Sequencer64 User Manual
User Manual:
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Sequencer64 User Manual 0.96.1
Chris Ahlstrom
(ahlstromcj@gmail.com)
November 8, 2018
”Old and New”
1
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
User Manual
Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Sequencer64: What?
1.2 Sequencer64: Why? .
1.3 Improvements . . . .
1.4 Document Structure
1.5 Let’s Go! . . . . . .
2 Menu
2.1 Menu
2.2 Menu
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.2.4
2.2.5
2.2.6
2.2.7
2.2.8
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
Menu
Menu
Menu
Menu
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/ File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
/ File / New . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Menu / File / Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Menu / File / Open Playlist . . . . . . . . . . .
Menu / File / Recent MIDI files . . . . . . . .
Menu / File / Save and Save As . . . . . . . .
Menu / File / Import MIDI . . . . . . . . . . .
Menu / File / Export Song as MIDI . . . . . .
Menu / File / Export MIDI Only . . . . . . . .
Menu / File / Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.8.1 Menu / File / Options / MIDI Clock
2.2.8.2 Menu / File / Options / MIDI Input
2.2.8.3 Menu / File / Options / Keyboard .
2.2.8.4 Menu / File / Options / Ext Keys .
2.2.8.5 Menu / File / Options / Mouse . . .
2.2.8.6 Menu / File / Options / Jack Sync .
/ Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
/ View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
/ Help / About... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
/ Help / Build Info... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 Patterns Panel
3.1 Patterns / Top Panel . . . . . .
3.2 Patterns / Main Panel . . . . .
3.2.1 Pattern Slot . . . . . . .
3.2.2 Pattern . . . . . . . . .
3.2.3 Pattern Keys and Click
3.2.3.1 Pattern Keys .
3.2.3.2 Pattern Clicks
3.3 Patterns / Bottom Panel . . . .
3.4 Patterns / Multiple Panels . . .
3.5 Patterns / Variable Set Size . .
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4 Pattern Editor
4.1 Pattern Editor / First Panel . . . .
4.2 Pattern Editor / Second Panel . .
4.3 Pattern Editor / Piano Roll . . . .
4.3.1 Pattern Editor / Piano Roll
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Items
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2
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
User Manual
4.3.2
4.4
4.5
Pattern Editor / Event Editing . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.2.1 Editing Note Events . . . . . . . . . . .
4.3.2.2 Event and Data Panels / Editing Other
4.3.2.3 Editing Note Events the ”Fruity Way”
Pattern Editor / Bottom Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor / Common Actions . . . . . . . . . . . .
4.5.1 Pattern Editor / Common Actions / Scrolling . .
4.5.2 Pattern Editor / Common Actions / Close . . .
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Events
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5 Song Editor
5.1 Song Editor / Top Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2 Song Editor / Arrangement Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.1 Song Editor / Arrangement Panel / Patterns Column
5.2.2 Song Editor / Arrangement Panel / Piano Roll . . . .
5.2.3 Song Editor / Arrangement Panel / Measures Ruler .
5.3 Song Editor / Bottom Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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6 Event Editor
6.1 Event Editor / Event Frame . . . .
6.1.1 Event Frame / Data Items
6.1.2 Event Frame / Navigation .
6.2 Event Editor / Info Panel . . . . .
6.3 Event Editor / Edit Fields . . . . .
6.4 Event Editor / Bottom Buttons . .
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7 Import/Export
7.1 Import MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.2 Export Song as MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7.3 Export MIDI Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
90
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8 Sequencer64 Keyboard and Mouse Actions
8.1 Main Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.2 Performance Editor Window . . . . . . . .
8.2.1 Performance Editor Piano Roll . . .
8.2.2 Performance Editor Time Section . .
8.2.3 Performance Editor Names Section .
8.3 Pattern Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8.3.1 Pattern Editor Piano Roll . . . . . .
8.3.2 Pattern Editor Event Panel . . . . .
8.3.3 Pattern Editor Data Panel . . . . .
8.3.4 Pattern Editor Virtual Keyboard . .
8.4 Event Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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99
9 Sequencer64 Meta Event / SysEx
9.1 ”usr” BPM Display Settings . . .
9.2 Composite Display of Tempos . .
9.3 Tempo in the Main Window . . .
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Support
99
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
3
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
User Manual
10 Sequencer64 ”rc” Configuration File
10.1 ”rc” File / Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.2 ”rc” File / MIDI Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.2.1 ”rc” File / MIDI Control / Pattern Group . . . . . .
10.2.2 ”rc” File / MIDI Control / Pattern Group Multiples
10.2.3 ”rc” File / MIDI Control / Mute-In Group . . . . .
10.2.4 ”rc” File / MIDI Control / Automation . . . . . . .
10.2.4.1 Automation / BPM Up and Down . . . . .
10.2.4.2 Automation / Screen-Set Up and Down . .
10.2.4.3 Automation / Mod Replace . . . . . . . . .
10.2.4.4 Automation / Mod Snaphot . . . . . . . .
10.2.4.5 Automation / Mod Queue . . . . . . . . .
10.2.4.6 Automation / Mod Mute Group . . . . . .
10.2.4.7 Automation / Mod Mute Group . . . . . .
10.2.4.8 Automation / Screen-Set Play . . . . . . .
10.2.5 ”rc” File / MIDI Control / Extended Automation .
10.2.5.1 Ext Automation / Stop/Pause/Start . . . .
10.2.5.2 Ext Automation / Performance Record . .
10.2.5.3 Ext Automation / Solo . . . . . . . . . . .
10.2.5.4 Ext Automation / MIDI Thru . . . . . . .
10.2.5.5 Ext Automation / BPM Page Up . . . . .
10.2.5.6 Ext Automation / BPM Page Down . . . .
10.2.5.7 Ext Automation / Screen-Set By Number .
10.2.5.8 Ext Automation / MIDI Record . . . . . .
10.2.5.9 Ext Automation / MIDI Quantized Record
10.2.5.10 Ext Automation / Fast Forward . . . . . .
10.2.5.11 Ext Automation / Rewind . . . . . . . . .
10.2.5.12 Ext Automation / Top . . . . . . . . . . .
10.2.5.13 Ext Automation / Select Playlist . . . . . .
10.2.5.14 Ext Automation / Select Song . . . . . . .
10.3 ”rc” File / Mute-Group Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.4 ”rc” File / MIDI-Clock Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.5 ”rc” File / MIDI-Meta-Events Section . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.6 ”rc” File / Keyboard Control Section . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.7 ”rc” File / Keyboard Group Section . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.8 ”rc” File / JACK Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.9 ”rc” File / MIDI Clock Mod Ticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.10”rc” File / MIDI Meta Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.11”rc” File / MIDI Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.12”rc” File / Manual ALSA Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.13”rc” File / Reveal ALSA Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.14”rc” File / Interaction Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.15”rc” File / LASH Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.16”rc” File / Auto Option Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.17”rc” File / Last Used Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.18”rc” File / Recent Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10.19”rc” File / Play-List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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124
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
11 Sequencer64 ”usr” Configuration File
11.1 ”usr” File / MIDI Bus Definitions . . . .
11.2 ”usr” File / MIDI Instrument Definitions
11.3 ”usr” File / User Interface Settings . . . .
11.4 ”usr” File / User MIDI Settings . . . . . .
11.5 ”usr” File / User Options . . . . . . . . .
11.6 ”usr” File / Device and Control Names .
User Manual
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124
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139
12 Sequencer64 Play-Lists
12.1 Sequencer64 Play-Lists / Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12.2 Sequencer64 Play-Lists / ”rc” File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12.3 Sequencer64 Play-Lists / Command Line Invocation . . . . .
12.4 Sequencer64 Play-Lists / Verification . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12.5 Sequencer64 Play-Lists / User Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . .
12.5.1 Sequencer64 Play-Lists / User Interfaces / Gtkmm-2.4
12.5.2 Sequencer64 Play-Lists / User Interfaces / Qt 5 . . . .
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144
13 Sequencer64 Qt 5 and Windows
13.1 The Qt 5 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.1.1 Qt 5 Live Slot Menu . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.1.2 Qt 5 Live Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.1.3 Qt 5 Song Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.1.4 Qt 5 Edit Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.1.5 Qt 5 Events Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.1.6 Qt 5 Playlist Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13.1.7 Qt 5 Edit / Preferences . . . . . . . . . .
13.2 Sequencer64 Windows Setup . . . . . . . . . . .
13.2.1 Sequencer64 Windows Issues . . . . . . .
13.2.2 Sequencer64 Windows Configuration Files
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14 Sequencer64 Man Page
155
15 Sequencer64 Headless Version
159
15.1 Sequencer64 Headless Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
16 Concepts
16.1 Concepts / Terms
16.1.1 Concepts /
16.1.2 Concepts /
16.1.3 Concepts /
16.1.4 Concepts /
16.1.5 Concepts /
16.1.6 Concepts /
16.1.7 Concepts /
16.1.8 Concepts /
16.1.9 Concepts /
16.1.10 Concepts /
16.1.11 Concepts /
16.1.12 Concepts /
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Terms / armed . . . .
Terms / bank . . . . .
Terms / buss (bus) . .
Terms / export . . . .
Terms / group . . . . .
Terms / loop . . . . .
Terms / measures ruler
Terms / event strip . .
Terms / muted . . . .
Terms / MIDI clock . .
Terms / pattern . . . .
Terms / performance .
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163
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
User Manual
16.1.13 Concepts / Terms / port . . . . . . . . . .
16.1.14 Concepts / Terms / pulses per quarter note
16.1.15 Concepts / Terms / queue mode . . . . . .
16.1.16 Concepts / Terms / replace . . . . . . . . .
16.1.17 Concepts / Terms / screen set . . . . . . .
16.1.18 Concepts / Terms / bank . . . . . . . . . .
16.1.19 Concepts / Terms / sequence . . . . . . . .
16.1.20 Concepts / Terms / snapshot . . . . . . . .
16.1.21 Concepts / Terms / song . . . . . . . . . .
16.1.22 Concepts / Terms / trigger . . . . . . . . .
16.2 Concepts / Sound Subsystems . . . . . . . . . . . .
16.2.1 Concepts / Sound Subsystems / ALSA . .
16.2.2 Concepts / Sound Subsystems / PortMIDI
16.2.3 Concepts / Sound Subsystems / JACK . .
17 Building Sequencer64
17.1 Linux INSTALL Build . . . . . . .
17.2 Options for Sequencer64 Features .
17.2.1 ”configure” Options . . . .
17.2.2 Manually-defined Macros in
17.3 Sequencer64 Build Dependencies .
17.4 Linux Qt Builds . . . . . . . . . .
17.5 Linux Qmake Build . . . . . . . . .
17.6 Windows Qmake Build . . . . . . .
17.6.1 Windows Installer . . . . .
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the
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18 MIDI Format and Other MIDI Notes
18.1 Standard MIDI Format 0 . . . . . . .
18.2 Legacy Proprietary Track Format . . .
18.3 MIDI Information . . . . . . . . . . .
18.3.1 MIDI Variable-Length Value .
18.3.2 MIDI Track Chunk . . . . . . .
18.3.3 MIDI Meta Events . . . . . . .
18.4 More MIDI Information . . . . . . . .
18.4.1 MIDI File Header, MThd . . .
18.4.2 MIDI Track, MTrk . . . . . . .
18.4.3 Channel Events . . . . . . . . .
18.4.4 Meta Events Revisited . . . . .
18.5 Meta Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18.5.1 Sequence Number (0x00) . . .
18.5.2 Track/Sequence Name (0x03) .
18.5.3 End of Track (0x2F) . . . . . .
18.5.4 Set Tempo Event (0x51) . . . .
18.5.5 Time Signature Event (0x58) .
18.5.6 SysEx Event (0xF0) . . . . . .
18.5.7 Sequencer Specific (0x7F) . . .
18.5.8 Non-Specific End of Sequence .
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172
172
173
176
176
177
177
177
178
179
179
180
180
181
181
181
182
182
183
183
184
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6
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
User Manual
19 Sequencer64 JACK Support
19.1 Sequencer64 JACK Transport . . . . . . . . . .
19.2 Sequencer64 Native JACK MIDI . . . . . . . .
19.2.1 Sequencer64 JACK MIDI Output . . . .
19.2.2 Sequencer64 JACK MIDI Input . . . . .
19.2.3 Sequencer64 JACK MIDI Virtual Ports
19.2.4 Sequencer64 JACK MIDI and a2jmidid
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184
185
185
186
188
188
189
20 Kudos
190
21 Summary
191
22 References
192
List of Figures
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Sequencer64 Main Screen, Linux ALSA MIDI . . . . . . . . . .
Sequencer64 Main Screen, Qt 5 Interface, With Colors . . . . .
Sequencer64 File Menu Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File / Open (Gtkmm version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File / Save As (Gtkmm version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File / Options (Gtkmm Version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MIDI Clock, Manual Option On (Gtkmm Version) . . . . . . .
MIDI Clock, Manual Option Off (ALSA View, Old Screenshot)
MIDI Input, Manual Ports Off (Condensed View) . . . . . . . .
MIDI Input, -a Option (Condensed View) . . . . . . . . . . . .
File / Options / Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Window with One Kind of Numbering . . . . . . . . .
File / Options / Ext Keys (Condensed View) . . . . . . . . . .
File / Options / Ext Keys (Disabled) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File / Options / Mouse (Condensed View) . . . . . . . . . . . .
File / Options / JACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JACK Connection Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Edit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dual Song Editor Entries in (Gtkmm) View Menu . . . . . . .
Help / About . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Help Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Help Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Help / Build Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterns Panel, New Top Panel Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Group Learn Confirmation Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Group Learn Failure Prompt (Shift Key) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Group Learn Keys With Larger Set Size . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Group Learn Limit Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterns Panel, Main Panel Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Various Status of Pattern Slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sequence/Pattern Color Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sequence/Pattern Coloration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7
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12
13
14
15
16
17
19
21
22
22
24
25
27
27
29
30
31
32
33
34
34
34
35
36
37
38
38
38
40
40
41
42
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
User Manual
Empty Pattern, Right-Click Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Currently-Edited Pattern, Unarmed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Currently-Edited Pattern, Armed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Existing Pattern, Right-Click Menus, Gtkmm and Qt Versions . . .
Existing Pattern, Right-Click Menu Without Edit Entries . . . . . .
Existing Pattern, Right-Click Menu, Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Existing Pattern Right-Click Menu, MIDI Output Busses/Channels
Patterns Panel, Shift-Key Pattern Toggle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Coloration when Queued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Queued-Replace (Queued-Solo) In Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterns Panel, Bottom Panel Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterns Panel, Pause Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterns Panel, BPM Precisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterns Panel, with Multiple Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Patterns Panel, 8 x 8 Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Edit Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor, First Panel Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor, Second Panel Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tools, Context Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tools, Transpose Selected Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tools, Two ”Transpose” Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tools, Harmonic Transpose Selected Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C Major Scale Masking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sample Background Sequence Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Background Sequence Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chord Generation Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor, Piano Roll Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor, Virtual Keyboard Number and Note Views . . . . .
Piano Roll, Paste-Box for Cut Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Piano Roll, Selected Notes and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor, Bottom Panel Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor, Event Button Context Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor, LFO Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Recording Volume Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Song Editor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Song Editor Window, Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Song Editor / Top Panel Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Song Editor Arrangement Panel, Annotated . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Song Editor for Non-Transposable Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Event Editor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Import MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File / Export Song as MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unexportable MIDI File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Composite View of an Exportable Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Composite View of Exported Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Various Tempo Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tempo Recording Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Stop/Pause/Start ALSA Test Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
81
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User Manual
Sequencer64 Composite View of Native Devices . . . . . . . . .
Busses and Instruments in the ”usr” File . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Clocks View, -m (–manual-alsa-ports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Inputs View with -m (–manual-alsa-ports) Option . . . . . . .
Clocks View, -m (–manual-alsa-ports) and -R (–hide-alsa-ports)
Clocks View, -r (–reveal-alsa-ports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Inputs View with -r (–reveal-alsa-ports) Option . . . . . . . . .
Clocks View with -R (–hide-alsa-ports) Option . . . . . . . . .
Inputs View with -R (–hide-alsa-ports) Option . . . . . . . . .
Sequencer64 Composite View of Non-Native Devices . . . . . .
The MIDI Bus Menu for a Specific Pattern . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 Main Window, Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 Slots in Gtk Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 Slot Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 External Live Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 Song Window, Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 Edit Window, Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 Events Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 Playlist Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Qt 5 Clock Preferences, Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sample nanoKEY2 Control Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Imported SMF 0 MIDI Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SMF 0 MIDI Song in the Song Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JACK MIDI Ports and Auto-Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ALSA MIDI Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JACK MIDI Ports in Seq64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JACK MIDI Input Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JACK MIDI Manual Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
JACK MIDI a2jmidid Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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125
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94
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178
List of Tables
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Main Window Support . . . . . . . . . . . .
Performance Window Piano Roll . . . . . .
Performance Editor Time Section . . . . . .
Performance Editor Names Section . . . . .
Pattern Editor Piano Roll . . . . . . . . . .
Pattern Editor Virtual Keyboard . . . . . .
All SeqSpec Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SeqSpec Items in Legacy Proprietary Track
SeqSpec Items in New Proprietary Track . .
MIDI Meta Event Types . . . . . . . . . . .
Application Support for MIDI Files . . . . .
9
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.
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
1
User Manual
Introduction
This document describes Sequencer64 [29], through version 0.96.1. The following projects support Sequencer64:
• https://github.com/ahlstromcj/sequencer64.git.
• https://github.com/ahlstromcj/sequencer64-doc.git.
• https://github.com/ahlstromcj/sequencer64-packages.git.
If impatient to get started mastering Sequencer64, proceed to section 1.5 ”Let’s Go!” on page 12.
Otherwise, read about the features of Sequencer64.
Sequencer64 adds native JACK MIDI support, fixes bugs in JACK transport, MIDI clocking, JACK
Master mode, a daemon mode, play-list support with MIDI control, and more. Sequencer64 can also be
build to run as a ”headless” application, from the command-line or as a Linux daemon, controlled via
MIDI. More editing and navigation can be done using keystrokes, for faster editing. There are zoom keys
for the editors, current-sequence highlighting, important bug fixes, and some optimization. With version
0.95.0, Sequencer64 supports Microsoft Windows, via a modified version of PortMidi and by adopting
and extending the Qt 5 user-interface of the Kepler34 project ([9]). See section 13 ”Sequencer64 Qt 5 and
Windows” on page 144, right away, if Qt 5 and Windows support excites you. Please note that support
for Mac OSX should be easy now, but we need help on that support, since we do not have a Mac.
We have many contributors to acknowledge. Please see section 20 ”Kudos” on page 190.
1.1
Sequencer64: What?
Sequencer64 is an reboot of Seq24, a live-looping sequencer with an interface more like a hardware
sequencer than track-based MIDI sequencers. Seq24 was a very active project, with a number of contributors, who created patches, additional functionality, and ports to Windows. We searched for these
updates, and incorporated them into Sequencer64 where feasible.
Sequencer64 is not a synthesizer. It requires a hardware synthesizer, or a software synthesizer such
as Timidity [33], FluidSynth [6], or the Windows built-in GS wave-table synthesizer.
Sequencer64, like Seq24, works like an Alesis SR16 drum machine, which, for some, is a very intuitive
and fast way to do MIDI. If one has worked with trackers like SoundTracker and ShakeTracker, then ”you
are a tracker guy and it gonna go fast”. With Sequencer64, one creates several patterns, and then combines
them. They can be layed out as a performance, and exported to a standard MIDI file.
Seq24 spent some time inactive (2010 was the last major update, with a recent update to fix a
MIDI clock issue). There are a number of forks for it on GitHub, and some conversions to code in other
languages, and some patches. There is also a Gtkmm port to Windows. So, why bother creating yet
another fork of Seq24?
1.2
Sequencer64: Why?
The first reason to reboot Seq24 is consolidation of many of the features and fixes that it has accumulated
in various forks over the years. Also, although ”feature-complete”, additional features would be useful.
Secondly, Seq24 is a kind of ”vi” of MIDI editing... spare, lean, and powerful. It deserves to be a
living project. Without Seq24 and its authors, Sequencer64 would never have come into being.
10
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
1.3
User Manual
Improvements
The following improvements are some that have been made in Sequencer64.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Native JACK MIDI support!
Tempo events are recordable and editable, in the first track.
A ”Tap” button sets the BPM by tapping a button or a key.
Supports multiple screen-sets (”multi-set”) or live-frame windows.
Supports screen-set dimensions other than 8x4 (”variset”).
The event editor provides basic viewing and editing of MIDI events as text.
Sequencer64 reads SMF 0 MIDI files, split into slots based on channel number.
Many new MIDI controls, such as coarse versus fine BPM control.
Support for basic reading (not writing) of Cakewalk ”WRK” files.
Play-list support which can be controlled via MIDI.
Some features ported from Stazed’s Seq32 [26] project:
–
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–
–
–
–
–
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Chord-generation.
Pattern-transposing.
MIDI performance export to a standard MIDI file.
Extended undo/redo support, better detection of changes.
Splitting triggers at the nearest snap, if desired.
Modulating data events with a low-frequency oscillator (LFO).
Enhanced JACK transport support.
Diverting multi-channel MIDI into into channel-specific slots.
Set Tempo and Time Signature events are handled, shown, and saved as standard MIDI data.
Scale, key, and background sequences saved to the Sequencer64 MIDI file format.
Pattern coloring, saved in the sequence.
Piano roll scrolling to keep up with the progress bar.
Additional mouse and keystroke support for faster editing.
The ”user” configuration can be saved (--user-save option); it has many new settings.
An option to map events to a single MIDI buss for testing.
Support for additional PPQN values, or the PPQN of the MIDI file.
Improvements in appearance, too many to mention here.
Many, many bug fixes, faster than we create them!
Recording of performance changes into the Song Editor.
More musical scales have been added.
A pause feature, with a pause key (”.”) and pause button.
Internal improvements.
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Provided a new, more MIDI-compliant output format for the MIDI files.
Reworked the MIDI event container, to speed the loading of a MIDI file.
Note-transpose now also works on aftertouch events.
Non-note events are copied/moved/pasted in the pattern editor.
Debian packaging added into the project.
The Qt 5 version (the future of Sequencer64) for Windows is built using Qmake and MingW.
Sequencer64 for Windows provides a portable zip package and NSIS-based installer.
For developers, Sequencer64 is extremely customizable via C macros, by enabling/disabling options
at build-configuration time, and by many command-line arguments. We cannot show all permutations of
11
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
User Manual
settings in this document, so don’t be surprised if some screenshots don’t quite match one’s setup. Distro
maintainers might pick their favorite build configurations.
1.4
Document Structure
The structure of this document follows the user-interface of Sequencer64. The sections are provided in
the order their contents appear in the user-interface of Sequencer64. To help the reader jump around this
document, it provides multiple links, references, and index entries.
1.5
Let’s Go!
Make sure no other sound application is running, for the first run. Start Sequencer64 to use JACK for
MIDI, or on Windows, just run it (qpseq64.exe; on Windows, PortMidi is used). The port settings will
be different. Provide a MIDI file. On our system, the synthesizer (Yoshimi) comes up on MIDI buss 5;
an option remaps all events to that buss:
$ seq64 --jack-midi --buss 5 contrib/midi/b4uacuse-seq24.midi
C:\> qpseq64 --buss 1 contrib/midi/b4uacuse-seq24.midi
If the --alsa option is used instead of --jack-midi, then the ”JACK” button shows ”ALSA” instead
(Linux only). The following figure is for the Linux version.
Figure 1: Sequencer64 Main Screen, Linux ALSA MIDI
The following figure shows the user-interface used for Windows. It uses the Qt 5 framework.
12
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
Figure 2: Sequencer64 Main Screen, Qt 5 Interface, With Colors
The Sequencer64 main window appears, as shown above. These figures have some differences from
the Seq24 main window and from each other, but the functionality is about the same. Most features,
including the ”look” of the application, can be configured via the ”rc” and ”user” configuration files or
command-line options. There are many new front-panel items in Sequencer64, but the Qt and Gtkmm
user-interfaces differ in details.
• Control buttons:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
•
•
•
•
Start, Stop, and Pause.
Toggle and show the status of ”Live” mode versus ”Song” mode.
Mute/show the mute status of all tracks.
Enable/disable the menu bar and show its status.
Set JACK Slave/Master transport, and ALSA/JACK (native) mode.
Set the kind of time display, between ”bars:beat:ticks” and ”hours:minute:seconds”.
Panic button, to stop all tracks and turn off all notes.
Song-recording snap, the S button.
Tap Tempo, the 0 (zero) button.
Keep-queue toggling and status.
Current time in bars, beats, and ticks.
Song recording records all muting changes to the Song Editor.
Log Tempo, which inserts the current tempo into the tempo track as an event.
Tempo recording, which inserts all tempo changes as tempo events.
Many of these buttons have configurable keystrokes as well. See section 3.3 ”Patterns / Bottom
Panel” on page 52. Some of these items are not present in the Qt interface.
2
Menu
The Sequencer64 menu ( Figure 1 ”Sequencer64 Main Screen, Linux ALSA MIDI” on page 12) is simple,
but important to understand.
13
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
2.1
2.1
Menu / File
Menu / File
The File menu is used to save and load MIDI files (Standard MIDI Format 0 or 1) and Sequencer64
MIDI files. The Sequencer64 menu entry contains the sub-items shown below. The next few sub-sections
discuss the sub-items in the File sub-menu.
Figure 3: Sequencer64 File Menu Items
There are some minor differences between the Qt and the Gtkmm (shown in the figure) versions of
this menu. We comment on differences only if important to do so.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
New
Open
Open Playlist
Recent MIDI files
Save
Save As
Export Song as MIDI
Export MIDI Only
Import MIDI
Options
Exit or Quit
The Qt version of this menu is similar, except that the Options... menu is placed in Edit /
Preferences.
2.2
Menu / File / New
The New menu entry clears out the current song or play-list. If unsaved changes are pending, the user
is prompted to save the changes. Prompting for changes is more comprehensive than Seq24. However,
when in doubt, save! Keep backups of your tunes!
2.2.1
Menu / File / Open
The Open menu entry opens a song (MIDI file), replacing the current song. It opens up a standard
GTKmm-2.4 or Qt 5 file dialog:
14
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
2.2
Menu / File / New
Figure 4: File / Open (Gtkmm version)
This dialog lets one type a file-name, highlighting the first file (if any) that matches the characters
typed so far. Sequencer64 can open regular MIDI files and Cakewalk WRK files. It will read and store
various MIDI Meta events that were not supported before.
2.2.2
Menu / File / Open Playlist
The Open Playlist... menu entry opens a Sequencer play-list file. This file contains a list of ”playlist
sections”, each listing a number of MIDI songs. These playlists and songs can be selected by the arrow
keys or by MIDI control. See section 12 ”Sequencer64 Play-Lists” on page 141.
Once activated, the current play-list file-name is saved in the [playlist] section of the ”rc” configuration file when Sequencer64 exits. The Qt user-interface will eventually support some editing of the
play-list file. Currently, the user should understand the play-list format, and use a text editor to edit the
play-list file.
2.2.3
Menu / File / Recent MIDI files
This menu entry provides a list of the last few MIDI files created or opened; play-list selections are not
included. This list is saved in the [recent-files] section of the ”rc” configuration file. In the menu,
only the last part of the file-name is shown, but in the ”rc” configuration file, the full path to the file-name
is stored. This path is in ”UNIX” format, using the forward slash, or solidus, as the path separator, even
in Windows. Only unique entries are included in the recent-files list. The limit is 10 recent-file entries.
This is another feature from Kepler34 ([9]). Here is an example from an ”rc” file:
[recent-files]
# Holds a list of the last few recently-loaded MIDI files.
3
/home/chris/git/sequencer64/data/b4uacuse-gm-patchless.midi
15
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
2.2
Menu / File / New
/home/chris/git/sequencer64/contrib/midi/colours.midi
/home/chris/git/sequencer64/Julian-data/TestBeeps.midi
2.2.4
Menu / File / Save and Save As
The Save menu entry saves the song under its current file-name. If there is no current file-name, then it
opens up a standard file dialog to name and save the file. The Save As menu entry saves a song under a
different name. It opens up the following standard file dialog, very similar to the File Open dialog, with
an additional Name text-edit field.
Figure 5: File / Save As (Gtkmm version)
To save a new file, or to save the current existing file to a new name, enter the name in the name
field, without an extension. Sequencer64 will append a .midi extension to the filename. The file will be
saved in a format that the Linux file command will tag as something like:
myfile.midi: Standard MIDI data (format 1) using 16 tracks at 1/192
It looks like a simple MIDI file, and yet, if one re-opens it in Sequencer64, one sees that all of the
labeling, pattern information, and song layout has been preserved in this file. This information is saved
in a way that MIDI-compliant software should be able to use, or ignore without failure.
The output MIDI file after Sequencer64 saves the original MIDI file is larger. After the last track in
the file, a number of MIDI-compliant sequencer-specific (SeqSpec) items are saved, to preserve the extra
information that Sequencer64 adds. In legacy mode, Sequencer64 saves this information in the same
format as Seq24. Otherwise, it saves it in a more MIDI-compatible format. Normally, Sequencer64 saves
this information by marking each SeqSpec section as vendor-specific information, and marking this section
as a regular MIDI track. The legacy and new formats of the final ”track” are explained in section 18.2
”Legacy Proprietary Track Format” on page 173.
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Menu / File / New
Meta events are now partially handled by Sequencer64. Meta events Set Tempo and Time Signature
are now fully supported. Other Meta events, such as Meta MIDI Channel and Meta MIDI Port are now
read as events, and are saved back when the file is saved. They cannot be edited in Sequencer64, but
they are not lost. Please note that the channel and port meta events are considered obsolete in the MIDI
standard.
2.2.5
Menu / File / Import MIDI
The Import menu entry imports an SMF 0 or SMF 1 MIDI file as one or more patterns, one pattern per
track, into the specified screen-set. This functionality is explained in detail in section 7.1 ”Import MIDI”
on page 90.
2.2.6
Menu / File / Export Song as MIDI
Thanks to the Seq32 project, the ability to export songs to MIDI format has been added. In this export, a
complete song performance is recoded so that other MIDI sequencers can play the performance properly.
This functionality is explained in detail in section 7.2 ”Export Song as MIDI” on page 91.
2.2.7
Menu / File / Export MIDI Only
Sometimes it might be useful to export only the non-sequencer-specific (non-SeqSpec) data from a Sequencer64 song, in order to reduce the size of the file or to accomodate non-compliant sequencers. This
functionality is explained in detail in section 7.3 ”Export MIDI Only” on page 94.
2.2.8
Menu / File / Options
In the Portmidi / Windows / Qt 5 version of Sequencer64, the Options dialog has been moved to Edit /
Preferences. See section 13.1.7 ”Qt 5 Edit / Preferences” on page 152. There are still a few configuration
items yet to be represented in that new user-interface.
Options provides a number of settings in one tabbed dialog, shown in the figures that follow. It
allows one to set MIDI clocking, what incoming MIDI events control the sequencer, what keys are mapped
to functions, how the mouse works, and some JACK parameters. Note that there is a new tab-page for
Ext Keys, to support more keystroke controls.
Figure 6: File / Options (Gtkmm Version)
2.2.8.1
Menu / File / Options / MIDI Clock
The MIDI Clock tab provides a way to set MIDI clock for the available MIDI output busses. It configures
to what busses the MIDI clock and data gets dumped. It also shows the devices that can play music. The
items that appear in this tab depend the setup.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
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Menu / File / New
• What MIDI devices are connected to the computer. MIDI controllers, USB MIDI cables, applications
with virtual ports, and other connected devices will add MIDI output devices (ports) to the system.
In Windows, the available devices are shown as well.
• The setting of the ”manual ALSA ports” option, which tells Sequencer64 to set up virtual MIDI
ports. It is enabled by the --manual-alsa-ports command-line option or the [manual-alsa-ports]
section of the sequencer64.rc configuration file, described in section 10.12 ””rc” File / Manual
ALSA Ports” on page 121.
• The setting of the Sequencer64-specific ”reveal ALSA ports” option, --reveal-alsa-ports commandline option or the [reveal-alsa-ports] section of the sequencer64.rc configuration file, described
in section 10.13 ””rc” File / Reveal ALSA Ports” on page 121.
For the current discussion, a USB MIDI cable was plugged into the system, and the Timidity and
Yoshimi (in ALSA mode) software synthesizers were running. Sequencer64 was also running, without
virtual ports enabled, and --alsa turned on. Here are the devices shown when running aplaymidi from
the command-line:
$ aplaymidi -l
Port
Client name
14:0
Midi Through
24:0
E-MU XMidi1X1 Tab
128:0
TiMidity
128:1
TiMidity
128:2
TiMidity
128:3
TiMidity
129:0
seq64
Port name
Midi Through Port-0
E-MU XMidi1X1 Tab MIDI 1
TiMidity port 0
TiMidity port 1
TiMidity port 2
TiMidity port 3
seq64 in
Note that Yoshimi does not appear. Perhaps aplaymidi does not subscribe properly to all ALSA
notifications. Sequencer64 will detect it. One can also run the following command instead:
$ aconnect -io
One other note... of late, we’re seeing cases where running the Timidity daemon hides Yoshimi. Just
be aware.
Turning to Figure 7 ”MIDI Clock, Manual Option On (Gtkmm Version)” on page 19, with the option
of ”manual ALSA ports” (-m or --manual-alsa-ports) and ALSA in force, note the 16 devices provided
by Sequencer64. This figure shows the result with the ”manual ALSA option” turned on. Remember that
this option also applies to the native JACK MIDI mode of Sequencer64.
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Menu / File / New
Figure 7: MIDI Clock, Manual Option On (Gtkmm Version)
It shows the 16 virtual MIDI output busses that Sequencer64 can drive. One needs to use a JACK or
ALSA MIDI connection application to connect a device on each of those outputs. The fact that the the
buss names can start with different numbers, depending on the system setup, can complicate the playing
of MIDI in this manner. Also, the ”user” configuration file can change the visible names of the ports,
causing further confusion. The following elements are present in this dialog:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Index Number
Client Number
Port Number
Buss Name
Port Disabled
Off
On (Pos)
On (Mod)
Clock Start Modulo
The format of the left side of the entry listing is like the following:
[4] 4:4 seq64 midi out 4:5
^ ^ ^ ^
| | | |
| | | -------- Buss name
| | ---------- Port number
|
------------ Client number
--------------- Index number
1. Index Number. The number in square brackets is an ordinal indicating the position of the output
buss in the list. It can be used with the -b --buss --bus option to redirect all output to that one buss,
which is useful if only one buss is active, and the Sequencer64 MIDI song patterns route to non-existent
busses.
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Menu / File / New
2. Client Number. The number that precedes the colon is the ”client number”. It is useful mainly in
ALSA, where clients can have numbers like ”14”, ”128”, ”129”, etc. For native JACK mode, it matches
the index number.
3. Port Number.
The number that follows the colon is the ”port number”. It is useful mainly in
ALSA. For native JACK mode, it matches the index number.
4. Buss Name.
These labels indicate the output busses (ports) of Sequencer64. They range from
[1] seq64 1 to [16] seq64 16. in native JACK, when manual/virtual ports are active.
5. Port Disabled.
The Port Disabled clock choice marks a port that one does not want to use
or that the operating system (Windows, I’m looking at you!) is locking or disabling that output port.
Normally, this inaccessible port would cause Sequencer64 to exit. With the port disabled, the inaccessible
port is ignored.
When the Windows version of Sequencer64 (qpseq64 is first started, it may error out. It will then
write ”erroneous.rc” and ”erroneous.usr” configuration files, which can be examined to find the offending
buss.
6. Off.
Disables the MIDI clock for the given output buss. MIDI output is still sent to those ports,
and each port that has a device connected to it will play music. Some synthesizers may require this
setting.
7. On (Pos). MIDI clock will be sent to this buss. MIDI Song Position and MIDI Continue will be
sent if playback starts at greater than tick 0 in Song mode. Otherwise, MIDI Start will be sent.
8. On (Mod). MIDI clock will be sent to this buss. MIDI Start will be sent, and clocking will begin
once the Song Position has reached the start modulo of the specified size (see the next item’s description).
This setting is used for gear that does not respond to Song Position.
9. Clock Start Modulo.
Clock Start Modulo (1/16 Notes). This value starts at 1 and ranges
up to 16384, and defaults to 64. It is used by the On (Mod) setting discussed above. It is the
[midi-clock-mod-ticks] option in the Sequencer64 ”rc” file as described in section 10.9 ””rc” File
/ MIDI Clock Mod Ticks” on page 120.
10. Meta Events.
This section consists of one item, the Tempo Track number. It allows the user
to move the tempo track from pattern 0 to another pattern. Changing this option is not recommended,
since track 1 (0) is the official track for tempo events, but Sequencer64 allows the user to record tempo
events to another track. Sequencer64 will process tempo events in any pattern. Not supported yet in the
Qt user-interface, but it can be set manually in the ”rc” configuration file.
In addition, the Set as Song Tempo Track button sets this track as part of the currently-load
MIDI song file, and will be saved when exited. This value will override the global tempo-track value,
which is stored in the ’rc’ configuration file. However, if 0, it will be ignored, so that the global value will
take hold. See section 10.5 ””rc” File / MIDI-Meta-Events Section” on page 116, which discusses this
setting in the ”rc” configuration file.
One thing to remember about tempo... there is a ”global” tempo which is saved as part of the song
in a SeqSpec section. However, that tempo is not saved in the tempo track. In order to do so, one can
click the Log Tempo button to write it to the tempo track as a tempo event.
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Menu / File / New
Figure 8: MIDI Clock, Manual Option Off (ALSA View, Old Screenshot)
In the figure above, with the ”manual ALSA option” is turned off, and all of the real (non-virtual)
devices that can be driven by MIDI output are shown, including the MIDI Thru port, and the four ports
provided by Timidity on our setup. (The Port Disabled column is missing from this old screenshot.
We need to fix that someday.)
See section 19.2 ”Sequencer64 Native JACK MIDI” on page 185, for a lot more information about
native JACK support, and examples of JACK MIDI ports and connections.
There is currently no user-interface item corresponding to the ”manual ALSA” command-line and
”rc” configuration file option. We should rename this option to ”virtual” eventually, since it can also
apply to JACK MIDI.
2.2.8.2
Menu / File / Options / MIDI Input
To allow Sequencer64 to record MIDI from MIDI devices such as controllers and keyboards, the output
of the ALSA MIDI recording command-line application is relevant:
$ arecordmidi -l
Port
Client name
14:0
Midi Through
24:0
USB2.0-MIDI
129:1
seq64
129:2
seq64
. . .
. . .
129:16
seq64
Port name
Midi Through Port-0
USB2.0-MIDI MIDI 1
seq64 midi out 0
seq64 midi out 1
. . .
seq64 midi out 15
We see that we can record MIDI from the MIDI Thru port, from the USB MIDI cable, and MIDI
from any of the 16 output ports provided by the manual ALSA port mode of Sequencer64.
If the ”manual ALSA ports” option is turned off (e.g. by using the -a option), then the only item in
the MIDI Input tab is the single MIDI input buss provided by Sequencer64: [0] seq64 0. (The figure
shown is currently out-of-date.)
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Menu / File / New
Figure 9: MIDI Input, Manual Ports Off (Condensed View)
Any item checked allows Sequencer64 to record MIDI from another source, which must be connected
to this port via another application).
Warning: If the [user-midi-bus-definitions] value in the ”user” configuration file is non-zero,
and the corresponding number of [user-midi-bus-N] settings are provided, then the list of existing
hardware will be ignored, and those values will be shown instead. (This feature can be overridden with
the --reveal-alsa-ports (-r) option.)
If the ”auto ALSA ports” option is turned on, via the -a or --auto-alsa-ports option, then the
input ports from the system are shown:
Figure 10: MIDI Input, -a Option (Condensed View)
For example, one could check input #1 to have Sequencer64 record MIDI from an old-fashioned
MIDI keyboard that is connected to another USB MIDI cable (the E-MU Xmidi). If the keyboard didn’t
have a sound generator, one would also want Sequencer64 to pass this MIDI on to a sound generator,
such as a software or hardware synthesizer attached to one of the ports shown in Figure 8 ”MIDI Clock,
Manual Option Off (ALSA View, Old Screenshot)” on page 21.
Warning: The ”user” configuration file can override what is actually displayed as hardware. If you
define these sections, they should match your hardware exactly, and your hardware should not change
from session to session.
Note the two sections of this configuration page:
Input Buses delineates the MIDI input devices as noted above. Input Options adds further
refinements to MIDI input.
Record input into sequence according to channel causes MIDI input with multiple channels to
be distributed to each sequence according to MIDI channel number. When disabled, the legacy recording
behavior dumps all data into the current sequence, regardless of channel.
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2.2.8.3
2.2
Menu / File / New
Menu / File / Options / Keyboard
Seq24 allows extensive use of keyboard shortcuts to make operations go faster than with a mouse, and
Sequencer64 extends that tradition. The Keyboard tab (currently in Gtkmm only) allows for the
configuration of these keyboard shortcuts.
These settings can also be modified by editing the appropriate ”rc” configuration file, stored in one
of the following directories, depending on the operating system:
/home/username/.config/sequencer64
C:/Users/username/AppData/Local/sequencer64
Warning: There are a number of ”gotchas” to be aware of when assigning keys to the fields in the
Keyboard tab:
• This configuration dialog is not yet present in the Qt 5 version of Sequencer64. For now, one has
to edit the ”rc” file to configure the keystrokes. It is easiest to just use the sample qpseq64.rc
or qseq64.rc from the data directory in the source-code package. Another option is to just run
Sequencer64 the first time and tweak the ”rc” and ”usr” files that are created in the directories
noted above. Internally, the Qt key-codes are remapped to Gtk key-codes.
• Whenever one of the text fields in this dialog has the focus (and that is usually the case), then any
keystroke, including keys like Ctrl, Alt, and Super (also known as Mod4 or the Windows key), can
alter the value of a field to that of the keystroke. This change is very easy to do accidentally! Use
the mouse to move this window and to click its OK button!
• Some of the keys traditionally used (or used by default) for control have been adapted for other
uses, and are not configurable. One example is Ctrl-L, which brings up the learn mode that can be
started using the ”L” button or the ”glearn” (group-learn) MIDI control. Some other hard-wired
keystrokes are the ”arrow” keys or ”page up/down” keys.
• Sequencer64 has appropriated the Shift key so that it modifies a click on a pattern so that all of
the other patterns are toggled. Therefore, using characters that require the Shift key while clicking,
such as { and }, when used to set the Replace function, becomes surprising. Instead, look to the
remaining keys: F11, F12, and the ”keypad” keys if more options are wanted. Be sure to look at
the Ext Keys tab to see what other keys are in use. Also, for the group-learn feature, the Shift
key is automatically enabled, using an ”auto-shift” feature.
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Menu / File / New
Figure 11: File / Options / Keyboard
[keyboard-control]. We won’t attempt to cover every user-interface item in this busy dialog, just
the categories. Some items might be discussed in other parts of this manual.
There are some things to note in the [keyboard-control] section. First, it is laid out like the main
patterns panel, in an 8 x 4 grid. The keys in there correspond directly to the patterns panel slot, and the
conventional keyboard layout is shown. Second, if one is looking for more keys to map to other functions,
the default layout keeps open the following keys: 9 o l 0 p.
The [mute-group] section is laid out in a similar manner, except that the upper-case versions of
the keys are used. Additional keys are available for other functions: ( O L ) P. Currently, one must be
very carefully about assigning the same key to different functions. Confusion will ensue! We’ve done it!
An additional key definition is shown for the Pause key. By default, the Pause key is the period (”.”).
An old version of the ”rc” file is automatically fixed to include this new option.
New features try to achieve being able to edit a pattern using only the keyboard. Sequencer64 now
supports two modifier keys. The first modifier key causes the usual pattern-toggle key (hot-key) for a
given slot to instead bring up the pattern editor. By default, this key is the equals (”=”) key. The second
modifier key causes the usual pattern-toggle key (hot-key) for a given slot to instead bring up the event
editor. By default, this key is the minus (”-”) key. These keys are configurable in the File / Options /
Ext Keys page.
To continue with a listing of the keyboard options:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Show sequence hot-key labels on sequences
Show sequence numbers on sequences
Control keys [keyboard-group]
Sequence toggle keys [keyboard-control]
Mute-group slots [mute-group]
Learn
Disable
Enable
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
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Menu / File / New
These categories are described below.
1. Show key labels on sequence. This option shows the key labels in the lower-right corner of each
loop/pattern slot in the Patterns window (the main window). It is useful for live playback and control of
a song. It is configurable in the ”rc” configuration file. It also enables the display of the pattern length,
in measures, at the top right of the pattern slot.
2. Show sequence numbers on sequence.
If this option is on, the empty slots in the pattern
window show the prospective sequence number. See the following figure for one look of this feature.
Figure 12: Pattern Window with One Kind of Numbering
The option also changes the visibility of sequence numbers in active sequences and in the Song
Editor’s names column. If one doesn’t like it, turn off the option in the ”rc” configuration file, or try
other grid options in the ”user” configuration file.
3. Control keys. [keyboard-group]. This block of fields in the Options / Keyboard tab provides
shortcut keys for many operations of Sequencer64. There is a default mapping built into Sequencer64,
but open the keyboard options tab to see the actual values.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Start.
Stop.
Pause.
Slot Shift.
Snapshot 1.
Snapshot 2.
bpm up.
bpm down.
Replace.
Queue.
Keep queue.
Screenset down.
Screenset up.
Set playing screenset.
Some of the keys have positional mnemonic value. For example, for BPM control, the semicolon is at
the left (down), and the apostrophe is at the right (up). Note that the keys definable in this tab are only
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
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Menu / File / New
a subset of the various keys that can be used, especially keys used with the Ctrl key or other modifier
keys.
