commit aab2a33108cc659254d05454431a28dc2167bae8
parent e8884170ab198e221dbf980af457fd59106d8a8a
Author: David Eisinger <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2026 00:58:46 -0400
june content
Diffstat:
6 files changed, 943 insertions(+), 30 deletions(-)
diff --git a/.dictionary b/.dictionary
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ whoopie
wireframes
wireframing
worldbuilding
+writerdeck
xkcd
yabba
yfquery
diff --git a/content/journal/dispatch-40-june-2026/IMG_0386.jpeg.enc b/content/journal/dispatch-40-june-2026/IMG_0386.jpeg.enc
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diff --git a/content/journal/dispatch-40-june-2026/IMG_5067.jpeg.enc b/content/journal/dispatch-40-june-2026/IMG_5067.jpeg.enc
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diff --git a/content/journal/dispatch-40-june-2026/index.md b/content/journal/dispatch-40-june-2026/index.md
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
---
title: "Dispatch #40 (June 2026)"
-date: 2026-06-01T00:27:46-04:00
+date: 2026-06-06T02:18:00-04:00
draft: false
tags:
- dispatch
references:
+- title: "Getting Started With Ableton Live's Generative MIDI Tools - Attack Magazine"
+ url: https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/tutorials/getting-started-with-ableton-lives-generative-midi-tools/
+ date: 2026-06-06T06:02:06Z
+ file: www-attackmagazine-com-ff1vu1.txt
- title: "It's time to talk about my writerdeck"
url: https://veronicaexplains.net/my-first-writerdeck/
date: 2026-06-01T04:29:30Z
@@ -25,58 +29,75 @@ references:
url: https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/big-button/
date: 2026-06-01T04:29:50Z
file: www-robinsloan-com-sokpt5.txt
+- title: "The Archivist In Me Turned This Blog Into a Book | Brain Baking"
+ url: https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/06/the-archivist-in-me-turned-this-blog-into-a-book/
+ date: 2026-06-06T05:27:04Z
+ file: brainbaking-com-q4yeof.txt
---
-Some thoughts here...
+April bled straight into May, so it felt like a three-week month and flew right by. We celebrated Claire's birthday and spent Memorial Day weekend at Lake Norman. Then summer kicked in -- ran the [Running of the Bulls][1] 8K with the kids and a friend of mine, and went to our local pool for the first time this year.
<!--more-->
-- Ann visit / Claire birthday
-- Lake
-- ROTS
-- New music
-- Nico
- - Haircut
- - Growing up
- - Almost 2
-- Pool
-- Finished "The Boys"
-- Bike stolen
+{{<dither IMG_0386.jpeg "782x600">}}Lining up for the Running of the Bulls.{{</dither>}}
+{{<dither IMG_5067.jpeg "782x600">}}Two kids holding hands at the splash pad.{{</dither>}}
+
+[1]: https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/Durham/RunningoftheBulls8K
+
+Claire's bike got stolen -- someone just walked off with it while we were over at a friends house. What the hell. Real bummer, and because it has a throttle, our home insurance was no help (I guess they consider it a moped or something). Aventon was nice enough to give us a discount, so we've got [a replacement][2] on the way, and I'll for sure invest in some additional security.
+
+[2]: https://www.aventon.com/products/pace-5-rec-step-through-ebike
+
+Here's some new music:
<audio controls src="/journal/dispatch-40-june-2026/Tomato Clamato.mp3"></audio>
+I used Ableton's new [MIDI generation feature][3] to come up with that bass line, which I find to be the hardest part of putting these tracks together. Set the key and some basic parameters, and then have it start generating different ideas to use as a starting point.
