The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

The AN sequencer is just a software model of the sort of step
sequencers found on old modular analogs. The typical use of course is
for playing repetitive melodic patterns as opposed to entire songs.
When song-based sequencers arrived in the early days of MIDI they
displaced step sequencers for over a decade until step sequencing
became popular again in electronic dance music.

The sequences themselves are stored with each patch as opposed to
being stored on their own (except for "user patterns" which is a more
advanced topic....ha ha).

The most basic things to know are:

1. if you use the arpeggiator, you cannot use the sequencer and vice versa

2. the sequencer can control not only pitch of notes, but also
velocity, duration (gate) and any single continuous controller you choose

3. while the sequencer can be tempo synched to a MIDI clock, it does
not respond to the MIDI stop and start commands, you start it by
playing a note on the keyboard and stop it by releasing the note
(unless HOLD is on in which case it plays forever!)

When programming the sequencer it's simplest to set HOLD to ON so it
will loop endlessly as you tweak each step. You can choose the
direction the sequence runs and how many steps (it need not always be
16). Them just tweak away until you get something you like and save
the patch. Users of the PLG150-AN board can do the same thing from
inside the software editor.

Once programmed the sequencer can be operated in a few different modes:

1. the sequence only plays in the original key no matter what note you
play on the keyboard

2. the sequence is transposed relative to the original programmed key
depending on the note you play on the keyboard

3. set up a split where the sequence is triggered/transposed by
playing notes BELOW the split while you can still play notes manually
above the split

4. set up a split where playing notes BELOW the split you chooses
different user patterns and playing notes ABOVE the split transposes
the patterns (this one is a more advanced application!!!)

Which mode you use depends on your application of course.

Hope this helps!!!!