M2TM Steps

M2TM Chords
M2TM Progressions
M2TM Fugue Maker
The M2TM Midi Tools Collection

M2TM Midi Tools is a growing collection of MIDI Transformers and MIDI Generators for Ableton Live Suite
Edition version 12 or Ableton Live 12 Standard with support for Max-for-Live devices. These tools do NOT
work in previous Live versions or in Live editions without Max-for-Live support.

As of this writing, the collection contains four components: the M2TM Steps transformer
and the M2TM Chords, the M2TM Progressions, and the M2TM Fugue Maker
generator. More tools are being developed and will be added in the future, as part of the
collection or as individual downloads

You can find the various M2TM Midi Tools here: http://www.gumroad.com/midi2themax

Regardless of what individual M2TM Midi Tools components you downloaded or purchased, this manual
encompasses all the tools in the collection.

Standard Live Devices

A few tools in the M2TM Collection are also available as standard Live devices, i.e. MIDI effects that you
drop on tracks much like you do with Live’s own Chord or Arpeggiator. M2TM devices are recognized by the
DV suffix to their name, for example the M2TM Chords DV is the standard device corresponding to the
M2TM Chords MIDI tool, whereas M2TM Progressions DV is the standard device corresponding to the
M2TM Progressions MIDI tool.

While MIDI tools are one of the best and most exciting new features of Ableton Live 12, standard devices
can be advantageous in some scenarios:

 they work also in Ableton Live 11

 their fields can be mapped and are automatable, thus you can use these devices in live
performances
 their configuration can be saved in presets and inside Live sets
 multiple instances of a standard Live devices can coexist in the current Live project, in the same or
in different track, each one with its own settings. (The same instance of a MIDI Tool is used for all
MIDI clips in all tracks.)

The only important limitation of MIDI tools provided as standard devices is that they only work in Session
view, and cannot generate or transform clips in Arrangement view.

As of this writing, M2TM Chords and M2TM Progressions tools are available also as standard Live devices,
but we plan to add more devices in the future. If you are interested, see the list available at
https://midi2themax.gumroad.com.

M2TM devices are virtually identical to their MIDI tool counterpart, both in features and in how their fields
work. For example, below you see the M2TM Chords tool (left) and the M2TM Chords DV device (right):
The only relevant difference is in the controls near the bottom edge of the device window.

In standard Live 12 MIDI tools the target clip – that is, the clip where notes are created or modified,
respectively if the tool is a MIDI generator or transformer – is the currently selected one; in fact, you see its
notes to the right of the MIDI tool (see figure above left).

In standard Live devices, conversely, you need to select the target clip using the menu near the bottom-left
corner of the window. Interestingly, this menu is automatically updated when you move the input focus
again to the device after creating or deleting a clip:

Even if they have different names, the auto and go! buttons are functionally similar to the Generate and
Apply buttons that Ableton Live 12 displays under all MIDI Tools.

NOTE: Because you cannot see the target clip’s note editor at the same time as the
standard devices, enabling the Auto button is less useful than it is when working with
MIDI tools. However, this feature is invaluable if you map a field to a control or an
external MIDI controller, or to a Live internal modulator.

Installation of M2TM standard MIDI devices is simpler then the setup procedure required by Live 12 MIDI
Tools: just store the AMXD file somewhere on your hard disk and ensure that the containing folder is listed
in the Live’s Places sidebar; if it isn’t add the folder to the sidebar.
Setup and Troubleshooting
If you do not know how to install MIDI Tools under Live 12, please read the Setup and Troubleshooting PDF
file, which contains many tips and solutions to most common problems you may encounter during or after
installation. (Notice that this file is not provided with the “device” versions of M2TM MIDI tools, as
explained in previous section.)

You can download the PDF from inside the Gumroad product page, i.e. the same webpage from where you
downloaded the MIDI Tool itself. If necessary, log in Gumroad with the credentials you provided at
purchase time and go to the Library section.

We often update our documentation with new tips and solution, thus please ensure that you download the
most recent version.

Support
If you are new to Live MIDI tools, we recommend that you read the documentation available on Ableton
website: https://www.ableton.com/en/live-manual/12/midi-tools/

Before contacting us, ensure that you carefully read this manual and the Setup and Troubleshooting PDF
mentioned in previous section. We often update our documentations, thus please check that you have the
most recent version of both documents.

To report problems (other than those described in the Setup and Troubleshooting PDF), propose ideas for
new M2TM components, or suggest how to improve them, please contact us at [email protected].

IMPORTANT: when reporting a problem, please specify which operating system (Windows or MacOS) you
are using and its version, the Ableton Live version, and any other information that can help us in diagnosing
and fixing the problem. If possible, include one or more screenshots.
M2TM Steps

M2TM Steps is a MIDI Transformer that lets you change the main attributes of clip notes in a cyclic fashion.
A “cycle” can contain from 2 to 64 steps and can be applied to pitch, velocity, start time, duration,
probability and mute attribute of the clip notes that are selected (or all notes, if no note is currently
selected).

For example, the figure above shows what happens if you apply a 6-step cycle to increment or decrement
the pitch attribute of a series of C3 notes. In this specific case, the first and second notes in the clip are
transposed up by 7 and 4 semitones, respectively; the third and fourth notes are not modified; the fifth and
sixth notes are transposed down by 2 and 4 semitones, respectively. If the clip contains seven or more
notes – as in the example above – the cycle is applied again, therefore the 7th and 8th notes are transposed
up, the 9th and 10th notes are not modified, etc.

Being a MIDI transformation tool, you find M2TM Steps in the Transform tab of the clip’s property window.
Depending on this window’s width, it can appear in either of these views:

M2TM Steps has relatively few fields, whose purpose becomes clear one you grasp the principles behind it.
Note attribute and cycle length
The most important field is the attribute menu, which lets you decide which note attribute are modified
and how steps are interpreted. There are the options available in the top-left menu:

pitch: transpose the note up or down by the specified number of semitones; steps values are in the
range from -12 to +12.
pitch quantized: as above, but the resulting note is quantized to the current scale.
scale steps: transpose the note up or down by the specified number of scale steps; step values are in
the range from -12 to + 12. For example, the value +2 transposes notes up by a third; the value -4
transposes the note down by a fourth.
Notice that the actual number of semitones depends on the current scale and the original note’s
pitch. For example, assuming that current scale is C Major and you are transposing one third up, C
notes are transposed to E (four semitones up), whereas D notes are transposed to F (three semitones
up).
octave: transpose the note up or down by the specified number of octaves; step values are in the
range from -2 to 2. The resulting note is not quantized to the scale, therefore it is out-of-key if the
original note was out-of-key.
velocity: increase or decrease the note’s velocity by the specified step value, which can be in the
range from -126 to +126.
velocity (set): the note’s velocity is assigned the specified step value, which can be in the range from
1 to 127. The default value is 90.
start: anticipate or delay the note’s starting time; step values are relative to the current grid size; the
lowest value (-128) moves the note one grid position to the left, whereas the highest value (+128)
moves the note one grid position to the right.
duration: change the note’s duration; the lowest step value (-128) decreases the duration by the grid
size, the highest step value (+128) increases the duration by the current grid interval.
probability: increase or decrease the note’s velocity probability by the specified step value, which
can be in the range from -100 to +100.
 probability (set): the note’s probability is assigned the specified step value, which can be in the range
from 0 to 100. The default value is 100.
mute: step values can only be 0 (not muted) or 1 (muted).

The field in the top-center defines the length of the cycle, which can be a number between 2 and 64
(default is 8). Keep in mind that each note attribute uses a distinct cycle, with its own values and length.

Here are a few examples of how these options affect the notes in the clip. Let’s start with a series of
identical notes and apply a cycle of pitch transposition in semitones:

+ =

If the pitch quantized option is selected, the result is slightly different, because resulting notes
automatically fit the current scale. Assuming that the C Major scale is selected, this is the result:

+ =

If the scale steps option is used, the resulting intervals are usually wider; in this case, notes automatically fit
the current scale:

+ =

You get more interesting and less predictable results if you start with a melody rather than a group or
repeated notes, or if you apply cycles of longer lengths. For example, you can start with a simple melody of
four repeated notes, and apply a 5-steps cycle:

+ =

When working with velocities and probabilities, cycle steps can be applied as deltas of current values or as
absolute values. To use deltas, you select the velocity or the probability option:

+ =

To use absolute values, you select the velocity (set) or the probability (set) option, and the current values
of velocity or probability attributes are ignored:
 + =

The start option shifts notes horizontally on the grid. When the step value is at its minimum (-128) or its
maximum (+128), the note is anticipated or delayed by the current grid interval. If grid interval is 1/16 or
1/32 you can use this option for minor adjustments of note attack, for example to “humanize” the resulting
melody:

+ =

The duration option can decrease or increase the note duration; as for the start option, step values are
relative to the current grid interval:

+ =

NOTE: When you use the top-left menu to switch a different attribute, all step values are
reset to their default value, which is 90 for velocity (set), 100 for probability (set), and
zero for all others. The only exception to this rule is when you switch from a pitch-related
attribute to another pitch-related attribute, e.g. from pitch to pitch quantized or scale
steps: in these cases, step values and cycle length is preserved.

