An introduction to the Step Sequencer 

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The joy of analog step sequencers is decoupling moving to a new step from the regular tempo. So instead of moving on at regular intervals like 16th notes, the trigger to move to the next step comes from a different trigger sequencer like a euclidean trigger sequencer or a trigger sequencer set to a length that doesn't fit nicely. Then having the sequences reset at regular intervals... like every four bars. With this small amount of controlled entropy, you can create a nice amount of complexity from very simple tools.

Reason and FL Studio didn't really forget it.

Beautiful. Your channel is gonna pop - because your energy is lovely. Nice to see 👍🏼

To be honest this video changed a lot for me. Thank you. you are a very cool teacher

FL Studio is built around this principle! The very heart of the DAW is a step sequencer. The piano roll is there more for fine tuning, in my opinion

Fast becoming my favourite production teacher on RU-vid. Keep up the great work

I do not let often commentary on a vid, i almost never did, but i'm impressed! you're also becoming one of my favorite electronic music teacher around here ! greeting from paris!

Ableton has a fancy little button on the piano roll in the clip window that says scale. It will let you choose a root and like 30 different scale options. Then it colors the piano roll with the right notes. Boom.

I'm really glad Apple implemented their great step sequencer in one of their last big Logic Pro updates.

Thank you for making this video!! I watched it 3 times! I feel like it unlocked a door in my brain.

Your intro tune is so amazing I always play it like four times before watching the rest of the video 😂

"Alright. Weird!" - Very fun and encouraging hearing that from a teacher ;) Just joined your channel, really enjoying the videos and your content. Thanks mate

Best sequencer in Ableton tutorial I found in YT! (--::

man i love that you threw moroder in there such a tune :D

High quality video, thank you very much

* laughs in FL studio *

You can use the envelope follower to modulate the cut off or other parameters too

Awesome done explonation

Great video, I have not gotten into exploring Wavetable yet but these are some really interesting ways to play with it!

Before I could afford any MIDI gear, as a teen I used to write my tunes in tracker software, using any 8-bit samples I could hack from games, and as soon as I managed to get a MIDI sequencer I basically used the piano roll as a step-sequencer, like APTracker but turned on its side!

Who's gonna tell him most DAWs are centered around the step sequencer?

I can’t wait

Thanks!

Super interesting, thank you!

Awesome!

i love this sound thank you!!😉😊👍👍👍💥

You should check out the player devices in Reason! Almost all of them have great techno arpeggio potential.

Please guys, make pre-recorded Ableton lessons (that last a couple of hours and are in depth dive into the particular topic). For example sound design masterclass (sounds suitable for progressive house, melodic techno, techno genres - today's mainstream music), mixing masterclass, mastering, drum programming, etc...), so we can rewatch those classes and particular segments as many times as we want and to learn at our own pace whenever we want, once we purchase it of course.

I love this guy! The work he does here has given me a great foundation for getting started. I wonder, does anyone know if a step sequencer does something that can't be done manually? Or is it just to make things quicker/easier? As well, does a step sequencer route sound from a separate instrument? Sorry for so many questions.

dude you're good

Thank you!

Despite alternatives I still use my Korg SQ-1. One big failing of almost all digital step sequencers is the lack of keyboard tracking/modulation which necessitates tediously programming the same sequence at different transpositions and sequencing those sequences (using fiddly keypresses on the Roland Boutique JP-08 to pick on one). I know that analogue sequencers don't actually transpose but the way they are used provides that essential feature and digital sequencers aren't used that way. There is also the ease of live tweaking on an analogue step sequencer.

great video!

Amazing thank you...

You can use some arturia VST they're really good

great content as always! I would not call Ableton's piano roll amazing, it seems they have not changed it much since initial software release which was like 20 years ago and you still can't even glue two notes together or split one note into multiple etc. Besides that, its a great piece of software

Hey guys, LOVE this mans knowledge and expertise and the way he can so easily dissect and get into details on these topics - I am very interested in your courses, however coming from a country with a MUCH lower exchange rate I was wondering if payment plans could be organized for the classes? The price is understandable as from these videos alone I can see the value however to pay it all off in one shot for me would be quite a tall task so thought it wouldnt hurt in asking. Cheers!

For more of an old school flavour you can also try the Max for Live Step Sequencers such as MonoSequencer by Stretta: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UM933qu0BFY.html. Don't forget that you can unlink modulations and create more varied textures/approaches.

Interested to hear your take on trackers. Renoise (DAW) and the plugin version Redux are in my opinion far superior to even the most advanced sequencers. It has a slight learning curve for sure, but actually looks way more intimidating than it really is. Using Redux within a DAW of choice is the best of both worlds.

I think you should give Bitwig a try!

There are a few in Reaper too. I use Mega Baby.

No Reason did not Forget that. We reason users have Matrix Sequencer But sadly they forget lots of other basic functionalities that are found in other DAW's😅

You are awesome

Why Ableton and not Logic Pro? Great video as always. But could you show more around this please and how to make sure you don’t play the wrong notes or something that sounds off on it’s own and on all sounds in the mix? Any way to control that as a beginner?

How did you make Sylenth make that sound? It's incredible.

It will be a good video if you explain or help us to understand the difference between a Step Sequencer and an Arpeggiator, no only the functions, but how we can implement these tools in the parts when we do a song... which could be good in certain part etc.

