Chapter 7
Step sequencer
64 steps a track, the NOTES piano roll, parameter locks, micro timing and fills.
In this chapter · 8
How the sequencer works
Each of the four tracks runs its own pattern of up to 64 steps. Length (1–64 steps) and division (from 1/32 of a bar up to two bars a step) are set per track, so a 12-step bass line can loop against a 16-step beat. Every track keeps cycling on its own length while staying locked to the same clock — polymeters with no extra setup.
What a step can hold
- A synth step
- Up to four notes at once (a chord) with a level and a ratchet — or a tie that carries the previous note on, or a rest. It can also carry an accent and a slide.
- A drum step
- Any combination of the kit’s 16 sounds, each hit with its own level and ratchet.
- On any step
- A Nudge: micro timing off the grid, Parameter locks and a fill condition.
Three ways to put steps in
| Way | How | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Live | Press REC and play; notes land on the nearest step. See How recording works. | Capturing a groove as you feel it |
| SEQ layer | Hold SEQ: the white keys are 16 steps. Works on every track. See The SEQ layer: steps under your fingers. | Beats, quick fixes and per-step tweaks |
| NOTES page | Tap SEQ on a synth track for a piano roll. See The NOTES page: a piano roll for synth tracks. | Writing and editing melodies, chords and note lengths |
From the community
SLOOP 2.8 Completely Changes How You Sequence on the FM-1
PhilipsKnobs
A first look on 2.8’s release day: building a loop from scratch with the new piano-roll sequencer — note lengths, chords and drum patterns.
The SEQ layer: steps under your fingers
While you hold SEQ, the 16 white keys stand for the 16 steps of the page you are on, and the lit ones are steps that play. It works the same on every track, drums included.
Set, clear and shape a step
- Decide what a new step will hold. On the drum track that is the sound on screen — choose it with KNOB 1 or simply hit its pad first. On a synth track it is the last note or chord you played, on the FM-1’s keys or on a MIDI keyboard.
- Hold SEQ and tap an empty step. It is set at once.
- Tap a step that is already set to clear it. Its nudge, locks and fill condition go with it.
- To change a step rather than clear it, hold it and turn a knob. A step you have edited stays when you let go — only a plain tap clears.
- Hold several step keys together and the knobs edit all of them at once.
Knobs with a step held
| Knob | Drum track | Synth tracks |
|---|---|---|
| KNOB 1 | Chooses which of the step’s sounds the level and ratchet knobs act on | Moves the step’s note; a chord moves as one |
| KNOB 2 | LEVEL: ghost, soft, norm or hard | VEL, the step’s velocity 1–127, for all its notes; setting it removes an accent |
| KNOB 3 | RATCHET, ×1–×4 | RATCHET, ×1–×4 |
| KNOB 4 | NUDGE — see Nudge: micro timing | NUDGE — see Nudge: micro timing |
SOUND / NOTE
Drums: which of the step’s sounds the next two knobs edit. Synths: the step’s note, a chord moving as one.
KNOB 1
With no step held, the knobs set up the track instead: what a new step gets, then its DIV, its swing and its length. The same length, division and swing live on the The PATTERN page: length, division, swing and gate.
SOUND / NOTE
The drum sound or synth note a new step is set with. A drum sound is heard only with DRUM PREVIEW on.
KNOB 1
A track longer than 16 steps has up to four pages: steps 1–16, 17–32, 33–48 and 49–64, as far as its length goes. With no step held, turn pages with OCT- and OCT+, or jump straight to one with the first four black keys on a synth track. On the drum track only the octave buttons turn pages (since 2.7.1): its black keys pick the sound you are placing, silently, just as on the DRUMS grid — F#3 for KICK and KICK 2 up to F#5 for COWBELL, the same key again for the other sound of its pair. Lock the layer open with HOME (Locking a layer open) and one hand chooses sounds on the black keys while the other places their steps on the white ones.
Holding a step also gives you Parameter locks on PRESETS and ALGORITHM, and its fill condition on OCT+.
Key combinations
- SEQ + STEP
- Sets an empty step at once, or clears a set step with its nudge, locks and fill condition.
- SEQ + STEP + STEP
- Holds several steps so the knobs edit them together.
- SEQ + OCT- / OCT+
- Turns to the previous or next page of steps.