Step scope
In general, steps are applied to notes in the order in which these notes appear in the note editor (from left
to right); however, you can apply a given individual step to more than just one note. These options are
available in the top-right menu:

note: steps are applied to individual notes; if two or more notes have the same start time (i.e. they
are aligned vertically), notes are processed for the highest to the lowest note.
chord: if two or more notes play in the same moment, the are modified using the same step value.
1/32, 1/16, 1/4, 1/2: the clip is subdivided in intervals of this size (32nd-notes, 16th-notes, eight notes,
quarter notes, and half notes) and notes in each interval are affected by the same step value; if a
step corresponds to a grid portion that contains no notes, that step is ignored.
1, 2, 3, 4: like above, except the menu items correspond to number of whole notes (or measures, if
current time is 4/4).
grid: like above, but the current grid interval is used.

NOTE: a tolerance equal to 1/128th note is applied when assigning a note to a time
interval. This approach is used so that notes that are slightly anticipated or delayed
– for example, “strummed” chords or notes that have been “humanized” by means
of the start option – are correctly grouped together.
All the examples shown so far used the note option. However, when the clip contains chords, this option
often delivers undesired results, because it destroys the relationship between chord notes. For example,
see what happens if the clip contains chords built on minor or major thirds:

+ =

In such cases, the chord option is usually more appropriate:

+ =

As you see, the first chord (C-E-G, or C major) has been transposed into G-B-D (G major); however, the
second chord (D-F-A, or D minor) has been transposed into F-G-C, a chord that contains no thirds. This
happened because of the “quantize to scale” adjustment after the transposition in semitones. To preserve
the intervals in the original chord, the scale step option is often preferable:

+ =

At times, you might want to apply the same transformation to all the notes in a given time interval. For
example, you might want to generate a variation of existing melody or harmony by transposing one
semitone up only the notes at the beginning of each quarternote interval. In this scenario, you might select
the 1/16 option, set 4 as the cycle period, and select a non-zero value only for the first step in the cycle:

+ =

Step values
The buttons and fields near the bottom edge let you apply simple transformations to step values.

The first four buttons rotate, increase or decrease all values. The set value numeric field in the center
allows you to assign the same value to all steps: you can either click and drag the mouse up or down, or
click and then type a numeric value.

TIP: by double-clicking this field you reset all steps to their default value; it is an easy and
quick way to undo all changes done so far to the currently selected note attribute.

The S (for scramble) button randomly shuffles all current steps; it provides a quick way to try different
combinations of the same step values.

The R (for randomize) button randomizes step values. If all steps have the same value – for example,
because you just selected the note attribute from the top-left menu or double-clicked the bottom-center
field – the randomize command generates random values across the entire valid range, e.g. between 1 and
127 in the case of velocity (set), or between -2 and +2 in the case of octave. However, if steps have
different values, the randomize command generates values in the range comprised between the current
minimum and maximum.

Here is a practical example. Say that you want to generate random velocities in the range between 30 and
110. Here is a quick way to do so: (1) use the bottom-center field to assign the 30 value to all steps, (2) use
the mouse to increase the first step to 110, (3) click the R button.

TIP: to precisely assign a value to the step under you mouse, just check the number that
appears in the bottom-right corner of the window.

Notice that the randomize command preserves steps’ minimum and maximum, i.e. it generates at least one
step whose value is equal to the current minimum, and at least one step whose value is equal to the
current maximum. This allows you to repeatedly click the R button to generate random values in the same
initial range.
M2TM Chords

M2TM Chords is a MIDI tool generator that allows you to generate a complex chord progression by simply
typing the names of its chords. It offers many advanced features that make it suitable for expert musicians,
yet it can be used by those with little or no music theory knowledge, provided that they have a chord
progression to try out.

MT2M Chords is very similar to M2TM Progresssions, another plugin in the M2TM Midi Tools collection, in
that both plugins allow you to generate chord progressions quickly and easily. In fact, many features and
user-interface elements are in common between the two generators. The main difference is, M2TM
Progression is more useful to discover new and unusual progressions and/or rhythmic combinations,
whereas M2TM Chords is the best choice when you already know what your progressions should look and
sound like, and need a tool to eliminate the tedious job of inserting notes one by one.

Being a MIDI generator, you find M2TM Chords in the Generate tab of the clip’s property window.
Depending on this window’s width, it can appear in either of these views:

Notice that this tool also exists as a “standard” device, under the name M2TM Chords DV. This device
works exactly as the MIDI tools described in this section. For more information, please read the Standard
Live Devices section, earlier in this document.
Feature List
Here is the complete list of features and options:

 support for virtually any chord type, from simple triads to 6- and 7-note chords, including quartal,
quintal and other non-standard chords;
 support for Roman notation: chords can be typed as Roman numerals (e.g. II or #iv)
 chord synonyms: recognizes countless name variations – for example, Dmin7, Dm7, Dmi7 and D-7
all refer to the same combination of notes (D F A C);
 smart parsing of altered chords: you can type alterations in any order, and separate them with or
without the slash character; for example, Csus7b9, Csus7/b9, Csus4/7/b9, C7sus/b9, Csus4/7b9 all
refer to the same chords (C F G Bb Db)
 rootless chords: optionally drop the root note from the chord; useful if you plan to assign the root
note to another instrument
 drop chords: in addition to rootless chords, a special extension to the standard syntax allows you to
“drop” the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th from any chord; for example, Cmaj7drop5 or Cmaj7^5 generate a C
major 7th chord without the 5th (or C G B notes)
 inversions: you decide whether the lowest note is the root, the 3rd, the 5th or the 7th of the chord
 auto-inversions: M2TM Chords can automatically select the inversion that minimize the distance
from notes in previous chord, just like skilled keyboard players do
 slash chords: enter chords such as Cmaj7/G to indicate the lowest note of the chord – it is another
way to specify the inversion, on a chord-by-chord basis
 transposition: transpose the typed progression up or down to any of the 12 keys; chord names in
the edit window are immediately updated to reflect the new key
 octave: select the octave for all chords in the progressions
 closed/open voicings: you decide whether chords are played in “closed” position (chord notes are
as close as possible, as in the C-E-G triad) or in “open” position (as in the C-G-E triad)
 automatic legato: notes in common between consecutive chords can be played in legato mode, as
a single, longer note – great for pads and string sections!
 extra base note: an additional root note can be added one or two octaves below (or above), for a
thicker sound; this option is especially effective for simpler triads
 default or custom chord duration(s): decide the default duration of chords in the progression,
while retaining the ability di specify a different duration for some of the chords
 repetitions: the progression can be inserted just one time (default behavior) or be repeated up to
64 times, a feature that is very handy when creating long clips in Arrangement view
 custom insertion point: unlike most MIDI Generators for Live, M2TM Chords lets you decide where
in the clip the notes are added; this feature allows you to quickly create entire songs by appending
individual progressions
o you can specify the insertion point in terms of bars.beats.16th (as you do with Live’s
punch-in and punch-out positions) or – quite opportunely - you can just click a button to
move the insertion point immediately after the last progression you inserted
 add or replace clip notes: most MIDI generators for Live add generated notes to those already in
the clip, which is convenient – for example – when you are building a drum pattern one sound at a
time; when working with chords, however, you typically want to replace existing notes and chords
with a new progression, and this option is available in M2TM Chords
 set or extend loop: you can set the clip’s loop position to match the progression just added, a
feature that saves you time when trying out progressions of different length, or when you assign
custom durations to each chord
 o you can also extend the loop so that it includes the progression just added; this feature is
very handy when building a longer progression made of shorter, simpler ones.

The User Interface

M2TM Chords offers many features, thus its window is crowded with controls of all sorts. However, these
controls are logically grouped in areas, each with a different purpose:

Let’s examine each area in more details.

The Chord Progression

The upper half of the window is where you type the chords that make up your progression:

You can type chord names as you would write them down with pen and paper, you just need to leave one
spaces (or more) between chords and ensure that no space is left inside the chord name. For example, here
a 4-chord progression in C major:

Cmaj7 Dm7 Am7 G7

Just press the ENTER or TAB key to commit the chords to Live’s note editor:

M2TM Chords recognizes virtually all chord types – from triads to chords with added 9th, 11th and 13th
extensions, in natural or altered (lowered or raised) form, plus non-standard chords consisting of stacked
fourths or fifths. Just as important, many syntax forms are accepted, up to several thousand syntax
variations. For example, the progression above could be rewritten as:

Cma7 Dmi7 Ami7 G7

or
CM7 D-7 A-7 Gdom7

If a chord name consists of a single note, it is assumed to be a major triad, so for example the C chord is
resolved into the C E G notes. For more clarity, you can use the M, maj or ma suffixes (eg C CM Cmaj Cma
all indicate the C major triad). You can use min, mi, m or – for minor chords (eg Cmin Cmi Cm C- are all
resolved as the C minor triad). The + symbol can be used for augment triads (eg C+ stands for C E G# notes),
the o symbol can be used for diminished triads (eg Co stands for C E Gb notes); the sus suffix indicates a
suspended fourth (eg Csus stands for C F G notes).

