1 Topic by ZeHa (edited by ZeHa 2015-04-09 21:53:56)

  • ZeHa
  • Robot
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-08-07
  • Posts: 417

Topic: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

Hi there,

I am currently working on a MIDI sequencer which uses a tracker-like interface. There is still a lot to do, but it works well enough to present a small video. The reason why this sequencer was created is that I was a bit fed up with my MPC, and I missed the old days when I used Jeskola Buzz, a tracker-like software with software synths (instead of the usual tracker-manner of just using samples). So I thought, why not create a software that lets me do the same workflow as in Buzz, but instead sequence my real hardware synths, and this is the result.

[youtube]mpAN-4hYUxs[/youtube]

In this video, it runs on a ThinkPad X60s from 2006 or so, and I am developing it under Xubuntu 14.04, which means the final software will be for Linux, Windows, and probably Mac too (shouldn't be a problem but I have no Apple machinery, so I can't test it at the moment). It is written entirely in Python using Pygame, and actually the source code is only ~ 1200 lines.

It's still in an early stage and I don't know yet what functionality will still be added on top of the most basic stuff, and I also don't know yet in what kind of way I'd like to publish this software (but I might go for open-source). Please tell me what you think about it and if you could imagine using it smile

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • ZeHa
  • Robot
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-08-07
  • Posts: 417

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

Here's a few more pictures. The background image is in there just because I love it so much, but in the end it will be possible to choose your own pic or no pic at all, and also all the colors can be configured etc wink

http://www.drwuro.com/zeha/midiseq1.jpg
http://www.drwuro.com/zeha/midiseq3.jpg
http://www.drwuro.com/zeha/midiseq2.jpg

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • ZeHa
  • Robot
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-08-07
  • Posts: 417

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

Here's a plain screenshot, without the background (open in a new window to see in full size):

http://www.drwuro.com/zeha/midiseq4.jpg

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • From: Los Jubilee
  • Registered: 2008-07-08
  • Posts: 1,173

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

looks nice
i only used impulse tracker a few times, would be interesting to try it one day...

  • DZC
  • Human
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2015-01-28
  • Posts: 29

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

Looks very interesting! Keep us posted how you get on with this

  • ZeHa
  • Robot
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-08-07
  • Posts: 417

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

Cool thanks for your replies smile

The main difference to typical trackers is that you have individual patterns (the Pattern View, screenshot 1), which can have several tracks or "note lanes" (for polyphony reasons), and then you have another view (the Song View, screenshot 2) which has also several tracks, which represent MIDI channels (they can freely be mapped), and there you can put those patterns together to create a full song. This makes it very flexible, since a pattern represents only a phrase, which can then be played by any instrument, as opposed to representing a whole chunk of the song with note data for every instrument. Also, a phrase is not tied to any synth, as it can be placed on every track (i.e. MIDI channel) of the song.

I will keep you updated smile

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • ZeHa
  • Robot
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-08-07
  • Posts: 417

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

another video with a well-known (at least in this forum) tune...

[youtube]fy9ifaqeagk[/youtube]

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • From: Rotterdam
  • Registered: 2009-02-14
  • Posts: 1,149

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

Wow, completeley written in Pygame. Would have to test it to get a feeling though, let us know when we can try the first demo.

score100's Website

  • ZeHa
  • Robot
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2009-08-07
  • Posts: 417

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

I hope soon!
Unfortunately, I tried it with Windows and a friend tried it on Mac, and on both platforms there are problems with the MIDI-part of Pygame. So there might be a bit more work to do... I guess I have to use a different MIDI library. But on Linux the first demo could be ready soon smile

www.raveburg.de

ZeHa's Website

  • From: the stentecnology hideout
  • Registered: 2008-07-07
  • Posts: 2,306

Re: my new software MIDI sequencer (work in progress)

Nice work!
Looking forward for a Mac version.

https://soundcloud.com/stentec

S.T.E.N.T.E.C.'s Website