Performance Rack

A performance rack is a set of DJ-style effects that you can grab in a hurry without looking at the screen. This one sits on a group (drums, or the whole "music" group) or on a return, and gives you six moves: filter sweep, stutter, delay throw, bit-crush, wash and kill. Each effect lives on its own chain so the chain selector can switch which one is active, and every macro is designed to be "zero = nothing happening" so a wrong grab does no damage. It works for techno, house, dub, DnB and anything you perform from Session view with Push. The whole thing is built so the hands do one gesture per effect — no menus, no toggles, no device enable buttons mid-set.

Layout

How it's built

1. On the group track, add an Audio Effect Rack, name it "Performance FX". Create six chains: Dry, Filter, Repeat, Delay, Crush, Verb. In the chain list, set every chain's chain-select zone to the full 0–127 range — we will not use the selector for switching (it is abrupt and unquantised); instead each macro fades its chain in by volume. Keep the chain selector mapped anyway (step 14) for a "scene" mode.
2. Dry chain: a single Utility at 0 dB. This is the only chain audible at rest. Its chain volume is pulled down by Filter, Crush and Kill.
3. Filter chain: Auto Filter (12.2 redesign). Circuit MS2, Lowpass, 24 dB slope, Frequency 20 kHz, Resonance 20%, Drive 0, Envelope amount 0, LFO amount 0. Chain volume −inf.
4. Repeat chain: Beat Repeat. Interval 1 bar, Offset 0, Grid 1/16, Variation 0, Chance 0%, Gate 1/4, Pitch 0, Pitch Decay 0, Decay 0, Mix mode Insert, Volume 0 dB. Follow it with EQ Eight high-pass 80 Hz so repeated sub does not stack. Chain volume −inf. At Chance 0 the device passes audio untouched, which is why it is safe to fade in.
5. Delay chain: Echo. Left 3/16, Right 1/4 synced, Feedback 55%, Stereo link off, Input gain 0, filter section on: HP 200 Hz, LP 5 kHz, Reverb 15%, Modulation rate 0.3 Hz depth 10%, Gate off, Duck on at 50% so the throw only blooms when the input stops. Dry/Wet 100% (the chain is a parallel send). Chain volume −inf.
6. Crush chain: Redux. Bit Depth 16, Sample Rate 44.1 kHz (clean at rest), Jitter 0%, Shape 0, Dry/Wet 100%. Then Auto Filter LP 12 dB at 8 kHz to tame aliasing. Chain volume −inf.
7. Verb chain: Hybrid Reverb. Algorithm Dark Hall, Decay 6 s, Pre-delay 20 ms, Size 100%, Blend 70% towards algorithm (convolution IR "Medium Hall" fills the early part), Low Shelf −3 dB at 200 Hz in the EQ section, Dry/Wet 100%. EQ Eight HP 250 Hz after it. Chain volume −inf.
8. Enter Map mode. Filter macro → Auto Filter Frequency min 20 kHz max 60 Hz (inverted: knob up = darker); Chain Filter volume min −inf max 0 dB; Chain Dry volume min 0 max −inf. Set the Dry volume mapping so it reaches −inf by macro value 20 (shorten its max range in the mapping browser) — the dry disappears quickly and the filtered copy takes over, which avoids comb-filtering while both play.
9. Repeat macro → Beat Repeat Chance 0 → 100%, Grid 1/16 → 1/64, Chain Repeat volume −inf → 0 dB. Because Grid moves with the knob, a slow push gives 16ths, a full twist gives a buzz. Momentary: snap back to 0 on release (see performance notes).
10. Delay macro → Chain Delay volume −inf → −3 dB and Echo Feedback 40 → 85%. This is a send-style throw; with Duck on it sits under the dry.
11. Crush macro → Redux Sample Rate 44.1 kHz → 2 kHz, Bit Depth 16 → 4, Chain Crush volume −inf → 0 dB, Chain Dry volume 0 → −inf (same quick-fade trick as Filter).
12. Verb macro → Chain Verb volume −inf → 0 dB, Hybrid Reverb Decay 2 → 12 s, Chain Dry volume 0 → −8 dB. At full, the dry drops 8 dB and the wash takes over — the classic "send everything into space" move.
13. Kill macro → Chain Dry volume 0 → −inf, Chain Filter volume 0 → −inf, Chain Crush volume 0 → −inf. Repeat, Delay and Verb are deliberately not killed so their tails ring out. Exit Map mode.
14. Map the rack's Chain Selector to a seventh macro (show macros 7–8) called "Scene" if you want hard switching: Dry 0–20, Filter 21–40, Repeat 41–60, Crush 61–80, Verb 81–127 and leave Delay at full range. This is for Push pad "scenes" and is optional.
15. Save Macro Variations: "Clean" (all 0), "Filter Build" (Filter 70, Verb 30), "Stutter" (Repeat 60, Delay 40), "Washout" (Verb 100, Delay 60), "Blackout" (Kill 127, Verb 80). In the randomizer settings, exclude Kill and Crush from randomization; randomize Filter/Delay/Verb for surprise-but-safe moves.
16. Set every macro to 0 and save the rack as a preset. Also save the Set with the rack's Macro Variations — variations are stored with the device preset too, but check that after reloading.