+
+[3]: https://www.attackmagazine.com/technique/tutorials/getting-started-with-ableton-lives-generative-midi-tools/
+
### This Month
-* Adventure:
-* Project:
-* Skill:
+* Adventure: my little man turns two!; family camping trip
+* Project: publish an article about my 3D printing project from last month
+* Skill: I'd like to read the manual for my [Bass Station 2][4] -- I use it for everything, and while it's relatively intuitive, I don't really understand how a few of the knobs ("mod env depth") affect the sound
+
+[4]: https://us.novationmusic.com/products/bass-station-ii
### Reading & Listening
-* Fiction: [_The Poppy War_][1], R. F. Kuang
-* Non-fiction: [_Every Tool's a Hammer_][2], Adam Savage
-* Music: [_Title_][3], Author
+* Fiction: [_The Poppy War_][5], R. F. Kuang
+* Non-fiction: [_Every Tool's a Hammer_][6], Adam Savage
+* Music: [_Modal Soul_][7], Nujabes
-[1]: https://harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk/products/the-poppy-war-the-poppy-war-book-1-rf-kuang-9780008239848/
-[2]: https://www.simonandschuster.net/books/Every-Tools-a-Hammer/Adam-Savage/9781982113483
-[3]: https://www.turntablelab.com/
+[5]: https://harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk/products/the-poppy-war-the-poppy-war-book-1-rf-kuang-9780008239848/
+[6]: https://www.simonandschuster.net/books/Every-Tools-a-Hammer/Adam-Savage/9781982113483
+[7]: https://www.turntablelab.com/products/nujabes-modal-soul-vinyl-2lp
### Links
-* [It's time to talk about my writerdeck][4] ([via][5])
+* [It's time to talk about my writerdeck][8] ([via][9])
> A couple of weeks ago, I decided to convert my old laptop into a writerdeck, a dedicated writing device free from the distractions of the modern internet.
-* [Resident: vibe coding firmware (our new sandbox library for ESP32 devices) (Interconnected)][6]
+* [Resident: vibe coding firmware (our new sandbox library for ESP32 devices) (Interconnected)][10]
> We’re open sourcing Resident, our library for running AI-authored code on microcontrollers – with no compile step and no firmware flashing.
-* [Key, in sight – Aresluna][7] ([via][8])
+* [Key, in sight – Aresluna][11] ([via][12])
> It’s fun to slam big keys without thinking, and it’s fun to experience the mastery of precise combinations of meticulous keyboard shortcuts. It’s great to see things on the screen that react to what you’ve done, especially if those are things that really understand how you work. And it’s magical to watch your fingers do things seemingly on their own while you’re preoccupied with deeper things, just because you set up something that allowed motor memory to blossom.
-[4]: https://veronicaexplains.net/my-first-writerdeck/
-[5]: https://mike.puddingtime.org/posts/2026-05-24-the-thinkdeck/
-[6]: https://interconnected.org/home/2026/05/20/resident
-[7]: https://aresluna.org/key-in-sight/
-[8]: https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/big-button/
+ Inspired me to order [one of these][13]; TBD what I'll do with it.
+
+* [The Archivist In Me Turned This Blog Into a Book | Brain Baking][14]
+
+ > This was a lovely month project that rewarded me with a physical artefact of an ever-evolving digital medium, solidifying words, sentences, and paragraphs in a way that perhaps might even envy The Internet Archive. As a hopeless sentimental person, flipping through the book, looking at the figures and reading the text makes me happy.
+
+[8]: https://veronicaexplains.net/my-first-writerdeck/
+[9]: https://mike.puddingtime.org/posts/2026-05-24-the-thinkdeck/
+[10]: https://interconnected.org/home/2026/05/20/resident
+[11]: https://aresluna.org/key-in-sight/
+[12]: https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/big-button/
+[13]: https://www.keebmonkey.com/products/megalodon-triple-knob-macro-pad
+[14]: https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/06/the-archivist-in-me-turned-this-blog-into-a-book/
diff --git a/static/archive/brainbaking-com-q4yeof.txt b/static/archive/brainbaking-com-q4yeof.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,230 @@
+[1]skip to main content
+[2] [logo]
+
+ • [3] Archives
+ • [4] Works
+ • [5] About
+ • [6] More...
