Product Reviews

It's not often that we see a brand-new music-production application from a major software developer, and they don't come much bigger than Steinberg. The company is most famous for its Cubase range, with versions costing between £90 and £500, but Sequel is its first application designed from scratch for home users. Some elements of Sequel resemble Cubase, but it has more in common with Sony Acid Music and Apple GarageBand.

The interface fits into a single screen with tabs at the bottom for the mixer, effects, audio and MIDI editors and various other features. The Arrange Zone fills the central area and includes a streamlined set of tools for looping, arranging and truncating audio and MIDI clips. There are no options for fading objects in and out, but the channel's volume - or any other mix parameter - can be automated either by recording changes in real time or by drawing envelopes. New users will need the manual to get to grips with it, but Sequel's straightforward yet powerful automation is one of its best features.

Another strength is the bundled synthesizer sounds. Based on the excellent HALion One included with Cubase 4, it covers a vast range of acoustic simulations and synthetic sounds

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and, best of all, can be browsed by instrument type, musical style or sonic character. Sounds can be previewed with a MIDI keyboard before importing into a song and, once imported, tweaked with a small selection of synthesis options. The instrument browser also includes a large collection of samples and MIDI phrases, allowing those without a MIDI keyboard to build up tracks using a mouse.

The software is equipped with all the essential MIDI editing tools, including the means to edit pitch-bend and other data and quantise with variable swing. Audio recordings can be quantised too, or warped manually to create interesting new rhythms, although this feature is available only for homemade recordings and third-party samples and not the built-in sample library.

Sequel isn't short of impressive features, but there are a few weaknesses. There is a lack of support for VST plug-ins, so you are stuck with the bundled instruments and the pedestrian collection of effects. The software is generally beginner-friendly but some areas, such as assigning an audio driver or avoiding distorting the output, need better signposting. The paper and PDF manuals are well written, but there are gaps in what they cover. Some parts of the interface need improvement; dragging notes around in the MIDI editor is awkward, and it's not possible to switch off snapping to grid to move objects freely in the Arrange Zone.

The bottom line for music-production software is whether it encourages or hinders the creative process. The lack of VST support is a setback, but there are enough instruments, effects and other features with which to find inspiration and produce high-quality mixes. Sequel's self-contained, streamlined approach makes it easy to get set up and stuck in, and we quickly found ourselves having fun with it.