Steinberg Sequel 3 Operation Manual
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81 The Multi Zone Introduction The Multi Zone is where all of your project’s mixing, effects processing, and advanced editing takes place. Furthermore, the Multi Zone includes a Performance Page for taking your project out to the world to play live. The Settings Page contains global options for configuring Sequel according to your needs. There are six buttons at the bottom left of the Multi Zone that open the corresponding pages: - Track Inspector Page - Editor Page - Track Picture Page -Mixer Page - Performance Page - Settings Page At the bottom center of the Multi Zone, the program name is shown. When you point the mouse at it, the project name and an indicator of the processing load become visible to the left and right, respectively. The buttons at the bottom right of the Multi Zone open the MediaBay and the Output Effects section. These are displayed to the right of the Arrange Zone.
82 The Multi ZoneThe Track Inspector Page The Track Inspector Page The Track Inspector Page allows you to add effects and instruments to your project. It features several buttons for showing and hiding different panels with settings for the selected track. The selected track’s channel strip is shown on the left. •To show or hide a panel, click the corresponding button at the top of the Track Inspector page. Global Panel Controls The panels for effects, instruments, and the equalizer share most of the following controls. •To select an insert or a send effect, click in the “Select Effect Type” field and select an option from the pop-up menu. •To select a preset, click in the preset field, and select an option from the pop-up menu. •To bypass an effect or the equalizer, click the Bypass button. •To assign Quick Controls, use the “Quick Control Learn Mode” and “Get Default Quick Controls from Plug-in” buttons, see “Quick Controls” on page 114. •To open or close the plug-in’s native panel, click the “Open/Close Plug-in Window” button. Preset section Effect parametersSelect Effect Type Bypass Open/Close Plug-in Window Quick Control Learn Mode Get Default Quick Controls from Plug-in
83 The Multi ZoneThe Track Inspector Page Handling Presets •To select a preset, open the preset browser by clicking in the Effect or Instrument Preset field. In the preset browser, you have the following options: •To find a suitable preset, use the Category and Sub Category filters. •To apply a preset, double-click it. •To go back to the last selected preset, click the Restore Preset button at the bottom left of the preset browser. Panels for Instrument Tracks For instrument tracks, three additional panels are available: Chorder, Arpeggiator, and Instrument. Chorder The Chorder automatically plays chords when you press a single note on your MIDI keyboard. Arpeggiator The Arpeggiator automatically creates patterns based on the notes you play, creating great rhythm and a really cool effect. The pattern is played as long as a note is held. The following parameters are available: ParameterDescription QuantizeSets the resolution of the Arpeggiator patterns. Octave RangeDetermines how many octaves the pattern goes above or below the note you play. Transpose StepDetermines how many steps the pattern changes each time it starts again.
84 The Multi ZoneThe Track Inspector Page Instrument The Instrument panel contains eight controls that are provided by the selected preset. Insert Effects Panel Each track can have three pre-fader insert effects. Pre-fader means that raising or lowering the track fader does not affect how much of the audio signal is sent to the effect. Insert Effect 3 is positioned in the signal chain after the equalizer. That means that any changes to the equalizer settings affect the signal that is sent to the effect. For details about the different effects, see “Effects Parameters” on page 119. Equalizer Panel The Equalizer panel features a three-band EQ. The low band sets the frequency at which the bass tones are affected. The middle band sets the frequency at which the middle tones are affected. The high band sets the frequency at which the high tones are affected. •The Gain slider determines the gain or volume of the EQ band. •The Frequency slider determines the frequency of the EQ band. Transpose Play DirectionDetermines whether the pattern’s key goes up, down, or both. Arpeggiator Play ModeDetermines what type of pattern is played back. If you select Phrase, you can play a single note to trigger a scale. Parameter Description
85 The Multi ZoneThe Editor Page •The Resonance slider determines the frequency range of the middle EQ band. Drag the slider to the left or right to widen or shorten the range. •To reset the EQ settings, open the presets pop-up menu and select RESET. The EQ Curve Display You can also activate EQ modules and make settings using the EQ curve display. •To adjust the gain, drag a curve point up or down. •To adjust the frequency, drag a curve point to the left or right. •To adjust the resonance, click the band 2 curve point, press [Shift], and drag up or down. •To deactivate an EQ module, double-click the corresponding curve point or drag it outside the display. Send Effects Panel Each project can have two send effects. They are useful if you want to apply the same effect to every track. This helps to reduce the CPU load on your computer. You can use any available effect as send effect. The Amount fader determines the signal portion that is sent to the send, see “Send Effects” on page 43. The Editor Page The Editor Page allows you to perform advanced editing of your audio events, instrument parts, and beat patterns. If you select an audio event in the Arrange Zone, the Editor Page shows the Sample Editor; if you select an instrument part, the Key Editor is shown; and if you select a beat pattern, the Beat Page is shown. Amount fader ÖSend effects are global for all tracks. If you want to deactivate a send for a particular track, click the corresponding Disable Amount button.
