What is the Easiest Sequencer on IOS to control Hardware?

ralis

@echoopera said:
I was going to suggest Drambo but i thought it might be too deep. 🤪

From what I have read here Drambo is way too much for what I need

SevenSystems

@ralis Xequence can be as easy and straightforward as you want or as complex as you need -- let me know if you have any questions.

ralis

@senhorlampada said:
Everyone already covered a lot of ground. I would just add my 2 cents.

My main sequencers:

• Xequence for linear and "printing" the final work from all other sequencers
• LK for clip launching and experimenting / jamming
• Drambo, same as above but going deeper and even hosting LK inside it lol

Then consider all the specific use cases of side sequencers, like cycle, polybeat, quantum, xynthesizr, octachron, navichord, cality, step poly arp, rozeta, etc

They can feed and/or jam along with the main sequencers

I am confused this is already more way complex than using one sequencer.

I am not using “clips” don’t even know what that is.

Is there not a simple basic midi sequencer that only does just sequencing?

It is like ordering a 7 coarse meal when I only want a slice of bread

echoopera

You could just try HELIUM as well:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/helium-auv3-midi-sequencer/id1563152523

Works stand alone or in AUM if you want to explore that domain.

ralis

@SevenSystems said:
@ralis Xequence can be as easy and straightforward as you want or as complex as you need -- let me know if you have any questions.

I just bought Xequence 2 and tried to play the demo the UI Is pretty dismal almost blank then it tells me I have to download Korg Gadget form a website to hear the demo. I do not want Korg Gadget I do not want to have to go online to use a sequencer.

SevenSystems

@ralis said:

@SevenSystems said:
@ralis Xequence can be as easy and straightforward as you want or as complex as you need -- let me know if you have any questions.

I just bought Xequence 2 and tried to play the demo the UI Is pretty dismal almost blank then it tells me I have to download Korg Gadget form a website to hear the demo. I do not want Korg Gadget I do not want to have to go online to use a sequencer.

You can request a refund from Apple!

ralis

@SevenSystems said:

@ralis said:

@SevenSystems said:
@ralis Xequence can be as easy and straightforward as you want or as complex as you need -- let me know if you have any questions.

I just bought Xequence 2 and tried to play the demo the UI Is pretty dismal almost blank then it tells me I have to download Korg Gadget form a website to hear the demo. I do not want Korg Gadget I do not want to have to go online to use a sequencer.

You can request a refund from Apple!

Thanks☹️

Gavinski

@ralis said:

@SevenSystems said:
@ralis Xequence can be as easy and straightforward as you want or as complex as you need -- let me know if you have any questions.

I just bought Xequence 2 and tried to play the demo the UI Is pretty dismal almost blank then it tells me I have to download Korg Gadget form a website to hear the demo. I do not want Korg Gadget I do not want to have to go online to use a sequencer.

Hang on, there must be something wrong there. Xequence 2 has an outstanding UI. Blank? Not sure what you're looking for. And a demo is not even necessary. There's a detailed manual

GLacey

@ralis said:

@SevenSystems said:
@ralis Xequence can be as easy and straightforward as you want or as complex as you need -- let me know if you have any questions.

I just bought Xequence 2 and tried to play the demo the UI Is pretty dismal almost blank then it tells me I have to download Korg Gadget form a website to hear the demo. I do not want Korg Gadget I do not want to have to go online to use a sequencer.

I suggest you to watch some Xequence 2 videos on Youtube, it should fit you. Just connect your hardware to the ipad and start exploring.

GovernorSilver

Maybe ralis wants MIDI Tape Recorder, although it's 4 tracks, not 8, and he'll need an AUv3 host to host it:

https://github.com/gbevin/MIDITapeRecorder

SunVox is also excellent for plugging in your MIDI keyboard and recording whatever you play on the MIDI keyboard. You don't have to tell it how many measures you want to record or anything - it automatically adjusts the sequence length for you as you play. When you press Play on it, it will happily play back whatever you played, sloppy timing and all.

ralis

Just bought Helium it looks like it may work. I see I have to use it inside AUM

I already have that but have only used it as a mixer

I just saw your post says it can be “stand alone” Yay!

ralis

@GovernorSilver said:
Maybe ralis wants MIDI Tape Recorder, although it's 4 tracks, not 8, and he'll need an AUv3 host to host it:

https://github.com/gbevin/MIDITapeRecorder

SunVox is also excellent for plugging in your MIDI keyboard and recording whatever you play on the MIDI keyboard. You don't have to tell it how many measures you want to record or anything - it automatically adjusts the sequence length for you as you play. When you press Play on it, it will happily play back whatever you played, sloppy timing and all.

