In Giada, things usually happen when you click a channel or press its corresponding key, either on your computer keyboard or on a MIDI device. For example, if you click a channel play button 
, the channel starts playing. However, the final behavior may vary depending on several other factors, such as the play mode or the channel's current internal status.
This section focuses on general interactions. More information about each type of channel can be found in the Channels and samples and Channels and MIDI chapters.
The sequencer is the tool that essentially drives the live performance. Each cell represents a beat, and beats are grouped into bars. The number of beats and bars, the tempo, and the size of the main pattern can be adjusted using the beat tools 
, while the play/stop and rewind buttons 
control the sequencer and its position.
When the sequencer is running, you can play your song, control certain types of channels, record actions, and much more. In particular, it affects:
sample channels in loop mode;
sample channels in one shot mode with recorded actions;
MIDI channels.
When the sequencer is running, you can also take advantage of the live quantizer, which helps align your keystrokes to the beat. On the other hand, when the sequencer is stopped, the channels listed above do not play immediately: they wait (their buttons start blinking) until the sequencer starts again from the first beat.
You can still use sample channels in one shot mode, with or without recorded actions, and they will play as soon as the corresponding key is pressed. We saw this style of playing in Performing 1, where we described it as Giada as a sample player.
The following table shows how to interact with the main sequencer tools. You can change the default keyboard bindings in the Configuration window.
| action | alternate action | effect 1 |
|---|---|---|
| backspace | click the rewind button  | rewind the sequencer to beat 1 |
| spacebar | click the play button  | start/stop the sequencer |
| enter | click the action recorder button  | start/stop the action recorder |
| end | click the input recorder button  | start/stop the live sampler |