Hey everyone, this is a new video showing how to slice audio in Live 8 repeatedly on a grid. I think it is an awesome procedure and will get you into using the session and arrange windows together, and will set you up for some crazy audio editing later.
After using this process you might like to check out some of my Arrange view editing techniques:
Have Fun. Make Music.
L-Don
Hey there everyone, I just started my new course Composing and Producing Electronic music, and I am totally excited. In preparing for the course I made a series of videos using Ableton Live, you may have seen them featured on the Ableton site. Well as a present for visiting me here you can download the live set and experiment with the sounds yourself, enjoy!
Tracks Interact Live Set download
And in case you didn’t see them yet, here is the series of videos, I suggest you open them in Youtube for the full HD viewing experience!
Have Fun. Make Music,
L-Don
Hello all, I have been meaning to put these videos together for a while. Reason and Live work really well together, I think the folks at Ableton found the absolute best way to work between the two programs and the key is the External Instrument device, check it out:
and to take the idea even further:
And here are the template files that I used in the 2nd video, I am curious to know if all the routings are maintained on other computers:
Have Fun. Make Music.
Loudon
In Week 2 of my class every student makes a custom drum rack and posts it to the class. In Week 3 everyone downloads all of the drum racks and makes a “Mega Kit” from all the parts. It is one of the most fun parts of the class, and each semester the submissions get better and better. I post a couple video responses each semester, here are a couple that I made this semester, some great tips here, I hope you enjoy!
Have Fun. Make Music.
L-Don
Hello everyone, a student posted in one of my classes asking about this cool warped ambient piano he heard on a recording. It seemed like a cool challenge so I tried to make an instrument that would give a wide variety of spooky warped piano sounds. I created a really cool patch and used some of the more advanced features in Sampler and Instrument racks, so here is the video explaining it all:
The coolest feature I have used here is Zone Shift in Sampler. I explain it in the video, but you need to play with it to really get a feel for how it works. Say you have Zone Shift at -12, then Live is going to play the sample from an octave up, but transpose it down to the pitch you played. So, by moving Zone shift you are transposing all the samples, but the instrument still plays at pitch, try this on EVERYTHING, it is awesome.
The next great technique in the video is how I set up a delay. It is an effect rack with two chains, the first is for the delay and the second for the dry signal. After all the delays a compressor is added, but it is listening to(sidechained to) the dry signal. This way when the dry signal is present, the delays are quiet, but as the dry signal fades away the delays get louder, Very Cool.
If sidechained compressors are confusing you, please see my earlier post on the topic.
Anyway, Here is the Project so you can download and play with it, you will need the Live Suite keys piano patch to use it, I tried to include it in the project, but the patch is just too big.
Have Fun, Make Music,
L-Don
Hello again. In week 5 of my course the assignment is to create an entire piece of music from a single sample, usually a sung vocal phrase. This is a major challenge and the percussion elements are usually the toughest parts(hence my earlier kick from a vocal phrase post). One section of Sampler that isn’t covered deeply in the course is the OSC section. In Sampler the OSC is a built in oscillator that can modulate the frequency or amplitude of the sample itself. This sounds a bit complicated, but the vid here shows how it can be used to add some snap to your sampled drum sounds. Click on the vid to watch it at Youtube and it is much larger.
Oh, and you can download the deepkickpunch Project. It has 3 tracks the first is the operator patch I made to create the initial 50Hz kick sound, the second track is the audio recording of that sound, and the third track is the sampled instrument that is created in the video.
Enjoy!
Loudon
Hello all, We have been working with Sampler in my advanced production class, and it seemed time to put another vid together, so here is an example of using Live’s Sampler to create a kick drum sound.
And you can Download the project here.
Have fun, Make Music,
L-Don
Hello again. In this video I create a custom waveform in Operator, export it as an audio file, and bring it into Sampler for further manipulation, specifically portamento. This could all be done in Operator, but there are many modulations in Sampler that you don’t have in Operator. This technique is very useful as you explore Sampler and want to create some custom sounds to use there.