The slot shift key is useful when using pattern grids larger than 8 x 4 patterns. Pressing the slot-shift
key basically adds 32 to the pattern number of the slot-key that is pressed. Not all builds of Sequencer64
support this option.
A snapshot is a briefly-preserved state of the patterns. One can press a snapshot key, change the
state of the patterns for live playback, and then release the snapshot key to revert to the state when the
snapshot key was first pressed.
To queue a pattern means to ready it for playback upon the next repeat of a pattern. A pattern
can be armed immediately with a hot-key, or it can be queued to play back the next time the pattern
repeats. A pattern can be queued by holding the queue key (defined in File / Options / Keyboard /
queue) and pressing a pattern-slot hot-key. Instead of the pattern turning on immediately, it turns on
at the next repeat of the pattern.
Keep queue allows the queue to be held without holding down the queue button the whole time.
First, press the keep-queue key (defined in File / Options / Keyboard / Keep queue). Now, hitting
any of the slot hot-keys, no matter how many, sets up the corresponding pattern slot to be queued. Also,
in keep-queue mode, clicking on the pattern slot will queue the pattern. The keep-queue mode is disabled
by hitting the ”queue” key again (any currently active queues remain active until finished). There is also
a ”Q” button to toggle the keep-queue status.
Be sure to note the new option, one-shot queue, in the extended-keys section (section 3.2.1 ”Pattern
Slot” on page 40).
4. Sequence toggle keys. Each of these keys toggles the playing/muting of one of the 32 loop/pattern
boxes. These keys are layed out logically on the keyboard, and can also be shown in each loop/pattern
box. No need to list them all here! Please note that we often call them ”shortcut keys” or ”hot-keys”
where the context makes it clear that they apply to the armed/unarmed state of a pattern.
5. Mute-group slots.
There can be up to 32 mute-groups. When activated, a mute-group sets
the muted/unmuted status of the current ”playing set” to the pattern-muting statuses of the selected
mute-group. Each of these keys operates on the mute-grouping of one of the 32 stored mute groups.
These keys are layed out logically on the keyboard. No need to list them all here! Generally, they are the
shifted versions of the keyboard keys used as hot-keys for the patterns. Note that a mute-group key will
be memorized only when Sequencer64 is in group-learn mode.
6. Learn.
To define the group of patterns for one mute group, press and hold the configured Learn key (the
Insert key by default, the Ctrl-L key, or the ”L” button in the user-interface. Simultaneously (not
needed with the ”L” button), press one of the mute group keys: Sequencer64 will save the currentlyplaying pattern slots into the corresponding mute group. The default mute group keys must be the
shifted version of the key, but one does not need the Shift key while pressing Insert to learn the group,
only to trigger it. Sequencer64 will automatically assign the corresponding key with Shift activated. Try
pressing the Shift key in Learn mode and see what happens!
Group-mute can be globally enabled or disabled (with default keys apostrophe ’ and igrave or grave
‘). So make sure it is enabled before trying to use it.
7. Disable.
It is the apostrophe key by default. This key is the group off key.
8. Enable.
It is the igrave (back-tick) key by default. This key is the group on key.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
2.2.8.4
2.2
Menu / File / New
Menu / File / Options / Ext Keys
[extended-keys]. A number of additional functions have been added to Sequencer64, and keystrokes
have been provided for those new functions, in the Ext Keys page. This page is needed because the
original page is completely filled. The new tab has its own section in the ”rc” file.
Figure 13: File / Options / Ext Keys (Condensed View)
1. Ext Keys. This block of fields in the Options / Ext Keys tab provides shortcut keys for more
operations of Sequencer64, many of them ported from Seq32 or Kepler34.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Song/Live toggle.
Toggle JACK.
Menu mode.
Follow transport.
Fast forward.
Rewind.
Pointer Position.
Toggle mutes.
Tap BPM.
Song Record.
One-shot Queue. This new feature allows one-shot queuing of a pattern.
Most of these extended keys implement operations performed with button presses. Some of the new
keystrokes may not have a corresponding button. These values are saved as the [extended-keys] section
of the ”rc” configuration file.
Figure 14: File / Options / Ext Keys (Disabled)
Note the Song/Live toggle key. The song mode normally is in effect only when playback is started
from the Song Editor. Now this mode can be used from any window, if enabled by pressing this key.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
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Menu / File / New
There is also a button in the main window for this function, which shows the current state of this flag.
Note that this flag is also stored in the ”rc” configuration file, as well as this hot-key value, which defaults
to F1.
The JACK mode is set via the File / Options / JACK / JACK Connect or JACK Disconnect
buttons. This keystroke will toggle between JACK connect and JACK disconnect. The Song Editor
will also have a JACK button. The hot-key for this function defaults to F2.
The menu mode indicates if the main menu of the main window is accessible or not. It is disabled
during playback so that more hot-keys can be used without triggering menu functions. It can also be
disabled by the user; the default hot-key is F3. This feature is needed because the original Seq24 had
numerous conflicts between the menu key bindings and the default key bindings for the main window.
Follow transport is a feature ported from Seq32. The default key is F4. It determines if Sequencer64
follows JACK transport.
Fast forward is a feature ported from Seq32. The default key is F5. While this key is held, the song
pointer will fast-forward through the song. This feature does not have a corresponding button. This
feature requires that the Seq32 transport option be enabled at build time.
Rewind is a feature ported from Seq32. The default key is F6. While this key is held, the song
pointer will rewind. This feature does not have a corresponding button. This feature requires that the
Seq32 transport option be enabled at build time (and now that is the default). Be sure not to use the
following keys, which are already hardwired for other functions in the Pattern Editor and Song Editor:
• p. Paint mode.
• x. Escape paint mode.
Pointer position is a feature ported from Seq32. The default key is F7. When this key is pressed,
the song pointer will move to the current position of the mouse, snapped. This feature does not have a
corresponding button.
Toggle mutes toggles the mute status of every pattern on every screen-set. It corresponds to the Edit
/ Toggle mute all tracks or the Song / Toggle All Tracks menu entries. There is also a button
in the main window for this function, which shows the current state of this flag. Note that this hot-key
value is stored in the ”rc” configuration file, and defaults to F8.
Tap bpm allows the user to ”tap” in time with some other music, and see the tap sequence translated
into beats/minute (BPM). There is also a ”0” button for this function. After 5 seconds, this feature resets
automatically, so the user can try again if not satisfied. At least two taps are needed for the BPM to be
registered.
2.2.8.5
Menu / File / Options / Mouse
This item selects the mouse-interaction method.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
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Menu / File / New
Figure 15: File / Options / Mouse (Condensed View)
Interaction Method
The default mouse interaction method is Seq24 (original style). The alternate mouse interaction
method is Fruity (similar to a certain well known sequencer). The ”Fruity” interaction method is
currently only available in the Gtkmm-2.4 user-interface, and it is not comprehensive. For Qt 5, only the
original style is available, at this time.
The alternate method is presumably that of the Fruity Loops (now FL Studio) sequencer. The fruity
mode seems to involve the following rules:
• Left-click left side. Begin a grow/shrink operation for the left side. However, even in Seq24, this
action is broken. It does allow one to move the note, however.
• Left-click right side. Begin a grow/shrink operation for the right side.
• Left-click middle. Move the object. To clarify, each note image has an invisible ”handle” on the
left or the right side, with the middle providing a third area of interaction in the ”fruity” mode.
• Left-click. Add an event if nothing selected.
• Middle-click. Split the note?
There may be a few more rules to add, when time allows.
The Seq24 note-editing style is as expected for basic actions such as selecting and moving notes using
the left mouse button. Drawing a note or event is a bit different, in that one must first click and hold the
right mouse button, and then click and drag the right mouse button to insert notes, Notes are inserted
to be at the current length and grid-snap values for the sequence editor for as long as the buttons are
pressed. Notes are inserted only up to the specified sequence length. Once notes are inserted, moving the
mouse with the left button still held down moves the notes to the new note value of the mouse. If one
releases the left button, then presses and holds it again, more notes will be added in the same way. This
is unconventional, but a powerful way to layer notes in a short sequence. We call it the ”draw mode” or
”paint mode”. Drawing/painting can also be done while the sequence is playing, and notes will be added
to be played the next time the progress bar crosses them.
Mod4 key preserves add (paint) mode in song and pattern editors. In order to work with
trackpads that don’t permit simultaneous left and right clicks, the ”Seq24” mode of mouse interaction can
be modified in the Pattern or Song editors so that the Mod4 key (Super or Windows key) can be pressed
when releasing the right mouse button. This keeps the mouse in note-add mode. Another right-click,
without pressing Mod4, will exit this mode.
This option will not interfere with the Mod4 key being set in the Keyboard option tab, since the
keys there mainly apply to the Patterns Panel (main window), not the pattern-editor window.
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2.2
Menu / File / New
Middle click splits song triggers at nearest snap (instead of the halfway point).
Another way to turn on the paint mode has been added. To turn on the paint mode, press the p
key while in the sequence editor. This is just like pressing the right mouse button, but the draw/paint
mode stays on. To get out of the paint mode, press the x key while in the sequence editor. These keys,
however, do not work while the sequence is playing.
Note that some Sequencer64 windows can use the ctrl-left-click as a middle click.
2.2.8.6
Menu / File / Options / Jack Sync
This tab sets up JACK transport, if Sequencer64 was built with JACK support. This tab also sets up
options for using LASH session management, if Sequencer64 was built with LASH support, which is no
longer the default, even though it is shown in the figure below.
Figure 16: File / Options / JACK
The main sections in this dialog are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
JACK
JACK
JACK
LASH
Transport/MIDI
Start Mode
Transport Connect and Disconnect
Options
1. Transport/MIDI. These settings are stored in the ”rc” file settings group [jack-transport].
See section 10.8 ””rc” File / JACK Transport” on page 119, which describes this configuration option.
This items collects the following settings:
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
2.2
Menu / File / New
• Jack Transport. Enables slave synchronization with JACK Transport. The command-line option
is --jack-transport. The behavior of this mode of operation is perhaps not quite correct. Even
as a slave, Sequencer64 can start and stop playback. Note that this option cannot be disabled via
the mouse if the Transport Master option is enabled. Disable that one first.
• Transport Master. Sequencer64 will attempt to serve as the JACK Master. The command-line
option is --jack-master. Tip: Sequencer64 generally works better as JACK Master. If this option
is enabled the JACK Transport option is automatically enabled as well.
• Master Conditional. Sequencer64 will fail to serve as the JACK Master if there is already a
Master. The command-line option is --jack-master-cond. If this option is enabled the JACK
Transport option is automatically enabled as well.
• Native JACK MIDI. This option is for the seq64 version of Sequencer64. If set, MIDI input and
output use native JACK MIDI, rather than ALSA. However, if JACK is not running on the system,
then seq64 will fall back to ALSA mode. The command-line option is --jack-midi.
If one makes a change in the JACK transport settings, it is best to then press the JACK Transport Disconnect button, then the JACK Transport Connect button. Another option is to restart
Sequencer64... the settings are automatically saved when Sequencer64 exits.
2. JACK Start mode.
group [jack-transport].
This item collects the following settings, also stored in the ”rc” file settings
• Live Mode.
Playback will be in live mode. Use this option to allow muting and unmuting
of patterns. This option might also be called ”non-song mode”. The command-line option is
--jack-start-mode 0.
• Song Mode.
Playback will use only the Song Editor’s data. The command-line option is
--jack-start-mode 1.
Sequencer64 also selects the playback modes according to which window started the playback, reverting back to legacy Seq24 behavior. The main window, or pattern window, causes playback to be in
live mode. The user can arm and mute patterns in the main window by clicking on sequences, using their
hot-keys, and by using the group-mode and learn-mode features. The song editor causes playback to be
in performance mode, also known as ”playback mode”, or Song mode.
3. Connect.
Connect to JACK Sync. This button is useful to restart JACK sync when making
changes to it, or when Sequencer64 was started in ALSA mode.
4. Disconnect.
changes to it.
Disconnect from JACK Sync. This button is useful to stop JACK sync when making
5. LASH Options.
Currently contains only one item, which enables the usage of LASH session
management. Currently, Sequencer64 needs to be restarted to complete the enabling or disabling of LASH
support. Like the rest of the options, this one is written to the ”rc” configuration file. However, LASH is
no longer supported in the default build.
Finally, there is a new button (labelled Master in the following figure) in the main window to bring
up directly the JACK (or JACK/LASH) page.
Figure 17: JACK Connection Button
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Menu / Edit
This button not only brings up the JACK page, but also shows the current status of the MIDI
connection: Master (JACK Transport Master), Slave (JACK Transport Slave), JACK (native JACK
MIDI, overrides any transport label), and ALSA (overridden by any transport label). The Ctrl-P key
will also bring up this page.
One thing to note is that, while playing, the JACK/ALSA button is disabled. However, one can
still get to the JACK options via the main File menu. JACK connection and disconnection are disabled
during playback, but the buttons don’t yet reflect that status.
2.3
Menu / Edit
The Edit menu has undergone some expansion lately.
Figure 18: Edit Menu
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Preferences... (only in the Qt user-interface)
Song Editor...
Apply song transpose
Clear mute groups
Reload mute groups
Mute all tracks
Unute all tracks
Toggle mute all tracks
1. Preferences.
In the Qt user-interface, there is a Preferences menu entry, corresponding to the
Gtkmm user-interface’s File / Options menu entry.
2. Song Editor. This item is the same as the View / Song Editor toggle menu entry. It toggles
the presence of the main song editor.
3. Apply song transpose.
Selecting this item applies the song transposition value to all sequences/patterns that are marked as transposable. (Normally, drum tracks are not transposable). This
actively changes the note/pitch value of all note and aftertouch events in the pattern. For the setting of
song transpose, see section 5 ”Song Editor” on page 77, for more information. Also note that transpose
can be enabled in the patterns panel for each pattern (see section 3.2.2 ”Pattern” on page 44) and in the
sequence editor (see section 4 ”Pattern Editor” on page 56).
4. Clear mute groups.
A feature of Seq24 and Sequencer64 is that the mute groups are saved in
both the ”rc” file (see section 10.3 ””rc” File / Mute-Group Section” on page 115) and in the ”MIDI” file
(see section 18.2 ”Legacy Proprietary Track Format” on page 173).
This menu entry clears them. If this resulted in any mute-group sequences status being set to false,
then the user is prompted to save the MIDI file, so that it will no longer have any mute-group information.
And then, if the application exits, the cleared mute-group information is also saved to the ”rc” file.
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2.4
Menu / View
5. Reload mute groups.
This menu entry reloads the mute-groups from the ”rc” file. So, if one
loads a MIDI file that has its own mute groups that one does not like, this command will restore one’s
favorite mute-grouping from the ”rc” file.
6. Mute all tracks.
in the entire song.
This menu entry, available only in Live mode, immediately mutes all patterns
7. Unmute all tracks.
patterns in the entire song.
This menu entry, available only in Live mode, immediately unmutes all
8. Toggle mute all tracks.
This option toggles the mute/armed status of all tracks. It is only
available in Live mode, which overrides Song mode even if the Song Editor is focussed. Do not confuse
it with the main Mute button, which toggles the status only of the tracks that are armed and remembers
them.
2.4
Menu / View
If the ”allow two perfedits” option is turned off in the ”user” configuration file, this menu item has only
one entry, Song Editor, which is already covered by a button at the bottom of the Patterns window.
Selecting this item bring up the Song Editor window. See Figure 67 ”Song Editor Window” on page 78.
The Song Editor window can also be brought up via the Ctrl-E key.
If the allow two perfedits option is turned on in the ”user” configuration file, this menu item has
two entries (Gtkmm only), as shown in the following figure:
Figure 19: Dual Song Editor Entries in (Gtkmm) View Menu
Note that only the first Song Editor has a user-interface button and a hot-key. Also note that there
can be issues bringing up the second song-editor with the hot-key. The menu entry will always work.
If two song editors are up, they each track any changes made in the other song editor. But the main
purpose of two song editors is to arrange two different parts of the performance at the same time when
not all the patterns will fit in one window.
In the Qt user-interface, there is a Song tab in the main window. But there is also song-editor button
in the main window and a menu entry in Edit / Song Editor, which bring up a separate window for the
song-editor. Do not try to use both windows for song-editing at the same time; they are not synchronized.
2.5
Menu / Help / About...
This menu entry shows the ”About” dialog.
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Menu / Help / About...
Figure 20: Help / About
The Qt version is slightly different.
Figure 21: Help Credits
Shows who has worked on the program, with the original author at the top of the list.
Figure 22: Help Documentation
Shows who has documented this project.
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2.6
2.6
Menu / Help / Build Info...
Menu / Help / Build Info...
This menu entry shows the ”Build Info” dialog. This list of build options enabled in the current application
is the same list that it generated via this command line:
$ seq64 --version
Figure 23: Help / Build Info
3
Patterns Panel
Sequencer64 works with patterns (loops, tracks, or sequences) that are repeated throughout a song. One
composes and edits small patterns, and combines them to create a full song. This is a powerful way to
work, and makes one productive within an hour.
The Sequencer64 Patterns Panel is the main window of Sequencer64. See Figure 1 ”Sequencer64
Main Screen, Linux ALSA MIDI” on page 12. It is called the ”main window” or the ”patterns window”.
It is here one creates a set of patterns (see section 16.1.17 ”Concepts / Terms / screen set” on page 164),
manages the configuration, controls the playback rate, adds tempo events, and opens the pattern, song,
event, or playlist editors.
When the Patterns Panel has the application focus, and Sequencer64 is not running in Song mode,
it puts Sequencer64 in Live mode. The musician can control the playback and muting/unmuting of each
pattern in the song, while it is playing, from within this window.
If the song editor (see section 5 ”Song Editor” on page 77) has the input focus, it controls the
muting/unmuting of each pattern, and Sequencer64 runs in Song mode. (There are ways to override this
behavior.)
For exposition, we break the Patterns Panel into a menu bar, a top panel, a pattern panel, and a
bottom panel. The Sequencer64 menu bar is discussed in section 2 ”Menu” on page 13. The Qt and
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3.1
Patterns / Top Panel
Gtkmm user-interfaces differ in the arrangement of buttons and panels; and the Qt interface uses tabs.
3.1
Patterns / Top Panel
The top panel of the Pattern window is simple, consisting of the name of the program and a few controls.
The latest version adds more buttons.
Figure 24: Patterns Panel, New Top Panel Items
This figure shows the appearance of the main window top panel. These items appear in the Gtkmm2.5 user-interface. The Qt user-interface is arranged differently, but has roughly the same functionality.
See Figure 2 ”Sequencer64 Main Screen, Qt 5 Interface, With Colors” on page 13.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Song/Live
Toggle Playing Tracks
Toggle Menu
ALSA/JACK Modes
Song Progress Bar
Time Display Selection
Mute Group Learn
1. Song/Live.
This new button allows the Song mode to be in force even if the Song Editor
does not have the focus of the application. However, if the Song Editor does have focus, it overrides
this button, to preserve expected behavior. There is also a configurable hot-key associated with it, which
defaults to F1, and is configurable in the ”rc” file and the File / Options / Ext Keys page.
2. Toggle Tracks.
This button changes the status of all of the playing tracks, reversing the mute
status of each pattern that is playing. The next click will then unmute only those tracks. Because it can
be confusing, this button is disabled (not shown in the figure) in Song mode. There is also a configurable
hot-key associated with it, called Toggle mutes, which defaults to F8, and is configurable in the ”rc”
file and the File / Options / Ext Keys page.
3. Toggle Menu.
This button enables and disables the main menu. Disabling it allows additional
hot-keys to be configured, without calling forth menu entries by accident. There is also a configurable
hot-key associated with this toggle, called Menu mode, which defaults to F3, and is configurable in the
”rc” file and the File / Options / Ext Keys page.
4. ALSA/JACK Modes. This button sets the ALSA versus JACK modes, including JACK transport
and native JACK MIDI playback and recording. When clicked, it brings up the JACK connection page
from the File / Options dialog. The hot-key for this button is Ctrl-P.
5. Song Progress Bar.
The Song Progress Bar is also known as the ”main time” bar. Also
included is a numeric representation of the ”BBT” (bar:beat:ticks). In the Gtkmm-2.4 user-interface,
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Patterns / Top Panel
this bar shows a number of small black cursors (”pills”) that show the progress of the song through the
various patterns. For short patterns, the progress is fast. For patterns that last longer, the progress is
slow. The whole field flashes in time with the beat. This field shows that something is going on. It can
also indicate the relative lengths of the various patterns. In the Qt user-interface, this bar is shown as
four boxes which blink in time with playback.
Note that the individual pattern boxes in the main panel, for patterns that are not empty, have their
own moving progress cursor, a vertical line in each box. By default, this progress line is black, but it
can be changed to other colors via a ”user” configuration file entry in the [user-interface-settings]
section. Set the progress bar colored item to a value ranging from 0 (black) to 6 (dark cyan). There
is also a progress bar thick item to enable a thicker progress bar, for better visibility.
6. Time Display Selection. The Time Display Selection is also known as the ”main time” bar.
This button toggles between the states of BBT (bar:beats:ticks) and HMS (hours:minutes:seconds).
7. Mute Group Learn.
This button is also known as the ”L” button. Click this button, and then
press a mute-group key to store the mute-state (whether armed or unarmed) of all the patterns with in
that key. In addition to this button, one can also press the Ctrl-L key.
When in group-learn mode,
the Shift key cannot be hit, so the group-learn mode automatically converts the keys to their shifted
versions. This feature known as shift-lock or auto-shift.
See the File / Options / Keyboard menu entry for the dialog showing the available mute-group
keys and the corresponding hot-key for the ”L” button. This key is usually the Insert key. Unlike the
button or the Ctrl-L key, this key must be held down while pressing the desired mute-group key. This
is a clumsy thing on our main keyboard... one must press and hold Shift-Fn-Insert to get the Insert
key, and then also press the desired mute-group key. A real knuckle-buster! We have our own alternate
setup (stored in the file sequencer64.rc.example. And we’ve also added the ”shift-lock” feature for this
reason.
Group-learn is a modifier key to be pressed just before pressing the desired group key, and the group
on/off keys are there to enable each group, not to toggle group states.
To set up the mute groups, press the ’L’ button, and then press a key on the keyboard to ’learn’
or ’save’ the preset. Looking at the list of keys assigned for these mute groups (in File / Options /
Keyboard), the first bank of keys are ”!”, ”’”, ”?”, etc., and the second bank are ”Q”, ”W” ”E”, etc. If
the key is valid, then the following prompt occurs:
Figure 25: Group Learn Confirmation Prompt
When you ask the program to ’learn’ the key, one cannot use the Shift key, so one normally could
not use the ”!” or other symbol keys. In fact, the process stops as soon as the Shift key is pressed:
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Patterns / Top Panel
Figure 26: Group Learn Failure Prompt (Shift Key)
To avoid this issue with the Shift key, Sequencer64 now ”shift-locks” the keys while group-learn is
in progress, so that none of the keys, whether letters or the punctuation characters above the numbers,
need the Shift key to be held, to learn them. Thus, there is now no need to use the Caps Lock is On
before starting the ”learn” process. We tend to map the Caps Lock key as the true Control key, so that
Caps Lock is no longer available anyway (it is one of the most useless keys ever).
Remember, though, that once learned, the Shift is then needed to call up the mute-group that was
learned.
There is another way for mute-group learn to fail. With the recent ability of Sequencer64 to increase
the set size via the --option sets=8x12 (for example), there can be fewer than 32 mute-groups available.
This can be seen by viewing File / Options / Keyboard when larger set-sizes are in force:
Figure 27: Group Learn Keys With Larger Set Size
Note that only 10 mute-groups (0 to 9) are available with an 8x12 set size. Groups 10 and above are
not available, and this is indicated by the word ”Clear”. Don’t worry, though, all of the mute-group key
settings still exist, and are still present in the ”rc” configuration file in the [keyboard-group] section.
But when one attempts a group-learn using one of the unavailable keys, an error occurs, as shown in
the following prompt.
Figure 28: Group Learn Limit Prompt
This prompt also appears if one tries to use the shifted version of an unavailable mute-group key to
toggle patterns; this makes it obvious what has gone wrong.
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Patterns / Main Panel
At some point in the future, we may allow a much larger number of sets, so that all 32 mute-groups
are always available. We have to think hard about that enhancement, however.
One can configure the MIDI settings in similar ways by assigning MIDI commands to arm or toggle
loops, using the ’on’ option in the ”rc” file. See section 10.2 ””rc” File / MIDI Control” on page 103.
Remember that groups work with the playing (”in-view”) screen-set. One must change the screenset
and give it the command to make it the playing one. By default, the Home key is configured for this
purpose.
So, for example, if one sets A to turn on the patterns in slots 1 and 2 in set 0 (the first set), then
pressing A in another set will arm the patterns in the same relative location in the current set. This setup
is flexible, but takes some thought. One can set up a number of mute-groups, and decide to use them for
all sets, or mentally allocate one mute-group per set. Please note that a mute-group key does not toggle
the saved armed patterns... it can only turn them on.
Let’s go through an example using the Home key (or whatever key is configured as the Set Playing
Screenset key.)
1. Load a song with more than one screen-set.
2. Unmute the pattern(s) in the first set and start playback.
3. Use the ”]” (Screenset Up) key to move to the next set. Note that the first set is still playing.
Also note that the now-current set is not playing.
4. Press the Home key. Note that the first set turns off, and the current set turns on. These steps can
be repeated at will.
5. Finally, hit the F8 (Toggle Mutes) key. Note that all tracks on all sets toggle muting each time
this key is pressed.
3.2
Patterns / Main Panel
The main panel of the Patterns window provides a grid of empty boxes, each box delimited by brace-like
lines at left and right. Each filled box represents a loop or pattern. One sees only 32 loops at a time in
the main panel (but many more than 32 loops can be supported by Sequencer64). This group of 32 loops
is called a ”screen-set”, as discussed in section 16.1.17 ”Concepts / Terms / screen set” on page 164. One
can switch between sets by using the ”[” and ”]” keys on the keyboard, or by using the spin-widgetdriven, labelled Set interface item, or by hitting the (default) Home key to make it the playing screenset,
or by hitting Page-Up or Page-Down with the pattern window in keyboard focus. There are a total of 32
sets, for a total of 1024 loops/patterns. Only one screen-set can be controlled at a time, in general. But
any number of screensets can be playing at the same time.
Note that the Page Up and Page Down keystrokes, and their counterparts in File / Options /
Keyboard / Control Keys / Screenset Up and Screenset Down, can be used in lieu of the Set
spin-button.
It is important to note that keystroke control of the screen-set will wrap-around in screen-set values
(i.e. screen-set down at 0 results in screen-set 31, and screen-set up at 31 results in screen-set 0). However,
the spinbuttons will stop up at 31 and stop down at 0. We consider this a feature rather than a bug, at
this time.
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Patterns / Main Panel
Figure 29: Patterns Panel, Main Panel Items
The individual items annoted in this figure are described in section 3.2.2 ”Pattern” on page 44, in
more detail. The slot at the bottom left of this figure shows some new features:
• The sequence number appears at the bottom left of the slot.
• The buss number (re 0) and the channel number (re 1) appears to the right of the sequence number,
in the format ”0-1”.
• To the right of that, the time signature (”4/4”) appears, at the bottom.
• The hot-key for muting/unmuting the pattern appears next, at the bottom right of the slot.
• The title of the sequence appears at the top left of the pattern slot.
• The length of the sequence, in number of measures (bars), appears at the upper right of the slot.
• Notice the default alternate font, which has a little more body than the Seq24 font.
Observe that feature in the first figure of the next section. The two main items are the empty pattern
slot, and the slot filled with a MIDI pattern:
1. Pattern Slot
2. Pattern
3.2.1
Pattern Slot
An empty box is a slot for a pattern. If a pattern is present in the slot, the top line will show the title of
the pattern, and the number of measures in the pattern. The latter is not shown on some of the figures
in this manual, a lack we will ave to rectify someday. Also, these colors are not yet supported in the Qt
user-interface.
A pattern can show a number of different statuses based on the coloring of elements in the pattern
slot.
Figure 30: Various Status of Pattern Slots
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Patterns / Main Panel
Not shown in the figure are the gray pattern colors resulting from queuing and one-shot queuing, nor
is the number-of-measures number shown. The colors have meaning (in the Gtkmm user-interface only):
• Empty background. Whether the classic gray pattern of Seq24, or the many patterns of Sequencer64, including all black with yellow sequence numbers, this slot coloring indicates that the
slot is unused.
• White background. Unarmed (muted) patterns show black text on a white background.
• Black background. Armed (unmuted) pattern. If the text is yellow, it is a pattern with no MIDI
events, but is armed. Note that armed/unmuted patterns can be exported if they have a layout in
the Song Editor.
• Yellow background. A pattern with no MIDI events, just textual MIDI information. If armed
(uselessly), it is yellow text on a black background (not shown).
• Cyan background, black text. An unarmed pattern currently being edited in a Pattern Editor
or event editor. Or, if an SMF 0 MIDI file was just opened or imported, this color combination
indicates the SMF 0 format track with all of the data in the song, which only occurs in slot 16
(unless the user then dragged it to another slot).
• Black background, cyan text. An armed pattern currently being edited in a Pattern Editor
or event editor. Or an armed SMF 0 format MIDI sequence.
• Red events. Indicates a pattern for which the new transpose feature is disabled. The white, black,
and cyan background have the same meanings as in the other items for statuses of unarmed, armed,
and currently being edited.
As of version 0.95, the user can also apply coloring to each sequence. This feature was adopted from
Kepler34 ([9]). Here is the new pattern menu for sequence color:
Figure 31: Sequence/Pattern Color Menu
Here is a sample of the coloration as it appears in the patterns panel and in the song editor:
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Patterns / Main Panel
Figure 32: Sequence/Pattern Coloration
Right-click on an empty box one brings up a menu to create a new loop, as well as some other
operations:
Figure 33: Empty Pattern, Right-Click Menu
1. New
2. Paste
3. Song
•
•
•
•
Mute All Tracks
Unmute All Tracks
Toggle All Tracks
Toggle Live Tracks
This menu entry is quite different for the Qt user-interface. See section 13.1.1 ”Qt 5 Live Slot Menu”
on page 147.
1. New.
Creates a new loop or pattern. Clicking this menu entry fills in the empty box with an
untitled pattern, and brings up the Pattern Editor so that one can fill in the new pattern.
In addition to right-click and select New, the user can double-click on the empty slot, to bring up
a new instance of the sequence editor. For the double-click, the effect can be a bit confusing at first,
because it also toggles the arming/mute status of the slot quickly twice (leaving it as it was). It takes
some getting used to, but we miss it when using Seq24.
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Patterns / Main Panel
A nice feature is hitting the equals (”=”) key, then hitting a pattern shortcut key (hot-key), to bring
up a new sequence or edit an existing one in a Pattern Editor . Another feature is hitting the minus
(”-”) key, then the hot-key, to bring up the Event Editor. The configuration file settings for the the ’=’
and ’-’ keys can be altering in the File / Options / Keyboard tab.
When an unarmed (muted) pattern is first brough up for sequence editing (or event editing), the slot
in the main window is now highlighted (Gtkmm only), using black text on a cyan background, as being
the ”currently-edited” slot. (This is the same background used to indicate the original track in an SMF
0 to SMF 1 conversion.)
Figure 34: Currently-Edited Pattern, Unarmed
If the currently-edited sequence is armed (unmuted), then the highlighting is reversed (cyan text on
a black background), and resembles the highlighting for an armed sequence (which is white text on a
black background).
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Figure 35: Currently-Edited Pattern, Armed
If more than one sequence or Event Editor is brought up, only the slot for the last one to have
focus is hightlighted. Note that this highlighting also applies to the Event Editor.
2. Paste. Pastes a loop or pattern that was previously copied. Also note that there is no Ctrl-V key
for this operation in the main window.
3. Song. The Song items are described later, in reference to Figure 38 ”Existing Pattern, Right-Click
Menu, Song” on page 48.
3.2.2
Pattern
A filled pattern slot is referred to as a pattern (or loop, or sequence). A pattern is shown in the Pattern
window as a filled box with the following items of information in it. Examine Figure 29 ”Patterns Panel,
Main Panel Items” on page 40; it shows these items annotated for clarity.
• Name. This line contains the name or title of the pattern, to help reference it when juggling a
number of patters.
• Pattern Length. If the option to show pattern hot-key is enabled, the length of the pattern,
in measures, is shown in the upper right corner of the pattern slot. This feature is useful when
recording tempo events that will increase the length of the tempo track.
• Contents. The contents of the pattern provide a fairly detailed and distinguishable representation
of the notes or events in the pattern. Also, when the song is playing, a vertical bar cursor tracks
the position of the playback of the pattern or loop; it returns to the beginning of the box every
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
3.2
Patterns / Main Panel
time that pattern starts over again. With Sequencer64, an imported empty pattern will no longer
needlessly scroll. However, if a pattern has even a single event (say, a program change), it will scroll.
Sequence Number. If the option to show the sequencer number is set in the File / Options /
Keyboard section (see section 2.2.8.3 ”Menu / File / Options / Keyboard” on page 23, the this
number is shown at the bottom left of the pattern slot.
Bus-Channel. This pair of numbers shows the the MIDI buss number, a dash, and the MIDI
channel number. For example, ”0-2” means MIDI buss 0, channel 2.
Beat. This pair of numbers is the standard time-signature of the pattern, such as ”4/4” or ”3/4”.
The first number is the beats-per-measure, and the second is the size of the beat, here, a quarter
note.
Shortcut Key. If the display of hot-keys is enabled (see section 2.2.8.3 ”Menu / File / Options /
Keyboard” on page 23), then the key noted in the lower-right corner of the pattern can be pressed
to toggle the mute/unmute status of that pattern. This action is an alternative to left-click on the
pattern.
Progress Cursor. At the left of each box is a vertical line, waiting for playback to start so that it
can move through the pattern, again and again.
Armed. See Figure 29 ”Patterns Panel, Main Panel Items” on page 40; it shows a black and white
pattern. The black color indicates that the pattern is armed (unmuted), and will play if playback
is initiated in the pattern window in live mode. An item is armed/disarmed by a left-click on it. If
the Shift key is held during a left-click on a pattern, then the armed/unarmed state of every other
active pattern is toggled. This feature is useful for isolating a single track or pattern.
Queued. That same pattern also shows that it is queued, which means that it will toggle its playing
status when the pattern next begins again.
Alternate font. Later builds of Sequencer64 are now built with a new font. See Figure 29
”Patterns Panel, Main Panel Items” on page 40. It shows the new font. The old font can be
selected in the ”user” configuration file, and is also selected automatically if Sequencer64 is run in
the legacy mode.
Sequence number. Later builds of Sequencer64 are now built with the option to also show the
sequence number in the pattern box, if the ”show sequence numbers” option is on. This option
can be set in the ”user” configuration file. See Figure 29 ”Patterns Panel, Main Panel Items” on
page 40. It shows an example of the sequence number, using the new font.
Left-click on an filled pattern box will toggle the status of the pattern between muted (white background) and unmuted (black background). If the song is playing via the main window, toggling this status
makes the pattern stop playing or start playing. The armed status can also be toggled using hot-keys.
If the Song Editor is the active window and was used to start the playback, the pattern boxes will
toggle between the muted/unmuted states as the music plays, and the pattern is active or inactive at the
point of playback. (The Song Editor acts as a list of triggers).
A right-click on an already-filled box brings up a menu to allow one to edit it, or perform a few other
actions specified in the context menu. Here is that menu:
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
3.2
Patterns / Main Panel
Figure 36: Existing Pattern, Right-Click Menus, Gtkmm and Qt Versions
Here one can choose to edit the pattern, cut and copy the pattern, set the MIDI bus/channel, and
more. One can also clear all performance (song) data for the pattern. Here are the Gtkmm menu entries:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Edit...
Event Edit...
Cut
Copy
Song
Color
Disable/Enable Transpose
MIDI Bus
The Qt menu entries are different and more extensive:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
New pattern
Extern live frame
Edit pattern in tab
Edit pattern in window
Edit events in tab
Set pattern color
Copy pattern
Cut pattern
Delete pattern
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See section 13.1.1 ”Qt 5 Live Slot Menu” on page 147. It describes these additional items and how
the Qt user-interface works. The next sections describe the Gtkmm-accessible functions.
1. Edit.... Edits an existing loop or pattern. Clicking this menu entry brings up the Pattern Editor
so that one can modify the existing pattern by click-dragging new notes in a piano roll user-interface. See
Figure 48 ”Pattern Edit Window” on page 57. Also known as the ”sequence editor”.
In addition to right-click and selecting Edit..., the user can double-click on the slot, to bring up the
Pattern Editor.
Another way to bring up a pattern in the Pattern Editor is to click the equal key and then the
pattern’s hot-key. For example, ”=q” will open up the editor for the pattern with the hot-key q. The
Equals key (=) is the default key that does this action. This key can be changed by modifying the File
/ Options / Keyboard / Control keys / Pattern Edit item.
2. Event Edit.... Edits an existing loop or pattern, but using a detailed Event Editor that shows
events as text and numbers, and allows editing them as text and numbers. See Figure 48 ”Pattern Edit
Window” on page 57.
Another way to bring up the Event Editor is to click the minus key and then the pattern’s hot-key.
For example, ”-q” will open up the Event Editor for that pattern. The Minus key (-) is the default
key that does this action. This key can be changed by modifying the File / Options / Keyboard /
Control keys / Event Edit item.
The Event Editor is not the same as the event pane in the pattern editor; the Event Editor
shows all events at once, and shows them only in text/list format. This editor is basic, meant for viewing
MIDI events and making some minor edits or deletes. The Event Editor is most useful when trying
to find events that are screwing up the performance of that pattern. See section 6 ”Event Editor” on
page 85, for more information.
To simplify the application and avoid editing a pattern in two different dialogs, if either the Pattern
Editor or the Event Editor is active for a given sequence, the right-click sequence-slot menu leaves out
the Edit... and Event Edit... menu entries. This trimmed menu looks like this:
Figure 37: Existing Pattern, Right-Click Menu Without Edit Entries
The old functionality was to have the Edit... menu entry simply raise the existing Pattern Editor
to the top of the windows.
3. Cut.
Deletes and copies an existing loop or pattern. One can also drag-and-drop a pattern into
another cell (there is no outline box during the drag, sadly). Note that there is no Ctrl-X key for this
operation in the main window.
4. Copy. Copies an existing loop or pattern. The pattern can then be pasted elsewhere in the Patterns
panel. One can also drag-and-drop a pattern into another cell (there is no outline box during the drag).
See section 3.2.1 ”Pattern Slot” on page 40. Note that there is no Ctrl-C key for this operation in the
live (main) window.
5. Song.
Clicking this menu entry brings up a small popup menu:
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
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Patterns / Main Panel
Figure 38: Existing Pattern, Right-Click Menu, Song
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Clear This Track’s Song Data
Mute All Tracks
Unmute All Tracks
Toggle All Tracks
Toggle Live Tracks
Clear This Track’s Song Data This item is not available if the pattern is empty. Selecting this
filled-box right-click menu item causes that box’s loop/pattern to be removed from the song editor. The
triggers disappear from the Song Editor window, and so will not be played when the song plays in Song
mode.
Song / Mute All Tracks Selecting this filled-box right-click menu item causes the tracks in the
Song Editor to be muted. Sometime it takes a few seconds for the user-interfaces to show this big change.
This item mutes all tracks (or loops/patterns). It works when one has opened the Song Editor window
and started playing in playback mode by starting play using that window.
So, let us assume the song is running in live (playback) mode. The patterns that are active (unmuted)
in the live window are shown with a black background in the main patterns window. If one right clicks
on a pattern cell and selects Song / Mute All Tracks, all those patterns will become white and be
silenced. Eventually, the Song Editor window catches up and shows the ”M” activated for all tracks.
Unmute All Tracks Provides the opposite functionality, making all tracks armed and audible.
Selecting this filled-box right-click menu item causes the tracks in the song to be unmuted.
Toggle All Tracks Toggles the armed/mute status of all tracks. It doesn’t matter if Live or Song
Mode is in force. By default, the F8 key will also toggle all tracks.
Note that there is also a feature where a Shift-Left-Click on a pattern slot toggles the mute status
of the other tracks.
Toggle Live Tracks Toggles the mute status of only the armed/unmuted tracks when in Live mode.
Works only in Live mode. This operation unmutes all tracks that are currently unmuted. The statuses of
these armed tracks are saved; when this operation is performed again, those tracks are unmuted, turned
back on. This menu entry provides the same function as the Mute button in the main window.
6. Color. This menu item allows for specifying colors for the patterns. Colors can make it easier to
find a pattern while running live. Note that there are some minor issues with colors, and that this feature
is still in flux.
7. Enable/Disable Transpose.
This menu entry changes depending upon whether the new
transpose feature is enabled or disabled for the sequence/pattern. Note that, if the events shown in the
slot are red, this denotes that transpose is currently disabled for that pattern, which might be a drum
pattern.
8. MIDI Bus.
Selecting this filled-box right-click menu item brings up a list of the up to 16 MIDI
output busses that Sequencer64 supports. For each of these buss items, another pop-up menu allows one
to specify the MIDI output channel for that buss.
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Patterns / Main Panel
Figure 39: Existing Pattern Right-Click Menu, MIDI Output Busses/Channels
Another way to specify busses is the --buss n command-line option. It causes every pattern in the
MIDI file to be directed to that buss number, and when a new sequence/pattern is created. This option
is only for convenience in testing. Save the file, and it will have that buss number as part of each track’s
data, which makes the song file less portable, so be careful.
3.2.3
Pattern Keys and Click
This section recapitulates all the clicks and keys that perform actions in the Pattern windows. Some
additional clicks and keys are noted here as well.
3.2.3.1
Pattern Keys
Each pattern in the patterns panel can have a hot-key or shortcut-key associated with it.
For each pattern, hitting its assigned hot-key will also toggle its status between muted/unmuted
(armed/unarmed). Below is the default grid that is mapped to the loops/patterns on the screen-set.
This grid can be changed in the File / Options / Keyboard tab, and is saved in the keyboard-control
section of the ”rc” file.
[
[
[
[
1
q
a
z
][
][
][
][
2
w
s
x
][
][
][
][
3
e
d
c
][
][
][
][
4
r
f
v
][
][
][
][
5
t
g
b
][
][
][
][
6
y
h
n
][
][
][
][
7
u
j
m
][
][
][
][
8
i
k
,
]
]
]
]
These characters are shown in the lower right corner of each pattern, as an aid to memory.
A ”shift” functionality is available for the mute/unmute hot-keys when a set is larger than 32 patterns.
Normally, pressing the 1 key will toggle sequence 0. If preceded by one slash key (/), then sequence 32
will be toggled. If preceded by two slash keys, then sequence 64 will be toggled. This features supports
using set sizes of 32, 64, and 96 patterns.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
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Patterns / Main Panel
Figure 40: Patterns Panel, Shift-Key Pattern Toggle
This figure shows how one presses y, /y, and //y to arm three patterns in this 96-pattern set.
The ”[” and ”]” keys on the keyboard decrement or increment the set number.
The left and right Alt keys are, by default, set up in the File / Options / Keyboard / Snapshot
1 and Snapshot 2 fields to be used as ”snapshot” keys. Our preference is to use something that does
not trigger desktop commands, perhaps ”F11” or ”F12”, or one of the keys in the keypad.
When a snapshot key is pressed, the state of the patterns (armed versus unarmed) is saved. While
the snapshot key is held, one can then change the state of the patterns (using the keyboard, not the
mouse) to change how the song plays. When the snapshot key is released, the original saved state of the
patterns is restored.
Holding the ”queue” key and then hitting a pattern hot-key will queue an on/off toggle for a pattern
when the end of the loop is reached. This is the ”queue” functionality. This means that the change
in state of the pattern will not take hold immediately, but will kick in when the pattern restarts. This
pending state is indicated by coloring the central box of the pattern grey, as shown in the figure below.
Please note the ”keep queue” functionality and the ”one-shot queue” functionality described below.
Figure 41: Pattern Coloration when Queued
This figure shows the coloring for queuing in the top two patterns with dark grey event backgrounds.
At the end of the pattern, the left top pattern will turn off, and the right top pattern will turn on.
The bottom two patterns show the light-grey coloring used to show a ”one-shot” queue. The one-shot
queue can only turn a pattern on, and it will force the pattern off after one play. Queue also works for
mute/unmute pattern sets (”groups”); in this case, every sequence will toggle its status after its individual
loop ends.
We do not recommend using Ctrl or Alt keys for pattern control. They conflict with application
or desktop settings. However, if one insists on such hot-key combinations, use the Menu button in the
main window to disable the menu. One can also use normal keys to enable queuing. For example, the
minus key or the keypad’s slash key can be used.
Pressing the ”keep queue” hot-key assigned in the ”rc” file activates a ”sticky” queue mode. In
this mode, pressing a pattern key immediately turns on queuing, instead of mute/unmute. And multiple
patterns can be handled in this way at the same time. Keep-queue persists until one clicks the normal
queue function hot-key, or changes the active (viewed) screen-set. “Keep queue” mode is cancelled by
pressing the normal queue hot-key. This hot-key can be changed in the File / Options / Keyboard /
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Patterns / Main Panel
Keep queue field. There is also a Q button for the same purpose. Also note the ”queued replace/solo”
functionality, described a bit later.
Thanks to Kepler34, we have ”one-shot queue” functionality. This one-shot setup queues a pattern
up for unmuting only, and, once the pattern has played, it is automatically muted. This process is easier
than having to unqueue the pattern manually before the next playback. This hot-key can be changed in
the File / Options / Ext Keys / One-shot queue field.
The ”replace” hot-key (the left Ctrl key by default, which should be changed to something better),
sets a form of muting/unmuting. When the ”replace” hot-key is pressed and held while clicking a pattern
or pressing that pattern’s hot-key, that sequence is unmuted, and all of the other sequences are muted.