+
+The Archivist In Me Turned This Blog Into a Book
+
+5 June 2026
+
+Four years ago, in the article [7]What Happens To My Digital Identity When I
+Die?, I wrote the following prophetic words:
+
+ […] Which gets me back to this website. My intentions are to someday
+ publish its contents in the form of a book, which can also be stored at the
+ KBR [Royal Library of Belgium]. This allows the people dear to me to still
+ have access to the silly stuff I write here.
+
+Two years later, I claimed that [8]Good Blogging Habits Yield a Book Each Year
+of more than 80k words. That means compiling a hefty tome to compress all these
+years of productive blogging into a single physical volume might be a bit more
+challenging than I initially anticipated. Yet not impossible. So the last
+months, I’ve kept myself busy by doing just that: turning this blog into a
+book!
+
+[9] [pages] The book flipped open on the blog post 'Three Little GameCube Mods'
+from 05 December 2021.
+
+This was a special experiment with a high probability of failure as I wasn’t
+sure how it would turn out. What should a Brain Baking book look like compared
+to browsing this website? How should it feel to flip through the pages? Will I
+be able to squeeze everything in there (nope)? Do I want to publish this
+publicly or just generate a .pdf, send it to the presses just for myself and
+call it a day? And if so, which service to use, as the past ones I’ve relied on
+all showed their shortcomings?
+
+Brain Baking DX
+
+Luckily, it turned out all right. I call it Brain Baking DX: Blog Archives 2016
+- 2026 and it is [10]available at Amazon under ISBN-13 number 979-8197112897.
+My first attempt yielded more than 500 pages and I couldn’t find a publishing
+service that was eager to print something like that for less than €100. At
+Amazon, the book costs… €15. And it’s globally available, should you be crazy
+enough to want a copy. Be warned, though: the book is mostly unedited, I
+created this mainly for myself. I sent out a few copies to friends but have no
+intention of setting up a marketing campaign let alone making money off of it.
+I intentionally set the price low and receive €0.5 for every sale. Please do
+not buy this just to support me.
+
+So why a book? As mentioned before, I want my writing to be a bit more
+permanent than the fleeting medium called the internet. What happens when my
+VPS is blown up, my backups burned away, and my motivation to restore all this
+along with it? In Belgium every author of “proper” books (this is debatable
+nowadays… Is Brain Baking DX a proper book?) is legally obliged to deposit two
+copies to the Royal Library in Brussels, where the books disappear into the
+winding depths of the archive deep below the capital. Plus, I like books. I
+like flipping through this one and rediscovering old writings: it feels very
+different than clicking through the online archive.
+
+Also, since I like to add photos in my blog posts to help shape the atmosphere,
+preserving these mostly personal photos in the book makes me feel warm and
+fuzzy inside when I flip through the book and look at them. Some of these
+photos are snapshots of my life as a kid, my old and new desktop setup,
+destinations I once biked to, etc. It’s a nice memento to have these included.
+
+Why Brain Baking DX? What’s up with that? Most readers of this blog know that I
+grew up with a Game Boy and became a big retro gaming nut(case) because of it.
+The black DX cartridge editions transformed their original Game Boy release
+into the wonderful world of colours: black carts work with the original Game
+Boy and the then new Game Boy Color. DX was simply the “DeluXe” treatment to
+your beloved Link’s Awakening or Tetris.
+
+Funny, as Brain Baking DX might be called anything but deluxe: financial
+constraints prevent me from publishing this book in full colour mode and space
+constraints prevent me from simply dumping everything that I’ve ever written in
+here. Perhaps both are for the better. Still, in a way, a printed edition of
+ten years worth of Brain Baking blog posts can certainly be called deluxe.
+
+Compiling the book
+
+My method for compiling the book wasn’t as simple as throwing every Markdown
+article source file at Pandoc to compile a single .pdf. I didn’t want to
+preserve everything I post here: it had to be a deliberate, curated selection.
+Things I didn’t want in there include:
+
+ • Research and topics regarding creativity & bread baking: I have other
+ published books that delve into this.