86 The Multi ZoneThe Editor Page The Sample Editor The Sample Editor allows you to edit the selected audio file. The main area of the Sample Editor shows a detailed waveform rendering of your audio file. •Zoom in and out using the “+” and “-” buttons in the bottom right corner or by clicking in the ruler at the top of the Sample Editor and dragging up or down. •Use the scrollbar at the bottom to scroll left or right. The Sample Editor contains two additional sections for editing step envelopes and detecting the tempo of an audio file, see “Step Envelope Editing” on page 105 and “Detecting the Tempo of an Audio File” on page 107. At the top and on the left of the Sample Editor, you find global audio setting parameters: Event Name/Rename Event You can rename the event by clicking in the field and entering a new name. Volume You can adjust the event volume by clicking the Volume field and dragging up or down. Alternatively, you can double-click in the Volume field and enter a value. Original Tempo vs. Project Tempo You can switch between Original Tempo and Project Tempo mode by clicking the corresponding buttons: •In Project Tempo mode, the event’s tempo is locked to the project tempo. The tempo of the audio is compressed or stretched and the size of the event is adjusted accordingly. •In Original Tempo mode, the event keeps the tempo of the corresponding audio file. The Free Warp Tool The Free Warp tool allows you to manually adjust how the audio lines up to bars and beats. If the Free Warp tool is activated, you can click in the waveform to add warp tabs and move them to the left or right to change the timing and to time stretch the audio. See “Audio Quantization and Free Warp” on page 103 for more information. Time Stretch Mode On the “Set Time Stretch Mode” pop-up menu you can select an algorithm preset that affects the stretch result of your audio. For details, see “About Time Stretch and Pitch Shift Algorithms” on page 102. Reset Warping The “Reset Warping” button resets any changes that you made with the Free Warp tool. This deletes all warp tabs and restores the bars and beats to their original settings. ÖThe warp settings are saved with the project.
87 The Multi ZoneThe Editor Page Reverse selected Audio You can reverse the event or a selected region by clicking the Reverse button. All warp tabs are deleted when reversing the audio. Edit Audio – Transpose You can change the key of the event by clicking in the Transpose field and dragging up or down. Alternatively, you can double-click in the Transpose field and enter a value. To the left of the Transpose field, the root key (A, Bb, C#, etc.) of the event is shown. If this information is not available because there is no key attribute, this indicator is empty. Recorded parts show the key that is defined for the project. Edit Audio – Ignore Transpose Track You can make sure that an event does not follow any global transpose changes on the transpose track by activating “Ignore Transpose Track”. Edit Audio – Quantize (Project Tempo Mode Only) On the “Set Grid Resolution” pop-up menu, you can select a quantize value for quantizing and swing. The “Enable/Disable Quantize” option allows you to quantize the audio event to the project tempo. See “Audio Quantization” on page 103 for more information. Edit Audio – Swing (Project Tempo Mode Only) Swing allows you to add a more human feel to an audio event. You can adjust the swing effect with the set grid resolution: for example, if the grid resolution value is set to eighth notes, only eighth notes are affected. Edit Audio – Audio Length (Project Tempo Mode Only) The “Audio Length” option allows you to manually enter the length of the audio in bars. This is helpful if the length of the audio file has not been detected, but you know its length in bars. The Key Editor The Key Editor allows you to edit your instrument parts. The instrument part selected in the Arrange Zone is displayed in the main area of the Key Editor. The most important editing functions in the Key Editor are described in the section “The Key Editor” on page 33. •Zoom in and out using the “+” and “-” buttons in the bottom right corner or by clicking in the ruler at the top of the Key Editor and dragging up or down. •To zoom in vertically, move the mouse pointer over the left side of the piano keyboard so that it turns into a hand symbol, click and drag left or right. •Use the scrollbar along the bottom to scroll left or right and the scrollbar on the right to scroll up and down. You can also use the mouse wheel to scroll up and down, or press [Shift] and use the mouse wheel to scroll left and right. •Click the piano keyboard to hear a specific pitch. ÖChanging the audio length value time stretches the audio.