”Replace” is a form of ”solo”. ”Replace” is also implemented via MIDI control, where the MIDI control
can be activated, but then the user has to select the desired sequence.
Sequencer64 provides an extension to the replace/solo functionality that is called ”queued-replace”
or ”queued-solo”. In this feature, when the ”keep queue” function is activated, the replace function is
queued so that it does not occur until the next time the patterns loop. And queued-replace provides a
form of snapshot, limited to the current screen-set. Here are the steps:
1. Start playback with some patterns on.
2. Press and release the ”keep queue” hot-key. This puts the application into ”queue” mode. It is
indicated via a ”Q” button.
3. Press and hold the ”replace” hot-key.
4. Click the desired pattern hot-key. Observe that it arms or stays on, and that the other playing
patterns show the ”queued” color (grey). At the end of the loop, they turn off, and the ”replace”
pattern is now solo.
5. Click the same pattern hot-key again. Observe that the other patterns that were toggled off are
now queued to be toggled on at the next loop. Steps 4 and 5 can be repeated endlessly.
6. To end the ”queued-replace” mode, click the normal ”queue” hot-key. Also, changing the active
screen-set ends ”queue-replace” mode. It does not end normal queue mode, to preserve the behavior
found in Seq24. One needs to clear the queue mode in order to select another pattern to solo.
Figure 42: Queued-Replace (Queued-Solo) In Action
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
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Patterns / Bottom Panel
Before pressing the ”keep queue” key, patterns 33 (”q”) and 34 (”a”) are unmuted, while the desired
replace pattern, 32 (”1”) is off. Then the user presses (and holds) the ”replace” key, then clicks the ”1”
key. This puts all unmuted patterns, plus the muted replace pattern as well, into queue mode, as shown
by the grey panels. When the progress bar reaches the end of the pattern, pattern 32 will go on, and
patterns 33 and 34 will go off. If the replace-pattern is already on, it is not queued, as there’s no need to
turn it on.
If, while in queue mode, the replace key is held and ”1” is pressed again, the other patterns will
be queued, and will turn on again. Thus, the solo status of the replace pattern can be toggled at will,
until queue mode is exited by pressing and releasing the normal ”queue” key. If the replace key is not
held down, and another pattern’s replace hot-key is pressed, that pattern will be queued normally. If
one wants to change the solo functionality to a different pattern, simple hold the replace key and click
on a different pattern. The new arrangement of soloing is memorized. One can clear the queue mode by
pressing the normal queue key.
There are more keys defined in the Keyboard dialog, and it is worth figuring out what they do, if
not documented here. For a couple of short, but good, video tutorials about using arming, queuing, and
snapshots, see references [35] and [36].
There is a truer ”Solo” functionality in the Patterns Panel and the Song Editor. To ”solo” a pattern,
move the mouse cursor over the pattern, hold the Shift key, and left-click the pattern. This will turn off
all the other patterns, so that the selected pattern ins the only one playing. Holding the Shift key and
clicking the same pattern again will unmute all of the other patterns.
3.2.3.2
Pattern Clicks
Left-click on a pattern-filled box will change its state from muted (white background) to playing (black
background), whether the sequencer is playing or not.
Left-click-hold-drag on a pattern, drags it to a different pattern on the grid. The box disappears
while dragged, and reappears in the new location when dropped. However, a pattern cannot be dragged
if its Pattern Editor window is open.
Right-click on a pattern brings up the appropriate context menus, as discussed earlier, depending on
whether the pattern box is empty or filled.
Middle-click does nothing when the mouse rests inside a pattern box.
3.3
Patterns / Bottom Panel
The bottom panel of the Patterns window provides way to control the overall playback of the song. It
has changed quite a bit over the last few versions of Sequencer64, and we have not yet caught up with
the diagrams. And the Qt user-interface adds more changes. Refer to the diagram of the whole window,
for now.
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Patterns / Bottom Panel
Figure 43: Patterns Panel, Bottom Panel Items
This figure shows a number of new items.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Panic!
Stop
Play and Pause
Song Record
Song Record Snap
BPM
Tap Tempo
Log Tempo
Record Tempo
Keep-Queue Status
Name
Set
Toggle Song Editor
1. Panic!.
This new button stops the song and sends MIDI Off messages on all notes.
2. Stop.
The red square button stops the playback of the song and all its patterns. The keystroke
for stopping playback is the Escape character. It can be changed to Space, so that the space-bar then
becomes effectively a playback toggle key.
3. Play and Pause.
The green triangular button starts the playback of the whole song. The
keystroke for starting playback is the Space character by default.
The Play button can be used as a Pause button. When the Play button is clicked, the button icon
changes to a Pause icon:
Figure 44: Patterns Panel, Pause Button
A Pause key (by default, the period) is also defined.
4. Song Record. Song-recording in Sequencer64 is adopted from the Kepler34 project. This feature
takes live muting changes and records them as triggers in the Song Editor. The default hot-key for this
function is P. This feature does not honor queuing... rather than waiting until the end of the pattern
when the queuing takes effect, the trigger recording starts immediately.
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Patterns / Bottom Panel
5. Song Record Snap. This button toggles snapping the beginning and end of a recorded trigger to
the nearest beat. There is no hot-key for this button at this time.
6. BPM. The spin widget adjusts the ”beats per minute” (BPM) value. The range of this field is from
1 bpm to 600 bpm, with a default value of 120 bpm. Although this field looks editable, it is not. Most
keystrokes that are entered actually toggle one of the pattern boxes. However, the following keys can also
modify the BPM in small increments: The semicolon reduces the BPM; The apostrophe increases the
BPM. Also, if one right-clicks on the Up button, the BPM advances to its largest supported value, and if
one right-clicks on the Down button, the BPM advances to its lowest value. MIDI control for this value
is also available.
The precision of the BPM value can be set to 0, 1, or 2 decimal places, and the increment values
for the step size (small) or page size (large) of the BPM spinner can be configured in the ”usr” file. See
section 11.4 ””usr” File / User MIDI Settings” on page 137; it describes the precision and increment
options more fully. The following figure shows the appearance of the BPM field with different precision
values:
Figure 45: Patterns Panel, BPM Precisions
7. Tap Tempo. This control is clicked in time with a tune, to set the tempo based on the tempo of
the clicks. Once clicked, the label of this button increments with every click, and the BPM field updates
to display the calculated tempo. If the user stops tapping for 5 seconds, the label reverts to 0, the BPM
value keeps its final value, and the user can try tapping the tempo again, or accept the current value.
Tapping can also be done using the keystroke defined in File / Options / Ext Keys / Tap BPM. It
defaults to the ”F9” key.
8. Log Tempo.
This light-magenta button (Gtkmm only), logs the current tempo at the current
playback spot as a Set Tempo meta-event, in the first track (pattern slot #0) or the alternate tempo track
if defined, and only if it is active. According to the MIDI standard, such events should be present only
in the first track, and so Sequencer64 follows this rule, and also makes tempo events officially supported.
They can be edited in the Pattern Editor or in the Event Editor. The main/global tempo is not
written to the tempo track; it is stored in a SeqSpec section. See section 9 ”Sequencer64 Meta Event /
SysEx Support” on page 99, for more information.
9. Record Tempo. This dark-magenta button (Gtkmm only) becomes light-magenta when activated,
and turns on the recording of any tempo changes made in the BPM spinner. If the spinner is held down,
a ramping stream of tempo events is created. If the time exceeds the current length of the tempo track,
then the length of the track is automatically increased. These tempo events will not affect playback speed
unless the tempo track is unmuted.
10. Keep-Queue Status. This item is the Q button. It provides a visual way to know the current
state of keep-queue, and is activated either by clicking on it or by pressing the assigned keep-queue key.
11. Name.
Each of the 32 available screen-sets can be given a name by entering it into this field.
This name is saved with the MIDI file.
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3.4
Patterns / Multiple Panels
12. Set.
This spin widget selects the current screen-set. The values in this field range from 0 to 31
(less if the set-size is a larger value), and default to 0.
13. Toggle Song Editor. Pressing this button toggles the presence on-screen of the Song Editor.
The Ctrl-E keystroke can also be used.
3.4
Patterns / Multiple Panels
Sequencer64 has a ”multiwid” option, which allows for multiple live panels showing more than one set at
a time. The default is to show the usual single ”mainwid”. In the Qt user-interface, multiple live panels
in separate windows can be opened.
Figure 46: Patterns Panel, with Multiple Panels
In the Gtkmm user-interface, either one spinner for all, or one spinner for each, is available. The
latter is the ”independent” mode. Note that it is possible, in this mode, to show the same set in two
different ”mainwids”, but this is not recommended, as there may be minor unavoidable issues with that.
Note that Page Up and Page Down keystrokes, as well as their configurable counterparts in File /
Options / Keyboard / Control Keys / Screenset Up and Screenset Down, apply only to the top
leftmost ”mainwid”. Of course, if the ”mainwids” are synced, then all are affected by these keystrokes.
In multi-wid mode, each ”mainwid” frame shows the corresponding set number and, if present, the
set notepad text for each ”mainwid” set.
See section 14 ”Sequencer64 Man Page” on page 155, for how the -o wid=3x2,i option can be used
to set this mode, and section 11.3 ””usr” File / User Interface Settings” on page 132, for how these
settings can be made permanent in the ”usr” file. In that file, the options modified are block rows and
block columns.
3.5
Patterns / Variable Set Size
This option, informally known as ”variset”, allow some changes in the set size and layout from the default
4x8 = 32 sets layout. The row count can be set from 4 to 8, and the column count can be set to 8 to 12.
Note that the set size can only be increased by these settings.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
Warning: seq24 was fairly hardwired for supporting 32 patterns per set, and there are still places
where that is true. Thus, consider this option to be experimental.
Also see section 14 ”Sequencer64 Man Page” on page 155, for how the -o sets=8x8 option can be
used to set this mode, and section 11.3 ””usr” File / User Interface Settings” on page 132, for how these
settings can be made permanent in the ”usr” file. In that file, the options modified are mainwnd rows
and mainwnd cols.
Figure 47: Patterns Panel, 8 x 8 Layout
Generally, it is recommend to stick with the 4x8 (32 patterns/set), 8x8 (64 patterns/set), and 8x12
(96 patterns/set). This works best with the existing set of 32 hot-keys.
Also note that the Qt 5 user-interface also supports ”variset”, whether in the main window or in the
external live-frame. In addition, both Qt windows can be resized and still show good renditions of the
pattern-slots.
4
Pattern Editor
The Sequencer64 Pattern Editor is used to edit and preview a pattern, as well as to configure its buss and
channel settings. Please note that the Qt 5 user-interface (which will eventually supercede the Gtkmm-2.4
user-interface) provides an Edit Tab, which has limited functionality, and an external window interface,
which is on par with the Gtkmm-2.4 version.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
4.1
Pattern Editor / First Panel
Figure 48: Pattern Edit Window
This dialog is complex. For exposition, we break it into some common actions, a first panel, a second
panel, a bottom panel, and a piano-roll/events section.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
First Panel
Second Panel
Piano-Roll/Events Panel
Bottom Panel
Common Actions
Before we describe this window, there are some things to recognize. First, if the pattern is empty
when play is started, the progress bar will still move, that the user can key in new notes. Second, to
add a note, one must press the right mouse button (the pointer changes to a pencil) and, while holding
it, press the left mouse button. Or click in the pattern editor, press the p key to select the ”pencil” or
”paint” mode, then left-click to add a note or left-click-drag to add multiple notes as the mouse moves.
Press or release the right mouse button, or press x to ”eXit” or ”eXscape” from paint mode. Third, notes
are drawn only with the length selected by the ”notes” button near the top of the pattern window. There
are tricks to modifying the new notes that are described later.
Sequencer64 automatically scrolls horizontally through the sequence/pattern editor window when
playback moves the progress bar outside of the current frame of data. This feature makes it easier to
follow patterns that are longer than a measure or two.
Sequencer64 also provides a way to restart the progress bar within the pattern without resetting it
to the beginning of the pattern. This ”pause” feature is accessed by the pause key (which defaults to the
period character) or by the pause button, which appears when playback is underway.
4.1
Pattern Editor / First Panel
The top bar (horizontal panel) of the Pattern (sequence) Editor lets one change the name of the pattern,
the time signature of the piece, how long the loop is, and some other configuration items.
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Pattern Editor / First Panel
Figure 49: Pattern Editor, First Panel Items
In recent versions of Sequencer64, a ”sequence-is-transposable” feature has been added, as shown
above.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Pattern Number (not shown)
Pattern Name
Beats Per Bar
Beat Unit (Beat Width)
Pattern Length
Transposable (toggle)
MIDI Out Device
MIDI Out Port
1. Pattern Number.
This item shows the sequence/track/pattern/loop number, to make it easier
to pick it out when a lot of patterns are being edited at once.
2. Pattern Name.
Provides the name of the pattern. This name should be short and memorable.
It is displayed in the Patterns window, on the top line of its pattern box/slot. There is no edit cursor in
this field (not sure why yet), so one has to edit blind.
3. Beats Per Bar.
Specifies the number of beat units per bar in the time signature. The possible
values range from 1 to 16, if the drop-down menu is used. The numeric value can be directly edited, to
achieve non-standard values, thanks to an update from Jean-Emmanuel. But be careful!
4. Beat Unit (Beat Width).
Specifies the size of the bottom beat unit of the time signature: 1
for whole notes; 2 for half notes; 4 for quarter notes; 8 for eight notes; 16 for sixteenth notes; and 32 for
thirty-second notes. The whole time signature is display at the bottom center of a pattern slot.
5. Pattern Length. Sets the length of the current pattern, in measures. The possible values range
from 1 to 64. However, when opening or importing a non-Sequencer64 MIDI tune, the length of each
track will be used, and so other values are possible; they just cannot be set via the user-interface. The
numeric value can be directly edited, to achieve non-standard values, thanks again to Jean-Emmanuel.
Bringing up a short pattern (one less than one measure or bar in length) in the pattern editor will
adjust the pattern to pad it to the length of one measure. Sequencer64 will, when it reads such a short
pattern from a MIDI file, pre-pad it to the length of a measure, so that it will always show smooth
progress. For example, a pattern containing just one program change will be padded to the size of a full
measure.
It would be nice to have a value that represents ”indefinite”, so that the loop or pattern would be
more like a track, and not be repeatable. We have part of that functionality: a feature from user Stazed
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Pattern Editor / Second Panel
allows the pattern to expand indefinitely while the user inputs MIDI from a controller. See section 4.4
”Pattern Editor / Bottom Panel” on page 73below. (Also nice would be a ”one-shot” pattern, useful for
live intro patterns, for example.)
6. Transpose Toggle.
This setting allows the sequence to be transposed by the global transpose
selection made in the song editor. If transpose is enabled for that pattern, the button will be highlighted
as per the current desktop theme. Patterns for drums should, in general, not be transposable.
7. MIDI Out Device (Buss). This setting specifies one of the 16 MIDI output busses provided by
Sequencer64, or one of the MIDI devices set up in the computer. The settings look a lot like Figure 39
”Existing Pattern Right-Click Menu, MIDI Output Busses/Channels” on page 49.
8. MIDI Out Port (Channel). This settings select the MIDI output channel, or port. The possible
values range from 1 to 16. If instruments are defined in the ”user” configuration file to that device and
channel, their names will be shown.
4.2
Pattern Editor / Second Panel
The second horizontal panel of the Pattern Editor provides a number of additional settings.
Figure 50: Pattern Editor, Second Panel Items
There is a new button to the right of the Tools (”hammer” button). This button toggles the ”follow
progress” feature; it is the active button in the diagram above.
Sequencer64 includes a chord-generation option.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Undo
Redo
Quantize Selection
Tools
Follow Progress (new)
Grid Snap
Note Length
Zoom
Key of Sequence
Musical Scale
Background Sequence
Chord Generation
1. Undo. The Undo button rolls back any changes to the pattern from this session. It will roll back
one change each time pressed. It is not certain what the undo limit (if any) is, however. Pressing Ctrl-Z
is the same as using the Undo button.
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2. Redo. The Redo button will restore any undone changes to the pattern from this session. It will
restore one change each time it is pressed. It is not certain what the redo limit is, however.
3. Quantize Selection.
4. Tools.
This button quantizes the selected events as per the Grid Snap setting.
This button brings up a nested menu of tools for modifying selected events and notes.
5. Follow Progress.
This button toggles whether or not the progress bar follows progress in long
patterns. Turning off this feature is useful when one wants to concentrate on the current measure without
the paging to subsequent measures that occurs with the ”follow progess” feature.
Figure 51: Tools, Context Menu
1. Select
2. Modify Time
3. Modify Pitch
Select provides two sets of selections for notes:
• All Notes, which selects all notes in the pattern; Note that Ctrl-A will also select all of the events
in the pattern editor.
• Inverse Notes, which inverts the selection of notes.
Other event-selection actions are provided using the mouse in the piano roll:
• Left Click. Pressing the left button on a note or a event deselects all other notes or events, and
selects the item clicked on.
• Ctrl Left Click. Pressing the Ctrl key and the left button on a note or an unselected event adds
that event to the selection.
• Left Click Drag. Pressing the left mouse button and dragging also lets one select (”lasso”) multiple
events and notes.
• Ctrl Left Click Drag.
– Pressing the Ctrl while left-click-dragging on unselected events lets one make additional selections of multiple events and notes.
– Pressing the Ctrl while left-click-dragging on an already-selected event lets one stretch or
compress the lengths of multiple notes in the selection.
There are many things that can be done with selected notes:
• Modify Event Data offers a way to alter the event data values in the lower pane of the pattern
editor, the ”data pane”. By left-dragging the mouse in the data pane across the value lines that are
shown, the values are chopped or set to the height of the mouse pointer at each event. When notes are
selected, and the mouse is used to change the values (heights) of the lines in the event-data area, only
the events that are selected are changed. The data-values of unselected events are left unchanged. A cool
feature from Seq24.
• Modify Time offers two ways to tweak the timing of the selected note: Quantize Selected
Notes, which quantizes the selected notes, the same way as the Quantize (”Q”) button; Tighten
Selected Notes, which is merely a less strict form of quantization.
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• Modify Pitch has only one entry by default, Transpose Selected (not shown). Selecting the
Transpose Selected entry brings up the following sub-menu:
Figure 52: Tools, Transpose Selected Values
• If the user has selected a Musical Scale setting other than Off, then Modify Pitch has two entries:
Transpose Selected, discussed above, plus another sub-menu, Harmonic Transpose Selected, which
makes sure that all transpositions stay on the selected scale.
Note that one can also modify the pitch of selected notes by the left-click-drag action, or by moving
the selection using the up-arrow or down-arrow keys.
Figure 53: Tools, Two ”Transpose” Menus
Remember that only the Transpose Selected entry is shown if the Musical Scale setting is Off.
Selecting the Harmonic Transpose Selected entry brings up the following sub-menu:
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Figure 54: Tools, Harmonic Transpose Selected Values
Again, the harmonic-transpose option will not be available unless a scale has been selected.
6. Grid Snap. Grid snap selects where the notes will be drawn. The following values are supported:
1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, and 1/128. Additional values are also supported: 1/3, 1/6, 1/12/,
1/24, 1/48, 1/96, and 1/192.
7. Note Length.
Note length determines the duration of the inserted notes. Like the Grid Snap
values, the following values are supported: 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, and 1/128. Additional
values are also supported: 1/3, 1/6, 1/12/, 1/24, 1/48, 1/96, and 1/192.
8. Zoom. Horizontal zoom is the ratio between MIDI pixels and ticks, written as ”pixels:ticks”, where
”ticks” is the ”pulses” in ”PPQN”. For example, 1:4 = 4 ticks per pixel. Supported values are 1:1, 1:2,
1:4, 1:8, 1:16, and 1:32, along with more new values to support higher PPQN tunes: 1:64, 1:128, 1:256,
and 1:512. The default zoom is 2 for the standard PPQN value, 192, but it increases for higher PPQN
values, so that the zoom looks sensible. As the right number (ticks) goes higher, the effect is to zoom out,
and show more of the pattern. In fact, it might be better to list them as ticks (pulses) per pixel. Legacy
stuff.
After a left-click in the piano roll, the z, Z, and 0 can be used to zoom the piano-roll view horizontally.
The z key zooms out (smaller), the Z key zooms in (larger), and the 0 key resets the zoom to the default
value. The horizontal zoom feature also affects the time-line (measures indicator) and the data area.
(Note that the Song Editor, which now has zoom functionality, has a default resolution of 32 pulses
per pixel, so, by default, it has 16 times the resolution of the Pattern Editor.)
9. Key of Sequence.
Selects the desired musical key for the pattern. The following keys are
supported: C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, and B. Changing the Key will also shifts the
marked note-rows for the Musical Scale setting.
The musical key that a sequence/pattern is set to is saved in the MIDI file along with the rest of
the data for the sequence. However, it turns out that a change made to the key, scale, or background
sequence in the pattern editor is saved in that editor, so that opening another sequence will apply the
same settings to that sequence. This is an optional feature, now more rigorously supported, as noted
below.
If the global-sequence feature is enabled, and the user selects a different key, scale, or background
sequence in the pattern editor, then all patterns share the selected key, scale, or background sequence.
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Pattern Editor / Second Panel
Furthermore, these settings are saved in the ”proprietary” section of the MIDI file, where they are available
for all patterns.
If the global-sequence feature is not enabled, and the user selects a different key, scale, or background
sequence in the pattern editor, then only that pattern will use the selected key, scale, or background. The
key, scale, or background sequence change will be saved in the MIDI file only for that pattern, as a
SeqSpec meta event. The global-sequence feature setting can be made in the ”user” configuration file.
10. Musical Scale. Selects the desired scale for the pattern. When a scale is selected, the following
features are supported:
• The notes that are not in the scale are shown as grey in the piano roll, to make it easier to key all
notes in-scale.
• For harmonic transposition, the notes are shifted so that they remain in the selected scale.
• The exact notes that are considered ”in-scale” depend also on the exact value of the Key of
Sequence setting.
The following musical scales are supported:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Off (Chromatic)
Major (Ionian)
Minor (Aeolian)
Harmonic Minor
Melodic Minor
Whole Tone
Blues
Major Pentatonic
Minor Pentatonic
Please let us know of any mistakes in the new scales. Please note that the Melodic Minor scale is
supposed to descend in the same was as the natural Minor scale, but there is no way to support that
trick in Sequencer64.
One can select which Musical Scale and Key the piece is in, and Sequencer64 will grey those keys
on the piano-roll that are not in the selected scale for the selected key. This is purely visual; a user can
still add off-key notes. This effect is shown for the C Major scale in the following figure:
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Pattern Editor / Second Panel
Figure 55: C Major Scale Masking
This feature makes it easier to stay in key while playing and recording. Note that the scale will shift
when a different Key is selected.
The scale that a pattern is set to is now saved in the MIDI file along with the rest of the data for
the pattern. However, a change made to the key, scale, or background pattern in the pattern editor is
saved in the editor, so that opening another pattern will apply the same settings to that pattern. This is
a feature. The feature had some quirks, which are fixed, and it is now optional. The user has the option
of applying the key/scale/background-sequence either globally (all patterns) or locally, per-pattern, with
each pattern holding its key, scale, and background-sequence settings in SeqSpec meta events.
11. Background Sequence.
One can select another pattern to draw on the background to help
with writing corresponding parts. The button brings up a small menu with values of Off and [0]. The 0
is a set number. Sets are numbered from 0 to 31. Additional set numbers appear in the menu for each
set that has data in it. Under the 0 entry, a menu like the following appears:
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Pattern Editor / Second Panel
Figure 56: Sample Background Sequence Values
Once the desired pattern is selected from that list, it appears as dark cyan note bars, along with the
normal notes that are part of the pattern. (Also note the orange selected notes and events in the following
figure.)
Figure 57: Background Sequence Notes
The dark cyan notes shown represent the rhythm pattern that was selected as the background pattern.
The background sequence that shows is saved in the MIDI file along with the rest of the data for
the sequence/pattern. A change made to the key, scale, or background sequence in the pattern editor is
saved in the editor, so that opening another sequence will apply the same settings to that sequence. This
is an optional feature, now supported, as noted earlier.
12. Chord Generation.
The ability to insert chords with one click has been added. This feature
comes from user ”stazed” and his Seq32 project ([26]).
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Pattern Editor / Piano Roll
Figure 58: Chord Generation Menu
The figure shows the menu broken into two pieces. Once a value other than Off is selected, a left-click
in drawing mode will add multiple notes representing the chord created, with the clicked note value as
the base of the chord.
4.3
Pattern Editor / Piano Roll
The piano roll is the center of the pattern/loop/track/sequence editor. It is accompanied by a thin
”event bar” (”event area”, ”event strip”) just below it, and a taller ”data bar” or ”data area” just below
that. While the pattern editor is very similar to note editors in other sequencers, it is a bit different in
feel. A good mouse with 3 or more buttons is practically a necessity for editing (though Sequencer64
is usable with some crummy trackpads common on modern laptops, and with keystrokes.) We tend to
like the Logitech Marble Mouse, an ambidextrous USB trackball. It has four buttons, and we use the
contrib/scripts/marblemouse script to set up the left small button as a middle button. The script
merely makes the following call:
xmodmap -e "pointer = 1 8 3 4 9 6 7 2 5 10 11"
One can page vertically in the piano roll using the Page Up and Page Down keys. One can go to the
top using the Home key, and to the bottom using the End key. One can page left and right in the piano
roll using the Shift Page Up and Shift Page Down keys. One can go to the leftmost position using the
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Pattern Editor / Piano Roll
Home key, and to the rightmost position using the End key, There are more keystrokes to be described
later.
Do not forget the note-step option. If one paints notes with the mouse, the note position advances
with each click. If one paints notes via an external MIDI keyboard, the notes are painted and advanced,
but not previewed. To preview them, click the pass MIDI in to output button to activate so that they
will be passed to the sound generator or software synthesizer.
4.3.1
Pattern Editor / Piano Roll Items
The center of the pattern editor consists of a time panel at the top, a virtual keyboard at the left, a note
grid, a vertical scrollbar, an event panel, and a data panel at the bottom.
Figure 59: Pattern Editor, Piano Roll Items
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Beat
Measure
Virtual Piano Keyboard
Notes
Events
Event Values
1. Beat. The light vertical lines represent the beats defined by the configuration for the pattern. The
even lighter lines between the beats are useful for snapping notes.
2. Measure.
The heavy vertical lines represent the measures defined by the configuration for the
pattern. Also note that the end of the pattern occurs at the end of a measure, and is marked by a blocky
END marker.
3. Virtual Piano Keyboard.
The virtual keyboard is a fairly powerful interface. It shows, by
shadowing, which note on the keyboard will be drawn. It can be played with a mouse, using left-clicks, to
preview a short motif. It can show marks to indicate off-scale notes, to make them easy to avoid. Every
octave, a note letter and octave number are shown, as in ”C4”. If there is a difference scale in force, then
the letter changes to match, as in ”F#5”.
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A right-click anywhere in the virtual keyboard area toggles the display between the octave note
letters and the MIDI note numbers (only every other one is displayed due to space, to avoid cramped
numbering). The following figure shows both views, superimposed for comparison.
Figure 60: Pattern Editor, Virtual Keyboard Number and Note Views
4. Notes. Musical notes are indicated by thick horizontal bars with white centers. Each bar provides
a visual representation of the pitch of a note and the length of a note.
5. Events.
Also known as the ”events pane” or ”events panel”. The narrow (a few pixels high)
events strip shows discrete events, such as Note On and Note Off We recommend not editing or selecting
events in that pane (feel free to disobey), but it is a good way to add events. Either left-click (to add
one event), or left-click-drag horizontally (to add a series of events at the current note resolution.) One
can also left-click in that section, then hit the p key to go into ”paint” mode, and hit the x key to escape
that mode.
6. Event Values.
Also known as the ”data pane” or ”data panel”.
The events values for the currently selected category of events are shown in this window as vertical
lines of a height proportional to the value. These values can be easily modified by left-click-dragging the
mouse past each line, to chop it off at the given value. Easier to try it than explain it. Right-click-drag
also works the same.
4.3.2
Pattern Editor / Event Editing
When we say ”editing” in the context of the piano roll, in part we mean that we will ”draw” or ”paint”
notes. Drawing, modifying, copying, and deleting notes is actually very elegant in Sequencer64 and in
Seq24.
Note that, if only a middle-button is needed, Ctrl-left will simulate that button.
There is a feature to allow the Mod4 (the Super or Windows) key to keep the right-click in force even
after it is released. See 2.2.8.5. Pressing Mod4 before releasing the right-click that allows note-adding,
keeps note-adding in force after the right-click is released. Now notes can be added at will with the left
mouse button. Right-click again to leave the note-adding mode.
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New: Another way to turn on the paint mode has been added. To turn on the paint mode, first
make sure that the piano roll has the keyboard focus by left-clicking in it, then press the p key while in
the pattern editor. This is just like pressing the right mouse button, but the draw/paint mode sticks (as
if the Mod4 mode were in force). To get out of paint mode, press the x key while in the pattern editor, to
”x-scape” (get it? get it?) from the paint mode. These keys also work while the sequence is playing.
The p and x keys also works in the small event strip just above the white data area. The Mod4right-click feature does not yet work in that area of the user-interface, but the p key does.
4.3.2.1
Editing Note Events
The piano roll provides for a quite sophisticated set of note-editing actions. Not only is there a native mouse-interaction mode, but there is a ”fruity” mouse-interaction mode that works more like the
application Fruity Loops, its follow-on FL Studio, and its Linux look-alike, LMMS.
This option is currently not available in the Qt 5 version of Sequencer64. We really want to refactor
the code to be able to completely reconfigure the mouse interface according to any user’s preferences, but
that is currently a low priority.
1. Fruity Mode.
At some point, we will add a section detailing the usage of the ”fruity” mode of
mouse-interaction. For now, section 2.2.8.5 ”Menu / File / Options / Mouse” on page 28, such as it is,
will have to do. Study the following paragraphs carefully, ideally while trying them out in Sequencer64.
2. Enter Draw Mode.
In the note (grid/roll) panel, holding down the right mouse button
will change the cursor to a pencil and put the editor into ”draw” mode, also known as ”note-adding” or
”paint” mode. To exit the draw mode, release the right mouse button, and the cursor will turn back into
an arrow. Another way to enter paint mode is to make sure the piano roll has focus (left click in it), and
then press the p key. To exit the draw mode, press the x key.
3. Add Notes.
If using the mouse, while holding the right mouse button, click the left mouse
button to insert new notes. Many people find this combination strange at first, but once one gets used
to it, it becomes a very fast method of note manipulation. Holding the Mod4 key while releasing the right
button keeps the mouse in draw mode. Note that this click will add a single note, and the length of the
note will be that specified in the note-length setting (e.g. ”1/16”).
To increase the number of notes, keep dragging the mouse (with both buttons held). It can be dragged
rightward, leftward, upward, and downward. Dragging left or right adds new notes, while dragging upward
or downward moves the current note to a different pitch. This is the ”auto-note” feature. Please note that
the auto-note feature does not work with chord-generation. The draw mode has the following features:
• Notes are continually added as the mouse is dragged (”auto-notes”).
• Notes cannot be added past the ”END” marker of the pattern, which marks the Sequence Length
in bars setting.
• As the mouse is dragged while the left button is held in draw mode, notes are either added, or, if
already present at that note-on time, are moved up and down.
• If the draw mode is exited, and entered again, then the original notes will not be altered. Instead,
new ones will be added.
• Notes can be added while the pattern is playing, and will be heard the next time the progress bar
passes over them.
Thus, one can, with some care, draw a nice chorded sequence. Adjustments to it can be made
afterward.
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4. Select Notes. Adjustments can be made to one or more notes by selecting one or more notes, and
then applying one or more special ”selection actions” to the selection.
To select a single note, simply left click on it. The selected note will turn orange.
To select multiple notes, perform a left click drag to form a selection box that intersects (even
partly) the desired notes. Once the mouse is released, all of the desired notes should be orange.
To add more notes to a selection of notes, move to an unselected note and perform a ctrl left click
drag to form a selection box that intersects (even partly) the desired notes. Once the mouse is released,
all of the desired notes should be orange. Be careful! If you ctrl-left-click-drag on an already-selected
note, the drag will change the length of all of the notes in the selection.
Pressing the Ctrl-A key will select all of the events in the pattern editor.
The Tools button described in section 4.2 ”Pattern Editor / Second Panel” on page 59can also be
used to modify selections.
Once one or more notes are selected, they can be modified in time, pitch, or length.
5. Deselect Notes.
To deselect the notes, click somewhere else in the piano roll, and the notes
should change back to white. There is no way to deselect a single note, with, say, a shift-click or ctrl-click
action.
6. Move Notes in Pitch. To move notes in pitch, once selected, grab one of the notes in the selection
and drag it upward or downward. Also, since a selection is in force, the Up and Down arrow keys can
also be used to change the pitch of every note in the selection. The smallest unit of pitch change is one
MIDI note value.
Warning: If one moves the selection too low or too high in pitch, whether with the mouse or the
arrow keys, any notes that go below the lowest MIDI pitch or above the highest MIDI pitch will be lost!
If done using the mouse, the undo feature (Ctrl-z) will work. If done using the arrow keys, the undo
feature does not work! Be careful, especially if you have a fast keyboard repeat rate!
7. Move Notes in Time. To move notes in time, once selected, grab one of the notes in the selection
and drag it leftward or rightward. New: Also, since a selection is in force, the Left and Right arrow
keys can also be used to change the time of every note in the selection. The smallest unit of time change
is the Grid snap value, which might be a 16th note, for example.
Note that there is no possibility of note loss with a change in time. When a note disappears at one
end of the pattern boundary, it wraps around to the other end. Cool.
8. Change Note Length.
Pressing the middle mouse button or pressing the ctrl left mouse
button in tandem, while the pointer is hovered over a selected note, will let one change the length of a
selected note. If more than one note is selected, then the length of all selected notes is changed.
Once a selection of notes is made, one can use the shift-middle-click-drag or ctrl-left-click-drag sequence over the selected notes to draw a box beyond the extent of the notes. When the mouse is released,
each of the events is moved and lengthed to be proportionally longer to fit exactly within the box one
drew. This feature is called event stretch. If the box that was drawn was shorter than the original extent
of the notes, then the notes move and shrink proportionally to occupy the smaller box. This feature is
called event compression.
Warning: Reducing or increasing the length of a note selection by too much causes the note or notes
to ”wrap-around” to the end of the pattern boundary and grow more from the beginning of the sequence.
It is not clear if this new note has an ending time that is less than its beginning time. If it happens, one
probably ought to undo it.
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9. Copy/Paste. Copying, cutting, and pasting is supported by selecting a number of events or notes,
and using the Cut (Ctrl-X), Copy (Ctrl-C), Paste (Ctrl-V), and ”drop” (Enter) keys. When the
notes are selected, one can delete them with the Delete or Backspace key. If the events are cut, using
the Ctrl-X key, then they can be pasted, using the Ctrl-V key. However, once Ctrl-V is struck, then
one must move the mouse pointer to see where to paste the events, or move it with the arrow keys. An
orange box representing the selected-and-copied notes appears, and the user should move the box (note)
to the desired location and then left-click.
One can move the orange box using the arrow keys, to the desired location, and then hit the Enter
key to drop the notes at that location.
Selected notes that are cut or copied can then be pasted into other pattern editor dialogs; that is,
they can be pasted into other sequences.
Figure 61: Piano Roll, Paste-Box for Cut Notes
Move this box to where pasting is desired, and left-click. The moved notes appear, still selected, and
they can then be moved further, if desired, by using the arrow keys, or cut and move them again.
For the appearance of selected events (orange), see Figure 62 ”Piano Roll, Selected Notes and Events”
on page 72.
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Pattern Editor / Piano Roll
Figure 62: Piano Roll, Selected Notes and Events
The selection, shown in Figure 62 ”Piano Roll, Selected Notes and Events” on page 72, illustrates
the style of event selection, which colors the data bars as well as the event and note bars. This selection
was made by first selecting one set of events by the left-click-drag action, then selecting more events by
holding the Ctrl key for the next left-click drag action. The second selection left out some events, which
are thus still shown as black bars in the data area.
4.3.2.2
Event and Data Panels / Editing Other Events
Note On and Note Off events (and other events) can appear as small squares in the event strip, along
with a black vertical bar with a height proportional to the velocity of the note event, plus a numeric
representation of that value. Note events do not need to be inserted in the event strip. They can be
inserted there, but they end up as short events of the lowest possible note, 0 or C1, and they don’t have
a Note Off event. Don’t do that!)
Other event types can be inserted via the event strip. To do that, first select the kind of event
to insert using the Event button in the bottom panel. The place the mouse cursor in the event strip.
Right-click to make the drawing pencil appear at the exact spot where the event must go. While holding
the right button, click the left button. A small square for the event should appear.
Should one want more of the same event, continue to hold both buttons and drag the mouse. One
event should appear at each beat position (e.g. at each 16th note position) that is crossed.
To move the event(s) to a different spot, select it or them via the left button. Then drag it or them
to where one wants them. it is currently not possible to move them to positions smaller than the beat
size. The work-around is to temporarily reduce the beat size, but this requires caution.
Once the event positions are set, the next step is to modify the data values of the events. The event
value (data) editor (directly under the event strip) is used to change note velocities, channel pressure,
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Pattern Editor / Bottom Panel
control codes, patch select, etc. Just left-click+drag the mouse across the window to draw a line. The
values will match that line. middle-click+drag and right-click+drag also draw the value line.
Bug: Sometimes the editing of event values in the event data section will not work. The workaround
is to do a Ctrl-A, and the click in the roll to deselect the selection; that makes the event value editing
work again.
Any events that are selected in the piano roll or event strip can have their values modified with the
mouse wheel.
4.3.2.3
Editing Note Events the ”Fruity Way”
This mode is a lot different, and we have yet to do the exhaustive testing needed to understand how this
mode works. Input from actual users of this mode would be welcome. For now, see section 2.2.8.5 ”Menu
/ File / Options / Mouse” on page 28.
4.4
Pattern Editor / Bottom Panel
The bottom horizontal panel of the Pattern Editor provides for selecting events for viewing and editing,
MIDI playback, pass-through, and recording.
Figure 63: Pattern Editor, Bottom Panel Items
Missing from this diagram is the ”Existing Event Selector” which zeroes in only on events already
present in the pattern.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Event Selector
Existing Event Selector
Event Selection
LFO
Data To MIDI Buss
MIDI Data Pass-Through
Record MIDI Data
Quantized Record
Recording Type (Merge, Replace, Expand)
Select Recording Volume
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Pattern Editor / Bottom Panel
1. Event Selector.
This button brings up the following context menu, so that the user can select
the category of events to view and edit.
Figure 64: Pattern Editor, Event Button Context Menu
Note the squares. Some of filled (black), others are empty. The filled squares indicate that the
sequence does indeed have some events of that type. Otherwise, there are no such events in the sequence.
Useful in deciding if it is worth selecting the event.
The sub-menus of this context menu show 128 controller messages, so we won’t try to show all of
them here. They also use the squares to indicate if there are any events of the type shown in the menu.
These sub-menus can be modified by editing the file
$HOME/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.usr
to make it match one’s instrument. See section 11 ”Sequencer64 ”usr” Configuration File” on
page 124.
2. Existing Event Selector.
Not shown in the figure above is a small button that will contain
either an empty square (no editable events) or a black square (at least one editable event). Unlike the
event-selector described above, this one shows only the actual events existing in the track, for quicker
selection.
3. Event Selection. Shows the selection event, with its number shown in hexadecimal notation, and
the name of the event shown.
4. LFO. A low-frequency oscillator allows data events can be modulated by some rudimentary wave
functions. By clicking on the LFO button or using the Ctrl-L key, the following window appears, shown
as the set of 5 vertical sliders:
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Pattern Editor / Bottom Panel
Figure 65: Pattern Editor, LFO Support
1. Value: Provides a kind of DC offset for the data value. Starts at 64, and ranges from 1 to 127.
2. Range: Controls the depth of modulation. Starts at 64, and ranges from 1 to 127.
3. Speed: Indicates the number of periods per pattern (divided by beat width, normally 4). For long
patterns, this parameter needs to be set high, to even show an effect. It is also subject to an ’antialiasing’ effect in some parts of the range, especially for short patterns. Try it! For short patterns,
try a value of 1 at first. For a pattern of one measure in length, this will create four periods of the
wave.
4. Phase: Provides the phase shift within a period of the LFO wave. A value of 1 is a phase shift of
360 degrees (or maybe it is one radian?).
5. Wave Type: Selects the kind of wave to use for the LFO:
1. Sine wave.
2. Ramp (up) sawtooth.
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Pattern Editor / Bottom Panel
3. Decay (down) sawtooth.
4. Triangle wave.
We may have more to explain about this dialog at some point. For now, try it out on the file
one-measure.midi, and be sure to hover over each control to see the tooltips. Note that it works best
with short patterns.
5. Time Scroll.
horizontally.
Allows one to pan through the whole pattern, if it is too long to fit in the window
6. Data To MIDI Buss. This button causes the pattern to be output to the selected MIDI output
buss, which will normally be connected to a software or hardware synthesizer, to be heard. Generally,
this control should always be activated.
7. MIDI Data Pass-Through.
This button routes incoming MIDI data through Sequencer64,
which then writes it to the MIDI output buss.
8. Record MIDI Data. This button routes incoming MIDI data into Sequencer64, which then saves
the data to its buffer, and also displays the new information (notes) in the piano roll view.
9. Quantized Record. This button will causes MIDI data to be recorded, but be quantized on the
fly before recording it. The quantization is to the current snap value.
10. Recording Type.
In Seq24, the pattern recording worked by merging new notes played as the
pattern to be recorded was looped. This method allows a loop to be built up bit-by-bit. Sequencer64
adds two more methods from Stazed’s Seq32 project. The three methods are:
1. Merge. This is the ”legacy” style of recording loops, where notes can accumulate.
2. Replace. When the loop starts over, and a note is pressed, then the existing notes in that loop
are erased, and the new note is added. This provides a good way of correcting major mistakes,
live. It will not work if adding notes while not recording. This mode can cause incomplete notes if
one holds the note and releases it in the next iteration, leaving a partially-drawn note behind. The
workaround is to try again.
3. Expand. Once the end of the loop is near, whether or not any notes are being input, another
measure is added to the length of the loop. This continues indefinitely, whether or not any notes
are being played/recorded.
11. Vol.
This button allows setting the volume of the recording. The velocity of the notes will be
set to the selected value upon recording. If the Free item is selected, then the incoming note velocity is
preserved.
Figure 66: Pattern Recording Volume Menu
The velocity values are shown at the right side of each menu entry. These values correspond to MIDI
volume levels from 127 down to 16, as shown in the figure.
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4.5
4.5
Pattern Editor / Common Actions
Pattern Editor / Common Actions
This section is a catch-all for actions not described above.
4.5.1
Pattern Editor / Common Actions / Scrolling
Let us describe the actions that can be performed with a scroll wheel, or with the scrolling features of
multi-touch touchpads. There are three major scrolling actions available when using mouse scrolling, with
the mouse hovering in the piano-roll area:
• Vertical Panning (Notes Panning) Using the vertical scroll action of a mouse or touchpad
moves the view of the sequence/pattern notes up and down. One can also click in the piano roll,
and then use the Page-Up and Page-Down keys to move the view up and down in pitch.
• Horizontal Panning (Timeline Panning) Holding the Shift key, and then using the vertical
scroll action of a mouse or touchpad moves the view of the sequence/pattern time forward and backward. One can also click in the piano roll, and then use the Shift Page-Up and Shift Page-Down
keys to move the view left and right in time.
• Horizontal Zoom (Timeline Zoom) Holding the Ctrl key, and then using the vertical scroll
action of a mouse or touchpad zooms the view of the sequence/pattern time to compress it or expand
it. One can also click in the piano roll, and then use the z , Z , and 0 keys to change the timeline
zoom.
The actions of this scrolling are smooth and fast. If an event is selected in the piano-roll area or the
(thin) event area, then the scrolling increases or decreases the value of the event. In the case of a note,
this increases or decreases the velocity of the note. For all events, this increases or decreases the length
of the vertical line that represents the value of the event.
4.5.2
Pattern Editor / Common Actions / Close
There is no Close button in the pattern editor. One can use window-manager actions, such as clicking on
the X button of the window frame, or pressing the exit key defined in the window manager. Sequencer64
also provides the Ctrl-W key to close the pattern editor window. However, be aware that this convention
does not apply to the other application windows of Sequencer64.
5
Song Editor
The Sequencer64 Song Editor combines all patterns into a complete tune with specified repetitions of
each pattern. It shows one row per pattern/loop/sequence in numbered columns, with the placement of
each pattern at various time locations in the song. In Sequencer64 parlance, the song editor creates a
performance, and the performance is implemented by a set of triggers (see section 16.1.22 ”Concepts /
Terms / trigger” on page 164).
As an option in the [user-interface] section of the ”user” configuration file, two song editor
windows can be brought onscreen, as a convenience for arranging projects with a large number of sequences/patterns. (In the Qt user-interface, a Song tab and a Song window can be shown at the same
time.) The Song window, when in focus, also activates the Song mode of Sequencert64, as opposed to
the Live mode activated by the Patterns panel when it is in focus.
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When the song editor has the focus of the application, it takes over control from the patterns panel.
The song editor then controls playback. Once playback is started in the song editor, some actions in
the patterns panel no longer have effect, effectively disabling live mode. The song editor takes over the
arming/unarming (unmuting/muting) shown in the patterns panel. The highlighting of armed/unarmed
patterns changes according to whether the pattern is playing in the song editor, or not. If one tries to
change the muting using a hot-key (or even a click) in the patterns panel, the song editor immediately
returns the pattern to the state it has in the song editor. The only way to manually change the muting
then is to click the pattern’s label in the song editor. Both the song editor and the patterns panel both
reflect the change in muting in the user-interface, though with opposite colors.
