The Sequencer Grid

The sequencer grid (F5) is where you spend most of your time in Cagire. It shows the step sequencer and lets you edit each step using the code editor. This is the first view you see when you open the application. Optional widgets — oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer, goniometer, prelude preview, and step preview — can be toggled on for visual feedback while you work.

Use arrow keys to move between steps. Shift+arrows selects multiple steps, and Esc clears any selection. The grid wraps around at pattern boundaries. Press : to jump directly to a step by number.

Alt+Up / Alt+Down — Previous / next pattern
Alt+Left / Alt+Right — Previous / next bank

Editing Steps

Enter — Open the script editor
t — Make a step active / inactive
r — Rename a step
Del — Delete selected steps

Mirrored Steps

Imagine a drum pattern where four steps play the same kick script. You tweak the sound on one of them — now you have to find and edit all four. Mirrored steps solve this: one step is the source, the others are mirrors that always reflect its script. Edit the source once, every mirror follows.

On the grid, mirrors are easy to spot. They show an arrow prefix like →05, meaning "I mirror step 05." Steps that share a source also share a background color, so clusters of linked steps are visible at a glance.

To create mirrors: copy a step with Ctrl+C, then paste with Ctrl+B instead of Ctrl+V. The pasted steps become mirrors of the original. Pressing Enter on a mirror jumps to its source and opens the editor there. If you want to break the link and make a mirror independent again, press Ctrl+H to harden it back into a regular copy.

Copy & Paste

Ctrl+C — Copy selected steps
Ctrl+V — Paste as independent copies
Ctrl+B — Paste as mirrored steps
Ctrl+D — Duplicate selection
Ctrl+H — Harden mirrors (convert to independent copies)

Prelude

The prelude is a Forth script that runs before every step, useful for defining shared variables and setup code.

p — Open the prelude editor
d — Evaluate the prelude

Pattern Controls

Each pattern has its own length and speed. Length sets how many steps it cycles through. Speed is a multiplier on the global tempo.

< / > — Decrease / increase pattern length
[ / ] — Decrease / increase pattern speed
L — Set length directly
S — Set speed directly

Playback

Playback starts and stops globally across all unmuted patterns. The highlighted cell on the grid marks the currently playing step.

Space — Toggle play / stop
+ / - — Adjust tempo
T — Set tempo directly
Ctrl+R — Execute current step once (one-shot)

Mute & Solo

Mute silences a pattern; solo silences everything except it. Both work while playing.

m — Mute current pattern
x — Solo current pattern
Shift+m — Clear all mutes
Shift+x — Clear all solos

Project

s — Save project
l — Load project
q — Quit

Tools

A few utilities accessible from the grid.

e — Euclidean rhythm distribution
? — Show keybindings help
o — Cycle layout
Tab — Toggle sample browser panel

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