+ • Monthly link sharing posts and other posts that are mainly lists or links.
+ • Technical posts on programming, coding, Hugo tips, etc.
+ • Design mistake posts.
+ • Overly negative posts. Anything that has the word “AI” in it (except my
+ more elaborate commentary).
+ • Too short posts to be worthwhile printing.
+ • Too photo/screenshot intensive posts to be worthwhile printing.
+
+After proceeding to make a first selection, I categorised these into major
+themes that became the parts of the book: parenting, journaling & writing,
+work, the web, technology, retro, video and board games, life & philosophy,
+food & cooking, and living in Belgium. Then I employed my usual Markdown/Pandoc
+/TeX magic and inspected the results.
+
+[11] [books-stac] The front cover of Brain Baking DX.
+
+600+ pages. Ouch. Now what? Maybe it is time to think about the layout: how do
+I want to present all this text? Clearly, a typical book layout won’t do. I
+turned down the font size, opted for a two-column layout, selected a more wide
+book format (230x185 mm) and squeezed everything I could out of those margins.
+As a last resort, I also allowed chapters to start on any page (as opposed to
+the right page only which introduces a lot of blank pages). I admit I might
+have overdone it a bit as the top margin is very thin, but all these changes
+did reduce the page size to a more manageable 470.
+
+After ordering a few copies for myself to inspect the result, I was afraid that
+the text would not be very readable, or the margins where the book would be
+glued would be too narrow. Fortunately, the end result is surprisingly pleasant
+to read. The cream paper Amazon provides is a nice match although the paper
+feels a bit too thin for my taste. Yet a hefty tome like this for €15 is
+ridiculously cheap so I can’t complain. The fact that the book is printed in
+black & white does not work against the many photos and screenshots included.
+Additionally, because it’s Amazon, it allows the book to be distributed and
+printed virtually anywhere. My copies were printed in Brétigny-sur-Orge in
+France. Better than China!
+
+Adapting the text
+
+When you are selecting blog posts to be included into the book, you’ll notice
+recurring themes you wrote about. For example, I have wasted too many words on
+physical video game collecting. Instead of just pasting these chapters next to
+each other, I wanted them to “flow” better in the book so I did rewrite
+portions to better match the medium. Also, in many occasions, a new chapter
+(thus blog post) starts with a reference to the previous one. On the site, this
+is just a link, but on paper, you don’t want to print “in this article”.
+
+Speaking of links, a blog or website is an interconnected medium: how to
+approach this on paper? I ended up putting all \href{} LaTeX links in the
+margin footer on the same page but did a diagonal sweep to remove the excessive
+ones. On the site, a long link is just hidden behind a click, but on paper, an
+archive.org link to a long URL is not only ugly but will never be typed over or
+“used” in that way. Also, internal Brain Baking links usually start with /
+post—in the end, I decided to keep it that way as prepending https://
+brainbaking.com everywhere would mean even more text wasted. I did make a note
+of this in the newly written introduction.
+
+Besides the “in this post” link adaptations (don’t do this—it’s also bad for
+accessibility in your online blog!), I noticed I also had to do something about
+the images. Because of the two-column layout, the wide figures such as graphs
+will be squeezed into a barely readable square. You can fix this by manually
+adding a * to the ones you want to be displayed as a full-page spread (\figure*
+{}). But I made another mistake: in many posts, I write something and then add
+an image to emphasise the statement, ending in a semicolon to point to the
+image. Yet in a book, you never know precisely where that image will be
+included! In my future writings, I’ll take these things into account to more
+easily compile Brain Baking DX II in ten years.
+
+This was a lovely month project that rewarded me with a physical artefact of an
+ever-evolving digital medium, solidifying words, sentences, and paragraphs in a
+way that perhaps might even envy The Internet Archive. As a hopeless
+sentimental person, flipping through the book, looking at the figures and
+reading the text makes me happy. And also embarrassed as there are plenty of
+contextual and grammatical mistakes in solidified as well.