Figure 67: Song Editor Window
Here are some features for the song editor, as seen above and in the following figure:
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5.1
Song Editor / Top Panel
Figure 68: Song Editor Window, Features
• Toggling of the mute state of multiple patterns by holding the Shift key while left-clicking on the
M or a pattern name.
• Pause button functionality.
• Optional coloring (selected in the Patterns panel) and thickening of the progress bar.
• A Redo button (not shown).
• A Transpose button (not shown).
• Red coloring of events for patterns that are not transposable, such as drum tracks.
This window (in Sequencer64) shows any empty patterns highlighted in yellow (Gtkmm only). An
empty pattern is one that exists, but contains only meta information, and contains no MIDI events that
can be played. For example, some tracks just serve as name tracks or information tracks.
The song editor is not too complex, but for exposition, we break it into the top panel, the bottom
panel, and the rest of the window.
There is a button that allows the whole song (except for exempt, non-transposable sequences) to be
transposed up or down by up to an octave in either direction.
5.1
Song Editor / Top Panel
The top panel provides quick access to song-playback actions and configuration.
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5.1
Song Editor / Top Panel
Figure 69: Song Editor / Top Panel Items
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Stop
Play
Play Loop
Beats Per Bar
Beat Unit
Grid Snap
Transpose
Toggle JACK Sync
Toggle Following JACK Transport
Redo
Undo
Collapse
Expand
Expand and copy
1. Stop. Stops the playback of the song. The keystroke for stopping playback is the Escape character.
It can be configured to be another character (such as Space, which would make the space-bar toggle the
playback status).
2. Play. Starts the playback of the song, starting at the L marker. The L marker serves as the start
position for playback in the song editor. One can change the start position only when the performance
is not playing. The default keystroke for starting playback is the Space character. The default keystroke
for stopping playback is the Escape character. The default keystroke for pausing playback is the Period
character.
3. Play Loop.
Activates loop mode. When Play is activated, play the song and loop between the
L marker and the R marker. This button is a state button, and its appearance indicates when it is
depressed, and thus active. If this button is deactivated during playback, then playback continues past
the R marker.
4. Beats Per Bar. Part of the time signature, and specifies the number of beat units per bar. The
possible values range from 1 to 16.
5. Beat Unit. Also called ”beat width”. Part of the time signature, and specifies the size of the beat
unit: 1 for whole notes; 2 for half notes; 4 for quarter notes; 8 for eight notes; and 16 for sixteenth notes.
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Song Editor / Arrangement Panel
6. Grid Snap. Grid snap selects where the patterns are drawn. Unlike the Grid Snap of the pattern
editor, the units of the song editor snap value are in fractions of a measure length. The following values
are supported: 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, and 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, and 1/24.
7. Redo.
The Redo button reapplies the last change undone by the Undo button. It is inactive if
there is nothing to redo.
8. Undo.
The Undo button rolls back the last change in the layout of a pattern. Each time it is
clicked, the most recent change is undone. It rolls back one change each time pressed. It is inactive if
there is nothing to undo.
9. Collapse. This button collapses the song between the L marker and the R marker. What this
means is that, if there is song material (patterns) before the L marker and after the R marker, and
the Collapse button is pressed, any song material between the L and R markers is erased, and the song
material after the R marker is moved leftward to the L marker. Collapsing occurs in all tracks present
in the song editor.
10. Expand.
This button expands the song between the L marker and the R marker. It inserts
blank space between these markers, moving the song material that is after the R marker to the right by
the duration of the blank space. Expansion occurs in all tracks present in the song editor.
11. Expand and copy.
This button expands the song between the L marker and the R marker
much like the Expand button. However, it also copies the original data that is present after the R
marker, and pastes it into the newly-available space between the L and R markers.
5.2
Song Editor / Arrangement Panel
The arrangement panel is the middle section shown in Figure 67 ”Song Editor Window” on page 78. It
is also known as the ”piano roll” of the song editor. Here, we zero in on its many features.
Keystrokes and additional mouse configuration have been added to make editing easier even without
a good mouse. For example, one can page up and down vertically in the arrangement panel using the
Page Up and Page Down keys. One can go to the top using the Home key, to the bottom using the End
key. One can page left and right horizontally in the arrangement panel using the Shift Page Up and Shift
Page Down keys. One can go to the leftmost position using the Home key, and to the rightmost position
using the End key,
The following figure is taken from a conventional MIDI file, imported, with a few long tracks, rather
than a large number of smaller patterns. In other words, the patterns used here are very long, and used
only once in the song.
If playback is started with the song editor as the active window, then the pattern boxes in the
patterns panel show as armed/unarmed (unmuted/muted) depending upon whether or not the pattern is
shown as playing (or not) at the current playback position in the song editor piano roll.
The following figure highlights the main features of the center panel of the song editor.
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5.2
Song Editor / Arrangement Panel
Figure 70: Song Editor Arrangement Panel, Annotated
One new feature of the song editor is that, if the new Transpose feature is built into Sequencer64,
any patterns that are marked as exempt from transposition (common with drum tracks) have their events
shown in red instead of black.
Figure 71: Song Editor for Non-Transposable Patterns
The measures ruler (measures strip) consists of a measures ruler (bar indicator) at the top, a numbered patterns column at the left with a muting indicator, and the grid or roll section. There are a lot of
hidden details in the arrangement panel, as the figure shows. Here are the main sections:
1. Patterns Column
2. Piano Roll
3. Measures Ruler
These items are discussed in the following sections.
5.2.1
Song Editor / Arrangement Panel / Patterns Column
Here are the items to note in the patterns column:
1. Number. Not yet sure what the number on the left means. The number of the screen set?
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Song Editor / Arrangement Panel
2. Title. The title is the name of the pattern, for easy reference.
3. Channel. The channel number appears (redundantly) at the right of the title.
4. Buss-Channel. This pair of numbers shows the MIDI buss number used in the pattern and the
channel used for the pattern.
5. Beat/Measure. This pair of numbers is the standard time-signature of the pattern.
6. Mute Indicator. The letter M is in a black box if the track/pattern is muted, and a white box if
it is unmuted. Left-clicking on the ”M” (or the name of the pattern) mutes/unmutes the pattern. If
the Shift key is held while left-clicking on the M or the pattern name, then the mute/unmute state
of every other active pattern is toggled. This feature is useful for isolating a single track or pattern.
7. Empty Track. Completely empty tracks (no track events or meta events) are indicated by a darkgray filling in the pattern column. Tracks that have only meta information, but no playable event,
are indicated by a yellow filling in the pattern column.
The patterns column shows a list of all of the patterns that have been created in the current song.
Each pattern in this list has a track of pattern layouts associated with it in the piano roll section.
Left-clicking on the pattern name or the ”M” button toggles the muting (arming) status of the track.
It does the same thing if the Ctrl key is held at the same time.
Shift-left-clicking on the pattern name or the ”M” button toggles the muting (arming) status of all
other tracks except the track that was selected. This action is useful for quickly listening to a single
sequence in isoloation.
Right-clicking on the pattern name or the ”M” button brings up the same pattern editing menu as
discussed in section 3.2.2 ”Pattern” on page 44. Recall that this context menu has the following entries:
Edit..., Event Edit..., Cut, Copy, Song, Disable Transpose, and MIDI Bus.
5.2.2
Song Editor / Arrangement Panel / Piano Roll
The ”Piano Roll” section of the arrangement panel is where patterns or subsections are inserted, deleted,
shrunk, lengthened, or moved. Here are features to note in the annotated piano roll area shown in
Figure 70 ”Song Editor Arrangement Panel, Annotated” on page 82:
1. Single. In the diagram, under the word ”Single”, is a very small pattern. It is small because it
consists only of some MIDI Program Change messages meant to set the programs on a Yamaha
PSS-790 keyboard.
2. Multiple. This item is the same pattern as in ”Single”, but dragged out for multiple repetitions,
simply to show how even the shortest patterns can be replicated easily.
3. Pattern Subsection. Middle-clicking inside a pattern inserts a selection position marker in it,
breaking the pattern into two equal pieces. We call each piece a pattern subsection. This division
can be done over and over. In the song editor, a middle-click cannot be simulated by ctrl-left-click.)
4. Selection Position. A selection position is a marker that divides a pattern into two pieces, called
pattern subsections. This makes it easy to select smaller portions of a pattern for editing or deleting.
It is especially useful for making holes in a pattern.
5. Selection. Clicking inside a pattern or a pattern subsection darkens it (gray) to denote that it is
selected. A pattern subsection can be deleted by the Delete key, copied by the Ctrl-C key, and
then inserted (one or more times) by the Ctrl-V key. When inserted, each insert goes immediately
after the current item or the previous insertion. The same can be done for whole patterns.
6. Section Length (”handle”).
Looking closely at the diagram where the arrows point, small
squares in two corners of the patterns can be seen. Call them ”handles”. By grabbing a handle
with a left-click, the handle can be moved horizontally to either lengthen or shorted the pattern or
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Song Editor / Arrangement Panel
pattern subsection, if there is room to move in the desired direction. It doesn’t matter if the item
is selected or not.
7. Section Movement. If, instead of grabbing the section length handle, one grabs inside the pattern
or pattern subsection, that item can be moved horizontally, as long as there is room. A left-click
inside the item shows it as selected. One can also highlight a pattern section (making it gray), then
click the p key to enter ”paint” mode, and move the pattern left or right with the arrow keys.
8. Expansion. Originally, all the long patterns of this sample song were continuous. But, by setting
the L and R markers, and using the Expand button, we opened up some silent space in the song,
just to be able to show it off.
A useful feature is to split a pattern section in the song editor, either in half, or at the nearest snap
point to the mouse pointer. The location of the split is determined by the setting of the File / Options
/ Mouse / Sequencer64 Options / Middle-click splits song trigger at nearest snap (instead
of halfway point) setting. To split a pattern, left-click it to highlight it, move the mouse (if not splitting
in half) to the desired pointer, and ctrl-left-click with the mouse.
The Seq24 help files refer to work in the song editor as the ”Performance Editor” or ”Performance
Mode”. Adding a pattern in this window is a bit like adding a note in the pattern editor. One clicks,
holds, and drags the mouse to insert a copy or copies of the pattern associated with the row in which one
is dragging. The longer one drags, the more copies of the pattern that are inserted.
Right-click on the arrangement panel (roll) to enter draw mode, and hold the button. Just like the
patterns panel, there is a feature to allow the Mod4 (the Super or Windows) key to keep the right-click
in force even after it is released. See 2.2.8.5. Pressing Mod4 before releasing the right-click that allows
pattern-adding (”painting”), keeps pattern-adding in force after the right-click is released. Now pattern
can be entered at will with the left mouse button. Right-click again to leave the pattern-adding mode.
Another way to turn on painting: make sure that the performance editor piano roll has the keyboard
focus by left-clicking in it, then press the p key. While in the paint mode, one can add pattern clips with
the left mouse button, via click or drag, and one can highlight a pattern clip and move it with the left
and right arrow keys.
To get out of the paint mode, press the x key while in the sequence editor, to ”x-scape” from the
paint mode. These keys, however, do not work while the sequence is playing.
The song editor supports zoom in the piano roll. This feature is not accessible via a button or a
menu entry – it is accessible only via keystrokes. After one has left-clicked in the piano roll, the z, Z, and
0 can be used to zoom the piano-roll view. The z key zooms out, the Z key zooms in, and the 0 key resets
the zoom to the default value. The zoom feature also modifies the time-line.
A left-click with a simultaneous right-click-hold inserts one copy of the pattern. The inserted pattern
shows up as a box with a tiny representation of the notes visible inside. Some patterns can be less than a
measure in length, resulting in a tiny box. To keep adding more copies of the pattern, continue to hold
both buttons and drag the mouse rightward.
Middle-click on a pattern to drop a new selection position into the pattern, which breaks the pattern
into two equal pattern subsections. Each middle-click on the pattern adds a new selection position,
halving the size of the subsections as more pattern subsections are added.
When a pattern or a pattern subsection is left-clicked in the piano roll, it is marked with a dark gray
filling. When a right-left-hold-drag action is done in this gray area, the result is to delete that pattern
section or subsection. One can also hit the Delete key to delete that pattern section or subsection.
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5.2.3
5.3
Song Editor / Bottom Panel
Song Editor / Arrangement Panel / Measures Ruler
The measures ruler is the ruled and numbered section at the top of the arrangement panel. It provides a
place to put the left and right markers. In the Seq24 documentation, it is called the ”bar indicator”.
Left-click in the measures ruler to move and drop an L marker (L anchor) on the measures ruler.
Right-click in the measures ruler to drop an L marker (R anchor) on the measures ruler.
Once these anchors are in place, one can then use the Collapse and Expand buttons to modify the
placement of the pattern events.
Note that the L marker serves as the start position for playback in the song editor. One can change
the start position only when the performance is not playing.
Another way to move the L and R markers, a so-called ”movement mode” has been added. To turn
on the movement mode, first make sure that the piano roll (not the bar indicator!) has the keyboard
focus by left-clicking in it at a blank spot, then press the l key or r key or while in the sequence editor.
There is no visual feedback that one is in the movement mode. Then press the left or right arrow key to
move the ”L” or ”R” (depending whether l or r was used to enter the movement mode) markers by one
snap value at a time. To get out of the movement mode, press the x key while in the performance editor,
to ”x-scape”.
5.3
Song Editor / Bottom Panel
The bottom panel is simple, consisting of a stock horizontal scroll bar and a small button, called the
Grow button, labelled with a ”>”.
The Grow button adds to the number of measures that exist in the song editor. The visual effect
is very subtle, resulting only in a small change in the thumb of the horizontal scroll-bar, unless one is at
the right end of the piano roll. Then, one can see the added measures. Usually about 128 at a time are
added, but this depends on the value of PPQN in force.
6
Event Editor
The Sequencer64 Event Editor is used to view and edit, in detail, the events present in a sequence/pattern/track.
This editor is not very sophisticated. It is a basic editor for simple edits and viewing. Viewing and scrolling
generally work; editing, deleting, and inserting events work. But there are many possible interactions between event links (Note Off events linked to Note On events), performance triggers, and the pattern,
performance, and event editor dialogs. Surely some bugs still lurk. If anything bad happens, do not press
the Save to Sequence button! If the application aborts, let us know!
Here are the major ”issues”:
1. It requires the user to know the details about MIDI events and data values.
2. It does not present handy dropdown lists for various items.
3. It does not detect any changes made to the sequence in the pattern editor, and so both editors
cannot be brought on screen at the same time for the same pattern.
4. It does not have an undo function.
5. It cannot mark more than one event for deletion or modification.
6. There is no support for dragging and dropping of events.
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6.1
Event Editor / Event Frame
The event editor is a good way to see the events in a sequence, and to delete or modify problematic
events. Additionally, it can be used to add Set Tempo meta events. If an event is added that has
a time-stamp beyond the current length of the sequence, then the length of the sequence is extended.
Unlike the event pane in the pattern editor, the event-editor dialog shows all types of events at once.
Figure 72: Event Editor Window
The event-editor dialog is fairly complex. For exposition, we break it down into a few sections:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Event Frame
Info Panel
Edit Fields
Bottom Buttons
The event frame is a list of events, which can be traversed, and edited. The fields in the right panel
show the name of the pattern containing the events and other information about the pattern. The edit
fields provide text fields for viewing and entering information about the current event, and buttons to
delete, insert, and modify events. The bottom buttons allow changes to be saved and the editor to be
closed. The following sections described these items in detail.
6.1
Event Editor / Event Frame
The event frame is the event-list shown on the left side of the event editor. It is accompanied by a vertical
scroll-bar, for moving one line or one page at a time. Mouse or touchpad scrolling can be used to move
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6.1
Event Editor / Event Frame
up and down in the event list. This movement is even easier than reaching for the scrollbars.
6.1.1
Event Frame / Data Items
The event frame shows a list of numbered events, one per line. The currently-selected event is highlighted
in cyan text on a black background. Here is an example of the data line for a MIDI event:
17-003:3:128 Note On
Chan 3
Key 66 Vel 107
This line consists of the following parts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Index Number
Time Stamp
Event Name
Channel Number
Data Bytes
1. Index Number.
Displays the index number of the event. This number is purely for reference,
and is not part of the event. Events in the pattern are numbered from 0 to the number of events in the
pattern.
2. Time Stamp.
Displays the time stamp of the event, which indicates the cumulative time of
the event in the pattern. It is displayed in the format of ”measure:beat:divisions”. The measure values
start from 1, and range up to the number of measures in the pattern. The beat values start from 1, and
range up to the number of beats in the measure. The division values range from 0 up to one less than
the PPQN (pulses per quarter note) value for the whole song. As a shortcut, one can use the dollar sign
(”$”) to represent PPQN-1.
3. Event Name. Displays the name of the event. The event name indicates what kind of MIDI event
it is. The following event names are supported:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Note Off
Note On
Aftertouch
Control Change
Program Change
Channel Pressure
Pitch Wheel
Tempo
4. Channel Number. Shows the channel number (for channel-events only) re 0, not 1. For the user,
of course, MIDI channels always range from 1 to 16. Internally, they range from 0 to 15.
5. Data Bytes.
Shows the one or two data bytes for the event.
Note Off, Note On, and Aftertouch events requires a byte for the key (0 to 127) and a byte for the
velocity (also 0 to 127). Control Change events require a control code and a value for that control code.
Pitch wheel events require two bytes to encode the full range of pitch changes. Program change events
require only a byte value to pick the patch or program (instrument) to be used for the sequence. The
Channel Pressure event requires only a one-byte value. Tempo requires a number (e.g. ”120.3”) to be
typed in.
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6.1.2
6.2
Event Editor / Info Panel
Event Frame / Navigation
Moving about in the event frame is straightforward, but has some wrinkles to note. Navigation with the
mouse is done by moving to the desired event and clicking on it. The event becomes highlighted, and its
data items are shown in the ”info panel”. There is no support for dragging and dropping events in the
event frame.
The scrollbar can be used to move within the frame, either by one line at a time, or by a page at a
time. A page is defined as one frame’s worth of lines, minus 5 lines, for some overlap in paging.
Navigation with keystrokes is also supported, for the Up and Down arrows and the Page-Up and
Page-Down keys. Note that using the Up and Down arrows by holding them down for awhile causes
autorepeat to kick in, and the updates become very erratic and annoying. Use the scrollbar or page keys
to move through multiple pages. Home and End also work.
6.2
Event Editor / Info Panel
The ”info panel” is simply a read-only list of properties on the top right of the event editor. It serves to
remind the used of the pattern being edited and some characteristics of the pattern and the whole song.
Five items are shown:
1. Sequence Number and Name. A bit redundant, as the window caption for the event editor also
shows the pattern name. It can be set in the pattern editor.
2. Time Signature. A pattern property, shown only as a reminder. It can be set in the pattern
editor.
3. PPQN Shows the ”parts per quarter note”, or resolution of the whole song. The default PPQN of
Sequencer64 is 192.
4. Sequence Channel In Sequencer64, the channel number is a property of the pattern. All channel
events in the pattern get routed to the same channel, even if somehow the event itself specifies a
different channel.
5. Sequence Count Displays the current number of events in the pattern. This number changes as
events are inserted or deleted.
6.3
Event Editor / Edit Fields
The edit fields show the values of the currently-selected event. They allow changing an event, adding a
new event, or deleting the currently-selected event.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Event Category (read-only)
Event Timestamp
Event Name
Data Byte 1
Data Byte 2
Delete Current Event
Insert New Event
Modify Current Event
Important: changes made in the event editor are not written to the sequence until the Save to
Sequence button is clicked. If one messes up an edit field, just click on the event again; all the fields
will be filled in again. That’s as much ”undo” as the event-editor offers at this time, other than closing
without saving.
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6.3
Event Editor / Edit Fields
1. Event Category.
Displays the event category of the event. Currently, only channel events
can be handled, but someday we hope to handle the wide array of system events, and perhap even
system-exclusive events.
2. Event Timestamp. Displays the timestamp of the event. Currently only the ”measure:beat:division”
format is fully supported. We allow editing (but not display) of the timestamp in pulse (divisions) format
and ”hour:minute:second.fraction” format, but there are bugs to work out.
If one wants to delete or modify an event, this field does not need to be modified. If this field is
modified, and the Modify Current Event button is pressed, then the event will be moved. This field
can locate a new event at a specific time. If the time is not in the current frame, the frame will move to
the location of the new event and make it the current event.
3. Event Name.
Displays the name of the event, and allows entry of an event name. The event
name indicates what kind of MIDI event it is. The following event names are supported:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Note Off
Note On
Aftertouch
Control Change
Program Change
Channel Pressure
Pitch Wheel
Tempo
Typing in one of these names changes the kind of event if the event is modified. Abbreviations and
case-insensitivity can be used to reduce the effort of typing. This handling of the editing of the event
name is still a bit clumsy. It would be better to provide a drop-down list for more painless selection of
events. Some day.
4. Data Byte 1. Allows modification of the first data byte of the event. One must know what one is
doing. The scanning of the digits is very simple: start with the first digit, and convert until a non-digit
is encountered. The data-byte value can be entered in decimal notation, or, if prepended with ”0x”, in
hexadecimal notation.
5. Data Byte 2. Allows modification of the second data byte of the event (if applicable to the event).
One must know what one is doing. The scanning of the digits is as noted above.
6. Delete Current Event.
Causes the selected event to be deleted. The frame display is updated
to move following events upward.
Sequencer64 would support using the Delete and Insert keys to supplement the buttons, but the
Delete key is needed for editing the event data fields. The current structure of the dialog prevents using
it for both the frame and the edit fields. Therefore, Sequencer64 allows the usage of the asterisk keys
(regular and keypad) for deletion.
7. Insert New Event.
Inserts a new event, described by the Event Timestamp, Event Name,
Data Byte 1, and Data Byte 2 fields. The new event is placed in the appropriate location for the
given timestamp. If the timestamp is at a time that is not visible in the frame, the frame moves to show
the new event, so be careful.
8. Modify Current Event.
Deletes the current event, and inserts the modified event, which is
placed in the appropriate location for the given timestamp.
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6.4
6.4
Event Editor / Bottom Buttons
Event Editor / Bottom Buttons
The buttons at the bottom of the event editor round out the functionality of this dialog.
1. Save to Sequence
2. Close
1. Save to sequence. Saves the event container back to the sequence from whence the events came.
This button does not close the dialog; further editing can be performed. The Save button is enabled only
if some unsaved changes to the events exist.
Any sequence/pattern editor that is open should be reflected in the pattern editor once this button is
pressed. However, at present, simultaneous use of the pattern editor and event editor has been disabled. If
both the event editor and the pattern editor are open for a sequence (currently disabled), and some events
are deleted in the event editor, and the Save to Sequence button is pressed, the pattern editor would
crash and takes down Sequencer64 with it. Therefore, when either editor is open for a given sequence,
the right-click menu entries that bring them up are hidden.
2. Close. Closes the event editor. Any unsaved event changes are discarded. There is a ”modification
indicator” to show that the events have been modified.
Again, good luck with the dialog. Bug reports are appreciated.
7
Import/Export
This section explains the details of the MIDI import and export functionality, accessed by the main menu
as noted in sections 2.2.5, 2.2.6, and 2.2.7, on page 17.
7.1
Import MIDI
The Import menu entry imports an SMF 0 or SMF 1 MIDI file as one or more patterns, one pattern
per track. Even long tracks, that aren’t short loops, are imported. The difference from File / Open
is that the destination screen-set (bank) for the import can be specified, and the existing data in the
already-loaded MIDI file is preserved. If the imported file is a Sequencer64 MIDI file, it’s proprietary
sections will not be imported, in order to preserve the performance setup.
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7.2
Export Song as MIDI
Figure 73: Import MIDI
When imported, each track, whether music or information, is entered into its own loop/pattern box
(slot). The import operation can handle reasonably complex files.
Note the additional file-dialog field, Select Screen Offset. This setting is actually a set offset.
It lets one place the imported data into a screen-set other than the first screen-set (0). This field is not
editable. It requires using the scroll button to move the screen set offset up or down in value, from 0 to
31. This field is present only in Gtkmm, but not Qt; in Qt, the current selected screen-set/bank is where
the import is loaded, and the patterns are appended after any existing patterns.
When the file is imported, the sequence number for each track is adjusted to put the track into the
desired screen-set. The import can place the imported data into any of the 32 available screen-sets. Quite
large songs can be built by importing patterns.
Import also handles SMF 0 MIDI files. It parcels out the SMF 0 data into sequences/patterns for
each of the 16 MIDI channels. It also puts all of the MIDI data into the 17th pattern (pattern 16), in
case it is needed. Note that this slot is used no matter which screen-set one imports the file into. Bug, or
feature?
7.2
Export Song as MIDI
Thanks to the Seq32 project, the ability to export songs to MIDI format has been added. ”But wait!”, you
say, ”Sequencer64 already saves to a MIDI-compatible format. Why the need for an Export operation?”
Well, the Export Song as MIDI operation modifies the song in the following ways:
• Only tracks (sequences, loops, or patterns) that are ”exportable” are written. To be exportable, a
track must be unmuted, and it must have triggers (see section 16.1.22 ”Concepts / Terms / trigger”
on page 164). That is, the track must have a layout entry in the Song Editor.
• All triggers for a given track are consolidated. Each trigger generates the events, including repeats
and offset-play of the events. If there is a gap in the layout (e.g. due to an Expand operation
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7.2
Export Song as MIDI
in the Song Editor), then the corresponding gap in the events is exported. The result is a track
that reconstructs the original playback/performance layout of that pattern. The events themselves
are sufficient to play the performance exactly. The triggers are useful for further editing of the
song/performance, so they are preserved (in a SeqSpec section).
• Empty pattern slots between tracks are removed.
• No matter what set the original track was in, it ends up in the first set.
• Other additions, such as time signature and tempo meta events, are written in the same manner as
for a normal File / Save operation.
Figure 74: File / Export Song as MIDI
If there are no exportable tracks, the following message is shown:
Figure 75: Unexportable MIDI File
Once the file is exported, reopen it to see the results of the export. Both the main window and the
song performance window show the results of the export. Here is a short song, in two sets, shown in a
composite view of four windows, showing each set and the performance layout of the tracks in the sets.
(Note the second Song Editor window.)
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7.2
Export Song as MIDI
Figure 76: Composite View of an Exportable Song
The left column shows the four tracks of the first set (Set 0), the next column shows the four tracks
of the second set (Set 1), and the layouts of the two sets are shown in the remainder of the diagram.
Export this song, and see the result:
Figure 77: Composite View of Exported Song
The two sets are combined into the first set, and all of the track layouts (triggers) have been exported.
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7.3
Export MIDI Only
Had there been gaps in layouts or repeats of layouts in the song/performance data, these would have been
reflected in the triggers. Much more complex examples are possible.
7.3
Export MIDI Only
Sometimes it might be useful to export only the non-sequencer-specific (non-SeqSpec) data from a Sequencer64 song. For example, some buggy sequencers (hello Windows Media Player) might balk at some
SeqSpec item in the song, and refuse to load the MIDI file. For such cases, the Export MIDI Only
menu item writes a file that does not contain the SeqSpec data for each track, and does not include all
the SeqSpec data (such as mute groups) that is normally written to the end of the Sequencer64 MIDI
file. Note that the meta data for track name is still written.
8
Sequencer64 Keyboard and Mouse Actions
This section presents some tables summarizing keyboard and mouse actions available in Sequencer64. It
does not cover mute keys and group keys, which are well described in the keyboard options for the main
window. See section 2.2.8.3 ”Menu / File / Options / Keyboard” on page 23). It does not cover the
”fruity” mouse actions, though they are touched on in section 2.2.8.5 ”Menu / File / Options / Mouse”
on page 28.
This section describes the keystrokes that are currently hardwired in Sequencer64. This description
only includes items not defined in the File / Options dialog. That is, hardwired values. ”KP” stands for
”keypad”. The effect that keystrokes have depends upon which window has the keyboard/mouse focus.
It must be noted that the Qt 5 user-interface does not (yet) support the full set of keystrokes supported
by the legacy Gtkmm-2.4 user-interface.
8.1
Main Window
The main window keystrokes are all defined via the options dialog and ”rc” configuration file, or are stock
Gtk window-management keystrokes. The main window has a very complete setup for live control of the
MIDI tune via keystrokes. These actions are not included in table 1 ”Main Window Support” on page 94.
Table 1: Main Window Support
Action
e
l (el)
Left-click slot
Right-click slot
Normal
—
—
Mute/Unmute
Edit menu
Double
—
—
New/Edit
—
Shift
—
—
Toggle other slots
Edit menu
Ctrl
Open song editor
Enter Learn mode
—
Edit Menu
Mod4
—
—
—
—
The new mouse features of this window for Sequencer64, as noted in section 3 ”Patterns Panel” on
page 35, are:
• Shift-left-click: Over one pattern slot, this action toggles the mute/unmute (armed/unarmed) status
of all other patterns (even the patterns in other, unseen sets).
• Left-double-click: Over a pattern slot, this action quickly toggles the mute/unmute status, which
is confusing. But it ultimately brings up the pattern editor (sequence editor) for that pattern.
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8.2
8.2
Performance Editor Window
Performance Editor Window
The ”performance editor” window is also known as the ”song editor” window. It’s main sections are the
”piano roll” (perfroll) and the ”performance time” (perftime) sections, discussed in the following sections.
Also, some keystrokes are handled by the frame of the window.
• Ctrl-z. Undo.
• Ctrl-r. Redo.
8.2.1
Performance Editor Piano Roll
Note that the keystrokes in this table (see table 2 ”Performance Window Piano Roll” on page 95) require
that the focus first be assigned to the piano roll by left-clicking in an empty area within it. Otherwise,
another section of the performance editor might receive the keystroke.
Table 2: Performance Window Piano Roll
Action
Space
Esc
Period (.)
Del
c key
p key
v key
x key
z key
0 key
Z key
Left-arrow
Right-arrow
Left-click
Right-click
Scroll-up
Scroll-down
Normal
Start playback
Stop playback
Pause playback
Cut section
—
Paint mode
—
Escape paint
Zoom out
Reset zoom
Zoom in
Move earlier
Move later
Select section
Paint mode
Scroll up
Scroll down
Double
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Shift
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Paint mode
Scroll Left
Scroll Right
Ctrl
—
—
—
—
Copy
—
Paste
Cut
Undo
—
Undo
—
—
—
Paint mode
Scroll Up
Scroll Down
Mod4
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Lock Paint mode
—
—
This section of the performance editor also handles the start, stop, and pause keys. These can be
modified in the Options / Keyboard page. A ”section” in the performance editor is actually a box that
specifies a trigger for the pattern in that sequence/pattern slot. Note that the ”toggle other slots” action
occurs only if shift-left-clicked in the ”names” area of the performance editor. Left-click is used to select
performance blocks if clicked within a block, or to deselect them if clicked in an empty area of the piano
roll. Also note that all scrolling is done by the internal horizontal and vertical step increments. Some
features of this window for Sequencer64, as noted in section 5 ”Song Editor” on page 77, are explained
here:
• p: Enters the paint mode, until right-click is pressed or until the ”x” key is pressed.
• x: Exits the paint mode. Think of the made-up term ”x-scape”.
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8.2
Performance Editor Window
• z: Zooms out the performance view. It makes the view look smaller, so that more of the performance
can be seen. Opening a second performance view is another way to see more of the performance.
• 0: Resets the zoom to its normal value.
• Z: Zooms in the performance view, making the view larger, so that more details of the performance
can be seen.
• Left Arrow: Moves the selected item to the left (earlier in time) in the performance layout.
• Right Arrow: Moves the selected item to the right (later in time) in the performance layout.
• Mod4-right-click, release: Locks the paint mode, until right-click is pressed.
• Once selected (rendered in grey), a pattern section (trigger) can be moved by the mouse. To move
it using the left or right arrow keys, the paint mode must be entered, but only via the ”p” key.
8.2.2
•
•
•
•
•
Performance Editor Time Section
l. Set to move L marker.
r. Set to move R marker.
x. Escape (”x-scape”) the movement mode.
Left. Move the selected marker left.
Right. Move the selected marker right.
This section of the performance editor is also known as the ”measure ruler” or the ”bar indicator”,
and is discussed in section 5.2.3 ”Song Editor / Arrangement Panel / Measures Ruler” on page 85. See
table 3 ”Performance Editor Time Section” on page 96.
Table 3: Performance Editor Time Section
Action
l
r
x
Left-Click
Middle-Click
Right-Click
Normal
Move L [1]
Move R [1]
Escape Move
Set L [2]
—
Set R [2]
Double
—
—
—
—
—
—
Shift
—
—
—
—
—
—
Ctrl
—
—
—
—
—
—
Mod4
—
—
—
—
—
—
1. Activates movement of this marker using the left and right arrow keys. Movement is in increments
of the snap value. This mode is exited by pressing the ’x’ key. Also see note [2].
2. Controlled in the pertime section.
The new features of this window for Sequencer64, as noted in section 5.2.3 ”Song Editor / Arrangement Panel / Measures Ruler” on page 85, are:
• l: Enters a mode where the left and right arrow keys move the L marker, until the ”x” key is pressed.
• r: Enters a mode where the left and right arrow keys move the R marker, until the ”x” key is
pressed.
• x: Exits the marker-movement mode.
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8.2.3
8.3
Pattern Editor
Performance Editor Names Section
Table 4: Performance Editor Names Section
Action
Left-Click
Middle-Click
Right-Click
8.3
Normal
Toggle track
—
New/Edit menu
Double
—
—
—
Shift
Toggle other tracks
—
—
Ctrl
—
—
—
Mod4
—
—
—
Pattern Editor
The pattern/sequencer editor piano roll is a complex and powerful event editor; table 5 ”Pattern Editor
Piano Roll” on page 98, doesn’t begin to cover its functionality. Here are some keystrokes handled by the
main frame of the piano roll:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
8.3.1
Ctrl-L. Bring up the LFO event modulation editor.
Ctrl-W. Exit the sequence (pattern) editor.
Ctrl-Page Up. Zoom in.
Ctrl-Page Down. Zoom out.
Shift-Page Up. Scroll leftward.
Shift-Page Down. Scroll rightward.
Shift-Home. Scroll leftward to the beginning.
Shift-End. Scroll rightward to the end.
Page Down. Scroll downward.
Page Up. Scroll upward.
Home. Scroll upward to the beginning.
End. Scroll downward to the end.
Delete. Deletes (not cuts) the currently-selected notes in the piano roll; can be undone with the
Undo button.
Pattern Editor Piano Roll
Here are the keystrokes handled by the piano roll: These keystrokes require that the focus be set to the
piano roll by clicking in it with the mouse.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ctrl-r. Redo.
Ctrl-a. Select all.
Ctrl-Left. Shrink selected notes.
Ctrl-Right. Grow selected notes.
Delete. Remove selected notes.
Backspade. Remove selected notes.
Home. Set sequence to beginnging of sequence. (Verify!)
Enter, Return. Paste the selected notes at the current position.
And here is the table, which includes items not described above:
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8.3
Pattern Editor
Table 5: Pattern Editor Piano Roll
Action
Del
c
p
v
x
z
0
Left-Arrow
Right-Arrow
Up-Arrow
Down-Arrow
Left-Click
Right-Click
Left-Middle-Click
Scroll-Up
Scroll-Down
Normal
Delete Selected
—
Paint mode
—
Escape Paint
Zoom Out
Reset Zoom
Move Earlier [1]
Move Later [1]
Increase Pitch
Decrease Pitch
Deselect
Paint mode
Grow Selected
Zoom Time In
Zoom Time Out
Double
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Shift
—
—
—
—
—
Zoom In
—
—
—
—
—
—
Edit Menu
Stretch Sel.
Scroll Left
Scroll Right
Ctrl
—
Copy
—
Paste
Cut
Undo
—
—
—
—
—
—
Edit/Edit Menu
—
Zoom Time In
Zoom Time Out
Mod4
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
—
Lock Paint mode
—
—
—
1. Once selected (and thus rendered in grey), a pattern segment can be moved by the mouse. To move
it using the left or right arrow keys, the paint mode must be entered, but only via the p key – the
right mouse button deselects the greyed pattern. Too tricky, we might try fixing it later.
Features of this window section for Sequencer64, as noted in section 4.3.1 ”Pattern Editor / Piano
Roll Items” on page 67, are:
• p: Enters the paint mode, until right-click is pressed or until the x key is pressed. Notes are added
by clicking or click-dragging.
• x: Exits (”x-scapes”) the paint mode.
• z: Zooms out.
• 0: Resets zoom to its normal value.
• Z: Zooms in.
• .: The period (configurable) does the pause function.
• Left Arrow: Moves selected events to the left.
• Right Arrow: Moves selected events to the right.
• Up Arrow: Moves selected notes upward in pitch.
• Down Arrow: Moves selected notes downward in pitch.
• Mod4-Right-Click: Locks the paint mode, until right-click is pressed again.
8.3.2
•
•
•
•
•
Pattern Editor Event Panel
Ctrl-x.
Ctrl-c.
Ctrl-v.
Ctrl-z.
Delete.
Cut.
Copy.
Paste.
Undo.
Delete (not cut!) the selected events.
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8.4
Event Editor
• p. Enter ”paint” (also known as ”adding”) mode.
• x. Escape (”x-scape”) the paint mode.
8.3.3
Pattern Editor Data Panel
Currently, no keystroke support is provided in the data panel. One potential upgrade would be the ability
to change the value of the event with the Up and Down arrow keys.
8.3.4
Pattern Editor Virtual Keyboard
Table 6: Pattern Editor Virtual Keyboard
Action
Left-Click
Right-Click
8.4
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
9
Normal
Play note
Toggle labels
Double
—
—
Shift
—
—
Ctrl
—
—
Mod4
—
—
Event Editor
Down. Move one slot down.
Up. Move one slot up.
Page Down. Move one frame down.
Page Up. Move one frame up.
Home. Move to top frame.
End. Move to bottom frame.
Asterisk, KP Multiply. Delete the currently-selected event.
Sequencer64 Meta Event / SysEx Support
Sequencer64 attempts better support for MIDI Meta and System Exclusive events and a Tempo track.
It supports the display of Set Tempo and Time Signature events. They can also be added and edited, in
various ways. For example, see section 6 ”Event Editor” on page 85. Only the first Time Signature event
is used to modify playback. System Exclusive support is also still in progress, but very incomplete. This
section consolidates the description of the meta-event support. The following topics apply:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Tempo
Tempo
Tempo
Tempo
Tempo
display min/max in ”usr” settings.
display in main window.
display in pattern editor.
display in song editor.
and Time signature display and editing in the event editor.
First, we need to note how the tempo track is implemented in Sequencer64. Rather than make a
SeqSpec track for the tempo events, we use the MIDI specification mandate that Tempo events should
occur only in the first track. Sequencer64 treats Set Tempo and Time Signature as full-fledged MIDI
events that can be viewed (and later, edited) in the existing user-interface. Notes and other events can
occur in the same track.
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9.1
9.1
”usr” BPM Display Settings
”usr” BPM Display Settings
Sequencer64 allows the tempo to range from 1 to 600 BPM (beats per minute). This range is hardwired
into the application. To display tempo with a little more granularity, Sequencer64 provides scaling for
the tempo displays. These values are found in the ”usr” file:
0
360
# midi_bpm_minimum
# midi_bpm_maximum
See section 11.4 ””usr” File / User MIDI Settings” on page 137, for more information. This setting
can only be made by editing the ”usr” file while Sequencer64 is not running. Note that this setting affects
the global BPM setting (”c bpmtag”).
9.2
Composite Display of Tempos
The following figure shows a composite picture of the various representations of Set Tempo events.
Figure 78: Various Tempo Displays
The top of the figure shows the magenta tempo lines in a pattern slot that is currently being edited.
This view edited, but the event editor and the main window’s BPM settings can be used to add, delete,
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
9.3
Tempo in the Main Window
or adjust the tempo. The middle panel shows the very similar representation of the tempo in the song
editor. This view does not allow editing of the tempo events. The bottom shows tempo as an event (in
the event strip) and a data value in the data pane. A tempo event can be added here by holding the
Ctrl key and painting an event in the event strip, and it can then be modified by same method that note
velocities can be edited. Tempo events are always shown in the event strip and the data pane, no matter
what other Event type has been selected.
9.3
Tempo in the Main Window
The tempo is shown as a solid magenta-colored line at the relative height for the tempo, based on the
minimum and maximum values configured in the ”usr” file as discussed above. This pattern-slot tempo
display is rudimentary. It doesn’t allow for ramping of the tempo at present (except by recording while
holding the BPM spin-control), and cannot be directly edited in this window. However, tempos can be
logged or recorded via magenta-colored controls at the bottom of the main window.
Figure 79: Tempo Recording Controls
The 0th pattern slot shown in the figure is Track 1, the MIDI Tempo track. The magenta lines show
the tempos already in that track. Now look at the BPM control. The first button to its right (”0”) is
the tempo-tap button, used for setting a tempo by tapping in time to music. The light-magenta button
that comes next, when pressed while playback is occurring, logs a tempo event at the current progress
location and the current BPM value in the BPM spin-field. The dark magenta button to the right of that
toggles the mode of recording the changes to the BPM spin-button while playback is occurring.
Although pattern 0 might start out with a length of only a measure or two, the timer continually
ticks upward, and tempo events that are recorded after the end of the track at still recorded, and they
will extend the length of the tempo track. If the ”show sequences key” option is enabled, the length of
each track, in measures, is shown at the top right of each main window pattern slot, so it can be tracked
by the user.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
Once tempo events have been recorded, they can be tweaked (or deleted) either in the pattern editor
or in the event editor. Generally, they are treated like control events that are always available. Deleting
all tempo events will not reduce the (possibly new) length of the sequence. The Tempo track will not
change tempo unless that track is unmuted. This behavior is a feature, not a bug.
10
Sequencer64 ”rc” Configuration File
There are two Sequencer64 configuration files: sequencer64.rc and sequencer64.usr. See section 11
”Sequencer64 ”usr” Configuration File” on page 124; it describes the ”usr” file, is handled a bit differently
than the ”rc” file.
The Sequencer64 configuration file originally was named .seq24rc, and it was stored directly in
the user’s $HOME directory, following the convention of Seq24. To avoid interference with one’s existing
installation of Seq24, we created a new file to take its place, with a fall-back to the original file-name if
the new file does not exist, or if Sequencer64 is running in legacy mode. In addition, one can change the
configuration directory and the base name of the ”rc” and ”usr” files from the command-line.
After you run Sequencer64 for the first time (in non-legacy mode), it will generate a sequencer64.rc
file in your home configuration directory:
/home/ahlstrom/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.rc
It contains the the data for remote MIDI control, computer keyboard control, MIDI clock, JACK
transport, and a few other settings.
Sequencer64 will always overwrite the sequencer6.rc file upon quitting. One must therefore quit
Sequencer64 before making manual modifications to the sequencer64.rc file. Note that many of its
settings can be modified in the Options dialog (see section 2.2.8 ”Menu / File / Options” on page 17).
There is an old, but complete, example of the Seq24 ”rc” file at [25]. It includes a setup for the Novation
Launchpad device.
Now let’s covered each section of the ”rc” file in order.
10.1
”rc” File / Comments
The very top of the ”rc” file that Sequencer64 generates is a stock banner showing the version of Sequencer64 to which this file applies, the name of the configuration file, and when it was written. The user
can also add a comments section that explain what the user’s setup is in brief:
[comments]
Comments added to this section are preserved.
a ’#’ or ’[’, or that are blank, are ignored.
be blank with a space.
Lines starting with
Start lines that must
A blank line (not even a space) ends the comment section.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.2
10.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control
”rc” File / MIDI Control
Like Seq24, Sequencer64 provides a way to control the application to some extent via a MIDI controller,
such as a MIDI keyboard or a MIDI pad device. The current section describes this feature; additional
resources and ideas can be found at linuxaudio.org ([14]).
New with version 0.96 of Sequencer64 is the ability to offload the MIDI control section to a separate
file. Simply move the whole [midi-control] section to a separate file in the Sequencer64 configuration
directory, and add the following snippet:
[midi-control-file]
nanomap.rc
# contains a whole [midi-control] section
As with the normal ”rc”, this file is rewritten upon exit, so don’t bother trying to add comments to
it. The rest of this section applied either to that ”rc” or the normal ”rc” file.
The MIDI control section begins with the following ”INI”-style group marker tag:
[midi-control]
74
# MIDI controls count (74/84/96)
The number (74) is the number of lines in the MIDI Control section. The extended automation
values bring this number up to 84, and the most recent version of Sequencer64 brings this up to 96. Note
that earlier version will complain about numbers higher than what they can handle. If so, edit the ”rc”
file to reduce that number.
Even in the latest version of Sequencer64, not all of these new values are yet usable, and there
are also some values reserved for future expansion. Currently, the ”start”, ”pause”, ”stop”, and ”bpm”
page controls, and the ”performance record”, ”MIDI THRU”, ”MIDI RECORD”, and ”MIDI Quantized
RECORD” have been implemented. (To come: playlist control).
Each MIDI control line has the following format:
74
[0 0 0 0 0 0]
[0 0 0 0 0 0]
[0 0 0 0 0 0]
The first number is an internal control number ranging from 0 to 73, 83, or 95 depending on the
version of Sequencer64. The three bracketed sections represent MIDI controls to toggle, turn on, and
turn off a pattern or mute group. However, some MIDI controls extend the meanings of these brackets
for additional functionality.
