The light devices

In this post you will learn how each of the light devices work, and how to use them.

The light devices can be found at MIDI effects in Ableton's explorer.

The Arpeggiator

The arpeggiator is, prehaps, the most complex light effect in Ableton.

It can be used:
- To animate shapes
- To make a delay before the lights appear
- To switch between light chains (for example, alternate from a smiley face to a sad face)

The Arpeggiator normally follows a Chord device.

It's main settings are:

• The "Style" sets how the arpeggio moves (up, down, diverge, converge, etc)
• The "Hold" button makes the arpeggio happen without having to hold the pad.
• The "Sync / Free" button alternates your choice of the rate button to milliseconds x tempo
• The "Rate" knob changes the speed of the effect
• The "Gate" knob changes the intensity of how the lights change (smoother x direct)
• The "Repeats" knob changes how many times the arpeggio happens

The "Chord" device before an Arpeggiator defines how many steps it goes through, and a "MIDI Effect Rack" device shows you which notes are being alternated.

The Chord

The Chord device is used to select multiple pads at a time.

If you want to press a button and light multiple pads, this is the device you use.

Every shift is a new light including the one you pressed. If you want the light next to the one you want to light up with the one you pressed. Set a shift to "+1 st".

The Chord can go from the values -36 to +36, if these are not range enough you can still use a Pitch device.

- To light up pads in a vertical row, use numbers in the 4th scale (-36... -4, +4, +8, +12 ... +36)

- To light up pads in a horizontal row, use numbers (+1, +2, +3, +32, +33, +34, +35, +36)

-Using multiple chords make them multiply, and not add. If you want to press the first pad and light up 16 (a 4x4 square) you can add a chord with +1 +2 and +3, then add another chord with +4 +8 +12, creating a 4 horizontal x 4 vertical square.



The MIDI Effect Rack

The MIDI Effect Rack is a simple yet important device in Ableton. It can be used to organize, set chains (see this post) and set specific keys for a light effect (see this post).

When expanded, the MIDI Effect Rack gives you access to macros and the key, chain and velocity views.
A macro is nothing more than knob for where you can map parameters in any device.

It's possible to drag any effect or device to a MIDI Effect Rack, and change its note or chain.



The Note Length

      










The Note Length device can be used to extend the length of a effect, or to change its trigger mode to "Note Off", which will make the effect only start when you release the button.

Its main settings are:

• The "Trigger" button selects what mode the device will work:  Note On (the effect starts at the moment the pad is pressed)  and Note Off (the effect starts at the moment the pad is released)
• The "Mode" button switches its length between milliseconds and tempo.
• The "Length" knob is the main one, and sets how much time the effect lasts.
• The "Gate" knob can make the length maintain its set value (100%), reduce it (>100%) or increase it (<100%)

When the note length is set before an arpeggiator, it works as the its "Gate" knob (read about the arpeggiator above).

The Pitch

The Pitch device is similar to the Chord, but instead of cloning a pad, it simulates a new one.
For example:
- If you press the pad X without the Pitch device, you will have the pad X lighting up.
- If you press the pad X with the Pitch device set to +1, you will have the pad Y next to the one you pressed lighting up, but not the pad X.

It is very common to be found in Effect Combos (see the link in the end of this post)


The Random

The Random device is useful for creating random lights and for setting up more than one light effect for a single pad.

It creates a different pitch each time you press the desired pad, making the note change (if you have a MIDI Effect Rack open in the key section, you will notice this)

The "Chance" knob sets the percentage of chance of the change occur. 

The "Choices" knob selects how many times you have to press a pad for it to reset its initial value - the 

maximum range (how many "steps").

The "Scale" knob sets how big the "steps" are, skipping the amount set of notes. 

The "Mode" button switches between "Rnd" (random) and "Alt" (alternate)

     - The "Alt" function makes the pads follow a pattern (adding or subtracting of both) of the value set in "Scale".

     - The "Rnd" function switches randomly between the choices.

The "Sign" changes between adding, subtracting or both operations.

The Scale

The Scale device doesn't have big utility for light effects. The only thing it does is to simulate a pitch device effect in the "Transpose" bar.

The Velocity

The Velocity device is used to change the color of the lights (see this post to learn how to do this).

The "Out Hi" value sets the color of the pad, according to this table:

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Light Device Combos

It's possible to combine multiple devices in order to create new effects and perspectives.

You can find the combos in this link:

Combos