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How to Do a Step Sequence in Mixcraft

Step-sequencing is a method of music production where you plot notes onto a musical grid. It is a convenient way of creating short musical passages without playing them live, particularly drum beats. Mixcraft is an audio production software program., made by Acoustica. While Mixcraft doesn’t have a dedicated step-sequencer function, the “Piano Roll” interface allows you to edit notes in a very similar fashion. If you’re editing drums and you’d prefer not to use the piano roll editor, use the “Beatcraft” plugin.

Instructions

  1. Piano Roll Editor

    • 1

      Open Mixcraft. Click “Track,” “Virtual Instrument Tracks.” This opens a MIDI arrange window. MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a universal protocol that lets you trigger synthesized sounds remotely, in this case using a step editor.

    • 2

      Click “Instruments” and select from the drop-down menu. Because this is a MIDI editor, you can change the instrument after you’ve edited a sequence.

    • 3

      Double-click on a square in the grid to add a note. The “Piano Roll” edit window is similar to a step-sequencer interface. The vertical axis represents pitch and the horizontal axis represents time, broken up into beats and measures. The difference is that the piano roll vertical axis has a piano key graphic so you can more easily identify notes. Editing in the “Piano Roll” affords you more control over the entire track than using a step sequencer, as the window covers the entire track rather than a small section of audio.

    Beatcraft Plugin

    • 4

      Open “Beatcraft” from your desktop.

    • 5

      Click “Pattern Editor” to open the step-sequencer interface. The vertical axis represents the individual drum instruments and the horizontal axis represents measures and beats. Set the time signature by clicking and editing the default 4/4 on the top row.

    • 6

      Click on a “beat button.” Each bar on each instrument row has four beats, represented by a button. Turn it on the assign a drum beat to that note, or leave it off for a rest.

    • 7

      Drag the fader down to lower the volume of each individual beat.

    • 8

      Click “File” and select “Save.” Click “File” again and select “Export As.” Select “Wav.” This makes the file easily transferable to Mixcraft. Click “File” in Mixcraft and select “Import. Browse for the drum pattern and click on it. This opens the Beatcraft sequenced beat in Mixcraft, enabling you to incorporate it into larger works.

Recording Music

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