Steinberg Sequel 3 Operation Manual

101
Advanced Features
Introduction
In this chapter, you will get to know the advanced features in Sequel.
Some of the following sections make reference to tutorial projects, located in the 
default Sequel project folder.
Adding Silence
Adding silence allows you to mute sections of an audio event. This is great for erasing 
unwanted clicks or glitches, and for removing headphone bleed from vocal tracks or 
any other extraneous noise. The process is non-destructive.
•Load the project “Adding Silence 1”...

102
Advanced FeaturesAbout Time Stretch and Pitch Shift Algorithms
5.Adjust the selection so that it is as close as possible to the audio that you want to 
keep.
6.Press [Delete] or [Backspace] on your computer keyboard to remove the selection 
and create silence.
7.Add silence to any other areas in the Guitar event that you think might need it.
•Load the project “Adding Silence 2” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 5” folder to hear 
the project now that silence has been added.
About Time Stretch and Pitch...

103
Advanced FeaturesAudio Quantization and Free Warp
The Standard algorithm is optimized for CPU-efficient realtime processing. The 
following presets are available:
Audio Quantization and Free Warp
Audio quantization and free warp allow you to edit the timing and tempo of audio 
events. For that purpose the audio data is time stretched. You can choose between 
different algorithms that perform the time stretching in realtime. For more information 
about these algorithms, see 
“About Time Stretch and...

104
Advanced FeaturesAudio Quantization and Free Warp
5.Open the “Time Stretch Mode” pop-up menu, open the Standard submenu, and 
select “Standard – Mix”.
6.Make sure that the right audio length is set and that the grid lines are positioned at 
the visible beats. In this example, leave everything as it is.
7.Set the Quantize value to 1/4.
You can see the audio file locking to the nearest quarter note.
8.Activate the “Enable/Disable Quantize” option.
The audio automatically snaps to the selected Quantize...

105
Advanced FeaturesStep Envelope Editing
4.Drag the Warp tab left or right to the correct ruler time position.
The audio is stretched accordingly.
5.Repeat this procedure for any drum beats that are off time. Keep listening back to 
make sure that you are getting the correct result.
If you are not satisfied, you have two options:
•You can delete a warp tab by clicking the triangle at the top of the ruler. 
By deleting the warp tab the stretching is also reset.
•You can click the “Reset Warping”...

106
Advanced FeaturesStep Envelope Editing
Defining Steps
To define the steps for your step envelopes, you can choose between two modes:
Editing the Step Size
To edit the steps calculated by Sequel, you have the following options:
•To adjust the width of a step, position the mouse over the border at the beginning 
or end of the step so that the mouse pointer turns into a double arrow. Click and 
drag to the left or right to adjust its width.
•To divide a step, position the mouse over the bottom of the...

107
Advanced FeaturesDetecting the Tempo of an Audio File
To edit a step envelope, proceed as follows:
1.Select the step envelope type you want to edit, and move the mouse over the 
waveform display.
The mouse pointer turns into a Draw tool. 
2.Click a step and drag the mouse up or down to edit the value. 
•To create a step envelope, that is, modify consecutive steps, keep the mouse 
button pressed and draw a curve.
Randomizing Step Envelope Values
If you select a step envelope type and click the...

108
Advanced FeaturesSmart Transpose
Using Tempo Detection
1.Drag the audio file that you want to analyze from the MediaBay or the Windows 
Explorer or the Mac OS Finder into the Arrange Zone. 
2.Double-click the audio event to open it in the Sample Editor.
3.In the Sample Editor, click “Tempo Detection” to open the Tempo Detection 
section.
4.Click the “Detect Tempo” button.
The following happens:
- Sequel analyzes the audio event and defines a single constant tempo for the whole 
audio event.
- The...

109
Advanced FeaturesSmart Transpose
3.In the search field, type in “Bb guitar”, and press [Return].
Sequel filters the results.
4.Drag the “03 105 Bb Guitar” loop to bar 1.
The project’s settings for Tempo and “Project Root Key” change to match the 
loop. The project root key is now A#, which is the enharmonic equivalent for Bb.
5.Go back to the MediaBay. This time enter “D horns” in the search field, and press 
[Return].
6.Drag the “02 112 D horns” loop to bar 1 underneath the guitar.
7.Double-click...

110
Advanced FeaturesRemote-controlling Sequel
Remote-controlling Sequel
It is possible to remote-control certain Sequel functions by assigning external 
controllers, for example, small mixers or keyboard controllers with USB or MIDI 
connection and the ability to send MIDI messages. This way, you can control special 
program parameters using the assigned faders and knobs on your external controller. 
The control assignment is saved for the application and will be available for all projects.
You can map...