Sequencing on a Shoestring

Sep 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Dennis Miller, Brian Smithers, and Geary Yelton

Metro has been around for a while, gradually migrating from Macintosh System 6 to Mac OS X. Metro's capabilities have grown to the point that it has become a mature sequencer able to hold its own against any other in its price range. Several versions are currently available, ranging from the beginner-level Metro SE ($69.99) to the full-blown multitrack audio workstation Metro G4 Altivec ($329.99). Like the other versions, Metro LX is available only as a download.

Metro's GUI presents three main windows that are always open by default: the Tracks, Graphic Editor, and Transport windows (see Fig. 15). Any track selected in the Tracks window appears in the Graphic Editor, which can display as many as 16 tracks simultaneously. The Graphic Editor displays MIDI notes in piano-roll notation with stems indicating Velocity, but you can also show data such as Aftertouch, pitch bend, and MIDI Control Change messages by pressing a single key. Double-clicking on any note opens a dialog box that lets you quickly modify pitch, Velocity, location, and duration. A box of Selection Tools appears at the top of the window for performing various edits. Audio tracks are displayed as graphic waveforms.

Most commands are available in the menu bar, and you can access convenient pop-up menus in every window. Inserting any plug-in is as simple as selecting one from a pop-up menu. You can also select only a portion of an audio track and process it offline with any audio-effects plug-in. Working with instruments plug-ins is just as fast and intuitive. I did experience a few crashes while inserting plug-ins, but when I wrote Sagan for a solution, I received an immediate response. Metro LX lets you use only four instrument plug-ins at a time, making it inappropriate for anyone who uses lots of soft synths. If you have ReWire-compatible instrument applications, though, you can use ReWire to connect them to Metro.

Think Different

In a Metro file, a recording can be divided into Sections — multitrack chunks with user-defined durations that appear in the Sections window. Inserting a Section into a single track in another Section creates a SubSection. That allows you to easily reuse motifs, multitrack drum parts, multipart vocal harmonies, and entire sections of songs. Each Section can have a different time signature, but only one Metro file can be open at a time.

Metro LX goes a bit deeper than most of the software surveyed here, offering functionality that you might expect from top-shelf sequencers. The online manual is detailed, but it's also very text-based and could use a few more diagrams to help orient new users. Metro's enthusiastic and well-established user base maintains a lively discussion forum on Sagan's Web site. For recording, editing, and processing audio and MIDI, Metro LX qualifies as one of the more capable sequencers in its price range.

Steinberg Cubase SE 1.0.7 (Mac/Win, $149)
Cubase SE takes its place near the bottom of a fine product line that includes Cubase LE, which is bundled for free with products from several manufacturers other than Steinberg; the midlevel Cubase SL3; and Cubase SX3, one of the top-ranking pro sequencers available. Cubase SE offers many of the same features as SL3 and SX3, with a consistent user interface that ensures a smooth transition if you ever decide to upgrade. SE's support for VST instruments is limited to 16, which should be plenty for most users on a budget. Other minor limitations are that SE supports only 64 channels of ReWire (versus the 256 channels supported by SL3 and SX3), and that it has only one level of undo. Although you can edit sequences in music notation, SE lacks the advanced score-printing functionality of SX3. Those issues aside, Steinberg's budget-price version is nonetheless a real bargain.

Cubase's layout and logical organization make it relatively simple to learn and operate — it's all about workflow. Most of the action takes place in the Project window, which gives you a graphical overview and makes it easy to find your way around (see Fig. 16). The Inspector displays information about your audio and MIDI tracks. The Track List provides the means to view and change individual track settings such as the track name, monitor and record enable, automation read and write enable, and mute and solo status.

The Project window's Event display shows recorded track data as either a simplified MIDI piano roll or an audio waveform. Double-clicking on that data opens either the Key Editor, where you can draw, move, delete, transpose, quantize, and change the length or Velocity of MIDI data; or the Sample Editor, in which you can move, delete, scrub, loop, normalize, reverse, and otherwise transform a selected portion of audio data. The Audio Editor is also where you calculate and manipulate Hitpoints, which gives Cubase the ability to beat-slice audio to more easily vary the tempo of some sounds without affecting pitch.

