I will join my voice to the chorus of congratulations and thanks… to @riban for sure, and also to anyone who has taken part in any way in the building process, from simply giving their opinion, expressing their expectations and préférences, to helping in the coding or architecture…
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Thanks @jofemodo for merging to master. There is more work going on behind the scenes to bring further enhancements. Maybe now that we have merged we can start reporting individual issues via github issue tracker. Of course this is still early days and much functionality is missing or pooly implemented and there are bugs to be resolved and workflows may change. I will add your suggestions on the TODO list but here are some comments that may help clarify some design principles which may not yet be evident (mainly due to lack of song editor - it is on its way…).
Behind each ZynPad button is a sequence which is made up of one or more patterns. This will become obvious when they are edited in the song editor but for now, to get something that can be demonstrated, they are simply populated with the first 64 patterns. Syn Period will move to the song editor and become markers (vertical lines) representing loop points within the song. I hope this will make it far easier to comprehend this feature. I think it will suddenly become intuitive. This feature is probably a week away from beta.
New patterns should have 16 steps. I will look at what has happened!
Persistent storage of parameters is on the TODO list. I want to store some info somewhere but not yet sure where is best. I will chat with you about that offline.
Not scrolling whilst transposing is a bug. I only test it goes up and down one or two notes! I have added it to the list.
Patterns do not have the concept of MIDI channel. They are simply a collection of events that may be reused in different tracks of a song. A song track consists of a sequence (as does a ZynPad trigger). Each sequence has a MIDI channel. The pattern editor has a sequence for replaying the pattern. I anticipate there will be a mechanism for moving from a selected pattern within a song to the pattern editor at which point the song’s tempo and the sequence’s channel will be used by the pattern editor. This is a design concept that is unfortunately becoming learned behaviour due to the time taken to create the song editor. We have the pattern editor that we are all playing with but it is not intended as the primary access method or a performance tool. I hope to get a version of the song editor out within a week at which point I hope this should all become evident.
The interaction between pads and the clock transport is awkward. If the transport is not running then hitting a pad will start the transport and reset loop sync. When sequences end, e.g. one =-shot or pad hit again to stop loop then the transport continues running. If you subsequently change to the pattern editor then you will probably need to press the transport toggle twice, once to stop the transport and again to start it and tell the pattern editor’s sequence to play. If you go back to ZynPad then any previously playing sequences will have resumed. There is a solution in there somewhere but I have not yet investigated it. I want to get the core functions working then see how the workflows influence desired behaviour.
ZynPad uses the sequence’s MIDI channel (as described above). This will become clearer when song editor is released. The layout of pads is still in development. I understand Novation’s approach of having columns of channels or tracks but on the Zynthian we may only have a small screen and few rows so may want to have a more flexible approach. I am considering having the concept of a group to which several tracks belong. The group acts as a mutually exclusive group, i.e. only one sequence (pad) can be running at any time. The colour of each group may be different to allow more flexible layout than the most recent implementation of alternate columns having alternate colours. (This was demonstrated at ZynthClub but I don’t think I have released it yet. It basically works the same as a LaunchPad - purely by coincidence!!!)
Triggering sequences from MIDI input is on the list [feature T7]. This needs some consideration after we have core functionality and a better understanding of various workflows. I don’t anticipate this being too tricky to implement although some trigger devices may have some interesting interface methods!!!
Now - I have spent too long responding and no time coding…
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Congratulations, really a nice addition!
@riban … Thanks! This is a huge Step (pun intended) forward for the Zynthian project …
We are not talking about a new synth or a new sound or effect … this is a completely new tool that was missing and needed and that will vastly increase the versatility of the Zynthian.
You made a wonderful job!
Last but not least … thanks as usual to @jofemodo for the work and the commitment to this community.
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Wow, congratulations. This sounds very good. A wonderful work from you all.
Because I don’ t have encoders:
I can edit the sequencer using the mouse. But I cannot start/stop the step sequencer.
Is there a possibility to do that via note-commands on master channel (16)?
You can do it using CUIA events, associated to Note-ON commands on the Master Channel. Check the wiki’s user guide:
https://wiki.zynthian.org/index.php/Zynthian_UI_Users_Guide#Controlling_the_UI_with_MIDI_messages
For play/stop you should use SWITCH_SNAPSHOT_SHORT, that is assigned to B4 (note 71) on the Master Channel
Also, you can use standard MIDI System commands.
Thanx, I’ll try that this evening 
OK… since I last used the Step Sequencer, the workflow has changed quite a bit. I can’t play the sequence I just programmed. Can someone please guide me? I feel lost. 
Go to admin-menu and switch on Midi Clock Internal.
If that does not help, please describe the problem in more detail.
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Has anyone got the AutoBahn sequence stored and saved in the step sequencer?
if so could they stick the file and it’s location on this thread so we can pass it around.
And if anyone feels ambitious enough to try doing Jump! on the step sequence that might be an interesting test piece 
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That was it! Thanks!
This young man is looking for Autobahn? Let me see what I can do for you. Give me 1-2 days.
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Remember that the step sequencer remains in prototyping (despite its foray into the limelight) and the file format will change with possible loss of previously saved data, i.e. don’t depend on your sequences being supported in future version. Once I have this nailed down (and every day gets closer…) I will avoid such compatibility issues but for now, please don’t create sequences you expect to keep. I recommend you save them in another format until we have a stable version. (I hear pencil and paper was quite fashionable for many centuries!)
We, of course, back up, here at Zynthian Towers to nothing but the purest vellum maintained by an army of monks with increasingly, developing faith issues . . .
The process of keeping alive a known sequence( s) will really aid that process, but as @riban says they are cattle not pets
( oh god, that almost writes the next three months . . . )
I wonder if Autobahn sequence is not drawn, using a mix of animal oil and natural pigments, on the walls of Lascaux cave, between a deer and a machine gun…
Wait, we can play simultaneous sequences now?!?!?
YES!!! 
@riban Your contribution to Zynthian will be long remembered. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
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