Chordsaus (BETA) - Max For Live Chord Generator

Chordsaus is my rendition of Orchid (ORC-300) by Telepathic Instruments, combined with elements of Ableton's Expressive Chords device.

Designed for laptop keyboard players in mind, It's a MIDI Effect that you place before any instrument, so whichever MIDI note you press, regardless of octave, will output a chord at the select voicing in the scale of your song (set by scale-awareness).

The voicing of the chords and bass function similarly to the Orchid, where the two voicing knobs on the left define the octave/inversions of the notes.

• Turning the chord voicing knob while playing a chord "harpifies" currently played chord
• There are also options to make chords include Triads, 6ths, Minor and Major 7ths, and 9ths (applies to all chords).
• There are also chord modifiers (Diminished, Minor, Major, Suspended) that can be applied per chord, which will output the desired chord regardless of whether it's in the scale of your song or not.
  • Can be toggled to apply to all chords.
• Support for Push 2/3/3s so you can play extensions and modifiers the same way you can with Orchid
  

This device has been fused with customization options from Expressive Chords, so you can

• Tilt the velocities to be differently across each note in a chord
• Strum the notes of each chord in the pattern of your set articulation
  • Reverse articulation button alternates strum direction on each chord trigger, can reset in time increments.
• Randomize timing, velocity and articulation
• Modulate voicing, strum, tilt, and articulation with Mod Wheel, Slide, and Velocity
  

This device also includes a Record MIDI button, so you can instantly start resampling MIDI to a new track, so you don't have to go through the mental gymnastics of routing your MIDI to a new track. (Shoutout Side Brain for the idea and permission for this feature)

• Mirror Mode - Arms both host track and destination track to record MIDI to
  • Recommended if no MIDI has been recorded to host track
• Bounce Mode - Arms only new destination track, disables and folds Chordsaus device after recording
  • Recommended if MIDI has already been recorded to host track
    

This device is in beta, so I'm hoping to work in a few more features before full launch, please feel free to email me suggestions.

You can also get this device in the All Max For Live Devices Bundle, which includes every device I sell plus future ones at a significantly reduced price.

Update log:

Dec 2 2025 - beta32:

• Modulating chord voicing knob "harpifies" currently played chord, like in orchid
• Push 2/3/3s support
  • Optional takeover mode to trigger chord extensions (6/m7/M7/9) and types (Dim/Maj/Min/Sus), like orchid does
• States of modified chords now recall correctly
• Reverse articulation button now alternates strum pattern, as if you were playing guitar
  • You can set an increment for how often it retriggers to original state, like every one bar or so

Sep 5 2025 - beta18:

• Record MIDI, Solo Bass, Global Modifier options

*****Known Issues:******

• When harpify is turned off, sometimes the currently played notes are displayed incorrectly
• Changing octaves of individual chords (such as 9th always playing an octave higher) only works when harpify is turned off

This device requires Ableton Live 12 Suite or newer, or Live 12 Standard with a max for live license.

Please email dnksaus@gmail.com for any bug reports or device suggestions