Macro map

Signal flow notes

Three different mixing roles are hiding in one rack. Inserts (Filter, Crush) must replace the dry path, so their macros push the Dry chain down; running them in parallel with the dry at equal level sounds like a flanger because of the device latency and phase shift. Sends (Delay, Verb) add on top, so their macros only raise their own chain. Repeat is a hybrid: Beat Repeat in Insert mode silences its own input while repeating, so when stacked with the Dry chain you hear dry + repeats, which is the usual "stutter over the beat" behaviour; if you want the beat to drop out during stutters, map the Repeat macro to the Dry volume too.

Variations

Return-track version

Put the rack on a return, delete the Dry chain and the Dry-volume mappings, and set all chain volumes to 0 dB. Then every macro is a pure wet-amount control and you use the track sends to decide what goes in. Filter and Crush become "send to a broken copy" effects, which is less surgical but great for dub.

Dub siren / feedback rack

Replace Redux with Roar in Feedback routing (Feedback 60%, pitch +7 st, Soft Sine) and map Crush to Roar Feedback amount and Filter to Roar's post-filter. Combine with the delay for a self-oscillating siren. See feedback rack and dub FX & delays.

DnB / jungle chop version

Beat Repeat Interval 1/2 bar, Grid 1/32, Gate 1/8, Pitch Decay 60% for the tape-stop stutter; Echo at 1/8 dotted with Feedback 30%; add a Looper chain for live resampling of 1-bar phrases triggered from a Push pad.

Ambient wash version

Swap Hybrid Reverb to Shimmer algorithm (pitch +12 st, Decay 20 s), Echo to 1/2 and 3/4 with 75% feedback and Wobble 20%, and map Filter to a Spectral Time Freeze on/off instead of Auto Filter for a freeze-and-swell gesture.

Performance notes

• Push mapping: macros 1–6 map to the first six encoders when the rack is selected. Lock the rack to Push (device context menu → Lock to Control Surface) so you can navigate other tracks and keep the effects under your hands. Chain volumes appear on the next page if you want fine control.
• Momentary macros: Live has no built-in "snap back" for a macro. Two ways: map Repeat and Kill to Push pads via MIDI mapping (Live 12 pads send velocity; map with Cmd+M and set the pad to Toggle off, so it is momentary and the macro reads 0 on release); or keep a "Clean" Macro Variation under your other hand and recall it. The pad approach is tighter.
• Macro Variations as scenes: recall variations from Push's device view or from a MIDI-mapped button row: Clean / Filter Build / Stutter / Washout / Blackout. Variation recall is instant and not quantised — hit it on the downbeat. For a rising build, morph is not available, so recall "Filter Build" then ride the Filter macro manually.
• Automation vs macro: in Session view, record macro movement into clip envelopes (automation arm on) and you get repeatable throws; in Arrangement, automate the macros rather than the device parameters. Anything you want to grab live should remain un-automated, or your hand fights the lane.
• CPU: Hybrid Reverb is the only heavy device; six chains of always-running effects cost about the same as six inserts. If you need to save CPU, turn the Verb chain's Hybrid Reverb to algorithm-only (Blend 100%) and reduce Size.
• Safety: all macros read 0 = nothing. Before every set, recall "Clean" and visually check the six encoders on Push are at zero.

Related

• Performance & live
• Delay design
• Reverb & space
• Dub FX & delays
• Dub delay send rack
• Feedback rack
• Racks & macros
• Dub techno