How to use Step Sequencer on multiple Take Lanes

[norfolkmastering]

I have laid down a basic two bar MIDI drum pattern using the Step Sequencer and then extended the clip to song length.  All fine.

Now I want to make some changes at certain points in the song.

I would like to do this by creating a second take lane and then use a separate instance of Step Sequencer on the second take lane.  I can't find a way to do this.  When I highlight the second take lane and view Step Sequencer then a blank grid appears.  So far so good.  But when I add a a pattern to this second instance of Step Sequencer, it adds the MIDI notes to Take 1 and not to Take 2.

What am I doing wrong please?

[Glenn Stanton]

maybe copy all the step sequencer into a MIDI track and then edit directly as MIDI the parts you want to change, or a separate MIDI track (feeding the same drums) with the additional bits. then if you want to make changes in the overall pattern you edit the step sequencer and your other parts are still intact... either way i think a second MIDI track would be beneficial. for me i just create MIDI & generate the track for each individual instrument so i can alter them however i like 🙂 

[norfolkmastering]

Thanks for the suggestion.  I wanted to use the take lanes so that the changes in the overall pattern would be easy to see, so I mean if the main pattern was in take lane 1, then only the changes would appear in take lane 2.  I'm assuming there is an easy way to highlight part of a MIDI part and mute it?

If it's not possible to use separate Step Sequencers on each take lane then I will need to use an additional MIDI track for the changes, let's see how it works out.

[scook]

The step sequencer is a clip-based editor.

I do not believe it is aware of where the clip is in the project.

As a result, The DAW creates new step sequencer clips at Now in the current track lane 1.

Of course, once created clips may be dragged anywhere.

 

 

 

 

[norfolkmastering]

Thanks for explaining this.  I'm now putting my pattern variations on to a second MIDI track and this works okay for me.

[scook]

44 minutes ago, norfolkmastering said:

Thanks for explaining this.  I'm now putting my pattern variations on to a second MIDI track and this works okay for me.

If you prefer everything in one track, different clip colors may be the solution.

Each clip may be assigned its own foreground and background in clip properties.

[Tomek Jankowski]

I had the same problem lately. I got used to FL years ago and Cakewalk was all new to me. It was a bitter dissapointment that I couldnt copy/paste new clip in same track and just change the (second copied) clip (in step sequencer) the way I wanted to add some variations and make the song a bit more complex. So I start to do some digging (YT, Forums) and went to an idea, that i can duplicate the whole track, keep the same vst on and just create a new sequence (clip), that later I moved back to a first track. 
I don't feel comfortable to keep 27 tracks just for drums as variety is something that I'm constantly paying attention to, so yeah... figured it out. 
Second duplicated track is in this case a workspace just to create new, richer clip as the song progress. That Track can be deleted as the clip is done. 
I don't understand how it was possible to create such advanced (and free) software as Cakewalk is and in the same time not develop a sequencer, so user can 
create new clips one after another by copy/paste and do some variations on the duplicate he just created. 
The clips in the track are behaving like they're grouped and locked, so every change to it is automatically copied to others. 

Or there is maybe something we all don't know? 

Edited March 13, 2023 by Tomek Jankowski

[sjoens]

Right click the new clip and select Unlink Step Sequencer Clips then edit.

[John Vere]

Cakewalk started life as a midi sequencer and audio multi tracking added later. For traditional music it is perfect with all the features of a million dollar studio at your beck and call. Let’s just politely say that it is all a musician needs to create music. 
Electronic Music has totally different requirements and programs like FL were designed from the ground up with that in mind. You don’t need to be a musician to create music with software that was designed with non musicians in mind. 
 

[abacab]

For making electronic music in Cakewalk, it would probably be a good idea to Google for the latest 3rd party sequencer plugins. There are quite a few modern options available. Most are paid products, but some are free.

The included Cakewalk Step Sequencer hasn't been maintained in years... probably not a priority for the majority of Cakewalk users. I find that and the Matrix View are awkward to work with.

[Base 57]

On 3/3/2023 at 9:03 AM, norfolkmastering said:

What am I doing wrong please?

As you have found, new Step Sequencer patterns always land in the 1st take lane. My workaround is to Shift+Drag any previous patterns to the 2nd take lane before adding new patterns. You can build as many layers as you wish this way.

[rsinger]

Another option is HW. Instruments like tr 808 or playing a moog with a sequencer isn't the same using a mouse or keyboard, although with quantization a person can probably get close with a keyboard. I picked up an SQ 64 last year while they were on sale. 

When I have some sequences I like I record them into CbB.

[OPunWide]

I have a (somewhat) related issue. I'm trying to fix the timing on a single beat in the Step Sequencer.

I just tried using the step sequencer instead of piano roll. Everything was working well until I... Well, not exactly sure what I did, but in the end a flam beat showed up as a single beat in the piano roll. It was the later of the two notes.

I've been able to edit it again in the Sequencer and turn flam on and off for the note, but it is always based on the late note. I've deleted the note, made a new one, but it always remembers the old location, which is delayed.

I'd like to move only that one note forward. I'm fairly sure I could unlink and do it in piano roll, but then I would lose all the the probability settings for the other notes.

I think I'm stuck but then I remembered this forum, so thought I'd give it a try.