- SEQ + F#3 / G#3 / A#3 / C#4
- Jumps to steps 1–16, 17–32, 33–48 or 49–64.On a synth track
- SEQ + BLACK KEY
- Picks the sound the steps are for, without playing it.On the drum track
- SEQ + KNOB 1
- Chooses the drum sound or the synth note a new step gets.
- SEQ + KNOB 2
- Sets the track’s step division, DIV.
- SEQ + KNOB 3
- Sets the track’s own swing.
- SEQ + KNOB 4
- Sets the track’s length, 1–64 steps.
- SEQ + STEP + KNOB 1
- Picks which sound of a drum step to edit, or moves a synth step’s note.
- SEQ + STEP + KNOB 2
- Sets a drum hit’s LEVEL or a synth step’s VEL.
- SEQ + STEP + KNOB 3
- Sets the step’s ratchet, ×1–×4.
- SEQ + STEP + OCT-
- Resets the step’s nudge, locks and fill condition.
The NOTES page: a piano roll for synth tracks
On a synth track, tapping SEQ opens NOTES: the pattern drawn as a piano roll. Each note is a bar as long as it lasts, the beats are ruled, the C rows are named down the left and the playhead is a line. The note you are editing is outlined in white with its name above it. Fill shows FORCE — GHOST dark, SOFT hollow, NORM and HARD solid, and an accent (ACC) as a white cap — and a slide is a dash running to the next note.
Write a line step by step
- Select a synth track and tap SEQ.
- Play a note, or several together: what you hold becomes the step under edit. A POLY sound keeps up to four notes; a MONO, LEG or UNI sound keeps the last one. In Chord mode: a chord under every finger one key writes its whole chord, CHORD+: the black keys change the chord changes included.
- Let go of every key. The editor moves on to the next step, ready for the next note.
- Go back with KNOB 1 to any note to change its pitch, length or force.
NOTE
Moves from note to note, a chord’s notes one at a time, then to the next step.
KNOB 1
The knobs in detail
- KNOB 1
NOTEwalks from note to note — a chord’s notes one at a time — then on to the next step, empty ones included so you can fill them. Ties belong to a note’s length, so it doesn’t stop on them. - KNOB 2
PITCHchanges only the picked note; the rest of a chord stays put. On an empty step it writes your last note. - KNOB 3
LENsets how many steps the note lasts. Lengthening turns the following steps into ties; shortening turns its last ties back into rests. On a POLY track (since 2.8.3) a long note runs on underneath later notes, each keeping its own length — a held bass under a moving melody. - KNOB 4
FORCEsteps throughGHOST,SOFT,NORM,HARDandACC. The accent belongs to the whole step, so a chord takes it together.
When LEN stops
| Message | Why |
|---|---|
END OF PATTERN | The note already reaches the last step. |
NOTE AHEAD | The same pitch plays again further on, or a later step has ratchets or a slide. |
STEP FULL: 4 NOTES | A step it would run under already holds four notes. |
MONO: SET VOICE POLY | The sound is MONO, LEGATO or UNISON and plays one note at a time. Set VCE to POLY on the VOICE page (Polyphony and voice modes). |
Other controls
- PRESETS zooms the roll to 8, 16, 32 or 64 steps. It opens at 16 and always shows the stretch with the note under edit.
- A tap on EDIT deletes the note under edit; in a chord the other notes stay.
- OCT- and OCT+ tapped shift the keys’ octave as usual. Held, OCT+ opens the The step sheet: slide, nudge, fill, move, copy, delete.
- A MIDI keyboard writes steps too: the notes it plays together on the selected track’s channel become the step. If its channel belongs to another track, the screen says
MIDI PLAYS TRACK nwhile stopped (MIDI channels and the MIDI 2 page). - Undo and redo work on every edit here (Undo, clear and start again).
Key combinations
- Tap SEQ
- Opens the NOTES page, the pattern as a piano roll.On a synth track
- Turn PRESETS
- Zooms between 8, 16, 32 and 64 steps.On the NOTES page
- Tap EDIT
- Deletes the note under edit.On the NOTES page
From the community
SLOOP 2.8 Completely Changes How You Sequence on the FM-1
PhilipsKnobs
A first look on 2.8’s release day: building a loop from scratch with the new piano-roll sequencer — note lengths, chords and drum patterns.