+
+I’m looking forward to revisiting the project in ten years! If you want to
+attempt something like this for yourself and don’t know how to approach this
+technically, drop me a line and I’ll be more than glad to help you out.
+
+[12]webdesign [13]archiving
+
+You Might Also Like...
+
+ • [14]Good Blogging Habits Yield a Book Each Year 07 Jul 2024
+ • [15]What Happens To My Digital Identity When I Die? 18 Sep 2022
+ • [16]How Bad Is Link Rot At Brain Baking? 22 Dec 2024
+ • [17]New Exhibits At The Brain Baking Museum 01 Jul 2024
+ • [18]The Backup And Sync Strategy, Revised 16 May 2024
+ • [19]We Should Build Our Own Wayback Machines (Reprise) 29 Mar 2023
+ • [20]Creating Journals That Last 18 Mar 2023
+
+Bio and Support
+
+[avatar2024]
+
+I'm [21]Wouter Groeneveld, a Brain Baker, and I love the smell of freshly baked
+thoughts (and bread) in the morning. I sometimes convince others to bake their
+brain (and bread) too.
+
+If you found this article amusing and/or helpful, you can support me via [22]
+PayPal or [23]Ko-Fi. I also like to hear your feedback via [24]Mastodon or
+email. Thanks!
+
+JavaScript is disabled. I use it to obfuscate my e-mail, keeping spambots at
+bay.
+Reach me using: [firstname] at [this domain].
+
+↑ [25]Top | [26]Archives | [27]RSS Feed | [28]© CC BY 4.0 License. [29]
+[brainbakin]
+
+
+References:
+
+[1] https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/06/the-archivist-in-me-turned-this-blog-into-a-book/#top
+[2] https://brainbaking.com/
+[3] https://brainbaking.com/archives/
+[4] https://brainbaking.com/works/
+[5] https://brainbaking.com/about
+[6] https://brainbaking.com/more
+[7] https://brainbaking.com/post/2022/09/what-happens-to-my-digital-identity-when-i-die/
+[8] https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/07/good-blogging-habits-yield-a-book-each-year/
+[9] https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/06/the-archivist-in-me-turned-this-blog-into-a-book/pages.jpg
+[10] https://www.amazon.com/Brain-Baking-DX-Blog-Archives/dp/B0H271SK3K/
+[11] https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/06/the-archivist-in-me-turned-this-blog-into-a-book/books-stacked.jpg
+[12] https://brainbaking.com/categories/webdesign
+[13] https://brainbaking.com/tags/archiving
+[14] https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/07/good-blogging-habits-yield-a-book-each-year/
+[15] https://brainbaking.com/post/2022/09/what-happens-to-my-digital-identity-when-i-die/
+[16] https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/12/how-bad-is-link-rot-at-brain-baking/
+[17] https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/07/new-exhibits-at-the-brain-baking-museum/
+[18] https://brainbaking.com/post/2024/05/the-backup-and-sync-strategy-revised/
+[19] https://brainbaking.com/post/2023/03/we-should-build-our-own-wayback-machines-reprise/
+[20] https://brainbaking.com/post/2023/03/creating-journals-that-last/
+[21] https://brainbaking.com/about
+[22] https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=R2WTKY7G9V2KQ
+[23] https://ko-fi.com/woutergroeneveld
+[24] https://dosgame.club/@jefklak
+[25] https://brainbaking.com/post/2026/06/the-archivist-in-me-turned-this-blog-into-a-book/#top
+[26] https://brainbaking.com/archives
+[27] https://brainbaking.com/index.xml
+[28] https://brainbaking.com/copyright-and-tracking-policy
+[29] https://brainbaking.com/links
diff --git a/static/archive/www-attackmagazine-com-ff1vu1.txt b/static/archive/www-attackmagazine-com-ff1vu1.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,661 @@
+*
+[1]Attack Magazine
+[2]Menu
+
+ • [3]News
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+ [5]Technique
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+[Attack-Mag]
+
+[57]Technique » [58]Tutorials » Getting Started With Ableton Live’s Generative
+MIDI Tools
+
+Getting Started With Ableton Live’s Generative MIDI Tools
+
+Share
+
+[59]Facebook [60]Twitter [61]WhatsApp
+
+Ableton Live 12, released in 2024, introduced five MIDI Generator tools
+designed to spark ideas across different stages of the creative process. Here’s
+how they work.