-----------------| ----------------| | -------------| | | -----------| | | | ---------| | | | | -------| | | | | |
on/off
inverse
MIDI status (event) byte (e.g. note on)
data 1 (e.g. note number)
data 2 min
data 2 max
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
v v v v v v
74
[0 0 0 0 0 0]
Index:
Toggle
Playback: Pause
Playlist: By-Value
10.2
[0 0 0 0 0 0]
On
Start/Play
Next
”rc” File / MIDI Control
[0 0 0 0 0 0]
Off
Stop
Previous
The first number is an index number, starting at 0. It indicates what function the control line will
affect. The numbers in the leftmost brackets define a toggle filter; the numbers in the middle brackets
define a on filter; the numbers in the rightmost brackets define a off filter. Additional functions are
shown that extend these basic functions, such as changing a selection, controlling playback, or activating
a feature.
The numbers inside the brackets define six values that set up the control. The layout of each filter
inside the brackets is as follows:
[OPR INV STAT D1 D2min D2max]
•
•
•
•
•
•
OPR = on/off
INV = inverse
STAT = MIDI status byte (channel ignored)
D1 = data1
D2min = data2 min
D2max = data2 max
If OPR (on/off ) is set to 1, it will match the incoming MIDI against the STAT (MIDI status
byte) pattern. and perform the action (on/off/toggle) if the data falls in the range specified. All values
are in decimal.
Note: In legacy versions (Seq24 and early versions of Sequencer64), the channel nybble of the MIDI
control (and all other incoming MIDI events) were stripped off. This is no longer the case, and thus opens
up many more events useful for MIDI control. But do note that events that are actually recorded end up
getting the channel number of the pattern into which they are recorded.
The INV (inverse) field will make the pattern perform the opposite action (off for on, on for off )
if the data falls outside the specified range. This is cool because one can map several sequences to a knob
or fader.
The STAT (MIDI status byte) field is a MIDI status byte number in decimal notation. The
channel nybble of this byte is ignored. One can look up the possible status values up in the MIDI
messages tables; the relevant data can be found at [15]. As the channel on which the events are sent is
ignored, it is sufficient to use the values for channel 1; that is, 0.
The last three fields describe the range of data that will match. The D1 (data1) field provides the
actual MIDI event message number to detect, in decimal. This item could be a Note On/Off event or a
Control/Mode change event, for example.
The D2min (data2 min) field is the minimum value of the event for the filter to match. For Note
On/Off events, this would be the velocity value, for example.
The D2max (data2 max) field is the maximum value of the event for the filter to match.
For each pattern, we can set up MIDI events to turn a pattern on, off, or to toggle it, or to control
some other function. If the incoming MIDI event value matches a value present in the filter, it will toggle
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control
(first field), enable (second field) or disable (third field) the sequence, or perform some kind of automation
control.
As a quick example, let us set up a Note On event on channel 2 and key value 48 that will increment
Sequencer64’s BPM value each time it is pressed. A Note On event is 0x90 hex, or 144 decimal. Channel
2 is 0x1 hex or 1 decimal. Adding the Note On value to the the channel number yields 0x91 hex, or 145
decimal. Then we pick a note value of 48, which is one of the C keys. We don’t care about the velocity, so
we allow all values (0 to 127). We add the following entry to ~/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.rc):
[midi-control]
. . .
# bpm up:
64 [0 0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 145
48
0 127] [0 0
0
0
0
0]
Now, whenever we press key 48 (C), we see that the BPM value in the main patterns panel increments
by 1.
The MIDI control setup resembles a matrix. This matrix is divided into a number of sections
depending on the overall functionality of the MIDI controls in the section:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pattern Group (rows 0 to 31).
Mute-In Group (rows 32 to 63).
Automation Group (rows 64 to 73).
Extended Automation Group (row 74 to 95).
10.2.1
”rc” File / MIDI Control / Pattern Group
The pattern group consists of 32 lines (0 to 31), one for each pattern slot shown in the Pattern window.
It provides a way to control the arming/disarming (muting/unmuting) of each pattern shown in the main
window. Note that the main window shows the active screen-set. These MIDI controls affect the active
screen-set.
This block of matrix elements, numbered from 0 to 31, represent control functions (toggle, mute,
unmute) for the 32 patterns of the active screen-set. These 32 rows correspond to the hot-keys assigned
in the File / Options / Keyboard / Control keys [keyboard-group] configuration panel.
Here is an example of setting mute/unmute control for the first four patterns of the active screen-set.
Note that the numbers are decimal numbers, and that 144 is 90 hex (a Note On event) and 128 is 80 hex
(a Note Off event).
on (enabled)-----------| Note On
| Note Off
|
| Note #
|
| Note #
|
|
|
Vel
|
|
|
--- off (disabled)
|
|
|
Range
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
v
v
v
v
v v
v
v
v
0 [0 0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 144
0
0 127] [1 0 128
0
0 127]
1 [0 0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 144 16
0 127] [1 0 128 16
0 127]
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
2 [0 0
0
3 [0 0
0
#
Toggle
0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 144
0] [1 0 144
On
10.2
32
48
0 127] [1 0 128 32
0 127] [1 0 128 48
Off
”rc” File / MIDI Control
0 127]
0 127]
The ”toggle” section is empty and disabled. The ”on” section specifies that a Note On event of
any velocity will unmute a pattern, and the note number determines which pattern. A Note Off of any
velocity will mute a pattern. These settings are for the control grid of a Novation Launchpad.
Look at line ”0. The first number, 0, indicates the first pattern (pattern numbering starts from 0).
The first section, Toggle, is off (inactive). All values are 0. There is no setup to use MIDI control to
toggle pattern 1 here.
On to the second section, On:
• The On section starts with OPR = 1, so it is on (1 = active).
• The inverse value is off (0 = inactive).
• The MIDI status byte, 144, which is 0x90 (hex), which is a Note On event on channel 0. However,
the channel is ignored.
• The data1 values sets the actual Note value to 0, meaning the lowest possible MIDI note (pitch)
value.
• data2 min value sets the minimum value to 0.
• data2 max sets the maximum value to 127.
Thus, receiving any Note On velocity for note 0 will turn sequence 1 on. This is the second pattern;
in the default setup, key q would operate on this pattern as well.
On to the Off section:
• The Off field is on (active).
• The inverse value is off (0 = inactive).
• The MIDI status byte, 128, which is 0x80 (hex), which 128, which is 0x80 (hex), which is a Note
Off event on channel 0.
• The data1 values sets the actual Note value to 0, meaning the lowest possible MIDI note (pitch)
value.
• data2 min value sets the minimum value to 0.
• data2 max sets the maximum value to 127.
Thus, receiving any Note Off velocity for note 0 will turn sequence 1 off.
So, basically, pattern 1 starts when any Note On for MIDI note 0 is received, and it stops when any
Note Off for MIDI note 0 is received. One can easily extend this so that Note On/Off values from 0 to
31 control the corresponding pattern slot.
Obviously, one might not want Note On/Off events from any channel to trigger events, so some other
event would likely be more useful. Here’s a little table of the decimal numbers for some commonly-used
MIDI controls:
• 128 or 129 for any Note On or Note Off events.
• 160 Polyphonic aftertouch.
106
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
•
•
•
•
176
192
208
224
10.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control
Control Change event.
Program change.
Aftertouch.
Pitch wheel.
The following example would map a row of sequences to one knob sending out changes for Control
Code 1:
#
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
[0
[0
[0
[0
[0
[0
[0
[0
Toggle
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0]
0]
0]
0]
0]
0]
0]
0]
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
On
176 1
0
176 1 16
176 1 32
176 1 48
176 1 64
176 1 80
176 1 96
176 1 112
15]
31]
47]
63]
79]
95]
111]
127]
[0
[0
[0
[0
[0
[0
[0
[0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Off
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0]
0]
0]
0]
0]
0]
0]
0]
The on field is on (active). Inverse is active. The MIDI status byte, 176, is 0xB0 (hex), which is
a Control Change event (channel ignored). data1 is 1, which is the controller number for a Modulation
Wheel. The data2 ranges are set so that, as the controller data increases (as the modulation-wheel knob
is turned, so to speak), patterns 0 through 7 come on one at a time until all are running.
10.2.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control / Pattern Group Multiples
This section describes a feature of the pattern-group that needs it own section for emphasis. This section
describes using a single MIDI control to control a number of operations at one time. Essentially, if a
particular MIDI control row is repeated, each repetition has its own effect on the patterns, which permits
one MIDI control event to control multiple patterns at once.
This control can be used, for example, to emulate the Ableton Live row control functionality. Here
is a sample that uses the lowest range of MIDI notes to control the muting and unmuting of patterns:
# Pattern-group section:
0 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
1 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
2 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
3 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
4 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
5 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
6 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
7 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
8 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
9 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
10 [0 0 0 0 0 0] [1 0 144
11 [0 0 0 0 0 0] [1 0 144
12 [0 0 0 0 0 0] [1 0 144
0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
107
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
[1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
128
128
128
128
128
128
128
128
128
128
128
128
128
0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
127]
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
13 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
14 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
15 [0 0 0 0 0 0]
[1 0 144
[1 0 144
[1 0 144
10.2
1
2
3
0 127]
0 127]
0 127]
[1 0 128
[1 0 128
[1 0 128
1
2
3
”rc” File / MIDI Control
0 127]
0 127]
0 127]
Observer that MIDI On (144) and Off (128) events appear four times for each note value of 0, 1, 2,
and 3. Each note value thus controls four patterns – one whole row in a 4x8 pattern. When note 0 is
pressed, patterns 0, 4, 8, and 12 turn on. When note 0 is released, they turn off.
10.2.3
”rc” File / MIDI Control / Mute-In Group
This section controls 32 groups of mutes. A group is a set of patterns that can toggle their playing state
together. Every group contains all 32 sequences in the active screen set. So, this part of the MIDI Control
section is used for muting and unmuting (and toggling) a group of patterns.
The mute-in group onsists of 32 lines (32 to 63), one for each pattern box shown in the Pattern
window. It provides a way to control the mute groups. A group is a set of sequences that can arm their
playing state together; every group contains all 32 sequences in the active screen-set.
These 32 values represent the same actions as the the File / Options / Keyboard / Mute-group
slot [mute-group] configuration panel. See section 2.2.8.3 ”Menu / File / Options / Keyboard” on
page 23.
What is the different between the mute-in group section and the mute group section? The former
defines the MIDI control values that can affect the muting of a group, while the latter specifies the armed
patterns that are part of a group.
10.2.4
”rc” File / MIDI Control / Automation
The automation control keys occupy the entries from 64 to 73. These entries control Sequencer64 actions
like changing the BPM value, screen-set, etc. Sequencer64 adds some more entries, from 74 to 83, to
control additional Sequencer64 functions such as performance record, solo, etc.
One issue with this group is that the original control functions are a bit wasteful. For example there
are two control lines for BPM: BPM up and BPM down. These could have been combined into one line,
with the ”on” group meaning ”up”, and the ”off” group meaning ”down”. Sequencer64 at present does
not change this setup, to avoid breaking existing MIDI control sections.
Each item in this group consists of one line. Each line specifies a MIDI event that can cause a given
Sequencer64 user-interface operation to occur. Here are the original automation-group settings:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
bpm up
bpm down
screen-set up
screen-set down
mod replace
mod snapshot
mod queue
mod gmute
mod glearn
screen-set play
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.2.4.1
10.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control
Automation / BPM Up and Down
The BPM Up MIDI control increments the beats-per-minute setting, as if the up-arrow has been clicked,
or the up-arrow key pressed, in the BPM user-interface control. This increment is the ”step increment”
which defaults to 1, but can be modified by changing the ”bpm step increment” value in the ”usr”
configuration file. See section 11.4 ””usr” File / User MIDI Settings” on page 137.
Similarly, the BPM Down MIDI control decrements the beats-per-minute setting, as if the down-arrow
has been clicked/pressed.
Here is a sample group for changing the BPM in both directions. The value 176 is B0 hex, which is
a Control Change event. 104 is 68 hex, and represents an undefined control. 105 is 69 hex, and is also
undefined. So both MIDI events can be used without interfering with playback.
Question: Why are both the ”on” and ”off” sections defined?
# bpm
64 [0
# bpm
65 [0
up
0
0
down
0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 176 104 127 127] [1 0 176 104 127 127]
0
0
0] [1 0 176 105 127 127] [1 0 176 105 127 127]
Note that these controls correspond to the hot-keys assigned in the File / Options / Keyboard
/ Control keys [keyboard-group] ”BPM Up” and ”BPM Down” configuration panel items.
10.2.4.2
Automation / Screen-Set Up and Down
The Screen-Set Up MIDI control increments to the next screen-set. Once the screen-set has been altered,
mute-groups and other actions apply to that screen set.
Similarly, the Screen-Set Up MIDI control decrements to the previous screen-set.
# bpm
66 [0
# bpm
67 [0
up
0
0
down
0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 176 104 127 127] [1 0 176 104 127 127]
0
0
0] [1 0 176 105 127 127] [1 0 176 105 127 127]
Note that these controls correspond to the hot-keys assigned in the File / Options / Keyboard
/ Control keys [keyboard-group] ”BPM Up” and ”BPM Down” configuration panel items.
10.2.4.3
Automation / Mod Replace
The Mod Replace MIDI control sets the ”replace” status flag. Then, when the user manually clicks a
pattern slot, that pattern is unmuted, and all the rest are muted. Thus, this MIDI control is kind a of
”Solo” function. It works whether in ”Live” or ”Song” mode.
Note that this control corresponds to the hot-key assigned in the File / Options / Keyboard /
Control keys [keyboard-group] ”Replace/Solo” configuration panel item.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.2.4.4
10.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control
Automation / Mod Snaphot
The Mod Snapshot MIDI control causes the playing statuses of all active (i.e. having data) patterns to
be saved. When turned off, the original playing status is restored. Thus, two MIDI events need to be
allocated to this functionality. Compare to section section 3.2.3.1 ”Pattern Keys” on page 49for a better
idea of how it works.
Note that this control corresponds to the hot-keys assigned in the File / Options / Keyboard /
Control keys [keyboard-group] ”Snapshot 1” and ”Snapshot 2” configuration panel items.
10.2.4.5
Automation / Mod Queue
The Mod Queue MIDI control sets up the ”queue” status flag. Then, when the user manually clicks a
pattern slot, that pattern is queued, and will play at the next cycle of the pattern.
Here is an example from [14], which shows how to set up the ”Sustain” control-change event to queue
or un-queue a sequence: The Akai MPK Mini has a Sustain button and we can set the Sustain MIDI event
(with MIDI status byte 176 [0xB0] to represent a Controller event, and control/mode change number 64
[0x40] to represent the Sustain or Pedal control) up as the queue modifier in the mod queue entry:
# mod queue
#
Toggle
70 [0
0
0
0
#
OPR INV STA D1
#
#
#
#
0
0
mn mx
On
Off
] [1
0
176 64 127 127] [1
0 176 64
OPR INV STA D1 mn mx
OPR INV STA D1
^ ^
^ ^
| |
| |
|
----Sustain---------|--------Control Change--
0 0]
mn mx
So when the Sustain button is held down, and one presses one of the pads on the MPK Mini, the
corresponding sequence gets queued.
Note that this control corresponds to the hot-key assigned in the File / Options / Keyboard /
Control keys [keyboard-group] ”Queue” configuration panel item. There is also a ”Q” button on the
Gtkmm-2.4 user-interface.
10.2.4.6
Automation / Mod Mute Group
The Mod Group Mute MIDI control sets up a ”mute group”. More to come on this one, see section 3.1
”Patterns / Top Panel” on page 36.
This control sets an internal ”mode-group” flag on.
When activated, Sequencer64 loops through all of the 32 screen-sets, and through the active pattern
in each screen-set, and sets each pattern as muted or unmuted, depending on the saved mute state.
10.2.4.7
Automation / Mod Mute Group
The Mod Group Learn MIDI control sets up a ”group learn”. However, as the group-learn key is a
modifier key that needs to be held, we’re not quite sure how this works with MIDI control.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control
This control sets two internal flags on : ”mode-group” and ”group-learn”. The first flag indicates
that we will be handling mute-groups. The second flag indicates that we are learning these mute-groups,
effectively recording the current status of all the patterns in all of the screen-sets.
These statuses ultimately get saved in the [mute-group] section of the ”rc” file.
Note that this control corresponds to the ”L” button in the main window user-interface. It can also
be accessed by the hard-wired hot-key, Ctrl-L.
10.2.4.8
Automation / Screen-Set Play
This MIDI control sets the playing screen-set, but we’re not completely sure how it works yet.
10.2.5
”rc” File / MIDI Control / Extended Automation
These additional control items were requested by users, to control additional features of the application. Each item in this group consists of one line. The following sections show how to set up extended
automation controls.
1. Stop/Pause/Start. Emulate the Stop, Pause, and Start keys, using Toggle for pause, Off for stop,
and On for start.
2. Record. For recording a live performance by recording the mute/unmute states that the musician
played. Not yet functional, thought the feature has been added as of version 0.94.
3. Solo on/off. Not yet functional. See the ”Mod Replace” functionality.
4. Thru toggle. Not yet functional.
5. Reserved for expansion (a few of these are reserved).
10.2.5.1
Ext Automation / Stop/Pause/Start
Here, we will set up Sequencer64 so that the first three MIDI white keys (notes 0, 2, and 4) will become
”Stop”, ”Pause”, and ”Start” buttons.
The first step, if not already done, is to install the newest version (0.96.0 and above) of Sequencer64,
run it, and then exit. Verify in the regenerated ”rc” file (~/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.rc)
that the following line exists:
96
# MIDI controls count (74/84/96)
Then go to line 74, which is the Stop/Pause/Play MIDI control. Replace it with:
# start playback (pause, start, stop):
74 [1 0 144
2
0 127] [1 0 144
4
0 127] [1 0 144
0
0 127]
This sets up MIDI Note On (144) with note numbers 2 (toggle/pause), 4 (on/start), and 0 (off/stop).
Any velocity (0 to 127) will work to trigger these actions. Now we are ready to test this feature. One
can use a MIDI keyboard to do so, but here we will use the VMPK ([34]) virtual MIDI piano keyboard
application for this test. Refer to the figure below. In addition, let’s set up the standard and the new,
extended, BPM (beats/minute) MIDI control values.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
# bpm
64 [0
# bpm
65 [0
up: Note On 9
0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 144
down: Note On 7
0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 144
10.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control
9
0 127] [0 0
0
0
0
0]
7
0 127] [0 0
0
0
0
0]
The section above sets up the standard (step-size) BPM controls, which correspond to the fine control
possible with the up and down arrows of the BPM spinner in the main window. It sets up Note On 7 to
be the BPM-down control, and Note On 9 to be the BPM-up control. These two keys are the dark-cyan
keys shown in the figure.
# bpm
78 [0
# bpm
79 [0
page up: Note On 11
0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 144
page down: Note On 5
0
0
0
0
0] [1 0 144
11
0 127] [0 0
0
0
0
0]
05
0 127] [0 0
0
0
0
0]
That section uses the extended controls (74 to 83) set up the coarse (page-size) BPM controls, which
correspond to the larger jumps possible with the Page Up and Page Down keys when the BPM spinner has
focus. It sets up Note On 5 to be the BPM-page-down control, and Note On 11 to be the BPM-page-up
control. These two keys are the bright-cyan keys shown in the figure.
Figure 80: Stop/Pause/Start ALSA Test Setup
One can copy these settings from the sample file contrib/simple-midi-control-section.rc, if
one wants to try them. It also illustrates some other setups that we use for testing purposes, but are not
described here.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.2
”rc” File / MIDI Control
Set up VMPK to use the lowest octave by setting Base Octave to 0. The red, yellow, and green
keys shown will be our stop, pause, and start keys. Also set the velocity to a value ranging from 1 to
127. Do not use a zero velocity, as it seems that VMPK will not transmit Note On messages with a zero
velocity.
Next, run Sequencer64, using the following command line to make sure that it is using ALSA and
using automatic mode to connect the ALSA MID ports:
$ seq64 -A -a
Then open a MIDI file. Next, open the File / Options / MIDI Input tab, and make sure that
the VMPK Output is check-marked as shown in the figure. If desired, also connect up to some kind of
synthesizer so that the song can be heard.
Finally, press the third white key (shown as green in the figure) to start playback. The second white
key (yellow in the figure) will pause and resume playback. The first white key (red in the figure) will stop
(and rewind) playback.
Then play with the BPM MIDI control keys. Note that the size of the BPM step-increment and the
BPM page-increment are configurable in the [user-midi-settings] section of the ”usr” configuration
file, using the following values in that section:
1
1.0
10
# bpm_precision
# bpm_step_increment
# bpm_page_increment
See section 11.4 ””usr” File / User MIDI Settings” on page 137; it has information about the usage
and enabling of these settings.
Obviously, this setup is not useful for performance, but serves as a good example to verify this MIDI
control.
One thing we noticed while implementing this functionality is that there is really no need to have
two lines for pairs such as BPM up/down and screen-set up/down. Also, is screen-set play now partly
redundant? No matter, we will not break the user’s existing setup.
10.2.5.2
Ext Automation / Performance Record
To do.
10.2.5.3
Ext Automation / Solo
To do.
10.2.5.4
Ext Automation / MIDI Thru
To do.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.2.5.5
10.2
Ext Automation / BPM Page Up
To do.
10.2.5.6
Ext Automation / BPM Page Down
To do.
10.2.5.7
Ext Automation / Screen-Set By Number
To do.
10.2.5.8
Ext Automation / MIDI Record
To do.
10.2.5.9
Ext Automation / MIDI Quantized Record
To do.
10.2.5.10
Ext Automation / Fast Forward
To do.
10.2.5.11
Ext Automation / Rewind
To do.
10.2.5.12
Ext Automation / Top
To do.
10.2.5.13
Ext Automation / Select Playlist
To do.
10.2.5.14
Ext Automation / Select Song
To do.
114
”rc” File / MIDI Control
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.3
10.3
”rc” File / Mute-Group Section
”rc” File / Mute-Group Section
This section is delimited by the [mute-group] construct. It controls 32 groups of mutes in the same way
as defined for [midi-control]. A group is set of sequences that can toggle their playing state together.
Every group contains all 32 sequences in the active screen set.
[mute-group]
1024
# group mute value count
0 [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
1 [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
2 [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
...
...
...
...
...
31 [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0] [0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0]
The initial number, 1024 is probably the total count of 32 x 32 sequences. In this group are the
definitions of the state of the 32 sequences in the playing screen set when a group is selected. Each set of
brackets defines a group:
[state of the first 8 sequences] [second 8] [third 8] [fourth 8]
After the list of sequences and their MIDI events, one can set Sequencer64 to handle MIDI events
and change some more settings in sequencer64.rc.
What is the different between the mute-in group section and the mute group section? The former
defines the MIDI control values that can affect the muting of a group, while the latter specifies the patterns
that are part of a group.
10.4
”rc” File / MIDI-Clock Section
The MIDI Clock fields will contain the clocking state from the last time Sequencer64 was run. Turn off
the clock with a 0, or on with a 1 (which means to send MIDI Song Position, and MIDI Continue if
starting after tick 0), or on with positioning with a 2, which sends MIDI Start and then bbegins clocking
after the position reaches a modulo of the Clock Start Modulo value). Luckily, the user-interface
makes it easy to select the desire value, and has tool-tips to instruct the user. This section has 16 entries,
one for each MIDI output buss that Sequencer64 supports.
This configuration item is the same as the MIDI Clock tab described in paragraph 2.2.8.1 ”Menu
/ File / Options / MIDI Clock” on page 17
Here is the format:
[midi-clock]
16
0 0 # [1]
1 0 # [2]
2 0 # [3]
3 0 # [4]
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
1
2
3
4
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
seq24
10.5
”rc” File / MIDI-Meta-Events Section
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
That sample would be written one had started up Sequencer64 in manual-alsa-mode. On our system,
where we have Timidity running, and erroneously have also specified 3 MIDI busses that we do not have,
in the sequencer64.usr file:
[midi-clock]
5
# number of MIDI clocks/busses
# Output buss name: [0] 14:0 2x2 A (SuperNova,Q,TX81Z,DrumStation)
0 0 # buss number, clock status
# Output buss name: [1] 128:0 2x2 B (WaveStation,ESI-2000,MV4,ES-1,ER-1)
1 0 # buss number, clock status
# Output buss name: [2] 128:1 PCR-30 (303)
2 0 # buss number, clock status
# Output buss name: [3] 128:2 TiMidity port 2
3 0 # buss number, clock status
# Output buss name: [4] 128:3 TiMidity port 3
4 0 # buss number, clock status
10.5
”rc” File / MIDI-Meta-Events Section
The new MIDI Meta events section is the start of additional options supporting meta events as normal
events in Sequencer64.
[midi-meta-events]
10
# tempo_track_number
Normally, as per the MIDI specification, the first track (track 1 in track numbering, or pattern 0 in
Sequencer64 numbering) is the official track for certain MIDI meta events, such as Set Tempo and Time
Signature. However, to accommodate existing tunes and their set arrangement, we allow the user to go
into File / Options / MIDI Clock and change the tempo track to another pattern.
Please note that the user can insert Set Tempo events into any track via the pattern editor or the
event editor. But, when recording tempo events, they will always be written to the patten having the
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.6
”rc” File / Keyboard Control Section
tempo-track number.
10.6
”rc” File / Keyboard Control Section
The keyboard control is a dump of the keys that Sequencer64 recognises, and each key’s corresponding
sequence number. Note that the first number corresponds to the number of sequences in the active screen
set.
[keyboard-control]
32
# number of keys
# Key # Sequence #
Key name
44 31
# comma
49 0
# 1
50 4
# 2
51 8
# 3
52 12
# 4
53 16
# 5
54 20
# 6
55 24
# 7
56 28
# 8
97 2
# a
98 19
# b
99 11
# c
100 10
# d
101 9
# e
102 14
# f
103 18
# g
104 22
# h
105 29
# i
106 26
# j
107 30
# k
109 27
# m
110 23
# n
113 1
# q
114 13
# r
115 6
# s
116 17
# t
117 25
# u
118 15
# v
119 5
# w
120 7
# x
121 21
# y
122 3
# z
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.7
10.7
”rc” File / Keyboard Group Section
”rc” File / Keyboard Group Section
This section is the same as [keyboard-control], but to control groups of patterns, rather than individual
patterns, using keystrokes. The keyboard group specifies more automation for the application. The first
number specifies the key number, and the second number specifies the Group number.
Additional control items:
1. # bpm up and down. Keys to control BPM (beats per minute).
2. # screen set up and down. Keys for changing the active screenset.
3. # group functionality on, off, learn. Note that the group learn key is a modifier key to be held
while pressing a group toggle key.
4. #replace, queue, snapshot 1, snapshot 2, keep queue. These are the other modifier keys
explained in section 3a.
To see the required key codes when pressed, run seq24 with the --show-keys.
Some keys should not be assigned to control sequences in Sequencer64 as they are already assigned
in the Sequencer64 menu (with Ctrl).
This configuration item is the same as the Keyboard tab described in section 2.2.8.3 ”Menu / File
/ Options / Keyboard” on page 23.
[keyboard-group]
# Key #, group #
32
33 0
# exclam
34 1
# quotedbl
35 2
# numbersign
36 3
# dollar
37 4
# percent
38 5
# ampersand
40 7
# parenleft
47 6
# slash
59 31
# semicolon
65 16
# A
66 28
# B
67 26
# C
68 18
# D
69 10
# E
70 19
# F
71 20
# G
72 21
# H
73 15
# I
74 22
# J
75 23
# K
77 30
# M
78 29
# N
81 8
# Q
82 11
# R
83 17
# S
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.8
”rc” File / JACK Transport
84 12
# T
85 14
# U
86 27
# V
87 9
# W
88 25
# X
89 13
# Y
90 24
# Z
39 59
# bpm up, down: apostrophe semicolon
93 91 65360
# screen set up, down, play: bracketright bracketleft Home
236 39 65379 # group on, off, learn: igrave apostrophe Insert
# replace, queue, snapshot_1, snapshot 2, keep queue:
65507 65508 65513 65514 92 # Control_L Control_R Alt_L Alt_R backslash
1
# show_ui_sequence_key and pattern measures (1=true/0=false)
32
# space start sequencer
65307
# Escape stop sequencer
0 # show sequence numbers (1 = true / 0 = false); ignored in legacy mode
Note that most of these group-control keys are shifted versions of the keystrokes that control the
individual sequences. Also note the Control L and Control R notations a few lines above. Please avoid
using any Control key combinations in the ”rc”/Keyboard configuration. Control keys are the province
of the user-interface (Gtk+) and assigning them can cause surprising behavior! It is also wise to avoid
the Alt key.
When in group-learn mode, the Shift key cannot be hit, so the group-learn mode automatically
converts the keys to their shifted versions. This feature known as shift-lock or auto-shift.
10.8
”rc” File / JACK Transport
This section holds the settings for both JACK transport and for native JACK MIDI mode.
The JACK Transport options are also command-line options, as indicated in the comments below.
This configuration item is the same as the Jack Sync tab described in section 2.2.8.6 ”Menu / File
/ Options / Jack Sync” on page 30.
[jack-transport]
# jack_transport - Enable slave sync with JACK Transport.
0
# jack_master - Sequencer64 attempts to serve as JACK Master.
0
# jack_master_cond - Sequencer64 is master if no other master exists.
0
# song_start_mode (applies mainly if JACK is enabled)
# 0 = Playback in live mode. Allows muting and unmuting of loops.
# 1 = Playback uses the song editor’s data.
1
An additional item, new, specifies if native JACK MIDI input/output is to be used.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.9
”rc” File / MIDI Clock Mod Ticks
# jack_midi - Enable JACK MIDI, which is a separate option from
# JACK Transport.
1
Please note that only one of jack transport, jack master, and jack master cond should be selected
(set to 1) at a time. Also note that JACK transport is separately configurable from JACK MIDI, and
each uses a different JACK client internally.
10.9
”rc” File / MIDI Clock Mod Ticks
This configuration item is the same as the Clock Start Modulo option described in paragraph 2.2.8.1
”Menu / File / Options / MIDI Clock” on page 17.
[midi-clock-mod-ticks]
64
10.10
”rc” File / MIDI Meta Events
This section defines some features of MIDI meta-event handling. Normally, tempo events are supposed to
occur in the first track (pattern 0). But one can move this track elsewhere to accomodate one’s existing
body of tunes. If affects where tempo events are recorded. The default value is 0, the maximum is 1023.
A pattern must exist at this number for it to work.
[midi-meta-events]
0
# tempo_track_number
10.11
”rc” File / MIDI Input
This configuration item is the same as the MIDI Input tab described in paragraph 2.2.8.2 ”Menu / File
/ Options / MIDI Input” on page 21. The ”1” is a line count, and would equal the number of supported
input ports. This ”rc” entry here has two variables; the first is the record number or port number, and
the second number indicates whether it is disabled (0), or enabled (1).
[midi-input]
1
# number of MIDI busses
# The first number is the port number, and the second number
# indicates whether it is disabled (0), or enabled (1).
# [0] 0:0 seq64 midi in
0 0
# If set to 1, this option allows the master MIDI bus to record
# (filter) incoming MIDI data by channel, allocating each incoming
# MIDI event to the sequence that is set to that channel.
# This is an option adopted from the Seq32 project at GitHub.
0
# flag to record incoming data by channel
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.12
”rc” File / Manual ALSA Ports
There is no user-interface item for the following value, but it does correspond to the --manual-alsa-ports
command-line option.
10.12
”rc” File / Manual ALSA Ports
The name of this setting is a bit of a misnomer in a couple of ways:
1. It actually refers to the usage of virtual MIDI ports. These are ports that are set up by the
application so that other devices or applications can connect to the MIDI application. Where the
”manual” idea comes in is that the user can manually choose the connections to be made.
2. This option is not just for ALSA. It can also be used when Sequencer64 is running in native
JACK mode, so support virtual JACK ports that can be connected manually (e.g. in the QJackCtl
application.)
[manual-alsa-ports]
# Set to 1 to have sequencer64 create its own ALSA ports and not
# connect to other clients. Use 1 to expose all 16 MIDI ports to
# JACK (e.g. via a2jmidid). Use 0 to access the ALSA MIDI ports
# already running on one’s computer, or to use the autoconnect
# feature (Sequencer64 connects to existing JACK ports on startup.
1
The opposite of --manual-alsa-ports is --auto-alsa-ports. The auto-alsa-ports option forces
Sequencer64 to use the system’s existing ALSA ports. This is necessary in order to play tunes through
software synthesizers that use ALSA MIDI.
Turning on the manual-alsa-ports option is necessary if one wants to use the legacy Sequencer64
(sequencer64) with JACK. It is not necessary if using the native JACK MIDI version, seq64. However,
if one needs to avoid the auto-connect feature of seq64, then the manual option is necessary.
It will create ports as per the settings in the ”user” configuration file’s user-midi-bus-definitions
and user-midi-bus-N sections. These definitions can be used by JACK for connection, and these definitions can be used to specifically rename the ports that exist in the system. However, this option is
misleading if one wants to have access to the actual ALSA ports that exist on the system. The next
option gets around that issue.
10.13
”rc” File / Reveal ALSA Ports
Again, this option applies to both ALSA and native JACK.
[reveal-alsa-ports]
# Set to 1 to have sequencer64 ignore any system port names
# declared in the ’user’ configuration file. Use this option if
# you want to be able to see the port names as detected by ALSA.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
1
10.14
”rc” File / Interaction Method
# flag for reveal ALSA ports
Turning on the reveal-alsa-ports option is necessary if one wants to see the actual ALSA port names
defined by the system. It will ignore the settings in the ”user” configuration file’s user-midi-bus-definitions
and user-midi-bus-N sections. If this option is turned on, the definitions in the ”user” configuration file
are not read from that file.
10.14
”rc” File / Interaction Method
This configuration item is the same as the Mouse tab described in paragraph 2.2.8.5 ”Menu / File /
Options / Mouse” on page 28.
[interaction-method]
# 0 - ’seq24’ (original seq24 method)
# 1 - ’fruity’ (similar to a certain fruity sequencer we like)
0
# interaction_method
Note that the ”fruity” mouse support is not available in the Qt user-interface.
There is an option to use the Mod4 (Super, or Windows) key in the Pattern Editor to lock the editing
of a note. When this mode is enabled, and Mod4 is pressed while the mouse right-button is released, the
editing pencil icon remains, and notes can be added. This feature is useful for crippled trackpads and
trackpad drivers that cannot provide two simultaneous button presses.
# Set to 1 to allow seq24 to stay in note-adding mode when
# the right-click is released while holding the Mod4 (Super or
# Windows) key.
1
# allow_mod4_mode
Note that the ”edit-lock” support is not available in the Qt user-interface. It is just as easy to click
in that pattern editor and press the ’p’ key to enter ”paint” (edit) mode.
This option comes from the seq32 project. It allows for pattern-splitting in the Song editor at snap
points, rather than just at the middle of the pattern.
#
#
#
#
0
Set to 1 to allow Sequencer64 to split performance editor
triggers at the closest snap position, instead of splitting the
trigger exactly in its middle. Remember that the split is
activated by a middle click.
# allow_snap_split
Not sure that this support is available in the Qt user-interface.
This option allows one to enable/disable the ability to double-click in a pattern slot in the main
window to bring it up for editing. This can interfere with a live performance where muting/unmuting
come fast enough to be seen as a double-click.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
10.15
”rc” File / LASH Session
# Set to 1 to allow a double-click on a slot to bring it up in
# the pattern editor. This is the default. Set it to 0 if
# it interferes with muting/unmuting a pattern.
1
# allow_click_edit
Not sure that this support is available in the Qt user-interface.
10.15
”rc” File / LASH Session
The following configuration item is the same as the --lash or --no-lash options described in section 14
”Sequencer64 Man Page” on page 155. If set to 0, LASH session support is disabled. If set to 1, LASH
session support is enabled. However, if LASH support is not built into the application, neither option has
any effect – there is no LASH support. To determine if LASH support is built in, run sequencer64 from
the command line with the --version option, and see if LASH is mentioned.
[lash-session]
# Set the following value to 0 to disable LASH session management.
# Set the following value to 1 to enable LASH session management.
# This value will have no effect is LASH support is not built into
# the application. Use the --help option to see if LASH is part of
# the options list.
1
# LASH session management support flag
10.16
”rc” File / Auto Option Save
This new item determines if the ”rc” configuration file is saved upon exit of Sequencer64. The legacy
behavior is to save it, which can sometimes be inconvenient when one is just trying out some command-line
options.
[auto-option-save]
# Set the following value to 0 to disable the automatic saving of the
# current configuration to the ’rc’ file. Set it to 1 to
# follow legacy seq24 behavior of saving the configuration at exit.
# Note that, if auto-save is set, many of the command-line settings,
# such as the JACK/ALSA settings, are then saved to the configuration,
# which can confuse one at first. Also note that one currently needs
# this option set to 1 to save the configuration, as there is not a
# user-interface control for it at present.
0
# auto-save-options-on-exit support flag
10.17
”rc” File / Last Used Directory
The following item refers to the last directory in which one opened or saved a MIDI file.
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10.18
”rc” File / Recent Files
[last-used-dir]
/home/ahlstrom/Home/ca/mls/git/sequencer64/contrib/midi/
10.18
”rc” File / Recent Files
The following item preserves a list of the last few MIDI files loaded. It is not filled when a MIDI file is
loaded via a play-list.
[recent-files]
4
/home/ahlstrom/Home/ca/mls/git/sequencer64-alternate/contrib/midi/2Bars.midi
contrib/midi/b4uacuse-seq24.midi
contrib/midi/Bars.midi
contrib/midi/b4uacuse-GM-format.midi
10.19
”rc” File / Play-List
This is a feature new with version 0.96.0 of Sequencer64. It provides a configured set of named play-lists
in a play-list file, and a flag to activate it.
[playlist]
0
# playlist_active, 1 = active, 0 = do not use it
# Provides the name of a play-list. If there is none, use ’""’.
# Or set the flag above to 0.
/home/ahlstrom/.config/sequencer64/sample.playlist
See section 12 ”Sequencer64 Play-Lists” on page 141. It describes the setup, layout, and usage of a
Sequencer64 playlist.
11
Sequencer64 ”usr” Configuration File
There are two Sequencer64 configuration files: sequencer64.rc and sequencer64.usr. See section 10
”Sequencer64 ”rc” Configuration File” on page 102; it describes the ”rc” file. It is a bit different in how
it is handled.
The Sequencer64 ”usr” (or ”user”) configuration file provides a way to give more informative names
to the MIDI busses, MIDI channels, and MIDI controllers of a given system setup. This configuration will
override the default values of some drop-down lists and menu items, and make them reflect your names
for them. In Sequencer64 it, also includes some items that affect the user-interface’s look, and other new
configuration items.
Unlike the ”rc” file, the ”user” file is not written every time Sequencer64 exits. If the ”user” files
does not exist, one is created, but it is normally not overwritten thereafter. To cause it to be overwritten
at exit, run Sequencer64 with the -u or --user-save option:
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$ seq64 --user-save
This option is recommended when one installs a new version of Sequencer64, which might add new
options to the ”user” file. See section 14 ”Sequencer64 Man Page” on page 155; it discusses more options
involving the ”user” file.
Another difference between the ”rc” file and the ”user” file is that the ”user” file currently has no
graphical user-interface dialog to configure the ”user” settings. One has to edit the file manually.
The original purpose for the ”user” file was to create familiar names for the system MIDI devices. By
default, the list of MIDI devices that Sequencer64 shows depends on one’s system setup and whether the
manual-alsa-port option is specified or not. Here’s our system, which has Timidity installed and running
as a service, and the [manual-alsa-port] option turned off, shown in a composite view with all menus
one can look at for MIDI settings:
Figure 81: Sequencer64 Composite View of Native Devices
At the top center, the dropdown menu contains the 5 MIDI busses/ports supported by this computer.
At right, the MIDI channel shows the channels numbers that can be picked for buss 0. At bottom left, we
see the default controller values that Sequencer64 includes. We have no idea if these correspond to any
controllers that the selected MIDI buss supports. We can use this dropdown to see if any such controller
events are in the loaded MIDI file, of course; a solid black square indicates that such an event was found
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in the pattern.
Assume we have 3 MIDI ”buss” devices hooked to our system: two Model ”2x2” MIDI port devices,
and an old PCR-30 MIDI controller keyboard. Let’s number them:
1. Model 2x2 A
2. Model 2x2 B
3. PCR-30
Then assume that we have nine different MIDI instruments in our kit. Let’s number them, too:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Waldorf Micro Q
SuperNova
DrumStation
TX81Z
WaveStation
ESI-2000
ES-1
ER-1
TB-303
The Waldorf Micro Q, the SuperNova, and the DrumStation all have a large number of special MIDI
controller values for affecting the sound they produce. The DrumStation accepts MIDI controllers that
change various features of the sound of each type of drum it supports.
The buss devices can be configured to route certain MIDI channels to certain MIDI devices. Assume
we have them set up this way:
1. Model 2x2 A
•
•
•
•
SuperNova: channels 1 to 8
TX81Z: channels 9 to 11
Waldorf Micro Q: channels 12 to 15
DrumStation: channel 16
2. Model 2x2 B
•
•
•
•
WaveStation: channels 1 to 4
ESI-2000: channels 5 to 14
ES-1: channel 15
ER-1: channel 16
3. PCR-30
• TB-303: channel 1
How can we get Sequencer64 to show these items with the proper names associated with each device,
channel, and controller value? We use the oddly-named ”user” configuration file.
The Seq24 configuration file was called .seq24usr, and it was stored in the user’s $HOME directory.
Sequencer64 uses a new file-name to take its place, with a fall-back to the original file-name if the new file
does not exist, or if Sequencer64 is running in legacy mode. After one runs Sequencer64 for the first time
(or after deleting the configuration files), it will generate a sequencer64.usr file in your home directory:
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/home/ahlstrom/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.usr
It allows you to give an alias to each MIDI bus, MIDI channel, and MIDI control codes, per channel.
The file-name is a bit misleading... do not confuse this file with the sequencer64.rc file.
The process for setting up the user file is to:
1. Define one or more MIDI busses, the name of each, and what instruments are on which channels.
Each buss is configured in a section of the form ”[user-midi-bus-X]”, where ”X” ranges from 0
on up. Each buss then defines up to 16 channel entries. Each entry includes the channel number
and the number of a section in the user-instrument section described next.
2. Define all of the instruments and their controller names, if they have them. Each instrument is
configured in a section of the form ”[user-instrument-X]”, where ”X” ranges from 0 on up.
Let’s walk through the structure of this setup, since it is a little bit tricky. Here is a diagram of the
relationships between the buss definitions and instrument definitions:
Figure 82: Busses and Instruments in the ”usr” File
The first section in the ”usr” file (after [comments]) is [user-midi-bus-definitions]. The solid
diamond link, with the ”*” marker, indicates that this section contains an arbitrary number (”*”) of
[user-midi-bus-N] sections, where ”N” ranges from 0 on upward. These correspond to the MIDI busses
expected to be in the system, ignoring the ”announce” buss.
Each of the busses contains 16 (0 to 15) channel entries. These channels are referred to as ”instrument
numbers”, and are represented as and linked to ”instruments” in the [user-instrument-definitions]
section. Each instrument contains up to 128 controller values; these controller values are available in the
Event button in the Pattern Editor, and their names are shown.
So, each instrument is setup as a ”channel” in a particular ”buss”. In the Pattern Editor, when a
particular buss and channel is selected, the Event menu entries should match the controller entries set
up in the ”usr” file.
Taking our list of devices and channels we created above, which can be seen in the Sequencer64
sample file contrib/configs/sequencer64.usr.example, and deducting 1 from each device number
and channel number (so that numbering starts from 0), and consulting the device manuals to determine
the controller values it supports, we can assemble a ”user” configuration file that makes the setup visible
in Sequencer64.
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11.1
”usr” File / MIDI Bus Definitions
Peruse the next couple of sections to understand a bit about the format of this file. Look at the
example files in the contrib/configs directory as well, to see the whole thing put together. Once
satisfied, go to section 11.6 ””usr” File / Device and Control Names” on page 139, and see what it all
looks like.
11.1
”usr” File / MIDI Bus Definitions
This section begins with an ”INI” group marker [user-midi-bus-definitions]. It defines the number
of user busses that will be configured in this file.
[user-midi-bus-definitions]
3
# number of user-defined MIDI busses
This means that the sequencer64.usr file will have three MIDI buss sections: [user-midi-bus-0],
[user-midi-bus-1], and [user-midi-bus-2]. Here’s is an annoted example of one such section:
[user-midi-bus-0]
2x2 A (SuperNova,Q,TX81Z,DrumStation)
16
# NOTE: Channels are 0-15, not 1-16.
0 1
1 1
2 1
. . .
7 1
8 3
9 3
10 3
11 0
12 0
13 0
14 0
15 2
# name of the device
# number of channels
Instruments set to -1 = GM
# channel and instrument
# Instrument #1 of the [user-instrument-definitions] section
# Instrument #3 of the [user-instrument-definitions] section
# Instrument #0 of the [user-instrument-definitions] section
# This is the Waldorf Micro Q device defined below
# Instrument #2 of the [user-instrument-definitions] section
Here’s an example of one that needs only one override:
[user-midi-bus-2]
PCR-30 (303)
1
0 8
# The rest default to -1... General MIDI
128
# Instrument 2, see ch. 15 above
# number of channels
# channel and instrument
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
11.1
”usr” File / MIDI Bus Definitions
Note that these user-instrument entries can be quickly disabled by changing the count values to
0. Also, these instrument-definition sections are read from the ”user” configuration file only if the
--reveal-alsa-ports option is off (”0”); this command-line option can also be specified in the [reveal-alsa-ports]
section of the ”rc” file, see section 10.13 ””rc” File / Reveal ALSA Ports” on page 121, where this section is
discussed. Otherwise, the actual port names reported by ALSA are shown. The user-midi-bus-definitions
and user-midi-bus-N sections can be misleading if one wants to have access to the actual ALSA ports
that exist on the system. Therefore, if the --reveal-alsa-ports option is turned on, then the definitions
in the ”user” configuration file are not read from that file. The following figures show the results of various
settings with an active ”user” file. They have been clipped to save space.
