Steinberg Sequel 3 Manual

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Effects reference 
						

							92
Effects reference
Introduction
This chapter describes the effects and instruments in-
cluded with Sequel. How to use these is described in the 
section “The Track Inspector page” on page 58.
Track/Global Effects
Delay Effects
PingPongDelay
As the name implies, PingPongdelay creates a bouncing ef-
fect. This will bounce the signal between the left and right.
“SyncNote” allows you to sync the bouncing effect to the 
tempo. “Feedback” determines how long the delay will 
last. Using the “Spatial” parameter you can increase the 
distance between the bounces. This sounds great on so-
los. The “Mix” parameter decides how much original signal 
you hear versus the affected signal.
StereoDelay
StereoDelay is great for giving your tracks a sense of 
space. It includes two delays. One for the left channel and 
one for the right channel. “SyncNote” allows you to sync 
the delay effect to the tempo. “Feedback” determines how 
long the delay will last. The “Mix” parameter decides how 
much original signal you hear versus the affected signal.
Distortion Effects
AmpSimulator
The AmpSimulator allows you to make it sound like your 
tracks were recorded through an electric guitar or bass 
amplifier.
“Drive” gives a boost to the signal and simulates an over-
drive pedal. “Bass” adds low end to the signal. “Mid” 
boosts the middle frequencies of the signal. “Treble” adds 
high end to the signal. “Volume” allows you to give that ex-
tra boost to the signal without adding any distortion.
There are a number of AmpSimulator presets available. 
Try out the different presets to find the desired amp sound.
Distortion
Distortion is great for adding crunch to your tracks. This ef-
fect is easy to use with only two parameters, but it is ex-
tremely effective. “Boost” cranks up the distortion amount. 
“Output” raises or lowers the signal going out of the effect.
Dynamics Effects
Gate
Gate, as the name implies, allows you to create a “gate” 
which will let only audio through if it meets a volume re-
quirement that you control. “Threshold” sets the volume 
level that the signal has to reach in order to be heard. “Re-
lease” controls how quickly the “gate” will close after it 
has been opened.
Maximizer
Maximizers are commonly used in the mastering stage to 
raise the overall level of the mix. The Optimize setting 
raises the level of your tracks without clipping the output. 
Turning this up all the way creates a “brick wall” type ef-
fect that is often used on drum tracks in electronic music.
DualFilter
This effect filters out certain frequencies while allowing oth-
ers to pass through. Moving the Position slider changes the 
focus frequency of the filter. If the position is higher, only 
high frequencies are heard. If the position is lower, only low 
frequencies are heard. “Resonance” adds a ringing effect 
to the filtered sound.
Modulation Effects
AutoPan
AutoPan automatically moves the track’s signal from left to 
right and back again. “Rate” determines how quickly the 
signal moves back and forth. “Width” adjusts how far to 
the left and right the signal will go.
Chorus
Chorus works by doubling whatever is sent into it with a 
slightly detuned version. “Rate” changes the speed of the 
chorus effect. “Width” adjusts how much the signal is de-
tuned. The “Mix” parameter decides how much original 
signal you hear versus the affected signal. 
						

