![]() ![]() A nice touch, and very much faster than switching between GEM-based graphics windows. You simply click on the appropriate box and the tracks cycle through the display. One feature that I found particularly appealing was the ability to view the contents of any of the other tracks without having to exit from the Step Edit screen. But this screen also incorporates a step-time entry facility, which is a very easy to use and useful alternative means of entering notes. These changes can be made in the Step Edit screen, whose primary function is to quantise and correct any playing errors. Having recorded your basic material, the next step is to edit it to correct any fluffed notes that may have found their way in. Sequencer One's timing is spot on - the main timer ticks at 192 pulses per quarter note, which is more than adequate. For instance, you can skip between screens with F8, F9 and F10 if you prefer not to use the mouse. Most of the important functions within Sequencer One - including transport controls - have keyboard equivalents, which are generally faster and more convenient to use than mouse-activated screen buttons. If you want a count-in, simply shift the song position pointer back by a suitable number of bars. synth) to an appropriate MIDI channel, and then click on the Record button. To record a sequence, you simply select the required track, give it a name, redirect the data from your input device (eg. Happily, Sequencer One is quite user-friendly in the way it sets about recording your musical input. ![]() Music is all about ideas, and recording those ideas has to be as quick and as easy as possible because good ideas are notoriously short-lived. One of the most important aspects of any sequencer has to be how easy it is to actually get your music into it. The third screen is Bar Edit, and this is somewhat similar to the Step Edit screen except that editing here operates on the level of whole bars within tracks, rather than individual notes. Here you can edit note events as required, using functions such as quantise, transpose etc. The second screen is Step Edit, which presents you with a piano-roll type display with notes drawn across the screen as a series of horizontal bars. You can select which 10 consecutive tracks are displayed using the familiar GEM scroll bars. Although Sequencer One has 32 tracks in all, information for only 10 is shown at any one time due to screen space limitations. The Track screen lists track data as already described, and it also incorporates a 'cue list' - a utility which allows you to define a series of reference points within a song (say, 'Verse 1', 'First Chorus' etc). Sequencer One organises its activities around three basic screens: Track, Step Edit, and Bar Edit. You can modify specific fields, such as the MIDI Channel or tempo, either by clicking once over the relevant window and entering a new value from the keyboard, or by double-clicking rapidly over the same field and using the mouse to scroll through the available range of values. These buttons, together with the Tempo Window, loop controls and the MIDI activity meters, remain constantly on screen since they are crucial to the operation of the sequencer. Sequencer One adopts the almost standard 'tape deck' style control panel, which most people will be instantly familiar with - it has the usual Play, Stop, Fast Forward, and Rewind buttons, as well as Tape Position and Elapsed Time counters. Once the program has loaded you find yourself on the Track screen, which displays track data such as names, MIDI channels etc. I really don't like this system, simply because you should ideally use the master disk only to generate working copies of the original program, and for a program to insist that your one and only master disk is resident within the machine is an invitation to disaster. My first reservation about Sequencer One is in regard to its 'key disk' copy-protection system, which requires that you insert the master program disk into drive 'A' every time you load the program. Sequencer One will run with both high-resolution monochrome or medium-resolution colour monitors, so that its potential market is not restricted. Sequencer One is supplied on a standard 3.5" disk, containing the program, some demo songs, and a few hints and tips, and is accompanied by a 50-page manual. So how does Gajits' new Sequencer One square up to the competition? Does it deliver the goods? With a few reservations, I would answer with a confident 'yes'. The marketplace for Atari ST-based MIDI sequencer packages is a crowded one, so any new program has a hard time in getting noticed, and a harder time still in actually looking particularly attractive. ![]()
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