ABLETON 12 SOUND DESIGN ATLAS
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MIDI Tools

Live 12's MIDI Generators and Transformations in the clip editor (Seed, Rhythm, Shape, Stacks, Euclidean; Arpeggiate, Connect, Ornament, Quantize, Recombine, Strum, Time Warp, Velocity Shaper, Glissando, LFO), how they chain with the classic MIDI effects and scale awareness, with ten genre pattern recipes.

midi toolsgeneratorstransformationsseedrhythmshapestackseuclideanarpeggiateconnectornamentquantizerecombinestrumtime warpvelocity shaperglissandoarpeggiatorchordscalerandomnote echoexpressive chordsscale modelive 12

Live 12 split MIDI processing into two layers. The classic MIDI effects (Arpeggiator, Chord, Scale, Pitch, Random, Velocity, Note Length, Note Echo) still live on the track and change notes in real time as they pass. The new MIDI Tools live inside the clip editor and change the notes in the clip: Generators write new notes, Transformations rewrite the notes you select, and both can be re-applied, undone, and chained. Scale awareness ties both layers to the clip's root and scale. This page covers the mechanics, then ten pattern recipes built from the tools rather than drawn by hand.

Architecture / concept

Open a MIDI clip and the editor has a Tools tab (bottom-left, next to Notes and Envelopes) with two sub-tabs: Generate and Transform. Each tool is a Max for Live patch with a small panel. A Generator looks at the clip's loop region (or your time selection), the clip scale, and its own settings, and writes notes when you press Generate. A Transformation looks at the selected notes (or all notes if none are selected) and rewrites them when you press Apply; many have a live preview so the clip updates as you tweak before you commit. The result is plain notes: no hidden processor, Undo (Cmd+Z) is the way back, and the output can be hand-edited or fed into the next tool.

Generators

ToolWhat it writesKey controls
SeedRandom in-scale notes within a pitch rangeDensity, note length and variation, pitch range, rests, velocity range, re-rollable seed
RhythmRhythmic patterns on one or more pitchesSteps per beat, density, accents, pitch set; hats and percussion rows
ShapeNotes along a drawn contour, quantised to scaleCurve, density, note length
StacksChords voiced by scale degreeVoice count, intervals, inversion, spread
Euclidean Sequencer (pack)k hits spread evenly over n steps, per pitch rowSteps, pulses, rotation per row

Transformations

ToolWhat it does to the selectionUse
ArpeggiateBreaks chords into sequential notes, written into the clipEditable printed arps
ConnectFills the gaps between notes with passing notes in the scaleBass runs, fills between chord tones
OrnamentAdds grace notes, flams or short pickup notes before notesTrap hat flams, folk-ish lead ornaments
QuantizeGrid quantise with strength, swing and shiftTighten or loosen generated material
RecombineRotates, mirrors, shuffles or reverses pitches and rhythm independentlyVariations that keep a loop's character
StrumOffsets chord notes in time like a strummed guitar, with direction and velocity rampPads, house chords, harp runs
Time WarpRemaps time along a curve: accelerando, drag, rushRisers, breakbeat drag, footwork
Velocity ShaperDraws velocity across time or across pitch, with randomnessAccents, dynamics on generated hats
Glissando (12.1)Writes slides between notes, per-note where MPE is available303 slides, grime bass bends
LFO (12.1)Modulates note properties (velocity, chance, pitch, timing) with an LFO curveCyclic accents and probability
Expressive Chords (12.2, pack)Voices chords with per-note expressionMPE chords for Meld, Drift, Wavetable

Scale awareness

Every clip has a Scale toggle with root and scale name. When on, the piano roll highlights that scale, Generators only write in-scale pitches, Connect and Stacks pick in-scale neighbours, scale-aware devices (Arpeggiator, Chord, Scale, Pitch) read the same setting and Push shows it on the pads. Changing the clip scale afterwards does not move existing notes; Fit to Scale in the Pitch and Time tools pulls them in. The Scale device in scale-aware mode becomes a corrector that follows whatever clip is playing. See tuning, scales and MPE.