Cubase has lots of features indicating that it's built for speed. The Devices window contains nothing but buttons that quickly open other windows. You'll seldom need to open the Mixer window, because you can access all its settings in the Track List or the Inspector. Nor do you need to open the Audio Editor if you want to perform an audio process on an entire clip, such as shifting pitch, stretching time, or imposing an envelope or a fade. You can change the height and width of displayed data using sliders in the corner of the Event display or the Edit window. Cubase also lets you open as many sequence files as your computer can handle and copy and paste between them.

VST Is a Reason to Be

Steinberg invented the Virtual Studio Technology (VST) plug-in format. If a plug-in doesn't work perfectly with Cubase, it isn't truly VST compatible. Cubase SE also provides access to Steinberg's VST System Link, which allows you to network multiple computers over digital audio connections.

Cubase displays details about installed instrument and effects plug-ins in the Plug-In Information window, which shows the number of ins and outs, the number of included presets, and other pertinent data. You can use that window to enable or disable plug-ins at will — a real convenience when you're trying to conserve resources or track down a problem. In addition, automation and ReWire features are especially well implemented. Lots of thoughtful features and professional touches make Cubase SE a polished program that can take you a long way in the world of computer-based recording.

Onward and Upward

At some point in your quest to make better music, you may want to upgrade to one of the premium programs for audio and MIDI sequencing. Several sequencers in this roundup are part of a family of applications, and purchasing any of those gives you access to an upgrade path. For $99, for example, you can upgrade Home Studio to Home Studio XL and receive a DXi sampler, additional audio effects, and several sample libraries. If you've purchased FL Studio Producer Edition online, you can upgrade to FL Studio XXL for $150 and receive a number of additional soft synths, a video player, and a SoundFont player.

Steinberg will upgrade Cubase SE to Cubase SL3 for $299.99 (a $200 savings) or to Cubase SX3 for $549.99 (a $250 savings). For $194.99, upgrading Metro LX to the full version of Metro will buy you many more tracks, 32-bit recording, time- and pitch-shifting, full plug-in automation, and lots of other desirable features. Compared with GarageBand, Apple's Logic Express 7 (Mac, $299) and Logic Pro 7 (Mac, $999) offer greatly increased functionality and many additional plug-ins. Apple doesn't offer upgrade pricing, however, if you want to move up from GarageBand to either version of Logic.

Why Pay More?

Clearly, musicians don't have to spend a fortune to gain impressive multitrack recording and MIDI sequencing power. Most of the programs featured in this roundup offer more tracks than any multitrack tape machine, with audio quality and MIDI resolution that matches or exceeds the needs of all but the most demanding users. Several include an extensive collection of software instruments and effects, and some supply additional content in the form of audio loops and clips.

The recording capabilities of most low-cost sequencers go beyond anything that even the most expensive sequencers could do a few years ago. In a commercial recording environment, recordists need all the sequencing power that modern technology has to offer to stay competitive. With a low-cost sequencer, however, you don't need to waste your time and money on features you may never use. If you don't need all the bells and whistles offered by a pro-level sequencer, you might find everything you need and save yourself a bundle.

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Associate Editor Dennis Miller lives in the suburbs of Boston. Associate editor Geary Yelton lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. Brian Smithers is Course Director of Audio Workstations at Full Sail Real World Education in Winter Park and teaches music technology at Stetson University in Deland, Florida. Their combined electronic music experience adds up to nearly a century.

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To view the Low Cost Sequencer Specifications Table click here

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Apple Computer
www.apple.com

Bremmers Audio Design
www.multitrackstudio.com

Cakewalk
www.cakewalk.com

Digital Sound Planet
www.digitalsoundplanet.com

FASoft
www.ntrack.com

Image-Line Software
www.flstudio.com

Mackie
www.mackie.com

Magix
www.magix.com

Midisoft
www.midisoft.com

PG Music
www.pgmusic.com
Sagan Technology
www.sagantech.biz

Steinberg
www.steinberg.net