M2TM Steps

M2TM Chords
M2TM Progressions
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 two components: the M2TM Steps transformer
and the M2TM Chords generator. More tools are being developed and will be added in
the future, either as part of the collection or as individual downloads

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

Setup and Documentation

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

Both the collection and individual components are distributed as a compressed ZIP file containing. We
recommend that you create a folder on your hard disk named M2TM Midi Tools, and then uncompress the
ZIP file in that folder.

Inside Ableton Live, click in the Add Folder option in

the left sidebar, and select the folder you just
created. Alternatively, you can uncompress M2TM
Midi Tools components in a subdirectory of a folder
already listed in this section. For example, MXL Pack
customers can create the M2TM Midi Tools folder
as a subfolder of the MXL Pack folder.

Next, create a MIDI clip, open the Transform tab of the clip
properties, and click on the menu that lists all the installed
MIDI Transformations, which should now contain the MIDI
transformers in the M2TM Midi Tools collection.

IMPORTANT: if no M2TM component appears in the list, close

and restart Ableton Live.

Likewise, the menu in the Generators tab should include the

MIDI generators in the M2TM Midi Tools collection, for
example M2TM Chords (if you have purchased it)
 In addition to the PDF manual, you
can learn how devices work by
hovering the mouse on a field and
look at Live’s Help window (press the
“?” key if the Help window is
currently hidden).

Support
To report problems, propose ideas for new M2TM components, or suggest how to improve them, please
contact us at [email protected].

For more information about installing and using Ableton Live MIDI Tools, please see the documentation
available on Ableton website: https://www.ableton.com/en/live-manual/12/midi-tools/
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.

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.

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;
 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:

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 the following symbols to chord
names:

 append a colon symbol “:” for 2 quarternotes

 append a semicolon symbol “;” for 1.5 quarternotes
 append a dot “.” for 1 quarternote

For example, the sequence C Dm: Em; F. 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:
Duration suffixes can be combined in any order, to generate any duration equal to or greater than 1
quarternote. For example, the sequence C::. Dm:; Em;. generates a C major chord for 5 quarternotes, a D
minor chord for 3.5 quarternotes, and an E minor chord for 2.5 quarternotes.

The semicolon “;” symbol is useful for durations that contain half quarternotes, for example to insert two
chords of equal duration in a 3/4 or 5/4 bar. The figure below shows how to fit two chords in a 7/4 bar:

NOTE: you cannot specify durations shorter than 1 quarternote.

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.

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).

Click the L button 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 170+ 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. 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.

Feature List
Here is the complete list of features and options:

 170+ distinct progressions: each with four chords or more, grouped in three 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: while most progressions contain chords with 4 or 5 notes, you can decide to
insert simpler chords that contain fewer notes
 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 178 “main” progressions, in all 12 keys, which results in
178 * 12 = 2,136 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 2,136 x 8 = 17,088 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 four or more notes; 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 2
x 4 x 2 x 2 x 2 = 64 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 17,088 distinct chord progressions, 64 sound variations and 643,072 rhythmic variations
for each progression, which corresponds to 17,088 x 64 x 643,072 = 703,284,117,504 progressions. Said
differently, you can generate over 700 billion different chord progressions with a few mouse clicks!

NOTE: this astronomical number is the result of simple calculus and might overestimate the
“real” total number. For example, a sequence rotation might generate a sequence that is
already counted as a “main” sequence, and two rhythmic patterns might deliver the same
result if the progression contains chords with short duration. Evaluating the exact number of
distinct progressions isn’t a trivial task, but this number is surely in the order of tens or
hundreds millions … which should be enough even for the most demanding composer. 

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, jazz, and miscellaneous. 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, 5 notes, or all the notes in the chord. 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:

It is worth noticing that the majority of chords in predefined progressions are 4-note chords, therefore you
will rarely hear any difference if you select the 5 notes or all options. In addition, none of the predefined
progressions contains more than five notes, therefore for all practical purposes, the 5 notes and all options
are equivalent. This might change, however, in future versions of M2TM Progressions.

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).

Click the L button 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.