Distro - spread Midi notes over 10 instruments inside a Rack

Comes with complete Push integration

• Distribute incoming notes from a clip or played on a keyboard to up to 10 different instruments inside an Instrument Rack (Instrument Rack Template and Demo Set included in the download).
• Distribute notes over external hardware instruments by using an Instrument Rack with External Instruments (included in the download).

Watch the demo video in the Header

How to use the device

• In the Live browser collapse the content of "Distro Demo Live 11.als" to see the content of Track 1 and Track 2.

• 1. To work with instruments inside an Instrument Rack drag the "devices icon" from track "1 Distro Rack Template" into your Live set: This loads Distro.amxd and a completely set up empty Instrument Rack.Fill the 10 Chains (or less) with any type of instruments starting at Chain 1. Delete any higher Chains you don't need. You can add them later again (to set them up correctly have a look at section 2 of IMPORTANT).
• 2. To work with external instruments inside an Instrument Rack drag the "devices icon" from track "2 Distro Ext. Instruments Template" into your Live set: this loads Distro.amxd and a completly set up Instrument Rack with "External Instruments" in all chains.Configure MIDI To and Audio From of each "External Instrument" according to your hardware starting at Chain 1. Delete any higher Chains you don't need. You can add them later again (to set them up correctly have a look at section 2 of IMPORTANT).
• In both situations Distro automatically recognises the Instrument Rack and the number of Chains inside (up to 10)
• As soon as notes arrive they are distributed over the Chains according to the Distro device settings. Start with changing the "Length" parameter to distribute the incoming notes over all chains.

Controls

Start (First Chain) - set the Chain inside an Instrument Rack to start distributing notes

Length (Chains) - set over how many Chains to loop

Direction - loop over the Chains in three modes: Forwards, Backwards, Pendulum

Random (Direction Jitter): gradually increase randomness into the direction

Warp: When turned on Distro loops over the last Chain. When turned off notes which are distributed to Chains beyond the last available one wont be played.

Display

At the bottom Distro shows "No Rack found" or "Instrument Rack Found" to indicate if it communicates with an Instrument Rack.

IMPORTANT

In order for Distro to work as intended the Instrument Rack it communicates with needs a specific set-up. There are two ways to get this right:

1. Use the provided "Distro Rack Template" (you find it on Track 1 in Distro Demo Live 11.als ) and follow the steps in How to use the device

2. Set up the Instrument Rack yourself:

Drop an empty Instrument Rack onto a midi track

Fill it with up to 10 Chains with instrument and Instrument Racks

Click on "Show/Hide Chain List"

Click on "Show Chain Select Editor" and set the Chains to these Zones:

1st Chain to Zone 0-0
2nd Chain to Zone 1-1
3rd Chain to Zone 2-2
4th Chain to Zone 3-3
5th Chain to Zone 4-4
6th Chain to Zone 5-5
7th Chain to Zone 6-6
8th Chain to Zone 7-7
9th Chain to Zone 8-8
10th Chain to Zone 9-9

Drop "Distro" onto the track and you are good to go.

After downloading the device

You find Distro.amxd after unpacking the downloaded .zip inside Distro Project/Devices/

You can load Max For Live devices into Ableton Live from anywhere on your computer. We recommend to be more strict to avoid possible confusion:

• Add a folder to your User Library and call it "Max For Live Devices" (In Ableton Live go to the Browser, select the User Folder, right-click into the second column and select "New Folder")
• Inside this folder add another folder "Discrete Devices"
• Move "Distro.amxd" inside the "Discrete Devices" folder. (Drop it from the Finder onto the folder in the Live Browser.)

Why do this?

You might want to add "Distro.amxd" to a Template Live set. If your .amxd is not inside your User Library when saving a Live set as template the device will be copied into your User Library without notifying you creating unwanted duplicates.

Using the device on Push 3 Standalone

Upload the device to your Push 3 via the Live Browser. You can load Max For Live devices from anywhere on your Push into a set. We recommend to be more strict to avoid possible confusion:

• Add a folder to your User Library on Push and call it "Max For Live Devices" (In Ableton Live go to the Browser, select Push then its User Folder, right-click into the second column and select "New Folder")
• Inside this folder add another folder "Discrete Devices"
• Move "Clip Settings.amxd" inside the "Discrete Devices" folder. (Drop it from the Live Browser onto the folder in Push/User Library/Max For Live/Discrete Devices/)

Why do this?

You might want to add "Clip Settings.amxd" to a Template Live set. If your .amxd is not inside your User Library when saving a Live set as template the device will be copied into your User Library without notifying you creating confusion with duplicates.

The advice above is valid for Live on a computer when using "Save" or "Save as..." but not for Push in Standalone Mode. Push uses "Collect All And Save" when you hit "Save" and this cannot be changed. This copies any Max device used in the set to the Project folder. It even creates a copy for each instance of the same device used in the set creating countless copies (with added ...-1.amxd, ...-2.amxd, ...-3.amxd,...) inside the Project folder. Currently there is no way to circumvent this. If you like this behaviour to be improved please contact Ableton Tech Support and let them know.

Tested on Live 11, Live 12 and Push 3 (Tethered and Stand Alone mode).
Might work on Live 10 but is not supported.