chuckebaby

mgh


use the step sequencer, it's the quickest and easiest way to programme beats...

 
step sequencer leaves you prone to working in small boxes, and if you work in bigger boxes you need to skip and jump around. 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruAnAPR6-hQ
 
the SS is good for somethings, and probably drums the most, but I don't think I can say quickest and easiest.

^i have no idea what you mean by small boxes, i guess everyone finds a different way of working, but for me, what you do in your video (nice work, btw) is even easier in SS, plus i like the ease with which you can do triplet/odd-time stuff, drum rolls etc. 
I guess it's nice there's more than one way to do things, huh?

mgh

chuckebaby

mgh


use the step sequencer, it's the quickest and easiest way to programme beats...

step sequencer leaves you prone to working in small boxes, and if you work in bigger boxes you need to skip and jump around. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruAnAPR6-hQ

the SS is good for somethings, and probably drums the most, but I don't think I can say quickest and easiest.

^i have no idea what you mean by small boxes, i guess everyone finds a different way of working, but for me, what you do in your video (nice work, btw) is even easier in SS, plus i like the ease with which you can do triplet/odd-time stuff, drum rolls etc. 
I guess it's nice there's more than one way to do things, huh?

maybe im being ignorant, so im sorry. :)
 
id love to see a good video of the step sequencer in action, I mean ive seen the ones on cake tv, I just wasn't impressed.
Ive used it, by small boxes I mean, its hard to work in large sections, even if it does a max of 64 beats/measure do you find it difficult jumping around when working in large sections ?
I felt too limited, like I was having a hard time making large parts, sure one canmake small parts and paste them together.
the SS is no doubt a cool tool for writing many things and I guess its all about personal preference.
 
and you are totally right, glad we have more than on way to do things :)

Can you really create subtle grooves and swings with a step sequencer? IIRC the rhythms are as stiff and bony as granmothers legs.

Here’s just a few of the tools available in the Step Sequencer :
Add Flam to any step by simply double clicking it (then use the flam time knob to adjust timing).
Easily load/save patterns from the Options button or drag and drop patterns from the Media Browser.
Auto-populate feature provides shortcuts to fill a lanes every 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 steps.
Controller Pane for per row articulations and controls, including Volume, Pan, Pitch Bend, Mod Wheel, Portamento
Per step parameter controls for Velocity, Time Offset, Probability, Lane-based MIDI articulations, Filter Cut and Filter Res.
Parameter values are displayed as bars underneath steps in the controller pane, making editing per step parameters such as Velocity, Step Offset, Probability, and other MIDI articulations quick and easy.
Exclusive Per Step Probability provides control over the probability of how often a step will be triggered. Use it to create automatic variations (make some steps only play occasionally) to keep repetitive patterns sounding fresh.
All this is combined with the functionality from Step Sequencer 1.0 including: Step Recording, the Velocity Multiplier, Fit to Quarters capabilities, and more.

from the CW blog. as i use it mainly for extreme metal, i guess i don't need the kinda swing you get in jazz/fusion, but it seems you could do quite a bit of that.

There are soooo many ways to work and that's part of the (fun) learning curve with this type of software. I think some folks get pretty entrenched in ( Their )  one way and do not wish to take the time to try other methods. 
So we each get real good with our way of doing it. 
Like me, I still build drums from scratch playing through the song and banging away on either the keyboard or (now I have) a set of digital drums to a click track. 
I know some like to build in Band in a Box :? :? 
And many use the step sequencer which is very cool piece of software. 
One guy on the old forum is pasting tiny little snippets of audio into a track ( talk about making life hard ) but hey, that's his thing. 

Yeah, I like using the SS, but I do convert to traditional MIDI clips. I recall Seth had some pretty descent tutorials on using the SS when it first appeared in SONAR.