Your first sequencer.

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Not sure if you'll want to play this game, but, I was thinking of my first sequencer. I thought it would be of interest. Then I thought it might be interesting to know what other people's first sequencer was. Since there are so many possibilities!

Here's mine: c 1981. Casio VL Tone. You could step-record a few notes into memory that would play them back at a tempo. But I wanted to sync it to my DR110 which has a trig out on the high-hat, I believe. So I rigged up a transistor that was bridged over the step advance switch on the VL Tone. This was used to convert the V+ trig out of the DR110 into a switch trig, accuating the note step forward. This way I could step notes in the VL Tone memory with high-hat hits on the DR110.

Then in around 1984 I got an MC202 which I used until about 1987 when I was running Steinberg Pro 24 on an Atari ST. And then farily soon after CLAB Notator. I think I switched to Logic at around Logic 6 in 2003ish. I've been using Logic until recently when I switched to Reaper.

Those were the days...

This is the VL Tone as a sequencer. I recorded this in around 1981 in high school:

https://soundcloud.com/musicofsoftware/ ... c-one-1985


And here in 1985 with my musical mate using the MC202:

https://soundcloud.com/musicofsoftware/ ... c-one-1985
Last edited by plexuss on Fri May 15, 2020 6:02 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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The first sequencer I ever owned was a software-based one:

Cakewalk Professional for Windows v1.0

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[Core i7 8700 | 32GB DDR4 | Win11 x64 | Studio One 7 Pro | WASAPI ]

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Technics KN650 in 1993 if i remember correctly, an arranger keyboard with
freely programmable accompanying 4 tracks transposable by chord input, but also featured a linear multi track sequencer.
In 1998 i got such a thing again for my pocket in the form of the Yamaha QY70. I still love that thing today

Regarding computer based sequencers:
I think i also had a Cakewalk DOS sequencer somewhere in the mid 90's that came with my Sound Blaster Whatnot, but i never really used that.
My first DAW i bought has been Cubase 3 SL when i entered software land in 2005 i think.
I bought it because everyone i knew was using Cubase, but i hated it. The fact that the dongle had a mind on it's own didn't help either. Got rid of it quickly and got Cakewalk Project 5 Version 2 instead. Basically a bit of an Ableton Live clone with more focus on the MIDI side. At least i liked it more for that.
The GAS is always greener on the other side!

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I think I had the JSQ-60 Digital Keyboard Recorder for my Juno 60 but to be honest I don't remember for sure. I had a box that attached to the Juno but memory has faded as to exactly what it was.... :?

My first software sequencer was for the Atari 520ST and was a one track 15,000 Event (not note) sequencer.

So note on was one event, note off another, velocity etc....didn't take long to eat up 15,000 events.
None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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This!

I read more than post = I listen more than I talk

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My first sequencer was the StepBeater plugin, hosted by Mackie Tracktion 2.
Here's a track made with that setup in 2006:
https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=4438993

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software : Octamed (amiga 600)

did have an atari for a bit, but didn't get on with it (Pro 24 or something?)

hardware : no idea, too long ago (aside from the seq on the synth such as sh101) Might have been a Yamaha or Alesis

for the last 20 years Orion

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My first was Soundtracker 1.1 on ZX Spectrum

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The first one I had was a Yamaha QX5, around 1986. Thought it was the bee's knees.
QX5.jpg
The first computer-based one was Cubase Score for Atari, circa 1993. EDIT: Just remembered, although I did get Cubase for Atari, I had Cubeat (the cut-down version), first.

Still using Cubase now. Tried a couple, the names of which escape me, but by the time I switched to a PC, it was Cubase all the way. (I feel like my old uncle, who started work for Pickfords when he was 14 and did the same job until he retired 51 years later. Well, almost the same - he started with driving horse and carts, ended up driving articulated tankers.)

Edit:
Found an image of Cubase 1.0, circa 1992:
Cubase 1.jpg
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Fruity Loops (version 2.01, I think). Or Rebirth RB-338, if you want to call that a sequencer.
Last edited by chk071 on Fri May 15, 2020 9:27 am, edited 2 times in total.

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My first midi sequencer was from Cakewalk in the early nineties, don't know the exact name of it. It was running under MS-DOS, no windows version.

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I didn't have any hardware sequencer (or recorder, just a Sanyo two decks tape recorder used it with my Casio keyboard circa 1987). Couldn't afford anything till circa 1998. First Software sequencer was a a very bad Magix sequencer! I got it free with my Casio keyboard. I was very happy because I thought it was e-magic (confused the two brands :hihi: ) Anyway, then I got my first e-magic Logic 4 Gold edition later and it was my real intro to the computer music :)
Using: Cubase Pro 15, Reason 13, Tascam US-4x4HR, MODX6, DM12D, LaunchKey 49, Yamaha guitar(Pacifica 612v) and bass (BB234) and some virtual instruments and synths.

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My first software sequencer was Steinberg Pro-12 on an Atari 520ST

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Followed by Pro-24 on an Atari 1040STe ...

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I'd messed around with a few drum machines before that including a Roland 505 & 707, Boss Dr.Rhythm and Korg Super Drums.

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