Sequencing Assignment

How to set up a project

A Digital Audio Workstation (D.A.W.) is a computer program that is exclusively designed for the recording, editing and playing of digital audio files. A D.A.W allows you to edit and mix multiple audio sources simultaneously and to visually see how they line up as you record. 

The DAW that we use is called Cubase. To use this software you dont have to be a genius, you just need a small amount of D.A.W knowledge.

 This is an empty file of Cubase, this is practically how you start off any project.

 This is the cubase toolbar, simply put you use this to modify the beats per minute (bpm),  put the click track on and play, pause and record audio into your track.

 To add audio tracks you hover your mouse over project to highlight it ,

 then you highlight add track in the project menu and  find instrument you then click that to add audio in and this box pops up.

On this you you should click on the drop down box saying "No VST Instrument"

In the drop down you have these options, you hover over synth then click on the option of "Hal Lion SE"

when your "Add Instrument Track" box looks like this you're ready to add in audio.

 you simply just drag over the page to add in the number of bars you want to add audio into 

 you simply just drag over the page to add in the number of bars you want to add audio into 

This shows the specifications of the computer operating system. The computer im using is an IMac. you can see in the image that it is a fast paced and good quality computer for creating audio tracks and using the software we use.

Setting up a track with Hal Lion SE

MIDI ,short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, is a technical standard that describes a protocol, digital interface and connectors and allows a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers and other related devices to connect and communicate with one another. A single MIDI link can carry up to sixteen channels of information, each of which can be routed to a separate device. something used with MIDI's is a general MIDI General MIDI or G.M is a standardised specification for music synthesizers that respond to MIDI messages. 

How to use the KeyStudio Keyboard to input notes

Midi Connections

The cables terminate in a 180° five-pin DIN connector. Standard applications use only three of the five conductors: a ground wire, and a balanced pair of conductors that carry a +5 volt signal. This connector configuration can only carry messages in one direction, so a second cable is necessary for two-way communication. Some proprietary applications, such as phantom-powered foot switch controllers, use the spare pins for direct current (DC) power transmission.

Opto-isolators keep MIDI devices electrically separated from their connectors, which prevents the occurrence of ground loops and protects equipment from voltage spikes. There is no error detection capability in MIDI, so the maximum cable length is set at 15 meters (50 feet) in order to limit interference.

Most devices do not copy messages from their input to their output port. A third type of port, the "thru" port, emits a copy of everything received at the input port, allowing data to be forwarded to another instrument in a "daisy chain" arrangement. Not all devices contain thru ports, and devices that lack the ability to generate MIDI data, such as effects units and sound modules, may not include out ports. 

Midi controllers

There are two types of MIDI controllers: performance controllers that generate notes and are used to perform music, and controllers which may not send notes, but transmit other types of real-time events. Many devices are some combination of the two types.

Performance controllers - MIDI was designed with keyboards in mind, and any controller that is not a keyboard is considered an "alternative" controller. This was seen as a limitation by composers who were not interested in keyboard-based music, but the standard proved flexible, and MIDI compatibility was introduced to other types of controllers, including guitars, wind instruments and drum machines.

Auxiliary controllers - Software synthesizers offer great power and versatility, but some players feel that division of attention between a MIDI keyboard and a computer keyboard and mouse robs some of the immediacy from the playing experience.Devices dedicated to real-time MIDI control provide an ergonomic benefit, and can provide a greater sense of connection with the instrument than can an interface that is accessed through a mouse or a push-button digital menu. Controllers may be general-purpose devices that are designed to work with a variety of equipment, or they may be designed to work with a specific piece of software.

Synthesisers

 Firstly what is a synthesiser? A  synthesiser (usually abbreviated as "synthesiser" or "synth", also spelled "synthesiser") is an electronic musical instrument that generates electric signals that are converted to sound through instrument amplifiers and loudspeakers or headphones. Synthesizers may either imitate the still existing sounds (instruments, vocal, natural sound, etc.), or generate new electronic timbres not existing before. They are often played with a musical keyboard, but they can be controlled via a variety of other input devices

Synths tend to have envelopes for example an ADSR envelope this means 

Attack – Determines how long it takes for the gate to fully open and let all the sound release

Decay – How long it takes for the sound to get to the sustained level of sound

Sustain – Tells the gate how loud the sound will be when a note is sustained over a period of time

Release – Determines how long it takes for the gate to close and the sound to dissipate

Sine – A sine wave is a pure fundamental tone that can be thought of as a building block of sound. Each frequency in the frequency spectrum can be denoted as a sine wave. All sounds are created by a bunch of sine waves.

Square – A square wave only has odd harmonics but still has the same -6dB per octave slope that the sawtooth wave has. Square waves have a hollow tone to them.

Square – A square wave only has odd harmonics but still has the same -6dB per octave slope that the sawtooth wave has. Square waves have a hollow tone to them.

Triangle – A triangle wave also only has odd harmonics but has less amplitude in those harmonics. The slope in volume is -12dB/octave. Triangle waves sound pretty similar to square waves.

The song that I have sequenced is Rather Be by Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynn it is linked below

Rather Be Recreation