Most MPE-capable devices exist to make a controller feel more like an acoustic instrument. Expressive Chords, a Max for Live device Ableton bundled with the Live 12.2 update, does something slightly different: it takes MPE data and uses it to shape individual voices inside a chord, rather than a single melodic line — and it's designed to work particularly well on Push 3's pad grid.
Chords That Respond Note by Note
Expressive Chords ships with 52 pre-built chord sets. What makes it worth a look for MPE players is how those chords respond to expressive input: aftertouch, slide, and pitch bend affect individual notes within a chord rather than moving the whole chord uniformly. Press harder on a pad and one voice in the chord can swell while the others hold steady. Slide a finger and only the top note bends, leaving the rest of the voicing untouched.
That's the kind of independent per-note control that's normally associated with dedicated MPE surfaces like a Roli Seaboard or a LinnStrument — the difference here is that it's built directly into a device that ships free with Ableton Live, and it's tuned specifically for Push 3's existing hardware.
Built With Push 3's Pads in Mind
Push 3's 8×8 pad array already supports polyphonic aftertouch, slide, and per-note pitch bend on every pad, functioning as a unified MPE-capable touch surface. Expressive Chords is designed to take advantage of that directly: pressing a Push 3 pad harder can swell a single voice inside a chord, while a lateral slide bends just that voice, all without leaving the hardware or touching a mouse. For standalone Push 3 users in particular, this turns what was previously a clip launcher and mixer into a genuinely expressive chordal instrument.
The device works with any MPE-capable controller feeding Live, not just Push 3 — but Ableton designed it with hardware expression specifically in mind, according to the company's own release notes for the update.
Part of a Larger Live 12.2 Update
Expressive Chords arrived alongside a broader set of changes in Live 12.2, including a redesigned browser with a Quick Tags panel, Bounce Track in Place for converting clips or time selections to audio on a new track, and expanded polyphony for Operator. The update is free for all Live 12 Standard, Suite, and Intro license holders, and subsequent Push firmware updates have continued to refine polyphonic aftertouch ramping and MPE data accuracy at the edges of the pad grid.
Why It's Worth Trying
Chord-focused MPE tools are still relatively rare compared to the amount of attention paid to single-line expressive playing — most MPE demos and tutorials default to leads, pads, or basslines rather than voicings. Expressive Chords is a useful counter-example: a free, officially supported device that treats a full chord as something that can be shaped note by note in real time, using gesture data most Live users already have access to through Push 3 or a third-party MPE controller.
For anyone using Live as their main MPE host, it's worth pulling into a session and mapping to whatever controller is already on the desk — the chord-level expression it offers isn't something most instrument plugins replicate on their own.