Ableton/Live/UG/29 Audio Effect Reference/35 Shifter
- Shifter shifts pitch or frequency in real time, or ring-modulates the input.
- Coarse and Fine — amount of shift, in units that depend on the mode in Ableton/Live/UG/29 Audio Effect Reference/35 Shifter/04 Shifter Mode Section
- Wide — inverts Spread on the right channel for a stereo effect: more Spread shifts left up and right down. No effect at Spread 0.
- Window (Pitch mode) — analysis window; longer suits low sounds, shorter suits high ones
- Tone — cuts highs in the delay's feedback
- Delay — adds a delay, in Hz or synced divisions (Delay Mode buttons); Delay Feedback sets how much repeats
- The LFO modulates left and right channels.
- In the LFO display: Duty Cycle and Phase (left/right offset; 180° fully opposite). With synced Rate, Offset moves each LFO's start point.
- LFO waveforms — Sine, Triangle, Triangle Analog, Triangle 8, Triangle 16, Saw Up, Saw Down, Rectangle, Random, Random S&H
- The periodic waves can use Spin instead of Phase, running the two LFOs at different rates.
- Random uses Phase; Random S&H uses Width, from identical channels (0%) to fully opposite (100%).
- Rate — in Hz or synced; Amount — modulation depth
- Turns input level into modulation.
- Envelope Attack and Envelope Release — response to rising and falling levels
- Env Fol turns it on; Amount sets depth, in semitones (Pitch mode) or Hz (Freq and Ring)
- Pitch — shifts pitch by Coarse semitones and Fine cents
- Freq — shifts every frequency by a set number of Hz. Small shifts give tremolo or phasing; large ones dissonant, metallic sounds.
- Ring — adds and subtracts the set frequency from the input (ring modulation). Drive, only in Ring mode, adds distortion.
- Dry/Wet — balance of dry and processed signal
- The triangle at the left of the title bar unfolds the sidechain.
- Pitch Mode: Internal uses Coarse and Fine; MIDI uses incoming notes from a chosen source.
- In MIDI mode: Glide (ms between notes) and PB (pitch bend range, 0–24 semitones).
- Duplicate a drum track and put Shifter after its Drum Rack. In Pitch mode, move or automate Coarse with Delay on: high shifts give crisp metallic echoes, low shifts long drawn-out delays. Keep the copy quieter for movement in the background.
- In Freq mode, move Fine by no more than about 2 Hz. Phasing comes from the wet and dry signals interacting, so keep both audible; it is strongest at a 50% mix.
- In Ring mode, frequencies below hearing (about 20 Hz or lower) make a tremolo. Wide with a small Spread adds stereo movement.