Loop-Based
Sequencers
If trackers aren't your bag, then there is
yet one more type of tool you can use that requires even less musical skill
than sequencers or tracker: loop-based sequencers.
Back in 1998 I happened upon Magix MusicMaker
(style='color:#003399'>www.magix.com), a Windows
application. At the time, I had both a Windows system and a Linux system. Since
the program was only $20 I decided to check it out. To my surprise, it turned
out to be a program that allowed me to create music, rich music, by dragging
and dropping sound files (loops) onto a track
in a sequencer. I could then stretch the loops to increase the length of time
the loop was played. I was amazed at the simplicity of the entire process. In less
than an hour, and without reading the manual, I was able to create a
three-minute song I named "The Chase," which can be found at style='color:#003399'>www.mp3.com/digitalman. In
less than six months I had created a total of 14 songs. My first CD,
on its way or might be there by the time you read this. Go to MP3.com
program. You might be impressed.
In addition to plugging my own music, I want
to point out that loop-based sequencers, though easy to use, can be a little
limiting on your creativity. It really depends, however, on your source of
sounds. Similar to trackers, loop-based sequencers use sound files to produce
the audio you hear. This means you will have to provide your own sound files
for the sequencer. What sequencer, you ask? Well, since I had taught my
wife how to log in and use a browser in Linux, I no longer had a need for a
Windows system (you didn't think I actually used Windows for anything other
than MusicMaker did you?). So my search for a loop-based sequencer for Linux
began. I'm happy to report that I found one, MixMagic, at mixmagic.sourceforge.net.
MixMagic is described not as a loop-based sequencer, but as
"a hard drive sound-mixing program." It's just semantics.
You'll see that the loops (or samples) are layed out horizontally and that the
tracks are layed out vertically. On the left is a directory list for your
loops. You simply click-and-drag samples from the left over to the composition
window on the right. Then you position the loop somewhere on the track and
adjust its parameters to suit your needs. What could be easier? ("Turn on
the radio" is not allowed as an answer.) All you really need to know about
music is whether the samples you dragged to the right-side composition window
sound good together. You see, each track plays left to right, as expected. All
tracks are mixed together into a single stereo signal and played. This is
similar to the final type of software technology I will be introducing, the
digital multitrack recorder.
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