Seq
Categories: Software Prototypes/Non-Commercial Products
Submitted By: Sean Luke
Elevator Pitch
Seq
Product Description
How It’s Innovative
Seq’s approach is **highly** innovative. It is completely different from traditional song-mode step sequencers, trackers, and arrangers, and it will really change how you think about music.
This approach is very rare. To the best of our knowledge there have been only a few hierarchical MIDI sequencers in history (one of which was by Phil Burk, a member of the MIDI 2.0 committee!). But these sequencers were largely not modular: child elements had a single parent and could not be remixed and reused by multiple parents. Seq’s hierarchy can also be parameterized in complex ways, and sequences can be bundled into macro nodes as part of still larger hierarchies.
For more information on Seq and on past sequencer history, see our academic paper presented at AudioMostly 24: https://cs.gmu.edu/~sean/papers/audiomostly24.pdf
Most Inspiring Use Cases
Seq is very new! So our most inspiring uses of it have been in our own personal songs. We hope to publish them one day when we’re not too embarrased! We really want to hear and see other people’s use of the software.
Expansion Plans
Seq is usable but rough around the edges. We have a lot of things to add to it, both in its GUI and internal model.
More importantly, we have designed Seq’s internal model specifically to add AI and optimization tools to it. For example, the musician would provide basic musical ideas to Seq, and Seq could invent and offer remixes of them to the musician, then offer new remixes based on musician feedback and collaboration. We have done this before with synthesizer patches (in Edisyn), hearkening back to Brian Eno’s idea of “growing programs” in a synthesizer (A Year With Swollen Appendices, p. 190).
Commercialization
This is free open source academic software. There are no commercialization plans at present.