88 The Multi ZoneThe Editor Page At the top and on the left of the Key Editor, the following parameters are available: Rename Part You can rename the part by clicking in this field and entering a new name. Draw Tool Clicking this button activates the Draw tool that allows you to draw in notes in the Key Editor. Step Input This function allows you to enter instrument data note by note and beat by beat, using a MIDI keyboard or controller. It is useful for quick entry of instrument parts. When you activate the step input mode, a blue vertical position line appears. Each time you press a key, a note is entered at this line. The length of the note is determined by the grid resolution. You can use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to move the position of the vertical position line. Snap When Snap is activated, all editing operations in the Key Editor snap to the grid. The grid resolution is determined by the zoom factor. When Snap is deactivated, notes can be moved and performed freely without snapping to the grid. Edit MIDI – Transpose You can change the key of the part by adjusting the transpose value. •To change the key, click the Transpose value and drag up or down. You can also double-click and enter a value between -24 and 24. To the left of the Transpose value, the root key (A, Bb, C#, etc.) of the part is shown. If this information is not available because there is no key attribute, this field is empty. Recorded parts show the key that is defined for the project. Edit MIDI – Ignore Transpose Track You can make sure that a part does not follow any global transpose changes on the transpose track by activating “Ignore Transpose Track”. Edit MIDI – Quantize You select a quantize value from the “Set Grid Resolution” pop-up menu. This value is used for all quantize-related functions such as swing and triplets. It also determines the grid resolution for the Key Editor. When you activate the “Triplets On” button next to the quantize value, you can enter triplets in an instrument part. The resolution of the triplets is determined by the quantize value. Edit MIDI – Reset Quantize The “Reset Quantize” button lets you restore the previous grid resolution. Edit MIDI – Perform Quantize Click “Perform Quantize” to move all the notes to the nearest bar or beat, depending on the quantize value. If this is set to quarter notes, all notes are moved to the nearest quarter note position.
89 The Multi ZoneThe Editor Page Edit MIDI – Swing Swing allows you to add a more human feel to an instrument part. You can apply swing by clicking in the value field and dragging up or down. Alternatively, you can double- click in the field and enter a value. Which notes are affected depends on the grid resolution. If the quantize value is set to eighth notes, only eighth notes are affected. Edit MIDI – Legato This option increases or decreases the amount of legato in the selected instrument part. Legato is defined as a smooth, even style without any noticeable break between notes. Therefore, when increasing Legato, you are stretching out the notes so that there is no noticeable attack between two notes. Decreasing this value creates shorter notes, sounding more staccato. Nudge Selected Notes Left/Right These buttons move the selected note left or right in steps based on the grid resolution. Controller Lane The controller lane at the bottom of the Key Editor allows you to add or modify instrument data, such as velocity and controller information. The most common use for this is to edit velocity, pitch bend, and controller numbers for sustain, etc. •Open the controller pop-up menu to select which controller data you want to view or modify. For more information about editing controller data, see “The Controller Lane” on page 35. The Beat Page The Beat Page allows you to create your own drum parts, or patterns, for a project. The step display in the main area of the Beat Page shows the pattern part that is selected in the Arrange Zone.
90 The Multi ZoneThe Editor Page Pattern Functions Click the Pattern button to open the “Pattern Functions” pop-up menu. The following functions are available: The Pattern Selector Buttons •Click a pattern selector button to select a pattern. If you select a pattern while another pattern is playing back, playback switches to the new pattern at the next bar position. - A play icon on the pattern selector button indicates that the pattern is playing. - A blinking pattern selector button indicates that this pattern will be played when the cursor reaches the next bar. If the “Loop Pattern forever” button is activated, the pattern displayed on the Beat Page is played until a new beat part is reached in the Arrange Zone. 1 Bar Click this button to set the pattern length to one bar (4/4). 2 Bars Click this button to set the pattern length to two bars. Triplet Click the Triplet button to switch the default step resolution from 1/16 to 1/16 triplets. Swing Swing adds a more human feel to drum patterns that might otherwise be too static. •Click in the Swing field and drag up or down to change the swing value. Positive values delay every second drum step in the pattern (or third for triplets). Negative values cause the drum steps to play a little earlier. OptionDescription Copy PatternCopies the active pattern into the clipboard. Paste PatternPastes the pattern from the clipboard into the active pattern pad. Clear PatternClears the active pattern. Insert Pattern at Cursor Inserts one occurrence of the pattern on the beat track at the cursor position. Insert all Patterns at Cursor Inserts one occurrence of all patterns that contain steps on the beat track at the cursor position. ÖYou can also use the pattern selector buttons to copy patterns using drag & drop.