How I switch patterns using program change in Ableton

A typical problem with Elektron gear is getting it to work with DAW’s the way you want. One of the things you want to do is change patterns on the bar. There are many techniques but all of them have big tradeoffs that I don’t like.

I found a way to get it to work the expected way - i.e. change patterns on the bar instead of a bar later - with only a small tradeoff. It’s a little involved to setup but after that there’s almost nothing special you have to worry about. This method works in Session mode and Arrangement mode and lets you control Elektron boxes via MIDI as well as take advantage of the famous fluid Elektron sequencer and P-Locks. If only Elektron boxes transmitted CC from patterns so you could record them into Ableton! But not to worry… because this way is almost better…

I recommend this method for song production and not live performance and you’ll understand why in a moment.
But it works OK for jamming and song ideation.

First make sure you’re sending sync to the box in MIDI prefs. Ableton will be the sync master which is preferable for production.

Then enable under Options, Delay Compensation and Reduced Latency When Monitoring.

Then open the out device and set MIDI clock sync delay to -25ms. This one will depend on your interface but take note of the value that works. I recommend running a test pattern with the metronome going and adjust until it is perfectly in time. Of course you also need to go into your machine’s global settings and enable Sync In. This differs from machine to machine. Disable Sync In in Ableton to avoid a feedback or double time situation.

Next you’re going to want to create 3 tracks (2 if you don’t care about sending notes/CC).

In my case I have a Machinedrum so I’m going to just refer to whatever box you have as the “MD”.

  1. MD MIDI for notes. Open the Track Delays (little D icon on the right) and set the delay to the value you noted above (mine is -25ms). Set it up as a regular MIDI channel routed appropriately - don’t use external instrument here, we’ll create a track dedicated for that to capture in-sync audio when playing and exporting.

  2. MD PrgChg for program changes. Set the delay to -200. You might be able to get away with something smaller, but I found this value to work with my MD. Don’t forget to route it to the correct MIDI device / channel.

  3. MD ExtInst for the external instrument which will undo the delay on PrgChg but ensure Program Changes are sent early enough for the box to change patterns in time. Route appropriately and set the Hardware Latency to 200. (Negative what you set PrgChg’s delay to.)

And that’s it. Use MD MIDI to play freely without latency, and PrgChg to change patterns. You will need to create and name your clips for pattern changing manually. This is pretty easy to do - just open the clip and set Prg.

Here comes the tradeoff and that is that as you switch tracks while the sequencer is running you will get little timing and audio glitches. For production I think this is acceptable.

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