Parameter locks in Ableton Live and other DAWs

What you are trying to get

Four things make hardware groovebox sequencing quick: parameter locks (a value stored on a single step), trig conditions (a step plays only on some passes), per-track length and speed, and scenes morphed with a crossfader. If any of these are new, start with the explainer.

A DAW is built around clips and automation lanes instead, so none of this is there out of the box. These are the ways to get close.

In Ableton Live

• Push. In the step sequencer, hold a step and turn an encoder: that value is written for the step. It works on MIDI tracks, and the value holds for the length of the step or note. This is the closest thing to a parameter lock in Live.
• Clip envelopes. Without Push, draw a step-shaped envelope in the clip. Longer notes make each value hold until the next one.
• Max for Live. Community devices add probability, per-step modulation and step sequencers with locks. Quality and upkeep vary, so check that a device works with your Live version.
• Note probability (Live 11 and later) and follow actions give some of the variation that trig conditions do.

In Bitwig Studio and Renoise

• Bitwig's step modulators step through values in time and can be routed to any parameter, which gives a similar result to locks.
• Renoise, a tracker, writes a value for every row and effect column, which many people find close to parameter locks.

With a plugin built for it

Hexamorph is a 16-track sampler and step sequencer plugin that does all of the above in one place: locks on every step for 152 parameters per track, trig conditions, per-track length and speed, parts, 16 scenes per part on a crossfader, and four insert effects per track. It runs as an AU or VST3 instrument in Live, Logic, Bitwig, Reaper or FL Studio on macOS, or as a VST3 on Windows and Linux.

See what it does.