Coming froma guitarist

[Jfreak]

What does a sequencer do ?

if you could answer this that would help, i've always wanted to know but could never figure it out

Thanks

Jfreak

[N.tm]

The simple answer is that it records and plays back 'performance data'.

A sequencer is not like a normal tape recorder which records the actual sounds being made by the instruments or voices; sequencers essentially record MIDI information, i.e., what note was pressed when, how hard it was hit, how long it was held for, was the sustain pedal down, etc. To actually produce audible music from the recorded sequence, this MIDI information is played back into a synthesiser or other MIDI instrument that in turn actually plays the notes so you can hear them.

So a sequencer is a bit like the old pianola ('player piano') concept where the song roll 'told' the piano what notes to play.

This means you can easily change what instrument sound (piano, strings, trumpet, etc) is actually used for playback, because the MIDI data just says 'play back as a trumpet' and leaves it to the synth to decide what exactly a 'trumpet' is. With appropriate editing software you can manipulate the recorded MIDI info in other ways, like changing the key or the speed, fixing mistakes, etc.

Most sequences allow you to record many tracks and then on playback direct each track's sequence to a different MIDI channel such that each track could be sent to a different instrument for playback with different sounds.

N.™