What I Love Bout Xequence-Midi Sequencer App

[Deleted User]

Sorry bro you’re too advanced for me. I’ll let the pros help better.

ExAsperis99

Ha really? I thought I was describing exactly how you used it!

MAtrixplan

no audio unit host?
will be in future? some plans?

SevenSystems

@MAtrixplan said:
no audio unit host?
will be in future? some plans?

Plans yes, but for the "not-so-near future". It is really easy to use e.g. AUM as an AU host and then control the plug-ins from Xequence, there's a dedicated section in the Quickstart Manual

ExAsperis99

@SevenSystems said:

@MAtrixplan said:
no audio unit host?
will be in future? some plans?

Plans yes, but for the "not-so-near future". It is really easy to use e.g. AUM as an AU host and then control the plug-ins from Xequence, there's a dedicated section in the Quickstart Manual

A manual, you say? I have heard of such things. Considering no one who has actually used this app has lived to disseminate video evidence, I shall endeavor to examine this "manual." I will report back, God willing.

ExAsperis99

Update:
Day One: Rations low. Bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwich already gone.

SevenSystems

I should have said "Quickstart GUIDE", sounds less... errr... manualish

ExAsperis99

@SevenSystems said:
I should have said "Quickstart GUIDE", sounds less... errr... manualish

haha.
I will not be deterred.

wim

@SevenSystems said:

@MAtrixplan said:
no audio unit host?
will be in future? some plans?

Plans yes, but for the "not-so-near future". It is really easy to use e.g. AUM as an AU host and then control the plug-ins from Xequence, there's a dedicated section in the Quickstart Manual

Meh. Hope you don’t go down that rat hole. ModStep has hardly evolved at all since they decided it would be good to become an AU / IAA host. It’s only been the last few versions that even approach stability. And I bet the vast majority of developer time for Auria Pro and Cubasis the past few years has been spent on one aspect or another of hosting. Even GarageBand has been hit or miss.

I’m totally happy to let AB3 or AUM handle the hosting business. They do it pretty damn well, as do you on the midi side.

Just my two cents.

SevenSystems

@wim thanks, yeah prioritize quality over quantity the next update, probably out this week, will bring a few fixes and improved overall smoothness, as well as proper MIDI sync for loop-based clients (Ruismaker, etc.)

DCJ

@wim said:

@SevenSystems said:

@MAtrixplan said:
no audio unit host?
will be in future? some plans?

Plans yes, but for the "not-so-near future". It is really easy to use e.g. AUM as an AU host and then control the plug-ins from Xequence, there's a dedicated section in the Quickstart Manual

Meh. Hope you don’t go down that rat hole. ModStep has hardly evolved at all since they decided it would be good to become an AU / IAA host. It’s only been the last few versions that even approach stability. And I bet the vast majority of developer time for Auria Pro and Cubasis the past few years has been spent on one aspect or another of hosting. Even GarageBand has been hit or miss.

I’m totally happy to let AB3 or AUM handle the hosting business. They do it pretty damn well, as do you on the midi side.

Just my two cents.

Yeah I think I have to agree with this. Becomes a whole other ball game when you become a real "host". I think the appeal is how streamlined this app is. It's does this thing really well and I'd kind of want to keep it that way.

hellquist

@DCJ said:

@wim said:

@SevenSystems said:

@MAtrixplan said:
no audio unit host?
will be in future? some plans?

Plans yes, but for the "not-so-near future". It is really easy to use e.g. AUM as an AU host and then control the plug-ins from Xequence, there's a dedicated section in the Quickstart Manual

Meh. Hope you don’t go down that rat hole. ModStep has hardly evolved at all since they decided it would be good to become an AU / IAA host. It’s only been the last few versions that even approach stability. And I bet the vast majority of developer time for Auria Pro and Cubasis the past few years has been spent on one aspect or another of hosting. Even GarageBand has been hit or miss.

I’m totally happy to let AB3 or AUM handle the hosting business. They do it pretty damn well, as do you on the midi side.

Just my two cents.

Yeah I think I have to agree with this. Becomes a whole other ball game when you become a real "host". I think the appeal is how streamlined this app is. It's does this thing really well and I'd kind of want to keep it that way.

Me three.

Doing "the ultimate midi sequencer for iOS" will be complex enough, and we are not spoilt for choice when it comes to "the ultimate piano roll app", despite a few apps coming close, but not all the way, previously. Stick to that goal, make it as easy as humanly possible to integrate with other apps (which will remove arguments for using it, at all) and let other apps handle the hosting part.

I guess the one benefit of being a host is that it simplifies clock sync (if it comes by default in the AU/IAA protocols), but I'm not sure how many who are using ModStep as a host (and feeling happy with it) today compared to us that use AUM/AB as hosts instead.

IMHO of course.

[Deleted User]

Guys need some help. Was playing a really nice trumpet melody on ThumbJam and midi out to Xequence but when I played Xequence back it had recorded a really high pitch notes that I could clearly see on the piano roll. While I can delete those, how did it happen?

