Online Sequencer Forums

1.) Use the sequencer as much as you can.

Some people improve their technique more quickly than others, but chances are, you will suck in the first handful of sequences (unless you're an extremely trained musician).

At the end of the day, there's no true shortcut to getting better. It all comes from getting experience from making your own sequences, listening to others' sequences, listening to musicians outside of OS, etc.

Some of the most respected composers on this site have spent endless hours into the website, so if you want good results, you're going to need to put in the extra effort. The amount of time you put in the site will come to show.


2.) Focus on your own growth.

Refrain from comparing yourself to others in a negative light— telling yourself you can't do something will only hurt you. Be realistic about your goals and know what YOU want to achieve.


3.) Capitalize on your weaknesses as soon as possible.

There's no harm in improving what you're already good at, but if you know you can't do something, please spend some extra time on it, seriously.

Closing your eyes will not make percussion go away. Closing your eyes will not make people who use other instruments go away. These are the things you won't be able to run away from as you keep broadening your music skills.

The sooner you can get comfortable with percussion (or any other skill you're trying to avoid), the sooner it will come to you like second nature. Things take time and effort to accustom to.


4.) Get used to working with the worst.

If you're new to the website, you need to make do with what you have now. Online Sequencer rarely receives any major updates—and if it gets updated at all—these are to fix performance issues. Don't put your hopes on things like new instruments or increased ranges of existing instruments.

To compensate for the lack of content, OS users have coined many techniques to use existing content in a unique and meaningful way. My best advice is to study other users who practice things like instrument stacking, off-grid note placement, pseudo-sustain, the list goes on.


5.) Assume critique is true to an extent.

If certain things are pointed out in your sequence, please evaluate it as if some part of the comment is actually true. Unless the other person is clearly being unpleasant, critique isn't handed out for no reason.

Sometimes critique isn't delivered with the most elaborate set of instructions. At times like these, you have to figure out what will make your sequence sound better.



Please feel free to add on the list of general tips, these are just the major things I feel that I want to point for everyone using the site.

If you don't mind, I'd like to add a few extra points that are less about composing and more about the chat and forums in the site.

6.) Read the Online Sequencer Rules

It's much more often than it really should be that I see users who have just joined Online Sequencer, immediately start using the chat, and then end up breaking some rule that's clearly listed out in the Online Sequencer Rules. The list of rules isn't very large, and it's certainly better than being warned, muted, or even banned because you didn't know that you were breaking the rules.

7.) Your view count doesn't matter.

This is another thing I see people often times get stuck up on. Just because you don't have many views on your sequences doesn't mean you're a bad composer, and don't feel the need to constantly churn out new music or flood the chat with your sequences just to try and inflate this number.

Compose just because you like to do so and because you have a passion for what you're making. That is when you'll do and feel your best.

8.) No one is obligated to listen to your sequences.

I get it, posting your sequences to chat for thoughts and criticism can be really helpful sometimes, especially if you are having a writer's block and can't figure out how to continue or fix a problem in your piece. And yes, there will often be someone who will be willing to listen and try and give their advice, but sometimes there isn't. In those cases, all that re-sending the sequence in chat or commenting about how no one is listening to your piece will do is potentially make the others who are already having a conversation annoyed with you. If no one at the time wants to listen to your piece and you really want some helpful advice on it, just wait until later on when there are different people in the chat.

9.) Not everyone who is in the "In Chat:" list is actually present.

This one doesn't come up as nearly as often as the other points, but it's still worth noting. Often times, people might just have the chat open in the background or off to the side when composing, and they aren't really paying attention to the chat itself. Online Sequencer staff members might also be in the chat just simply to monitor it and make sure that nothing bad happens (or to deal with it quickly if something bad does happen).

In other words, if someone doesn't respond to your greeting, don't send another greeting to them in the chat or get upset about that fact that they didn't respond. Usually less than half of the people in the "In Chat:" list are actually actively in the chat.

10.) If you have a suggestion, someone has likely already suggested it before.

This is elaborating a bit more on point 4.), and as Lucent said, Online Sequencer doesn't get many major updates, and it's very rare that any suggestion actually becomes an update. In other words, if you have a suggestion you want to make, chances are, someone has already made that suggestion before, and another person asking for the same thing will not likely cause the suggestion to actually happen.

Some of the more frequent topics that are suggested include:

• Add new instruments.
  
• Increase the range of currently existing instruments.
  
• Add new notes to Online Sequencer (namely C8 and notes below C2).
  
• New time signatures.
  
• Custom instruments that can be uploaded by users.
  
• Make instruments sustain/have the length of their sounds reflected by the note length.
  
• Some kind of way to rate sequences (such as like/dislike buttons or on a 5-star scale).
  

You can also search the forums to see if the topic has already been suggested.

Anyway, that's all I have time for right now, hopefully you find it useful!

(03-12-2020, 02:29 PM)Kirbyderp Wrote: [ -> ]If you don't mind, I'd like to add a few extra points that are less about composing and more about the chat and forums in the site.

6.) Read the Online Sequencer Rules

It's much more often than it really should be that I see users who have just joined Online Sequencer, immediately start using the chat, and then end up breaking some rule that's clearly listed out in the Online Sequencer Rules. The list of rules isn't very large, and it's certainly better than being warned, muted, or even banned because you didn't know that you were breaking the rules.

