Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer...

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KyRo
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2010/11/12 04:53:18 (permalink)

Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer...

Hi guys. So I was getting to know the Step Sequencer a bit, and was wondering how to go about creating notes faster than quarters. Seemed the only way I could make more rapid notes was to up the entire tempo and just use quarter notes, but that's not very musically correct now, is it? =P

Is "Steps" the answer I'm looking for? Say I wanted to make a drum beat with 16th notes. Would setting the Steps to 16 be the proper solution?

Just trying to confirm. Thanks!
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    Bigdogs
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 08:56:50 (permalink)
    yes, it is steps, short for "Steps per beat"

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    KyRo
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 17:40:21 (permalink)
    Does 6 steps in a beat = 8th note triplets?
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    brundlefly
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 18:26:46 (permalink)
    Does 6 steps in a beat = 8th note triplets?



    No, that would be 16th triplets. 2 steps in a quarter-note beat are 8ths, and 3 are 8th triplets.
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    KyRo
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 18:52:15 (permalink)
    Oh, I thought 3 were quarter triplets.
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    brundlefly
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 19:16:25 (permalink)
    A triplet is "3 in the time of 2" for any note value. You can think of a triplet as an intermediate value between two standard values, so the sequence is quarters, quarter triplets, eighths, eighth triplets, sixteenths, etc. The triplet has 2/3 the duration of it's 'big brother'.
    post edited by brundlefly - 2010/11/12 19:18:38
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    KyRo
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 19:22:34 (permalink)
    Ok, gotcha, thanks. I've never been the most knowledgeable about notation and all =P

    So how many steps would you use for quarter triplets in the step sequencer?
    post edited by dimelives1 - 2010/11/12 19:26:34
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    brundlefly
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 19:40:38 (permalink)
    Quarter triplets would be 1.5 steps per beat. I doubt Step Sequencer allows that. You probalby want 8th triplets, anyway. Or a different time signature and/or tempo. Do you have an example of the rhythm you're trying to capture?
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    KyRo
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 19:46:03 (permalink)
    No, no. I was mostly speaking hypothetically. Just wondering, really. Trying to educate myself a bit on notation =P A different tempo would probably be the choice for any instance like that that I'd be looking for.

    For the sake of argument, does altering the time signature in the project affect the Step Sequencer? Or would it be the same thing to simply alter the "Beats" and "Steps" within the Sequencer?
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    brundlefly
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 20:08:42 (permalink)
    Changing the meter is just going to move where the measure lines fall in relation to beats, and how many times the metronome clicks per measure. AFAIK, Step Sequenccer doesn't care about measures and time signatures. It only cares about beats and steps in beats.
     
    And even if you tell SONAR, there are 8 beats in a measure, and a beat is an 8th note (i.e. 8/8 instead of 4/4), as far as Step Sequencer is concerned, a "beat" is still a quarter note, and nothing changes in terms of how it displays or plays any given pattern.
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    KyRo
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 20:25:12 (permalink)
    Mmk, so the project's global time signature and SS's step/beat pattern are independent of each other. Got it. Thanks for the info!
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    brundlefly
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    Re:Doing 8th, 16th, 32nd, etc. Notes in Step Sequencer... 2010/11/12 20:42:35 (permalink)
    You're welcome. Hope I got everything right; I don't actually use Step Sequencer that much, myself - just learned enough to be dangerous.
     
    And I'm not a notation wiz, either. But I do play a lot of triplets.
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