Apply versus generate, chaining and "keep going"

The workflow: generate a coarse idea, transform it in two or three passes, hand-edit. Tools keep their settings, so a chain you like (Seed → Quantize 70% → Velocity Shaper) can be re-rolled and re-applied to audition dozens of variants in a minute. Duplicate the clip before each pass to keep intermediate steps as scenes. Transformations act on the selection: select only the hat row and Time Warp drags only the hats.

Parameters that matter

DeviceParameterWhat it doesStarting points
ArpeggiatorStyle, Rate, Gate, Steps, Distance, Retrigger, Repeats, Velocity Decay, HoldPattern order, sync rate, note length, transposed repeats, restart mode, velocity ramp, latchUp, 1/16, Gate 50%, Steps 2, Distance +12 for a two-octave arp
ChordShift 1–6, Velocity per shiftSix added intervals with their own velocity scaling+7 at 80%, +12 at 50% for a power-chord stab
Scale12×12 grid, Base, Transpose, Range, FoldMaps each pitch class to another; limits range; folds outside notes inScale aware, Fold on, Range 2 octaves for bass
PitchPitch ±128, Range/LowestTranspose and discard notes outside a window−12 st; Lowest C1 Range 24 to stop a generative lead playing sub
RandomChance, Choices, Scale, Sign (+ / − / ± / bipolar)Probability of transposing by a random multiple of Scale within ChoicesChance 25%, Choices 3, Scale 12 for octave jumps
VelocityDrive, Compand, Random, Out Hi/Lo, Mode (Clip/Gate/Fixed)Velocity curve, compression, randomness; Gate drops notes outside the rangeRandom 12, Out Lo 40 for human hats
Note LengthTrigger (Note On/Off), Length, Gate, Decay, KeyForces lengths; Note Off trigger plays on releaseFixed 1/16 at 60% for staccato bass
Note EchoDelay (synced), Feedback, Pitch per repeat, Velocity decayMIDI delay: repeats are new notes, so each repeat retriggers envelopes1/8 dotted, 3 repeats, −12 st per repeat for descending echoes
ClipScale, Fit to Scale, Chance, Velocity deviationClip scale plus per-note probability and velocity rangesChance 70% on ghost hats; deviation ±15

Techniques

Techno 16th sequence from Seed and Recombine

Tools: Seed, Quantize, Recombine, Velocity Shaper · Level: beginner · Genres: deep techno, industrial techno

A one-bar sequence that is almost a straight 16th line with a few holes and accents in the right places. Seed gives the material, Recombine makes four related variations.

  1. Clip: 1 bar, 130 BPM, scale C minor on. Generate → Seed: pitch range C1–C1 (one note), density 80%, length 1/16, rests allowed. Generate until the holes feel right.
  2. Transform → Quantize, strength 100%, no swing. Then Velocity Shaper: draw a curve peaking on beats 1 and 3, randomness 10%.
  3. Duplicate the clip four times. On each, Recombine: rotate rhythm by 4, 8, 12 steps, or mirror pitches once you have added a second pitch (G1).
  4. Track: Note Length fixed 1/16 at 55% gate so the notes never overlap on a mono synth.
Rotation keeps density and velocity profile but moves the holes relative to the kick: same energy, different syncopation. See deep techno.

Dubstep bass rhythm with Euclidean and Glissando

Tools: Euclidean Sequencer, Glissando, Note Length · Level: intermediate · Genres: dubstep, uk bass 140

Halftime at 140 wants a bass that leaves a hole for the snare on 3 and stutters into each 2-bar phrase. Euclidean 5-in-16, rotated off beat 3, does most of it.

  1. Clip 2 bars, 140 BPM, scale F minor. Euclidean Sequencer: row 1 pitch F1, steps 16, pulses 5, rotation 2. Generate; copy to bar 2 and add two 1/32 notes at the end by hand.
  2. Select the last note of bar 1 and the first of bar 2; Transform → Glissando from F1 to Ab1, chromatic, so the growl bends into the next phrase.
  3. Note Length on the track, Length 1/8 Gate 90%, so an LFO-wobbled patch has time to open per note.
  4. Clip Velocity deviation ±20 and Chance 85% on the 1/32 notes for live-set variety.
Glissando writes real pitch-bend data, so set the instrument's bend range to cover the slide (12 st is a safe default).

