Make an Ableton Step Sequencer without Max 4 Live, Pt. 1

Step sequencers truly divide the people…like Glee or some other TV show I don’t watch. Some people consider Step Sequencers to be a crucial part of the electronic music workflow. Some people (like, myself) don’t really see what all the fuss is about.

Correction: DIDN’T see what all the fuss was about. Now that I’ve figured out how to make a Melodic Ableton Step Sequencer without Max for Live, I have to admit that I’m pretty taken.

My goal for this exercise was to make the step sequencer using only Live’s inbuilt MIDI FX and be able to rack it up for easy usage with any instrument I’d like. I’m glad to say that I’ve accomplished my goal and the results are in this here video here. I’m splitting this baby into two posts because people lose it when I post something over 10 minutes. So, the other half of the video will be forthcoming (tomorrow). Check this video out and check back tomorrow for the exciting second act! CLICK HERE TO SEE THE NEXT POST

Here was my strategy: I had to make one MIDI FX Rack chain for each step and I had to trigger them in sequence. Once I had one note playing in each chain, I needed to be able to pitch them up or down. I did this using a Scale effect on each Device

I’ve also uploaded the Live Pack of the step sequencer that I made in this video. Feel free to DL here and leave your comments in the, erm, comments!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE NEXT POST

Related posts:

  1. Step Up Your Side Chain Compression in Ableton Live
  2. How to Make a MIDI Multi-Effect Rack in Ableton
  3. The Verb Pipe: How to Make a Gated Reverb Effect in Ableton

3 Responses to “Make an Ableton Step Sequencer without Max 4 Live, Pt. 1”

  1. TiltingAtCthulhu February 9, 2012 at 2:16 pm #

    Hi Anthony,
    great post! Simple yet brilliant way for setting up a step sequencer. I used the free aurex one before but always had some routing problems since my launchpad seems to be sort of the princess of midi controllers, always demanding extra treatment:-(. Thanks for sharing, I recreated it and it works like a charm! Best Wishes,
    Michael

    Reply
    • Anthony February 16, 2012 at 5:17 pm #

      Glad to hear it Michael! I also uploaded a Percussion sequencer (it’s in the Live Pack). No documentation right now, but it’s forthcoming!

      Reply

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

  1. Make an Ableton Step Sequencer without Max 4 Live, Pt. 2 | Ableton Tutorials, Tips and Techniques for Producers of All Levels - February 9, 2012

    [...] Make an Ableton Step Sequencer without Max 4 Live, Pt. 2 reddit_url = "http://www.anthonyarroyodotcom.com/theabletoncookbook/ableton-tutorial-2/make-an-ableton-step-sequencer-without-max-4-live-pt-2/";reddit_title = "Make an Ableton Step Sequencer without Max 4 Live, Pt. 2";reddit_newwindow="1"; This the second part of my post from yesterday about how to make a Step Sequencer in Ableton Live. See the first part here. [...]

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