SEQUENCER EXAMPLES

The Good

PIGMENTS
out of the ones I’ve tested, this seems like the most feature rich while also looking good
-pitch has a clear indication of note name and visual position
-pitch is only a single octave and snaps to scale making it incredibly easy to select notes
-lanes for gate length, velocity, octave, slide, and probability
-various playback directions
-polymeter

there’s quite a bit to dig into with pigments,
and I think it will be the best focus for our call instead of showing everything here

-I’m not big on the step on/off indicators, a circle inside a rectangle just feels odd

Hive
this is the bare minimum
gate, note, velocity, “mod”, and step count
gate is on or off with a universal gate length, not sequencable
(you could use the mod for this)
playback is forward only

I do find some issues with the UI
-note is just a +- value, 
-no note name or visual indication of values
-note value is also selected via a dropdown list containing 49 values
-beat indicators too wide, as well as 2 lanes

pattern length is not indicated visually, the patter will reset and jump to the beginning, but all steps look “active”

Rapid
this is one is labelled arp, but is functionally a sequencer
-looks lovely with rounded corners, evenly spaced beats but mild contrast for beat indication
-notes stand out with current selected note being highlighted blue
-tuning is indicated by vertical position, each row being an octave
-velocity is visually indicated within the note cell

this is also a fairly basic sequencer, really just giving you notes and velocity
but a unique feature here is the ability to extend notes past a single step

a different approach to values is taken here as well
clicking the grid sets only the octave and gate
other values such as tune and velocity are set by selecting the note as opposed to separate lanes

The Bad 

Thesis
honestly, quite a bit prettier than sektor, already an improvement
but, lanes take up a lot of space with large gaps framing them
each lane takes up equal space giving none of them visual priority
“current step” indication is done with a thin line making it harder to visually track position
32 steps is nice musically, but is overwhelming visually,
as well it makes it easier to slip and adjust the wrong step
note lane has 2 octaves of resolution, making it trickier to dial in specific note values

HY-RPE2
I actually love this sequencer, in terms of features it is very very unique and powerful
as well, the euclidean mode is awesome and actually looks visually appealing
but, the regular sequencer is a great example of bad UI
-if we look at only the top left region, this compares to pigments
-we do get visual hierarchy for whichever control is selected,
but the other controls just look like a list of numbers
-beat indicator blocking is too wide and distracting
-redundant tabs above each grouping of 4 and to the left

-looking to the right of this is that ugly grid style UI,
high contrast grid with straight intersecting lines

-below things get even worse,
there’s just so many boxes and lines and loads of redundant information
this is easy to avoid tbh, some of it makes sense in the context of this sequencer

The Ugly

Sektor
this is a prime example of a bad and ugly sequencer design.
A massive grid of notes, high contrast and just doesn’t feel good to look at
no velocity or gate length

to be fair to RPE and Thesis, both of which aren’t actually that “bad”
Sector is the only one that’s really unpleasant to look at and functionally empty

A Fist Full of Features

Brush resolution: I’ve only seen this in atlas, but when drawing values into the sequencer,
you can set how many steps that value repeats
this is perfect for sequences that are 32 steps or longer
Roll: applies a ratchet or roll effect to a single step
put simply, this repeats that steps as though it were a tuplet within the note length
this is especially nice if the roll is applied probabilistically or via its own polymetric lane

  • “what does it do with the incoming midi notes,
    for example: does each note trigger the sequencer from the beginning?”:
    there are various behaviors
    in pigments, each new note resets the sequence
    in some, legato playing simply transposes without resetting

    “how to deal with MPE?”
    polyphonic expression is note expected with sequencers
    the idea is to remain primarily hands off
    MPE makes sense in an arp, and there is potential for it in sequencing, but I think this is rather unexplored territory

    “I guess ARP and Sequencer are mutual exclusive?”:
    no, some of these examples are labelled “arp”, in pigments, the only difference is that the arp mode deactivates note sequencing
    in hive we see a distinction between the two, the arp being simple instructions for behavior based on whichever keys are pressed
    and the sequencer being a sequence of values

    I think it is safe to assume, a sequencer is meant to be triggered via a single key, and transposed up or down based on which key is currently
    pressed

    also worth mentioning is transport sync
    this would start the sequence playing by the daw rather than requiring note input
    it is important that playhead position is relative to transport time, and doesn’t just restart wherever the playhead leaves off
    (midi notes would still be able to transpose, but not necessarily reset)

  • Finally, some notes on mouse interactions
    mouse should be able to draw across a lane to edit every step in one swipe, but should not be able to draw into other lanes
    ideally detection should avoid skipping steps if the user moves their mouse too fast
    ideally there should be no right click options in the sequencer window
    right click should be reserved for and if a secondary function can be utilized
    for example: left click to set note value, right click to set probability

    scroll wheel can be used as a tertiary value edit: for example octave or roll (especially since these have single digit values)

  • As I mentioned, Hive is about as stripped down as you can get (sektor is almost useless)
    but hive is not visually pleasing and has poor UI choices (for its sequencer)
    so I will define features and UI separately

    Features
    -note on/off lane
    -note lane: one octave range
    -octave lane
    -velocity lane
    -gate length

    -sequencer length (up to 16 steps)
    -playback direction (forward, backwards, ping pong, random)
    -clock division
    -swing
    -scale selection

    UI
    -note lane has priority, other lanes are smaller with on/off being up top
    -note names should display and are representative of scale settings
    -you should be able to draw in steps without de-clicking, but not affect other lanes
    -avoid high contrast grids
    -opt for blocks with rounded corners, low contrast and muted with mild contrast for downbeat markers
    -playhead should highlight the current column (not be a dot up above the sequencer)
    -visual indication should be used to show sequencer length (either by stretching cells or hiding them)

  • this is still a fairly boring sequencer, capable, but the bare minimum
    any of the following features would spice things up

    -probability
    -polymeters
    -modulation lane
    -rolls
    -step skip
    -ties
    -dynamic UI (brush modes, utilizing mouse features for easier drawing)