered Sequel online, take some time to explore the community section at www.steinberg.net. You will find lots of useful information and get to know other users in our discussion forums. Registering at www.mysteinberg.com also gives you access to special offers from Steinberg in the future. Congratulations and thank you for your purchase of Steinberg Sequel. You have now become a member of the world's largest community of music production software users.
2 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. The installation procedure puts all files in the right places, automatically. Windows Minimum requirements 1. Insert the Sequel DVD into the DVD drive of your computer. The following requirements are based on performance measurements for a typical project with an average 12 tracks (incl.
Read on… …to learn how to use Sequel: • First, you will find tutorials that will get you up and running quickly. These tutorials refer to projects located in the default project folder, and video files 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”.
3 Tutorial 1: Recording
The tutorials 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: The Pilot Zone is explained in the chapter “The Pilot Zone” on page 37. Details on the Arrange Zone can be found in the chapter “The Arrange Zone” on page 48. The Multi Zone and its various pages are described in the chapter “The Multi Zone” on page 55.
Setting the default save folder Adding an audio track In order to save projects in Sequel, it is important to make sure you know where the projects are going to be saved. Ö The following sections make references to tutorial projects, located in the default Sequel project folder. 1. Go to the Program Settings page. ! 2. Click on the “Project Location” button. Load the project called “Recording” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 1” folder. Now let’s add an audio track to record onto.
Adding in a drum loop 5. Select the desired input for the track from the “Input Selection” pop-up menu. Let’s add some drums to the project. To be able to see the Input selection, make sure the track height is set to Medium track height at the bottom of the track list. 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.
Setting levels 6. Drag the selected drum loop into the Arrange Zone and line it up at bar 1, just below the guitar track. 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.
Playback 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”. 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! 4. Tune up each string until all your strings are in tune. 5. Deactivate the tuner.
Recording 3. Make sure the Cycle button is activated. 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. Ö Sequel automatically finds and uses any MIDI devices that we have on our computer. 4. Click the “Jump to previous marker” and “Jump to next marker” buttons until the song position cursor is sitting directly on bar 2.
6. Turn off “Record Ready” so that we don’t hear the input any more. Congratulations! You just recorded your first Instrument part in Sequel. ! Load the project “MIDI Playback” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 1” folder. Press the [.] key on your numerical keypad to set the song position 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.
4 Tutorial 2: Editing
Introduction 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. 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 37, “The Arrange Zone” on page 48 and “The Multi Zone” on page 55 if you aren’t sure about a specific function. 1.
Splitting 5. Undo your actions by using the “Undo Last Action” button in the Pilot Zone. Make sure there are no splits in the “Synth” event any more. Splitting is used to cut events. 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. 2. Let’s split the “Drums” event on the third beat of every bar.
3. With all of the events selected, click and drag them so that the events line up with bar 2. 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. 2. We now have five “Drums” events. Two original and three repeats. 4. Click on an empty area of the project window so that no events are selected. Copying Copying can be used to copy an event to another area in the project window.
Editing Instrument parts Erasing 1. Select an event to erase. In this section, we are going to look at some of the editing functions for Instrument parts that are available in Sequel. 2. Press [Delete] or [Backspace] to delete the event. You may also select the Delete option on the Edit menu. Key Editor About the Sample Editor The Key Editor is where we can make changes to the Instrument data on our instrument tracks. The Sample Editor is used for detailed editing.
Copying notes Creating or drawing in notes Let’s copy the all of the notes in the second bar into the first bar. 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. 1. Lasso all the notes in bar 2. Let’s add some notes to the first two bars of the song: 2. Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag the notes from bar 2 to bar 1. This copies them. 1.
The Controller lane 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 loud or quiet on certain notes, you can view and edit them at the bottom of the Key Editor. Pop-up menu The controller lane 1. On the pop-up menu, select the information you wish view or change, in this example, choose “Velocity”.
5 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. ! That’s it for setting levels. Let’s check out pan next.
Mute and Solo ! 1. Select the “Drums” track in the Arrange Zone. 2. Solo the Drums track and select the Track Inspector page in the Multi Zone. Load the project “Mixing 3” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder. For each track, there is a button 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. 3. Click on the “Equalizers” tab. Ö You can have several tracks muted or soloed at a time.
Ö You can also see a visual representation of the EQ settings you are changing. Audio Effects ! Ö 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. 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: The middle EQ is a parametric EQ.
5. Adjust the Threshold slider until the bass sounds 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 preset from the “Effect Preset” menu. Effect Preset For details on each effect and its parameters, see the chapter “Effects reference” on page 91. 6.
