does anyone in london use ableton as a djing interface? i've just acquired ableton live 7 and really want to learn how to use it. if anyone here has a good knowledge base and would be willing to give me a face to face tutorial, i'd be ridiculously grateful as i can't really make head or tail of it at the moment!
ableton tutorial
- Thread starter stelfox
- Start date
3 Body No Problem
Well-known member
Grievous Angel
Beast of Burden
If I was in London I'd show you... maybe give me a ring some time?
It's easier than it looks! I was confused for years and just did it all in the arrange view
Basically what you do is:
1. Go to session view
2. you've got vertical "lines" in front of you - each of these is a "deck"
3. Make sure you've got 2 or 3 of the vertical lines / decks
4. load the tunes you want to mix into the "slots" in the "lines" - just click in the slot and find the files you want to play. Helpfully there's a little "play" icon next to each one - that's what you click on to get them going
5. BUT before you get started, you have to set warp markers for each track. This is the secret of good djing in ableton. Instead of putting time into knowing your vinyl records so you can mix them, you need to put time into making sure the warp markers are right - so you can mix them.
6. To do this in a quick and dirty way pull the "tabs" that enclose the file so the intro is hidden and the main bit of music starts with a downbeat / first bar of a 16 bar section. Make sure there's a yellow warp marker there. You want a few yellow warp markers throughout the track so that ableton can pick up the beatsof the track. With luck you should be able to set the first one, then have a look near the end of the file and put in a warp marker if there's not one there already. drag that so that it lines up with the right beat. (This can be a bit tricky - especially for reggae)
7. DJing then consists of clicking on the play icon next to the track and fading in the next track - in the vertical lines there are icons marked "1" and "2" which when selected put them under the control of the cross fader - wiggle the cross fader on the screen and you can fade between the tunes.
I've left out a lot here (like monitoring!) but it's not that hard to figure out.
It's easier than it looks! I was confused for years and just did it all in the arrange view
Basically what you do is:
1. Go to session view
2. you've got vertical "lines" in front of you - each of these is a "deck"
3. Make sure you've got 2 or 3 of the vertical lines / decks
4. load the tunes you want to mix into the "slots" in the "lines" - just click in the slot and find the files you want to play. Helpfully there's a little "play" icon next to each one - that's what you click on to get them going
5. BUT before you get started, you have to set warp markers for each track. This is the secret of good djing in ableton. Instead of putting time into knowing your vinyl records so you can mix them, you need to put time into making sure the warp markers are right - so you can mix them.
6. To do this in a quick and dirty way pull the "tabs" that enclose the file so the intro is hidden and the main bit of music starts with a downbeat / first bar of a 16 bar section. Make sure there's a yellow warp marker there. You want a few yellow warp markers throughout the track so that ableton can pick up the beatsof the track. With luck you should be able to set the first one, then have a look near the end of the file and put in a warp marker if there's not one there already. drag that so that it lines up with the right beat. (This can be a bit tricky - especially for reggae
)7. DJing then consists of clicking on the play icon next to the track and fading in the next track - in the vertical lines there are icons marked "1" and "2" which when selected put them under the control of the cross fader - wiggle the cross fader on the screen and you can fade between the tunes.
I've left out a lot here (like monitoring!) but it's not that hard to figure out.
noel emits
a wonderful wooden reason
Are you playing around with the stretch mode zhao? 'Complex' works best for non electronic stuff - has improved a lot from the early days in terms of sound quality anyway. I'm still on 5 - going to 7 soon.
One thing about warp markers - you usually have to put them in every 16 or 32 bars or so initially, but once that's all done you can take most of them out, especially with drum machine based stuff - that helps a bit with quality and CPU use. Actually it sounds like the auto beat detection might have been improved since 5, should get round to updating.
One thing about warp markers - you usually have to put them in every 16 or 32 bars or so initially, but once that's all done you can take most of them out, especially with drum machine based stuff - that helps a bit with quality and CPU use. Actually it sounds like the auto beat detection might have been improved since 5, should get round to updating.
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nomos
Administrator
Re: Warping - The metronome really helps when warping a whole track...
First, erase all the auto-warp markers. They're usually wrong unless it's very simple techno or house. Then like Paul said, find the first obvious downbeat and set marker 1 there. You can then drag the clip tempo up or down and the grey divider lines will move along with it. You can do this to roughly line up the markers with the beats as you see them in the waveform (i.e. If you know a track is likely to be around 130bpm, set the tempo and see where the grey lines fall in relation to what look like the beats). Get 17 and then 33 right and you're in good shape for the rest of the track.
Then hit Play and, with a bit of stopping and starting, you can add warp markers on the fly with the music and metronome running. Drag the marker points to get the beat in time with the click track.
