LK 1.16.0 is out on iOS and Android, and it brings a new module: the Step Sequencer. It's a powerful new way to create evolving patterns, rhythms and melodies, with independent sequencing lanes and deep control over timing, movement and variation — opening up a whole new range of possibilities for both live performance and music production.
Lanes, not tracks. Stack up to 64 lanes, each with its own step count (up to 64 steps), rate, play direction, swing, time signature and transpose. Choose from forward, reverse, ping-pong, random or Brownian motion, with rates ranging from 1/128 to two bars, triplets and dotted values included. Set different lengths and rates across lanes to build evolving polyrhythms.
Every step says more than "on". Pitch, velocity, gate, probability and up to 8× ratchet, per step — then a random range on top of each one, so a step can land somewhere inside a window instead of hitting the same spot every bar. Draw values straight across the grid with one finger, or hold shift and slide the whole pattern sideways.
It plays in key, or it plays your kit. Give a lane a root note and one of 22 scales and the pitch axis snaps to it — you can't play a wrong note. Or load one of 53 drum maps (TR-8, 808, 909, Volca Beats, Koala Sampler, Patterning 2, General MIDI and more) and the axis becomes the kit, every step labelled with the sound it fires.
Automation lanes, not just notes. Any lane can send values instead of notes: choose a CC number, set the range it's allowed to move through, and draw the shape. In Live mode you can point a lane straight at an Ableton Live device parameter and let the sequencer move it for you.
Launch lanes like clips. Every lane has its own play and stop, quantized to the same launch grid as the clip matrix.
And it remembers. Named presets save the entire lane set inside your project, and you can load, overwrite, revert or delete them. Undo and redo cover everything you do. Lanes copy, paste, duplicate and drag into order.
Available in two modes, as always. In MIDI mode each lane sends to its own device and channel, so one pattern can drive your hardware while another drives an app. In Live mode the whole sequencer plays into Ableton through Imaginando's UBridge. And it's in the AUv3 plug-in too, locked to your host's transport.
The Step Sequencer arrives in LK 1.16.0 alongside a round of fixes across the matrix, the note editor and the MIDI Controller. LK is free to download and try — unlock the module when you're ready.
Get LK on the App Store or Google Play, or explore LK.