Output Effects Let’s make the whole song fade out by changing the volume automation on the Master track. 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. 1. Activate the “Edit/Write Automation” button in Pilot Zone. The Master track will appear in the Arrange Zone. The two fixed effects are a maximizer and stereo enhancer.
Exporting 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. 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. 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.
Ö Normally you’ll want to save your exported file as a “Wave File” under “File Format”. 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.
6 Tutorial 4: Live Pads and Chain Play mode
Introduction Live Mode In this chapter, we’ll show you how to use Sequel to make performing live fun and easy. We’ll take you through creating Arranger parts and using the Arranger page. ! Now that we have Arranger parts set up, let’s use them to play back our project. Arranger parts 1. Select the Arranger page in the Multi Zone. Ö The following sections make references to tutorial projects, located in the default Sequel project folder.
6. [Alt]-click along the bottom of pad A and name it “Intro”. 2. Click on “Pad A”. Notice that an “A” appears in the “Current Chain”. 7. Let’s also name pad B “Verse”, pad C “Chorus”, and pad D “Extro”. Current Chain 3. Add B, C, and D to the Current Chain. You can also drag parts from the Arranger track into the current track. 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”. 8.
7 The Pilot Zone
Introduction The rest of the functions in this menu are related to the Mac OS and are the same as the functions you would find in any program you run on a Mac. 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 48), and the “Multi Zone” (see the chapter “The Multi Zone” on page 55). The File and Edit menus On the Mac, the File and Edit menus appear along the top left of the screen.
• Selecting the maximize button will stretch out the program window to fill your screen. New Project Selecting this option creates a new blank project. Selecting the maximize again will shrink the window down and allow you to manually resize the window by clicking and holding the bottom right corner of the program window and dragging until you find a window size that is comfortable. • You can also use the key command [Ctrl]/[Command]+[N].
Along the bottom of the dialog is 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. Help Selecting this option will open the manual which you are viewing now. • You can also use [F1] on the keyboard to access it any time you need assistance.
Undo Split at Cursor Selecting this option will undo the last action that you performed. You can undo any action you performed from the point that you opened the project. 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. • You can also use the key command [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Z]. • The key command for this is [Ctrl]/[Command]+[T].
About the Project, Automation and Edit buttons Project buttons (File management) Automation buttons The Automation buttons Edit buttons Show Automation Edit/Write Automation Show Automation Activating this button will reveal your projects track automation. Deactivate it to hide all automation. The Project, Automation and Edit buttons allow you quick and easy access to some of the most frequently used functions in Sequel. • The key command for showing/hiding the automation is [A].
Show Transpose Track Redo Last Action The Transpose track allows you to set global key changes. Activating the “Show Transpose Track” button reveals the Transpose Track just below the Ruler Zone. Clicking this button will redo the any action that you deleted using undo. The Ruler Zone Click here to show the Transpose track. The Ruler Zone is located just above the Arrange Zone. It displays the project’s timeline as numbers corresponding to the bars and beats of your song.
The Tuner The project name To the left of the Ruler Zone, the project name is shown. Sequel features a built-in tuner used for tuning instruments like a guitar or bass before recording. Project name 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.
The Play button The Locate buttons The Play button The Locate buttons The locate buttons are used to jump between marker positions or to go to the beginning or end of your project. The Play button allows you to listen back to your project. To start playback • Click on the Play button. To locate the previous marker or go to the beginning of the project • Press the space bar on your computer keyboard – this toggles between start and stop. • Click on the “Locate Previous Marker” button.
The Metronome The Pilot Zone display To add a click sound to playback and/or recording (as specified on the Program Settings page, see “The Program Settings page” on page 71), activate the Metronome button. The metronome will follow the project tempo and time signature. The Pilot Zone Display contains important information about your project. Displayed in the Pilot Zone Display from left to right is the Song Position, the Tempo, the Time Signature and the Project Root Key.
Using the Rehearsal tempo If you are recording an instrument into 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 into Sequel. • 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.
8 The Arrange Zone
Introduction 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. Tracks Track name Audio events and Instrument parts Track number The Arrange Zone is where all of the main elements of your project will reside.
Track height To enable recording, you have the following possibilities: In the bottom left corner of the Arrange Zone track list are four buttons for controlling track height. • 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. Track height buttons Mute Mute will stop all output from any track that it is activated on.
Input selection (audio tracks only) Track automation The Input Selection pop-up menu allows you to switch between the inputs on your audio interface. Click in the Track Input field to reveal the pop-up menu. You should see all of the available inputs on your audio interface here. Track automation allows you to make things such as volume, panning, and various other settings be adjusted automatically while the project is playing.
Timeline and grid Clicking on the control on the top will open a pop-up menu. This menu allows you to choose which setting you would like to automate. You can automate multiple track settings, but you can only view one set of automation parameters at a time. 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.
