MIDI Effects Ideas/Tips for Hardware Drum Synth?

[monnomme]

I am working on integrating the Vermona DRM-1 MKIV into my Ableton setup. Because this drum machine can only be sequenced externally, I am trying to figure out ways to apply MIDI effects to spice up my drum patterns.

I find that some of the effects under 'MIDI Effects --> Velocity' are pretty useful. You can assign randomness to the accenting of beats and control high end versus low end within that. These effects really help humanize a basic beat.

My question is what else I could do inside Ableton to expand my ability to modulate incoming beats? The Vermona features inserts for external effects, which is great, but I want to know how far I can take modulation from inside Ableton alone.

I have Ableton Live Lite 11 - would there be any good reason to upgrade to another version of Ableton in this context? Ultimately I want to be able to let the drums play and have some automated modulation to keep them sounding fresh, while also being able to go direct to the synth and tweak sounds on the fly, i.e. I am talking about adding effects before 'printing' anything to an audio track.

[craigyboy]

Hi

Although I've not used the Vermona before, I think I understand what you want to do...

In Live 11 you now have 'Chance Tools', check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ycau1tCxBQ

There's a lot you can do with Live Lite by automating both midi and audio effects - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdQYUk8w5jM

Using an LFO to automate fx would get you cool results, check out this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORC4fWQoMBg

Hope this helps

[monnomme]

@craigyboy Absolutely, thanks so much! I can't seem to locate the 'Chance' function from the first link, but there are a lot of useful tips here exactly in the vein I was hoping for. Thanks again