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Effects reference
Flanger
Flanger works like the Chorus effect in that it doubles the 
input signal. Instead of detuning it, it delays it slightly by a 
gradually changing amount. The “Rate” parameter adjusts 
the speed of the effect. “Feedback” determines the inten-
sity of the typical Flanger sweep. The “Mix” parameter de-
cides how much original signal you hear versus the 
affected signal.
Phaser
The Phaser effect works by applying multiple filters to the 
signal. “Rate” determines the speed of the effect. “Feed-
back” determines the intensity of the typical Phaser sweep. 
The “Mix” parameter decides how much original signal you 
hear versus the affected signal.
Rotary
Rotary emulates a rotating speaker, which is a popular ef-
fect for electronic organ sounds, but also works great for 
guitar. The “Speed” parameter adjusts the speed of the 
rotation. 
Tremolo
Tremolo works by creating a repetitive variation of gain. It’s 
sort of like an auto-volume knob. “Rate” determines the 
speed of the gain adjustments. “Depth” determines how 
wide the variation in gain will be.
Vibrato
Vibrato works by rapidly creating a slight change in pitch. 
It’s the same idea as playing a note on a guitar and wiggling 
your finger back and forth within the fret. “Rate” changes 
the speed of the effect. “Depth” determines how wide the 
variation in pitch will be.
Other Effects
Reverb
Reverb is a reverb effect. Reverb allows you make it sound 
like your music was recorded in a large hall or cathedral. 
The “Mix” parameter decides how much original signal you 
hear versus the affected signal. “Time” determines the 
length of the reverb, thus creating a sense of space.
Stereo Enhancer
Stereo Enhancer allows you to spread out your project’s 
stereo image. This can create a greater sense of space for 
crowded mixes. “Width” determines how wide the image 
will be spread.
Instrument parameters
In the following table, the most common instrument pa-
rameters are listed.
ÖNote, however, that some of the preset sounds may 
show different parameters. The sheer amount of preset 
sounds makes it impossible to describe all the available 
parameters.
Option Description
Cutoff This determines the cutoff frequency of the signal.
Resonance Resonance adds a ringing type effect to the signal
DCF Amount DCF amount determines how much filtering is applied to 
each note.
Attack Attack adjusts how quickly you hear the initial hit of a 
note.
DCA Decay DCA decay adjusts how each note will fade out.
DCA Sustain DCA Sustain determines how long you hear a note while 
is it being played.
DCA Release DCA Release determines how long a note is held for 
once it has been released.
DCA Amount DCA Amount is the amount of the DCA envelope.
Drive Drive gives a signal boost making the signal louder.
LFO Frequency LFO stands for “low frequency oscillation”. LFOs are 
used to modulate and change a signal. This controls the 
frequency that the LFO will operate on.
LFO Level This raises or lowers the volume of the LFO.
FX If the instrument has a certain effect built into it, the FX 
parameter controls how much this effect is heard. 
						

							Index 
						

							95
Index
A
Activated Step Input 69
Activating
Sequel 9
Add new track 42
Add Track 41
Adding an audio track 13
Adding Automation 31
Advanced Features
About 74
Amount fader 61
AmpSimulator 92
Arpeggiator 58
Arrange Zone 48, 49
Arranger page
About 70
Arranger parts 35
Arranging
About 35
Chain Play Mode 36
Live Mode 35
ASIO driver 82
Audio
Connecting 83
Audio Driver
Selecting 84
Audio Editor
About 65
Audio hardware
About 81
Mac 82
Settings 84
Audio quantization and warp 75
Audio Settings 72
Auto Quantize 72
Automatic Fades 50
Automation
Edit/Write 42
Show 42
AutoPan 92
C
CD player
Recording 84
Chain Play 71
Channel
Level and Pan 57Channels
About 57
Chorder 58
Chorus 92
Color
Setting 57
Computer Usage indicator 46
Controller Lane
About 69
Controller lane
About 25
Copy 41
Creating a new project 12
Cut 41
Cycle mode
About 45
D
Defragmenting
Hard disk 81
Delete 41
Media 63
DirectX 82
Distortion 92
Drawing
Notes and events 24
Driver
ASIO 82
DirectX 82
Installing 82
Mac OS X 82
Selecting 84
Drivers
About 82
DualFilter 92
Duplicate 41
E
Edit
Add Track 41
Button/menu 40
Copy 41
Cut 41
Delete 41
Duplicate 41
Paste 41Redo 41
Remove selected tracks 41
Select None 41
Split at cursor 41
Undo 41
Edit menu 38
Edit/Write Automation 42
Editing
Instrument parts 23
Editor
Audio 23
Instrument parts 23
Editor page
About 65
Effects
About 92
AmpSimulator 92
Audio 29
AutoPan 92
Chorus 92
Distortion 92
DualFilter 92
Flanger 93
Gate 92
Maximizer 92
Phaser 93
PingPongDelay 92
Reverb 93
Rotary 93
StereoDelay 92
StereoEnhancer 93
Tremolo 93
Vibrato 93
EQ
Adding 28
Bypass 61
Frequency 60
Gain 60
Presets 61
Width 60
Equalizers
About 60
Event Effects
About 58 
						

