Looking for a working stand alone Sequencer

[A.O.S.]

Hi everyone!

I am looking for a good stand alone sequencer solution under Linux, but I didn't find it yet

My Problem is, that I want a simple and distraction free sequencer, where I can sketch some ideas and try them out with my preferred synthesizer.

Most of the sequencers which I tried have a lot of annoying bugs which are deal breakers for me or even lead to crashes where I can't test the functionality.

I am more a "matrix programmer" than a keyboard player or a classic componist, which means that entering sequences by hand should be comfortable and efficient.

The best solution I have found until today is Patroneo, but it seems that Patroneo can't be tansport master under jack and synchronize the midi clock among multiple synths. The timing is always off.

I already know Rosegarden and its "Matrix Style Editor", but I don't like the workflow. QMidiArp crashes when I try to create a sequence. Helio can't connect to an external Synth. A lot of Linux sequencers are not maintained anymore and won't work with modern Linux Distros like Arch. Sequencers like Qtractor are ideal for keyboard players but not for guys like me.

I may sound a little bit frustrated and yeah I am. Maybe a hardware sequencer is a better solution for me?

[autostatic]

Hello and welcome!

qseq66 maybe? https://github.com/ahlstromcj/seq66
And it's even in the AUR so should be easy to install for you.

[d.healey]

LMMS - https://lmms.io/

[Kott]

Hi everyone!
...
Helio can't connect to an external Synth.
...

Hi. It was fixed a couple days ago https://github.com/helio-fm/helio-sequencer/issues/291 and should be available in development builds.

[plonkarchivist]

Here are a few suggestions that might help you in your search:

Hydrogen:

Hydrogen is primarily a drum machine, but it has a pattern-based sequencer that may suit your needs.
It is relatively stable and straightforward.
Seq24:

Seq24 is a minimalistic sequencer with a matrix-style interface.
It's lightweight and can be controlled via MIDI, making it easy to integrate with your preferred synthesizer.
LMMS (Linux MultiMedia Studio):

LMMS is more than just a sequencer; it's a complete digital audio workstation (DAW).
It has a piano roll and a beat/bassline editor, allowing you to create sequences in a grid-like manner.
Ardour:

Ardour is a comprehensive DAW, but it also has MIDI sequencing capabilities.
It might have a steeper learning curve, but it's a powerful tool for music production.
Bitwig Studio:

While Bitwig Studio is not open-source, it is a professional-grade DAW with Linux support.
It has a modern interface and a flexible modular approach that might appeal to your workflow.
Hardware Sequencer:

If you find that software solutions are not meeting your needs, considering a dedicated hardware sequencer might be a good idea. Products like the Arturia Keystep Pro, Elektron Digitakt, or Squarp Pyramid are popular choices.
Before making a decision, it's always a good idea to check for updates and user reviews to ensure compatibility with your Linux distribution and to see if any of the issues you've encountered have been addressed in newer versions.

[Linuxmusician01]

Hi everyone!

I am looking for a good stand alone sequencer solution under Linux, but I didn't find it yet

My Problem is, that I want a simple and distraction free sequencer, where I can sketch some ideas and try them out with my preferred synthesizer.

Like somebody else said: Seq24. It's been around since the stone ages and can be installed in every Linux distro from the standard repo's. However, because of it's age the graphical user interface has a low resolution which results in a tiny application on a modern (high resolution) monitor. So buy reading glasses.

Most of the sequencers which I tried have a lot of annoying bugs which are deal breakers for me or even lead to crashes where I can't test the functionality.

I am more a "matrix programmer" than a keyboard player or a classic componist, which means that entering sequences by hand should be comfortable and efficient.

Well... You might look into Midish then, I'm still gathering courage - that is: waiting for a moment when i feel like it - to read the manual for a 3rd time to be able to write me a shell script, ha ha. I want it to take input from my Midi keyboard and output a sequence in the form of a quantized .mid file or use it in Midish itself. See this topic.

The best solution I have found until today is Patroneo, but it seems that Patroneo can't be tansport master under jack and synchronize the midi clock among multiple synths. The timing is always off.

I already know Rosegarden and its "Matrix Style Editor", but I don't like the workflow. QMidiArp crashes when I try to create a sequence. Helio can't connect to an external Synth. A lot of Linux sequencers are not maintained any-more and won't work with modern Linux Distros like Arch. Sequencers like Qtractor are ideal for keyboard players but not for guys like me.

I may sound a little bit frustrated and yeah I am. Maybe a hardware sequencer is a better solution for me?

Hmmmm. Qtractor has a piano roll, or is that not what you mean by you being a "matrix programmer"? One benefit of using/learning to use Qtractor: it's also a DAW. Saves you the trouble of learning two softwares if you decide to record your work...

Lastly, I have no experience w/ the other software that you mention, but if software crashes often on your computer: what distro you you use? And do you install software from the standard repo's? Do you have "extra" repo's activated like Kxstudio?

