MOLECULAR is much more than a normal arpeggiator – it’s an ingenious hybrid between a molecular music box, a MIDI looper and an arpeggiator. It creates unique and vibrant patterns for harmonic instruments as well as for samplers or drums.

Versatile in application

Molecular generates a rhythm grid using a molecular algorithm. Based on this, two modes are available to determine the pitch – Note and Drums.

A polyphonic arpeggiator

In Note Mode, the pitch is taken directly from the held MIDI notes following a predefined sequence, just like any other arpeggiator. In addition to this, however, Molecular creates unusual varied rhythmic figures. Through layering it generates appealing polyphonic superimpositions, but can also be used for monophonic instruments.

A rhythm generator

In Drums Mode, the pitches are mapped to semitones for playing drum racks or samplers, thus opening up a further range of playful possibilities.

A looper too

In addition, storing, overlaying and looping note patterns also make Molecular a MIDI looper. This way, a persisting pattern is repeated until the corresponding layer is overwritten by a new layer generation. The density of the notes played is regulated by the number of activated layers. Obviously, new incoming MIDI notes will still change the pitches of all notes currently being put out.

New in version 1.1: Ghost notes

MOLECULAR generates additional ghost notes* for more rhythmic sophistication.

Take Ghostwriter to create ghost notes independently of Molecular (it’s FREE).

_{* Ghost notes in the musical sense, not like ghost notes as in FL Studio}

Documentation

A detailed explanation of all settings is shown in the feature tour:

Examples of uses

MOLECULAR Sessions

What is meant by ‘organic'

Molecular produces patterns that change successively with each loop pass.

The molecular algorhythm

Actually, you don’t need to know how it works exactly, it’s just fun to fiddle around with. But for those who want to know more:

The rhythm structure is generated by a simple algorithm. There are two adjustable cycles A and B. First, a note is created and played with each pass of cycle A. The notes are written to a loop layer and to the next layer after a loop pass is completed. To create new notes, cycle A is maintained until a newly created note meets an already set note of another layer. Then the creation cycle changes to B. The process now starts over, so if a newly set note collides with an old one, the creation cycle switches back to A, and so on – simple but effective.

Minimum Requirements

• Ableton Live 9.7+
• Max for Live

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