Steinberg Sequel 3 music-creation software

Steinberg Sequel is essentially a stripped down version of Cubase, Steinberg's professional grade music production program.

Because it's stripped down, it is simpler and consequently felt easier to use, but it sacrifices a lot of Cubase's functions in order to get to a more user-friendly operation. The changes mean that beginners can quite easily create tracks with it that sound quite professional, but anyone who wants to do more with their music will probably end up using Cubase instead.

Sequel 3 comes preloaded with ready-made samples and instrument presets so you can get started immediately. Still, with these rigid presets, there's less scope for experimentation and it very much felt like an 'on rails' music experience – the user has relatively little choice about what they can do. This would be a real problem for the discerning musician who might want to tweak the sound of the instrument that he or she is using.

Sequel 3 comes with some additional features and improvements over the previous version. These improvements include support for VST plugins (a VST plugin is a type of program that adds extra effects and instruments to several music programs with which it's compatible), and some new built in instruments (such as the Halion Sonic SE, a versatile sound synthesiser). It's also got a new function called the 'performance track', which allows users to assign different sections to their songs and then rearrange those sections for live playback.

We found that Sequel 3's interface was a bit too fiddly for what it offers: Steinberg has done away with the standard tabs that many Windows programs use, in favour of some attractive but vague buttons. Parts of the interface were slow and clumsy, and the hotkeys especially behaved strangely.

Steinberg Sequel 3 is compatible with both Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, and a trial version (which works for 30 days) can be downloaded by clicking here so you can have a go before buying.

For people who haven't produced music on their computers before, and want to have a go, Sequel is a good choice, though ambitious minds will find they outgrow it quite quickly.