MHO Melodic DrumPads

Melodic DrumPads allows you to play a drum pad in any scale by selecting it in your drum rack and playing it from the adjacent MIDI track. Designed for Push3 standalone.

Recently, a friend asked me if it was possible to write a M4L device that expands Push with a „16 pitches“ mode, like the one on MPC or Ableton Move.

It is already possible to melodically play a specific drum rack pad, using an external MIDI track. Unfortunately, you have to set the MIDI track’s output manually each time you want to play a different pad. What is cumbersome in Live, is impossible on Push in standalone mode. 

Melodic DrumPads sets the MIDI track’s output automatically, based on which pad is selected in the drum rack. This enables you to play selected pads melodically, accessing up to 64 notes per page. You can also use an external keyboard. Pads can be sequenced using the melodic sequencer layout, and pad performances can be recorded into clips. The clip can then be pointed at any pad.

Basic Instructions:
1. Open a drum rack as the first device on track 1.
2. Insert this device after the drum rack.
3. Track 2 must be MIDI and empty of clips.
4. If no Push is connected, set ‚Host‘ to ‚Live’.
5. Select a pad on track 1, play it on Track 2.

Current Restrictions: The drum rack must be ungrouped.

16 October 2024, Update to Version 1.1.1

Changes;
- Resolved remaining issues with standalone initialization.
- Removed ‚Host‘ parameter in standalone mode. The device defaults to ‚Push’.

15 October 2024, Update to Version 1.1:

Bugfixes:
- Previously, once the device was loaded on Push standalone, the device needed to be switched off and on to initialize correctly.
It now works immediately upon loading.
- Previously, the device had to be switched off and on if the Drum Rack preset was changed. It now handles preset changes smoothly.

Workflow improvements:
- Track selection on startup now comes to rest on Track 1.