Steinberg Sequel 3 Operation Manual

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EditingCommon Editing Functions
3.With all of the events selected, click and drag them so that the events line up with 
bar 2.
All of the events move together, maintaining their relative positions.
Muting
Muting an event stops you from hearing just that event. You can mute events on a 
track so that the track continues to play back except for the muted events.
•To mute an event, click the Pause button in the top right corner of the event. The 
event turns gray. Click again to unmute it.
Repeating
The Repeat function is great for repeating events over and over. This function is built 
right into events in Sequel.
•To repeat the Drums event, click the repeat handle below the Mute button and 
drag until the Repeat Count is three.
You now have five Drums events. Two original ones and three repeats.
Copying
You can copy an event to another area in the Arrange Zone.
Using Copy and Paste
1.Click the event, and select Copy from the Edit menu. For this example, copy the 
Guitar event.
2.Position the cursor at the position in the project where you want the copy to be 
made, for example at beat 2 of bar 5.
3.Select the track that you want the event to be copied to by clicking on it in the 
track list. 
4.Select Paste from the Edit menu.
You now have two Guitar events.
ÖThis is different from muting a track.
Click here to 
mute the event.
Repeat handle 
						

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EditingThe Draw Tool
Copying using the [Ctrl]/[Command] Key
1.Place the cursor in the center of the Synth event and hold down [Ctrl]/[Command].
2.Click and hold the selected event and drag to the position where you want the 
copy to be made. In this case, drag until the copy is lined up with bar 5.
3.Release the mouse button.
You now have two Synth events.
Deleting
1.Select an event to delete.
2.Press [Delete] or [Backspace] or select the Delete option on the Edit menu.
Creating a New File from Selected Events
When you have edited events, it is often useful to create a new file from the events. 
For example, you may have split an event into several events, reordered them, and 
want to further edit the entire audio in the Sample Editor. Proceed as follows:
1.Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and select the audio events that you want to 
combine in a new file.
2.Open the Edit menu and select “Bounce Selection”.
All selected events are combined in a new event.
The Draw Tool
At the top of the track list, you have access to the Draw tool.
•You can use the Draw tool to draw in elements in the Arrange Zone.
•You can also press [Alt]/[Option] to toggle the Draw tool in Select mode.
You can draw in the following elements in the Arrange Zone:
- Instrument parts on instrument tracks
- Pattern parts on beat tracks, see “The Beat Page” on page 53
- Performance parts on the performance track, see “Performance Parts” on page 96
- Tempo changes on the tempo track, see “Adding Tempo Changes” on page 37
- Automation events on the automation track, see “Adding Automation” on page 44
- Transpose changes on the transpose track, see “Show Transpose Track” on page 
69 
						

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EditingThe Sample Editor
The Sample Editor
The Sample Editor is used for detailed audio editing. 
These features are described in the chapter “Advanced Features” on page 101.
•To open the Sample Editor, select an audio event and then open the Editor Page in 
the Multi Zone.
•You can also double-click the event in the Arrange Zone to open it in the Sample 
Editor.
The selected audio event is displayed in the center of the Editor Page. Here you 
can see a detailed waveform rendering of the audio file.
The Key Editor
The Key Editor is where you can make changes to the instrument data on instrument 
tracks.
•Load the project “Key Editor” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 2” folder.
Select the Synth part and open the Editor Page in the Multi Zone to view the Key 
Editor. Here, you can see the synth notes lined up with a keyboard display on the left. 
At the bottom, the velocity of each of the notes is shown and at the top, you can see 
the time ruler.
Deleting Notes
To delete all the notes in bar 1, proceed as follows:
1.Drag a selection rectangle over the first bar.
2.Press [Delete] or [Backspace]. 
						