Figure 83: Clocks View, -m (–manual-alsa-ports)
Above, the virtual (manual) output ports are shown just as created by Sequencer64. The --reveal-alsa-ports
option is off here.
Figure 84: Inputs View with -m (–manual-alsa-ports) Option
Above, the single virtual (manual) input port is shown just as created by Sequencer64. Again, the
--reveal-alsa-ports option is off here.
Figure 85: Clocks View, -m (–manual-alsa-ports) and -R (–hide-alsa-ports)
Above, by adding the ”hide” ports option, the system port labels are replaced by the labels from the
”usr” file.
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11.1
”usr” File / MIDI Bus Definitions
Figure 86: Clocks View, -r (–reveal-alsa-ports)
Above, the ”reveal” ports option overrides the device names given in the ”usr” file, so that the native
system names of the output ports are shown.
Figure 87: Inputs View with -r (–reveal-alsa-ports) Option
Above, the ”reveal” ports option overrides the device names given in the ”usr” file, so that the native
system names of the input ports are shown. However, Sequencer64 no longer overrides the names of the
input ports via the ”usr” file. This is done to save some trouble in displaying the input port names, which
are shown only in this dialog. We may consider offering a separate override section for the input ports in
the future.
Figure 88: Clocks View with -R (–hide-alsa-ports) Option
The figure above shows how hiding the system port names shows the names defined in the ”usr” file.
But notice that the actual port names are shown in square brackets, for reference.
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11.2
”usr” File / MIDI Instrument Definitions
Figure 89: Inputs View with -R (–hide-alsa-ports) Option
Although the ”hide” ports option is specified above, this view is currently also the normal view of the
input ports, even with device names defined in the ”usr” file. At this time, there’s no real need to show
the user-instrument names on the input port. If there turns out to be such a need, the definitions would
likely need to be different from the definitions for the output ports. Another complexity is the possible
existence, under ALSA, of the system:announce port.
11.2
”usr” File / MIDI Instrument Definitions
This section begins with an ”INI” group marker [user-instrument-definitions]. It defines the number
of user instruments that will be configured in this file. This section defines characteristics, such as the
meanings of MIDI controller values, of the instruments themselves, not the MIDI busses to which they
attached.
[user-instrument-definitions]
9
# number of user instrument
So this ”usr” file will define 9 instruments. We provide only one section as an example. Note that
items without text default to the values prescribed by the General MIDI (GM) specification.
[user-instrument-0]
Waldorf Micro Q
128
0
1 Modulation Wheel
2 Breath Control
3
4 Foot Control
. . .
119
120 All Sound Off (0)
121 Reset All Controllers (0)
122 Local Control (0-127) (Off,On)
123 All Notes Off (0)
124
125 Unsupported
126 Unsupported
127
# name of instrument
# number of MIDI controllers
# first controller value, unnamed
# defaults to GM
# defaults to GM
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11.3
”usr” File / User Interface Settings
Note the unnamed control numbers above. An unnamed control number might be an unsupported
control number. It is termed to be ”inactive”. In this case, the event menu of the pattern editor will
show the default name of this controller. Again, though, the function denoted by this name might not
be supported by the device. In that case, it might be better to call it ”Unsupported”. See the examples
above. Here is an instrument that has synthesis parameters that can be controlled:
[user-instrument-1]
SuperNova
128
0 Bank Select MSB
1 Modulation Wheel
2 Breath Controller
3 Arp Pattern Select
. . .
121 Reset Controllers
122 Local Control [*]
123 All Notes Off
124 All Notes Off
125 All Notes Off
126 All Notes Off
127 All Notes Off
Here is an instrument that perhaps has no controllers, or perhaps is simply not configured by the
musician yet:
[user-instrument-4]
WaveStation
0
The sample file contrib/configs/sequencer64-timidity-yoshimi.usr.example contains examples of some other kinds of instruments. It is a minimal resource, useful to study when creating one’s own
settings.
11.3
”usr” File / User Interface Settings
This section, new to Sequencer64, begins with an ”INI” group marker [user-interface-settings].
It provides for a feature we will hopefully be able to complete some day: the complete specificition
of the appearance of the user-interface. There is plenty of room to change the appearance of Sequencer64
already! Please try the settings and see what you like.
#
======== Sequencer64-Specific Variables Section ========
[user-interface-settings]
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11.3
”usr” File / User Interface Settings
# These settings specify the soon-to-be-modifiable sizes of
# the Sequencer64 user-interface elements.
# Specifies the style of the main-window grid of patterns.
#
# GTK:
#
0 = Normal style, matches the GTK theme, has brackets.
#
1 = White grid boxes that have brackets.
#
2 = Black grid boxes (no brackets, our favorite).
#
# Qt:
#
0 = Slot coloring matches Kepler34.
#
1 = Slot coloring more like GTK.
1
# grid_style
#
#
#
#
#
#
2
Specifies box style box around a main-window grid of patterns.
0 = Draw a whole box around the pattern slot.
1 = Draw brackets on the sides of the pattern slot.
2 and up = make the brackets thicker and thicker.
-1 = same as 0, draw a box one-pixel thick.
-2 and lower = draw a box, thicker and thicker.
# grid_brackets
# Specifies the number of rows in the main window.
# Values of 4 (the default) through 8 (the best alternative value)
# are allowed.
4
# mainwnd_rows
# Specifies the number of columns in the main window.
# At present, only values from 8 (the default) to 12 are supported.
8
# mainwnd_cols
# Specifies the maximum number of sets, which defaults to 1024.
# It is currently never necessary to change this value.
32
# max_sets
# Specifies the border width in the main window.
0
# mainwid_border
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11.3
”usr” File / User Interface Settings
# Specifies the border spacing in the main window.
2
# mainwid_spacing
# Specifies some quantity, it is not known what it means.
0
# control_height
# Specifies the initial zoom for the piano rolls.
# to 32, and defaults to 2 unless changed here.
2
# zoom
Ranges from 1.
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
1
Specifies if the key, scale, and background sequence are to be
applied to all sequences, or to individual sequences. The
behavior of Seq24 was to apply them to all sequences. But
Sequencer64 takes it further by applying it immediately, and
by saving to the end of the MIDI file. Note that these three
values are stored in the MIDI file, not this configuration file.
Also note that reading MIDI files not created with this feature
will pick up this feature if active, and the file gets saved.
It is contagious.
#
#
#
#
#
#
1
Specifies if the old, console-style font, or the new antialiased font, is to be used as the font throughout the GUI.
In legacy mode, the old font is the default.
0 = Allow each sequence to have its own key/scale/background.
Settings are saved with each sequence.
1 = Apply these settings globally (similar to seq24).
Settings are saved in the global final section of the file.
# global_seq_feature
0 = Use the old-style font.
1 = Use the new-style font.
# use_new_font
# Specifies if the user-interface will support two song editor
# windows being shown at the same time. This makes it easier to
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11.3
”usr” File / User Interface Settings
# edit songs with a large number of sequences.
#
# 0 = Allow only one song editor (performance editor).
# 1 = Allow two song editors.
1
# allow_two_perfedits
#
#
#
#
4
Specifies the number of 4-measure blocks for horizontal page
scrolling in the song editor. The old default, 1, is a bit
small. The new default is 4. The legal range is 1 to 6, where
6 is the width of the whole performance piano roll view.
# perf_h_page_increment
#
#
#
#
8
Specifies the number of 1-track blocks for vertical page
scrolling in the song editor. The old default, 1, is a bit
small. The new default is 8. The legal range is 1 to 18, where
18 is about the height of the whole performance piano roll view.
# perf_v_page_increment
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
6
Specifies if the progress bar is colored black, or a different
color. The following integer color values are supported:
#
#
#
#
1
Specifies if the progress bar is thicker. The default is 1
pixel. The ’thick’ value is 2 pixels. (More than that is not
useful. Set this value to 1 to enable the feature, 0 to disable
it.
# progress_bar_thick
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
black
dark red
dark green
dark orange
dark blue
dark magenta
dark cyan
# progress_bar_colored
# Specifies using an alternate (darker) color palette. The
# default is the normal palette. Not all items in the user
# interface are altered by this setting, and it’s not perfect.
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11.3
”usr” File / User Interface Settings
# Set this value to 1 to enable the feature, 0 to disable it.
0
# inverse_colors
# Specifies the window redraw rate for all windows that support
# that concept. The default is 40 ms. Some windows used 25 ms.
40
# window_redraw_rate
#
#
#
#
0
Specifies using icons for some of the user-interface buttons
instead of text buttons. This is purely a preference setting.
If 0, text is used in some buttons (the main window buttons).
Otherwise, icons are used. One will have to experiment :-).
# use_more_icons (currently affects only main window)
# Specifies the number of set window (’wid’) rows to show.
# The long-standing default is 1, but 2 or 3 may also be set.
# Corresponds to ’r’ in the ’-o wid=rxc,f’ option.
2
# block_rows (number of rows of set blocks/wids)
This option is not supported in the Qt version. Instead, the user can create an arbitrary number of
live-frame windows.
# Specifies the number of set window (’wid’) columns to show.
# The long-standing default is 1, but 2 may also be set.
# Corresponds to ’c’ in the ’-o wid=rxc,f’ option.
2
# block_columns (number of columns of set blocks/wids)
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
1
Specifies if the multiple set windows are ’in sync’ or can
be set to arbitrary set numbers independently.
The default is false (0), means that there is a single set
spinner, which controls the set number of the upper-left ’wid’,
and the rest of the set numbers follow sequentially. If true
(1), then each ’wid’ can be set to any set-number.
Corresponds to the ’f’ (true, false, or ’indep’) in the
’-o wid=rxc,f’ option. Here, 1 is the same as ’indep’ or false,
and 0 is the same as f = true. Backwards, so be careful.
# block_independent (separate set spinner for blocks/wids)
Note that the window-redraw rate option is meant more for experimentation than anything else. It
probably doesn’t affect CPU usage much, but might provide a smoother-running cursor on some systems.
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11.4
11.4
”usr” File / User MIDI Settings
”usr” File / User MIDI Settings
This section begins with an ”INI” group marker [user-midi-settings]. It supports files with different
PPQN, and and allows one to specify the global defaults for tempo, beats per measure, and so on.
[user-midi-settings]
# These settings specify MIDI-specific value that
# better off as variables, rather than constants.
# Specifies parts-per-quarter note to use, if the
# does not override it. Default is 192, but we’d
# higher than that. BEWARE: STILL GETTING IT TO
192
# midi_ppqn
might be
MIDI file.
like to go
WORK!
# Specifies the default beats per measure, or beats per bar.
# The default value is 4.
4
# midi_beats_per_measure/bar
# Specifies the default beats per minute. The default value
# is 120, and the legal range is 1 to 600.
120
# midi_beats_per_minute
# Specifies the default beat width. The default value is 4.
4
# midi_beat_width
# Specifies the buss-number override. The default value is -1,
# which means that there is no buss override. If a value
# from 0 to 31 is given, then that buss value overrides all
# buss values specified in all sequences/patterns.
# Change this value from -1 only if you want to use a single
# output buss, either for testing or convenience. And don’t
# save the MIDI afterwards, unless you really want to change
# all of its buss values.
-1
# midi_buss_override
For the new 0.90 series, additional values for the [user-midi-settings] section have been added:
# Specifies the default velocity override when adding notes in the
# sequence/pattern editor. This value is obtained via the ’Vol’
# button, and ranges from 0 (not recommended :-) to 127. If the
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11.4
”usr” File / User MIDI Settings
# value is -1, then the incoming note velocity is preserved.
80
# velocity_override (-1 = ’Free’)
#
#
#
#
1
Specifies the precision of the beats-per-minutes spinner and
MIDI control over the BPM value. The default is 0, which means
the BPM is an integer. Other values are 1 and 2 decimal digits
of precision.
# bpm_precision
# Specifies the step increment of the beats/minute spinner and
# MIDI control over the BPM value. The default is 1. For a
# precision of 1 decimal point, 0.1 is a good value. For a
# precision of 2 decimal points, 0.01 is a good value, but one
# might want somethings a little faster, like 0.05.
0.1
# bpm_step_increment
# Specifies the page increment of the beats/minute field. It is
# used when the Page-Up/Page-Down keys are pressed while the BPM
# field has the keyboard focus. The default value is 10.
5.0
# bpm_page_increment
# Specifies the minimum value of beats/minute in tempo graphing.
# By default, the tempo graph ranges from 0.0 to 127.0.
# This value can be increased to give a magnified view of tempo.
0
# midi_bpm_minimum
# Specifies the maximum value of beats/minute in tempo graphing.
# By default, the tempo graph ranges from 0.0 to 127.0.
# This value can be increased to give a magnified view of tempo.
360
# midi_bpm_maximum
The velocity-override option fixes a long standing (from Seq24) bug where the actual incoming
note velocity was always replaced by a hard-wired value.
The bpm-precision, bpm-step-increment, and bpm-page-increment values allow more precise
control over tempo, which makes it easier to match the tempo of external music sources. Note that the
step-increment is used by the up/down arrow buttons, the up/down arrow keys, and the MIDI BPM
control values. The page-increment is used if the BPM field has focus and the Page-Up/Page-Down keys
are pressed, and new MIDI control values have been added to support coarse MIDI control of tempo.
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11.5
”usr” File / User Options
The midi-bpm-minimum and midi-bpm-maximum settings are used in scaling the display of Tempo
events. By adjusting these values, one can more easily see the variations in tempo. In a main window
pattern slot, or in the song editor tempo track, this range is scaled to the full range of note values, 0 to
127. Generally, one wants to select a range that keeps the main tempo line at the middle height of the
pattern display.
To obtain these new settings, remember to backup the existing sequencer64.usr, then run Sequencer64
with the --user-save option, and then do a ”diff” on the new file and the original to merge any old
values that need to be preserved. Then make any further tweaks to the new values.
11.5
”usr” File / User Options
This section begins with an ”INI” group marker [user-options]. It provides for additional options keyed
by the -o/--option options. This group of options serves to expand the options that are available, since
Sequencer64 is running out of single-character options. This group of options are shown below.
# The daemonize option is used in seq64cli to indicate that the
# application should be gracefully run as a service.
0
# option_daemonize
If this option is not used when running seq64cli, then the application stays in the console window
and dumps informational output to it. If this option is in force, then the only way to affect seq64cli is
to send a signal (e.g. SIGKILL) to it, or use MIDI control.
# This value specifies an optional log-file that replaces output
# to standard output and standard error. To indicate no log-file,
# the string "" is used.
"seq64.log"
This log-file is written to the same directory as the ”rc” and ”usr” files. If this file-name is empty,
then a valid file-name must be specified in the ”–option log=filename.log” option. Note that this file is
always written to the Sequencer64 configuration directory.
11.6
”usr” File / Device and Control Names
Okay, now we have this file copied to our home directory:
/home/ahlstrom/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.usr
If we’d already run Sequencer64 at least once, we’d have overwritten the skeleton sample file that
Sequencer64 writes by default. We now have a full-fledged ”user” file.
However, because we don’t actually have all that equipment (we got the example from the Web, for
cryin’ out loud), let’s see what we end up with when we run Sequencer64 this time and show the pattern
editor settings:
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11.6
”usr” File / Device and Control Names
Figure 90: Sequencer64 Composite View of Non-Native Devices
Compare that diagram to Figure 81 ”Sequencer64 Composite View of Native Devices” on page 125.
If the original figure, we saw the 5 native busses (ports) on our system, their bare-bones channel numbers,
and the default controller values. In this new figure, we see the three buss devices (ports), plus the two
Timidity ports. If we stopped the Timidity service, these would go away.
Look at the selected buss, ”[0]”. It’s 16 channels are now associated with the devices to which the
channels have been assigned. Thus, when we have a new pattern we’ve created in Sequencer64, we can
assign it to exactly the buss and device we want.
If we don’t have port-mappers installed, and thus have only one playback device plugged into the
buss, we can still create a setup that shows the device and a specific program setup. Doing so would be
tedious, but perhaps there’s some automated way to do it? Lastly, note the following figure.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
Figure 91: The MIDI Bus Menu for a Specific Pattern
This figure shows that we can also select the desired port and channel directly from the main window.
There’s more to the ”user” configuration file than we’ve exposed here.
12
Sequencer64 Play-Lists
Sequencer64 now supports play-lists. A play-list is a variation on the ”rc” file, conventionally ending with
the extension .playlist. It contains a number of ”playlist” sections, each with a human-readable title,
selectable via a MIDI control number. Each playlist section contains a list of songs, each selectable via a
MIDI control number or by moving to the next or previous song in the list.
Movement between the playlists and the songs is accomplished via MIDI control; see section 10.2
””rc” File / MIDI Control” on page 103. Using MIDI control makes it possible to use the seq64cli
headless version of Sequencer64 in a live setting. In the normal user-interface, play-list movement can
also be done manually via the four arrow keys on the computer keyboard.
The playlist can be specified on the command-line, or in the ”rc” file (see section 10.19 ””rc” File /
Play-List” on page 124). If it is specified on the command line, that playlist setup will be written to the
”rc” file. It can be removed by specifying a blank play-list name.
The play-list format is defined in the following section. Later sections describe the various userinterfaces.
12.1
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / Format
The play-list file, by convention, has a file-name of the form sample.playlist. The play-list file starts
with a hardwired top banner that the user can edit with a text editor. It can also have an optional
comments section, much like the ”rc” and ”usr” files. It is not overwritten when Sequencer64 exits.
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12.1
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / Format
[comments]
Comments added to this section are preserved.
a ’#’ or ’[’, or that are blank, are ignored.
be blank with a space.
Lines starting with
Start lines that must
A blank line (not even a space) ends the comment section. Following the comments section is a
[playlist-options] section.
[playlist-options]
1
# If set to 1, when a new song is selected, unmute all its patterns
That option allows the load of the next song to enable the patterns in that song.
Following the options section are one or more [playlist] sections. Here is the layout of a sample
playlist section.
[playlist]
# Playlist number, arbitrary but unique. 0 to 127 recommended
# for use with MIDI playlist control.
126
# Display name of this play list.
"Music for Serious Dogs"
# Storage directory for the song-files in this play list.
contrib/midi/
# Provides the MIDI song-control number, and also the
# base file-name (tune.midi) of each song in this playlist.
# The playlist directory is used, unless the file-name contains its
# own path.
70 allofarow.mid
71 CountryStrum.midi
72 contrib/wrk/longhair.wrk
A play-list file can have more than one [playlist] section. This allows for partitioning songs into
various groups that can be easily selected (e.g. based on the mood of the musician or the audience).
After the [playlist] tag comes the play-list number. This number can be any non-negative value.
However, in order to use MIDI control to select the playlist, this number should be limited to the range
0 to 127. If there is more than one [playlist] section, they are ordered by this number, regardless of
where they sit in the play-list file.
Next comes a human-readable name for the playlist, which is meant to be displayed in the userinterface. If surrounded by quotes, the quotes are removed before usage.
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12.2
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / ”rc” File
Next is the song-storage directory. This directory is the default location in which to find the songs.
It can be an absolute directory or a relative directory. However, be wary of using relative directories, since
they depend on where Sequencer64 is run. Also, if a song’s file-name has its own directory component,
that overrides the default song-storage directory.
Lastly, there is a list of MIDI song file-names, preceded by their numbers. As with the playlist
numbers, it is recommended to keep them between 0 and 127, for usage with MIDI control. And the
songs are ordered by this number, rather than by their position in the list.
12.2
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / ”rc” File
The most consistent way to specify a play-list is to add an entry like the following to the ”rc” file:
[playlist]
# Provides a configured play-list and a flag to activate it.
0
# playlist_active, 1 = active, 0 = do not use it
# Provides the name of a play-list. If there is none, use ’""’.
# Or set the flag above to 0.
/home/ahlstrom/.config/sequencer64/sample.playlist
This setup allows a play-list file to be specified and activated. If the name of the play-list file does not
contain a directory, then the play-list file is search for in the user’s Sequencer64 configuration directory.
If the play-list file-name is empty (i.e. set to "", then there is no play-list active.
12.3
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / Command Line Invocation
The command-line options to specify (and activate) the play-list feature are:
-X playlist_file
--playlist playlist_file
The play-list file is either a base-name (e.g. sample.playlist) or a name that includes the full path
to the play-list file (e.g. data/sample.playlist). If no path is specified, the directory is the currently
set Sequencer64 configuration-file directory.
Please note that any play-list file specified on the command line will be written into the ”rc” file’s
[playlist] section when Sequencer64 exits.
12.4
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / Verification
Currently, when Sequencer64 loads a play-list file, every song in the file is verified by loading it. If any
load fails, then the playlist will fail to load.
We may add an option to avoid that check, though it goes fast on modern hardware.
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12.5
12.5.1
12.5
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / User Interfaces
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / User Interfaces
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / User Interfaces / Gtkmm-2.4
The Gtkmm-2.4 user-interface is currently the normal user-interface. However, it will ultimately be
overtaken by the Qt 5 user-interface. So, for Gtkmm-2.4, Sequencer64 merely allows the selection of the
play-list and its songs via the four arrow keys, and it simply displays the current play-list name and the
current song in the main window.
The Up and Down arrows move forward or backward through the list of play-lists, and the The Right
and Left arrows move forward or backward through the list of songs for the currently-selected play-list.
12.5.2
Sequencer64 Play-Lists / User Interfaces / Qt 5
The Qt 5 user-interface will eventually become the standard. And it will (soon) support the full display,
selection, and editing of the play-lists and the song-list for each play-list. The current playlist tab supports
viewing the play-lists and songs, but not yet editing them.
Qt 5 Playlist Tab
Actually, the playlist currently has to be loaded from the command line or from the File menu.
13
Sequencer64 Qt 5 and Windows
With version 0.95.1 and above, Sequencer64 provides builds using the Qt 5 GUI framework and a modified
version of the PortMidi framework (it cleans up the code and removes the need for Java). With this
additional work, we now have ... Sequencer64 for Windows.
In Linux, the Qt 5 user-interface can be used with either the modified PortMidi library or the more
powerful modified RtMidi library.
The Qt 5 user-interface is similar the Kepler34 project [9]. But it uses the internal functions of
Sequencer64 and adds a number of features not present in Kepler34. The Qt version has a tabbed
interface, plus some separate windows, and different ways of handling the main window (the ”Live” tab),
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the performance window (the ”Song” tab), and the editing window (the ”Edit” tab). It adds an ”Events”
tab and a ”Playlists” tab. For portability reasons, the Qt user-interface will eventually be the official
version for Sequencer64.
There is still some Sequencer64 functionality that the Qt 5 version lacks:
1. No support for the special coloring of empty pattern slots or the pattern currently being edited. A
low priority.
2. A reduced-functionality options/preferences dialog, lacking an editor for keystroke commands.
3. Keystroke support is not as comprehensive as the Linux version.
4. Modified support for multi-wid. The Qt interface allows for any number of external live frames. An
arbitrary number of sets (banks) can be shown at once, each in its own window. The window in
focus is the active set.
We are incorporating existing Sequencer64 user-interface features into this Qt 5 version as time and
bug-fixes allow. With version 0.96.0, we have improved the Qt/Windows version by adding the following
features:
1. An external pattern editor has been added that matches the Gtkmm-2.4 Sequencer64 pattern editor.
It supports background sequences, chord entry, event merging and extension, scales, snap, etc. The
tabbed pattern editor is still in place, but, due to space, it will never support all of the features of
the external window.
2. The LFO (low-frequency oscillator) window can be called up from the external pattern editor.
3. The song/performance/trigger editor has been improved, and also made available as an external
window.
4. The pattern and song editors now have better support for zooming via keystrokes.
5. A playlist tab has been added to support the new play-list functionality. This tab is still a work in
progress. See section section 12 ”Sequencer64 Play-Lists” on page 141.
Some ill-advised features from Sequencer64 will not be migrated. Ultimately, we want to replace the
Gtkmm-2.4 user-interface completely. But this is awhile down the road. There are a number of alternate
versions of Sequencer64 using PortMidi:
1. A Gtkmm-2.4 user-interface and PortMidi. This version is Linux-only, and is useful for debugging
the internal PortMidi code without worrying about the Qt 5 user-interface.
2. A Qt 5 user-interface and PortMidi on Linux. This version is useful for people who like to experiment,
and for debugging Qt 5 and PortMidi issues at the same time.
3. A Qt 5 user-interface and PortMidi on Windows. This version is basically working, but takes some
special setup. See section 13.2 ”Sequencer64 Windows Setup” on page 152for details.
We also have code in place to support Mac OSX, but currently have no OSX system on which to
build and test this code. HELP WANTED!
In the following sections, we cover the basic differences between the Gtkmm-2.4 and Qt 5 versions
of the application, as well as how to set up Sequencer64 for Windows. We will not show all of the
user-interface elements, but we will mention important differences one will find.
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13.1
13.1
The Qt 5 User Interface
The Qt 5 User Interface
The Qt 5 version of Sequencer64 has an executable name of qpseq64 (Linux) or qpseq64.exe (Windows).
It is also possible to build a Qt 5 version with the RtMidi interface (qseq64), and that will ultimately
become the default version for Linux. To keep explanations simple, we will refer to the Qt 5 version of
Sequencer64, using the PortMidi engine, as qpseq64. The Gtkmm-2.4/RtMidi version (Linux only) will
be referred to as seq64.
Here is a screenshot of the main user-interface of qpseq64, with some of the patterns colored for
emphasis.
Figure 92: Qt 5 Main Window, Linux
Note the difference in layout from the Gtkmm-2.4 version. Also notice that some controls from the
Gtkmm-2.4 version are missing. Some of these missing items will ultimately be added.
There are some issues, in our opinion, with the Kepler34 coloring under various situations (e.g.
muting and queuing). So we have adapted the grid style option in the ”usr” configuration file so that,
if set to ”1”, the slots look more like the Gtkmm-2.4 version of the slots:
Figure 93: Qt 5 Slots in Gtk Style
In this style, the outer border is either white (muted) or black (unmuted). Also, queuing is indicated
in the legacy manner (the central box is colored gray), rather than with a black frame drawn around the
slot. Choose which style you like, and send feedback about what changes would be desirable for either
style.
Apart from different window decoration, the Windows version looks the same. Coding an application
for both Windows and Linux is very instructive, and can improve the overall code significantly. It certainly
forced us to add some new features to handle the operating-system differences!
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13.1.1
13.1
The Qt 5 User Interface
Qt 5 Live Slot Menu
The Qt 5 version of the right-click pattern/slot menu is slightly different from the Gtkmm-2.4 version.
Figure 94: Qt 5 Slot Menu
It lets one add an external window for the pattern slots (live-frame), and lets one open a pattern
editor in a tab or in an external window. It lets one edit events textually in a tab. Here are the menu
entries to describe:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
New pattern
External live frame
Edit pattern in tab
Edit pattern in window
Edit events in tab
Copy pattern
Cut pattern
Delete pattern
Let’s describe them.
1. New pattern.
Creates a new pattern in the slot. If there is already a pattern there, the user is
prompted about a sequence already present, with a yes/no question about overwriting it and creating a
new blank sequence.
2. External live frame.
With Qt 5, we decided not to reimplement the Gtkmm-2.4 version’s
”multiwid” features, which allows one to specify a matrix of screen-sets. This option creates an additional
”Live” frame, which is external to the Live frame tab. This live-frame shows the set/bank corresponding
to the slot number (tricky!) over which the menu was opened. This won’t work if used on a higher set.
When an external live-frame has focus, it represents the active set/bank. The active set is shown in the
main window in the Active Set field, just to be clear.
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13.1
The Qt 5 User Interface
Figure 95: Qt 5 External Live Frame
3. Edit pattern in tab.
Sets up a pattern editor in the ”Edit” tab. This editor is not as versatile
as the external-window pattern editor described in the next section.
4. Edit pattern in window. Sets up a pattern editor a separate window. This pattern editor works
a lot like the Gtkmm-2.4 version, though it does not support the ”fruity” mode of editing.
5. Edit events in tab. Sets up an event editor in the ”Edit” tab. This editor is a basic editor and
mostly useful for finding and deleting unwanted events, or adding events that are not otherwise available.
6. Copy pattern.
7. Cut pattern.
8. Delete pattern.
13.1.2
Copies the selected pattern.
Cuts (and copies) the selected pattern.
Deletes the selected pattern.
Qt 5 Live Tab
The Live tab of qpseq64, as shown above, is very similar to the seq64 version. It supports the varisets
mode (the alternate row-by-column sizes of seq64). In addition, external versions of the Live frame can be
instantiated outside of the main window, so that the user can view and work with a number of set/banks
at the same time.
The size of this window can be changed to a certain degree via the command-line option --option
scale=x.y, where x.y can range from 0.4 to 3.0. This can be made permanent via the window-scale
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13.1
The Qt 5 User Interface
setting in the ”usr” file. For example, these two options should be used together: -o sets=8x8 -o
scale=1.5. Experiment with varying values for these options.
In fact, all of the tabs except for the Events and Playlist tabs will expand properly to use additional
space if the application is resized, whether by a command-line option or by dragging a corner of the
window.
13.1.3
Qt 5 Song Tab
Figure 96: Qt 5 Song Window, Linux
This window is very similar to the seq64 version. Additional features may be added as time goes on. In
addition, this frame can be opened in its own external window by pressing the ”Song Editor” button at
the bottom of the main window.
13.1.4
Qt 5 Edit Tab
Figure 97: Qt 5 Edit Window, Linux
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13.1
The Qt 5 User Interface
This version of the pattern editor is a bit behind seq64 for features. There really isn’t enough space in
the main window for all the features of the Sequencer64 pattern editor. Note that the event-data editor
panel is not visible here. One must scroll down to the bottom of the window to see it and use it. Note
that that the LFO window is not accessible here. Finally, note that the note heights and vertical grid
spacing are modifiable via a key-height option, which is a feature the Gtkmm-2.4 user-interface does not
offer.
With version 0.95.1, the pattern/slot popup menu has an option to open the pattern in an external
window that has a lot more features than the pattern editor in the tab. It also has a different scrolling
mechanism, more like that of seq64. Note that only one of the tab/external pattern editors can be shown
at the same time for a given pattern. This pattern editor is pretty much identical to the Gtkmm-2.4
version, except that it does not provide a ”fruity” mode of mouse usage. Sorry.
13.1.5
Qt 5 Events Tab
Figure 98: Qt 5 Events Window
This window works a lot like section 6 ”Event Editor” on page 85; please see that section for user
instructions. Please remember that, at the present time, this view is meant only for viewing events and
making minor tweaks to a pattern, such as eliminating problematic events. It is not intended to be a fullfeatured event editor. In particular, note that editing within each cell in the event table is not supported.
Event editing must be done in the right panel. An event must be explicitly selected by clicking on it,
before it can be modified or deleted.
Also, if one adds or modifies an event to show up an the end of the pattern, by modifying the time
stamp, the event will appear there, but the user-interface will remain at the current event.
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13.1.6
13.1
The Qt 5 User Interface
Qt 5 Playlist Tab
Figure 99: Qt 5 Playlist Window
The play-list functionality can be viewed in this tab. Currently, this tab only shows the playlist items.
One can select a playlist, and view the song-titles in it, but editing and loading the play-lists and songs
does not yet work. One must edit the play-list file manually for now, and load it from the File / Open
Playlist menu.
Also note that the play-list title can be seen in the main live frame, and that play-lists and songs-can
be selected with the arrow keys in that window.
See section section 12 ”Sequencer64 Play-Lists” on page 141; there are many things that can be done
with the playlist feature, including controlling it via MIDI events.
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13.1.7
13.2
Sequencer64 Windows Setup
Qt 5 Edit / Preferences
Figure 100: Qt 5 Clock Preferences, Windows
In a newer version of this document, we will show the other preferences tabs. There are many tabs we
still need to add to this dialog. In particular, be sure to go to the MIDI Input tab and make sure that
your desired input device (e.g. a MIDI keyboard) are shown and are enabled. Since the Qt GUI pretty
much hardwires the keystrokes used for various functions such as muting and queuing, we might not
provided a keystroke mapping editor. To be determined. In any event, many of the keystrokes configured
in the ”rc” file are supported, but one might have to edit the ”rc” file directly, keeping in mind that
it uses Gtkmm-2.4 conventions for keystrokes. Linux users can edit the keystrokes and copy the ”rc”
configuration into the Qt 5 ”rc” file, qpseq64.rc.
13.2
Sequencer64 Windows Setup
Sequencer64 for Windows (qpseq64) can be installed as a portable Zip package anywhere the user desires.
The package is self-contained, and contains all the the DLLs needed to run the program. qpseq64 can
also be installed via an NSIS-based installer, such as sequencer64 setup 0.96.0-0.exe.
13.2.1
Sequencer64 Windows Issues
When first starting qpseq64 on Windows, one might experience some issues. One issue is that the Microsoft
MIDI Mapper, rumored to be removed in Windows 8 and beyond, is still detected by the internal PortMidi
library used in qpseq64. Another issue is that the built-in Microsoft wave-table synthesizer might not be
accessible.
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13.2
Sequencer64 Windows Setup
We installed the CoolSoft MIDIMapper ([4]) and VirtualMIDISYnth ([5]) to try to get around these
issues, and tried to turn off the Windows System Sound setup of ”Allow applications to restrict access to
this device.” But we still had inaccessible devices, and the resulting errors would cause qpseq64 to abort.
So we had to spend a lot of time adding support for the disabling of inaccessible ports, and saving and
restoring the ”rc” setup properly in the face of device-access errors.
Here is some output logging on our Windows, generated using the qpseq64 command-line option -o
log=virtualmidi.log, which dumps the log file into
C:/Users/chris/AppData/Local/sequencer64/virtualmidi.log
qpseq64
C:/Users/chris/AppData/Local/sequencer64/virtualmidi.log
2018-05-13 09:06:58
[MIDIMAPPER] ’mapper in : midiInGetDevCaps() error for device ’MIDIMAPPER’:
’The specified device identifier is out of range’
pm_winmm_general_inputs(): no input devices
PortMidi MMSystem 0: Microsoft MIDI Mapper output opened
PortMidi MMSystem 1: CoolSoft MIDIMapper output closed
PortMidi MMSystem 2: Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth output opened
PortMidi MMSystem 3: VirtualMIDISynth #1 output closed
[Opened MIDI file,
’C:/Users/chris/Documents/Home/sequencer64/data/b4uacuse-gm-patchless.midi’]
[Writing rc configuration C:/Users/chris/AppData/Local/sequencer64/qpseq64.rc]
PortMidi call failed: [-1] ’Bad pointer’
PortMidi call failed: [-1] ’Bad pointer’
Begin closing open devices...
Warning: devices were left open. They have been closed.
By disabling the ”closed” devices in the qpseq64.rc file, we are able to start. Here are the settings:
5
#
0
#
1
#
2
#
3
# number of MIDI clocks/busses
Output buss name: [0] 0:0 PortMidi:Microsoft MIDI Mapper
0
# buss number, clock status
Output buss name: [1] 1:2 PortMidi:CoolSoft MIDIMapper
-1
# buss number, clock status
Output buss name: [2] 2:3 PortMidi:Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth
0
# buss number, clock status
Output buss name: [3] 3:4 PortMidi:VirtualMIDISynth #1
-1
# buss number, clock status
These settings tell Sequencer64 to ignore output busses 1 and 3, in order to allow it to start without
error.
We still have some minor issues at start up and at exit, but are now able to play a tune on the
wavetable synthesizer using the --bus 2 option, which forces output to PortMidi buss 2, ”Microsoft GS
Wavetable Synth”.
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13.2
Sequencer64 Windows Setup
If an error occurs at start-up, a file called erroneous.rc is written to the configuration directory,
and can be examined for issues with ports.
13.2.2
Sequencer64 Windows Configuration Files
When you first run qpseq64 on Windows, it will create a new configuration file, with inaccessible devices
denoted in the [midi-clock] section of C:/Users/username/AppData/Local/sequencer64/qpseq64.rc
by a -1 value.
On Linux, the normal directory location of the Sequencer64 configuration files is
/home/username/.config/sequencer64
There are various configuration file names, depending on the name of the built application:
sequencer64.rc
sequencer64.usr
seq64portmidi.rc
seq64portmidi.usr
qseq64.rc
qseq64.usr
qpseq64.rc
qpseq64.usr
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
The
RtMidi Native ALSA/JACK version.
same, but for user-interface settings.
PortMidi Gtkmm 2.4 version.
same, but for user-interface settings.
RtMidi Qt 5 version for Linux.
same, but for user-interface settings.
PortMidi Qt 5 version for Windows.
same, but for user-interface settings.
On Windows, the conventional configuration file location is different:
C:/Users/username/AppData/Local/sequencer64
The files are:
qpseq64.rc
qpseq64.usr
The PortMidi Qt 5 version for Windows.
The same, but for some user-interface settings.
Typical of Microsoft, access to the AppData directory is not obvious... ”we cannot have users monkeying with the configuration”. To access AppData, highlight the user-name directory (e.g. C:/Users/chris,
then append ”AppData” to the end of it. Voila! It is now visible in Windows Explorer. It is a Windows
thang. Then click on the sequencer64 directory. Open qpseq64.rc and see what is in it (scroll down a
bit):
[midi-clock]
2
# number of MIDI clocks/busses
# Output buss name: [0] 0:0 PortMidi:Microsoft MIDI Mapper
0 0 # buss number, clock status
# Output buss name: [2] 1:1 PortMidi:Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth (virtual)
1 0 # buss number, clock status
# Output buss name: [3] 1:1 PortMidi:nanoKEY2
2 0 # buss number, clock status
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[midi-input]
1
# number of input MIDI busses
# The first number is the port number, and the second number
# indicates whether it is disabled (0), or enabled (1).
# [1] 0:1 PortMidi:nanoKEY2
0 1
These settings can be accessed via Edit / Preferences / MIDI Clock and Edit / Preferences /
MIDI Input to alter the ports accessible, in the Windows version of Sequencer64. The operating system
may have some devices locked out, though. Generally, the device needs to have a ”System Sound” setting
that allows an application to grab exclusive access to the device. For now, do a web search for this error
message, if you have issues:
’The specified device is already in use.
try again.’
14
Wait until it is free, and then
Sequencer64 Man Page
This section presents the contents of the Sequencer64 man page, but not exactly in man format. Also,
an item or two are shown that somehow didn’t make it into the man page, and minor corrections and
formatting tweaks were made. For example, we replaced the underscore with the hyphen in the names
of some options. The legacy Seq24 options, which use underscores or are missing the option hyphen, are
still unofficially supported.
$HOME/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.rc holds the ”rc” settings for Sequencer64.
$HOME/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.usr holds the ”user” settings for Sequencer64.
But the old style names are used for the ”legacy” mode. See the --legacy option below. Here is the
basic command line:
sequencer64 [OPTIONS] [FILENAME]
seq64 [OPTIONS] [FILENAME]
Sequencer64 accepts the following options, plus an optional name of a MIDI file. Please note that
many of the options are ’sticky’. If they are used on the command-line, their settings are saved to the
configuration files when Sequencer64 exits.
-h --help
Display a list of all command-line options, then exit.
-v --version
Display the program version, then exit.
-H --home [directory]
New: Change the ”home” directory from .contrib/sequencer64 (always relative to $HOME. This option
causes the sequencer64.rc and sequencer64.usr files to be loaded from or saved to a different directory.
Format: --home dirname.
-l --legacy
New: Save the MIDI file in the old Seq24 format, as unspecified binary data, instead of as a legal MIDI
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track with meta events. Also read the configuration, if provided, from the ”legacy” ~/.seq24rc and
~/.seq24usr files.
The user-interface will indicate this mode with a small text note. This mode is also used if Sequencer64
is invoked as the seq24 command (one can create a soft link to the sequencer64 executable to make that
happen).
-b --bus [buss]
New: Supports modifying the buss number on all tracks when a MIDI file is read. All tracks are loaded
with this buss-number override. This feature is useful for testing, making it easy to map the MIDI file
onto the system’s current hardware/software synthesizer setup. Also note that this option applies the
MIDI buss override to any new sequences, as well.
Format: --bus bussnumber or --buss bussnumber.
Most of the time, one will want to set this value to -1.
-q --ppqn [ppqn]
New: Supports modifying the PPQN value of Sequencer64, which is defaults to a value of 192. This
setting should allow MIDI files to play back at the proper speed, and be written with the new PPQN
value. This feature is basically done. One can load MIDI files of arbitrary PPQN, and they play normally
and look normal in the editor windows. They can also be saved, and reloaded with the new PPQN value.
Format: --ppqn ppqnnumber. The ppqnnumber can range from 32 to 19200. It can also be set to 0... in
this case, Sequencer64 uses the PPQN from the loaded file as its internal PPQN value.
-L --lash
New: If LASH support is compiled into the program, this option enables it. If LASH support is not
compiled into the program, this option will not be shown in the output of the –help option.
-n --no-lash
New: If LASH support is compiled into the program, this option disables it, even if the default or
configuration file set it. If LASH support is not compiled into the program, this option will not be shown
in the output of the –help option.
N/A --file [filename]
Load a MIDI file on startup. Bug: This option does not exist. Instead, specify the file itself as the last
command-line argument.
-m --manual-alsa-ports
Sequencer64 won’t attach the system’s existing ALSA ports. Instead, it will create is own set of input
and output busses/ports.
-a --auto-alsa-ports
Sequencer64 will attach the system’s existing ALSA ports. This variant is useful for overriding the rc
configuration file.
-r --reveal-alsa-ports
New: Sequencer64 will show the names of the ALSA port that the system defines, rather than the
names defined in the ’user’ configuration file.
-R --hide-alsa-ports
Sequencer64 will show the names of the ALSA port that the ’user’ configuration file define, rather than
the names defined by ALSA.
-A --alsa
Sequencer64 will not run the JACK support, even if specified in the configuration file. The configuration
options are sticky (they are saved), and sometimes they aren’t what you want to run.
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-s --show-midi
Dumps incoming MIDI to the screen.
-p --priority
Runs at higher priority with a FIFO scheduler.
N/A --pass-sysex
Passes any incoming SYSEX messages to all outputs. Not yet supported.
-i --ignore [number]
Ignore ALSA device [number].
-k --show-keys
Prints pressed key value.
-K --inverse
Changes the color scheme for the sequence editor and performance editor piano rolls. It basicially inverts
the colors. It can be considered kind of a ”night mode”.
-X --playlist [filename]
This option loads the given file-name as a play-list file. See section 12 ”Sequencer64 Play-Lists” on
page 141. This file provides one or more play-list entries, each providing a list of one or more songs. Once
loaded, the user can use the four arrow keys to move between play-lists and the songs in each play-list.
The play-list entries are also controllable via MIDI control values set in the ”rc” file. See the Sequencer64
manual for more information. Note that, once set, this option is, by default, saved in the ”rc” file.
-x --interaction-method [number]
Select the mouse interaction method. 0 = seq24 (the default); and 1 = fruity loops method. The latter
does not completely support all actions supported by the Seq24 interaction method, at this time.
The following options will not be shown by –help if the application is not compiled for JACK support.
-j --jack-transport
Sequencer64 will sync to JACK transport.
-J --jack-master
Sequencer64 will try to be JACK master.
-C --jack-master-cond
JACK master will fail if there is already a master.
-M --jack-start-mode [x]
When Sequencer64 is synced to JACK, the following play modes are available: 0 = live mode; and 1 =
song mode, the default.
-S --stats
Print statistics on the command-line while running. Not available unless this option has been compiled
in at build time, which can be determined by using the --version option.
-U --jack-session-uuid [uuid]
Set the UUID for the JACK session.
-u --user-save
Save the ”user” configuration file when exiting Sequencer64. Normally, it is saved only if not present in
the configuration directory, so as not to get stuck with temporary settings such as the –bus option. Note
that the ”rc” configuration option are generally also saved. But see the ”auto-option-save” directive in
the ”rc” file. It is new with version 0.9.9.15.
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-f --rc filename
Use a different ”rc” configuration file. It must be a file in the user’s $HOME/.config/sequencer64 directory
or the directory specified by the –home option. Not supported by the –legacy mode. The ’.rc’ extension
is added if no extension is present in the filename.
-F --usr filename
Use a different ”usr” configuration file. It must be a file in the user’s $HOME/.config/sequencer64
directory or the directory specified by the –home option. Not supported by the –legacy mode. The ’.usr’
extension is added if no extension is present in the filename.
-c --config basename
Use a different configuration file base name for the ’rc’ and ’usr’ files. For example, one can specify a full
configuration for ”testing”, for ”jack”, or for ”alsa”, to set up testing.rc and testing.usr, jack.rc
and jack.usr, alsa.rc and alsa.usr.
-o --option opvalue
Provides additional options, since the application is running out of single-character options. The opvalue
set supported is:
• daemonize. Makes the seq64cli application fork to the background.
• no-daemonize. Makes the seq64cli application run in the foreground, where it is easy to see the
informational output written to the console.
• log=filename.log. Reroutes standard error and standard output messages to the given log-file.
This file is located in the directory for the ”rc” and ”usr” files (which can be altered via the
-H/--home directory option). If this file is already present, additional log information is appended
to it. If the ”=filename.log” portion is missing, the log-file name in the [user-options] section of
the ”usr” file is used as the default log-file, if this file-name is not empty.