Midi tape recorder looks VERY close but no midi editing, I could not fix a wrong note or double hit. Maybe it would force me to be a more precise player 😃

GovernorSilver

@ralis said:

@GovernorSilver said:
Maybe ralis wants MIDI Tape Recorder, although it's 4 tracks, not 8, and he'll need an AUv3 host to host it:

https://github.com/gbevin/MIDITapeRecorder

SunVox is also excellent for plugging in your MIDI keyboard and recording whatever you play on the MIDI keyboard. You don't have to tell it how many measures you want to record or anything - it automatically adjusts the sequence length for you as you play. When you press Play on it, it will happily play back whatever you played, sloppy timing and all.

Midi tape recorder looks VERY close but no midi editing, I could not fix a wrong note or double hit. Maybe it would force me to be a more precise player 😃

Yeah I guess the idea is after you record, you export the MIDI data to another app for editing. I think Geert wrote it for people who were complaining about not being able to record MPE to their favorite IOS DAW.

Sunvox will let you edit for sure... if you're willing to deal with it's UI.

u0421793

@ralis said:

…
…and now I am using a Yamaha QX3 16 track linear sequencer.
…

Yes! All chirsmmsss I’ve been telling everyone who didn’t want to listen that what’s going to be needed in 2023 is a little hardware project based on, say, a Raspberry Pi Pico, that effectively emulates a Yamaha QX21
Cheap, so you can have many of them, simple, so all you can do is play MIDI into it or dump from somewhere else into it, and then play out on demand
It’d just be a simple playout sequencer, as many as you need, no editing, just put MIDI in and play MIDI out

Up in the attic I’ve got a Roland CSQ-600 (and SH09), which is about the most ideal live sequencer I’ve used (although it’s not MIDI but CV/Gate), it’s just so usable and fun to use live, to play in a small seq of notes, then immediately switch to have it play out seamlessly (hopefully) – four riffs or little sequences can be stored, overwritten, played out (and with transpose from the CV in) – I’d love a modern equivalent of that

ralis

SunVox looks like a computer programmers wet dream and my nightmare, no way I would ever touch that. I’m am just a keyboard player

CracklePot

Xequence 2 too much to deal with?
His about this one?

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sequencism/id1240952241

ralis

This is a screenshot of the Xequence 2 UI, pretty bleak, not very inviting or intuitive then there is the whole go to this web site and download Korg Gadget to hear the demo? The demo folder is the first thing presented on the upper left and you can’t even hear/see a demo without jumping through hoops. This was the first thing I tried with the app. That is what immediately turned me off. I will watch some videos on it and see what I find

ralis

@CracklePot said:
Xequence 2 too much to deal with?
His about this one?

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sequencism/id1240952241

This may be a contender I will try it. 👍🏼

mojozart

I would turn to Xequence2 or Thesys

Maybe Atom 2 ?

Thesys may be the most approachable / discoverable if you have good eyesight, a pencil or crayon, and want something standalone.

supadom

Drambo is as complex or straight forward as you want it.

The sequencer part is in fact the simple part.

Just place a midi out module on each track as mentioned before and set midi channels for each hardware box is receiving on and you’re done.

Chances are you’ll end up selling all of your hardware once you get to know the sonic capabilities of Drambo. 😂

All of the above said by a musician and not a programmer.

CracklePot

@mojozart said:
I would turn to Xequence2 or Thesys

Maybe Atom 2 ?

Thesys may be the most approachable / discoverable if you have good eyesight, a pencil or crayon, and want something standalone.

Even with the double-tap zoom, you still find Thesys too cramped and tiny?

hes

@ralis said:
Just bought Helium it looks like it may work. I see I have to use it inside AUM

I already have that but have only used it as a mixer

I just saw your post says it can be “stand alone” Yay!

If Helium ends up not what you're looking for, maybe take a look at Midisteps. It's a pretty barebones, easy to use sequencer. AUv3 so you'd want to use it in AUM.

NoncompliantBryant

@hes said:

@ralis said:
Just bought Helium it looks like it may work. I see I have to use it inside AUM

I already have that but have only used it as a mixer

I just saw your post says it can be “stand alone” Yay!

