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Welcome to the Online Sequencer Wiki, a guide designed to help navigate and use Online Sequencer (OS)

Overview

Online Sequencer is a web-based music sequencer that allows users to create music, or "sequences", which can be saved online, or locally as sequence files, MIDIs, or audio files such as MP3 and WAV. The piano roll is essential to the sequencer, which is on the left of the screen, with 72 notes from C2-B7 (labelled differently from a piano, C2 on the sequencer corresponds to C1 on a piano). In addition to several parameters which can be modified to change the sound of the music, additional functionality can be accessed via the console.

Upon opening the site, users can begin composing and "drawing" notes on the grid, with the default instrument being Electric Piano. By default, a sequence's time signature is set to 4/4, and the grid spacing is set to 1/4 (16 notes per measure). The note lengths can be adjusted by dragging the dark tab on the right of each note, and precision can be afforded by changing the 'Grid' option to other note divisions.

History

Online Sequencer was created in January 2013 by Jacob Morgan during a break at Georgia Tech.

In November 2014, accounts were available but were separate from the music portion of the site. They were only used to operate the Online Sequencer Forum.

In 2015, accounts were linked to the main website and allowed songs to be saved under someone's username.

The World Update in 2018 added several new instruments and changed the landscape of sound design on the site.

Features

Within the editor, numerous user interface features allow for various changes which will impact the individual sequence on that page.

Basic features

UI features include:

• Tempo (10-999 BPM)
• Measure count or Time count (MM: SS.ssss)
• Time signature (2/4, 3/4, 4/4, 5/4)
• Grid size (This correlates to note divisions; 1/16, 1/12, 1/8, 1/6, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2)
• Auto Scroll (Fast, Smooth, Off; how the sequencer displays measures off-screen as a sequence plays)
• Add an Audio Track (This won't be saved to the sequence but will play alongside it for ease of transcription)
• Title input
• Draw, select, and erase
• Instrument dropdown, instrument options, and select instrument (only select all notes of the current instrument)
• Select all, Cut, Copy, and Paste
• Zoom options
• Export options
• Help
• Fullscreen
• Tooltips

Advanced features

Main article: Instrument Options

Users can access more advanced features for use in their sequences by clicking the advanced tab on the instrument they wish to change. This menu contains options to change volume, panning, detune (-1200 to +1200), reverb, distortion, and an equalizer. This array lets users configure specific instruments to create specific sounds, and textures, or to accompany other instruments as a layer or development of the original sound.

OS also allows for commands to be entered in the browser console to manipulate different options in specific ways, such as setting custom to detune values (0-infinity), custom grid sizes, note divisions, and sequence ID amongst other things. These options bring OS closer to that of classic Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) but are still limited in terms of accessibility and availability.

Console Commands

Main article: Console Commands

Browser Support

Online Sequencer is supported by Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Brave. Firefox is partially supported, but with limited functionality and various bugs. Other browsers, such as Safari and Internet Explorer, are not supported and may not load. Mobile browsers are supported too but are only able to play sequences. Editing on mobile browsers, however, is not supported.