Setting an arpeggiator's gate low turns held notes into a short-gated step-sequenced bassline

A MIDI arpeggiator set to a low Gate value cuts each note off almost immediately, producing the short percussive transients characteristic of EBM and industrial bass lines and mimicking a hardware step sequencer or the Roland SH-101’s built-in arpeggiator. Combined with velocity variation in the MIDI clip (routed to velocity-sensitive filter or modulation-index parameters), each step can have a different intensity, adding motion to the sequence without manually programming every detail.

Examples

In Ableton add an Arpeggiator before your bass instrument. Set Rate to 1/16 and Gate low (~20%). The held notes become a tight, staccato 16th-note sequence. Lower Gate further for an even more clipped, step-sequencer feel.

Assessment

How does Gate length in an arpeggiator affect the perceived rhythm of a bass sequence? At what point does the feel shift from legato to staccato/step-sequenced?