Here’s a tutorial, guide and alternative manual for the new step sequencers in Ableton Live Suite 12, including Rhythmic Steps a generative percussion sequencer with built in timing errors, the SQ Sequencer based on hardware sequencers for ‘modular’ type sequencing, and the Step Arp which is an arpeggiator with built in sequencer for loads of per-step editing and modulation controls.
See also: our other Ableton 12 guides including a tutorial on Roar and our full Operator Tutorial. You can find all the free Ableton presets here.
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What Is A Step Sequencer?
A step sequencer plays music al steps which at least two values – gate (note length) and pitch / tone. By default they normally play 16 notes a bar. They are often routed to other parameters to, so you can control other value on the synth (for example the filter).
Rhythmic Steps – Step Sequencer – what the controls do…
Rhythmic Steps is a drum sequencer. It can sequence 4 drum sounds at a time. And is well suited to sequence Ableton Drum Racks. If you have more than 4 drum sounds you can stack sequencers in a Group.

Rhythmic Steps is great for all types of drum sequencing, but especially IDM and generative music due to it’s random and chance features as well as timing ‘errors’.
The left column of the sequencer shows cube selectors familiar with those who have used Drum Rack, and you can define which hit each lane will trigger from here.
The Chance sequencer is very similar to any step sequencer, except each step does not just have on and off, it has 0 to 100% probability. So if you draw in half a bar in height then that drum hit has a 50% chance of playing. Make a bar full height to guarantee the sound plays.
The Alt page is to set up other samples that can be played instead of the ones set on the Chance page. So you can set up a second snare and get it to play 50% of the time instead of the first one, for example.
The Velo page is for velocity and means you can modulate anything on the sampler/synth that uses velocity. This great and give you ‘modular’ style per-note modulations.
Slide is to sequence Slide, which is a feature of MPE midi controllers (those fancy keyboards you see where you can wiggle your finger on a note to get vibrato). Here you can sequence the Slide feature. Honestly, I’ve not used this much, but Granulator III has a Slide modulation, so you could use this as a separate modulation ‘page ‘row’ for controller some parameters on the Granulator.
Roll is for ratchets (repeating and stuttering note), for glitchy drum repeats and snare rolls etc.
Timing is for crazy timing settings which can get fairly nuts! Technically it is the same as shuffle, with some notes moving later, but you can have up to 8 different error settings, leading to IDM madness!
For the sequencer lanes, they all have Dice icons at the end of the rows to quickly randomize the rows. The dice with 3 dots on applies less randomization than the one with 5 on.
The X in the circle icon resets the row. And the ’16’ allows you to change the length of the rows, so they can be different for each row. This can get crazy and sound really ‘modular’ as everything is out of the loop.
The timing setting is to make the whole lane ‘off’ and late. The chain icon locks all the sequence lengths to the same length. ‘M’ mutes the modulation output for that row.
In the top right hand of the sequencer you can set how it retriggers (it at all) and if you want it to reset over 1,2,3, or 4 bars.
For a use case with Rhythmic Steps see: How To Make A Generative Electro Beat In Ableton.
SQ Sequencer – what the controls do…
Here’s a quick tutorial on the Ableton 12 SQ Sequencer, overing what all the controls do and how to use it.

