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Consumer toy? No - this program's a contender
So why would any EQ reader be interested in a program that seems interested mostly in beating Garageband at its own game? Well, just read these words from the online FAQ:
"When you buy Sequel, you automatically purchase the right to use the contained sounds and loops, so you can use them without limit in any production."
And we're talking 4,500 loops (plus another 500 when you register), along with the ability to cut your own hard disk tracks, use loops from other sources, and play the 600 included MIDI instrument sounds from a MIDI keyboard.
If this sounds to you like a music library where you get to call the shots, well, you're right. And if it sounds like a big honkin' loop library, it's that too. If you need to throw music together fast - whether it's for backing tracks, songwriting, audio for video, or just for the sheer inspiration of it all - keep reading. And also keep reading if you're into groove-oriented music, because it has all the elements needed to put together totally credible groove-type projects. It may be priced like a "lite" program, but it most certainly isn't.
There are some familiar elements: It has a "one screen interface" like Ableton Live, a philosophy like Cakewalk's Project5, the panache of Garageband but with crossplatform operation, some Acid in terms of simplified audio stretching, and the Cubase lineage. Nonetheless, the end result is unique; Sequel weighs in at under $100, and seeks to stake out its own claim in the world of music making. It's arguably simple, but by no means simplistic: Go to www.sequel-music.net. click on Check Out Sequel, then click on Geek City for tech specs on import/export formats (you can even export to iTunes so it shows up in your iTunes library), resolution, and the like.
This marketing is pretty Eurocentric, and appears aimed primarily at the people who would rather make the music they hear at clubs than dance to it (even the graphics remind me of the flyers you see for underground dance clubs in places like Germany). As someone who spends a lot of time in that musical world, I was taken aback when I went...