Working with the Smart Tool The Zoom Commands To the right of the “+” and “-” buttons is the “Zoom Commands” pop-up menu with three quick zoom settings: 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 these functions as the Smart Tool. Option Description Zoom Full Zoom full will zoom out so that all of the events on the Arrange Zone are visible.
Splitting events 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. Hover mouse over line turns cursor to the Split tool While clicking and holding drag to repeat the event. When you let go of the left mouse button the event will be repeated. Resizing events In the bottom left and right corners are handles for lengthening or shortening the event.
9 The Multi Zone
Introduction • Note that you can also 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. The Multi Zone is where all of your project’s mixing, effects processing and advanced editing will take place. The Multi Zone also 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.
Channels Each channel in the Mixer page also features the option to change the track color. To change the color hover the mouse over the right hand side on the channel. 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. Hover mouse here to display the color selector.
The Master channel The Track Inspector page features six tabs. You can click on a tab to access its controls or just hover the mouse over it to see what settings you have already applied to it. 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 and a panner. The Event Effects tab (instrument tracks only) The Event Effects tab only works with instrument tracks.
Use the “Bypass Arpeggiator” button to activate or deactivate the effect. • 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.
Each track also features a built-in one-knob 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. Bass (Low EQ) Bypass Compressor Adjusting frequency The Compression slider determines how much compression will be added to the signal. This sets a threshold level. When the signal goes above the threshold level, the Compressor reduces the signal.
EQ Presets and Bypass Equalizers The Amount fader 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 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. To bypass the EQ, click the “Bypass Equalizers” button.
The Media Bay page At the top left of the Media Bay page is the content selection pop-up menu. Here you can decide what content you would like to use the Media Bay page to search through. The Media Bay 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 along the top of the page, you can also define so called tags, i.e. attributes for each of your media files to narrow the search.
Beside that 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 When you select a loop, the “Show Family” button appears. Activating this button filters the results to only show loops that are part of the same family.
Reset Filters Changing media file attributes To reset all of the filters, click the “Reset Filters” button in the top left hand corner of the page. You can also change the attributes that are associated with a file such as the category, style, or even give it a rating. To do this, click on the meta data that you would like to change and select something else from the pop-up menu, or set the rating slider to another value.
The Sample Editor Here you can apply meta data to the loop based on the attributes listed along the left hand side of the pop- up 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. The sample editor allows you to fix or manipulate the timing information of audio files, or to insert silence. The selected audio event is displayed in the center of the Editor page.
Volume Stretch Mode You can adjust the event volume. This is not connected to the track volume in anyway. • 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 Optimization 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.
Warp Beats (“Song Tempo” mode) Manual Adjust Beats (“Song Tempo” mode) Warp Beats will auto quantize the audio event to the project tempo based on the “Quantize” value. See the chapter “Advanced features” on page 73 for more information. Number of Bars Swing (“Song Tempo” mode) Reset Beats Warp Beats activated ! Swing This function only works with audio that you have recorded or “dragged and dropped” into Sequel. “Manually Adjust Beats” will only be available if the Warp Beats button is activated.
The Key Editor Transpose The Key Editor allows you 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. You can change the key of the event by adjusting the transpose value. Horizontal zoom 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.
Swing Nudge Right Swing allows you to add a more human feel to Instrument data. Click and drag the slider left or right to move the notes. The notes that are effected is dependant on the “Quantize” value. If the “Quantize” value is set to eighth notes, then only eighth notes will be effected by changing the swing amount. 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.
The Arranger page Pads The Arranger page allows you to change up 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. The 16 rounded squares in the center of the Arranger page are known as pads. Every arrangement 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 arrangement parts at a time.
Chain Play 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. Scroll left and right History menu Reset In Chain Play mode, you can create a preset order for the arrangement parts to play in. Just select each pad in the order that you want it played.
Sequel Projects 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 Project Location Here you can select the bit rate you would like to use for recording. There are two options: Click in this field to select the directory to store projects in on the hard drive. A dialog pops up allowing you to browse the hard drives and find a suitable location or select create to make a new folder.
10 Advanced features
Introduction 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. 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. Notice that the selection area becomes gray.
Add silence to any other areas in the Guitar event that you think might need it. ! 4. Change the Stretch Mode to “Tempo Sync” and change the optimization to “Mix”. Load the project “Adding Silence 2” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 5” folder to hear the project now that silence has been added. • First of all, make sure that the right number of bars is set and that the grid lines are positioned at the visible beats.
Manual Adjust Beats 4. If you want to perform a new auto-quantization with a new quantize value, change the quantize value, deactivate the Warp Beats button and then activate it again. Sometimes, an event might need a bit of manual adjustment as well. That’s where “Manual Adjust Beats” comes in handy. “Manual Adjust Beats” allows you to effortlessly stretch and warp audio as you please. An auto quantization will not be performed, if the grid lines were changed before (manually or automatically).
