Buyers Guide: Software Music Sequencer Reviews -
The hardware sequencer was first used in the late 1960's and early
1970's. It was shortly after this that software sequencers emerged
in the early 1980's.
I started producing music back in 1999, quite a bit after the invention
of a sequencer, and by far we have come a long way with the technology..
I have experimented with an array of sequencers, to eventually find
the one that best suited my music making needs. If you want to start
producing music with software then the sequencer is considered to
be the heart of your studio.
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FL Studio Producer Edition
Great overall useability, made for the beginner and the expert,
and if you find that you need more from a program you can also use
this monster as a VST plug in, inside of another sequencer like
Cubase, or Protools. This program gets a 10/10 in my books and has
a great price to match ($149).
Cubase
SX
This program is great for automation of effects, a great equilizer,
and an amazing mixing interface. A power house of a sequencer. Although
I found the midi scoring to be very time consuming, if you click
down your own midi patterns ($579)
Protools
The combonation of protools with the tascam usb 428 mixer to create
a manual mixing interface, is a killer feature, I'm a huge fan of
hands on music gear. This program is used buy many professionals
as an industry standerd for recording software.
Sonic Foundry Acid
I started producing music with this program, buy using a bunch of
premade loops and mixing them down, it has a very easy to use automation
feature, VST compatibility and the program is very straight forward
and easy to use ($299).
Audacity
This program first originated as a university project that has developed
over the years form a single track recording program all the way
up to a multitrack recording software, this program is fairly simple
and may not have all of the features you are looking for, but the
price cant be beat , it's free ($0)..
The Round Up
I know there are other sequencers out on the market i just wanted
to showcase the top 5 that i have used. Out of all these programs
each one seems to have its highlighted features. There is no best
program, its what works best for you, and which one fits within your
budget. Try out some demos and then purchase or download the sequencer
you fell most comfortable with.
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