+
+We’ve all got pretty strong opinions about AI, in either direction of the
+argument, especially when it comes to the creation of anything artistic. So
+it’s worth being clear from the outset: Ableton’s MIDI Generators aren’t AI in
+the machine-learning sense. Instead, they’re algorithmic tools that generate
+patterns using rules, probability, and randomisation rather than models trained
+on musical data.
+
+In this guide, we’ll explore what they actually are – and more importantly, get
+you creating with them.
+
+What are MIDI Generators?
+
+As stated above, in their simplest terms, MIDI generators are algorithmic
+composers that use predetermined mathematical formulae to create musical
+phrases.
+
+Although each generator will offer its own approach, each will present you with
+a selection of controls that allow you to tweak the algorithm. Perhaps the
+speed of notes or the range of pitch, for example. Then, when you hit
+‘generate’, it will use its own maths and a degree of randomness to create a
+pattern.
+
+These tools are great for getting started. Notes are, of course, still
+editable, but they could get you over a creative block or offer something your
+track would never have arrived at otherwise.
+
+Before we begin, it’s important to understand that it’s highly likely your
+examples won’t sound like ours – that’s the point. So we’ll share the process
+as we go, but don’t worry if yours is different.
+
+Ableton Live’s MIDI Tools
+
+If you haven’t found them yet, Ableton Live 12 introduced two collections of
+tools that can be used directly within the piano roll. You’ll find them in the
+final two panels of the clip’s properties.
+
+[lazy_placeholder][FIG-1]
+
+The Transformation Panel is fourth from the left and contains the
+Transformation Tools. These tools allow you to change the notes in your clip,
+maybe quantise them, or strum the notes of the chord. They deserve their own
+exploration, but it’s the Generative Panel, the final panel of five, where
+you’ll find the Generative Tools, and here is where we’ll stay. There are five
+tools here, and we’ll explore each one.
+
+Choose Auto On or Off
+
+The Auto toggle controls how results are generated. When Auto is on, changing
+any parameter automatically creates a new result. When it’s off, you need to
+press Generate manually.
+
+For the examples below, Auto is turned off to prevent accidental results when
+adjusting settings. It gives us more control.
+
+Generated Length
+
+You might assume the tools generate content across the entire clip, but they
+actually generate only within the Loop Brace. Because the Loop Brace is often
+the same length as the clip, this isn’t always obvious.
+
+If you want four bars of generated material, set the Loop Brace to four bars.
+
+This also lets you generate new ideas inside specific parts of an existing clip
+, rather than replacing the whole thing. Very handy for drum fills, for
+example.
+
+TOOL 1: Rhythm
+
+Rhythm focuses, unsurprisingly, on generating rhythmic patterns, so we’ll use
+it to create a beat. Start by creating a new MIDI track and loading a drum kit
+you like. In this example, I’m using the 808 Core Kit, with the 808 Shaper
+ preset on Saturator followed by Drum Buss in its default state.
+
+Next, create a blank MIDI clip and open Generative Tools, which defaults to
+the Rhythm module.
+
+The main menu normally controls pitch, but when working with a Drum Rack it
+displays the individual voices of the kit instead. Select your Kick Drum and
+click Generate. Most of the time, you’ll get a four-on-the-floor pattern.
+
+One important detail: Rhythm only works on one voice at a time. You can
+generate a pattern for the kick, then move on to the clap or hi-hat, but you
+can’t process the entire drum rack at once. This means building the beat voice
+by voice (or layer by layer).
+
+Once your kick pattern is generated, you’ll see the notes selected in the piano
+roll. Before moving on, deselect the notes. If you leave them selected, the
+next generation step will replace them. Since we want to build the beat
+gradually, each voice needs to remain in place once we’re happy with it.
