Music Glossary

Sequencer

A tool that records, arranges and plays back musical events in order.

A sequencer is a tool — hardware or software — that lets you record, arrange and play back a sequence of musical events, most commonly MIDI notes, in time. Early sequencers were standalone boxes; today the sequencing functions are built into every DAW, which is essentially a powerful multi-track sequencer. A classic example is the step sequencer, where a pattern is programmed by switching steps on or off in a grid, famously used to build drum beats one hit at a time. Sequencers free musicians from having to play a part perfectly in real time, letting them construct, edit and repeat musical ideas with total precision — a cornerstone of electronic music.

432
Written & reviewed by
The Club432 musician collective

432 Academy is the learning arm of Club432 — a performing-arts collective of working musicians, producers, DJs and engineers. Our guides are written for beginners and reviewed by people who play, record and perform for a living, so the advice is what we'd tell a friend picking up the instrument, not specs copied off a box.

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