Loop-Based Sequencers

Loop-Based Sequencers

If trackers aren't your bag, then there is yet one more type of tool you can use that requires even less musical skill than sequencers or tracker: loop-based sequencers.

Back in 1998 I happened upon Magix MusicMaker ( www.magix.com ), a Windows application. At the time, I had both a Windows system and a Linux system. Since the program was only $20 I decided to check it out. To my surprise, it turned out to be a program that allowed me to create music, rich music, by dragging and dropping sound files ( loops ) onto a track in a sequencer. I could then stretch the loops to increase the length of time the loop was played . I was amazed at the simplicity of the entire process. In less than an hour , and without reading the manual, I was able to create a three-minute song I named "The Chase," which can be found at www.mp3.com/digitalman . In less than six months I had created a total of 14 songs. My first CD, It's Just the Galaxy, is now available at MP3.com . My second CD, Majestic Relics, is on its way or might be there by the time you read this. Go to MP3.com and listen to music that is possible with a loop-based sequencing program. You might be impressed.

In addition to plugging my own music, I want to point out that loop-based sequencers, though easy to use, can be a little limiting on your creativity. It really depends, however, on your source of sounds. Similar to trackers, loop-based sequencers use sound files to produce the audio you hear. This means you will have to provide your own sound files for the sequencer. What sequencer, you ask? Well, since I had taught my wife how to log in and use a browser in Linux, I no longer had a need for a Windows system (you didn't think I actually used Windows for anything other than MusicMaker did you?). So my search for a loop-based sequencer for Linux began . I'm happy to report that I found one, MixMagic, at mixmagic. sourceforge .net .

MixMagic is described not as a loop-based sequencer, but as "a hard drive sound-mixing program." It's just semantics. Figure 20-6 shows the main composition window. You'll see that the loops (or samples) are layed out horizontally and that the tracks are layed out vertically. On the left is a directory list for your loops. You simply click-and-drag samples from the left over to the composition window on the right. Then you position the loop somewhere on the track and adjust its parameters to suit your needs. What could be easier? (" Turn on the radio" is not allowed as an answer.) All you really need to know about music is whether the samples you dragged to the right-side composition window sound good together. You see, each track plays left to right, as expected. All tracks are mixed together into a single stereo signal and played. This is similar to the final type of software technology I will be introducing, the digital multitrack recorder.

Figure 20-6. MixMagic tracks screen.