The Drum Step Sequencer
When a MIDI clip contains notes in the drum range (MIDI pitches 36–51), Homecrate automatically opens the Drum Step Sequencer instead of the piano roll. This gives you a dedicated 16-pad step-sequencer interface designed for beat programming.
What is the Drum Step Sequencer?
The step sequencer displays a grid with 16 pads (rows) — one per drum instrument — and a horizontal row of 16th-note steps per bar. Tap a cell to activate that drum hit at that step. Tap again to remove it.
[SCREENSHOT: Full drum step sequencer view]
The Pad Map
Homecrate uses the General MIDI drum note map for its 16 pads. These note numbers are universal — any drum machine or sampler that follows the GM spec will respond correctly.
| Row | Label | MIDI Note | Typical Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KICK | 36 | Bass drum, downbeats |
| 2 | RIM | 37 | Rim shot / side stick accent |
| 3 | SNARE 1 | 38 | Main snare (beats 2 and 4) |
| 4 | CLAP | 39 | Layered on snare for punch |
| 5 | SNARE 2 | 40 | Alternate snare / electric snare |
| 6 | LO FLOOR TM | 41 | Low floor tom |
| 7 | HH CL | 42 | Closed hi-hat |
| 8 | HI FLOOR TM | 43 | High floor tom |
| 9 | HH PED | 44 | Pedal hi-hat |
| 10 | LO TOM | 45 | Low tom |
| 11 | HH OP | 46 | Open hi-hat |
| 12 | LO-MID TM | 47 | Low-mid tom |
| 13 | HI-MID TM | 48 | High-mid tom |
| 14 | CRASH 1 | 49 | Crash cymbal |
| 15 | HI TOM | 50 | High tom |
| 16 | RIDE | 51 | Ride cymbal |
Hi-hat rule: Open hi-hat (HH OP) should not share steps with closed (HH CL) or pedal (HH PED) hi-hats, as a real hi-hat can only be in one position at a time. The AI beat generator enforces this automatically.
Reading the Grid
[SCREENSHOT: Step sequencer grid annotated — bar markers, beat markers, step cells, active hits]
- Columns = time (left to right), divided into 16th-note steps
- Rows = drum instrument (top to bottom as listed above)
- Bar markers — bright green “B1”, “B2” labels at the start of each bar
- Beat markers — lighter divisions showing beats 2, 3, 4 within each bar
- Active cell = filled colored block; color is unique per pad
- Inactive cell = empty or shows a faint dot on beat positions
The grid scrolls horizontally for patterns longer than 1 bar.
Editing Steps
Activating a Hit
Tap any empty cell to place a hit on that drum at that step.
[SCREENSHOT: Tapping an empty cell — it fills with the pad's color]
Removing a Hit
Tap an active (filled) cell to remove it.
Fine-Tuning a Hit (Long-Press)
Long-press any active cell to open the Note Edit modal for that hit. This lets you adjust:
- Velocity — how hard the hit is struck (affects volume and tone on velocity-sensitive instruments)
- Duration — the length of the note event (matters for some instruments; less critical for percussive sounds)
- Repeats & Spacing — retrigger the hit within its step for flam or roll effects
See The Piano Roll Editor — Editing Note Properties for details on the Note Edit modal, as it’s the same interface.
Multi-Bar Patterns
By default a new drum clip is 2 bars. You can extend it using the right trim handle on the timeline clip, which adds more bars to the pattern.
When a pattern spans multiple bars, the sequencer shows all bars side-by-side. The bar markers (B1, B2, etc.) help you orient within the pattern.
[SCREENSHOT: 4-bar drum pattern in the step sequencer]
Each bar inherits the same 16-step grid. Steps in bar 2 start at index 16, bar 3 at index 32, and so on.
The Info Bar
Above the grid, the info bar shows:
- Number of bars
- Steps per bar (always 16)
- Total hit count
Below it, a hint reminder: tap to add · tap again to remove · long press to edit
Clip Actions Toolbar
The toolbar at the bottom mirrors the piano roll’s toolbar:
| Button | Action |
|---|---|
| Copy | Copies this clip to the clipboard |
| Cut | Copies to clipboard and removes from the timeline |
| Dupe | Duplicates immediately after the original |
| Delete | Removes from the timeline |
Saving
Tap Save to commit your changes. The clip’s mini piano roll preview on the timeline updates to show your pattern.
Using with Homecrate Drum
Homecrate’s drum sequencer is designed to work seamlessly with Homecrate Drum AUv3 drum machine. When you route a MIDI track containing a drum clip to Homecrate Drum instrument plugin:
- Load Homecrate Drum on an audio track
- Route your MIDI track to it (see Instrument Plugins & MIDI Routing)
- Draw your pattern in the step sequencer
- Homecrate Drum receives each MIDI note and triggers the corresponding pad
The pad map above matches Homecrate Drum’s default mapping exactly, so pad 1 (KICK, note 36) triggers the kick drum, pad 7 (HH CL, note 42) triggers the closed hi-hat, and so on.
Generating Patterns with AI
The Music Chat assistant can generate drum patterns for you. Just describe the beat you want:
“Give me a trap beat with busy hi-hats and a syncopated kick pattern for 2 bars”
The AI generates a step pattern and places it as a new clip on the MIDI track. Open it in the step sequencer to tweak individual steps. See Music Chat (AI Assistant).