Share This Thread sequencing Dan Klotz (180) Equipment Forum 9/11/2009 12:18:05 AM · 26 Views [Respond to this Message] I know,it's a dirty word in many circles. My band is having a hard time finding a keyboard player... that's another story.... Our bass player wants to use a sequencer for some keyboard parts. He has the gear from a previous band, and has a bunch of midi sequences that he's purchased. I know nothing about all of this... I guess I would be OK with doing it if it sounds good. So far, I having a hard time convincing myself. Not because of any purist attitude, but because it doesn't seem to sound right. I think there are 2 things that bug me about this: 1. some of the tones sound too..... midi/cell phone ring tones-ish 2. the notes are so "on the beat" that it feels robotic. Does anyone have any experience using this stuff?

Responses

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 9/11/2009 9:00:19 AM Cinda Private (4762) wrote: 1) You can always upgade to a better sounding machine for better sounds. Just like with arranging you don't need to play everything in the sequence, you can pull out a lot and just use things like horn stabs, soft pads, whatever - just to thicken things up. I hate playing with the full MIDI file of ANYTHING. 2) There are humanize and quantize settings that can make things sound less robotic. The things that you should worry about are 1)what happens if you want to take an extended solo? You can't nod to the sequencer to let him know this. 2) If the crowd is enjoying the song and you don't want to end it right there, you're going to be forced into the hard ending. Just some thoughts.

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 9/11/2009 9:38:34 AM Ken Richardson (5630) wrote: Is there anyway to patch in an overdrive, EQ, or phaser on a subtle setting to vary the keyboard sounds? Maybe that would add some variety to a couple songs so that not all sound the same.

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 9/11/2009 9:40:14 AM Cinda Private (4762) wrote: It sounds like they are using General Midi - which does have an old style cell phone sound to it.

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 9/11/2009 9:57:13 AM Bill North (11892) wrote: A newer midi sound module will make those sounds come alive. Sony Acid has a function that maps human feel in varying patterns, etc to the midi sequence. The end result can feel very very close for keyboars, while horns and string sections less real, but getting better all the time. Look for a keyboard player if you can in the future, too.

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 9/13/2009 9:26:58 PM Matt Wood (2204) wrote: hey Dan I've played with a bunch of electronic bands . Sequencing is hit and miss . To do it effectivly the drummer has to play to a click . The click becomes the bands heartbeat which can make it robotic . If the drummer is having trouble hearing the click then its a train wreck waiting to happen . I've been on stage when the sequencing goes haywire and its not fun Sound wise I'm not sure what he's using ,laptop or dedecated sequencer , but good gear is needed to get it to sound decent at level

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 9/14/2009 9:45:33 AM Cinda Private (4762) wrote: Agreed.

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 9/14/2009 11:15:04 PM Dan Klotz (180) wrote: The sequencing will be done from a laptop. This gear is not exactly new.... He's running the sequencing from Cakewalk program and the module is a Roland JV 1080. Does anyone know what module will sound better? Playing with a click shouldn't be a big deal. We've done it in practice. I will want to have the click in my monitor as well. We were thinking that once we got he sequences together, we would just convert the to an mp3 file and play them back from an Ipod or Cd player, instead of bringing the rack & laptop to every gig, and hoping that the computer never crashes...

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 10/21/2009 12:59:19 AM Dan Klotz (180) wrote: OK, so we bought some song sequences from midi-hits.com. I imported them into Garage Band and was doing some editing, but I realized that I can't save them as a midi file. I will need to get some software to do this. Anyone have any recommendations for Mac compatible software?

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 10/21/2009 1:07:23 AM Randy Hano (5374) wrote: I can't tell what I would do today but I can tell what we did in the past. In Hawaii my band Jackpot used to play in the Waikiki at the International Market place. The bass player used a Sequential Circuits keyboard that had the ability to sequence up to 6 different instruments. He basically programed drums and keys. We (bass, guitar, female lead vocals) as a trio would fill the rest of the void. After getting comfortable, I too would start bringing my system which consisted of Roland Keyboard, Roland MC500 sequencer and a Yamaha RX11 Drum Machine. If I had to do it today I would need to learn how to program my KORG TR and just go for it!

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 11/4/2009 1:09:30 AM Dan Klotz (180) wrote: I bought Logic Express since it's Apple software. Since it 's compatible with Garage Band, I can still edit my file in GB and import them into Logic and save as a midi file. I will eventually learn to do all of my editing in Logic, but I gotta get this stuff up and running ASAP, so I'l keep using this process for now.

• Respond to this Re: sequencing 11/4/2009 10:14:55 AM Randy Hano (5374) wrote: Unfortunately with work and all, I slipped to the evil microsoft empire some 10 years ago. I miss my Mac but staying consistant with what work uses (the dark side) was a necessity.

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