In the ’80s, developments in music programming inspired a whole new way of writing and producing music. Drum machines, after steadily creeping into pop for a while, were suddenly everywhere, as were sequenced melodic patterns from indefatigable synths. Was this the death knell for homegrown, organic musicians as we knew them? Far from it.
Although emerging artists who embraced music programming tech at the time faced disapproval from bewildered forebears (and who doesn’t?), this evolution in music-making methodology only gathered pace from then on.
Programming music used to require you to have some form of either analogue or digital hardware, but the wide world of computers and DAWs soon turned all that on its head. Today, almost every artist programs their music, mostly in a broader sense through the use of MIDI in a DAW, but also using dedicated software sequencers and arpeggiators that function in similar ways to the equipment of the past.
Most DAWs come with basic sequencers, which divide musical measures into a predetermined number of ‘steps’ and generate repeating musical patterns; and arpeggiators, which take the MIDI notes from a held chord (or single note) and play them as a rhythmical pattern. Many MIDI keyboards and controllers also have built-in sequencers that let you hijack practically any keyboard, synth module, or software and set about programming patterns.
In the context of your track, these patterns can either be as simple or as complex as you want them to be. Creating a repeating melodic pattern on a synth arpeggiator is as simple as holding down one key, but you can also wield