Grime 8-bar from Stacks, Recombine and Random

Tools: Stacks, Recombine, Pitch, Random, Scale · Level: intermediate · Genres: grime, uk bass 140

Grime leads are square stabs in short cells with octave jumps and a 4-bar question / answer structure. Stacks writes the cell, Recombine and Random answer it.

  1. Clip 8 bars, 140 BPM, scale E minor, Scale on. Generate → Stacks over bars 1–2 with 1 note (a stack of one), scale degrees 1, 5, b7, b3, rhythm from the seq above (set note length 1/16).
  2. Duplicate the 2-bar cell to bars 3–4. Select bars 5–8, paste, then Transform → Recombine: mirror pitches, keep rhythm.
  3. Track devices: Random Chance 20%, Choices 2, Scale 12, Sign bipolar for octave hops; then Scale with scale awareness on and Fold so the hops stay in key and range.
  4. Pitch device Lowest E3, Range 24 to keep the lead above the bass.
Random on the track means every pass differs; resample to freeze the take you like. The grime page covers the square patch and 8-bar structure.

Trap hats: Rhythm, Ornament, Time Warp rolls

Tools: Rhythm, Ornament, Time Warp, Velocity Shaper · Level: beginner · Genres: trap, drill, phonk

Straight 1/8 hats with rolls and accents. Rhythm lays the grid, Ornament adds pickups, Time Warp compresses a selection into a roll.

  1. Drum Rack clip, 2 bars, 140 BPM. Generate → Rhythm on the closed-hat pitch: 1/8 steps, density 100%, accent every 2.
  2. Select the hats over beat 4 of each bar. Transform → Time Warp with an accelerating curve, then Pitch and Time → Duplicate at half length for 1/32s.
  3. Transform → Ornament on the first hat of beat 3: one grace note 1/48 before, velocity 60%, for the triplet feel.
  4. Velocity Shaper: ramp 70 → 110 across each roll; randomness 8%. Clip Chance 90% on all rolls.
Rolls sound better when velocity → Decay is mapped in Drum Sampler, so quiet roll hits are shorter and the accent at the end rings.

DnB break programming: Rhythm, Recombine, Quantize swing

Tools: Rhythm, Recombine, Quantize, Velocity Shaper · Level: intermediate · Genres: drum and bass, jungle, breakbeat

A two-bar programmed break that Recombine can mutate every 8 bars without losing the backbeat.

  1. Draw kick and snare by hand (30 seconds). Generate → Rhythm on the ghost-snare pitch: 1/16 grid, density 35%, velocity 30–55. Then Rhythm on the hat pitch: density 100% with an accent every 3 steps.
  2. Select the ghost row only. Transform → Quantize with swing 58% so ghosts sit behind the grid. Velocity Shaper randomness 20%.
  3. For the variation every 8 bars: duplicate clip, select ghost and hat rows only, Recombine → shuffle rhythm, keep pitches.
Recombining only the non-backbeat rows keeps the listener's reference points while the texture changes. See drum and bass and jungle.

House chords: Stacks, Strum, Expressive Chords

Tools: Stacks, Strum, Expressive Chords, Chord device · Level: beginner · Genres: deep house, minimal house, tech house

Off-beat 7th stabs with a little strum so the top note arrives last. Stacks voices by scale degree, so a key change is just a root change.

  1. Clip 1 bar, scale A minor. Generate → Stacks: 4 notes, intervals 1-3-5-7 (minor 7), rhythm as above, note length 1/16, inversion 1 so the 3rd is on top.
  2. Transform → Strum: upward, spread 20 ms, velocity ramp +15% toward the last note.
  3. Expressive Chords (12.2) instead of Stacks when the instrument is Meld or Drift in MPE mode: it writes per-note pressure and slide so each voice swells differently.
  4. Live version: single notes into Chord +3, +7, +10 followed by a scale-aware Scale device, so the right degrees become major 7ths.
20 ms is below the threshold of hearing separate notes but enough to break the phase lock that makes a chord sound like one voice. 8 ms for stabs, 40 ms for pads.

Ambient generative: Seed, Chance, LFO transformation

Tools: Seed, LFO (MIDI), Connect, clip Chance · Level: intermediate · Genres: ambient, drone, generative

A sparse 16-bar clip where the LFO transformation cycles velocity and chance so phrases swell and thin without automation.