Question - is there any device that I can load a few of my own (wav) samples with - and then trigger those samples using an external midi device by sending only one midi note? I have a Roland SPD-SX and it has no sequencing capabilities. I have a kick drum trigger that fires a wav file in the SPD-SX - Since the SPD-SX has Midi out, I am trying to use the midi out note (from the kick drum) and have it step through a sequence of Wav files. I am looking for this type of device - any help would be appreciated - Thank you in advance - (For Gigs) - cant bring a computer

late 90s you had arturia storm, it was pretty cool

I was wondering if it's possible to use ableton as a more traditional step sequencer for hardware synths. I have a Minilogue XD, Volca Bass and Volca drum that I want to hook up. The minilogue xd is already getting MIDI over USB, but for the Volcas I'd probably need a MIDI interface. I also have a Novation Launchkey Mk3 that I often use to play in stuff and it has a 16 pads, some knobs and faders. I was wondering if that could somehow be used as the physical interface to control everything with. It just seems like a waste of money to buy a step sequencer that's basically a computer in a box.

step sequencers are awesome. ABletons step sequencers are fine too, if you have push.

💘

i use cubase and ableton ..but the reason why i really like maschine software is because it's a step sequencer !!!

Studio One has had a very robust step sequencer for a while...

Bitwig makes me feel at home because of the modulation possibilities. mwahahaha

Is the background music necessary?

Super insteresting ! I would like to be able to trigger a note pattern using a sequencer routed to an analog synth. But at the same time send , for example, the velocity , to mod the filter cutoff ( the synth has a cutoff cv in). I would use another analog synth to to route midi to cv to do this, but I dont know how to send both sequences at the same time: notes and velocities (different channels I suppose). I dont know

this channel is great but I hope you add some non ableton content. reason, reaper, bitwig are all very capable too

Ok ik ga subscriben ben zelf belg

Which software is being used?

Isn't a step sequencer like one of the main parts of Ableton?

but i don't, i use renoise, trackers are like step sequencers on crack, sequencing and manipulating the data quickly is kind of their thing, and you can set the lines per beat and stuff to match your hardware, renoise is pretty midi hardware friendly, in fact, you can import midi files, and remap them to vsti's or samples, or set up the midi output for each channel striaght out of the box lol and nothing midi-ox can't fix for advanced remapping of hardware that is picky, right? renoise also has phrases, which are basically just patterns within patterns, but the phrases have individual settings for swing, LPB, and an arbitrairy length, so you can do syncopated stuff really easily by just cutting the length or extending it, and switch to any(integer) time signature without editing as if it were a very advanced arpeggiator. (which is a step sequencer) hat i liked so much about FL studio, is the fact you can actually layer the patterns as if it were a video sequencer, renoise can't do that, but it does have a matrix which allows for non-destructive muting of channels and groups so you can repeat a pattern a couple of times, and still make a buildup through the matrix so you don't have to edit several later if you make changes :D so i guess those 2 make up for the lack of stacked sequencing, adding variations on top that don't go across the entire pattern are just seperate patterns, and i'm ok with that. it's a bit of a different paradigm as instruments aren't inherently bound to a track, it's also not really made for multitracking.

What was the name of the guy with the mustache? Maroder?

This seems a bit redundant. Why not just use Sibelius + Rewire to create/edit sequences using traditional notation and tweak them in Ableton?

MORE HUMAN THAN HU-MAN

Use Logic Pro X :-)

Piano roll is not a new invention, its been around for over 35 years and I believe it started with C-Lab Notator for Atari ST :)

Cubase has been around since 89

The best modern step sequencer is Elektron with the vast number of plocks

Bitwig .

I use these sequences but then find my patters are too repetitive:/

... or simply use one of the dozens of free or paid Max and VST sequencers readily available.

Elektron into Bitwig

The velocity was so basic, I feel stupid for not using it for other modulation parameter

Quite sure I use a step sequencer almost every time but OK.

Watched the whole thing. None the wiser. I wanted to know how to handle the piano roll. Im used to the step sequencer of Reason

It’s extremely heartbreaking that ableton doesn’t have a step sequencer mode for its piano roll, so damn hard on the eyes and unnecessary to have tiny piano roll notes if I’m trying to sequence hardware

Are you implying that your Music School is only for Ableton users?

Got to have that analog only step sequencer... so much warmer sounding than those digital ones smh

Why don't DAWs put these step/mod sequencers in? Piano roll is so uninspiring.

Reason

Reason is laughing at this video.

You rely too much on Ableton. Try using a KRONOS workstation for a change. No respect for loop assemblers.

When you say DAW you mean Ableton. Most other DAW's have a step sequencer. And please don't encourage people to draw a song in the Piano roll. Be a good music school and teach them how to play an instruments. And a step sequencer is not an instrument.

Please stop. You are just another clickbait troll with *clearly* unsubstantiated claims. Step-sequencers come with almost any DAW out there- Cubase, Logic, FL, Reason, Studio One. Not only that, there are hundreds of plugins which are or include step-sequencers. At least a dozen in Reaktor alone. Do everyone a favor and *learn something* before you try to teach it.

Umm... Guy... Listen, you're a cool dude, your videos are fun and informative but lemme tell you one thing. I will never ever give your video a like before watching it and all your nagging does is pissing me off and thus making sure i will NOT give you that thumbs up