Ableton/Live/UG/31 Instrument Reference/11 Simpler/01 Playback Modes

• 31.11.1 Playback Modes

  • The mode switch, left of the Sample tab or along the bottom of the expanded view, sets how Simpler treats the sample:
    • 
    • Classic (default) — pitched melodic and harmonic instruments, full ADSR, looping, polyphonic.
    • One-Shot — monophonic drum hits or short phrases; simple envelope, no loop, plays the whole sample by default.
    • Slicing — non-destructive slices played chromatically, set automatically or by hand; suited to drum breaks.

  • 31.11.1.1 Classic Playback Mode

    • 
    • The left and right flags bound the usable region. Start and Length are percentages of it; Length 50% plays half. Loop sets how much loops, when the Loop switch is on.
    • Very short loops turn glitchy or granular, or pitched at audio rates, and can load the CPU heavily, especially in Complex warp modes.
    • Snap puts markers on zero crossings of the left channel, so stereo samples can still click. Fade crossfades loop end into start, useful for long textures.
    • Gain — sample level, separate from the final Volume after the filter.
    • Voices — when exceeded, the oldest voices are stolen.
    • Retrig — replaying a sounding note cuts it off; off lets copies overlap. Audible only with long releases and more than one voice.

  • 31.11.1.2 One-Shot Playback Mode

    • 
    • Flags set the region; no Loop, Length or Voices, and always monophonic.
    • Trigger — plays on after note-off, so hold length doesn't matter. Gate — starts fading at note-off over the Fade Out time.
    • Fade In — time to full volume; Fade Out — starts that long before the region end.
    • Snap applies to the start and end flags only.

  • 31.11.1.3 Slicing Playback Mode

    • 
    • Slice By:
      • Transient — at transients; Sensitivity sets how many, up to 64.
      • Beat — at a beat Division.
      • Region — a number of equal Regions.
      • Manual — double-click to add slices.
    • Playback — Mono plays one slice at a time; Poly plays several, with Voices and Retrig; Thru is monophonic but plays on to the end of the region.
    • Trigger/Gate as in One-Shot. Fades span each slice in Mono and Poly, or from the triggered slice to the region end in Thru.
    • Automatic slices are blue and manual ones white. Drag to move, double-click to delete; in Transient mode, Option-click (Mac) / Alt-click (Win) toggles a slice between manual and automatic. Manual slices survive Sensitivity changes.