If Helium ends up not what you're looking for, maybe take a look at Midisteps. It's a pretty barebones, easy to use sequencer. AUv3 so you'd want to use it in AUM.

Think this or atom/helium is what the man is describing.

wired2moon

I’m a fan of LK Matrix and StepPolyArp, both can sequence external gear easily (without the need for a host).

Here’s how to set LK Matrix up with external gear

And here’s SPA in action

Important factor: both have an ongoing history of being well maintained and superbly supported

senhorlampada

@ralis
Yeah... sorry. I over-complicated
Xequence would be the most ideal, but sad that you didn't click with it

Take a look at Genome... one of the classics
https://apps.apple.com/app/genome-midi-sequencer/id450475494

Or Tune Maker
https://apps.apple.com/app/tune-maker-compose-music/id1489705836

Look at the screenshots, check some videos... see if it's something you would dig before clicking buy

rs2000

@ralis Before you're purchasing app by app, let me try to picture what you really want.
You've asked for simple recording of linear MIDI tracks and editing them, so that rules out any pattern/clip based sequencer imo.
Cubasis would be one contender but I much prefer the MIDI (piano roll) editing in Nanostudio 2. You can record on MIDI tracks for as long as you want but you can also cut the recorded tracks and move sections around, quantize them, edit notes easily, import and export MIDI files (both single and multi track files) and what's maybe the most important part, the user interface is quite self explanatory and the whole app is not too hard to learn. It also has a nice mixer screen from which you can access the MIDI I/O settings for each track, or even MIDI plugins if at some point you'd like to experiment with more melody or chord generating sequencer plugins.
An easy to use sampler is on board as well so you can sample sounds from your hardware synths and make more of them by using different sounds at the same time, if you want that at some point.
So for what you've asked for and also regarding ease of use, I guess Nanostudio 2 could be your best bet.

BiancaNeve

2 oldies but goldies

Music Studio https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/music-studio/id328608539 now owned by Steinberg who aquihired the Xewton developer.

As simple as it gets - each track outputs to the corresponding midi channel (so you may need some empty tracks if your drum machine only works on channel 10).

Genome. https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/genome-midi-sequencer/id450475494
Seems pretty much abandoned but may be worth a look.

NoncompliantBryant

@auxmux said:

@NoncompliantBryant said:

@auxmux said:

@NoncompliantBryant said:

@BroCoast said:
Drambo
Xynthesizr is also pretty amazing for controlling a lot of hardware synths.

You can only make one sequence to send to all the synths though, right? Not like you have multiple lanes of midi to send out?

For which one? Both Drambo and Xynthesizr support multi-channel midi.

My vote is Drambo as well. Covers all the bases. You can use it standalone and route audio in. Or use it in AUM and route midi out and audio into AUM.

Xynthesizer.... So you can program different midi lanes and send that all out from one app? I always though xynthesizer just had one sequence, not multiple sequences. Maybe I need to get it if I'm wrong about my assumptions

It's one sequence per se, but it is possible to output multiple midi channels to control multiple synths.

This thing is super fun and very, very intuitive. If it had multiple lanes (or auv3) and a song mode it'd be perfect.

GovernorSilver

@rs2000 said:
@ralis Before you're purchasing app by app, let me try to picture what you really want.
You've asked for simple recording of linear MIDI tracks and editing them, so that rules out any pattern/clip based sequencer imo.
Cubasis would be one contender but I much prefer the MIDI (piano roll) editing in Nanostudio 2. You can record on MIDI tracks for as long as you want but you can also cut the recorded tracks and move sections around, quantize them, edit notes easily, import and export MIDI files (both single and multi track files) and what's maybe the most important part, the user interface is quite self explanatory and the whole app is not too hard to learn. It also has a nice mixer screen from which you can access the MIDI I/O settings for each track, or even MIDI plugins if at some point you'd like to experiment with more melody or chord generating sequencer plugins.
An easy to use sampler is on board as well so you can sample sounds from your hardware synths and make more of them by using different sounds at the same time, if you want that at some point.
So for what you've asked for and also regarding ease of use, I guess Nanostudio 2 could be your best bet.

Good call on Nanostudio 2. One of the most user friendly apps for recording and editing MIDI data.

cokomairena

GR-16 is an option too, much more limited, but much more hardware like