6. Our goal now is to drag the grid to line up with the drum beats. Click on a grid point and drag it to the nearest drum beat. 1. Go to the Media Bay 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. Enter “Bb guitar” in the search field Search Results 3. Drag the “03 105 Bb Guitar” loop to bar 1. 7. Repeat this procedure for any beats that appear off time.
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”. 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 Audio Editor. 1. Go back to the Media Bay 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. Transpose = 0 2.
Locking transpose • You have three options to start this recording mode: You can also lock the key of the loop using the “Transpose Lock” feature. • By pressing [Ctrl]/[Command]+[R] • By pressing [Ctrl]/[Command]+[*] (“multiply” on the numeric keypad) • By [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the Record button. Transpose lock Transpose • Drum, percussion and FX loops are transpose locked by default.
11 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. If you intend to use the MIDI features of Sequel, you need the following: • A MIDI interface to connect external MIDI equipment to your computer. • A MIDI instrument. • Any audio equipment required to listen to the sound from your MIDI devices.
Using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh • 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.
Setting up audio ! • 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. Always make all connections with all equipment turned off! 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.
Recording from a CD player 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. Most computers come with a CD-ROM drive that can also be used as a regular CD player.
• Direct Sound Output and Input Ports Bring up the control panel for the audio hardware and adjust the settings as recommended by the audio hardware manufacturer. 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. If the checkbox is ticked, the port is activated.
Setting up MIDI ! 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. 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.
System factors that affect performance Making settings that affect performance CPU and processor cache Choosing a driver for your audio hardware It goes without saying that the faster the computer 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.
12 Key commands
Introduction Project commands This chapter contains a list of the available key commands in Sequel, structured according to the different edit categories in the program.
Transport commands Option Key command Locate Selection [L] To Left Locator [Home]/[Command]+ [Home] Start [Enter] (numeric keypad) Stop [0] (numeric keypad) Start / Stop [Space] Record [*] (“multiply” on the numeric keypad) Rewind [-] (“subtract” on the numeric keypad) Forward [+] (“add” on the numeric keypad) Return to Zero [.
13 Effects reference
Introduction Distortion 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 58. 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.
Flanger Other Effects Flanger works like the Chorus effect in that it doubles the input signal. Instead of detuning it, it delays it slightly by a gradually changing amount. The “Rate” parameter adjusts the speed of the effect. “Feedback” determines the intensity of the typical Flanger sweep. The “Mix” parameter decides how much original signal you hear versus the affected signal. Reverb Reverb is a reverb effect. Reverb allows you make it sound like your music was recorded in a large hall or cathedral.
Index
A Activated Step Input 69 Activating Sequel 9 Add new track 42 Add Track 41 Adding an audio track 13 Adding Automation 31 Advanced Features About 74 Amount fader 61 AmpSimulator 92 Arpeggiator 58 Arrange Zone 48, 49 Arranger page About 70 Arranger parts 35 Arranging About 35 Chain Play Mode 36 Live Mode 35 ASIO driver 82 Audio Connecting 83 Audio Driver Selecting 84 Audio Editor About 65 Audio hardware About 81 Mac 82 Settings 84 Audio quantization and warp 75 Audio Settings 72 Auto Quantize 72 Automatic Fa
Events Mute 53 Repeat 53 Resize 54 Split 54 Export Project to iTunes 40 Export Project as Audio File 40 Export to iTunes 40 Edit 89 File 89 Navigate 89 Project 89 Transport 90 Zoom 89 Key Editor About 23, 68 F Family 63 File Button/menu 39 File menu 38 Flanger 93 Latency Optimizing processor scheduling (Windows) 87 Live Pads 70 Locate Locate Previous/Next Marker 45 G M Gate 92 Global Effects 30 About 61 Grid 52 Grid Snap Status About 44 Mac OS X Audio Drivers 82 Audio hardware 82 Requirements 9 Manag
Project Location 72 Project Root key 47 Project Tempo display 46 Q Quantize Instrument parts 68 Quit 40 R Recent Projects 40 Record Button 45 Record Format 72 Record Ready 50 Recording CD player 84 Levels and inputs 84 One button record 79 Recording audio About 12 Redo 41 Registration About 9 Rehearsal mode 47 Remove Selected Tracks 41 Renaming tracks 49 Repeat Events 53 Requirements 9 Mac OS X 9 MIDI 81 Windows 9 Reset Arranger parts 71 Reset Beats 67 Reset Filters 64 Resize Arrange Zone 49 Events 54 Mul