SevenSystems

@MusicMan4Christ: There is a bug in MIDI Input in the current version of Xequence, which can lead to various "random" problems (hung or missing notes). Is already fixed in the development version and the update should be out in the coming week. I guess this is what you're seeing.

ExAsperis99

@wim said:

@SevenSystems said:

@MAtrixplan said:
no audio unit host?
will be in future? some plans?

Plans yes, but for the "not-so-near future". It is really easy to use e.g. AUM as an AU host and then control the plug-ins from Xequence, there's a dedicated section in the Quickstart Manual

Meh. Hope you don’t go down that rat hole. ModStep has hardly evolved at all since they decided it would be good to become an AU / IAA host. It’s only been the last few versions that even approach stability. And I bet the vast majority of developer time for Auria Pro and Cubasis the past few years has been spent on one aspect or another of hosting. Even GarageBand has been hit or miss.

I’m totally happy to let AB3 or AUM handle the hosting business. They do it pretty damn well, as do you on the midi side.

Just my two cents.

True. But in fairness to modstep, hosting the IAA apps was kind of the only way to do it. There was no audiobus 3, and AUM just kind of magically appeared without warning, kind of like the wormhole in "interstellar."

wim

@ExAsperis99 said:

@wim said:

@SevenSystems said:

@MAtrixplan said:
no audio unit host?
will be in future? some plans?

Plans yes, but for the "not-so-near future". It is really easy to use e.g. AUM as an AU host and then control the plug-ins from Xequence, there's a dedicated section in the Quickstart Manual

Meh. Hope you don’t go down that rat hole. ModStep has hardly evolved at all since they decided it would be good to become an AU / IAA host. It’s only been the last few versions that even approach stability. And I bet the vast majority of developer time for Auria Pro and Cubasis the past few years has been spent on one aspect or another of hosting. Even GarageBand has been hit or miss.

I’m totally happy to let AB3 or AUM handle the hosting business. They do it pretty damn well, as do you on the midi side.

Just my two cents.

True. But in fairness to modstep, hosting the IAA apps was kind of the only way to do it. There was no audiobus 3, and AUM just kind of magically appeared without warning, kind of like the wormhole in "interstellar."

Not true. AudioBus had been established for years and there was always core midi and background audio. Neither here nor there though. My comment wasn’t about Modstep. It was about what a progress destroying time suck the mess of IAA and AU hosting is.

But who knows, maybe these guys have the talent to pull it off! AUM demonstrates that it can be done well, and elegantly, for sure.

[Deleted User]

Awesome thanks!!

@SevenSystems said:
@MusicMan4Christ: There is a bug in MIDI Input in the current version of Xequence, which can lead to various "random" problems (hung or missing notes). Is already fixed in the development version and the update should be out in the coming week. I guess this is what you're seeing.

JeffChasteen

@hacked_to_pieces said:
Heres a video I just made that shows the very basics on how to sequence a synth on the iPhone . I just learned how to make ios videos so it pretty crappy and very short .

Thanks. It was well done, and very helpful.

Audiojunkie

my vote is with the other guys. Don’t worry about hosting apps, as long as Audiobus and AUM are about. Having the best and most stable midi sequencer is great enough!

SevenSystems

@Audiojunkie: Noted, we can focus on what matters most then

To everyone else, I've just submitted the first Xequence "Maintenance" Update to Apple, so if everything goes well, it should be out this week.

IMPROVEMENTS:

• Much smoother zooming and scrolling in all editors.
• Part previews now show all controllers and notes, and look much nicer.
• Enhanced MIDI Sync. The "Sync" option in instruments now has a new "Relative" mode (old mode is called "Absolute"), which is compatible with pattern-sequencer-like apps and hardware, like Ruismaker, StepPolyArp, Korg Volca Sample, etc.
• The "MIDI In" button on the Settings screen now blinks when the app receives MIDI notes or controllers, for easier setup of incoming MIDI connections.
• Much more accurate timing on MIDI In from apps and devices that support MIDI Timestamping.
• You can now create multiple instruments with the same MIDI destination AND channel. Useful, for example, if you want to use different scales / root keys for the same synth in different parts of the song without constantly switching scales. As root key and scale are set per instrument, you can just create one instrument per scale / key, with the same destination and channel, and a corresponding track per instrument. Also, if you need more than 3 controllers, you can just create several identical instruments, but with different controllers.
• Looped parts will now loop for 64 bars beyond the song end (used to be 32).
• Basic iPhone X compatibility

FIXES:

• Fixed missing or wrong MIDI notes during recording.
• Fixed possible crash with MIDI input and switching tracks.
• Fixed possible crash with certain MIDI input sources.
• Disabled the "Xequence Source" MIDI source, as it was not used and only caused confusion when setting up MIDI routing.
• Various fixes, optimizations and usability improvements throughout the app.

Hope no unforeseen problems sneak in!