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Index
Events
Mute 53
Repeat 53
Resize 54
Split 54
Export
Project to iTunes 40
Export Project as Audio File 40
Export to iTunes 40
F
Family 63
File
Button/menu 39
File menu 38
Flanger 93
G
Gate 92
Global Effects 30
About 61
Grid 52
Grid Snap Status
About 44
H
Hard Disk
Defragmenting 81
Hardware
About 81
Installing 82
History Menu 71
I
Input Selection 51
Installation
About 9
Instrument parts
Editing 23
Instruments
Parameters 93
iTunes
Export project to iTunes 40
K
Key commands 88
About 89
Conventions 7Edit 89
File 89
Navigate 89
Project 89
Transport 90
Zoom 89
Key Editor
About 23, 68
L
Latency
Optimizing processor scheduling
(Windows) 87
Live Pads 70
Locate
Locate Previous/Next Marker 45
M
Mac OS X
Audio Drivers 82
Audio hardware 82
Requirements 9
Manage Projects 39
Manual Adjust Beats 76
Audio events 67
Marker
Locate 45
Master Channel
About 58
Maximizer 92
Media attributes 64
Media Bay page
About 62
Metronome
About 46
Settings 72
MIDI
Installing a MIDI interface 81
Requirements 81
Setup 86
Minimum requirements 9
Mixer page
About 56
Mixing 27
Monitoring
About 85
Multi Zone 55, 56
Multi-channel 83Mute 50
Events 53
N
New Project 42
Nudge 69
Number of Bars 67
O
One button record 79
Open Project 42
Options 72
Output Effects 31
About 61
Output Selector 72
P
Pad
Assignment 70
Name 70
Pan 51
Adjust 51
Panel Color 72
Paste 41
Pencil tool 24
Perform Quantize 68
Performance
Optimizing audio 86
Phaser 93
Pilot Zone 37
About 38
Pilot Zone display 46
PingPongDelay 92
Play
Button 45
POS 46, 47
Previewing Media 64
Program Registration 9
Program Settings page
About 71
Project 40
Creating 12
Manage 39
New 39, 42
Open 39, 42
Recent 40
Save 39, 42
Save as 39 
						

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Index
Project Location 72
Project Root key 47
Project Tempo display 46
Q
Quantize
Instrument parts 68
Quit 40
R
Recent Projects 40
Record
Button 45
Record Format 72
Record Ready 50
Recording
CD player 84
Levels and inputs 84
One button record 79
Recording audio
About 12
Redo 41
Registration
About 9
Rehearsal mode 47
Remove Selected Tracks 41
Renaming tracks 49
Repeat
Events 53
Requirements 9
Mac OS X 9
MIDI 81
Windows 9
Reset
Arranger parts 71
Reset Beats 67
Reset Filters 64
Resize
Arrange Zone 49
Events 54
Multi Zone 56
Reverb 93
Root Key 69
Audio 67
Display 47
Rotary 93
Ruler Zone 43
S
Sample Editor
About 65
Save as
Project 39
Save Project 42
Scrolling 53
Searching
Media Files 62
Select
None 41
Selecting tracks 49
Sequel menu (Mac OS X)
About 38
Sequel Projects 72
Settings
Audio hardware 84
Setup
Audio 83
General notes on how to set up
your system 81
MIDI 86
Show Automation 42
Show Tips 72
Silence
Adding 65, 74
Smart Tool 53
Smart Transpose 77
Song Position display 46
Split
Events 54
Split at cursor 41
Start-up Action 72
Step Input 69
StereoDelay 92
StereoEnhancer 93
Stretch Mode 66
Swing
Audio Events 67
Instrument parts 69
System setup 80
T
T.SIGN 47
TEMPO 46
Tempo display 46
Time Signature display 47Track
About 49
Automation 51
Height 50
Numbering 49
Renaming 49
Selecting 49
Volume and Pan 51
Track Effects 29
About 59
Track Inspector page
About 58
Instrument tab 59
Track Meter 51
Track numbering 49
Transport Controls 44
Transpose lock
Audio Events 66
Instrument parts 68
Tremolo 93
Triplets On 68
Tuner
About 44
Tuning 15
U
Undo 41
User Content Location 72
User Interface 72
V
Vibrato 93
Volume 51
Adjust 51
W
Windows requirements 9
Z
Zoom 52