By appending the 6 or 7 digit you can create a 4-note chord. C6 Cmaj6 CM6 are equivalent spellings for the
major 6th chord (C E G A notes); Cmaj7 CM7 Cma7 stand the major 7th chord (C E G B); Cmin7 Cm7 Cmi7 C-7
indicate the minor 7th chord (C Eb G Bb); Cmin6 Cm6 Cm6 C-6 all resolve to the minor 6th chord (C Eb G A).
C7 is the dominant chord (C E G Bb).

You can create many more chords by appending other suffixes. The following table shows a small subset of
all supported chord symbols:
symbol triad notes C7/b5 C7b5 dominant dim 5th C E Gb Ab
C Cmaj CM Cma major triad CEG C7sus4 Csus7 suspended 7th C F G Bb
Cmin Cm Cmi C- minor triad C Eb G Cadd9 major triad + 9th CEGD
C+ Caug augmented triad C E G# symbol 5-note chord notes
Co Cdim diminished triad C Eb Gb Cmaj9 CM9 major 9th CEGBD
Csus Csus4 Cadd4 suspended triad CFG Cmin9 Cm9 minor 9th C Eb G Bb 9
symbol 4-note chord notes C9 dominant 9th C E G Bb D
Cmaj7 CM7 Cma7 major 7th CEGB Cmin/maj9 minor + 7th + 9th C Eb G B D
Cmaj6 C6 CM6 Cma6 major 6th CEGA Cmaj11 CM11 major + 9th + 11th CEGBD
Cmin7 Cm7 C-7 Cmi7 minor 7th C Eb G Bb C7/#11 C7#11 dominant + #11th C E G Bb F#
Cmin6 Cm6 C-6 Cmi6 minor 6th C Eb G A non-standard symbols chord notes
C7 Cdom7 dominant 7th C E G Bb Cq Cq3 3 stacked 4ths C F Bb
Cm7b5 Cm7/b5 half-diminished C Eb Gb Bb Cq4 4 stacked 4ths C F Bb Eb
C-7b5 Cq5 5 stacked 4ths C F Bb Eb Ab
Cdim7 Co7 diminished 7th C Eb Gb A CQ CQ3 3 stacked 5ths CGD
Cmin/maj7 Cmi/ma7 minor triad + 7th C Eb G B CQ4 CQ4 4 stacked 5ths CGDA
C7/#5 C7#5 dominant aug 5th C E G# Bb

M2TM Chords also recognizes the so-called slash chords, i.e. chord names followed by a slash and the note
that works as the bass note. For example, the standard Cm7 is resolved to C Eb G Bb notes, whereas its
slash variation Cm7/Bb generates the same notes but in a different sequence Bb C Eb G.

The slash note may or may not belong to the chord. In the former case, the slash notation specifies an
inversion of the chord, so in previous example, Cm7/Bb is the 3rd inversion of the Cm7 chord: in this case
the Bb note is moved from the top to the bottom of the chord. However, if the slash note does not belong
to the chord, it is added to regular chord notes, so for example Cm7/Ab symbol generates the Ab C Eb G Bb
chord.

If the slash not does not belong to the chord, the resulting note sequence may or may not correspond to an
existing chord: for example, Cm7/Ab is equivalent to Ab7/9, and Dm/B can be also written as Bm7b5 (half-
diminished chord). However, the C7/B chord generates the B C E G Bb notes, a rather dissonant sequence
that does not correspond to any standard chord.
A special syntax – based on the drop suffix or the ^ symbol – lets you enter drop chords, i.e. chords that do
not contain a note that should be there. Drop chords are more useful with very complex chords. For
example, the C7b9#11b13 chord consists of 7 notes – namely C E G Bb Db F# Ab – thus you might want to
simplify it while preserving notes that work as upper extensions.

The usual candidate for dropping is the 5th, thus for example C7b9#11b13drop5 or C7b9#11b13^5 generate
the following 6-note chord: C E Bb Db F# Ab. You can apply the drop or ^ suffix multiple times and you can
use the 0 or 1 digit to drop the root note, thus for example C7b9#11b13^5^0 generates this 5-note chord: E
Bb Db F# Ab.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with chord symbols: if M2TM Chords fails to recognize one of the chords you
type, it displays an error message that explains what symbol didn’t pass the parsing:

M2TM Chords lets you transpose your progressions up or down by semitones using the + and – buttons to
the right of the editing pane, and you can quickly delete the current progression by clicking the C button.
The text in the editing pane always reflect the updated progressions and chord durations are preserved:
Please be aware that up/down buttons do not commit the current progression to the note editor; instead,
they translate the last progression that was processed (and found correct). This implies that you should
always type the ENTER or TAB key before clicking the up/down buttons, else the result might not be the
one you expect.

Chord Duration
By default, the duration of all chords is equal to one bar, or 4 quarternotes in the usual 4/4 time signature.
You can set a different duration by changing the dur field immediately under the editing pane:

You can also specify a different duration for each chord, by appending a colon “:” symbol and then one of
the variables summarized in the following table:

variable duration meaning (and official name) dotted triplet

values values
w 1 whole note (semibreve) wd 3/2 wt 2/3
h 1/2 half note (minim) hd 3/4 ht 1/3
q 1/4 quarternote (crochet) qd 3/8 qt 1/6
e 1/8 8th-note (quaver) ed 3/16 et 1/12
s 1/16 16th-note (semiquaver) sd 3/32 st 1/24
t 1/32 32nd-note (demisemiquaver) td 3/64 tt 1/48
d (depends) the default value indicated by
the dur field

For example, the sequence C Dm:h Em:qd F:q generates a C major chord for 4 quarternotes (or whatever
the default duration indicated by the dur field is), a D minor chord for 2 quarternotes, an E minor chord for
1.5 quarternotes, and an F major chord for 1 quarternote:
You can even use expressions that build on these variables. For example, the sequence C:w+q Dm:3.5*q
Em:h+e generates a C major chord for a whole note plus a quarternote, a D minor chord for 3 and ½
quarternotes, and an E minor chord for 2.5 quarternotes (the same as a half note plus an 8th-note):

Roman notation
M2TM Chords supports progressions that use chords expressed as Roman numbers e.g. II or #iv7. There are
a few details and limitations to keep in mind when using Roman notation:

 Roman numbers indicate a major triad if all uppercase, or a minor triad if all lowercase; thus, the I
chord is the major triad and the i chord is the minor triad
 You can make the triad more expressive by adding 7, 6, 9 and so forth. For example, I7 is the
dominant 7th chord, whereas i7 is the minor 7th chord
 Chords in Roman notation can be followed by a colon “:” and a duration symbol, as explained in an
earlier section

 Roman numbers are always resolved as if current key is C, therefore I stand for C major triad, I7 is C
dominant 7th chord, II is D major triad, etc.
o use the + and – buttons near the right border to transpose the progression to a different
key; the actual chord names are showed in the bottom area, as usual
o as you click these buttons, the Roman progression is replaced by the corresponding chord
progression that uses standard chord names
  All chord types are supported, with only exceptions: drop notes (the ^ symbol) and slash chords
(the / symbol); when these symbols are used, the following error message is displayed:

Chord Attributes
The next two horizontal sections let you define the octave, duration, velocity and other characteristics that
affect how the chord “sounds”:

The oct field is the base octave for the chord: the default value of 3 means that chords will extend from C3
(middle C) upward.

The root option lets you generate rootless chords, i.e. chords that lack their root note. For example, a
rootless Cmaj7 chord would contain the following notes: E G B. While omitting the root note might sound
weird or useless, you might have good reasons to do so, for example when you want to assign the root to
another instrument (in a different Live track).

Rootless chords are quite popular among jazz musicians, and it often happens
that the piano player omits the root because the bass player will be playing it.
The root option is useful when all the chords in the progression should be played as rootless chords; if only
a few chords should be played without the root, you can use the drop or ^ suffixes in the chord symbol, as
explained in previous section

You can create a “thicker” sound by doubling the lowest chord note one or two octaves below or above,
using the bass field. (The lowest note is usually the chord root, but it can be a different note if you selected
a different inversion.)

As explained in a previous section, the dur field affects the duration of all chords whose duration is not
specified by means of dots, colons, and semicolon suffixes. You can double-click this field to reset it to the
numerator digit in current time signature, for example 4 in the canonical 4/4 tempo, or 7 in the less
common 7/8 time signature.

As its name suggests, the vel field is the MIDI velocity of all notes in the chord, including the bass note if
there. (Its default value is 100.) In real-world scenarios, you might want to “humanize” the result by
randomly changing this value using the Live’s Velocity Shaper built-in MIDI tool or our M2TM Steps.

Inversions and Voicings

A single chord symbol actually corresponds to dozens chords that have the same “nature” and yet a
different “sound”. In fact, in addition to playing the chord in different octaves, you can also choose
between different inversions and voicings.

