Topic

Midi

  • Groove, swing and quantise settings: the controls past the snap button

    Quantise is not one button. Strength, range, flam, velocity and length settings decide how much of a performance survives the grid. This guide walks through those settings in Logic Pro and Ableton Live, with a routine for tightening a part without flattening it. Manuals checked on 25 Oct 2026.

    Workflows

  • Arpeggiators and step sequencers: turning held chords and grids into parts that move

    An arpeggiator plays the notes you hold one at a time in a pattern; a step sequencer plays a fixed grid of steps you program in advance. This guide explains what each control actually does, how to build a usable part with each in any DAW, and how to keep them from sounding like a preset demo. Manuals and specifications checked on 25 Oct 2026.

    Workflows

  • Chord progressions for producers who don't read music

    You do not need notation to write chords. A triad is three notes you can count out on a piano roll, a progression is a short loop of them, and a few DAW tools will do the counting for you. This guide covers triads, the 1-5-6-4 loop, inversions and voicings, using Ableton Learning Music and the Ableton and FL Studio manuals, read on 24 Oct 2026.

    Workflows

  • Drum programming basics: groove, velocity and swing

    A programmed drum part sounds stiff when every hit lands on the grid at the same strength. Three controls do most of the work of fixing that: velocity, swing and groove templates. This guide explains each using the MIDI 1.0 message list, Apple's Logic Pro guide and Ableton's Live manual, read on 24 Oct 2026.

    Workflows

  • Scales and modes for producers: a practical guide for the piano roll

    A scale is a palette of notes and a mode is the same palette with a different home note. This guide shows how to find a key, build major and minor scales by counting semitones, hear what Dorian, Lydian and Mixolydian add, and use the scale tools in Ableton Live and Bitwig without letting them write for you. Sources are Ableton Learning Music, the Ableton Live manual and Bitwig release notes, read on 25 Oct 2026.

    Workflows

Subscribe to We are the music makers

One email a week: the music-tech and AI-in-music news that mattered, and what we think about it.

Sign-ups open soon.