Korg MS20 Arps Ableton Live Pack

April 22, 2017 Brian Funk

Warm, Analog, Arpeggiated Synths for Ableton Live

Some of my favorite synth melodies are analog arpeggiated lines. I wanted to create a set of instruments that focuses on these two qualities and make them easy to manipulate and make music with. The result is 40 Ableton Live Instrument Rack presets that make up the Korg MS20 Arps Ableton Live Pack .

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The Korg MS20

I turned to my trusty Korg MS20 analog synthesizer. There's so much character in those oscillators and the aggressive filter. I programmed a ton of sounds and multi-sampled each one into Ableton Live. I made sure to get a wide range of sounds that showcase some of the depth and character of the MS20.

Controls for Filters, Delay, and Chorus

Easy to Use Instrument and MIDI FX Racks

Next I built Instrument Racks that allow you alter each sound to fit your music. There's controls for Filtering, with five different types of filters to choose from. You can control a Delay to add space and dimension to the sounds. And finally there's a Chorus to help widen and add new textures to the audio.

Customizable Arpeggiations

Within the Instrument Rack is a MIDI Effect Rack called "ADM Arp and Scale" that allows you to customize the way the Arpeggiator affects the sounds. You can specify a scale so you are always in key. The speed, style, and distance of the notes that are arpeggiated can be fine tuned. And you can experiment with the note length and create a timed fade out for the flurry of notes.

The "ADM Arp and Scale" MIDI Effect Rack is included in each Instrument Rack and separately so you can use it on any sound in your Library.

Easily Create Rhythmic Patterns and Melodies by Just Holding a Few Notes

So much of the fun of this collection is just holding down a few notes and seeing where the Arpeggiator takes you. By experimenting with the Macro Controls, you can easily create pulsing bass lines, soaring leads, chord progressions, and special effects. You also have the option of turning off the arpeggiator and playing the notes as normal. While the original hardware MS20 is monophonic, the instruments in this collection are completely polyphonic!