• wid=3x2,i. Not supported in the Qt version. Instead, an arbitrary number of external live-frame
windows can be created. Provides for multiple main windows (”mainwids”) to be shown in a big
grid, so that multiple sets can be viewed at the same time. The default is to show the usual single
mainwid. The first number specified is the row count, which can range from 1 to 3. The second
number specified is the column count, which can only be 1 or 2. The third parameter starts with
’t’ (”true”) to indicate that the multiple sets will be controlled by a single set spinner, which is the
default. Specifying ’f’ (”false”) or ’i’ (”indep”) will show one set spinner for each mainwid. Note
that it is possible, in this mode, to show the same set in two different mainwids, but this is not
recommended, as there are minor unavoidable issues with that. Also note that the format for this
command line option is very strict, no deviations or added spaces. Finally, to save these options to
the ”usr” file, add the --user-save option to the command line. In that file, the options modified
are block rows and block columns.
• sets=8x8. This option, informally known as ”variset”, allow some changes in the set size and layout
from the default 4x8 = 32 sets layout. Warning: seq24 was hardwired for supporting 32 patterns
per set, and there are still places where that is true. Thus, consider this option to be experimental.
To save these options to the ”usr” file, add the --user-save option to the command line. In that
file, the options modified are mainwnd rows and mainwnd cols.
• scale=x.y. This option scales the main window by the factor x.y, which can range from 0.75 to
3.0. This makes the main window larger, and most of its contents larger. It does not currently scale
the fonts used in the display. A scale factor of 2.5 is about the maximum useful value. If multi-wid
is active, then you probably need a larger monitor to use this factor.
$HOME/.config/sequencer64.rc holds the main configuration settings for all versions of Sequencer64.
If it does not exist, it will be generated when Sequencer64 exits. If it does exist, it will be rewritten with
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the current configuration of Sequencer64. Many, or most, of the command-line options are ”sticky”, in
that they will be written to the configuration file.
$HOME/.config/sequencer64.usr stores the MIDI-configuration settings and some of the userinterface settings for Sequencer64. If it does not exist, it will be generated with a minimal configuration
when Sequencer64 exits. If it does exist, it will be rewritten with the current configuration of Sequencer64,
but only if the --user-save option was provided on the command-line. Note that the --legacy option
causes the old configuration-file names (.seq64rc and .seq64usr in the $HOME directory) to be used.
The current Sequencer64 project homepage is a git repository at
https://github.com/ahlstromcj/sequencer64.git.
Up-to-date instructions can be found in the project at
https://github.com/ahlstromcj/sequencer64-doc.git.
The old Seq24 project homepage is at http://www.filter24.org/seq24/ the new one is at https:
//edge.launchpad.net/seq24/. It is released under the GNU GPL license. Sequencer64 is also released
under the GNU GPL license.
Sequencer64 was written by Chris Ahlstrom ahlstromcj@gmail.com (with a fair amount of help).
Seq24 was written by Rob C. Buse seq24@filter24.org and the Sequencer64 team.
This manual page was written by Dana Olson mailto:seq24@ubuntustudio.com with additions from
Guido Scholz mailto:guido.scholz@bayernline.de and Chris Ahlstrom mailto:ahlstromcj@gmail.
com.
15
Sequencer64 Headless Version
Sequencer64 can be built as a command-line application, as described in section 17 ”Building Sequencer64”
on page 165. That is, it can be run from the command-line, but has no user interface. It can also be
instantiated as a Linux daemon, for totally headless usage. Because there is not a lot of visibility into
a headless process, the setup for seq64cli is a little complex, and the musician must get used to blind
MIDI control.
15.1
Sequencer64 Headless Setup
The first step in setting up a headless seq64cli session is to make sure that the GUI version (seq64)
works as expected. The GUI and headless configurations need to do the following:
1. Access the correct inputs, especially a keyboard or pad controller that can be used for controlling
the sequencer via MIDI, as well as inputing notes.
2. The MIDI input must be configured with some [midi-control] values, so that the headless sequencer can do things like stop and start playback, select the next playlist or song, or change other
sequencer controls. Also note that an alternative is to provide a [midi-control-file] specified in
the ”rc” file.
3. Access the desired outputs, in order to play sounds. This can sometimes be tricky, because Sequencer64 can route all patterns to the same output, or can let the patterns decide the outputs for
themselves.
4. Use the desired play-list. The headless sequencer can only select songs to play via a pre-configured
play-list.
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15.1
Sequencer64 Headless Setup
Sometimes odd problems, such as the output synthesizer not working, not appearing in the list of
outputs, can prove a real puzzle. Here are the steps used in this test; adapt them to your setup. For
simplicity, JACK is not running, and so ALSA is in force.
First, after booting, plug in the MIDI keyboard or MIDI control pad. Our example here will use the
Korg nanoKEY2 keyboard.
Second, start the desired (software) synthesizer. We will use the synth Yoshimi, with a stock setup
from our ”Yoshimi Cookbook” project. The order of starting the keyboard/pad and the synthesiser will
alter the port numbers of these items. Best to do things in the same order every time... be consistent.
Third, to validate the setup, run a command from the command-line such as:
seq64 -b 2 -v -X data/sample.playlist
The buss number (”2”) may need to be different on your setup to get sound routed to the correct
synthesizer. Also, the path to the playlist might need to be an absolute path; normally playlists are stored
in the HOME/.config/sequencer64 directory and accessed from there. Verify that the main window shows
the playlist name, and that the arrow keys modify the play-list or song selection. If that works, verify
that the MIDI keyboard or pad controller works to change the selection. Verify that the current song
plays through the synthesizer that was started. If this setup works (MIDI controls have the proper effect
and the tunes play through the synthesizer), proceed to the next step.
Fourth, edit the sequencer64.rc and seq64cli.rc files as described below so that the former’s
settings of [midi-clock] or [midi-clock-file] are entered into the latter ”rc” configuration. For our
testing, we use a separate MIDI-control file (nanomap.rc), which is set up in the main ”rc” file to be read
via a [midi-clock-file] setting. The nanomap.rc file sets up our nanoKEY2 as shown in this figure:
Figure 101: Sample nanoKEY2 Control Setup
In this figure, the OCT - button on the nanoKEY2 is pressed until it is flashing (not seen in the
figure). This means that the lowest note on the nanoKEY2 is MIDI note 0, the lowest note possible. With
these settings, the playlists and songs can be loaded and then played and paused. The seq64cli.rc file
is edited so that the rather large [midi-control] section is replaced by the following:
[midi-control-file]
nanomap.rc
# (/home/ahlstrom/.config/sequencer64/nanomap.rc)
The nanomap.rc file is included in the ”data” directory of the source-code package.
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Fifth, test the command-line Sequencer64 by running the following command (your setup might
vary) on the command line:
$ ./Seq64cli/seq64cli -b 2 -X data/sample.playlist} -v
There is a play-list option to automatically unmute the sets when a new song is selected. If set, then
the first song should be ready to play. If it plays, and the play-list seems to work (as indicated by the
console output and the proper playback), then run seq64cli as a daemon:
$ ./Seq64cli/seq64cli -b 2 -X data/sample.playlist} -v -o daemonize
The keyboard controls and sound output should still work.
16
Concepts
The Sequencer64 program is basically a loop-playing machine with a fairly simple interface. Before we
describe this interface, it is useful to present some concepts and definitions of terms as they are used in
Sequencer64. Various terms have been used over the years to mean the same thing (e.g. ”sequence”,
”pattern”, ”loop”, and ”slot”), so it is good to clarify the terminology.
16.1
Concepts / Terms
This section doesn’t provide comprehensive coverage of terms. It covers terms that puzzled the author at
first or that are necessary to understand the Sequencer64 program.
16.1.1
Concepts / Terms / armed
An armed sequence is a sequence (see section 16.1.19 ”Concepts / Terms / sequence” on page 164) that
will be heard. ”Armed” is the opposite of ”muted”. Performing an arm operation in Sequencer64 means
clicking on an ”unarmed” sequence in the patterns panel (the main window of Sequencer64). An unarmed
sequence will not be heard, and it has a white background. When the sequence is armed, it will be heard,
and it has a black background. A sequence can be armed or unarmed in three ways:
• Clicking or Shift-clicking on a sequence/pattern box.
• Pressing the hot-key for that sequence/pattern box.
• Opening up the Song Editor and starting playback; the sequences arm/unarm depending on the
layout of the sequences and triggers in the piano roll of the Song Editor.
16.1.2
Concepts / Terms / bank
See section 16.1.17 ”Concepts / Terms / screen set” on page 164. This term is Kepler34’s name for
”screen set”.
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16.1.3
16.1
Concepts / Terms
Concepts / Terms / buss (bus)
A buss (also spelled ”bus” these days; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busbar) is an entity onto which
MIDI events can be placed, in order to be heard or to affect the playback. A buss is just another name
for port. See section 16.1.13 ”Concepts / Terms / port” on page 163.
16.1.4
Concepts / Terms / export
A export in Sequencer64 is a way of writing a song-performance to a more standard MIDI file, so that it
can be played by other sequencers. An export collects all of the unmuted tracks that have performance
information (triggers) associated with them, and creates one larger trigger for each track, repeating the
events as indicated by the original performance.
16.1.5
Concepts / Terms / group
A group in Sequencer64 is one of up to 32 previously-defined mute/unmute patterns in the active screen
set. A group is a set of patterns, in the current screen-set, that can arm (unmute) their playing state
together. Every group contains all 32 sequences in the active screen set. This concept is similar to
mute/unmute groups in hardware sequencers. Also known as a ”mute-group”.
16.1.6
Concepts / Terms / loop
Loop is a synonym for pattern or sequence, when used in existing Seq24 documentation. Each loop is
represented by a box (pattern slot) in the Pattern (main) Window.
16.1.7
Concepts / Terms / measures ruler
The measures ruler is the bar at the top of the Pattern Editor and Song Editor windows that shows the
numbering of the measures in the song. Left, right, or end markers can be dropped on this ruler to set
durations to be played, looped, expanded, or collapsed.
Note: The original Seq24 documentation calls this item the bar indicator.
16.1.8
Concepts / Terms / event strip
The event strip is the bar at the bottom of the Pattern Editor window that shows the location of events
in the pattern. For Note On and Note Off events, it is shown in gray to warn the user to be careful in
moving these events.
16.1.9
Concepts / Terms / muted
The opposite of section 16.1.1 ”Concepts / Terms / armed” on page 161.
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16.1.10
16.1
Concepts / Terms
Concepts / Terms / MIDI clock
MIDI clock is a MIDI timing reference signal used to synchronize pieces of equipment together. MIDI
clock runs at a rate of 24 ppqn (pulses per quarter note). This means that the actual speed of the MIDI
clock varies with the tempo of the clock generator (as contrasted with time code, which runs at a constant
rate). Sequencer64 emits MIDI clock events, but does not (yet) follow MIDI clock.
16.1.11
Concepts / Terms / pattern
A Sequencer64 pattern (also called a ”sequence” or ”loop”) is a short unit of melody or rhythm in
Sequencer64, extending for a small number of measures (in most cases). Each pattern is represented by
a box in the Patterns window.
Each pattern is editable on its own. All patterns can be layed out in a particular arrangement to
generate a more complex song.
pattern is a synonym for loop or sequence. It is our preferred term.
16.1.12
Concepts / Terms / performance
In the jargon of Sequencer64, a performance is an organized collection of patterns. This layout of patterns
is created using the Song Editor, sometimes called the ”performance editor”. This window controls the
song playback in ”Song Mode”. The playback of each track is controlled by a set of triggers created for
that track.
16.1.13
Concepts / Terms / port
A port is just another name for buss. See section 16.1.3 ”Concepts / Terms / buss (bus)” on page 162.
Each port can support 16 MIDI channels.
16.1.14
Concepts / Terms / pulses per quarter note
The concept of ”pulses per quarter note”, or PPQN, is very important for MIDI timing. To make it a
bit more confusing, sometimes these pulses are referred to as ”ticks”, ”clocks”, and ”divisions”. To make
it even more confusing, there are separate timing concepts to understand, such as ”tempo”, ”beats per
measure”, ”beats per minute”, ”MIDI clocks”, and more.
While a full description of all these terms, and how they are calculated, is beyond the scope of this
document, we will try to clarify the discussion when such confusion could be an issue.
16.1.15
Concepts / Terms / queue mode
To ”queue” a pattern means to ready it for playback on the next repeat of a pattern. A pattern can be
armed immediately, or it can be queued to play back the next time the pattern restarts. Pattern toggles
occur at the end of the pattern, rather than being set immediately.
A set of queued patterns can be temporarily stored, so that a different set of playbacks can occur,
before the original set of playbacks is restored.
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16.1
Concepts / Terms
The ”keep queue” functionality allows the queue to be held without holding down a button the whole
time. Once this key is pressed, then the hot-keys for any pattern can be pressed, over and over, to queue
each pattern.
16.1.16
Concepts / Terms / replace
Replacement is a form of muting/unmuting. When the ”replace” key is pressed while click a sequence,
that sequence is unmuted, and all of the other sequences are muted.
16.1.17
Concepts / Terms / screen set
The screen set is a set of patterns that fit within the 8x4 grid of loops/patterns in the Patterns panel.
Sequencer64 supports multiple screens sets, up to 32 of them, and a name can be given to each for clarity.
The Gtkmm-2.4 version of Sequencer64 supports an 8x8 grid and 64 patterns per screen set.
16.1.18
Concepts / Terms / bank
The term bank comes from the Kepler34 application. It means the same thing as screen set.
16.1.19
Concepts / Terms / sequence
Sequence is another synonym for pattern, used in some of the Seq24 documentation. Loop and track
are other synonyms. Each sequence is represented by a box (pattern slot) in the Patterns window. Each
sequence can be layed out to repeat in various ways in the Song editor window.
Note that other sequencer applications) use the term ”sequence” to apply to the complete song, and
not just to one track or pattern in the entire song.
16.1.20
Concepts / Terms / snapshot
A Sequencer64 snapshot is simply a briefly preserved state of the patterns. One can press a snapshot
key, change the state of the patterns for live playback, and then release the snapshot key to revert to the
state when it was first pressed. (One might call it a ”revert” key, instead.)
16.1.21
Concepts / Terms / song
A song is a collection of patterns in a specific temporal layout, as assembled via the Song Editor window.
See 16.1.12. See 16.1.22.
16.1.22
Concepts / Terms / trigger
A trigger is a small data structure that indicates when a sequence should be played, and how much of the
sequence (including repeats) should be played. A song performance consists of a number of sequences,
each triggered in ways that the musician can lay out.
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16.2
16.2.1
16.2
Concepts / Sound Subsystems
Concepts / Sound Subsystems
Concepts / Sound Subsystems / ALSA
ALSA is a sound and MIDI system for Linux, with components built into the Linux kernel. It is the main
subsystem used by Sequencer64. The name of the library used to build ALSA projects is libasound. See
reference [1].
16.2.2
Concepts / Sound Subsystems / PortMIDI
PortMIDI is a cross-platform API (applications programming interface) for MIDI. It seems to be used
in the ”portmidi” C++ modules included with the base source-code repository of Seq24 available (for
example) from Debian Linux. See reference [17] for the PortMIDI home page. Unfortunately, the code in
the Debian package is not quite ready to build on Windows. We might fix that someday, though Windows
is not a high priority.
The SubatomicGlue Windows port of Seq24 (see reference [32]) bundles a version of the PortMIDI
project with the source code for the port. It also provides a complete bundle of the other products (e.g.
gtkmm 2.4) needed to build and run the project. (By the way, the Windows port is built with MingW,
which provides the GNU compilers and tools. This is a good thing, as Visual Studio Community, though
”free”, is not ”Free”.)
16.2.3
Concepts / Sound Subsystems / JACK
JACK is a cross-platform (with an emphasis on Linux) API and infrastructure for making it easier to
connect and reroute MIDI and audio event between various applications and hardware ports. See reference
[8].
17
Building Sequencer64
The project packaging for Sequencer64 is aimed at developers. But note that we have Debian packages,
conventional tarballs, and Windows installers in the ”Sequencer64 Packages” project ([31]). If one has
packages built for other Linux distributions, let us know, and we can stick them there for others to use.
This section presents a how-to on building the various versions of Sequencer64 from source code.
It’s actually pretty easy, with these instructions. And please note that there are many ways to build
Sequencer64, each described in its own section.
17.1
Linux INSTALL Build
There are many build options. Some are modifiable via the normal GNU configure script method.
Many more are modifiable by editing the source code to #define and #undefine certain macros. If
you don’t care about such options, start here. If you want to see what options are available, skip to
section 17.2.1 ””configure” Options” on page 167, which has many details one can adjust. The project
includes the conventional GNU configure script, in the tarball and in the git-cloned project. However,
the the bootstrap script can be used to start from scratch, as in the following instructions:
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17.2
Options for Sequencer64 Features
1. Preload the dependencies, as listed in section 17.3 ”Sequencer64 Build Dependencies” on page 168.
If some are missing, the configure script will tell you, or, at worst, a build error will.
2. Check-out the desired branch, normally ”master”. Make a branch, if desired, to make changes. See
the file git.txt in the contrib/notes project directory.
3. From the top project directory, run the commands:
$ ./bootstrap
$ ./configure
4. For debugging without libtool getting in the way, just run one of the following commands, which
run the configure script, adding the --enable-debug and --disable-shared options to it. The
bootstrap script is our start-over way of setting up GNU autoconf.
$ ./bootstrap --enable-debug
$ ./bootstrap -ed
5. Run the make command:
$ make
6. To install Sequencer64, become root and run:
# make install
Note that an alternate user-interface (Qt) and alternate MIDI engine (portmidi) can be configured and
built. See section 17.4 ”Linux Qt Builds” on page 169. Also note that one has to build the documentation
and Debian packaging separately, they are not part of the default build.
Noted above is the --enable-debug option. The following command bootstraps and then configures
for release mode, and greatly reduces the amount of compiler output:
$ ./bootstrap --enable-release
$ ./bootstrap -er
This script option runs:
$ ./configure --enable-silent-rules
It results in abbreviated output, which makes it easier to see warnings that might pop up. This
anti-verbosity option can be overridden at ”make” time:
$ make V=1
V=0 is another way to quiet down the build. Note that the build can be sped up by telling make to
use more cores. For example, if one has an 8-core system:
$ make -j 8
17.2
Options for Sequencer64 Features
Sequencer64 comes with options for the configure command and options represented by definable macros
in the source code.
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17.2.1
17.2
Options for Sequencer64 Features
”configure” Options
The following configure options can be specified on the command line:
1. --enable-rtmidi. This option can be bootstrapped directly using ”./bootstrap -er -rm. This
is currently the default build. It creates an executable, seq64. This version can do JACK input/output
using the native API... no more need to use a2jmidid to bridge from ALSA to JACK. It provides a
JACK client separate from the legacy JACK-transport client. seq64 falls back to using ALSA if JACK
is not running. Like ALSA, the JACK support has an auto-connect feature that can be disabled using
the ”manual” (”virtual-port”) option.
We term this version ”rtmidi” because we originally used the RtMidi ([18]) project as the basis for the
native JACK support, but it does not quite fit the usage model of Sequencer64, so we heavily refactored
it.
2. --enable-qt. This sets up a build Sequencer64 that uses a Qt user-interface. This version can be
build with the RtMidi or PortMidi engines. Try ”./bootstrap -er -rm -qt or ”./bootstrap -er -pm
-qt.
3. --enable-cli.
Bootstrapping directly: ”./bootstrap -er -cli”. It sets up a command-line
build of seq64 that has the program name seq64cli. This application must be controlled via MIDI
controls set up in the [midi-control] section of the ”rc” file. See section 10.2 ””rc” File / MIDI Control”
on page 103, for information on those controls, which include start, stop, pause, play-list navigation, and
other commands. A single song can be loaded via the last command-line argument. A number of songs
can be loaded via a play-list. See section 12 ”Sequencer64 Play-Lists” on page 141. There is an option to
make the application fork into the background as a daemon.
4. --enable-alsamidi.
Bootstrapping directly: ”./bootstrap -er -am”. This executable is
basically the original version of Sequencer64, with the original executable name of sequencer64, which
we’re keeping around as a backup while we work the remaining nits out of the ”rtmidi” version of the
application.
5. --enable-portmidi.
Bootstrapping directly: ”./bootstrap -er -pm”. This option builds the
PortMIDI version of the application, seq64portmidi. This version works with Linux, but is meant as a
way to pre-test the port seq24 to Windows (”Google” for ”seq24 subatomic glue”). This version is used
for the Windows and Mac ports.
6. --disable-highlight.
Undefines the SEQ64 HIGHLIGHT EMPTY SEQS macro, which is otherwise
defined by default. If defined, the application highlights empty patterns by coloring them yellow. Applies
only to the Gtkmm user-interface.
7. --disable-lash.
Linux only.
Undefines the SEQ64 LASH SUPPORT macro, but it is now undefined by default.
8. --disable-jack.
Undefines the SEQ64 JACK SUPPORT macro, which is defined by default. Even
if left defined, however, Sequencer64 will still not use JACK support unless one specifies the various JACK options on the sequencer64 command-line or turn them on in the ”rc” configuration file,
~/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.rc. Linux only.
9. --disable-jack-session.
Undefines the SEQ64 JACK SESSION macro, which is defined if JACK
support is defined, and the jack/session.h file is found. Again, this option, if left defined, can be affected
by command-line options and options in the ”rc” configuration file. Linux only.
10. --disable-multiwid.
Undefines the SEQ64 MULTI MAINWID macro. If this macro is defined
(currently the default), then it is possible to show multiple sets in the main window. See section 3.4
”Patterns / Multiple Panels” on page 55, which describes this mode. Gtkmm only.
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17.3
Sequencer64 Build Dependencies
To summarize, these option macros define/undefine the following build macros:
•
•
•
•
•
SEQ64
SEQ64
SEQ64
SEQ64
SEQ64
HIGHLIGHT EMPTY SEQS
LASH SUPPORT
JACK SUPPORT
JACK SESSION
MULTI MAINWID
A lot of options have become mandatory over the years, and are not discussed here. And there may
be more macros not discussed. For the latest, see the INSTALL file in the source-code project.
17.2.2
Manually-defined Macros in the Code
As we have explored what Seq24 does as we improve Sequencer64, we’ve found of things that might
change the code for the worse in some minds. We mark those changes with macros. And sometimes we
tried a change, but left it disabled. Look at those macros, modify them, and build the source code to
one’s preferences. If one does not see a macro described below, it means we need to catch up with the
documentation.
The following items are not part of the configure script, but can be edited manually in the header
file libseq64/include/seq64-features.h to achieve the desired settings:
1. SEQ64 EDIT SEQUENCE HIGHLIGHT. Defined in the perform module. Provides the option to highlight
the currently-editing sequence in the main window view and in the song editor. If the sequence is muted,
it is highlighted in black text on a cyan background. If it is unmuted, it is highlighted in cyan text on
a black background. The highlighting follows whichever pattern editor or event editor has the focus.
Gtkmm only.
2. SEQ64 USE EVENT MAP. Already defined in the event list module. It enables the usage of an
std::multimap, instead of an std::list, to store MIDI events. Because the code does a lot of sorting of
events, using the std::multimap is actually a lot faster (especially under debug mode, where it takes many
seconds for a medium-size MIDI file to load using the std::list implementation. But the std::multimap
can be a limiting factor during playback. We use the list implementation and sort the container only after
getting all the events loaded.
3. SEQ64 USE MIDI VECTOR.
Defined in the seq64 features.h file. It enables the usage of an
std::vector instead of std::list, to store MIDI data bytes. It provides the preferred alternative
to the list for storing and counting the bytes of MIDI data. It stops the reversing of certain events due
to the peculiarities of std::list.
4. SEQ64 USE DEBUG OUTPUT. Enable this macro in the globals.h header file, to see extra console
output if the application is compiled for debugging. This macro can be activated only if PLATFORM DEBUG
is defined, which is taken care of by the build process. If set, this macro turns on extra console output
for some modules.
Again, note the macro PLATFORM DEBUG, defined in platform macros.h if the application is built in
debug mode.
17.3
Sequencer64 Build Dependencies
With luck, the following dependencies will bring in their own dependencies when installed. Build requirements:
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
•
•
•
•
17.4
Linux Qt Builds
libgtkmm-2.4-dev (dev is the header-file package)
libsigc++-2.0-dev
libjack-jackd2-dev
liblash-compat-dev (optional)
Runtime requirements:
•
•
•
•
•
libatk-adaptor (and its dependencies)
libgail-common (and its dependencies)
valgrind (optional, very useful for debugging)
gdb (optional, very useful for debugging)
gprof and gcov (optional, very useful for debugging)
Build tools requirements:
•
•
•
•
•
automake and autoconf
autoconf-archive
g++
make
libtool
Documentation requirements (very optional):
• doxygen and doxygen-latex
• graphviz
• texlive
Debian packaging (optional):
• debhelper
• fakeroot
17.4
Linux Qt Builds
The Linux version of Sequencer64 can be built with the Qt user-interface, using either the PortMIDI or
RtMIDI (preferred) MIDI engines.
$
$
$
$
./bootstrap
./bootstrap
./bootstrap
./bootstrap
--enable-release -rm -qt
-er -rm -qt
--enable-release -pm -qt
-er -pm -qt
Eventually, the Qt and RtMIDI combination will be the official version of Sequencer64 for Linux.
Our PortMIDI engine, while modestly improved over legacy PortMIDI, is not quite as complete as our
RtMIDI-derived implementation.
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17.5
17.5
Linux Qmake Build
Linux Qmake Build
We wanted to build Sequencer64 for Windows using GNU tools and the MSYS platform on either Linux
(cross-compiling) or Windows. But it proved more foolproof to create the *.pro files necessary for qmake
and be able to build on Windows and Mac OSX. This setup and build can be done through Qt Creator.
The command-line setup is straightforward. From the Sequencer64 directory, run the following commands,
using either the build directory specified by Qt Creator, or making your own ”shadow build” directory.
$
$
$
$
mkdir debug-build
cd debug-build
qmake -makefile -recursive "CONFIG += debug" ../sequencer64/qpseq64.pro
make
One can also use ”CONFIG += release”, or just leave that off entirely.
The qpseq64.pro file can also be loaded in the nice IDE, Qt Creator, and be configured, built, and
debugged there. And one can tweak the GUI elements in that IDE.
17.6
Windows Qmake Build
The easiest option for a build on Windows is to install Qt Creator in its open-source edition. The
executable name is qt-unified-windows-x86-3.0.5-online.exe or somesuch. Rather than navigate
through the corporate pages, just go to https://download.qt.io/archive/online_installers/3.0/
and pick the latest version.
When installing, be sure to select at least the the 32-bit Mingw tools, including mingw32-make.exe,
and qmake.exe. The Windows PATH must be modified to include the path to both executables, and
the excutables moc.exe, uic.exe, rcc.exe, and windeployqt.exe. If the installation directory for Qt
Creator is ProgramFiles (e.g. C:/Program Files), then add these directories to the user or system
PATH:
%ProgramFiles%\Qt\5.11.1\mingw53_32\bin
%ProgramFiles%\Qt\Tools\mingw530_32\bin
Obviously, the version number might differ from ”5.11.1”. There is a build script in the nsis directory
that automates the process of making the executable: build release package.bat. It also shows the
steps needed to do a release build and create a 7-Zip package, which include editing some macro variables
with naming or version information. If one wants to do it manually, follow these steps. (We denote the
DOS backslash path separator by ”/”, for our convenience.)
1. Using ”git clone https://github.com/ahlstromcj/sequencer64.git” or the unpacking of a source-code
tarball, create the sequencer64 directory with all of the project files.
2. Change to the directory above this directory.
3. Create an empty ”shadow” directory, e.g. seq64-release.
4. Change to this ”shadow” directory. In that directory, run the following command: qmake -makefile
-recursive "CONFIG += release" ../sequencer64/qpseq64.pro.
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17.6
Windows Qmake Build
5. Next, run the following command and wait for the build to complete: mingw32-make > make.log
2>&1.
6. Open make.log and make sure there are no errors. Note that the output directory is inside the
”shadow” directory and is called Seq64qt5/release.
7. Run the following command to copy necessary Qt DLLs to this directory:
windeployqt Seq64qt5/release.
8. Create the data directory in windeployqt Seq64qt5/release and copy some data files:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
mkdir Seq64qt5/release/data
copy ../sequencer64/data/*.rc Seq64qt5/release/data
copy ../sequencer64/data/*.usr Seq64qt5/release/data
copy ../sequencer64/data/*.midi Seq64qt5/release/data
copy ../sequencer64/data/*.pdf Seq64qt5/release/data
copy ../sequencer64/data/*.txt Seq64qt5/release/data
copy ../sequencer64/data/*.playlist Seq64qt5/release/data
9. Change to the Seq64qt5 directory and run: 7z a -r qpseq64-release-package-0.96.1.7z
release/*
At this point, the 7z file is useful as a ”portable” package for the application. It can also be used to
build the installer, as shown in the next section.
By the way, we have not tried using the Microsoft C++ compiler yet. If you try it and get the code
to work, let us know!
17.6.1
Windows Installer
Here, we unpack the 7z release package and then use NSIS to build the installer. These steps equire
7-Zip to be installed and accessible from the DOS command-line, as 7z.exe. Requires NSIS 3 to be
installed, unless one wants to use NSIS on Linux to build the installer (our preferred method). We build
the installer in Linux using the nsis package. These instructions can be adopted to using the Windows
GUI interface for NSIS.
1. Copy the file 7z a -r qpseq64-release-package-0.96.1.7z to the top-level project directory,
sequencer64.
2. Run 7z x qpseq64-release-package-0.96.1.7z to extract the contents to the release directory.
3. Run the following commands:
(a) pushd nsis
(b) makensis Seq64Setup.nsi
(c) popd
4. Verify that the installer works. It’s name is like: sequencer64 setup 0.96.1.exe
The bash script packages does all this, plus creates the source-tarball and some other actions for
the developers.
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18
18.1
MIDI Format and Other MIDI Notes
Standard MIDI Format 0
Sequencer64 can read and import SMF 0 MIDI files, and performs channel splitting automatically. When
an SMF 0 format is detected, Sequencer64 puts all of the events into the same sequence/pattern. While
the file is being processed, a list of the channels present in the track is maintained.
Tempo and Time Signature events are read, if present. When saving a Sequencer64 MIDI file, the
Tempo and Time Signature events are saved as MIDI events. This allows other sequencers to read a
Sequencer64 MIDI file. This addition of Tempo can fix imported tracks that don’t have a measure value.
Once the end-of-track is encountered for that pattern, one new empty pattern is created for each
channel found in the original sequence. The events in the main patten are scanned, one by one, and added
at the end of the appropriate patten. If the event is a channel event, then the event is inserted into the
patten that was created for that channel. If the event is a non-channel event, then each patten gets a
copy of that event.
After processing, the MIDI buss information, track name, and other pieces of information are attached
to each sequence. The following figure shows in imported SMF 0 tune, split into tracks.
Figure 102: Imported SMF 0 MIDI Song
The imported SMF 0 track is preserved, in pattern slot #16. It is highlighted in a dark cyan color
to remind the user that it is a special Sequencer64 pattern. If the original track had no title, this track
is named ”Untitled”. One will either delete this track before saving the file, or keep it muted.
Each single-channel track is given a title of either the form ”N: Track-name” or, if the song was
untitled, ”Track N”. The sequence number of each new track is the internal channel number (always the
actual MIDI channel number minus one). The time-signature of each track is set to defaults, unless a
time-signature event is encountered in the imported file.
Sequencer64 supports reading some other information a MIDI SMF 0 track might have, such as the
Tempo and the Time Signature. It saves this information in the first track of the MIDI file. The original
SMF 0 track is also shown in the song editor, as in the following figure.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
18.2
Legacy Proprietary Track Format
Figure 103: SMF 0 MIDI Song in the Song Editor
One is free to edit the imported tune to heart’s content. Here, we added one instance of each track,
including the SMF 0 track, to show what the imported song looks like.
18.2
Legacy Proprietary Track Format
The authors of Seq24 took trouble to ensure that the format of the MIDI files it writes are compatible with
other MIDI applications. Seq24 also stores its own information (triggers, MIDI control information, etc)
in the file, but marked so that other sequencers can read the file and ignore its Seq24-specific information.
Sequencer64 continues that MIDI-compliant behavior, but has improved the compliance a bit. We
call that last chunk of sequencer-specific information the ”proprietary track”. Before we discuss that last,
proprietary track, note that the normal MIDI tracks that precede it include the SeqSpec (”sequencerspecific”) control tags.
All of the SeqSpecs are shown in the next table. The c triggers tag is obsolete, but still present.
The c musickey, c musicscale, and c backsequence control tags are new with Sequencer64. They
are saved as additional information in each sequence in which they have been specified in the sequence
editor. For backward compatibility (and because it is probably the more common use case), these items
can also be saved globally for the whole MIDI song, as an option.
These tags are preceded by the standard MIDI ”FF 7F length” meta-event sequence. The following
discussion applies to the final ”proprietary” track as saved in the legacy Seq24 format.
After all the counted MIDI event tracks are read, Seq24 checks for extra data after them. If there is
extra data, Seq24 reads a long value. The first one encountered is a MIDI ”sequencer-specific” (SeqSpec)
section. It starts with
0x24240010
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18.2
Legacy Proprietary Track Format
Table 7: All SeqSpec Items
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
c
midibus
midich
midiclocks
triggers
notes
timesig
bpmtag
triggers new
mutegroups
gap A
gap B
gap C
gap D
gap E
gap F
midictrl
musickey
musicscale
backsequence
transpose
perf bp mess
perf bw
tempo map
reserver 1
reserver 2
tempo track
seq color
seq edit mode
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
0A
0B
0C
0D
0E
0F
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
1A
1B
1C
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
00
which is a Seq24 ”c midictrl” proprietary value flagged by the number ”0x2424”. MIDI requires
this marker to be supported. Some applications, like timidity, handle it. Others complain about an
unexpected header marker. Next, MIDI wants to see this triad of bytes
status = FF, type= 7F (proprietary), length = whatever
to precede proprietary data.
Sequencer64 writes this information properly, starting with the 0x242400nn xFF 0x7F marker. We
also need to be able to read legacy Seq24 MIDI files, so that ability has been preserved in Sequencer64.
At this point, we have the c midictrl information now. Next, we read a long value, seqs. It is 0.
24 24 00 10 00 00 00 00
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18.2
Legacy Proprietary Track Format
Read the next long value, 0x24240003. This is c midiclocks. We get a value of 0 for ”TrackLength”
(now a local variable called ”busscount”):
24 24 00 03 00 00 00 00
If the buss-count was greater than 0, then for each value, we would read a byte value represent the
bus a clock was on, and setting the clock value of the master MIDI buss. Another check for more data is
made.
24 24 00 05 00 20 00 00
0x24240005 is c notes. The value screen sets is read (two bytes) and here is 0x20 = 32. For each
screen-set:
len = read\_short()
If non-zero, each of the len bytes is appended as a string. Here, len is 0 for all 32 screensets, so the
screen-set notepad is set to an empty string. Another check for more data is made.
24 24 00 07 00 00 00 78
0x24240007 is c bpmtag. The long value is read and sets the perform object’s bpm value. Here, it
is 120 bpm. Another check for more data is made.
24 24 00 09 00 00 04 00
0x24240009 is c mutegroups. The long value obtained here is 1024. If this value is not equal to the
constant c gmute tracks (1024), a warning is emitted to the console, but processing continues anyway,
32 x 32 long values are read to select the given group-mute, and then set each of its 32 group-mute-states.
In our sample file, 32 groups are specified, but all 32 group-mute-state values for each are 0.
So, to summarize the legacy proprietary track’s data, ignoring the data itself, which is mostly 0
values, as shown in table 8 ”SeqSpec Items in Legacy Proprietary Track” on page 175
Table 8: SeqSpec Items in Legacy Proprietary Track
c
c
c
c
c
midictrl
midiclocks
notes
bpmtag
mutegroups
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
24
00
00
00
00
00
10
03
05
07
09
00
00
00
00
00
175
00
00
20
00
00
00
00
00
00
04
00
00
00
78
00
(buss count = 0)
(screen sets = 32)
(bpm = 120)
(mg = 1024)
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
18.3
MIDI Information
The new format (again, ignoring the data) takes up a few more bytes. It starts with the normal
track marker and size data, followed by a made-up track name (”Sequencer64-S”), as shown in table 9
”SeqSpec Items in New Proprietary Track” on page 176.
Table 9: SeqSpec Items in New Proprietary Track
"MTrk" etc.
Track name
c midictrl
c midiclocks
c notes
c bpmtag
c mutegroups
4d
53
ff
ff
ff
ff
ff
54
65
7f
7f
7f
7f
7f
72
71
04
04
46
08
a1
6b
75
24
24
24
24
08
00
65
24
24
24
24
24
00
6e
00
00
00
00
24
11
63
10
03
05
07
00
0d
65
00
00
00
00
09
00 ...
72 32 34 2d 53
(???)
(buss count = 0)
20 00... (screen sets = 32)
00 00 78 (bpm = 120)
00 00 04 00... (mg = 1024)
For the new format, the components of the final proprietary track size are as shown here:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Delta time. 1 byte, always 0x00.
Sequence number. 5 bytes. OPTIONAL.
Track name. 3 + 10 or 3 + 15
Series of proprietary specs:
• Prop header:
– If legacy format, 4 bytes.
– Otherwise, 2 bytes + varinum size(length) + 4 bytes.
– Length of the prop data.
5. Track End. 3 bytes.
Note that we still need to dig into all the new values that have accumulated over the last couple
years!
18.3
MIDI Information
This section provides some useful, basic information about MIDI data.
18.3.1
MIDI Variable-Length Value
A variable-length value (VLV) is a quantity that uses additional bytes and continuation bits to encode large numbers without confusing a MIDI interpreter. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Variable-length_quantity.
The length of a variable length value obviously depends on the value it represents. Here is a simple
list of the numbers that can be represented by a VLV:
1
2
3
4
byte:
bytes:
bytes:
bytes:
0x00 to 0x7F
0x80 to 0x3FFF
0x4000 to 0x001FFFFF
0x200000 to 0x0FFFFFFF
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18.3.2
18.4
More MIDI Information
MIDI Track Chunk
Track chunk == MTrk + length + track event [+ track event ...]
• MTrk is 4 bytes representing the literal string ”MTrk”. This marks the beginning of a track.
• length is 4 bytes the number of bytes in the track chunk following this number. That is, the marker
and length are not counted in the length value.
• track event denotes a sequenced track event; usually there are many track events in a track. However,
some of the events may simply be informational, and not modify the audio output.
A track event consists of a delta-time since the last event, and one of three types of events.
track event = v time + midi event | meta event | sysex event
• v time is the variable length value for elapsed time (delta time) from the previous event to this
event.
• midi event is any MIDI channel message such as note-on or note-off.
• meta event is an SMF meta event.
• sysex event is an SMF system exclusive event.
18.3.3
MIDI Meta Events
Meta events are non-MIDI data of various sorts consisting of a fixed prefix, type indicator, a length field,
and actual event data.
meta event = 0xFF + meta type + v length + event data bytes
• meta type is 1 byte, expressing one of the meta event types shown in the table that follows this list.
• v length is length of meta event data, a variable length value.
• event data bytes is the actual event data.
Timidity reads the legacy and new formats and plays the tune. Sequencer64 saves the ”b4uacuse”
tune out, in both formats, with a ”MIDI divisions” value of 192, versus its original value of 120. The song
plays a little bit faster after this conversion.
The midicvt application does not read the legacy Seq24 file format. It expects to see the MTrk
marker. Even if the midicvt --ignore option is provided, midicvt does not like the legacy Seq24 format,
and ends with an error message. However, as shown by table 11 ”Application Support for MIDI Files”
on page 178, most applications are more forgiving, and can read (or ignore) the legacy format. The
gsequencer application has some major issues in our installation, but it is probably our setup. (No JACK
running?)
18.4
More MIDI Information
This section goes into even more detail about the MIDI format, especially as it applies to the processing
done by Sequencer64. The following sub-sections describe how Sequencer64 parses a MIDI file.
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18.4
Table 10: MIDI Meta Event Types
Type
0x00
0x01
0x02
0x03
0x04
0x05
0x06
0x07
0x20
0x2F
0x51
0x54
0x58
0x59
0x7F
Event
Sequence number
Text event
Copyright notice
Sequence or track name
Instrument name
Lyric text
Marker text
Cue point
MIDI channel prefix assignment
End of track
Tempo setting
SMPTE offset
Time Signature
Key Signature
Sequencer-Specific event
Table 11: Application Support for MIDI Files
Application
ardour
composite
gsequencer
lmms
midi2ly
midicvt
midish
muse
playmidi
pmidi
qtractor
rosegarden
superlooper
timidity
18.4.1
Legacy
TBD
TBD
No
Yes
Yes
No
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
Yes
Yes
TBD
Yes
New
TBD
TBD
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
Yes
Yes
TBD
Yes
MIDI File Header, MThd
The first thing in a MIDI file is The data of the header:
Header ID:
MThd length:
Format:
No. of track:
PPQN:
"MThd"
6
0, 1, 2
1 or more
192
4
4
2
2
2
bytes
bytes
bytes
bytes
bytes
178
Original File
TBD
TBD
No
Yes
TBD
Yes
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
Yes
Yes
TBD
Yes
More MIDI Information
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
18.4
More MIDI Information
The header ID and it’s length are always the same values. The formats that Sequencer64 supports
are 0 or 1. SMF 0 has only one track, while SMF 1 can support an arbitary number of tracks. The
last value in the header is the PPQN value, which specifies the ”pulses per quarter note”, which is the
basic time-resolution of events in the MIDI file. Common values are 96 or 192, but higher values are also
common. Sequencer64 and its precursor, Seq24, default to 192.
18.4.2
MIDI Track, MTrk
The next part of the MIDI file consists of the tracks specified in the file. In SMF 1 format, each track
is assumed to cover a different MIDI channel, but always the same MIDI buss. (The MIDI buss is
not a data item in standard MIDI files, but it is a special data item in the sequencer-specific section
of Seq24/Sequencer64 MIDI files.) Each track is tagged by a standard chunk marker, ”MTrk”. Other
markers are possible, and are to be ignored, if nothing else. Here are the values read at the beginning of
a track:
Track ID:
Track length:
"MTrk"
varies
4 bytes
4 bytes
The track length is the number of bytes that need to be read in order to get all of the data in the
track.
Delta time. The amount time that passes from one event to the next is the delta time. For some
events, the time doesn’t matter, and is set to 0. This values is a variable length value, also known as a
”VLV” or a ”varinum”. It provides a way of encoding arbitrarily large values, a byte at a time.
Delta time:
varies
1 or more bytes
The running-time accumulator is incremented by the delta-time. The current time is adjusted as per
the PPQN ratio, if needed, and passed along.
18.4.3
Channel Events
Status. The byte after the delta time is examined by masking it against 0x80 to check the high bit. If
not set, it is a ”running status”, it is replaced with the ”last status”, which is 0 at first.
Status byte:
varies
1 byte
If the high bit is set, it is a status byte. What does the status mean? To find out, the channel part of
the status is masked out using the 0xF0 mask. If it is a 2-data-byte event (note on, note off, aftertouch,
control-change, or pitch-wheel), then the two data bytes are read:
Data byte 0:
Data byte 1:
varies
varies
1 byte
1 byte
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18.5
Meta Events
If the status is a Note On event, with velocity = data[1] = 0, then it is converted to a Note Off
event, a fix for the output quirks of some MIDI devices. If it is a 1-data-btye event (Program Change or
Channel Pressure), then only data byte 0 is read. The one or two data bytes are added to the event, the
event is added to the current sequence, and the MIDI channel of the sequence is set.
18.4.4
Meta Events Revisited
If the event status masks off to 0xF0 (0xF0 to 0xFF), then it is a Meta event. If the Meta event byte
is 0xFF, it is called a ”Sequencer-specific”, or ”SeqSpec” event. For this kind of event, then a type byte
and the length of the event are read.
Meta type:
Meta length:
varies
varies
1 byte
1 or more bytes
If the type of the SeqSpec (0xFF) meta event is 0x7F, parsing checks to see if it is one of the Seq24
”proprietary” events. These events are tagged with various values that mask off to 0x24240000. The
parser reads the tag:
Prop tag:
0x242400nn
4 bytes
These tags provide a way to save and recover Seq24/Sequencer64 properties from the MIDI file:
MIDI buss, MIDI channel, time signature, sequence triggers, and (new), the key, scale, and background
sequence to use with the track/sequence. Any leftover data for the tagged event is let go. Unknown tags
ate skipped.
If the type of the SeqSpec (0xFF) meta event is 0x2F, then it is the End-of-Track marker. The
current time marks the length (in MIDI pulses) of the sequence. Parsing is done for that track.
If the type of the SeqSpec (0xFF) meta event is 0x03, then it is the sequence name. The ”length”
number of bytes are read, and loaded as the sequence name.
If the type of the SeqSpec (0xFF) meta event is 0x00, then it is the sequence number, which is read:
Seq number:
varies
2 bytes
Note that the sequence number might be modified latter to account for the current Seq24 screenset
in force for a file import operation.
Anything other SeqSpec type is simply skipped by reading the ”length” number of bytes.
The remaining sections simply describe MIDI meta events in more detail, for reference.
18.5
Meta Events
Here, we summarize the MIDI meta events.
1. FF 00 02 ssss: Sequence Number.
2. FF 01 len text: Text Event.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
FF
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
2F
51
54
58
59
7F
F0
18.5
Meta Events
len text: Copyright Notice.
len text: Sequence/Track Name.
len text: Instrument Name.
len text: Lyric.
len text: Marker.
len text: Cue Point.
through 0F len text: Other kinds of text events.
00: End of Track.
03 tttttt: Set Tempo, us/qn.
05 hr mn se fr ff: SMPTE Offset.
04 nn dd cc bb: Time Signature.
02 sf mi: Key Signature.
len data: Sequencer-Specific.
len data F7: System-Exclusive
The next sections describe the events that Sequencer tries to handle. These are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sequence Number (0x00)
Track Name (0x03)
End-of-Track (0x2F)
Set Tempo (0x51) (Sequencer64 only)
Time Signature (0x58) (Sequencer64 only)
Sequencer-Specific (0x7F) (Handled differently in Sequencer64)
System Exclusive (0xF0) Sort of handled, functionality incomplete.