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EditingThe Key Editor
Copying Notes
Now, copy all notes from the second bar into the first bar.
1.Select the notes in bar 2.
2.Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag the notes from bar 2 to bar 1.
Resizing Notes
You can shorten or lengthen notes in the Key Editor. For example, to change all the 
eighth notes in the first two bars into quarter notes, proceed as follows:
1.Select all the notes in the first two bars.
2.Position the mouse pointer at the end of any of the selected notes. 
It changes into a double arrow.
3.Click and drag right to resize all the notes.
Creating or Drawing in Notes
You can use the Key Editor to draw in notes. This is great for creating instrument 
arrangements that you are having trouble playing in yourself.
To add some notes to the first two bars of the project, proceed as follows:
1.Make the Key Editor larger by clicking on the bar along the top of the Multi Zone 
and dragging upwards.
2.Zoom in on the notes in the Key Editor by clicking the “+” symbol at the bottom 
right of the Key Editor.
3.Draw in a G above the first C in bar 1 so that two notes are played instead of one. 
Hold down [Alt]/[Option] to toggle the Draw tool. 
						

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EditingThe Key Editor
4.Click and drag to draw in an eighth note G.
5.Draw in notes above the rest of the notes in bar 1 and 2.
The Controller Lane
The controller lane allows you to add or modify instrument data such as velocity and 
controller information. The most common use for this is to edit velocity or pitch bend. 
If you find that the velocity is too strong or too weak on certain notes, you can view 
and edit them at the bottom of the Key Editor.
1.On the controller pop-up menu, select the information that you want to view or 
change; in this example, select Velocity.
In the controller lane, you can now see the velocity for each note contained in the 
instrument part. When you move the mouse pointer to the controller lane, it turns 
into a Draw tool.
2.Click and drag to change the velocity information for a note.
Working with Selection Ranges on the Controller Lane
The controller lane editor allows you to perform additional scaling operations for 
selection ranges on existing controller curves.
•To open the controller lane editor, create a selection rectangle on the controller 
lane, encompassing the controller events that you want to edit.
For Velocity lanes, you have to press [Alt]/[Option] to enter Select mode.
Controller lane
Controller pop-up menu 
						

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EditingThe Key Editor
In the controller lane editor, so called smart spots appear on the borders of the editor. 
These smart spots allow you to activate a specific editing mode:
•To move the whole selection up/down or left/right, click on a controller event 
inside the editor and drag the curve.
•By pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] when clicking and dragging, you can restrict the 
direction to horizontal or vertical movement, depending on the direction in which 
you start dragging.
Editing modeTo activate this mode…Description
Move VerticallyClick in an empty area on 
the upper border of the 
editor. This mode allows you to move the 
entire curve up or down, which is 
useful to boost or attenuate an 
otherwise perfect curve.
Scale VerticallyClick the smart spot in the 
middle of the upper border 
of the editor.Use this mode to relatively scale 
the curve, i.
 e. to raise or lower the 
values in percent (not by absolute 
amounts).
Tilt the left/right part of 
the curveClick the smart spot in the 
upper left/right corner of 
the editor.These modes allow you to tilt the 
left or the right part of the curve, 
respectively. This is useful if the 
curve form is exactly the way you 
want it, but the start or end needs 
to be boosted or attenuated a bit.
Compress the left/right 
part of the curve[Alt]/[Option]-click the smart 
spot in the upper left/right 
corner of the editor.These modes allow you to 
compress the left or the right part 
of the curve.
Scale Around Absolute 
CenterClick the smart spot in the 
middle of the right border of 
the editor.This mode allows you to scale the 
curve around the absolute center, 
i.
 e. horizontally around the center 
of the editor.
Scale Around Relative 
Center[Alt]/[Option]-click the smart 
spot in the middle of the 
right border of the editor.This mode allows you to scale the 
curve relative to its center.
StretchClick and drag in the lower 
part of the editor (not 
available for Velocity lanes).This allows you to stretch the 
selected controller events. 
						