The custom waveform and export as AMS features mentioned here are only available in Live 8 with the new version of Operator.
Have Fun. Make Music.
-L-Don
Hello all, I just spent a couple hours digging into the latest offering from Ableton, Samplification:
Sound-wise it is strongest in the ambient/evolving sounds that show what is possible with Instrument Racks. There are numerous surprises though, like a multisampled voice and some nasty basses. It fills some gaps in the Live Library, particularly with pianos, but doesn’t have a clear focus; instead, treat it as a lesson in Sampler programming and Instrument Rack construction. In fact, there are some excellent new Lessons on Sampler programming included with the pack. Oh, I should mention that week 5 of my advanced Live course focuses on Sampler, and you can check it out here for free:
There are two main types of presets in this collection: Adg (Ableton Device Group) are Instrument and Drum Racks, big patches with descriptions and extensive modulation; Adv (Ableton Device V?) are Sampler presets, most are the elements used to create the larger Adg sounds, perfect for creating your own racks.
For most Adg files there is a general description and tips on how to control the preset that show up in the info view. Each Adg patch includes 8 color-coded Macro Controls for sonic manipulation; if you have a control surface they map automatically to the first 8 knobs on your controller for easy tweaking.
My initial thought was to give a review of the library, but using HotSwap and the Browser is a lasting skill. So, what follows is a method for exploring a synth or sampler library regardless of the manufacturer.
Samplification downloads as a zip that includes Read Me files and the Live pack (.alp). Live must be updated to the latest version (8.04) before dragging the Live Pack into the Live app window, completing the install:
The included Read Me file mentions the inline lessons that guide the user through the new content.First, show the help view; then click on lessons installed by special add-on Live Packs to get a list of the new lessons:
Click on “Instrument and Drum Clip Presets” and the Browser will show you a List of what was installed.
Right click on the Browser title bar to show some additional columns; I have chosen Type and Live Pack, rearranged them to my liking, and sorted by name ascending.
A system for saving favorites makes exploring presets productive. Create a folder for yourself, I called mine MyFavoriteSimplifications, and set it as your first file browser.
Back to the presets. Double-click on the first sound, Ambient Abrasive. Make sure you check out the info view (“?” is the key command). The info on the larger Adg files is a great help when trying to perform with them!
So, I don’t love Ambient Abrasive, time to move on, the Hot Swap feature is perfect, click it and you will be brought back up to the search. Up and Down arrow keys navigate the browser and Enter changes patch.
The next preset is the Ambient Abrasive Adv patch, a component of the Adg preset we were just using, so I go down to Ambient Andromeda Horizon and hit enter, changing the current patch.
I can perform some pretty cool things with the patch after adjusting macro controls and figuring out a good range and playing technique. Record a short clip and drop it into Browser 1, your favorites folder. A clip with a short performance previewed in the browser gives you all that essential performance information immediately, much better then just a preset name. This is what I came up with:
After an hour of fooling around you are left with a collection of clips ready to be used, and a cherry-picked version of the new library; productive noodling!
Have Fun. Make Music.
-L-Don
Created with the word “advanced” in mind, this course challenges even the best student. Ableton Live itself is unusual and the composition and sound design techniques unique to the program are highlighted. Students familiar with other DAW’s are often surprised how a new approach can inspire new ideas.
Full of my personal discoveries and techniques, the material in this course can only be found here. It was a pleasure to create the thousands of words, hundreds of screenshots, hours of video, and many tunes that when into the course. I hope that you can share in my musical discoveries.
If you are considering taking my course, here are some links to help in your search:
Have a look around my blog and get a feel for my teaching style. As of Summer ’09 I am the only instructor for the course, so included with the course is 12 weeks of my advice and support; here is my weekly approach:
Have Fun. Make Music.
-L-Don
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The views expressed herein are those of the individual contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of Berklee College of Music.
