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RITHM MUSIC · THEORY · MK·I
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Sequencer

Preset
Tutorial
Bars
1

Changing steps per bar resizes the grid; cells past the new length are dropped.

Click cells to toggle hits, swap each row's sound, add bars, then press Play. Spacebar starts and stops.

About the Sequencer

A step sequencer is one of the fastest ways to internalize rhythm. You program a loop step by step, hear it played back at exact tempo, and immediately notice what works and what does not. This page is also a primer on beats, subdivisions, and arranging multiple sounds into a groove.

Reading the Grid

Each row plays one sound, and each column is one step in the loop. With 16 steps per bar you get sixteenth-note resolution; with 12 you get a triplet feel; with 8 you get straight eighths. Add bars to extend the phrase up to four measures long.

The thicker dividers fall on every beat. Click any cell to toggle a hit, then press Play to hear the loop repeat at the chosen tempo.

Pick a Sound per Row

Each row has an instrument dropdown. Choose from the eight drum-kit pieces, the melodic synth or bass synth (each with a note picker), or one of the FX sounds (clap, cowbell, rim, shaker). Add a row with the button below the grid; remove a row with the × on its left.

Starter Exercises

  1. Basic backbeat. Kick on beats 1 and 3. Snare on beats 2 and 4. Closed hat on every odd-numbered step.
  2. Add a bass line. Set a row to Bass at C2 and place hits on the same steps as the kick.
  3. Melodic counterline. Swap a row to Melodic at G4 and place a single hit on the & of beat 2.
  4. Triplet feel. Switch steps per bar to 12 and program shuffled hats.

Tip: Mute individual rows while you build the groove. Listening to just kick and bass lets you check the foundation before piling on hats and melody.

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