I cannot seem to work out how to do this.  My project meter is set to 7/8. If I set the number of beats in the step sequencer to 7, it interprets that as 7 quarter notes instead of eighth notes. The "steps" setting just increases or decreases the number of subdivisions within each beat. I cannot get the desired effect with the "fit to quarters" controls either. 

All I want is to make it so each beat in the step sequencer represents one beat in the project.  Any ideas? 

If you change it like this:
Beats: 14
Steps: 4
And have the "fit to quarters: On" and the number to the right set to "7"

Will this give you what you want, or have I misunderstood what you're after?

I do odd meters all the time, and the Step Sequencer does NOT have any way of having a meter base of 4 - so to represent 9/8, I have to do it as 9/4, with the tempo doubled for the duration of the odd meter.

So, by doing the above, I do have measures of 9 notes, but they all have to be quarter notes, because the Step Sequencer is not currently sporting ANY way to alter that meter base.  (I have submitted this to Cakewalk - for prog/fusion folks, odd meters are like a breath of fresh air, and quite needed).

And, because they are playing at a duration twice as long as they should, that's why I insert a tempo change to double the tempo, effective making the quarter notes sound like 1/8 notes, which was what was originally intended.

The other consequence of the lack of ability to change the meter base is that even though the tempo doubling made the notes sound correctly, the number of measures recorded will be DOUBLE what it should have been.  Each written measure of 9/8 will take 2 measures within Sonar, at 9/4.

I sure wish they would add this - it's been a complaint of mine for 2+ years now.

Still, my workaround does do what I need in capturing the odd meters, so at least I can be productive with the music I am trying to record.

I hope any of this helps,

Bob Bone

7 beats 2 steps. that gives you 16th notes. 7beats 4steps gives you 32nd notes.

oh, weird... 6/8 time seems to be displayed incorrectly in the time ruler on my system. how about you, sharke??? even editing midi notes in prv. .. esp apparent with metronome on. 

robert_e_bone


I do odd meters all the time, and the Step Sequencer does NOT have any way of having a meter base of 4 - so to represent 9/8, I have to do it as 9/4, with the tempo doubled for the duration of the odd meter. 

It's not that 9/8 is particularly radical either, its a slip jig and pretty common in Irish traditional music.

I don't use step sequencer much but when I did I was running in to this sort of issue. I thought it was just me not knowing how to use it properly.

Glyn Barnes

robert_e_bone


I do odd meters all the time, and the Step Sequencer does NOT have any way of having a meter base of 4 - so to represent 9/8, I have to do it as 9/4, with the tempo doubled for the duration of the odd meter. 

It's not that 9/8 is particularly radical either, its a slip jig and pretty common in Irish traditional music.

I don't use step sequencer much but when I did I was running in to this sort of issue. I thought it was just me not knowing how to use it properly.

Well, I just used one from a project I had just beein in, prior to posting.  I am working up a MIDI cover of Bruford's Hell's Bells, and it is in 19/16, so there :)


I just wish I could put something other than a 4 in the meter base parameter.  It's just a number, doesn't seem like it should break the bank to implement.


Bob Bone

swamptooth


7 beats 2 steps. that gives you 16th notes. 7beats 4steps gives you 32nd notes.

In a meter, the upper number represents the number of beats per measure, and the lower number represents the value of the note that gets the beat.  So, a number of 4 on the bottom means that a quarter note gets counted as 1 beat, and if you had a 7 on the top, it would indicate that the measure has 7 beats in it.

(Your example of 2 steps = sixteenth notes is incorrect, by the way, dividing a quarter note in half gives you eighth notes).

Anyways, if I have some printed music in front of me, and it has a measure of 7/8, and I am sequencing it into Sonar using the Step Sequencer, to do it right I should be able to enter a meter base (number on the bottom) of 8, rather than 4.  There is no way to specify an eighth note as my meter base.

This causes quarter notes to get the beat, so if I set the number of beats to 7, no matter how many steps to beat I have it set for, I will have a measure that is 7 quarter notes long. (I need a meter change for the song too, to insert a meter change to 7/4).

I cannot simply enter the notes as half as long, because I do not have an even number of notes to divide.  Dividing my 7 in half would result in having 3 1/2 beats per measure - not possible.

So, that's why I came up with doing it - working around the fact that my beat value will always be a quarter note - by entering it as 7/4, 9/4, 12/4, or whatever, and doubling the tempo of the song for the measures entered with the eighth  note base.  This plays back each of the 7 quarter notes as eighth notes in duration, sort of accomplishing the playback goal of having my 7/8 measures sounding correctly - it's just that each such measure takes TWO measures of space in the song.

It's really a matter of accuracy, but since I am for example an entire song of faithfully entered drums from a Bill Bruford tune, I would like that to be able to be represented if someone were to print out the notation for what I entered.  

I therefore plead with the Bakers to take a look at actually implementing this change.  If their code does its thing when playing back Step Sequenced parts by using the number value in that particular parameter, then simply adding the ability to change that value should be pretty simple to implement.  If on the other hand their code has that 4 hard-wired, then they should really rethink their approach to coding.  :)

Bob Bone

robert_e_bone

Well, I just used one from a project I had just beein in, prior to posting.  I am working up a MIDI cover of Bruford's Hell's Bells, and it is in 19/16, so there :)

LoL. I was not questioning your prowese at complex meter but step sequencers inability to handle something as old has the hills.

I know - I just couldn't resist poking at you a little.  :)

Bob Bone