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A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage electronic music. Electronic music is music that employs Electronic musical instruments and Electronic Music technology in its production

Originally, music sequencers did not include the ability to record audio. Instead, they only managed "remote-control" information (such as "note on" and "note off" events) to be sent to electronic musical instruments to produce the audio output. Most modern sequencers now feature audio editing and processing capabilities as well. Consequently, the terms "music sequencer" and "digital audio workstation" are often used interchangeably. A digital audio workstation (DAW is an electronic system designed to record, edit and play back digital audio

Although the term 'sequencer' is today used primarily for software, some hardware synthesizers and almost all music workstations include a built-in MIDI sequencer. A music workstation is piece of electronic musical equipment providing the facilities of a Sound module, a Music sequencer MIDI ( Musical Instrument Digital Interface, ˈmɪdi is an industry-standard protocol that enables Electronic musical instruments Computers Drum machines generally have a step sequencer built in. For the early "drum machine" computers that used a rotating cylinder as their main memory see Drum memory A drum machine is an There are still also standalone hardware MIDI sequencers, though the market demand for those has diminished greatly in the last ten years.

Many sequencers have features for limited music notation, and most are able to show music in a piano roll notation. See also Modern musical symbols Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived Music through the use A piano roll is the music Storage medium used to operate the Player piano, pianola or a Reproducing piano. (For software designed specifically for music notation, see scorewriter. A scorewriter, or music notation program, is Software used to automate the task of writing and engraving Sheet music. )

Music can also be sequenced using trackers such as ModPlug Tracker, and some of those are able to sequence MIDI events too. Tracker is the generic term for a class of software Music sequencers which in their purest form allow the user to arrange sound samples stepwise on a timeline across ModPlug Tracker is an audio module Tracker for Windows developed by Olivier Lapicque

Contents

History

Early analogue sequencers used a control voltage interface, but they were eventually replaced by digital hardware, or software-based MIDI sequencers, which could play back MIDI events and control MIDI information at a specified number of beats per minute.

As computer speeds increased in the 1990s, audio recording, audio editing, and sample triggering features were added to the software. Such advanced software is called a digital audio workstation (DAW). To distinguish them from sequencers and multitrack recording programs, DAWs almost always include sequencing features but, go beyond what a sequencer is.

Step sequencers

A special case of sequencers are step sequencers. Instead of recording played notes or drawing notes by hand on the piano roll, the user composes patterns using a grid of (usually) 16 buttons, or steps, each step being 1/16th of a measure. In Musical notation, a bar or measure is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration Step sequencer patterns are monophonic by nature, but usually a single pattern may contain individual subpatterns for a number of different instruments. These patterns are then chained together to form longer compositions. Step sequencers are mostly used in drum machines and grooveboxes. For the early "drum machine" computers that used a rotating cylinder as their main memory see Drum memory A drum machine is an The term Groovebox was originally used by Roland corporation to refer to their MC-303, but has since entered general use A commercial sequencer that works in this manner is Freestyle by MOTU.

List of software sequencers / DAWs with sequencing features

See also: tracker and List of MIDI editors and sequencers

Commercial Sequencers

Open Source Sequencers

Hardware music sequencers

A list of hardware sequencers and synthesizers, grooveboxes and drum machines that contain a sequencer in alphabetical order (and by no means exhaustive):

External links

The Yamaha PSR-3000 is a Music workstation Produced by YAMAHA. The Yamaha QY10 is a hand-held Music workstation produced by the Yamaha Corporation in the early 1990s The Yamaha RM1x is a Groovebox manufactured by Yamaha from the mid to late 1990s
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