It's best to drop warp markers as far apart as possible (try 32 or 64 bars) to save time and avoid creating small regions all with different tempos. That can lead to sync problems when mixing. Likewise, try to avoid putting markers at points other than the first beat of the first bar of a phrase. That can screw up a beat's internal dynamics (swing, etc).
After roughly doing the markers for a whole track, it's good to zoom in very close and position them more precisely. You can also nudge them a bit ahead or behind the beat to give the rhythm a more forward or laid back dynamic in relation to what you're mixing.
Hope that helps a little.
First, erase all the auto-warp markers. They're usually wrong unless it's very simple techno or house. Then like Paul said, find the first obvious downbeat and set marker 1 there. You can then drag the clip tempo up or down and the grey divider lines will move along with it. You can do this to roughly line up the markers with the beats as you see them in the waveform (i.e. If you know a track is likely to be around 130bpm, set the tempo and see where the grey lines fall in relation to what look like the beats). Get 17 and then 33 right and you're in good shape for the rest of the track.
Then hit Play and, with a bit of stopping and starting, you can add warp markers on the fly with the music and metronome running. Drag the marker points to get the beat in time with the click track.
It's best to drop warp markers as far apart as possible (try 32 or 64 bars) to save time and avoid creating small regions all with different tempos. That can lead to sync problems when mixing. Likewise, try to avoid putting markers at points other than the first beat of the first bar of a phrase. That can screw up a beat's internal dynamics (swing, etc).
After roughly doing the markers for a whole track, it's good to zoom in very close and position them more precisely. You can also nudge them a bit ahead or behind the beat to give the rhythm a more forward or laid back dynamic in relation to what you're mixing.
Hope that helps a little.
nomos
Administrator
I almost always keep clips on Re-pitch rather than Complex, etc. unless there's a major key clash happening. The sound quality is often way better.
Also, remember that any warping, etc. that you do to a clip in the Arrangement is specific that instance of that clip and has no bearing on the same clip loaded in Session view.
Also, remember that any warping, etc. that you do to a clip in the Arrangement is specific that instance of that clip and has no bearing on the same clip loaded in Session view.
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noel emits
a wonderful wooden reason
One thing I do here is look at the calculated BPM at 33 and that should tell you quite accurately the tempo of the track. Enter that into the main tempo at the top of the screen and things should fall into place.
Amplesamples
Well-known member
Djing with Live
I've just started using Live and I'm pretty good with it (I teach music tech so I like to think I'm pretty good with software). I could give you a face to face if you want.
I've just started using Live and I'm pretty good with it (I teach music tech so I like to think I'm pretty good with software). I could give you a face to face if you want.
This is very true.
If you zoom right it, position the warp marker on the first trough before the first peak, then repeat on the corresponding trough on the next warp marker. With anything electronic/drum machine based I find you can get away with two markers on the whole track, one at the end, one at the beginning.
This means that you can't really go more than +/- 10 bpm without making vocals etc sound noticeably different though - also I find keeping clips as Complex means things are more likely to be in key. I guess because re-pitching by a few bpm moves things not in whole tones/semitones, so you're more likely to get a clash?
Always remember to hit the "save" button on the clip once you've changed warp markers! Then when you open a new instance of the clip, you'll have the correct bpm and markers and not have to start again. Resist the temptation to copy clips between views until you have them spot on and saved.
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straight
wings cru
i agree with zhao, the maths of warping is so more accurate now compared to earlier versions but i would always prepare in advance unless you are confident enough to do it by sight.
also i assume you are djing reggae/dancehall, this page has a load of free vst sirens and tape delay plugins http://www.interruptor.ch/vst_overview.shtml
But probably the best investment you can make is to get a midi mixer so you can get more hands on in your mixes. you can pick up a bcr2000 for less than £100 new
also i assume you are djing reggae/dancehall, this page has a load of free vst sirens and tape delay plugins http://www.interruptor.ch/vst_overview.shtml
But probably the best investment you can make is to get a midi mixer so you can get more hands on in your mixes. you can pick up a bcr2000 for less than £100 new
i would be totally into that. i'm sort of getting the vague idea now, but it's a bit complicated.
Grievous Angel
Beast of Burden
Wow, some great ideas on warping there, some I'd never considered!
There's a metronome in Live???
You live and learn!
There's a metronome in Live???
You live and learn!
noel emits
a wonderful wooden reason
It's very simple once you've done it once, just sounds complicated. Still a bit tedious though.
john eden
male pale and stale
I quite like the idea of it but it seems way below "putting a record on and arsing about with a mixer" in the gratification stakes.
Plus it's probably bad for my RSI.
I quite like the idea of it but it seems way below "putting a record on and arsing about with a mixer" in the gratification stakes.
Plus it's probably bad for my RSI.
well with a good midi interface (even a shitty one like mine) it can be pretty tactile.
do you use a wacom tablet for your RSI? if not highly recommended.