ABLETON 12 SOUND DESIGN ATLAS
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Tuning, Scales & MPE

Live 12's tuning systems (.ascl/.scl), scale awareness and clip Scale mode, microtonal and just-intonation recipes, MPE setup with the devices that actually listen, and per-note expression editing in the Stacked detail view — with Push 3 layouts for playing all of it.

tuningscalaasclsclmicrotonaljust intonationscalekeympeexpressionpressureslidepush 3stacked viewdronessub tuning

Live 12 added two things that shape a sound before any filter is touched: tuning systems, which decide where every pitch of every Live instrument sits, and a Set-wide scale that the piano roll, MIDI tools and Push all follow. MPE is the third leg: per-note pitch, pressure and slide turn a patch into an instrument. This page covers the plumbing for all three, then eight recipes that only exist because of them. It assumes the synthesis primer and leans on the Wavetable and Meld pages for the instruments.

Architecture / concept

Three independent systems, easy to confuse.

Tuning systems in practice

The browser has a Tunings label alongside Sounds and Drums. Live ships .ascl files (Ableton's extension of the Scala format, with note names and a reference pitch baked in) covering historical temperaments, equal divisions of the octave and several just-intonation sets. Any .scl from the Scala archive drops into a Tunings folder in your User Library. Double-click to load: the tuning shows in the control bar next to the scale, and a tuning panel opens with the reference pitch (default A3 = 440 Hz; change it here, not with Master Tune per device), the period (usually 2/1, but a .scl can declare a non-octave period such as Bohlen-Pierce's 3/1) and the pitch list in cents.

Two rules that trip people up. The tuning is applied at the instrument, so a MIDI clip still contains ordinary note numbers; what changes is the frequency each number becomes. And a scale with more or fewer than 12 steps per period re-maps the keyboard: in 19-EDO nineteen keys span the octave. Live keeps the .ascl note names so the piano roll labels stay honest.

Scale mode and key

The control bar's Scale field (root plus scale) is the Set default. Each MIDI clip has its own Scale toggle: on, the piano roll highlights or folds to that scale, and MIDI tools read the clip's scale first and the Set scale second. Push's In Key layout follows the selected clip's key. Changing the Set scale transposes nothing; it changes which notes are offered, so decide on the scale before you draw.

MPE and the Stacked detail view

Enable MPE per input port in Preferences, Link/Tempo/MIDI. Live then records each note on its own channel with continuous lanes. In Live 12 the note expression editor is part of the Stacked detail view: below the piano roll you stack lanes for Velocity, Release Velocity, Pitch (per-note bend in semitones, clipped to the device's Pitch Bend range), Slide (CC 74 on the note's channel) and Pressure. Draw on a selected note as you would an automation lane. Clip automation envelopes stack in the same view, so a per-note slide lane and a track-level filter automation sit one above the other.

Parameters that matter

AreaParameterWhat it doesStarting points
Tuning panelReference pitchFrequency of the reference note; the whole tuning derives from it440 Hz; 432 only if the whole project is there, it is not a tone control
Tuning panelPeriodInterval after which the scale repeats2/1 for anything layered with 12-TET material
Tuning panelSteps per periodKeys spanning one period12 for JI and meantone; 19, 22 or 31 for melodic microtonal work
ScaleRoot and scale (control bar)Set-wide default read by MIDI tools and PushMatch the kick's fundamental
ClipScale togglePer-clip override, piano-roll fold and highlightingOn for melodic clips, off for drums and FX
MIDI prefsMPE mode per portChannels 2–16 become one voice each with its own expressionOn for the MPE controller only; off for keyboards and the TD-3 port
InstrumentPitch Bend rangeSemitone range of per-note bend; must match the controller48 st for Seaboard/Push 3 glides, 2 st for keyboard-style vibrato
InstrumentSlide / Pressure in mod matrixMPE sources in Wavetable, Drift, Meld; map them like an envelopeSlide to filter 30–50%, Pressure to FM or unison 20–40%
Expression Control (M4L)SourceMaps Pitch Bend, Pressure, Slide or velocity to any parameter on non-MPE devicesPressure to Roar drive on an Analog patch
Push 3LayoutChromatic, In Key, 4ths, 3rds, Sequential and the fixed variantsIn Key for melodic MPE; Chromatic to hear a full 19-EDO row

Which Live devices listen to what

DeviceFollows Set tuningMPENotes
Wavetable, Drift, MeldYesYesPressure, Slide, Pitch as mod-matrix sources
Operator, Analog, Collision, Tension, ElectricYesVia Expression ControlOperator Fixed oscillators ignore tuning by design, useful for kicks
Sampler / Simpler, Granulator IIIYesYesPitch re-mapped per zone; Granulator maps Slide to file position
Drum Rack / Drum SamplerPads not retunedPressure onlyTune a kick by hand with Drum Sampler Transpose and fine cents
VST3 / AU plug-insNoIf supportedPlain MIDI; use MTS-ESP or the plug-in's own tuning file
External Instrument, CV InstrumentNoNoCV Instrument has its own calibration; see hardware integration

Techniques

Tuning the sub and the kick to the key

Instrument: Operator, Drum Sampler · Level: beginner · Genres: techno, dubstep, trap, drill

Boring and essential: kick fundamental and sub root on the same note or a fifth apart, with the Set scale built on it. Everything else on this page is decoration compared to this.

