few q.s from a non-owner (the sequencer)

thanks to all for helpful replies on other thread 'few q.s from a non-owner' but that's become specifically about fx so i thought i'd start a new one

i understand the 4000 and the whole mpc concept is 'pattern' based, lots of discrete 'compositions' all strung together but equally i have heard it said that the 4k does 'linear sequencing' as well, to what extent is this so?

i guess within a sequence is always linear anyway, whether piano roll, cc data, drum editor or list events, left to right is a timeline, top to bottom instrument, track, value or note etc (reverse for list events)

is there any limit to the length of a sequence compared to the length of a whole song, could you not just treat a project in a linear manner by having a single very long sequence?

is there a sequence 'overview' page, where and how do you see the sequence of your sequences? graphical? list?

thanks for any help
jim

Another non-owner speaking here.

A sequence can be up to 999 measures long, so that's the most basic way to hold your song. Just record a looooong sequence.

A 'song' in the mpc is a programmed chain of sequences. When you play a song in Song mode, sequences are played according to the programmed steps in the song. So in Song mode, my guess is that you can get tunes much longer than 999 measures.

A song (the chain thing) can be converted to a sequence again, to allow for solos and other stuff to be added later on that cross the pattern (sequence) borders. But then you're limited again by the max of 999 measures.

So yes, the MPC is pattern based (and I love it). But instead of using several patterns (sequences) of a few measures each, there's nothing stopping you from using one long pattern (sequence) the size of your song.