Step sequencer

The piano roll’s Step Sequencer tab lets you focus on a single bar at a time, even on long clips. It is well suited to drum, bass, and arpeggio patterns where you want to think in steps.

Layout

The tab is split into two rows.

Row	Contents
Top	A minimap of the whole clip, showing every bar
Bottom	The current bar rendered as a piano roll, expanded to fill the width

Switching bars

Action	Result
Click a bar in the minimap	Jump to that bar
< / > buttons in the top row	Move to the previous / next bar
Bar n / N in the top-right of the minimap	Current position indicator

Placing notes

The bottom row supports the same gestures as the regular piano roll.

• Click an empty cell to add a note
• Drag to move or resize
• Set the grid field to 16 for a 16-step pattern, 8 for 8 steps, etc. — pick whatever resolution you want
• The pitch range is auto-adjusted to a comfortable height

Differences from the piano roll

• Width is always one bar; use < / > to see the next bar
• The note data is shared with the piano roll — switching tabs shows the same notes
• Notes that span across bars are easiest to see in the minimap; edit them from the bar where they start

Tips for drum programming

• Set grid to 16 and program in 16-step style
• If you want labels per row, use the piano roll’s key labels feature to assign “Kick”, “Snare”, etc. for visibility
• To duplicate a pattern across multiple bars, go back to the timeline and use Cmd/Ctrl + D or the Stamp tool (Edit clips)

Related

• Piano roll — edit the same notes in the regular view
• Edit clips — duplicate, slice, and stamp clips
• Coding Note Effect — automate step patterns with code