+
+Now choose another voice from the menu. Let’s try a closed hi-hat. Click
+Generate, then use the three available controls to shape the groove:
+
+ • Steps determine the length of the pattern
+ • Pattern changes the placement of notes
+ • Density adjusts how many notes appear
+
+After generating the hi-hat pattern, you’ll notice the kick notes turn grey.
+This simply means they already exist in the clip but are not currently being
+controlled by the generator. The coloured notes are the ones actively being
+generated and will change as you tweak the parameters or click Generate again.
+The grey notes remain untouched.
+
+This behaviour applies to all generators: grey notes are fixed, coloured notes
+are active.
+
+Finally, place the snare or clap manually on beats 2 and 4 to establish a
+strong backbeat. From there, you can experiment by adding elements such as a
+rim shot or low tom with the generator, quickly producing rhythmic variations
+you might not have programmed yourself.
+
+[lazy_placeholder][FIG-2-3]
+
+Top Tip: The Shift parameter moves the generated pattern right on the piano
+roll. Try adjusting it to reposition the rhythm and explore variations. Don’t
+forget to experiment with Offset as well – it’s another simple way to generate
+fresh rhythmic ideas.
+
+Tool 2: Seed
+
+Seed generates melodic material, so we’ll start by using it to create a bass
+line.
+
+Create a new MIDI track and load a bass sound you like. Here, Wavetable uses
+the Basic FM House Bass preset with Tri + Sub selected. Add a blank MIDI clip,
+then open Generative Tools and select Seed.
+
+Use Seed to create a bass line, setting a narrow pitch range to keep the
+generated notes within the lower Set both Duration sliders to 1/16 to create a
+bass line with some space between notes. Duration controls the length of each
+generated note, so setting the range to 1/16–1/16 ensures every note is the
+same length. Widening this range introduces variation in note lengths.
+
+The same principle applies to Velocity. Setting the range to 127–127 keeps
+every note at the same velocity, while a wider range would introduce dynamic
+variation.
+
+Next, set Voices to 1, since bass lines typically play a single note at a time,
+and set Density to 50%. Press Generate, then repeat until a bass line appears
+that works for the track.
+
+Earlier, Auto was turned off to maintain control while exploring the tool. For
+this stage, however, it’s worth turning Auto back on and letting the clip loop
+while adjusting parameters, so the results can be heard in real time.
+
+[lazy_placeholder][FIG-4-5]
+
+Top Tip: Generated notes follow the key set in Ableton. Choose the harmonic
+centre before generating, as changing the key will produce different results.
+
+Tool 3: Shape
+
+Shape redistributes existing notes, making it useful for creating vocal chops.
+Add “L10 Demo Voc Reverb 2” from the Core Library to an audio track, then slice
+it to a new MIDI track using 1/8-note divisions. Once sliced, delete the
+original audio track, as it is no longer needed.
+
+The resulting MIDI clip will play the sample slices in their original order.
+Open Generative Tools and select Shape from the menu to begin redistributing
+the slices.
+
+The displayed shape determines how the notes are played. Different shapes can
+be selected, or a custom one can be drawn. In this example, the Up shape is
+used, though any shape that suits the part can be chosen.
+
+The controls help reorder the notes (or slices, in this case). Rate sets the
+note length, Tie allows notes to extend beyond that length, Density controls
+how many notes are generated, and Jitter introduces variation from the
+displayed shape. Adjust the controls in any order and press Generate to create
+new variations.
+
+[lazy_placeholder][FIG-6-7]
+
+
+ Generators might take away some of the hands-on fun of sampling and making
+ music, but they can also open the door to unexpected workflows and creative
+ directions
+
+Tool 4: Stacks
+
+Stacks focuses on generating chords and offers more depth than it first
+appears. Create a new MIDI track and load a pad sound of your choice. This
+example uses the Stereo Saw preset in Drift. Add a blank MIDI clip and consider
+extending it to give the progression more room. A four-bar clip works well
+here, with the loop brace also set to four bars. Then open Generative Tools and
+select Stacks from the menu.