The step sheet: slide, nudge, fill, move, copy, delete
Hold OCT+ for about 0.4 s on the The NOTES page: a piano roll for synth tracks and a sheet of tools opens for the note under edit. Since 2.8.1 it sits in a narrow band at the foot of the screen, leaving the piano roll visible, and it reopens on whichever row you used last — handy when you are moving one note after another.
Driving the sheet
- KNOB 1 picks a row.
- KNOB 2 changes the row’s value.
- OCT+ carries out the row’s action.
- OCT- closes the sheet.
The rows on the NOTES page
| Row | What it does |
|---|---|
SLIDE | Glides into the next note, ON or OFF. OCT+ flips it too. |
NUDGE | The step’s micro timing, −32 to +31. See Nudge: micro timing. |
FILL | The step’s condition: NORMAL, fill only or NO FILL. See Fill conditions. |
MOVE | KNOB 2 shifts the note one step a detent, taking its ties, nudge, fill and locks along. It won’t land on another note: NO ROOM. |
COPY | OCT+ drops a copy just after the note and picks it; then use MOVE to place it. |
DELETE | OCT+ removes the note. |
The The DRUMS screen grid has the same sheet. Pick a sound with KNOB 1 and a step with KNOB 2, then hold OCT+: the sheet opens for that hit. RATCHET (×1–×4) takes the place of SLIDE. NUDGE and FILL act on the whole step, every sound in it; MOVE shifts the hit with KNOB 2; COPY puts a copy on the next step; DELETE removes it. OCT- closes the sheet, and a quick tap of OCT+ still turns the page of steps.
Key combinations
- Hold OCT+
- Opens the sheet for the note under edit.On the NOTES page
- Hold OCT+
- Opens the sheet for the hit picked with KNOB 1 and KNOB 2.On the DRUMS grid
- Turn KNOB 1
- Picks a row of the sheet.With the step sheet open
- Turn KNOB 2
- Sets the row’s value, or moves the note on the MOVE row.With the step sheet open
- Tap OCT+
- Carries out the row: flips SLIDE, makes a COPY or DELETEs.With the step sheet open
- Tap OCT-
- Closes the sheet.With the step sheet open
From the community
SLOOP 2.8 Completely Changes How You Sequence on the FM-1
PhilipsKnobs
A first look on 2.8’s release day: building a loop from scratch with the new piano-roll sequencer — note lengths, chords and drum patterns.
The PATTERN page: length, division, swing and gate
Four settings belong to the selected track’s pattern as a whole. On a synth track, tap SEQ for the NOTES page and tap it again for PATTERN — its title reads PATTERN 2/2, and SELECT walks between the two. Tap SEQ once more and the SONG screen opens, a screen of its own rather than a third page (The SONG screen).
LENLength
How many steps the track plays before it loops.
KNOB 1Range 1–64 steps
The divisions
- 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32
- Straight steps.
1/16is the default — 16 steps make one bar. - 8T, 16T
- Triplet steps: eighth-note and sixteenth-note triplets.
- 1/2, 1BAR, 2BAR
- Long steps of half a bar, a bar or two bars. A 64-step track at
2BARlasts 128 bars — room for drones, slow chord changes or a whole slow song.
You can reach length, division and swing without leaving the page you are on: hold SEQ and turn KNOB 4, KNOB 2 or KNOB 3 (The SEQ layer: steps under your fingers). SWG is this track’s own swing; the global swing is a separate setting (Metronome, tempo and swing). GATE, how long each note sounds, has no shortcut in the layer — but it can be set per step with a parameter lock.
Key combinations
- Tap SEQ
- Opens the PATTERN page.On the NOTES page
Nudge: micro timing
Nudge moves a single step off the grid. Hold SEQ, hold the step and turn KNOB 4: the value runs from −32 to +31, in units of 1/64 of a step. Below zero the step plays early, reaching back into the previous step; above zero it plays late.
Key combinations
- SEQ + STEP + KNOB 4
- Nudges the step early or late, −32 to +31 in 1/64 of a step.
What moves and what doesn’t
- The step’s ratchets travel with it.
- Recording and swing stay on the grid; the nudge is an offset on top.
- A drum step is nudged as a whole: every sound on it shifts together, so one hit can’t be pulled away from the others on that step.