While beginners usually play chords in the so-called root position (i.e. C-E-G-Bb for C7), more expert
musicians may opt for the 1st inversion (lowest note is the third, or E-G-Bb-C in previous example), the 2nd
inversion (lowest note is the fifth, or G-Bb-C-E) or even the 3rd inversion (lowest note is the seventh, or Bb-
C-E-G). Here are a couple examples:
As you surely noticed, in all examples seen so far, chords move in parallel, and the same inversion is used
for all chords in the progression. This is rarely what a seasoned keyboard player would do.

A unique – and very powerful – feature of M2TM Chords is the ability to automatically select the optimal
inversion for each chord after the first one. In this context, the optimal inversion is the one that preserves
the pitch of notes that are in common between consecutive chords or that, at least, minimize the distance
between them. You enable this option by turning the fixed field into auto:

Interestingly, the auto feature works correctly even if the progression is repeated two or more times, using
the reps field:

In addition to inversions, you can vary the sound of chord by opting for an open voicing that uses larger
intervals between chord notes. You achieve this result by means of the voicing option, optionally
combining it with the inversion field and the auto feature.
 As you see in the figure above, when using the auto feature you may get different
inversions for the same progression, depending on whether you select close or open
voicing.

If two consecutive chords have one or more notes in common, a keyboard player might decide not to re-
trigger the note on the latter chord. This is especially effective when creating background pads, or
mimicking a string section. You enable this behavior using the leg (for legato) option:

The legato option works as expected even when the progression is repeated two or more times:

Insertion Point and Loop Handling

The fields near the bottom of the window allow you to define where chords are added and how many
progressions are created, and to perform a few useful actions related to the loop area:
By default, M2TM Chords creates notes at the very beginning of the clip, corresponding to position 1.1.1
when expressed in the bars.beats.16ths format. Unlike most other MIDI Generators, however, you can
change this insertion point by means of the first three fields in this area.

While it is possible to manually edit the numbers in these fields, you will typically change the insertion point
by means of the two buttons to their rights: the |< button resets the insertion point to 1.1.1, whereas the >
button moves the insertion point immediately after the chords you have just inserted. This feature allows
you to create complex progressions that consists of two or more simpler progressions, or maybe the same
progression with different root, voicings, etc.

Notice that for these buttons to work correctly you need to confirm the insertion of the current
progression, according to the rules of all MIDI Generators for Ableton Live. In practice, you should follow
this workflow to combine two or more progressions:

First, type the first progression, as

you would do normally. If the
insertion point is other than
1.1.1, click on the |< button to
reset to the beginning of the clip.

Next, confirm your decision to

generate current chords, by using
one of the methods Ableton Live
offers; for example, use the
mouse to select some notes in
the MIDI editor.

Click on the > button to move the

insertion point after the chord
you just inserted and enter the
second progression (or just
transpose the current one).
Enable the L option and ensure
that the button to its right shows
the = (equal) symbol, so that the
loop area moves to match the
progression you just added.

If you are satisfied with the new

progression, you can click on the
= button to turn it into the +
(plus) symbol, which extends the
loop area to include the new
progression. You can now hear
how the two progressions sound
together.

NOTE: changing the insertion point, either directly or by means of the |< and > buttons
may not have immediate effect, because the new point is used for the next progression
you define. If you want to apply them immediately, just force M2TM Chords to re-
generate the current progression, for example by clicking twice the auto button.

When experimenting with chord progressions you can often change your mind and need to restart the
entire process, or just change a sub-progression somewhere in the clip. As you may already know, by
default MIDI Generators for Ableton Live always add notes to those already in the clip, which makes sense
in most scenarios, for example, when you create a drum loop and need to define the pattern for the hi-hat
without deleting the patterns you already created for the kick and snare.

When working with chords, however, the chords you generate somewhere in the clip are typically meant to
replace the notes in that area, and you would be forced to temporarily switch from M2TM Chords to the
clip editor. Unfortunately, this very operation has the effect to commit the chords you are currently
working on, which is rarely what you would do.

In this scenario, the X option is very useful, as it automatically deletes all the notes that are currently in the
area where the progression is about to be inserted.
M2TM Progressions

M2TM Progressions is a MIDI tool generator that allows you to generate complex chord progressions with
a few clicks of the mouse. It comes with 230+ distinct chord progressions that you can easily transpose to
any key and octave, insert using different inversions (i.e. decide whether the lowest note is the root, the
3rd, etc.), using “closed” or “open” voicings, and you can create “thicker” chords by adding upper extensions
even if they are not indicated in the original progression. Each progression can be rotated and/or reversed,
to generate different progressions, and you can apply one of the 200+ rhythmic patterns to each chord or
chord group.

MT2M Progressions is very similar to M2TM Chords, another plugin in the M2TM Midi Tools collection, in
that both plugins allow you to generate chord progressions quickly and easily. In fact, many features and
user-interface elements are in common between the two generators. The main difference is, M2TM
Progression is more useful to discover new and unusual progressions and/or rhythmic combinations,
whereas M2TM Chords is the best choice when you already know what your progressions should look and
sound like, and are looking for a tool to eliminate the tedious job of inserting notes one by one.

Being a MIDI generator, you find M2TM Progressions in the Generate tab of the clip’s property window.
Depending on this window’s width, it can appear in either of these views:

Notice that this tool also exists as a “standard” device, under the name M2TM Progressions DV. This device
works exactly as the MIDI tools described in this section. For more information, please read the Standard
Live Devices section, earlier in this document.
Feature List
Here is the complete list of features and options:

 230+ distinct progressions: each with four chords or more, grouped in four categories
 browsing: quickly browse progressions in the current category or select a random one to get
instant inspiration
 transposition: progressions can be transposed to any octave and to any of the 12 keys
 transformations: progressions can be rotated left and right, or reversed, to generate less common
and often inspiring progressions
 chord complexity: you can decide to insert simpler chords that contain fewer notes than indicated
or, conversely, to extend chords by adding upper extensions (i.e. the 9th, 11th and 13th of the chord)
even if they aren’t indicated in the chord symbol
 chord inversions: you decide whether the lowest note is the root, the 3rd, the 5th or the 7th of the
chord
 auto-inversions: M2TM Progressions can automatically select the inversion that minimize the
distance from notes in previous chord, just like skilled keyboard players do
 closed/open voicings: you decide whether chords are played in “closed” position (chord notes are
as close as possible, as in the C-E-G triad) or in “open” position (as in the C-G-E triad)
 automatic legato: notes in common between consecutive chords can be played in legato mode, as
a single, longer note – great for string sections!
 extra base note: an additional root note can be added one or two octaves below (or above), for a
thicker sound; this option is especially effective for simpler triads
 custom chord duration(s): you decide the duration of chords, in the range between half quarter
note to 16 quarter notes; this feature is crucial if the song has a time signature other than 4/4
o you can even assign a different duration to each of the four chords in the progression; for
progressions of 5+ chords, the pattern is cyclically applied to all the chords in the
progression
o an intelligent randomization feature automatically selects chord durations that fit the
current time signature and nonetheless provides unexpected and inspiring results
 150+ rhythm patterns: in addition to playing long notes, you can choose among many rhythmic
patterns, with or without rests, or click a button to randomly select one;
 repetitions: the progression can be inserted just one time (default behavior) or be automatically
repeated up to 64 times, a feature that is very handy when creating clips in Arrangement view
 custom insertion point: unlike most MIDI Generators for Live, M2TM Progressions lets you decide
where in the clip the notes are added; this feature allows you to quickly create entire songs by
appending individual progressions
o you can specify the insertion point in terms of bars.beats.16th (as you do with Live’s
punch-in and punch-out positions) or – quite opportunely - you can just click a button to
move the insertion point immediately after the progression you inserted most recently
  add or replace clip notes: most MIDI generators for Live add generated notes to those already in
the clip, which is convenient – for example – when you are building a drum pattern one sound at a
time; when working with chords, however, you typically want to replace existing notes and chords
with a new progression, and this option is available in M2TM Progression
 set or extend loop: you can easily set the clip’s loop position to match the progression just added, a
feature that saves you time when trying out progressions of different length, or when you assign
custom durations to each chord
o you can also extend the loop so that it includes the progression just added; this feature is
precious when building a longer progression made of shorter, simpler ones.
 immediate visual feedback: any time you select a new progression, change its root, rotate or invert
it, the resulting set of chords is displayed, so that you can immediately see the names of the chords
you are working with.

Some Math
Where all these options lead us? Let’s do some math.

The current version of M2TM Progressions offers 231 “main” progressions, in all 12 keys, which results in
231 * 12 = 2,772 distinct progressions, i.e. progressions that have a unique set of chords.

Each progression can be rotated: if we consider 4-chord progressions – but some predefined progressions
are longer – this means that any sequence can generate 4 variations; progressions can be reversed too,
which means a total of 8 variations for each set of chords, therefore 2,772 x 8 = 22,176 distinct chord
progressions in total.