  1. Clip 16 bars, 70 BPM, scale D Dorian. Generate → Seed: range D3–A4, density 15%, note length 1/2 with 60% variation, velocity 40–90.
  2. Transform → Connect between every pair of notes more than a 3rd apart, 1–2 passing notes. Select the new notes and set clip Chance 40%.
  3. Transform → LFO: target velocity, sine, period 8 bars, depth 40%. Apply once; then LFO again targeting Chance, triangle, 5 bars. The two periods drift against each other.
  4. Track: Note Echo 1/4 dotted, 4 repeats, −12 st every 2nd repeat, velocity decay 70%. Every note spawns a slow descending echo chord.
Clip Chance is evaluated every pass, so 20 chance-notes give thousands of distinct loops; the LFO transformation writes those probabilities as a curve. See generative sounds.

UK garage shuffle: Quantize swing on hats and Recombine on bass

Tools: Rhythm, Quantize, Recombine, Arpeggiator · Level: intermediate · Genres: uk garage, 2-step

2-step lives on the swung 16th hat and a bass that skips beat 3. Quantize with high swing gives the shuffle; Arpeggiator in Chord Trigger style handles the organ stab.

  1. Hats: Generate → Rhythm 1/16 density 70%; Transform → Quantize, grid 1/16, swing 62%, shift +8 ms on the off-16ths. Velocity Shaper so the on-beat hats are quieter than the swung ones.
  2. Bass: draw 4-on-the-floor at 1/8 then Recombine → rotate rhythm 3 steps and shuffle pitches between root and 5th.
  3. Stab track: Arpeggiator Style Chord Trigger, Rate 1/8, Gate 40%, Retrigger on Beat; hold a 7th chord and the device plays the skippy stab for you.
The Groove Pool swings in real time without rewriting; Quantize writes the swing into the notes so later transformations see it.

Acid line from Arpeggiate, Glissando and Note Length

Tools: Arpeggiate, Glissando, Velocity Shaper, Note Length · Level: intermediate · Genres: acid, techno, electro

303 lines are accents plus slides on a 16th grid. Arpeggiate writes the pattern from a held chord; overlapping notes trigger legato glide.

  1. Draw one chord (A1, C2, E2, G2) over the bar. Transform → Arpeggiate: Up-Down, 1/16, gate 60%, repeat so it fills the bar.
  2. Velocity Shaper: draw accents on steps 1, 4, 8, 11, 15 at 120, rest at 80.
  3. Select the notes before each slide and lengthen them to overlap the next by a 1/32 (Pitch and Time → Legato on just those pairs works too). Glissando on the same pairs writes bend data if the synth does not glide on legato.
  4. Synth: Drift, Mono, Legato, Glide 60 ms, velocity → filter env amount. Or send the clip to the TD-3, where overlap is the slide and velocity above 100 is the accent.
The 303 slide is a note-overlap convention that Drift and Analog honour in Mono + Legato, so the pattern transfers to the TD-3 unchanged. More on the acid page.

Footwork and halftime kick patterns with Time Warp and Euclidean

Tools: Euclidean Sequencer, Time Warp, Velocity Shaper · Level: advanced · Genres: halftime, footwork, juke

Footwork at 160 is kick bursts against straight hats. E(3,8) gives the triplet-adjacent spacing; Time Warp bends one beat into a real acceleration.

  1. Kick: Euclidean Sequencer steps 8, pulses 3, rotation 0, repeated over 2 bars. Generate.
  2. Select the kick notes in the last beat of bar 2. Transform → Time Warp with an accelerating curve (notes crowd toward the end) and then Pitch and Time → Duplicate so four hits land in the last 8th.
  3. Velocity Shaper on the warped notes: 60 → 115 ramp. Clip Chance 75% on the warped hits.
  4. Copy the kick row to the sub track, delete the warped hits (a sub rolling at 1/32 is mud), and use Note Length 1/8 fixed with Gate 95% so the sub overlaps into legato.
Time Warp moves notes but not the loop end; notes pushed past it are clipped, so compress rather than expand at the end of a loop. See halftime and footwork.

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