- Nudged steps are marked with a small corner dot on their tile, the same mark a lock gets. SEQ + STEP + OCT- puts it back on the grid (The SEQ layer: steps under your fingers).
- The The step sheet: slide, nudge, fill, move, copy, delete has a
NUDGErow too, on the NOTES page and the DRUMS grid.
You don’t have to nudge by hand. Record with QUANT off on the REC screen and every note still goes to its nearest step, but how far off the grid you played is kept as that step’s nudge — about 2 ms a unit at 120 BPM in 1/16 (Keeping your own timing (QUANT off)). A step has a single nudge, set by the first note recorded into it.
Parameter locks
A lock gives one parameter a different value on one step only, Elektron style: the filter opens for a single hit, or the last beat of the bar gets a splash of extra reverb. The rest of the pattern plays with the track’s normal value.
Make a lock
- Choose what to lock by turning it on its page — the delay send on the FX page, say, or
RATEon the LFO page. The last sound knob you turned becomes the lock parameter; until you turn one, it isFLTon the ENV DEST page. - Hold SEQ, then hold the step.
- Turn PRESETS. The first click creates the lock one click away from the track’s value; every click after that moves it further. The title line shows what you are doing —
lock dst 14, orlock flt --while there is no lock yet. - To lock something else on the same step, keep holding it and turn ALGORITHM: it steps through the other parameters, wrapping round at the end.
Key combinations
- SEQ + STEP + PRESETS
- Creates a parameter lock on the step, then changes its value.
- SEQ + STEP + ALGORITHM
- Chooses which parameter the lock is on.
What can be locked
- Lockable
- The track’s sound parameters — on the ENV, LFO, FX, EDIT and VOICE pages, for example, including the track filter and the INSERT values — plus
GATEon the PATTERN page. NOT LOCKABLE- The arpeggiator, key, scale and chord,
STRUMandVLEAD, the voice mode,MUTE,LEN,DIVandSWG, and every global page. NO LOCK LEFT- All 24 locks of the track are in use. Each step can carry several locks, one per parameter.
How locks behave
- When the playhead reaches a step with no lock on that parameter, the value snaps back to the track’s own setting, and notes that are still sounding pick up the change.
- Turn the parameter’s own knob while a lock is playing and your turn wins: that value becomes the new base.
- A locked step shows a dot on its tile, the same as a nudged one. SEQ + STEP + OCT- clears its locks together with its nudge and fill condition.
- A step skipped by its fill condition skips its locks too.
- Locks are saved with the project and appear in the web editor’s step detail (The editor’s pages).
Fill conditions
Every step has a condition that decides whether it plays while a fill is on. Hold SEQ, hold the step and tap OCT+ to cycle it: normal, then FILL ONLY, then NO FILL, then back to normal.
Key combinations
- SEQ + STEP + OCT+
- Cycles the step’s fill condition: normal, FILL ONLY, NO FILL.
| Condition | On the tile | The step plays |
|---|---|---|
| normal | no mark | Every time |
FILL ONLY | a small F, top left | Only while a fill is on |
NO FILL | a ×, top left | Every time except during a fill |
You call a fill from the GLO layer: GLO + KEY 9 gives a fill that lasts as long as you hold the key, and GLO + KEY 10 makes the whole next bar a fill (Mutes, solos, fills and tap tempo). The fill and bar tiles light while they act, and stopping the transport ends any fill.
A beat with a fill built in
- Program the groove you want to hear most of the time.
- Add the extras — a snare roll, a crash, pickup notes on a synth — and set each of those steps to
FILL ONLY. They stay silent for now. - Set the main hat steps to
NO FILL, so they drop out and make room when the fill comes. - Play the loop and call a fill with GLO near the end of a bar: one finger swaps the groove for the fill and back.
Good to know
- A skipped step is wholly silent: no note, no MIDI, no ratchet and no lock — the parameter sits at its base value. The pattern carries on in time.
- On the drum track the condition belongs to the whole step, every sound in it. Give fill-only hits steps of their own.
- The arpeggiator and Note repeat rolls ignore fills.
- The The step sheet: slide, nudge, fill, move, copy, delete sets the same condition from its
FILLrow. SEQ + STEP + OCT- resets it to normal. - The project keeps every step’s condition, and the web editor’s grid marks them with F and ×.