  1. Decide the root first. Control bar Scale: F minor is a safe techno default because F0 is 43.7 Hz, right in the sub's sweet spot; see note to Hz.
  2. Drop Tuner after the kick's Drum Sampler. Play the kick on its own, read the pitch during the tail, not the click. Adjust Drum Sampler Transpose (semitones) and the fine cents control until it reads the root, or the fifth above if the bass line moves a lot.
  3. Sub in Operator: Osc A sine, Coarse 1. Leave Transpose at 0 and write the bass clip with Scale mode on so only scale notes are offered.
  4. If the kick has a long pitch sweep, tune the end of the sweep: the ear locks onto the final pitch.
ParameterValueWhy
Kick fundamentalRoot or fifth, 40–60 HzA fourth or third against the sub beats audibly below 100 Hz
Drum Sampler fine tune±50 centsSample kicks are rarely on a 12-TET pitch; the fine control is where the tuning happens
Below about 100 Hz the ear resolves pitch poorly but hears beating between close tones very well. A kick at 47 Hz and a sub at 43.7 Hz produce a 3.3 Hz wobble that no compressor fixes.
Tuner reads the loudest partial. On a clicky kick, read the tail only, or use Spectrum at a high FFT size and find the lowest peak.

Just-intonation drone that never beats (Meld)

Instrument: Meld · Level: intermediate · Genres: ambient, drone, dub techno

Load a 12-note just-intonation tuning and build a chord from pure ratios. The result sits still in a way 12-TET chords never do: no slow shimmer between the third and the root, so you can add your own movement instead of fighting the temperament's.

  1. Browser, Tunings, load a 5-limit 12-note JI set. Check the panel: the major third should read 386.3 cents, not 400.
  2. Meld, Osc A Swarm Sine with Swarm 20% (keep it clean), Osc B Reed, same pitch.
  3. Hold root, fifth and major third. In JI those are 4:5:6, one harmonic series, and the sum waveform is periodic.
  4. Meld LFO 1, triangle, 0.03 Hz, to Osc B filter cutoff 15%: a slow timbral tide instead of pitch beating.
  5. Add the harmonic seventh (7/4, 968.8 cents) if the file has it: 4:5:6:7, and a buzzing fundamental an octave below the root appears.
A 12-TET major third is 13.7 cents sharp of 5/4; at 110 Hz that is a 0.9 Hz beat between the third's fourth harmonic and the root's fifth. JI removes it and the chord fuses into one timbre, which is why JI drones sound bigger with fewer voices.
Resample the drone into Simpler with Warp off: audio keeps its ratios when pitched, which 12-TET MIDI chords lose on transposition.

19-EDO and 22-EDO melodic lines with Push 3

Instrument: Drift, Push 3 · Level: intermediate · Genres: idm, hyperpop, experimental

Equal divisions other than 12 give you intervals that are almost familiar and then are not. 19-EDO has a sweeter third and a neutral "blue" interval; 22-EDO has sharp fifths and a sour supermajor third that works in hyperpop leads.

  1. Load 19-EDO: 19 notes per octave at 63.16 cents each, labelled from the .ascl.
  2. Push 3, Layout: Chromatic. Nineteen steps now span the octave, so set the row offset so a 19-EDO fifth (11 steps, 694.7 cents) lands one row up and one pad over.
  3. Drift: Osc 1 Shark Tooth, Osc 2 off, MS2 low-pass 2.5 kHz, Res 20%, mono, Glide 60 ms. The glides pass through intervals 12-TET has no word for.
  4. Switch to In Key and pick one of the tuning's own scales; the pads light only the scale degrees.
19-EDO stepCentsHears as
6378.9Major third, slightly flat, close to 5/4
5315.8Minor third, nearly just 6/5
11694.7Fifth, 7 cents flat, warm
15947.4Between minor and major seventh, the "blue" note
Drums stay in Drum Rack and are unaffected. Only melodic Live instruments retune, so a 19-EDO lead over a 12-TET sampled kick works without any extra routing.

Microtonal sub drops with pitch-lane automation

Instrument: Operator, Wavetable · Level: intermediate · Genres: dubstep, uk bass, halftime

Not every microtonal result needs a tuning file. The per-note Pitch lane writes bends in fractions of a semitone, so a sub can drop a quarter tone or glide to a 7/4 ratio inside a 12-TET Set.

