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eseq user manual

Your first session

Make a repeating four-note synth part, change one note, and save the project. This walkthrough uses Digi Drift, an instrument included with eseq.

Keep the workspace map handy. You will choose a sound in the browser, enter notes in the step sequencer, start playback in the transport, and edit the sound in the device panel. These are different parts of the same workspace.

Start a project

Choose File > New Project. If eseq asks about unsaved changes, save the project you were working on before continuing.

The new project starts with two empty tracks. You will use the first one.

Use the session view shown in the map, with the browser on the left and devices along the bottom. If the middle of the screen shows a timeline, click the session-view button beside the arrangement button at the far right of the transport.

Load a sound from the browser

  1. In the step sequencer, click the name area of the first track to select it.
  2. In the browser, click Instruments. Click Search instruments and type Digi Drift. The matching factory instrument appears under Synths.
  3. Double-click that Digi Drift result. The selected track now uses that instrument.
Searching for Digi Drift narrows the browser to the matching factory instrument. Double-click the result under Synths to load it.
Searching for Digi Drift narrows the browser to the matching factory instrument. Double-click the result under Synths to load it.

Look back at the sequencer: the track is now named Digi Drift. Then look along the bottom of the window: the device panel shows Digi Drift's sound controls. The browser chose the instrument; these controls edit the instrument you loaded.

Digi Drift in the bottom device panel. Its FILTER section contains the Cutoff Hz control used later in this walkthrough.
Digi Drift in the bottom device panel. Its FILTER section contains the Cutoff Hz control used later in this walkthrough.

Double-clicking an instrument replaces the sound on the selected track. When you want to add another track, drag an instrument onto Drop sounds here instead.

Put four notes on the row

Find the round step buttons to the right of the Digi Drift name. They run from left to right. A new pattern has 16 steps; count them from 1 at the left edge.

  1. Click the first unlit step. It lights up, showing that it now contains a note.
  2. Click steps 5, 9, and 13. You should have four lit steps, with three unlit steps between each pair.
The Digi Drift row after entering the notes: steps 1, 5, 9, and 13 are lit. Each lit button will play the same instrument.
The Digi Drift row after entering the notes: steps 1, 5, 9, and 13 are lit. Each lit button will play the same instrument.

If you add a note in the wrong place, double-click its lit step to remove it. A single click on a lit step selects the note for editing; it does not erase it.

Play the pattern

Click the triangular Play button in the transport, across the top of the window.

Playback controls in the top transport. The square stops playback; the triangle starts it.
Playback controls in the top transport. The square stops playback; the triangle starts it.

Watch the position indicator travel along the row. Each time it reaches one of your lit steps, you should hear Digi Drift play. After the last step, playback returns to the beginning and repeats. This repeating sequence is the track's pattern.

Look down at the mixer: Digi Drift's meter should move when a note sounds. Click the square Stop button to stop playback. If the indicator moves but you hear nothing, check Troubleshooting before continuing.

Change the first note's pitch

Now use the step inspector, at the upper right, to change one note without changing the other three.

Single-click the first lit step in the Digi Drift row. Look at the inspector: it should show 1 selected. This confirms that the next note edit applies to one step.

The step inspector with one note selected. Transpose changes its pitch; the selection count shows the scope of the edit.
The step inspector with one note selected. Transpose changes its pitch; the selection count shows the scope of the edit.

Drag the number beside Transpose upward until it reads 12. Transpose counts semitones; 12 raises the note by one octave.

Click Play. The first note now sounds higher. The following three notes keep their original pitch, and the higher note returns at the start of each loop.

Give that note a different tone

Keep the first step selected. Look down at Digi Drift in the device panel and find Cutoff Hz in its FILTER section. Lower the cutoff while the pattern plays. You should hear the first note become darker while the other notes keep their original tone.

You have given one step its own control value. eseq calls this a parameter lock: when that step plays, it uses the value stored for it. This is why the step selection also matters when you work in the device panel.

Command-click the first step to deselect it, and check that the inspector shows 0 selected. Turning Cutoff Hz now changes the pattern's base tone; the first note keeps the cutoff you stored for it. See Parameter locks for editing and removing these values.

Save what you made

  1. Click Stop in the transport.
  2. Choose File > Save As, enter a project name, and click Save.

The project stores the instrument, notes, and edits you made. You can reopen it from Projects in the browser or File > Open Project. Use File > Save to keep later changes.

You now have a saved loop and have used the browser, sequencer, transport, inspector, devices, and mixer together. To continue, try Audio effects to add a delay to this sound, or Step sequencer to learn more ways to enter and edit notes.