searching a simple software based midi-only sequencer

D

Django2014

New member
Hello,

I am looking for a light-weight software based midi-only sequencer, I don't need to record audio. I am no midi expert, so my requirements are not very precise, but let's give it a try.
- I intend mainly to record drums with it and an occasional background organ or a horn section. Audio I record on a recorder.
- I will use VST modules for drums and other instruments so it needs a VST interface
- It needs to be able to sync to an external clock (being a slave)
- It needs to be able to send out a midi clock signal to a device that translates this into audio. I will be using a pocket sequencer for this. I will record the midi clock onto a digital non-midi recorder. On playback, the recorder will send out the recorded signal, have the pocket sequencer translate it to a midi clock signal to which the sequencer will have to sync (hence the requirement to be able to run on a external clock)
- although I intend to keep it very basic (it will be used for making demo's and song sketches) some extra features like quantization would come in handy

There is an awful lot available, but most of it is packed with features I don't need. So if someone could point me to a lightweight sequencer that would be highly appreciated.

Cheers,

Django
 
Reaper.

You're not going to find anything "easy".
MIDI was made bit slide-rule bit head programmers in the 1970s; it's gonna be a chore...
 
Reaper is a complete studio, in my perception the open source version of Cubase and the likes. I have already seen midi sequencers that are a lot simpler, but maybe someone here can point me to an even more stripped down basic version.
 
Mastertracks can run on a Mac, Atari or PC, and it was regarded as the most user friendly sequencer back in the day. I used to sync an Atari to a Fostex 8-track with a Pocket-Sync in the early '90s and it worked pretty well. The Mac and PC versions can control the General MIDI sounds that are built into the computers (which I believe came from the Roland SC-55 sound canvas).

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but didn't VST come out as an enhancement for DAWs (as opposed to MIDI sequencers)? This makes me think that a simple plain-vanilla sequencer with VST does not exist.

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Thanks, this helps. I am going to check it out.

With regards to the VST interface you are probably right. The requirement came out of ignorance. I was assuming that the standard way to connect a midi sequencer to a midi slave was a VST interface (I am using Battery 3.0 by Native Instruments), but this is of course the regular midi-in and midi-out. So forget the VST requirement.
 
I am surprised to hear that. My Atari version worked with Anatek Pocket Sync years ago. I now have the Mac version, and while I have never syncronised it to anything, I see the clock messages it sends on my logic analyser. It doesn't make sense to me that it would not also receive those messages.

I just looked at Passport's website and notice that they now only support the PC version. They mention that it can sync to MTC, which is time-based rather than tempo based (System Message F1). This is much harder to do in software than syncing to tempo based MIDI clock, so I am not prepared to believe that Mastertracks can't sync to MIDI clock just because it is not mentioned on their site. However, if you have asked their tech-support, or consulted its MIDI data-sheet and seen that System Messages F8, FA, FB, FC, and F2 are ignored, then I will have to accept this terrible news
 
Thanks for your succinct reply. I may be mistaken, since I thought I had asked this to tech support of Mastertracks, but I will recheck. Currently their website seems unreachable.
 
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