  1. Wavetable, Osc 1 Basics at the Sine position, Sub osc on, Unison off, Mono, Pitch Bend range 12 st.
  2. Stacked detail view, add the Pitch lane. Select one note, draw a ramp from 0 to −7 st across it: a sub dropping a fifth. On the next note draw −0.5 st for a quarter-tone bend that sits wrong in a good way.
  3. For a harmonic-seventh drop, ramp to −2.31 st (7/4 is 968.8 cents; from the octave above that is 231 cents down).
  4. Each note has its own lane, so overlapping notes can bend in opposite directions.
The Pitch lane is clipped to the device's Pitch Bend range. If your ramp looks right in the editor but stops early in the sound, the device range is smaller than the drawn value.

MPE lead: slide to brightness, pressure to unison

Instrument: Wavetable · Level: intermediate · Genres: hyperpop, synthwave, ambient

The canonical MPE patch. Slide (finger moving up the pad) opens the filter and advances the wavetable, pressure thickens with unison and a little FM. Every note is its own performance.

  1. Preferences, Link/Tempo/MIDI: enable MPE on the Push 3 input.
  2. Osc 1 Collection, Basic Shapes, position 0. Osc 2 same table, position 50%, −12 st, −8 dB. Filter 1 LP MS2 800 Hz, Res 25%.
  3. Matrix: Slide to Filter 1 Freq +45% and Osc 1 Position +60%. Pressure to Unison Amount +50% and Osc 2 level +30%. Pitch Bend range 48 st.
  4. Amp env Attack 15 ms, Release 400 ms. Unison Classic, 3 voices, 15% at rest so pressure takes it to about 65%.
  5. Record a phrase, then tidy the Slide and Pressure lanes in the Stacked detail view: an overshot slide is flattened without re-playing.
ParameterValueWhy
Slide to Filter Freq+30 to +60%Brightness is the most audible per-note gesture
Pressure to Unison+40 to +60%Push harder, get wider; reads as effort
Pitch Bend range48 stLarge range plus the pad's physical travel equals smooth glides; small ranges make vibrato twitchy
Channel-wide modulation moves every held note together. MPE decouples notes, so a held bass note stays dark while the melody note above it slides bright. That independence is what the ear reads as "a player" rather than "a preset".

MPE into non-MPE devices with Expression Control

Instrument: Analog, Operator, plug-ins · Level: intermediate · Genres: any

Analog, Operator, Collision and most plug-ins ignore per-note expression. Expression Control (Max for Live) maps pressure, slide, bend and velocity to any parameter on the track: one value, so per-note independence is lost, but the gesture survives.

  1. Expression Control before Analog. Slot 1: Pressure to Roar Drive, 0 to 18 dB.
  2. Slot 2: Slide to Analog Filter 1 Freq, 400 Hz to 6 kHz, slightly exponential curve.
  3. Slot 3: Pitch Bend to Analog Osc 2 Detune: the bend pulls the second oscillator instead of the pitch.
  4. Keep the port in MPE mode; Expression Control reads the most recent note, which on a mono patch is exactly right.
On polyphonic patches last-note-wins means a new quiet note yanks the filter down for every held note. Keep this for mono leads and bass; use real MPE devices for chords.

Per-note granular scanning (Granulator III)

Instrument: Granulator III · Level: advanced · Genres: ambient, idm, textures

With Slide mapped to file position, each pad becomes a finger scrubbing its own grain stream through the sample: three fingers, three positions, each pressure-controlled.

  1. Drop a 4–8 s field recording or resampled drone on Granulator III. Grain Size 80 ms, Spray 10%, Scan 0.
  2. Expression: Slide to FilePos 100%, Pressure to Grain Size −40% (harder means grittier), Pressure to Spray +30%.
  3. Hold three notes at different pad heights and slide each independently; the sample's timeline is now a touch surface.
  4. Record, then redraw the Slide lanes as slow ramps in the Stacked detail view for a repeatable version.
Set the Set tuning to a JI set first: Granulator III follows tuning, so three grain streams a fifth apart lock into a periodic chord and the texture gains a fundamental.

Push 3 layouts and a scale-locked performance rack

Instrument: Instrument Rack, Push 3 · Level: intermediate · Genres: live performance, techno, house

The scale system is only useful live if the rack and the controller agree. This rack holds a bass, a chord and a lead that all read the Set scale through MIDI tools, with Push's In Key layout as the only thing you touch.

  1. Build the three chains with the key zones shown. In Key layout on Push 3 lays the scale across rows in fourths: the bottom two rows hit Bass, the middle two Chord, the top four Lead.
  2. Chord device: add intervals in scale steps rather than semitones, so "+2 steps" is a third whether the scale is minor or major.
  3. Arpeggiator in the Lead chain with scale-follow on, so added octaves and transpose steps stay in key.
  4. Push 3: hold Layout, pick In Key. Push's Scale menu mirrors the control bar, so change the key from Push mid-set and every chain follows.
  5. The same rack in 19-EDO just works because the MIDI tools count scale steps, not semitones.
Push 3's pads are MPE, so pressure and slide reach Drift and Wavetable automatically. Add Expression Control before Meld for anything its matrix does not expose.

Variations: swap the Lead chain for Granulator III for a texture instrument; put a Scale device in a different mode on one chain for deliberate bitonality on a macro.

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