To the left of the sequencer you have the clock at the top and a play button. Then you have the drop down where you can select how the sequencer is triggered. Transport will just play when Ableton Live plays, you can also select it to use the internal clock or you can set it to be triggered by midi.
In the Time section underneath that you can select how quick the sequence runs and if it is swung or if it has a triplet timing as well.
There’s also a Midi tab where you can transpose the sequence via midi notes. You can also Step Record notes in. Then underneath that you can select Page 1 or Page 2, which toggle between different sequencer lanes.
In the main screen you have a direction selector drop down which by default is forward. ‘alternate‘ is back then forward. Snake plays the next-step but either forwards or backwards in a random order. And Random plays any step randomly.
Below that you have Start and End points. I like to make loops shorter than 8 notes for a rolling feel.
Below this you can change the sequencer to 8 or 16 steps.
The main sequencer bars can be drawn on with the mouse to input values. The numbers at the top can be used to toggle notes on or off.
To the right of this the icon with 2 semi circles will randomly change the on/off values of the steps. It is a ‘scramble’ button. So it keeps the same number ‘on’ as before, for example if you have 3 notes on and 5 notes off, and press this button it will change which ones are on and off, but it will keep the same number – 3 notes on and 5 notes off.
The R will reset all steps to ‘on’ Dice icon will randomize everything.
Below these the 4 arrow buttons are used to shift notes up and down in pitch and left and right in time. It only moves the selected row, but if you press the lock button next to it it will move all values in all lanes at once.
The R below the arrows will reset whatever row is selected.
Over on the right the scale tuning selectors are used to select what scale the sequence is in. So you can lock it to a key.
The bottom half of the sequencer has the modulation rows, you can click on the names to edit each row (it’s values will pop up on the main display). You can just change all the values here to edit the sequence.
Note: for Length to affect the synth properly, you want to adjust he envelope in the synth and make sure it doesn’t have much release or they’ll all be long anyway.
The rows are are fairly self explanatory, Pitch is the notes, Octave jumps the pitch up or down whole octaves. Velocity controls the velocity obviously, but it is very important as it is the main way to modulate the synth, for example you can set the synths filter cut-off to be modulated by velocity, then the Velocity sequencer row will change the cut-off per note.
I use the velocity row like I use the second row of my hardware sequencer (a Korg SQ1) to control my modular synths and taking some CV cables and modulating a filter and other parameters.
You can change to page 2, and you get 3 more sequencer rows: Time Shift moves notes slightly late or early. Ratchet repeats the step. And Condition changes the probability that a step will play.
At the end of each sequencer row, there is a scramble button to scramble the steps in the sequence for just that value. So it will take the value and then re-arrange where they are in the sequence. Next to that there is a ‘0‘ which can be dragged up or down to reset all values in the row to that value.
The dice icon randomizes values in the row. (above that columns there’s a number which is the range of the random generator). Then at the end of that there are Length and direction ‘Dir.‘ selectors for each row: these over write the global length and direction settings and are great for getting that ‘modular’ chaotic sequences sound.
For a use cases with the SQ Sequencer see: Bleepy Hypnotic Techno In Ableton, Jeff Mills Style Detroit Techno Sequence In Ableton.
Step Arp Step Sequencer – what the controls do…
The Step Arp is an arpeggiator on steroids. It’s a big step up from the standard Ableton Arpeggiator (there’s a guide to that here).

There are 6 rows that you can use like a step sequencer: Velocity, Length, Chance, Ratchet, Transpose, Map/CC. So you can edit the arps and get a lot of control over each step.
Chance, Ratchet and Transpose can be toggled on and off with the button next to the name of the row.
You can draw in the values for these rows – just select the row by click on it’s name and then drawing in the row.
One of the great features of the Step Arp is the Map/CC feature – you can modulate anything with it!!
Directly above the main sequencer rows you can set the Loop length which is how many steps in the sequence, and there is a drop down to set the sequencer’s direction of play.
The column on the left of Step Arp has all the timing and sync settings…. the Clock Division, and you can add triplets and dotted time here, Sync it to midi (or un-sync it and change the BPM internally) as well as add Swing.
Across the top of the sequencer you can set the Octave range, and whether the arp plays up or down, or up then down, or a random order (the dice icon).
The Note section after that influences how the midi notes played in are played out….
The minus means the notes play ‘as played’ so the same as you input them. The following icons, are ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘play as a chord’, Random (the dice icon) and then the Right arrow means ‘follow’ which play in the same order as you selected in the Octave section.
Hold means that the notes don’t stop atomically until a new note is played. And Key Retrig means pressing any new note will retrigger the arp/sequence.
Then there’s the purple scale button which takes the scale from the projects global scale setting.
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