RajahP

@SevenSystems said:
@Audiojunkie: Noted, we can focus on what matters most then

To everyone else, I've just submitted the first Xequence "Maintenance" Update to Apple, so if everything goes well, it should be out this week.

IMPROVEMENTS:

• Much smoother zooming and scrolling in all editors.
• Part previews now show all controllers and notes, and look much nicer.
• Enhanced MIDI Sync. The "Sync" option in instruments now has a new "Relative" mode (old mode is called "Absolute"), which is compatible with pattern-sequencer-like apps and hardware, like Ruismaker, StepPolyArp, Korg Volca Sample, etc.
• The "MIDI In" button on the Settings screen now blinks when the app receives MIDI notes or controllers, for easier setup of incoming MIDI connections.
• Much more accurate timing on MIDI In from apps and devices that support MIDI Timestamping.
• You can now create multiple instruments with the same MIDI destination AND channel. Useful, for example, if you want to use different scales / root keys for the same synth in different parts of the song without constantly switching scales. As root key and scale are set per instrument, you can just create one instrument per scale / key, with the same destination and channel, and a corresponding track per instrument. Also, if you need more than 3 controllers, you can just create several identical instruments, but with different controllers.
• Looped parts will now loop for 64 bars beyond the song end (used to be 32).
• Basic iPhone X compatibility

FIXES:

• Fixed missing or wrong MIDI notes during recording.
• Fixed possible crash with MIDI input and switching tracks.
• Fixed possible crash with certain MIDI input sources.
• Disabled the "Xequence Source" MIDI source, as it was not used and only caused confusion when setting up MIDI routing.
• Various fixes, optimizations and usability improvements throughout the app.

Hope no unforeseen problems sneak in!

Looking forward to the update..

Audiojunkie

@SevenSystems said:
@Audiojunkie: Noted, we can focus on what matters most then

To everyone else, I've just submitted the first Xequence "Maintenance" Update to Apple, so if everything goes well, it should be out this week.

IMPROVEMENTS:

• Much smoother zooming and scrolling in all editors.
• Part previews now show all controllers and notes, and look much nicer.
• Enhanced MIDI Sync. The "Sync" option in instruments now has a new "Relative" mode (old mode is called "Absolute"), which is compatible with pattern-sequencer-like apps and hardware, like Ruismaker, StepPolyArp, Korg Volca Sample, etc.
• The "MIDI In" button on the Settings screen now blinks when the app receives MIDI notes or controllers, for easier setup of incoming MIDI connections.
• Much more accurate timing on MIDI In from apps and devices that support MIDI Timestamping.
• You can now create multiple instruments with the same MIDI destination AND channel. Useful, for example, if you want to use different scales / root keys for the same synth in different parts of the song without constantly switching scales. As root key and scale are set per instrument, you can just create one instrument per scale / key, with the same destination and channel, and a corresponding track per instrument. Also, if you need more than 3 controllers, you can just create several identical instruments, but with different controllers.
• Looped parts will now loop for 64 bars beyond the song end (used to be 32).
• Basic iPhone X compatibility

FIXES:

• Fixed missing or wrong MIDI notes during recording.
• Fixed possible crash with MIDI input and switching tracks.
• Fixed possible crash with certain MIDI input sources.
• Disabled the "Xequence Source" MIDI source, as it was not used and only caused confusion when setting up MIDI routing.
• Various fixes, optimizations and usability improvements throughout the app.

Hope no unforeseen problems sneak in!

Thank you!!!

[Deleted User]

Sweet I’m really enjoying this app and it’s only gonna get so much better!

Thanks for the great support!

SevenSystems

Apple has reviewed the update in world record time and it's already online! EDIT: can take a few hours to propagate through Apple's servers...

On another note: I am not a fan of "Please rate the app" nagscreens and won't ever add one... however, if you all like Xequence and have a minute -- the only review it has so far is a 1-star from a particularly unhappy fella who thinks that the app is a buggy, convoluted train wreck If you think otherwise, why not hit the stars!

Thanks!

Audiojunkie

Definitely! I’m off to off-set that one star rating with a 5 star rating! Who’s with me?

Audiojunkie

Review done! Five stars and a paragraph of praise! EASY!!

SevenSystems

@Audiojunkie said:
Review done! Five stars and a paragraph of praise! EASY!!

That's grand, thanks very much! Off to catch some sleep now.

[Deleted User]

Awesome!! 5 star review entered!

@SevenSystems said:
Apple has reviewed the update in world record time and it's already online! EDIT: can take a few hours to propagate through Apple's servers...

On another note: I am not a fan of "Please rate the app" nagscreens and won't ever add one... however, if you all like Xequence and have a minute -- the only review it has so far is a 1-star from a particularly unhappy fella who thinks that the app is a buggy, convoluted train wreck If you think otherwise, why not hit the stars!

Thanks!

[Deleted User]

Update is live! Thank you

Richtowns

Great update. I like you style 7.
Ps also agree that hosting should be left for other apps. Give the other devs a chance eh!
Off to review app