r/ableton • u/alex_bass_guy • 3d ago

[Push] blur - a hypersampling instrument for push and launchpad

Hello, Ableton friends.

Pretty sure this is okay to post like this - I'm not a brand. If not, happy to change/remove/tweak/whatever.

I'm a full-time producer, composer and musician based in NYC. For the last nine months, I've been working on something I think is pretty neato, and it's finally done.

It's called blur. blur turns your loops and samples into instruments - not just files you edit, but sounds you play.

It stretches a sample across a row of pads, so you can trigger, chop and remix any sound in real time. Chop vocals, slice breakbeats, rearrange basslines, glitch out pads - or perform entire tracks. It also features an audio input recorder, live performance quantization, and a ton of other extremely fun features. I think it's pretty addictive to mess around with.

If anyone is familiar with the script 'MLR' for the monome - it's the same core idea, but rebuilt from the ground up with the modern electronic musician and performer in mind with tons of new features. I was obsessed with the monome when I was a kid, but could never afford one. This plugin is the result of 20 years of dreaming and almost a year of research, design and extensive testing. I'm quite proud of it, and plan on adding even more stuff moving forward.

It's built for grid controllers, with first-class native support for Launchpad (Pro/X/Mini/Pro mk1) and Push 2/3. You can map any other grid controller to it too - or use Keyboard Mode with any standard MIDI keyboard.

It's $29 normally. You can use ITSFINALLYDONE as a discount code to get 50% off.

Check it out at blurplugin.com - there's a live interactive demo you can play with in your browser without downloading anything.

I hope you guys enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO_SgSL90Ic

7 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

5

u/Icy-End-142 3d ago

I used mlr on my grid 64 while playing live. I’ve been thinking about editing the old Max patches to work on my current setup, plus maybe add new features. I’m interested to see how yours works.

3

u/alex_bass_guy 3d ago

It has everything that the original MLR had, plus a lot more - per-slot quantize settings, swing, 6 pattern slots and 6 groups, group multi-outs, pattern export to MIDI. Plus a whole overlay on the controller itself that lets you reverse and pitch slots on the fly. The audio record is also a lot more advanced, and fires new loops the instant they finish recording. I'm also planning on adding a lot more to it as time goes on, based on what people are looking for.

2

u/Icy-End-142 3d ago

In particular I’m looking for the capability to select loop start and end points on the fly per channel by pressing two different pads, then be able to release the loop at any time. The Galapagoose mlrv branch is the one I’m most interested in recreating or updating.

2

u/alex_bass_guy 3d ago

Yep - absolutely, I spent a VERY long time figuring out how to make that logic work haha. I call them 'miniloops' and they also work exactly like the OG MLR, including the reverse-y LED crawl when you're including the 8th slice. blur can do everything mlr-v can do and more (I'm pretty sure - haven't looked at that exact version in a very long time.) And if there's a feature missing, let me know - anything is on the table in terms of stuff I'll add down the road.

2

u/alex_bass_guy 3d ago

I have an in-depth video guide to everything it can do here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlgMx9RiOdo. Take a peek if you're curious. Miniloop section is at 24:08

3

u/dooblr 3d ago

This is what Daedalus does with the Monome. Good shit.

3

u/alex_bass_guy 3d ago

100% - but now, anyone can do it in any daw with any controller! 😁

3

u/ActionFlash 2d ago

This looks really interesting. Does it have multiple audio outs? I'd like to run it in Live and record to multiple audio tracks so I can mix them later.

2

u/alex_bass_guy 2d ago

Also - couldn't help but notice the D2 avatar. I'm a proud (former) Hunter main. Thanks for the interest, guardian!

2

u/ActionFlash 2d ago

I haven't played in a while, but I do miss it. Combined with D1, Destiny is the franchise I've put the most time into. It's a shame the way Bungie has ended up, I was hoping for a D3 one day!

2

u/alex_bass_guy 2d ago

Yes, absolutely! It has 6 fully assignable stereo outs, one for each group. You can set it up however you want. I included it for exactly that purpose - mixing and performance effects.

3

u/ActionFlash 2d ago

Excellent, I'll grab it later and give it a try.

1

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1

u/helloimaplanet 3d ago

Got a free demo to try? I would like to check it out before buying a license

3

u/alex_bass_guy 3d ago

I made a little playable demo on the website that shows off the core mechanic. There's no demo of the plugin itself, but if you grab it and don't dig it I'll happily refund you. Thanks for the interest!