Backings..

An arranger is all about playing allong with a backicn track... be it a static one... or a more flexible one following the music you play...
In general one can define 3 major types ...

First there is sequencers of all kinds...
being audio, midi or a combination of both
Sequences as a rule all follow a pregrogrammed (chord) pattern..

Then there are arranger styles and patterns...
These in general follow the chords played by the keyboardists in real time..

And lastly there are arpeggiators
Arpegiators in general folow every note you play..
They are a more musical tool...

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Sequencers..

First there is audioplayers, like wav players or MP3 players



Then there is midi sequencers..
The one most used in Arrangers is a typical 16 track GM sequencer..
But in the DAW on our computers there is often unlimited tracks
Allowing both midi as well as audio tracks..



In keyboard land the sequencer of the korg kronos has 16 midi and 16 audio tracks



There are also multi track audio players..
Like in the ketron instruments..



And then there is the oldfashioned step sequencers,
Which are often much more basic, and mostly used for drums



In many of the more traditional sequencers and audio players You can set markers..
These markers can be used to loop the track between two markers
Also you can add music notation or text to many song formats...

Yamaha Motif has a pattern mode, which essentially is a sequencer
You can create midi loops, up to 16 (tracks) / scene..
This tool is perfect for putting verses and chorus, intros, endings together
and afterwards recording them in a traditional sequence or audio file



And then there is ableton live (and bitwig) which take this methode even further
They use a matrix of "clips" and use a cliplaunching matrix to create a flexible backing
Both



Another easy accessible method of creating a basic backing is a looper..
In a looper you create an audio track on which you keep recording new instruments..
This methode is called overdubbing




Any more forms of sequencing i forgot about...
please give us a headsup in a reaction and i will add them...

Next post is about auto arranging...