Loop Sequencer is a Max for Live MIDI effect that plays a Drum Rack from a step grid. Paint steps, give any row its own resolution from 1/4 up to 1/64, randomize the unmuted rows with one button, and send the result to the arrangement as a MIDI clip.
Requirements
- Ableton Live 12.3 or later with Max for Live. That is Live Suite, or Live Standard with the Max for Live add-on.
- Built and tested on Live 12.4 for Windows. It has not been tested on a Mac yet.
If Live shows “The device is not available in this version of Live”, Max for Live is not installed. See Support.
Install
- Unzip the download.
- Drag
Loop Sequencer.amxdonto a MIDI track, in front of a Drum Rack. Live copies it into your User Library, so you only do this once. - Press play.
The device sits before the Drum Rack in the chain, like any MIDI effect. If the track has no Drum Rack, +RACK adds one.
The grid
Each row is one pad of the Drum Rack. The row label shows the pad’s name and follows the rack when you rename a pad or swap its sample. The bottom row is C1, the rack’s first pad.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| Click a step | Turns it on or off |
| Click and drag | Paints across steps. Dragging over a lit step clears it |
| Shift-drag or scroll on a step | Sets its velocity |
| VEL bar | Sets the velocity of the selected step |
| Green dot | Mutes the row |
| + and − | Add or remove a row, up to 24 (C1 to B3) |
| Arrows beside them | Scroll the rows when there are more than fit |
| STEPS | Pattern length, 1 to 64 |
With more than 32 steps, the grid shows one page of 32 at a time and follows the playhead. The arrows in the header change page.
Selecting a block
DRAW paints steps. SELECT drags out a block. Ctrl-drag or Alt-drag also selects while in Draw.
With a block selected, Copy, Paste, Dup, Fill and Del appear in the header. Fill cycles through every 4, every 2 and every 8 steps. Drag past the top or bottom of the grid and the rows scroll with you, so a block can span rows that were off screen.
Block velocity
With a block selected, drag the VEL bar, or Shift-drag any step inside the block. Every lit step in it moves by the same amount, so the dynamics you painted survive. Undo puts them back.
Shortcuts
Click the grid first. The well gets a blue outline when the device has keyboard focus. On a Mac, use Cmd in place of Ctrl.
| Keys | What they do |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V | Copy, cut and paste the selected block |
| Ctrl+D | Duplicate the block right after itself. The pattern grows to fit, up to 64 steps |
| Ctrl+A | Select the whole pattern |
| Ctrl+Z | Undo, 64 levels |
| Ctrl+Y or Ctrl+Shift+Z | Redo |
| Delete or Backspace | Clear the selection |
| D | Draw tool |
| S | Select tool |
| Esc | Drop the selection and let the row go |
Row resolution
Click a row’s name to show its tools.
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| ÷2 | Halves the row’s resolution: 8th notes, then quarter notes |
| ×2 | Doubles it: 32nds, then 64ths |
The rhythm stays as it was. ×2 keeps every hit where it is and opens an empty cell between each pair, ready to paint. ÷2 keeps the hits that sit on the coarser grid. A hit between two of its steps has nowhere to go and is dropped; the status line says how many, and undo brings them back.
Every row keeps its own resolution, so a hat can run in 32nds over a kick on quarter notes. The grid redraws to show the row’s real steps.
Row swing
With a row’s name clicked, the SWING knob turns amber and moves only that row. Click the name again, click another row, click any empty part of the device, or press Esc, and the amount stays on the row you set it on. A small S next to the row’s name shows it has its own swing. Double-click the knob to hand the row back to the global amount.
With no row selected, SWING is global. It sets every row and clears any per-row amounts. The global knob is the one Live automates.
Randomizer
The randomizer sits folded away in the narrow strip left of the control panel. Click the triangle to open it. Click it again to fold it back and give the grid the space.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| DENSITY | How many steps come on |
| SPREAD | How much the velocities vary |
| RANDOM | Rolls every unmuted row from scratch |
| VARY | Keeps the groove and moves some of it |
| INVERSE | Flips every step: on becomes off, off becomes on |
Steps on the beat are likelier than steps between them, so what comes out reads as a pattern.
Muted rows are left alone by all three. Mute the kick you like, then press RANDOM again to roll only the rest.
With a block selected, the three buttons only touch that block. Every roll can be undone.
The control panel
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| TO ARRANGEMENT | Writes the pattern to the track as a MIDI clip at the insert marker |
| ÷2 | Halves the pattern length. The steps past the new end are kept, so raising STEPS again brings them back |
| ×2 | Doubles the pattern, copying what you have into the new half |
| CLEAR | Empties the grid |
| +RACK | Adds a Drum Rack after the device if there is not one |
| SWING | Pushes the off-beats late |
| LEVEL | Scales all velocities |
To Arrangement with a block
With a block selected, TO ARRANGEMENT writes only that block, into the clip selected in Live. Select the block, click the target clip where you want it, then press TO ARRANGEMENT. The clip can be on any track; lock the device view with the padlock so the sequencer stays on screen. With no clip selected, the block becomes a new clip at the marker.
Playing with clips
Once a pattern has gone to the arrangement, that clip plays and the sequencer keeps quiet while the song position is inside it. Outside the clips it plays as before, so the same Drum Rack is never doubled.
Saving and automation
SWING and LEVEL are automatable from the track. Patterns, row resolutions, row swing and mutes save with your Live Set.
Support
Write to hello@marmaudio.com. Include your Live version, your operating system, and what you were doing when it happened. More on the support page.