7.) Your view count doesn't matter.

This is another thing I see people often times get stuck up on. Just because you don't have many views on your sequences doesn't mean you're a bad composer, and don't feel the need to constantly churn out new music or flood the chat with your sequences just to try and inflate this number.

Compose just because you like to do so and because you have a passion for what you're making. That is when you'll do and feel your best.

8.) No one is obligated to listen to your sequences.

I get it, posting your sequences to chat for thoughts and criticism can be really helpful sometimes, especially if you are having a writer's block and can't figure out how to continue or fix a problem in your piece. And yes, there will often be someone who will be willing to listen and try and give their advice, but sometimes there isn't. In those cases, all that re-sending the sequence in chat or commenting about how no one is listening to your piece will do is potentially make the others who are already having a conversation annoyed with you. If no one at the time wants to listen to your piece and you really want some helpful advice on it, just wait until later on when there are different people in the chat.

9.) Not everyone who is in the "In Chat:" list is actually present.

This one doesn't come up as nearly as often as the other points, but it's still worth noting. Often times, people might just have the chat open in the background or off to the side when composing, and they aren't really paying attention to the chat itself. Online Sequencer staff members might also be in the chat just simply to monitor it and make sure that nothing bad happens (or to deal with it quickly if something bad does happen).

In other words, if someone doesn't respond to your greeting, don't send another greeting to them in the chat or get upset about that fact that they didn't respond. Usually less than half of the people in the "In Chat:" list are actually actively in the chat.

10.) If you have a suggestion, someone has likely already suggested it before.

This is elaborating a bit more on point 4.), and as Lucent said, Online Sequencer doesn't get many major updates, and it's very rare that any suggestion actually becomes an update. In other words, if you have a suggestion you want to make, chances are, someone has already made that suggestion before, and another person asking for the same thing will not likely cause the suggestion to actually happen.

Some of the more frequent topics that are suggested include:

• Add new instruments.
  
• Increase the range of currently existing instruments.
  
• Add new notes to Online Sequencer (namely C8 and notes below C2).
  
• New time signatures.
  
• Custom instruments that can be uploaded by users.
  
• Make instruments sustain/have the length of their sounds reflected by the note length.
  
• Some kind of way to rate sequences (such as like/dislike buttons or on a 5-star scale).
  

You can also search the forums to see if the topic has already been suggested.

Anyway, that's all I have time for right now, hopefully you find it useful!

Another very popular suggestion is note bending, where you have notes gradually change from one note to another.

(07-15-2020, 04:55 PM)PixelRunner Wrote: [ -> ]Another very popular suggestion is note bending, where you have notes gradually change from one note to another.

sigh working on this

(03-12-2020, 10:25 AM)LucentTear Wrote: [ -> ]1.) Use the sequencer as much as you can.

Some people improve their technique more quickly than others, but chances are, you will suck in the first handful of sequences (unless you're an extremely trained musician).

At the end of the day, there's no true shortcut to getting better. It all comes from getting experience from making your own sequences, listening to others' sequences, listening to musicians outside of OS, etc.

Some of the most respected composers on this site have spent endless hours into the website, so if you want good results, you're going to need to put in the extra effort. The amount of time you put in the site will come to show.


2.) Focus on your own growth.

Refrain from comparing yourself to others in a negative light— telling yourself you can't do something will only hurt you. Be realistic about your goals and know what YOU want to achieve.


3.) Capitalize on your weaknesses as soon as possible.

There's no harm in improving what you're already good at, but if you know you can't do something, please spend some extra time on it, seriously.

Closing your eyes will not make percussion go away. Closing your eyes will not make people who use other instruments go away. These are the things you won't be able to run away from as you keep broadening your music skills.

The sooner you can get comfortable with percussion (or any other skill you're trying to avoid), the sooner it will come to you like second nature. Things take time and effort to accustom to.


4.) Get used to working with the worst.

If you're new to the website, you need to make do with what you have now. Online Sequencer rarely receives any major updates—and if it gets updated at all—these are to fix performance issues. Don't put your hopes on things like new instruments or increased ranges of existing instruments.

To compensate for the lack of content, OS users have coined many techniques to use existing content in a unique and meaningful way. My best advice is to study other users who practice things like instrument stacking, off-grid note placement, pseudo-sustain, the list goes on.


5.) Assume critique is true to an extent.

If certain things are pointed out in your sequence, please evaluate it as if some part of the comment is actually true. Unless the other person is clearly being unpleasant, critique isn't handed out for no reason.

Sometimes critique isn't delivered with the most elaborate set of instructions. At times like these, you have to figure out what will make your sequence sound better.



Please feel free to add on the list of general tips, these are just the major things I feel that I want to point for everyone using the site.

Wow, thx for the advice lucent

Great tips!!

This advice is good for any new member like me

Good advice. Thank you

(03-12-2020, 02:29 PM)Kirbyderp Wrote: [ -> ]In other words, if someone doesn't respond to your greeting, don't send another greeting to them in the chat or get upset about that fact that they didn't respond. Usually less than half of the people in the "In Chat:" list are actually actively in the chat.

This is happening to me lately that no one thinks I'm important to the community anyone.

Dude. Its literally because if no one responds to you, they might be busy so dont force them, just be patient.