Sound Design Workshop Clarification
The Sound Design Workshop column in the November issue of EM (entitled “A Step in Time“) describes how to build a step sequencer in a MIDI Effect Rack in Ableton Live 7. The MIDI Effect Racks are included in a downloadable Web Clip from the article. We’ve had some inquiries from readers concerning how to use those racks, so here’s a quick rundown.
1. Insert the step sequencer in an empty MIDI track. Any of the step sequencers in the Web Clip will do, they all work the same way.
2. Insert a virtual-instrument plug-in after the step sequencer by dragging it from the Live’s browser to the area labeled “Drop MIDI Effects, Audio Effects, Instruments or Samples Here.”
3. Record enable the track or set its Monitor mode to In.
MIDI notes between C2 and G2 (sequenced or played) will trigger steps in the 8-step sequencers. (Notes between Ab2 and Eb3 will trigger the second 8 steps in the 16-step sequencers.)
An alternative strategy is to insert the virtual-instrument plug-in on a different MIDI track and route the MIDI from the step sequencer track to the instrument track. If you choose that method, make sure that you’re not also sending incoming MIDI directly to the instrument.