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EditingThe Beat Page
The Beat Page
The Beat Page is where you can make changes to the data on beat tracks. You can 
draw in steps, set velocity values, and specify the sounds, for example.
The steps are shown in the step display, each step representing a beat position in the 
pattern. By default, 16 steps are shown per lane.
The Beat Page is described in detail in the section “The Beat Page” on page 53.
Adding Tempo Changes
In this section, you will learn how to add tempo changes to your project.
•In the Arrange Zone, click the “Show Tempo Track” button.
The tempo track is displayed at the top of the project. In the event display, a horizontal 
line shows the current tempo. By adding curve points to this line, you can vary the 
tempo within the project. The curve points represent the tempo changes. In the track 
list, there are two controls for the tempo track.
Add some tempo changes:
1.Select the Draw tool and click at the positions in your project where you want the 
tempo to change.
The tempo display in the track list displays the tempo according to the position of 
the mouse pointer.
2.Listen to your project to hear how it sounds with tempo changes.
If necessary, you can edit the tempo curve as follows:
•To modify the inserted tempo changes, click and drag the tempo curve points.
•To enter a specific tempo for the tempo curve point, select the curve point and 
double-click the tempo display in the track list.
•To change the tempo gradually from one curve point to the next one, open the 
“Change Tempo Curve Mode” pop-up menu in the track list and select Ramp.
The default setting is Jump, where the tempo changes instantly to the new value.
Change Tempo 
Curve Mode
Edit Selected 
Tempo Events
Maximum Visible Tempo Value
Minimum Visible Tempo Value 
						

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EditingAdding Tempo Changes
•To delete a tempo change, select the corresponding tempo curve point and press 
[Delete] or [Backspace].
•To change the maximum and minimum tempo values that are shown in the curve 
display, click the values and drag up or down or double-click the values and enter 
a specific value.
ÖIf you use the Tap Tempo function in the Pilot Zone tempo display, the current tempo 
curve is removed and the tapped tempo is used as a single constant tempo, see 
 U s i n g  Ta p  Te m p o Ž on page 65. 
						

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Mixing
Introduction
In this chapter, you will learn how to create a mix ready with proper levels, EQs, and 
effects. You will also add automation and export the audio.
Setting Levels
The first thing that you need to do is to set the levels for the project so that you can 
add EQ and effects later.
•Load the project “Mixing 1” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.
1.Open the Mixer Page in the Multi Zone.
2.Press [Space] to start playing back the project and listen to your mix.
3.Move the faders on each track so that you hear everything the way you like it.
ÖThe following sections make reference to tutorial projects, located in the default 
Sequel project folder.
!Be careful how high you raise the faders. Make sure that everything is at a good 
volume without clipping, distortion, or any other unpleasant sounds. If the Master 
fader area turns red, your tracks are too loud. If this happens, lower the levels. 
						

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MixingSetting Pan
Setting Pan
•Load the project “Mixing 2” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.
•Setting the pan for each track moves its position in the stereo mix. You can either 
keep the signal balanced in the middle of the left and right speaker, slightly to the 
left or right, or be completely in the left or right speaker.
•Keep the Drums track in the middle. Move the bass track slightly to the left and 
move the guitar track almost all the way left and the synth track almost all the way 
to the right. This gives the mix a little bit more of a feeling of space.
•To get the panner back to the center, [Ctrl]/[Command]-click directly in the panner 
area.
Mute and Solo 
•Load the project “Mixing 3” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.
For each track, there are buttons for mute and solo. Mute prevents you from hearing 
the track, and solo only plays that track or tracks that have solo enabled.
•You can mute or solo several tracks simultaneously.
•When you solo a track, the other tracks are muted.
•To disable a solo or mute state, click the button again.
•To simultaneously mute a track that is soloed and solo another track, 
[Ctrl]/[Command]-click the Solo button of the track that you want to solo.
That’s it for solo and mute. Let’s move on to adding EQ.
Adding EQ
•Load the project “Mixing 4” found in the “Sequel Tutorial 3” folder.
EQ, or equalization, adds or subtracts frequencies, so that you can place each 
instrument correctly in the mix. EQ is subjective and can be influenced by the kind of 
music you are mixing or the kind of music that you like to listen to.
We are going to run through the EQ features that Sequel has to offer, but feel free to 
experiment and try the different presets on your mix.
1.Select the Drums track in the Arrange Zone.
2.Solo the Drums track, and open the Track Inspector Page in the Multi Zone.