Description

AURORA — Generative MIDI Sequencer for Ableton Live 12

A generative polyrhythmic MIDI sequencer that combines a Markov walk over scale degrees with per-step probability gating, scale-aware chord generation, latch mode, MIDI passthrough, and full follow-mode for Live 12's global Scale (transport bar). Built for producers who want melodic ideas that evolve, not loops that repeat.

Drop AURORA on a MIDI track, place any instrument after it (Wavetable, Operator, Drum Rack, Simpler, VST), and hit play. AURORA generates immediately — Power and Follow Live are both ON by default.

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WHAT MAKES AURORA DIFFERENT

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• MARKOV WALK — Notes are generated as a constrained random walk over scale degrees, not as fixed patterns. Every bar is different but musically related to the last.

• 35 SCALES — Full match with Live 12's transport-bar scale picker: Major, Minor, Dorian, Mixolydian, Lydian, Phrygian, Locrian, Whole Tone, Half-whole Dim., Whole-half Dim., Minor Blues, Minor Pentatonic, Major Pentatonic, Harmonic Minor, Harmonic Major, Dorian #4, Phrygian Dominant, Melodic Minor, Lydian Augmented, Lydian Dominant, Super Locrian, 8-Tone Spanish, Bhairav, Hungarian Minor, Hirajoshi, In-Sen, Iwato, Kumoi, Pelog Selisir, Pelog Tembung, Messiaen 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

• FOLLOW LIVE 12 GLOBAL SCALE — Auto-syncs Root and Scale with Live's transport bar. Change the project key from C Major to E Phrygian Dominant in Live's UI, AURORA follows instantly. Survives off→change→on toggle cycles via a cached observer pattern (cached values are re-emitted through the gate when Follow is re-enabled).

• SCALE-AWARE CHORD MODE — Emits a triad whose 3rd and 5th follow the active scale: major triad on Major, minor on Minor, diminished on Locrian, augmented on Lydian Augmented, etc. The chord stays in key automatically when you change scales.

• LATCH / LEGATO MODE — Sustain notes until the next one replaces them. Great for pads, evolving textures, and sub-basslines.

• MIDI PASSTHROUGH — Forward upstream MIDI (arpeggiators, keyboards, other M4L devices) through to the next device, layered with AURORA's generated stream.

• MARKOV RE-SEED (EVOLVE) and counter RESET buttons for live-performance control.

• 20 PARAMETERS — All automatable, mappable, and annotated for Live's hover-info panel. Hover over any control to see what it does.

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PARAMETERS

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Power — Master ON/OFF

Density — Probability of triggering a note per step (0–100%)

Steps — Sequence length (1–32)

Rate — Step rate, tempo-synced (1/4 → 1/32 with triplets)

Root — Root note of the scale (C … B)

Scale — Musical scale (35 modes, matches Live 12)

Octave — Base octave offset (−2 … +4)

Range — Markov walk range in scale degrees (1–4)

Walk — Probability of stepping ±1 vs jumping (0–100%)

Chaos — Probability of fully random vs walk (0–100%)

Velocity — Base MIDI velocity (1–127)

VelRand — Velocity humanization (0–100%)

Length — Note duration as fraction of step (0.05–2.0)

Swing — Swing amount on odd steps (0–75%)

Reset — Reset step counter to 0

Evolve — Re-seed Markov walk (new melodic idea)

Latch — Sustain notes (legato)

Passthrough — Forward upstream MIDI

Chord — Emit triad in current scale

Follow Live — Follow Live 12 global Scale

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TIPS

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• Start with Density 50%, Walk 70%, Chaos 10% for organic, walking melodies.

• Crank Chaos to 100% for atonal experiments — still constrained to the chosen scale.

• Use Latch + slow Rate (1/2 or 1/4) + Pad/Drone instrument for evolving ambient textures.

• Combine with an arpeggiator before AURORA + Passthrough ON for layered counterpoint.

• Map Evolve to a MIDI controller button for instant melodic re-seeding during a live set.

• Map Follow Live to a button to lock/unlock Live's transport-bar scale per take.

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COMPATIBILITY

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• Ableton Live 12 — required for full Follow Live (global Scale) support. Live 11 will work for everything except the scale-type follow (Root will still follow).

• Max for Live 8.5+

• Built and tested on macOS. Windows should work but is untested.

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SOURCE & UPDATES

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Open source, MIT license. The full source (including the patch generator script) is on GitHub:

https://github.com/adriank1410/aurora-m4l-sequencer

You can edit, modify, redistribute, and use AURORA in commercial productions. Please retain the copyright notice in derivative works.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Adrian Kwiatkowski — electronic music producer.

https://adriankwiatkowski.eu

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0bnPfchFpM2qLv1xrCK727

Bandcamp: https://adriankwiatkowski.bandcamp.com

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/adriank1410

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/adrian-kwiatkowski/1039714796

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AdrianKwiatkowski

Built with Max 8.5 / Live 12.3, using the Live Object Model for scale follow and MIDI routing through midiformat → midiout (proper M4L convention for in-chain MIDI delivery).