Have fun making music and using Linux!

[A.O.S.]

Thank you so much for your many answers!

The hottest candidate now is seq66, I still have to learn the details, but it seems pretty much that, what I wanted.

For those who recommend LMMS, I use it myself as an arranger, but I do not see how to use it comfortable as a sequencer. Could you elaborate how you use LMMS as a sequencer please?

Hi. It was fixed a couple days ago https://github.com/helio-fm/helio-sequencer/issues/291 and should be available in development builds.

Good to know that it is a bug in Helios. Thanks for the info!

I forgot to mention Hydrogen, I already used it, but it is primarily for drums and I need a universal sequencer.

Seq24 isn't maintained anymore and I am using a 34" UWQHD Monitor and its just uncomfortable to use in such cases.

I wanted to try midish out of curiosity, but it was too complicated just to set up the midi stuff. I want fast results and not finding out how I have to do something. I already have to do such stuff in my job and I don't want to do this again in my free time.

I don't want to use a full fledged DAW like Ardour, Bitwig Studio and so on, because its just too cluttered for my style of workflow and I want to go as DAWless as possible. But when it comes to hardware sequencers I am flabbergasted how expensive and unneccesarly limited these are.

Hmmmm. Qtractor has a piano roll, or is that not what you mean by you being a "matrix programmer"? One benefit of using/learning to use Qtractor: it's also a DAW. Saves you the trouble of learning two softwares if you decide to record your work...

Lastly, I have no experience w/ the other software that you mention, but if software crashes often on your computer: what distro you you use? And do you install software from the standard repo's? Do you have "extra" repo's activated like Kxstudio?

With matrix programmer I mean creating sequences in a more optical way. I look at a pattern grid and imagine how something sounds. I can read classic music notes, too. But for me the "looking at patterns" approach is the most creative and productive way. The presentation of the pattern can be a piano roll but not limited to it. I use Midinous as well, which is a quite fun and very experimental way to create music.

My computer is running rock stable. When something crashes then it is up to 98% a software fault. I am using Arch Linux.

[autostatic]

Seq24 isn't maintained anymore and I am using a 34" UWQHD Monitor and its just uncomfortable to use in such cases.

seq66 is a direct relative of seq24 but the with a lot of extra features that seq24 lacked. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's more stable too.

[jean-emmanuel]

I use seq192 whenever I don't need ardour (less features than seq66 though).

[A.O.S.]

seq66 is a direct relative of seq24 but the with a lot of extra features that seq24 lacked. And I wouldn't be surprised if it's more stable too.

I think that's why I ignored everything that starts with seq. I thought these forks are only minimal improvements.

I use seq192 whenever I don't need ardour (less features than seq66 though).

I'll take a look as well.

[Linuxmusician01]

I almost forgot about good 'ol midieditor. Also in every repo of every distro. I use it to make simple .mid files. Looks like this:

[edit, 1-2-2024] See replies below. It's unfortunately NOT in any distro's repo. Download from: http://www.midieditor.org/index.php?category=download

[nils]

The best solution I have found until today is Patroneo, but it seems that Patroneo can't be tansport master under jack and synchronize the midi clock among multiple synths. The timing is always off.

Patroneo Author here.
I am unware of this. In my tests Patroneo is used as jack transport master and works reliably. However, that doesn't mean much, just that I don't know yet where the problem is.
Can we maybe work together to remove the problem?

If you have a matrix account you can reach me (in German) under @nils:sonoj.org . I you don't have one join our server: https://chat.sonoj.org/

[KatS]

Late reply: Renoise could be worth trying.

It's a tracker-style sequencer, rather than the usual piano-roll, but it does suit a very visual/matrix-oriented approach. I use that to trigger samples, play MIDI virtual synths, and to control hardware drum machines, also via MIDI. The learning curve is a little steep to begin with, but that's true of most powerful tools.

[RyanH]

I almost forgot about good 'ol midieditor. Also in every repo of every distro. I use it to make simple .mid files. Looks like this:

Looks interesting, but Synaptic doesn't find it here on Ubuntu Studio.

[Linuxmusician01]

I almost forgot about good 'ol midieditor. Also in every repo of every distro. I use it to make simple .mid files. Looks like this:

Looks interesting, but Synaptic doesn't find it here on Ubuntu Studio.

You're absolutely right! I spent half an hour looking for the repo from which I must have installed it then. As it turns out I downloaded the .deb package (for Debian based systems like Ubuntu) from the website of the developer himself:

http://www.midieditor.org/index.php?category=download

So even though it's a pretty basic app, it's not in every distro's main repo like I said. Sorry! There is also a Windows version that even runs in Win XP so non-Debian linuxers might have luck running it in Wine (I most certainly don't recommend that for Win software that wants to access hardware). Sorry for the confusion.

You can also try to build it from (open!) source. It's dependencies seem "mild" (Qt and ALSA).

Good luck trying out Midieditor