M2TM Progressions provides several ways to change the sound of the chords in the progression, without
altering the name or the nature of those chords. You can play simpler chords (e.g. triads) or richer chords
with 4 or more notes (at least four variations in total); chords can use one of the four available inversions;
you can enable the auto-inversion feature, the ability to play either close or open voicings, and the option
to add one extra note one or two octaves above or below the root. These five features can change the
sound of each progression in 4 x 4 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 128 different ways. (We are not counting chords in different
octaves as different.)

Next, let’s consider the rhythmic variety that M2TM Progressions offers. Each individual chord in the
progression can have a duration ranging from half quarternote to four bars, with 20 options in total. This
means that you for each progression can create 20 x 20 x 20 x 20 = 160,000 variations, where each variation
is a unique combination of chord durations. This number is overestimated when the sequence contains
chords shorter than four bars, though; under the (more realistic) assumption that chords have a duration of
only one bar, the actual number of variations is “only” 4,096.

Finally, M2TM Progressions offers 157 rhythmic patterns, where each pattern is a way to subdivide the
chord duration in shorter notes and rests. By combining this number with the variations mentioned above,
we have 4,096 x 157 = 643,072 unique rhythmic combinations. (The actual number might be lower for
chords with short duration, because in such case two or more patterns may deliver the same result.)

To recap, we have 22,176 distinct chord progressions, 128 sound variations and 643,072 rhythmic
variations for each progression, which corresponds to 22,176 x 128 x 643,072 = 1,825,377,878,016
progressions. Said differently, you can generate over ONE TRILLION different chord progressions with a
few mouse clicks!

The User Interface

M2TM Progressions offers many features, thus its window is crowded with controls of all sorts. However,
these controls are logically grouped in areas, each with a different purpose:
Let’s examine each area in more details.

Select the progression

The first thing to do when creating a chord progression is selecting its category. Current version offers the
following four categories: major, minor, miscellaneous and long (progressions with more than 4 chords).
Each time you select a new category, the menu at the top center is populated with all the progressions in
that category; you can move to a different progression also using the < and > buttons, or randomly select
one with the R button.

For your convenience, these three buttons select progressions only in the current category.

As you noticed, all progressions are described using the so-called Roman notation, where all-uppercase
Roman numbers correspond to major chords, and all-lowercase digits correspond to minor chords. You may
also find other suffixes, such as “7” for dominant chords, “o” for diminished chords, and so forth.

Let’s move to the second group of fields:

Inside M2TM Progressions, chords implied by the Roman notation are 4-note chords by default: major
chords are actually rendered as major 7th chords (e.g. C-E-G-B for C major), whereas minor chords are
rendered as minor 7th chords (C-Eb-G-Bb for C minor). You can change this default behavior using the
complexity menu, as explained shortly.

Notice that the bottom area of the window displays the current chord progressions.

The most-obvious advantage of the Roman notation is that the progression name does not depend on the
actual progression root. For example, the I iii IV vi progression corresponds to the Cmaj7-Em7-Fmaj7-Am7
sequence if the root is the C note (see figure above), or Dmaj7-F#m7-Gmaj7-Bm7 sequence if the root is D,
and so forth.

Likewise, the Roman notation says nothing about the octave where those chords should be played;
therefore, you usually need to set the root and octave appropriately, by clicking and dragging the two
leftmost fields in the second area.
The following two fields allow you to change the chord sequence; click the >> button to reverse the order,
or click-drag the rotate field to rotate the sequence left (for negative values) or right (for positive values). If
you do not like what you hear, just double-click this field to reset it to zero (no rotation).

The figure below shows what happens when you reverse the previous progression:

Here is the effect of rotating the (non-reversed) progression one position to the right:

Of course, you can combine the two effects: the following figure shows the result of reversing the current
progression and then rotate the result one position to the left:

Notice the both the >> button and the rotate field are reset to their default any time you select a different
progressions from the menu, whereas most other fields preserve their previous value.

As mentioned previously, complexity menu lets you decide how many notes the chord actually contains: 3
notes (triads), 4 notes, etc. The as-is option doesn’t change the number of notes in the chord, but its effect
becomes apparent only if the chord symbol contains an upper extension (e.g. the 9th); else, as already
explained, all chords contain 4 notes even if the 7th of the chord isn’t explicitly included in the chord name.

The special tri+dom option renders all chords as triads, except dominant chords (e.g. C7 but also C7/#11,
etc.) that are rendered with four notes. Here is an example of this special option in action:
A great feature of M2TM Progressions is the ability to extend chords by adding upper extensions that aren’t
explicitly indicated in the chord symbol. If you select the 5 notes option, the 9th is automatically added to
the chord if missing; if you select the 6 notes option, both the 9th and 11th are added; finally, the 7 notes
option adds the 9th, 11th and 13th to the chord.

Inversions and Voicings

The next section allows you to change how chords sound like

A single symbol actually corresponds to dozens chords that have the same “nature” and yet a different
“sound”. In fact, in addition to playing the chord in different octaves, you can also choose between
different inversions and voicings.

While beginners usually play chords in the so-called root position (i.e. C-E-G-Bb for C7), more expert
musicians may opt for the 1st inversion (lowest note is the third, or E-G-Bb-C in previous example), the 2nd
inversion (lowest note is the fifth, or G-Bb-C-E) or even the 3rd inversion (lowest note is the seventh, or Bb-
C-E-G). Here are a couple examples:
As you surely noticed, in all examples so far, all chords move in parallel, and the same inversion is
preserved for all chords in the progression. This is rarely what a seasoned keyboard player would do.

A unique – and very powerful – feature of M2TM Progressions is the ability to automatically select the
optimal inversion for each chord after the first one. In this context, the optimal inversion is the one that
preserves the pitch of notes that are in common between consecutive chords or that, at least, minimize the
distance between them. You enable this option by clicking the fixed field to turn it into auto:

Interestingly, the auto feature works correctly even if the progression is repeated two or more times, using
the reps field:

In addition to inversions, you can vary the sound of chord by opting for an open voicing that uses larger
intervals between chord notes. You achieve this result by means of the voicing option, optionally
combining it with the inversion field and the auto feature.
 As you see in the figure above, when using the auto feature you may get different
inversions for the same progression, depending on whether you select close or open
voicing.

If two consecutive chords have one or more notes in common, a keyboard player might decide not to re-
trigger the note on the latter chord. This is especially effective when creating background pads, or
mimicking a string section. You enable this behavior using the leg (for legato) option:

The legato option works as expected even when the progression is repeated two or more times:

You can create a “thicker” sound by doubling the lowest chord note one or two octaves below or above,
using the bass field. (The lowest note is usually the chord root, but it can be a different note if you selected
a different inversion.)
Durations and Rhythmic Patterns
The next section allows you to control chord duration and rhythmic patterns:

In all examples so far, all chords in the progression had the same duration, which is equal to the bar length
(which in turns depends on the current time signature), yet M2TM Progressions lets you specify different
durations.

In the simplest scenario, you click on the leftmost field and drag the mouse up or down to select a different
duration for all the chords in the progression. Durations are expressed in quarternotes, thus you select the
value 2 to have two chords fit a 4/4 bar:

You can create more interesting progressions by specifying a non-blank value for the other three fields. For
example, the following example shows a progression whose first chord takes 4/4 (a full bar), the second
chord takes 2/4 (half note), and the remaining two chords take 1/4 (quarter note) each:
You can double-click on a field to restore its default “blank” value. If the duration sequence is shorter than
four items, then it is applied to chords in a cyclic fashion. This feature allows you to repeat the progression
each time with a different duration for its chords:

You can quickly test different and unusual combinations of chord durations by clicking the R button; to
restore the default durations, just double click each of the four fields.

The duration of each chord is not the only way you have to add variety. M2TM Progressions comes with
over 150 rhythmic patterns, which you select with the pattern field. For example, pattern #13 plays three
notes for each chord, using a 3+3+2 pattern:

Patterns can define rests as well. For example, here is pattern #14:
Many patterns use different subdivisions for each chord in the progression, as is the case of pattern #6:

If you looking for rhythmic inspiration, just click the R button to randomly select one of the 150+ patterns
built in M2TM Progressions.

Insertion Point and Loop Handling

The fields near the bottom of the window allow you to define where chords are added and how many
progressions are created, and to perform a few useful actions related to the loop area:

By default, M2TM Progressions creates notes at the very beginning of the clip, corresponding to position
1.1.1 when expressed in the bars.beats.16ths format. Unlike most other MIDI Generators, however, you
can change this insertion point by means of the first three fields in this area.

While it is possible to edit manually the numbers in these fields, you will typically change the insertion point
by means of the two buttons to their rights: the |< button resets the insertion point to 1.1.1, whereas the >
button moves the insertion point immediately after the chords you have just inserted. This feature allows
you to create complex progressions that consists of two or more different progressions, or maybe the same
progression with different root, rhythmic pattern, etc.