18.5.1
Sequence Number (0x00)
FF 00 02 ss ss
This optional event must occur at the beginning of a track, before any non-zero delta-times, and
before any transmittable MIDI events. It specifies the number of a sequence.
18.5.2
Track/Sequence Name (0x03)
FF 03 len text
If in a format 0 track, or the first track in a format 1 file, the name of the sequence. Otherwise, the
name of the track.
18.5.3
End of Track (0x2F)
FF 2F 00
This event is not optional. It is included so that an exact ending point may be specified for the track,
so that it has an exact length, which is necessary for tracks which are looped or concatenated.
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18.5.4
18.5
Meta Events
Set Tempo Event (0x51)
The MIDI Set Tempo meta event sets the tempo of a MIDI sequence in terms of the microseconds per
quarter note. This is a meta message, so this event is never sent over MIDI ports to a MIDI device. After
the delta time, this event consists of six bytes of data:
FF 51 03 tt tt tt
Example:
FF 51 03 07 A1 20
1.
2.
3.
4.
0xFF is the status byte that indicates this is a Meta event.
0x51 the meta event type that signifies this is a Set Tempo event.
0x03 is the length of the event, always 3 bytes.
The remaining three bytes carry the number of microseconds per quarter note. For example, the
three bytes above form the hexadecimal value 0x07A120 (500000 decimal), which means that there
are 500,000 microseconds per quarter note.
Since there are 60,000,000 microseconds per minute, the event above translates to: set the tempo to
60,000,000 / 500,000 = 120 quarter notes per minute (120 beats per minute).
This event normally appears in the first track. If not, the default tempo is 120 beats per minute.
This event is important if the MIDI time division is specified in ”pulses per quarter note”, which does
not itself define the length of the quarter note. The length of the quarter note is then determined by the
Set Tempo meta event.
Representing tempos as time per beat instead of beat per time allows absolutely exact DWORD-term
synchronization with a time-based sync protocol such as SMPTE time code or MIDI time code. This
amount of accuracy in the tempo resolution allows a four-minute piece at 120 beats per minute to be
accurate within 500 usec at the end of the piece.
18.5.5
Time Signature Event (0x58)
After the delta time, this event consists of seven bytes of data:
FF 58 04 nn dd cc bb
The time signature is expressed as four numbers. nn and dd represent the numerator and denominator
of the time signature as it would be notated. The denominator is a negative power of two: 2 represents
a quarter-note, 3 represents an eighth-note, etc. The cc parameter expresses the number of MIDI clocks
in a metronome click. The bb parameter expresses the number of notated 32nd-notes in a MIDI quarternote (24 MIDI Clocks).
Example:
FF 58 04 04 02 18 08
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18.5
Meta Events
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
0xFF is the status byte that indicates this is a Meta event.
0x58 the meta event type that signifies this is a Time Signature event.
0x04 is the length of the event, always 4 bytes.
0x04 is the numerator of the time signature, and ranges from 0x00 to 0xFF.
0x02 is the log base 2 of the denominator, and is the power to which 2 must be raised to get the
denominator. Here, the denominator is 2 to 0x02, or 4, so the time signature is 4/4.
6. 0x18 is the metronome pulse in terms of the number of MIDI clock ticks per click. Assuming 24
MIDI clocks per quarter note, the value here (0x18 = 24) indidicates that the metronome will tick
every 24/24 quarter note. If the value of the sixth byte were 0x30 = 48, the metronome clicks every
two quarter notes, i.e. every half-note.
7. 0x08 defines the number of 32nd notes per beat. This byte is usually 8 as there is usually one
quarter note per beat, and one quarter note contains eight 32nd notes.
If a time signature event is not present in a MIDI sequence, a 4/4 signature is assumed.
In Sequencer64, the c timesig SeqSpec event is given priority. The conventional time signature is
used only if the c timesig SeqSpec is not present in the file.
18.5.6
SysEx Event (0xF0)
If the meta event status value is 0xF0, it is called a ”System-exclusive”, or ”SysEx” event.
Sequencer64 has some code in place to store these messages, but the data is currently not actually
stored or used. Although there is some infrastructure to support storing the SysEx event within a sequence,
the SysEx information is simply skipped. Sequencer64 warns if the terminating 0xF7 SysEx terminator is
not found at the expected length. Also, some malformed SysEx events have been encountered, and those
are detected and skipped as well.
18.5.7
Sequencer Specific (0x7F)
This data, also known as SeqSpec data, provides a way to encode information that a specific sequencer
application needs, while marking it so that other sequences can safely ignore the information.
FF 7F len data
In Seq24 and Sequencer64, the data portion starts with four bytes that indicate the kind of data for
a particular SeqSpec event:
c_midibus
c_midich
c_midiclocks
c_triggers
c_notes
c_timesig
c_bpmtag
c_triggers_new
c_mutegroups
c_midictrl
^
^
*
^
*
^
*
^
*
*
0x24240001
0x24240002
0x24240003
0x24240004
0x24240005
0x24240006
0x24240007
0x24240008
0x24240009
0x24240010
Track buss number
Track channel number
Track clocking
See c_triggers_new
Song data, notes
Track time signature
Song beats/minute
Track trigger data
Song mute group data
Song MIDI control
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c_musickey
c_musicscale
c_backsequence
+
+
+
0x24240011
0x24240012
0x24240013
Track key (Sequencer64 only)
Track scale (Sequencer64 only)
Track background sequence (Sequencer64 only)
* = global only; ^ = track only; + = both
In Seq24, these events are placed at the end of the song, but are not marked as SeqSpec data. Most
MIDI applications handle this situation fine, but some (e.g. midicvt) do not. Therefore, Sequencer64
makes sure to wrap each data item in the 0xFF 0x7F wrapper.
Also, the last three items above (key, scale, and background sequence) can also be stored (by Sequencer64) with a particular sequence/track, as well as at the end of the song. Not sure if this bit of
extra flexibility is useful, but it is there.
18.5.8
Non-Specific End of Sequence
Any other statuses are deemed unsupportable in Sequencer64, and abort parsing with an error.
If the –bus option is in force, it overrides the buss number (if any) stored with the sequence. This
option is useful for testing a setup. Note that it also applies to new sequences.
At the end, Sequencer64 adds the sequence to the encoded tune.
19
Sequencer64 JACK Support
This section describes some details concerning the JACK support of Sequencer64. As with Seq24, Sequencer64 has JACK transport support. But, if one wants to use the older version of Sequencer64 (versions
0.9.x) with JACK MIDI, one needs to expose the ALSA ports to JACK using a2jmidid --export-hw
and connect the resultant MIDI JACK ports oneself, using QJackCtl, for example.
To enable the JACK transport support at run-time, the options -j/--jack-transport, -J/--jack-master,
and -C/--jack-master-cond are available.
With version 0.90, Sequencer64 can be built to support the legacy ALSA interface, the PortMIDI
interface, or, best of all, the native JACK MIDI interface, loosely based on the RtMIDI project (see [18]).
This mode also supports fallback-to-ALSA if the JACK server is not running.
• Sequencer64. . This application is built when the --enable-alsamidi option is specified at ”configure” time. It is basically the 0.9.x version of Sequencer64 application. However, this build is no
longer the default.
• seq64. . This application is built when the --enable-rtmidi option is specified at ”configure”
time. This build is now the default build.
• seq64portmidi. . This application is built when the --enable-portmidi option is specified at
”configure” time. This build is deprecated. It works with Linux, but, for Windows support, we will
instead add Windows API calls to the ”rtmidi” build of the project. We won’t discuss this version
at all. We’ve tested it for playback, but nothing else.
The following sections discuss the JACK transport support and the native JACK MIDI support.
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19.1
19.1
Sequencer64 JACK Transport
Sequencer64 JACK Transport
This section is just underway. Here are some of the topics to be discussed:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What JACK functions are supported for JACK Transport.
Exposing the ALSA MIDI ports to JACK, when using the legacy ALSA version of Sequencer64.
Fixes to JACK Master mode.
Interactions with the Klick and Hydrogen applications.
Patches from the new (!) version of Seq24, 0.9.3, to correct for MIDI Clock drift over long durations.
In the meantime, the text files in the project’s contrib/notes directory provide some useful setup
notes.
JACK transport support is separate from native JACK MIDI support. The JACK transport client is
an invisible client with the name ”seq64-transport”, while the JACK MIDI client is visible in QJackCtl,
and the ports created are part of the ”seq64” client.
The first thing to note about JACK transport with Sequencer64 is that the progress bars will not
move unless Sequencer64 is connected to a JACK client, such as Hydrogen (in JACK MIDI mode) or
Yoshimi. Currently, Sequencer64 will connect to a JACK client automatically only at startup, where it
will connect to all JACK clients that it finds. If it can’t find a JACK client, then it will fail to register a
JACK port, and cannot play.
The second thing is that Sequencer64 still has the issue where it must be JACK Master to follow
transport. More on this issue later.
19.2
Sequencer64 Native JACK MIDI
This section discusses the new seq64 application, which supports native JACK MIDI. It is now the official
version of Sequencer64, and new bugs will be fixed mainly in this version.
The first thing to note about seq64 is that it supports both ALSA and JACK MIDI. If one runs it
to support JACK, and JACK is not present, then seq64 falls back to ALSA support.
To run seq64 to support JACK, for now, one must add the -t or --jack-midi option. Why -t? We
are running out of option letters. And eventually we will make the -t option the default. If Sequencer64
(in its native JACK mode, using the -t or --jack-midi option) is run in JACK mode without JACK
running on the system, it will take awhile to come up (in ALSA mode). If run from the console, one will
see:
$ ./Seq64rtmidi/seq64 -t
[Activating native JACK MIDI]
[Reading rc configuration /home/ahlstrom/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.rc]
[Reading user configuration /home/ahlstrom/.config/sequencer64/sequencer64.usr]
[Activating native JACK MIDI]
Cannot connect to server socket err = No such file or directory
Cannot connect to server request channel
jack server is not running or cannot be started
. . .
[JACK server not running?]
connect: JACK server not running?
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19.2
rtmidi_info: no compiled support for specified API
[Initialized, running without JACK sync]
9 rtmidi ports created:
Input ports (3):
[0] 0:1 system:announce (system)
[1] 14:0 Midi Through:Midi Through Port-0
[2] 24:0 nanoKEY2:nanoKEY2 MIDI 1
Output ports (6):
[0] 14:0 Midi Through:Midi Through Port-0
[1] 24:0 nanoKEY2:nanoKEY2 MIDI 1
[2] 128:0 TiMidity:TiMidity port 0
[3] 128:1 TiMidity:TiMidity port 1
[4] 128:2 TiMidity:TiMidity port 2
[5] 128:3 TiMidity:TiMidity port 3
(???)
Sequencer64 Native JACK MIDI
To enable native JACK MIDI, use the -t/--jack-midi options. When enabled, the ”transport”
button in the main window will show the word ”JACK” (no matter whether JACK transport is also
enabled or not). Please note that, if you select the JACK-MIDI option and JACK is not available, seq64
will start in ALSA mode and it will save that mode when exiting.
The JACK (-t) and ALSA (-A) options are sticky options. That is, they are saved to the ”rc”
configuration file at exit, so one does not have to specify them in subsequent seq64 sessions.
19.2.1
Sequencer64 JACK MIDI Output
By default (or depending on the ”rc” configuration file), the new seq64 version of Sequencer64 will
automatically connect the ports that it finds to seq64, as shown in the following figure:
Figure 104: JACK MIDI Ports and Auto-Connect
The seq64:system midi playback 1 output port shown in the left panel is created by seq64. It
connects it to the system:midi playback 1 port in the right panel, which is actually the input for the
Korg nanoKEY2 controller. ALSA detects the real name of this USB MIDI device, but JACK does not.
Thus, the MIDI tab shows the ”system” name of the USB MIDI port, while the ALSA tab does show the
name.
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19.2
Sequencer64 Native JACK MIDI
Figure 105: ALSA MIDI Ports
Note that the input connection is not useful unless seq64 could send setup information to the
nanoKEY2. Korg provides a configuration application for Windows. For Linux, a Python application
called Nano-Basket ([16]) is available.
More useful is the automatic connection between seq64:yoshimi midi in in the left (output) panel
and yoshimi:midi in in the right (input) panel. With it it, Sequencer64 patterns with the proper
output-buss setting can play to the Yoshimi software synthesizer.
The output ports available are shown in seq64’s File / Options / MIDI Clock tab, shown here:
Figure 106: JACK MIDI Ports in Seq64
Note that the index, client, and buss numbers are all the same. There’s actually a bug here, since all
seq64 ports should have the same client number. However, in JACK, clients and ports are referred to by
name, not number, and so functionality is not affected.
Entry 0 (seq64:system midi playback 1) is, as already noted, not useful unless the nanoKEY2 can
accept input control. Entry 1 allows seq64 to send MIDI to Yoshimi. A pattern must specify output
buss 1 in order for the MIDI to reach Yoshimi. Another option, normally for testing only, is to specify
the ”bus” option on the command line:
$ seq64 --jack-midi --bus 1
With that option, all patterns send to buss 1.
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19.2.2
19.2
Sequencer64 Native JACK MIDI
Sequencer64 JACK MIDI Input
One more connection to note is the input connection to seq64. Referring back to Figure 104 ”JACK
MIDI Ports and Auto-Connect” on page 186we see that system:midi capture 1 in the left (output) panel
is connected to seq64:system midi capture 1 in the right (input) panel. This allows the nanoKEY2
MIDI output port to feed seq64, which can then record the input notes, and also forward them to Yoshimi
so that they can be heard.
This input port is also shown in the File / Options / MIDI Input tab, shown here:
Figure 107: JACK MIDI Input Ports
When the check-box for that buss is selected, the input can be captured by seq64.
19.2.3
Sequencer64 JACK MIDI Virtual Ports
The manual-versus-normal port support for JACK MIDI is essentially the same as that for ALSA.
Currently, the same option name is used (we will provide a more generic option-name soon). The
-m/--manual-alsa-ports option actually provides what are known as ”virtual” ports. These are ports
that do not represent hardware, but are created by applications to allow them to connect to other applications or MIDI devices.
The difference between manual/virtual ports and normal ports is that, while normal ports are automatically connected to the remote ports that exist in the system, the manual/virtual ports are just
created, and one must manually connect them via, for example, the QJackCtl connections dialog.
So, if one wants seq64 to automatically connect to all existing JACK MIDI ports, do not use the
-m/--manual-alsa-ports option... use the -a/--auto-alsa-ports option. Both options apply to both
ALSA and JACK, but we do not want to change the option-names at this time.
If one wants the freedom to make the connections oneself, or with a session manager, then use the
manual/virtual option. Here are the ports created in manual/virtual mode:
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19.2
Sequencer64 Native JACK MIDI
Figure 108: JACK MIDI Manual Ports
One sees that seq64 creates 16 output ports (busses), and one input port (buss). One also sees that
seq64 does not connect the ports automatically. The user or the session manager will have to make those
connections.
The MIDI Clock and MIDI Input tabs reflect in an obvious manner what is seen in QJackCtl, so
we won’t bother to show those tabs.
19.2.4
Sequencer64 JACK MIDI and a2jmidid
One more thing to show is that seq64 can deal with the odd naming of JACK ports created by the
a2jmidid application.
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
Figure 109: JACK MIDI a2jmidid Ports
One can see in the right (input) panel that that the a2j client creates 5 entries, one for ”Midi
Through”, and four for the TiMidity client. In the left (output) panel, one sees (in blue) the output ports
that seq64 creates to connect to the ports created by a2jmidid.
Also note the true JACK output port, seq64:yoshimi midi in to connect to the input port yoshimi:midi
in.
Again, if these automatic connections get in the way, run seq64 in manual/virtual mode.
When recording, do not forget the step option. If one paints notes with the mouse, the note is
previewed, and the note position advances with each click. If one paints notes via an external MIDI
keyboard, the notes are painted and advanced, but they are not previewed. To preview them, click the
”pass MIDI in to output” button in the pattern editor window to activate so that they will be passed to
your sound generator. Be careful of MIDI loops!
20
Kudos
This section gives some credit where credit is due. We have contributors to acknowledge, and have not
caught up with all the people who have helped this project:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tim Deagan (tdeagan): fixes to the mute-group support.
0rel: an important fix to add and relink notes after a paste action in the pattern editor.
arnaud-jacquemin: a bug report and fix for a regression in mute-groups support.
Stan Preston (stazed): ideas for some upcoming improvements based on his seq32 project. A lot of
ideas. And a lot of code!
Animtim: a number of bug reports and a new logo.
jean-emmanuel: scrollable main-window support, other features and reports.
Olivier Humbert (trebmuh): French translation for the desktop files.
Oli Kester: The creator of Kepler34, from which we are getting clues on porting the user-interface
to Qt 5 and Windows.
Also some bug-reporters and testers:
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Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
F0rth: a request for scripting support, a possible future feature.
gimmeapill: testing, bug-reports, and, um, ”marketing”.
georgkrause: a number of helpful bug reports.
goguetchapuisb: found that Seq64 native JACK did not properly handle the copious Active Sensing
messages emitted by Yamaha keyboards.
milkmiruku: mainwids issues and ideas.
muranyia: feature request for numbered piano keys and bug-reports.
pixelrust: reports of issues with ”fruity” interaction.
simonvanderveldt: issues with window sizing and more.
ssj71: a request for an LV2 plugin version, a possible future feature.
triss: a request for OSC support, a possible future feature.
layk: some bug reports, and, we are pretty sure, some nice videos that demonstrate Sequencer64
on YouTube. See [10].
matt-bel: reported a regression from Seq24, which could use a MIDI control event to mute/unmute
multiple patterns at once, a cool feature!
... and there are more to add to this list....
There are a number of authors of Seq24. ideas from other Seq24 fans), and some deep history, as one
can see in Figure 21 ”Help Credits” on page 34, and in Figure 22 ”Help Documentation” on page 34. All
of these authors, and more, have contributed to Sequencer64, whether they know it or not. The original
author is Rob C. Buse; where the word ”I” occurs, that is probably him. Without his work, we would
never have started Sequencer64.
From the original author:
Seq24 is a real-time MIDI sequencer. It was created to provide a very simple interface for editing and playing
MIDI ’loops’. After searching for a software based sequencer that would provide the functionality needed for
a live performance, there was little found in the software realm. I set out to create a very minimal sequencer
that excludes the bloated features of the large software sequencers, and includes a small subset of features that
I have found usable in performing.
Written by Rob C. Buse. I wrote this program to fill a hole. I figure it would be a waste if I was the only
one using it. So, I released it under the GPL.
This project deserves to stay alive! (And it is alive! A new version, 0.9.3, has come out from the
LaunchPad group! It corrects a problem with MIDI Clock drift). Taking advantage of Rob’s generosity,
we’ve created a reboot, a refactoring, an improvement (we hope) of Seq24. It preserves (we hope) the
lean nature of Seq24, while adding a few features we’ve found useful, to make it the ”vi of sequencers”.
Always remember that, without Seq24 and its authors, Sequencer64 would never have come into
being.
21
Summary
In summary, we can say that you will find Sequencer64 intriguing.
Contact: If you have ideas about Sequencer64 or a bug report, please email us (at mailto:ahlstromcj@
gmail.com). If it’s a bug report, please add [BUG] to the Subject, or use the GitHub bug-reporting
interface.
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22
References
The Sequencer64 reference list.
References
[1] ALSA team. Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) project homepage. http://www.
alsa-project.org/. ALSA tools through version 1.0.29. 2015.
[2] amSynth team, Nick Dowell. amSynth and Demos with Calf Effects. http://amsynth.com/amsynth.
html. Includes links to demos and the source code. 2015.
[3] Bristol team, Nick Copeland. Bristol: A Vintage Synthesizer Emulator. http://www.linuxsynths.
com/BristolPatchesDemos/bristol.html. 2014.
[4] Coolsoft. Coolsoft MIDIMapper (Windows). https://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/midimapper.
2018.
[5] Coolsoft. Coolsoft VirtualMIDISynth
virtualmidisynth. 2018.
(Windows).
https://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/
[6] FluidSynth team. FluidSynth: A SoundFont Synthesizer. http://www.fluidsynth.org/. 2014.
[7] Jay Capela Music. ”Combine”: A Seq24 Demonstration. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
fUiXbVT0bJQ. 2010.
[8] JACK team. JACK Audio Connection Kit. http://jackaudio.org/. 2015.
[9] Oli Kester. Kepler34: Seq24 for the 2010s. https://github.com/oli-kester/kepler34. 2010-2016.
[10] Lassi Ylikojola. Many demo videos of Sequencer64 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
YStYVjFv1TM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBlEP8Ffqss, https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=4gG8SvJxJkA&t=28s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Z4WPK6FpA. 2010-2017.
[11] LinuxSynths team, briandc@linuxsynths.com. A Sonic Palette on the Linux Platform. http://www.
linuxsynths.com/. 2015.
[12] Dave Phillips. At the Sounding Edge: Introducing seq24. http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/
8304. Linux Journal, May 12, 2005.
[13] Chris Ahlstrom. Extension of midicomp/midi2text to convert between MIDI and ASCII text format.
https://github.com/ahlstromcj/midicvt. 2015-2016.
[14] linuxaudio.org. seq24: toggle sequences with a MIDI controller. http://wiki.linuxaudio.org/
wiki/seq24togglemiditutorial. 2013.
[15] midi.org. Summary of MIDI Messages. https://www.midi.org/specifications/item/
table-1-summary-of-midi-message#2. Year unknown.
[16] Roy Vegard. Configurator software for the Korg nanoSERIES of MIDI controllers. https://github.
com/royvegard/Nano-Basket. 2015.
192
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
REFERENCES
[17] PortMedia team. Platform Independent Library for MIDI I/O. http://portmedia.sourceforge.
net/portmidi/. 2010.
[18] Gary P. Scavone. The RtMIDI Tutorial. https://www.music.mcgill.ca/~gary/rtmidi/. 2016.
[19] Seq24 Team. The home site for the Sequencer64 looping sequencer. http://www.filter24.org/
seq24/download.html. 2010.
[20] pneumanlsd. Linux audio demo: Live sequencing with seq24. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
f8zLV0vlSpY. 2010.
[21] synthWF. Misty Corridor
RH99zHvffGQ. 2012.
-
Seq24
(with
QSynth).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
[22] pneumanlsd. Linux music tutorial:
J2WDHS1wYeM. 2010.
seq24,
part 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
[23] pneumanlsd. Linux music tutorial:
i3Vpi3oxdqk. 2010.
seq24,
part 2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
[24] Seq24 Team. The home site for the Sequencer64 looping sequencer. https://launchpad.net/seq24.
2016.
[25] Excds. A simple mapping for toggling the LEDs on the Novation launchpad together with seq24.
https://github.com/Excds/seq24-launchpad-mapper. 2013.
[26] Stan Preston (stazed). The home site for the Seq32 looping sequencer. https://github.com/Stazed/
seq32. 2016.
[27] sbrauer. The home site for the original Seq42 looping sequencer. https://github.com/sbrauer/
seq42. 2016.
[28] Stan Preston (stazed). A fork of the Seq42 looping sequencer. https://github.com/Stazed/seq42.
2016.
[29] Chris Ahlstrom. A reboot of the Seq24 project as ”Sequencer64”. https://github.com/ahlstromcj/
sequencer64/. 2015-2017.
[30] Chris Ahlstrom. The Sequencer64
sequencer64-doc/. 2015-2017.
[31] Chris
Ahlstrom.
Sequencer64
sequencer64-packages/. 2017.
User
Debian
Manual.
https://github.com/ahlstromcj/
Packages.
https://github.com/ahlstromcj/
[32] Kevin at subatomicglue.com. Subatomic Mods for Seq24 Win32. http://www.subatomicglue.com/
seq24/. 2010.
[33] Timidity++ Team. Download site for Timidity++ source code. http://sourceforge.net/
projects/timidity/. 2015.
[34] VMPK Team. Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard. http://vmpk.sourceforge.net/. 2015.
[35] The Wootangent man. Sequencer64 Tutorial Video, Part 1. http://wootangent.net/2010/10/
linux-music-tutorial-seq24-part-1/. 2010.
193
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
REFERENCES
[36] The Wootangent man. Sequencer64 Tutorial Video, Part 2. http://wootangent.net/2010/10/
linux-music-tutorial-seq24-part-2/. 2010.
[37] Yoshimi team abrolag@users.sourceforge.net. The download site for the Yoshimi software synthesizer. http://yoshimi.sourceforge.net/. 2015.
[38] Yoshimi team. The alternate location for the Yoshimi source-code. https://github.com/abrolag/
yoshimi/. 2015.
[39] Chris Ahlstrom. A Yoshimi User Manual. https://github.com/ahlstromcj/yoshimi-doc/. 20152017.
[40] Chris Ahlstrom. A Yoshimi Cookbook. https://github.com/ahlstromcj/yoshimi-cookbook/.
2015.
[41] Mark McCurry, Paul Nasca (ZynAddSubFX team). The download site for the ZynAddSubFX software
synthesizer. http://zynaddsubfx.sourceforge.net/. 2015.
194
Index
–alsa, 156
–auto-alsa-ports, 121, 156
–bus [buss], 156
–bus option, 49
–config basename, 158
–file [filename], 156
–help, 155
–hide-alsa-ports, 156
–home [directory], 155
–ignore [number], 157
–interaction-method [number], 157
–inverse, 157
–jack-master, 119, 157
–jack-master-cond, 119, 157
–jack-midi, 119
–jack-session-uuid [uuid], 157
–jack-start-mode, 119
–jack-start-mode [x], 157
–jack-transport, 119, 157
–lash, 156
–legacy, 155
–manual-alsa-ports, 156
–no-lash, 156
–option opvalue, 158
–pass-sysex, 157
–playlist [filename], 157
–ppqn [ppqn], 156
–priority, 157
–rc filename, 158
–reveal-alsa-ports, 156
–show-keys, 157
–show-midi, 157
–stats, 157
–user-save, 157
–usr filename, 158
–version, 155
-A, 156
-C, 157
-F, 158
-H, 155
-J, 157
-K, 157
-L, 156
-M, 157
-R, 156
-S, 157
-U, 157
-X, 157
-a, 156
-b, 156
-c, 158
-f, 158
-h, 155
-i, 157
-j, 157
-k, 157
-l, 155
-m, 156
-n, 156
-o, 158
-p, 157
-q, 156
-r, 156
-s, 157
-u, 157
-v, 155
-x, 157
[allow-click-edit], 122
[allow-mod4-mode], 122
[allow-snap-split], 122
[auto-option-save], 123
[interaction-method], 122
[jack-transport], 119
[keyboard control], 117
[keyboard-group], 118
[lash-session], 123
[last-used-dir], 123
[manual-alsa-ports], 121
[midi-clock-mod-ticks], 120
[midi-clock], 115
[midi-control-file], 103
[midi-control], 103
mute-in group, 108
off, 103
on, 103
toggle, 103
[midi-input], 120
[midi-meta-events], 116
[playlist], 124
[recent-files], 124
195
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
[reveal-alsa-ports], 121
[sequencer64.usr], 126
[user-instrument-definitions], 131
[user-instrument-n], 131
[user-interface-settings], 132
[user-midi-bus-definitions], 128
[user-midi-bus-n], 128
[user-midi-settings], 137
[user-options], 139
--disable-highlight, 167
--disable-jack-session, 167
--disable-jack, 167
--disable-lash, 167
--disable-multiwid, 167
--enable-alsamidi, 167
--enable-cli, 167
--enable-portmidi, 167
--enable-qt, 167
--enable-rtmidi, 167
SEQ64 EDIT SEQUENCE HIGHLIGHT, 168
SEQ64 USE DEBUG OUTPUT, 168
SEQ64 USE EVENT MAP, 168
SEQ64 USE MIDI VECTOR, 168
Add Notes, 69
ALSA/JACK Modes, 36
Apply song transpose, 32
armed, 161
auto-connect, 186
auto-note, 69
auto-shift, 23, 26, 37, 38, 119
Background Sequence, 64
bank, 161, 164
bar indicator, 162
Beat, 67
Beat Unit, 80
Beat Unit (Beat Width), 58
beat width, 58
Beats Per Bar, 58, 80
BPM, 54
bpm
step increment, 109
bugs
–file option doesn’t exist, 156
event delete key, 89
event delete segfault, 90
event editing can fail, 73
INDEX
event insert key, 89
build
debug output, 168
disable highlight, 167
disable jack, 167
disable jack session, 167
disable lash, 167
disable multi-wid support, 167
enable alsamidi, 167
enable cli, 167
enable portmidi, 167
enable qt, 167
enable rtmidi, 167
event map, 168
midi vector, 168
seq highlight, 168
BUILD ALSAMIDI, 167
BUILD PORTMIDI, 167
BUILD RTCLI, 167
BUILD RTMIDI, 167
bus, 162
buss, 162
Buss Name, 20
buss override, 19
Cakewalk, 11
caps lock in learn mode, 38
Change Note Length, 70
Channel Number, 87
channel split, 172
Chord Generation, 65
Clear mute groups, 32
Clear This Track’s Song Data, 48
Client Number, 20
client number, 20
Clock Start Modulo, 20
Close, 90
Collapse, 81
Color, 48
compress events, 70
Connect, 31
Control keys, 25
Copy, 47
Copy pattern, 148
Copy/Paste, 71
current slot highlight, 43
Cut, 47
Cut pattern, 148
196
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
daemonize, 158
data area, 66
Data Byte 1, 89
Data Byte 2, 89
Data Bytes, 87
data pane, 68
data panel, 68
Data To MIDI Buss, 76
Delete Current Event, 89
Delete pattern, 148
Deselect Notes, 70
Disable, 26
Disconnect, 31
down arrow, 70
draw mode, 29, 68, 69
edit
clear mute groups, 32
load mute groups, 33
mute all tracks, 33
preferences, 32
song editor, 32
song transpose, 32
toggle all tracks, 33
unmute all tracks, 33
Edit events in tab, 148
Edit pattern in tab, 148
Edit pattern in window, 148
Edit..., 47
editing shortcut, 42
empty pattern, 45, 79
empty slot double-click, 42, 47
Enable, 26
Enable/Disable Transpose, 48
Enter Draw Mode, 69
event
compression, 70
stretch, 70
event -, 47
event area, 66
Event Category, 89
event data, 72
event data editor
draw, 73
left click, 73
middle click, 73
mouse wheel, 73
right click, 73
INDEX
event edit, 24
Event Edit..., 47
event editor
channel number, 87
close, 90
data byte 1, 89
data byte 2, 89
data bytes, 87
delete event, 89
event category, 89
event name, 87, 89
event timestamp, 89
index number, 87
insert event, 89
modify event, 89
save to sequence, 90
time stamp, 87
Event Name, 87, 89
Event Selection, 74
Event Selector, 74
event strip, 72, 162
Event Timestamp, 89
Event Values, 68
Events, 68
events
insert, 72
events strip, 68
Existing Event Selector, 74
Expand, 81
expand, 76
Expand and copy, 81
export, 162
exportable, 91
Ext Keys, 27
External live frame, 147
fast forward, 28
Follow Progress, 60
follow transport, 28
Fruity Mode, 69
global-sequence, 62
grave, 26
Grid Snap, 62, 81
group, 162
learn, 26
off, 26
on, 26
197
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
group learn, 118
group toggle, 118
group-learn, 26
auto-shift, 37, 38, 119
shift-lock, 37, 38, 119
grow button, 85
igrave, 26
import
select screen offset, 91
Index Number, 19, 87
index number, 19
input buses, 22
input by channel, 22
input options, 22
Insert New Event, 89
interaction method, 29
inverse colors, 157
JACK
live mode, 31
master conditional, 31
native midi, 31
song mode, 31
transport, 31
transport master, 31
jack
auto-connect, 186
manual-alsa-ports, 121
reveal-alsa-ports, 122
jack page
ctrl-p, 32
JACK Start mode, 31
jack sync
connect, 31
disconnect, 31
start mode, 31
transport/midi, 30
JACK toggle, 28
keep queue, 26, 163
Keep-Queue Status, 54
Key of Sequence, 62
keyboard
control keys, 25
disable, 26
enable, 26
extended keys, 27
group off, 26
INDEX
group on, 26
igrave, 26
learn, 26
mute-group slots, 26
sequence numbers, 25
sequence toggle keys, 26
show labels, 25
keys
-, 42, 47
., 57
=, 42, 47
[, 39, 50
], 39, 50
0, 62, 77, 84
alt, 50
apostrophe, 26, 54
avoid ctrl/alt, 50
backspace, 71
copy, 83
ctrl-a, 60, 70
ctrl-c, 71, 83
ctrl-e, 33
Ctrl-L, 111
ctrl-p, 32
ctrl-v, 71, 83
ctrl-x, 71
ctrl-z, 59
decrement set, 50
del, 71
delete, 83, 84
down-arrow, 61
end, 66, 81
enter, 71
esc (stop), 53, 80
event edit, 42, 47
F8, 48
focus, 94
gotchas, 23
Home, 39
home, 66, 81
hot, 49
increment set, 50
keep queue, 26, 50
l, 85
Mod4, 29
mod4, 68, 84
no ctrl/alt please, 119
one-shot queue, 51
198
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
p, 30, 57, 68, 69, 84
page-down, 66, 77, 81
page-up, 66, 77, 81
paste, 83
pattern edit, 42, 47
pattern toggles, 49
pause, 57
period (pause), 80
qt, 94
queue, 26, 50
r, 85
replace, 51
right ctrl, 50
screenset down, 39, 50
screenset play, 39
screenset up, 39, 50
semicolon, 54
shift, 23
shift page-down, 77
shift page-up, 77
shift-end, 67, 81
shift-home, 67, 81
shift-page-down, 66, 81
shift-page-up, 66, 81
shift-z, 62, 84
shortcut, 49
slot-shift, 26
snapshot, 26, 50
space (play), 53, 80
up-arrow, 61
x, 30, 57, 68, 69, 84, 85
Z, 77
z, 62, 77, 84
L anchor, 85
L button, 37, 111
L marker, 80, 85
lash
option, 31
LASH Options, 31
Learn, 26
legacy mode, 102, 126
LFO, 74
live mode, 31, 35, 45
log, 158
Log Tempo, 54
loop, 162
loop mode, 80
INDEX
Mac OSX, 145
main window, 35
Measure, 67
measures ruler, 82, 162
left-click, 85
right-click, 85
menu mode, 28
merge, 76
Meta Events, 20
Meta events, 16
MIDI Bus, 48
midi clock, 163
buss name, 20
client number, 20
clock start modulo, 20
index number, 19
meta events, 20
off, 20
on (mod), 20
on (pos), 20
port disabled, 20
port name, 20
port number, 20
MIDI Data Pass-Through, 76
MIDI Out Device (Buss), 59
MIDI Out Port (Channel), 59
mode
draw, 29
live, 35
paint, 29
song, 35
Modify Current Event, 89
modify event-data, 60
modify pitch, 60
modify time, 60
mouse
ctrl-left-click, 60
ctrl-left-click-drag, 60, 72
fruity, 29
left-click, 57, 60, 68
left-click-drag, 57, 60, 61, 68, 72
Mod4, 29
right-click-drag, 68
split mode, 29
mouse interaction, 29
Move Notes in Pitch, 70
Move Notes in Time, 70
multi-wid, 55, 136, 158
199
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
Musical Scale, 63
musical scales, 63
mute all, 33
Mute All Tracks, 48
Mute all tracks, 33
Mute Group Learn, 37
mute groups, 32
mute-group, 162
Mute-group slots, 26
mute-in group, 108
muted, 162
N/A, 156, 157
Name, 54
New, 42
new
click-edit, 122
dual song editors, 77
hide ALSA ports, 156
home directory, 155
LASH runtime disabling, 156
LASH runtime enabling, 156
left arrow, 70
legacy mode, 155
marker mode, 85
MIDI buss override, 156
mod4 edit-lock, 122
mod4 mode, 84
movement mode, 85
paint mode, 69, 84
ppqn from MIDI file, 156
ppqn override, 156
reveal ALSA ports, 156
right arrow, 70
sequence numbers, 25
snap-split, 122
time/tempo saved, 172
New pattern, 147
night mode, 157
no-daemonize, 158
non-playback mode, 31
Note Length, 62
note step, 67
Notes, 68
notes
auto, 69
duration, 69
duration change, 70
INDEX
inserting, 69
Off, 20
On (Mod), 20
On (Pos), 20
one-shot queue, 51
paint mode, 29, 30, 68, 69
pan
seqroll notes, 77
seqroll time, 77
Panic, 53
Paste, 44
pattern, 163
ALSA/JACK mode, 36
ALSA/JACK modes, 36
beat, 45, 83
BPM, 54
bus-channel, 45
buss-channel, 83
channel, 83
clear song data, 48
color, 48
color menu, 41
coloring, 41
contents, 44
copy, 47
cut, 47
edit, 47
end marker, 67
event edit, 47
keep-queue, 54
left click, 45, 52
left click-drag, 52
length, 44
log tempo, 54
main time—hyperpage, 36
middle click, 52
midi bus, 48
mute, 52
mute all tracks, 48
mute group learn, 37
mute toggle, 52
name, 44, 83
new, 42
panic, 53
paste, 44
Pause, 53
200
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
Play, 53
progress, 36
progress bar, 36
record tempo, 54
right click, 42, 45, 52
set name, 54
set number, 55
shift-left-click, 52, 83
slot, 40
song, 44, 47
song record, 53
song record snap, 54
song/live, 36
stop, 53
tap tempo, 54
time display, 37
title, 83
toggle all tracks, 48
toggle live tracks, 48
toggle menu, 36
toggle song editor, 55
toggle tracks, 36
transpose, 48
unmute, 52
unmute all tracks, 48
pattern edit, 24, 47
pattern editor
add notes, 69
background sequence, 64
beat unit, 58
beats/bar, 58
change note length, 70
chord generation, 65
copy, 71
copy/paste, 71
ctrl left click drag, 70
cut, 71
data to midi buss, 76
delete, 71
deselect notes, 70
draw mode, 69
drop, 71
event compression, 70
event selection, 74
event selector, 74
event stretch, 70
existing events, 74
fruity mode, 69
INDEX
grid snap, 62
key, 62
left click, 70
left click drag, 70
length, 58
LFO, 74
middle click drag, 70
midi data pass-through, 76
midi out device, 59
midi out port, 59
mod4, 68
move notes in pitch, 70
move notes in time, 70
name, 58
note length, 62
number, 58
paste, 71
progress bar, 58
quantize, 60
quantized record, 76
record midi data, 76
recording type, 76
redo, 60
right hold, 69
right hold left click, 69
right hold left drag, 69
scale, 63
select note, 70
select notes, 70
shift middle click drag, 70
time scroll, 76
tools, 60
transpose toggle, 59
undo, 59
vol, 76
zoom, 62
pattern editors
beat width, 58
pattern event edit, 47
pattern extension, 86
Pattern Length, 58
Pattern Name, 58
Pattern Number, 58
pattern subsection, 83
patterns column
ctrl-left-click, 83
left-click, 83
right-click, 83
201
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
patterns panel
inverse muting, 52
solo, 52
pause, 24, 53, 57, 79
performance, 77, 163
performance mode, 31
piano roll
beat, 67
event values, 68
events, 68
measure, 67
notes, 68
virtual piano keyboard, 67
PLATFORM DEBUG, 168
Play, 80
Play and Pause, 53
Play Loop, 80
playback mode, 31
playing set, 26
playlist, 157
number, 142
song-storage directory, 142
tag, 142
title, 142
pointer position, 28
port, 163
Port Disabled, 20
port name, 20
Port Number, 20
port number, 20
portable package, 171
ports
manual, 121, 188
virtual, 121, 188
ppqn, 87
$ shortcut, 87
Preferences, 32
progress bar, 79
pulses, 163
qpseq64.exe, 144
qt
click-edit, 123
copy pattern, 148
cut pattern, 148
delete pattern, 148
edit events in tab, 148
edit pattern in tab, 148
INDEX
edit pattern in window, 148
external live frame, 147
fruity, 122
mod4 edit-lock, 122
new pattern, 147
snap-split, 122
Qt Creator, 170
qtcreator, 170
quantize, 60
Quantize Selection, 60
Quantized Record, 76
queue, 26
cancel, 50
clear, 51
end, 51
keep, 26, 50, 163
one-shot, 51
replace, 51
solo, 51
temporary, 50
R anchor, 85
R marker, 80, 85
rc
automation-group, 105
extended-group, 105
mute groups, 33
mute-in-group, 105
pattern-group, 105
start/stop control, 111
rc file, 39, 49, 50
Record MIDI Data, 76
Record Tempo, 54
Recording Type, 76
recording type
expand, 76
merge, 76
replace, 76
Redo, 60, 81
redo, 79
Reload mute groups, 33
replace, 76
rewind, 28
save background sequence, 65
save musical key, 62
save musical scale, 64
Save to sequence, 90
202
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
saved control tags, 173
scaling, 158
screen set, 164
screen-set, 39
scroll
ctrl scroll, 77
horizontal pan, 77
horizontal zoom, 77
normal scroll, 77
notes pan, 77
shift scroll, 77
timeline pan, 77
timeline zoom, 77
vertical pan, 77
Select Notes, 70
select screen offset, 91
selected data coloring, 72
selection
add multiple notes, 70
all, 70
deselect, 70
multiple notes, 70
single note, 70
selection action, 70
seq64, 184
SEQ64 HIGHLIGHT EMPTY SEQS, 167
SEQ64 JACK SESSION, 167
SEQ64 JACK SUPPORT, 167
SEQ64 LASH SUPPORT, 167
SEQ64 MULTI MAINWID, 167
seq64portmidi, 184
SeqSpec, 16
sequence, 164
sequence extension, 86
Sequence toggle keys, 26
Sequencer64, 184
Sequencer64 for Windows, 144
sequencer64.rc, 102
sequencer64.usr, 126
Set, 55
shift left click, 45, 79, 83
shift-left-click solo, 52, 83
shift-lock, 37, 38, 119
Show key labels on sequence, 25
Show sequence numbers on sequence, 25
slot
empty slot right-click, 42
slot-shift, 26
INDEX
smf 0, 172
snapshot, 26, 164
solo
true, 52
Song, 44, 47
song, 164
Song Editor, 32
song editor, 32
beat unit, 80
beats/bar, 80
collapse, 81
ctrl-e, 33
deletion, 84
draw, 84
expand, 81
expand and copy, 81
grid snap, 81
grow, 85
handle, 83
insert, 84
inverse muting, 83
left-click, 84
left-click-right-hold, 84
middle click, 83
middle-click, 84
mod4, 84
multiple insert, 84
mute indicator, 83
muting, 83
pattern subsection, 84
play, 80
play loop, 80
redo, 81
right left hold drag, 84
right-click-hold, 84
right-left-hold-drag, 84
section expansion, 84
section length, 83
section movement, 84
selection, 84
solo, 83
split pattern, 84
stop, 80
undo, 81
zoom, 62
song mode, 27, 31, 35, 77
Song Progress Bar, 36
Song Record, 53
203
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
Song Record Snap, 54
song transpose, 32
Song/Live, 36
step, 67
sticky options, 186
Stop, 53, 80
stretch events, 70
tap bpm, 28
Tap Tempo, 54
tempo events, 172
tempo-track-number, 20, 116
tighten, 60
Time Display Selection, 37
Time Scroll, 76
time signature events, 172
Time Stamp, 87
todo
fruity mode, 69
high precision events, 72
manual alsa gui option, 21
Toggle All Tracks, 48
toggle JACK, 28
Toggle Live Tracks, 48
Toggle Menu, 36
toggle mute all, 33
Toggle mute all tracks, 33
toggle mutes, 28
Toggle Song Editor, 55
Toggle Tracks, 36
Tools, 60
Transport/MIDI, 30
transpose, 79, 82
Transpose Toggle, 59
trigger, 164
Undo, 59, 81
unmute all, 33
Unmute All Tracks, 48
Unmute all tracks, 33
untransposable color, 79
up arrow, 70
usr
–user-save, 124
-u, 124
allow-two-perfedits, 134
block-columns, 136
block-independent, 136
INDEX
block-rows, 136
bpm-page-increment, 138
bpm-precision, 138
bpm-step-increment, 138
control-height, 134
global-seq-feature, 134
grid-brackets, 133
grid-style, 132
inverse-colors, 135
mainwid-border, 133
mainwid-spacing, 134
mainwnd-cols, 133
mainwnd-rows, 133
max-sets, 133
midi-beat-width, 137
midi-beats-per-measure, 137
midi-beats-per-minute, 137
midi-bpm-maximum, 138
midi-bpm-minimum, 138
midi-buss-override, 137
midi-ppqn, 137
option-daemonize, 139
option-logfile, 139
perf-h-page-increment, 135
perf-v-page-increment, 135
progress-bar-colored, 135
progress-bar-thick, 135
step increment, 109
use-more-icons, 136
use-new-font, 134
user-instrument-definitions, 131
user-instrument-n, 131
user-interface-settings, 132
user-midi-bus-definitions, 128
user-midi-bus-n, 128
user-midi-settings, 113
velocity-override, 137, 138
window-redraw-rate, 136
zoom, 134
usr config, 22
variset, 55, 133, 158
slash key, 49
vi, 191
virtual keyboard
right-click, 67
Virtual Piano Keyboard, 67
VLV, 176
204
Sequencer64 Live MIDI Sequencer
INDEX
Vol, 76
warning
down arrow, 70
note loss, 70
unterminated notes, 72
up arrow, 70
wrap-around notes, 70
warnings
usr config, 22
window
close, 77
Windows, 144
Zoom, 62
zoom
seqroll time, 77
zoom keys, 62, 84
205
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