Nathan Ramella, who is known for his work on the unofficial Ableton live Python API, has come up with something that is sure to shake the very fabric scratching as we know it today. Ammobox promises to finish the transformation of the turntable from a utility device to musical instrument by converting control vinyl signal into midi like values. Using his software in conjunction with Reaktor 5 allows you to take those values and scratch multiple samples at once or scratch a stream of pre-sequenced samples layered on each top of each other. You can even quantize and record the results to quickly “scratch” in notes of a song on the fly. Imagine a scenario where you have pre sequenced a set of well known drum samples and you build a beat from scratch by layering in each sound at a time.
Archive for the 'Ableton Live Tips' Category
The following Windows tutorial will get Traktor and Ableton all synced up and implement the concept of smart mixing into your set up. Some of you may be thinking, “What is smart mixing”? This is a good Question, and the Belvario Smart Mixer site answers it well. “”Smart mixing” is a term introduced by Moldover, a controllerist digital musician who uses a sophisticated software and hardware configuration that allows him to make fast changes to the mix with a minimum of control movement. One component of this is his “smart mixer” Reaktor ensemble, which makes it easy to do basic automated EQ mixing with a simple fader move in Ableton Live (in Live 7 it’s possible to do with only native audio effects).
You will learn how to:
1) Route Audio From Traktor and into an Ableton Live smart mixer.
2) Sync Abletons Midi clock to Traktor which will be hosting the master tempo
3) Allowing use of a midi controller in two programs at once.
With a limited number of physical knobs to control an ever increasing number of software goodies you need to find a way to get more out of your control surface. Using a single knob to control more than one parameter is one of the best ways to do that. A good example of this is the effects section of my VCI-100SE. Each effect in Traktor has 4 knobs and 4 buttons but my vci-100 only offers 2 knobs per effect. How can this be effective? Super knobs!
Deck a Dance may be the only dj software out there that can run inside Ableton Live but you can virtually put any software into the powerful audio engine with a free plug in. Cycling 74, the masterminds behind max msp, offer soundflower which creates a virtual audio engine within your macintosh environment.
“To send the output of one application to another, select Soundflower as the output device in the first application and Soundflower as the input device within the second application.” Continue reading ‘Route any dj software into Ableton’
For the past year I have been harping on the team at Ableton to include dj style song nudging in their software. Finally, when Live 7 hits selfs at the end of 2007, you will be able to do just that. This means that you can gently massage tracks together with a midi controller instead of using the mouse to manually adjust warp markers in the middle of a gig.
Another common dj complaint about Live has been the quality of its sound especially when several tracks are pushed to the max. To adress this and other requests they have wisely included a new series of vintage style studio compressors. If these new compressors live up to the hype you should be able to get the loud warm sound out of Live that people expect in the club.
If these new tools are implemented effectively, don’t be surprised to see a large group of djs that are currently straddling the fence jump over to using Ableton Live full time.
Ean Golden
Check out this interview that I did with Moldover for Remix magazine. There is a cool video showing his incredibly modified Novation SL and some of the ways he implements controllerism using Ableton Live. Here is a quick blurb from the piece:
You’re going to look back at the early 21st century and see a defining point that divided DJs into two distinct groups. You could call it the digital divide, but it will not be a question of who uses digital or not. That result is already clear: Go digital or find yourself with the dinosaurs. The digital divide will be between those who were and those who will be. First, you have the old vanguard that is adapting techniques and styles into the digital realm via digital training wheels courtesy of Serato Scratch and others. Then you have the new camp, which — with no emotional ties to a particular DJing paradigm — is literally throwing away the rulebook and reinventing the wheel. DJ Moldover falls squarely in the new camp by default and by choice, but he still wants to pay homage to the old-school world of turntablism — without turntables. Fortunately, he has come up with a term that seems to explain this in a way that people can understand and — hold your breath — even respect. Introducing…“controllerism.”
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