Notice that for these buttons to work correctly you need to confirm the insertion of the current
progression, according to the rules of all MIDI Generators for Ableton Live. In practice, you should follow
this workflow to combine two or more progressions:
First, select the first progression
from the top-center menu. If the
insertion point is other than 1.1.1,
click on the |< button to reset to the
beginning of the clip.

Next, confirm your decision to

generate current chords, by using
one of the methods Ableton Live
offers; for example, use the mouse
to select some notes in the MIDI
editor.

Click on the > button to move the

insertion point after the chord you
just inserted, then select the second
progression (or change the
attributes of the current one).

Enable the L option and ensure that

the button to its right shows the =
(equal) symbol, so that the loop area
moves to match the progression you
just added.

If you are satisfied with the new

progression, you can click on the =
button to turn it into the + (plus)
symbol, which extends the loop area
to include the new progression. You
can now hear how the two
progressions sound together.

NOTE: changing the insertion point, either directly or by means of the |< and > buttons
may not have immediate effect, because the new point is used for the next progression
you define. If you want to apply them immediately, just force M2TM Progressions to re-
generate the current progression, for example by clicking twice the >> (reverse) button.

When experimenting with chord progressions you can often change your mind and need to restart the
entire process, or just change a sub-progression somewhere in the clip. As you may already know, by
default MIDI Generators for Ableton Live always add notes to those already in the clip, which makes sense
in most scenarios, for example, when you create a drum loop and need to define the pattern for the hi-hat
without deleting the patterns you already created for the kick and snare.

When working with chords, however, the chords you generate somewhere in the clip are typically meant to
replace the notes in that area, and you would be forced to temporarily switch from M2TM Progressions to
the clip editor. Unfortunately, this very operation has the effect to commit the chords you are currently
working on, which is rarely what you would do.

In this scenario, the X option is very useful, as it automatically deletes all the notes that are currently in the
area where the progression is about to be inserted.
M2TM Fugue Maker

M2TM Fugue Maker is a powerful, and quite unusual, MIDI generator for Ableton Live 12. As its name
suggests, this tool can generate fugues, the kind of classical music composition born in 17th century and
based on the concept of polyphonic, imitative counterpoint. (Read about fugues on Wikipedia.) The most
famous composer of fugues is undoubtedly J.S.Bach, yet the same compositional criteria have been used in
modern contexts, such as Shoenberg’s serialism.

IMPORTANT: unlike most other MIDI tools, M2TM Fugue Maker works only in
Session view; when Live is in Arrangement view no error message is displayed, yet
the device does not generate any clip.

Admittedly, fugues may appear far from the interests of a modern, electronic musician. The truth, however,
is that many of the concepts behind a well-crafted fugue can be applied to any music style and genre. All
depends on the melodic idea you start with, the transformations you apply, and the instruments that you
assign to each of the generated voices. Not surprisingly, many of the concepts have been widely adopted
by contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass.

Composing a fugue from start to finish is an overly complex task, though, and requires deep knowledge of
music theory, harmony, polyphony, contrapuntal experience, and way too many rules. M2TM Fugue Maker
does not have that ambition. More simply, it allows you to generate up to five voices (or tracks, in Live
parlance) by applying a set of transformations to notes stored in a clip.

In this document, we refer to this original melody using the term seed melody, whereas the clip that
contains this melody is called seed clip. Likewise, the tracks where new clips are created are called target
tracks, and the generated clips are called target clips.

Being a MIDI generator, you find M2TM Fugue Maker in the Generate tab of the clip’s property window.
Depending on this window’s width, it can appear in either of these views:
Introduction
As you’ll see in a moment, M2TM Fugue Maker allows you to generate multiple MIDI clips at each iteration.
The generation of each clip is a complex and time-consuming task. For this reason, it is highly
recommended that you disable the Generate button, so that Live does not regenerate all clips each time
you change one single parameter.

Instead, we suggest that set parameters for the various voices and click the Apply button only when you
are ready. Failing to do so will slow down Live, often to an unacceptable degree. In the best cases, Live
freezes for several seconds; in the worst cases, Live might even crash! Therefore, do yourself a favor and
disable the Generate button!

One of the most peculiar features of M2TM Fugue Maker is that, even if it appears in the Generate tab of
clip properties, it does not generate or transform notes of the current clip. Instead, it creates clips in
different MIDI tracks. At each iteration – i.e. each time you click the Apply button – the current clip is
copied to the other tracks and then its notes are transformed according to the rules you established for
that voice (direction, octave, interval, speed, etc.).

You can generate five clips at each iteration, or fewer. (For example, the figure below shows four voices.)
Being a MIDI tool, target clips must reside in MIDI tracks; you select the target track from a drop-down list,
thus you cannot be wrong. Target tracks can be to the right or to the left of the seed clip, do not have to be
contiguous, and there can be other MIDI or audio tracks in between.

IMPORTANT: creating the “perfect” fugue – or whatever musical composition you have
in mind – is an iterative process that requires fine-tuning of all parameters. Keep in mind
that M2TM Fugue Maker always processes the currently selected clip – i.e. the clip
whose notes are displayed in the note editor, near the bottom of Live’s window. If you
click the Apply button while Live is displaying a clip other than the seed clip, a different
 set of clips is generated and you might accidentally overwrite clips that have nothing to
do with the “fugue” under construction. If that happens, you must undo multiple times
until you restore the original Live set.

Bottom line: It is crucial that you always double-check that the seed clip is the one
displayed in the note editor, before you click the Apply button.

For each of the five voices, you select the target track from the drop-down track list. The track list contains
all the MIDI tracks in the Live Set except the current one, i.e. the one containing the seed clip. It is
important considering that the track menu is not automatically updated when the Live Set is modified. For
this reason, never add, delete or move tracks between iterations, because results might not be those
expected and you might overwrite clips in other tracks. The code behind M2TM Fugue Maker tries to catch
these user errors, but it is not bulletproof.

If for any reason you need to add, delete or move tracks, it is essential that you click the R button to
refresh the track list. This action resets all target tracks to ---- (none), but preserves all other parameters,
thus restoring the correct target track for each voice is a matter of seconds. Until you select a track name
(other than ----), that voice is disabled and does not generate anything.

Another feature that makes M2TM Fugue Maker peculiar is that it can process multiple seed clips. More
precisely, it can process up to 11 source clips below the “main” seed clip (i.e. the clip that is currently
selected). The key to this feature is the scenes field, near the bottom-right corner of the MIDI tool window.
M2TM Fugue Maker can process up to 5 voices and 12 seed clips, for a grand total of 60 clips at each
iteration. Depending on the parameters you set for each voice and how fast you CPU is, this task can keep
Live busy for a few seconds. Remember to disable the Generate button and trigger the generation by
clicking the Apply button, as explained above.

Regardless of the value of the scenes field, M2TM Fugue Maker generates a row of clips only if that row
contains a seed clip in the source track. The scenes value is ignored if it is higher than the number of
existing scenes below the seed clip, as shown in this screenshot:

Feature List
Here is the list of M2TM Fugue Maker’s main features.

 generates up to five voices in one operation

 processes up to 12 seed clips, for a total of max 60 generated clips at each iteration
 parameters of each voice can be selected independently of other voices
 direction: each voice can have direct motion, retrograde motion, or the combination of direct-
retrograde and retrograde-direct motion
 speed: the perceived speed of each voice can be a fraction or a multiple of the seed melody’s
speed; this effect is obtained by dividing or multiplying the duration of each note
 start: each voice can start from an arbitrary point of the seed memory; this makes it simple to
create canons (e.g. the popular Frère Jacques song, read more here)
 note duration: the duration of notes in each voice can shorter or longer than it should, to easily
create staccato or legato effects
 octave: each voice can use a different octave
 interval: you can set a fixed interval between the notes in each voice and the corresponding note in
the seed melody; intervals are diatonic, and the resulting notes automatically fit the current scale
 interval inversion: intervals can be inverted, on a voice-by-voice basis; for example, if the seed
melody is ascending, the generated melody is descending, and vice versa
 velocity: the MIDI velocity of notes in each voice can be a multiple or a fraction of the original
velocity, thus accents in the seed melody are preserved; moreover, you can set notes’ velocity
deviation and let Live apply subtle variations to humanize the result
 harmony: you can add one, two or three harmony notes, to transform the original note into a
chord; this is especially effective for voices that have been “slowed down”
 auto-inversion: when generating harmonies, M2TM Fugue Maker can select the best chord
inversion, exactly like a “real” keyboard player would do
  legato option: if two consecutive chords have a note in common, those two note can be merged in
a single, longer note; this feature is especially effective when using pads or string instruments.
 merge: if this option is enabled, M2TM Fugue Maker selects only one note in each time interval; for
example, if you select the 1/4 merge interval, only one note in each quarternote interval is played,
and that note is held for entire quarternote; this option is useful when you speed up a melody but
don’t want to play many short notes.

The User Interface

M2TM Fugue Maker offers many options and therefore its window is stuffed with fields and menus.
However, all the options are laid out in a logical manner and it takes only a few minutes to get familiar with
them.