+
+The diagram displays a visual representation of the chord being generated.
+Clicking it will play the chord for preview. Dragging the diagram up or down
+cycles through different voicings, adding or reducing complexity as you move
+through the options.
+
+Set the root note to suit the track, then use the plus icon to add additional
+chords. Adjust the voicings to build a progression – in this example, four
+chords. The Inversion control rearranges the order of notes within the chord,
+allowing the same chord to be heard in different positions.
+
+As with Seed, Duration controls how long the notes last. Here it is set to 1
+(one bar), with Offset set to 0.
+
+[lazy_placeholder][FIG-8-9] Hit the plus button (+) on Stacks to add chords to
+your progression
+
+Tool 5: Euclidean
+
+Euclidean generates repeating patterns of up to four notes, making it ideal for
+plucky parts and complex rhythmic patterns, including [62]polyrhythms.
+
+Create another MIDI track and load a plucky sound of your choice. This example
+uses the Plastic Lead preset in Meld. Add a blank MIDI clip, open Generative
+Tools, and select Euclidean from the menu (fig. 10).
+
+Before generating a pattern, choose the notes each voice will use. Start by
+considering which notes will work with the existing bass line and chords. Open
+the Voices tab, select the notes you want to use, and disable any unused
+voices. In this example, four notes are chosen that fit the bass line and chord
+progression while staying within the root key.
+
+Steps sets the number of steps in the pattern, Density controls how many of
+those steps are filled, and Division sets the rhythmic value.
+
+At this stage, the selected notes will likely play together. The real variation
+comes from rotating the position of each note around the circle. Press the dice
+ to randomise the rotation, then adjust Steps and Density until a pattern
+emerges that fits the track.
+
+[lazy_placeholder][FIG-10-11]
+
+The following example plays all the generated parts together.
+
+Next steps
+
+Ableton’s generative tools reward experimentation as much as expertise. The
+more they’re pushed beyond their obvious uses – Seed for melody or Rhythm for
+percussion – the more interesting the results can become.
+
+The exploration doesn’t end with Ableton’s built-in devices. Ableton Suite also
+includes generative tools by developers such as Iftah Gabbai and Philip Meyer,
+[63]which are available in the Attack Store.
+
+Don’t have Ableton Live? Buy it [64]here. Heads up, it’s an affiliate link. If
+you buy through them, we may earn a small commission (it doesn’t affect the
+price).
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+Related
+
+[88]Live 12's MIDI Tools
+
+[89]Live 12’s MIDI Tools: MIDI Revolution?
+
+Along with welcome GUI updates, scales awareness, micro-tunings,
+sound-similarity search, and all-new instruments, Ableton Live 12 introduced a
+groundbreaking feature set with MIDI Tools, offering musicians and producers
+access to a wealth of new possibilities directly within the MIDI editor.
+
+04/16/2024
+
+In "Gear/Software"
+
+[90]Attack News - M4L Midi Tools Manifest Audio & Philip Meyer
+
+[91]MIDI Tools are here: now in our Max for Live store
+
+Introducing Max for Live MIDI Tools: Generative Powerhouses from Meyer Devices
+and Manifest Audio now available on our Max for Live store.
+
+04/14/2025
+
+In "News"
+
+[92]Novation Launchkey MK3
+
+[93]Novation Launchkey MK3 Line Aimed At Ableton Users
+
+Novation’s Launchkey MK3 controller feature Ableton Live integration and a
+number of new modes and features.
+
+06/19/2020
+
+In "News"
+
+Author Matt Donald
+13th March, 2026
+
+[94]
+Previous
+
+Tutorials - Make Your Tracks Bloom – Mura Masa Style
+
+[95]
+Next
+
+Tutorials - MNDALA 2: Getting To Grips With The Animistic Sound Engine From
+MNTRA Instruments
+
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