Using the Ableton Scale Plug-In

A musical key defines the relationship of the notes in a song. Without going into too much music theory, keeping the different elements of a track in the same key is essential to making them fit together musically. Ableton’s Scale MIDI plug-in automatically shifts the notes in a MIDI track into a specified key. Let’s set the Scale plug-in to use the key of C major.

Ableton Scale Plugin

At its default setting, the plug-in displays a diagonal line of orange boxes; the lower-left end of the line corresponds to the note set by the “Base” knob, which is C natural by default. C natural is part of the C major scale, so we’ll leave this box as it is. The next-highest orange box is C#: one note above C. Because the C major scale doesn’t contain any sharps we’ll need to shift this box. Click the box below it to move the note down to C natural. Now, when you play a C#, the instrument will play a C natural instead:

Ableton Scale Plugin

Moving up the line of notes, the next note we need to shift is four notes up: D#. Ableton highlights sharp notes in grey, making it easy to keep track of the scale. Shift the D# note down to D natural:

Ableton Scale Plugin

Repeat the process for the rest of the notes. When you’re finished, the Scale plug-in will look like this:

Ableton Scale Plugin

Now that the note relationships of the major scale are programmed,you can switch to any other major scale without redefining the notes by simply turning the “Base” knob to a new note. The relationships between the notes in the scale will stay the same, but the actual played notes will change:

Ableton Scale Plugin

The Scale plug-in includes a few basic key presets (major and minor; you can download a more comprehensive set from the Covert Operators.