The first thing to remember is that all the visible options (but one) are related to the voice that is
highlighted at the top of the window. The only exception is the scenes field, near the bottom-right corner.

The typical workflow is as follows:

1) Ensure that the Generate button is disabled (for

more information, read the Introduction section,
earlier in this document)

2) OPTIONAL: if you created, moved or deleted

tracks since last time you used the tool, click the R
(for Refresh) button to ensure that the track menu
is up-to-date; this action resets the menu to ----
and disables the current voice

3) Select the first voice, using the buttons near the

top border

4) OPTIONAL: if you had already used the tool, you

might want to reset parameters to their default
value by clicking the I (for Initialize) button to the
right of voice buttons

This action affects the parameters of the currently

selected voice; the other four voices are
unmodified
5) Select the target track where the currently
selected voice will be generated; if you leave the
track menu set to ---- the current voice is disabled
and generates no clips

6) Ensure that the scenes field is set to its default

value (1); when looking for the perfect
combination of parameters you usually work on
one seed clip and want to generate one row at a
time

7) Set the various parameters for the currently

selected voice to your liking, as explained later in
this document – if you just initialized the voice,
parameters are such that the voice in the target
track is a perfect copy of the original seed melody here we slow down speed, transpose it one octave down, and set
75% of the original note velocity

8) After selecting the parameters for the current

voice, click the Apply button near the bottom-right
corner of the window to generate a clip in the
target track

9) Listen to the generate clip; you may decide to solo

the target track or play it together with the seed
melody to hear the final result.

IMPORTANT: you are surely curious to see what has

been generated in the target clip; if you do, remember
to select the seed clip before re-generating voices, for
the reasons explained in the Introduction section.

10) Odds are that the generated voice needs

refinements; if so, just repeat steps 7-9 until you
find the desired combination of all parameters.

11) When the first voice sounds exactly how you wish,
you may select another voice and start again the
workflow from step 3.

12) You can generate up to five distinct voices, but do

not have to; in fact, in most cases you can obtain
intriguing results with just two or three voices
(plus the original seed clip).

In many cases, your job ends here. However, M2TM Fugue Maker is capable to do more: generate multiple
scenes, for a maximum of 60 clips in one operation! To do so, you need a few additional steps.
13) Create additional secondary seed clips below the
main seed clip; these additional clips may contain
their own melodies, whose length, scale, and other
properties is different from the seed clip.

14) Set the scenes field to match the total number of

seed clips.

IMPORTANT; before proceeding, ensure that the original

seed clip is selected (i.e. you see the original seed melody
in Live’s note editor).

15) click the Apply button and let M2TM Fugue Maker
generate the voices for all the seed clips.

Direction and speed

The first fields below the track menu affect direction and speed of the current voice:

The dir (for direction) field t can be >> (forward), << (backward, or retrograde motion), >< (forward and
then backward), or <> (backward and then forward). The following figures clarify what these terms mean:

>> forward
(same as original melody)
 << backward
(retrograde motion)

>< forward then backward

<> backward then forward

As you see, the last two modes double the duration of the seed clip.

Notice that the retrograde motion has the same effect you obtain by clicking the Reverse button in clip
property window. Likewise, you can obtain the “forward than backward” and “backward then forward”
effect by duplicating the clip, selecting half of the notes, and click the Reverse button:

The speed field sets the “perceived speed” of the generated melody. Speed values smaller than 1 slow
down the melody, and this effect is obtained by increasing notes’ duration. Speed values greater than 1
accelerate the melody, in which case notes’ duration is decreased by the same factor.

For example, if the speed field is set to 1/2, then the duration of all notes is doubled: a sixteenth note
becomes an eight note; an eight note becomes a quarternote, and so forth. Likewise, if the speed field is
set to 4, then note duration is divided by four: a quarternote becomes a sixteenth note, a half note
becomes an eight note, etc.
The relation between the speed value and note duration is perhaps less clear for values that are not powers
of 2. For example, if speed is set to 2/3, the result is as if all notes were “dotted”.

If speed is set to 3, then the duration of all notes is divided by three: for example, three quarternotes in the
generated melody must take the same time as one quarternote in the original melody, which in turn means
that they must be rendered as a triplet of eight notes.

The table below shows how a melody containing an assortment of quarternotes, 8th notes, 16th notes and
32nd notes is slowed down for speed values smaller than 1. Some speed values correspond to “dotted”
values and tend to introduce syncopations, other add a “triplet” feeling. Generating voices that mix these
speeds adds much variety to your compositions.

original
(speed=1)
3/4
(triplet)
2/3
(dotted)
1/2

3/8
(triplet)

1/3
(dotted)
1/4

3/16
(triplet)

1/6
(dotted)
1/8
3/32
(triplet)
 1/12
(dotted)
1/16

3/64
(triplet)

1/24
(dotted)
1/32

For speed values greater than 1, note durations quickly becomes too short for staff notation, unless the
original melody consists only of long notes:

original
(speed=1)
4/3
(dotted)
3/2
(triplet)

3
(dotted)
4

6
(dotted)
8

Because the speed parameter affects notes’ duration, its effect is similar to using Live’s Stretch command
in the clip property window. The main difference is that the speed value is the reciprocal of the value you
would set with the Stretch command. For example, speed = 1/2 is equivalent to Stretch = 2:

The start field allows you to establish a time interval between the first note of the generated relative to the
first note of the seed melody. In practice, the two voices play together, but the start value “rotates” notes
in the target track by the specified number of quarternotes. If this value is positive, notes in the target clip
are rotated right; if negative, they are rotated left.
Notice that the start parameter is applied before direction and speed parameters. In other words, the
original melody is first rotated (if start is nonzero), then direction is accounted for, and finally note
durations’ are changed if speed is not 1.

The gate parameter also affects the duration of generated notes; it is a percentage of the original duration
– more precisely, of the duration resulting after applying the speed parameter - and can go from 5% (for
staccatissimo effect) to 200% (to double the original duration).

Intervals and velocity

The fields in the next row affect the pitch and MIDI velocity of generated notes.

The oct field allows you to offset the generated voice up to three octaves above or below the seed melody.

The intv field lets you transpose notes up or down, and is expressed as diatonic (scale) steps. For example,
the value +3 means that generated notes are one fourth above the original note, whereas the value -3
means that they are one forth below. Likewise, the values +2 and -2 generate notes one third above or
below the original note, and so forth.

The actual offset in semitones depends on the scale set for the original clip and the pitch of the original
note. For example, assuming that current scale is C Major and the original note is B3, then one fourth above
generates the E4 note (a perfect fourth, or 5 semitones), whereas one fourth below corresponds to the F3
note (an augmented fourth, a.k.a. a tritone, or 6 semitones). One third above B3 generates the D4 note (a
minor third, or 3 semitones), whereas one third below corresponds to the G3 note (a major third, or 4
semitones).

NOTE: if intv is nonzero, then the generated note is always quantized to the current scale,
even if the original note does not belong to the scale. If intv is zero, notes’ pitch is not
affected: if the original note does not belong to the current scale, then the generated note
does not, either.

The inv option, if enabled, inverts the direction of all intervals in the melody: ascending melodies become
descending, and vice versa. Generated note are always quantized to the current scale, even if the original
notes were not.

The effect of the inv option is similar to Live’s Invert button

(in clip property window), except the latter preserves the
overall note range, whereas the former preserves the starting
note’s pitch. (TIP: if the generated melody goes too high or
too low, compensate with the oct parameter.)

The vel field sets the velocity of generated notes as a fraction or a multiple of the original velocity. This field
can be effective for voices that should stand out more (or less) than other voices.

The dev field allows you to leverage Live’s velocity deviation

feature, which can humanize the playback by using random
velocities in a range that extends below (if deviation is
negative) or above (if deviation is positive) the original
velocity.
Chords
The fields in next row allow you to generate chords even if the seed melody was monophonic.

The harmony fields allow you to add one, two or three notes above or below generated notes; the values
you enter are interpreted as diatonic steps, for example use 2 to add notes one third above each generated
note, or use -3 to add notes one fourth below each generated note. Leave these fields to zero if you do not
want to generate chords.

A common combination is 2, 4, 6, which creates a four-note chord for each generated note:

The auto-inversion option is useful only when generating additional chord notes; if enabled, it
automatically selects the “best” chord inversion, i.e. the inversion that uses notes in common between
consecutive chords, or that at least minimizes the distance of notes of consecutive chords:

If enabled, the legato feature merges notes in common between consecutive chords, and is especially
useful when applied to pads or string sections. In most cases, you will use it together with the auto-
inversion feature:
If you select a time-interval (other than off) from the merge menu, M2TM Fugue Maker generates only one
note for each interval of that duration. Such note is usually the first note in each time interval:

The merge feature is applied before the harmony fields, therefore you can create chords based on the first
note in the time interval, and you can apply the auto-inversion and legato features if you wish:

Techniques and Tips

You can learn the basics of M2TM Fugue Maker in a few minutes, yet it take a while to become familiar
with its huge potential. Here are a few tips you may find useful in your explorations.

Seed melody
Not surprisingly, the seed melody is the factor that affects the result more than anything else. We suggest
that the seed melody should be neither too short nor too long: a seed melody shorter than 8 notes
generates repetitive voices, regardless of the transformations you apply to it. Repetitive melodies can
produce interesting minimalistic compositions – in the style of Steve Reich or Philip Glass – but can be too
predictable (and overly boring) in other contexts.

On the other hand, “pleasant” music need to be predictable to a certain degree, else your listeners have no
reference points or balance. For this reason, the seed melody should not be longer than, say, 20 notes; if
the melody isn’t too long, you can slow down it with speed values of 1/4 or below, and still it will repeat
after a reasonably short period, so that listener can recognize the pattern behind it. This suggested range –
from 8 to 20 notes – is just a rule of thumb, so feel free to break it any time.
A simple way to generate a voice that is distinct from the seed melody
is using retrograde (<<), direct-then-retrograde (><) or retrograde-then-
direct (<>) value for the dir field. Another simple method is the invert
intervals option (the inv field).

Generated melodies
Two melodies that consist of the same notes can be rendered with a completely different timbre,
depending on the (physical or virtual) instrument that plays them. With all the sonic possibilities that Live
offers, you have no problem in finding the right timbre for each generated voice.

In addition to selecting the “right” instrument, you can differentiate voices by implementing a
staccato/legato effect, which you do with the gate field. Here are the most common values:

gate effect notes

>100% overlapping notes continue to play when the next
note has started – most effective if
coupled with sound decay
100% legato default: same duration as seed melody
75-90% normal most musicians interpret written
notes with this gate duration
50% staccato duration is half of the original
25% molto staccato this is the most common way to
interpret the “staccato” style
5-10% staccatissimo notes are so short that they are barely
audible

The vel field allows you to set the MIDI velocity of generated voice, as a fraction or a multiple of the original
notes. Set this field to match the nature of the instrument used for the generated voice. Notice that
generate melodies always preserve the accents – that is, variations of MIDI velocity – in the original
melody. If you want to change these accents, or if you want to create crescendos and diminuendos that
aren’t in the seed melody, you must manually edit the generated voice in Live’s note editor.

Ableton Live 12 allows you to set the velocity deviation of each note, i.e. the range inside which Live selects
a random velocity for each note. This is a simple, effective, and controllable way to “humanize” the
melody’s playback. M2TM Fugue Maker allows you to control this feature with the dev field.

Alternatively, you can manually randomize velocities and apply velocity deviation after generating each
voice, using Live’s own command. Such manual approach provides greater control on these parameters,
but has to be performed every time you re-generate the voice.

Octaves and intervals

The optimal value of the oct field depends on the instrument assigned to that voice. If you generate more
than two voices, you should span voices over different octaves, to make voices stand out.
A nonzero value for the intv field lets you emit a different set of notes for a voice, and still preserve the
“sense” of the seed melody. Good values for this field are usually -2/+2 (one third below or above the
original melody) and -4/+4 (one fifth below or above).

In general, you can generate the same interval with different values of intv, provided that also set the oct
field properly. For example, setting intv = -2 (3rd down) is the same as setting intv = +5 (6th up) if you also
set oct = -1.

Two different intv values can be considered functionally equivalent if they produce the same scale note,
regardless of the octave. The following table lists functionally equivalent intervals:

intv interval equivalent intv if intv interval equivalent intv if

oct = -1 oct=1
-1 2nd down +6 7th up +1 2nd up -6 7th down
-2 3rd down +5 6th up +2 3rd up -5 6th down
-3 4th down +4 5th up +3 4th up -4 5th down
-4 5th down +3 4th up +4 5th up -3 4th down
-5 6th down +2 3rd up +5 6th up -2 3rd down
-6 7th down +1 2nd up +6 7th up -1 2nd down

Common values for intv field are 2 and 4 (3rd and 5th up) or their functionally equivalent -5 and -3 (6th and
4th down); these values are commonly used because notes in different voices tend to create triads. For
example, if the seed melody plays C3, then intv=2 produces E3 and intv=-3 produces G2: taken together,
the notes C3, E3 and G2 form a C major chord. These harmonies are clearer if the voice has the same speed
as the seed melody (i.e. speed = 1).

Setting intv to +3 or -4 often produce good results. However, melodies one fourth apart tend to deliver a
very peculiar sound, which might not be appropriate for your composition. You can mitigate this effect by
selecting a different speed value for the voice.

Setting intv equal to 1, -1, 6, or -6 is acceptable, but in some cases the voice is only 1 or 2 semitones from
the seed melody, and such a small interval might sound as dissonant. These values work best if the voice is
one or two octaves apart from the seed melody, or if speed is such that the seed melody and the voice are
again in-sync after many periods (see next section).

Speed and clip duration

The speed value is perhaps the most important parameters of the voice. The higher the speed, the shorter
the voice clip. To evaluate the duration of the generated voice clip, you divide the seed clip’s duration by
the value of the speed field. If speed is 2, the voice clip’s duration is half of the seed clip; if speed is 1/3, the
generated clip’s duration is three times the seed clip, and so forth.

The speed value also affects the number of loops that the seed melody and the generated voice need to
complete to get in-sync again. For example, if speed is 3, then the voice’s is repeated three times while the
seed memory plays only once.

Things become interesting when speed is a fraction whose numerator is other than one. For example, if
speed is 3/8, then the generated melody plays three times in the same time required by the seed melody to
play eight times. Ratios of this kind create very interesting polyrhythms and introduce syncopations, as
explained in next section.
Rhythm and syncopations
For added variety, the seed melody should contain different durations. For example, consider using an
assortment of 8th notes (quivers) and quarternotes. Even better, include dotted notes, e.g. dotted 16th or
dotted 8th notes. Dotted notes are especially effective if the voice and the seed melody have different
speed, because they create unexpected syncopations.

Instead of - or in addition to - using dotted notes in the seed melody, consider setting a speed value that
implies the “dotted” feeling to create syncopations. Good candidates are speed values of 1/3, 2/3 or 4/3.
For more examples, see the table in the Direction and speed section.

Some speed values infer a “triplet” feeling, for example 3/2, 3/4 and 3/8. Having two voices that both use
the “triplet” feeling is usually ok, especially if one voice has a speed that is 2 or 4 times higher than the
other one. Mixing voices with “dotted” feeling and voices with “triplet” feeling often doesn’t sound right,
unless their pitches and speed values are very far apart, for example speed = 1/12 (triplet) with oct = -2 for
a base line and speed = 4/3 (dotted) and oct = 0 for the lead voice.

Harmonies
One of the most intriguing features of M2M Fugue Maker is the ability to generate one chord for each note
in the seed melody, as explained in the Chords section earlier in this manual. Here are a few suggestions for
effectively using this feature.
  You can create chords of two, three or four notes (including the original note in the seed melody);
typical values for the harmony fields are +2 (or -5), +4 (or -3) and +6. See the table in the Octaves
and intervals section for functionally equivalent intervals.
 In most cases, the harmony voice should have a speed value < 1, because chords usually moves
slower than melody.
 Unless you have a good reason for moving chords in parallel, you should enable the auto-inversion
feature (the auto switch) and let M2TM Fugue Maker select the optimal inversion for each chord.
 When the track is associated with an instrument that is capable of long notes – e.g. pads, strings –
consider enabling the legato option (the leg switch).

 To create a pad-like effect, select an appropriate timbre and leave gate to its default 100% value;
you can also try higher values for chords that partially overlap in time.
 Decrease the volume of the target track, or set the vel field to a value < 100%, else chods would
stand out too much.
 If the seed melody consists of many notes, consider using the merge field to reduce the number of
notes in the generated voice and therefore the number of generated chords.
 The merge field can be useful to slow down harmonies if the generated voice runs too fast, i.e.
contains many short notes or the speed parameter is 1 or greater.

Follow Action attributes

When creating a voice, M2TM Fugue Maker first copies the seed clip to the target track, and then modifies
the notes inside the clip that has just been created. All clip properties are copied, and this fact has
interesting implications.
Among the many properties copied to the target clip are time
signature, groove, key and scale, launch mode, launch
quantization, velocity amount (i.e. how note velocity affects
volume), MIDI bank select, and Follow Action.

The Follow Action property is especially interesting when you

are creating multiple rows using the scenes field.

For example, consider what happens when you set Follow

Action to Other: after a number of repetitions that you decide
and with the probability that you decide, the current clip is
stopped and another clip in the same track is triggered.

Let’s see how to leverage this feature in practice. Set up your seed clips and the transformation rules for
each voice, as you would normally do, then follow this simple workflow.

After step 2 you can check that Follow Action has been set for all seed clips:

Finally, select the top-most seed clip and click Apply button. After all voices have been generated, click on
the first scene to launch all voices in the top-most row:
After a few seconds, Live will be randomly playing clips from any scene!

Warning: for this technique to work fine, it is essential that all seed clips share the same scale and key; else,
when clips from different scenes are selected, the result might be less pleasant than you expect.