this thread is about to get bombarded. My guess is 150 posts by this evening

I use it, to produce my own tracks and to play live with it. Mostly I use it alone without SSL for special performances, but I wish to use it more next to SSL as a complement. The next version which is about to come out, version 7 (which you might have a free update for if you just bought 6), has pitch bend, so you can treat it as a CDJ, so it would go along with SSL very nice. If you want to run both it is best advised to use 2 laptops, it also depends how much stuff you will do in live, because it can get very processor intensive. If it's for simple stuff, you can actually run both at the same time with a powerful computer. Just be careful with dropouts, just test it to be sure and know the limits.

i was reading that you can use keys on a keyboard like midi buttons and assign thing to diff buttons.

help me understand the pitch bend too, i know that you can change the bmp and it adjusts all of the audio that is in it

It's a great tool for timestretching audio and correcting timing inaccuracies. Say you have an old song and you want to do a remix, but the timing of the drums is off. Live auto corrects the timing to the grid so you can put loops behind it and everything matches up. Instant beatmatch (yes microwave). If your using whole songs it is not always going to be accurate, but you can adjust the audio to the grid and get it perfect. I don't like the way it works with MIDI because it is clip based, I like Logic or Pro tools for that. Typical scenario for me: 1. chop the audio you want down to the exact measures your going to use. 2. Have Live fix the timing and stretch it to you desired tempo. 3. Export it and open the audio in my desired DAW and bang away on my keyboard creating the shit that will never be heard.

i use it as my main DAW to do all my edits, remixes, and complete productions. i've never used it to play live, but I've dabbled with the possibility at home, so I would be able to if I ever wanted to.

DJ-A, you said you bought it because you saw people do cool things with it? what do you mean? what do you want to do with it?

I use ableton for production and remixing, it makes a great sketchpad for ideas. Go through the tutorials and you'll gain a basic understanding quickly.

I use it to make my mashups. It's a fun program. Live 7 is about to come out by years end.

i've been thinking about getting ableton too. i want to use it to make remixes and mash ups. i have a few questions. how much is it? is it user friendly? i have a pretty powerful laptop, can i run ssl and ableton on one laptop(not at the same time)? thank guys.

^^good questions... learning it is a bumpy road... i've talked to a few people who say they can run both, but if you are doing things live everyone i have talked to recommends 2 laptops.

i think its around $600 if i remember right

i'm thinking about installing ableton on my home pc and just leaving ssl on my laptop. my biggest concern is learning how to use it. $600 is kind of expensive, but it sounds like a great program.

for me it has been a little confusing. the layout is diff than i expected. i didnt know anyone here locally who could show me the ropes...

this is the chopped down version

www.guitarcenter.com

all you guys that are interested in ableton: download the demo from ableton.com...its fully functional...you just can't save or export, but that's enough to learn all of the features and then some...i've heard people even djing with the demo version since you really don't need to save stuff unless you really want to be ultra prepared.

download it, check it out, play around, make a mashup and then you can use audio hijack or whatever other program to export it, you just won't be able to save the project and edit it in the future. (if you ask me, that's totally legit for amateurs...the price is really geared towards pros, and ableton releases a fully functioning demo knowing this)

seriously, DL it and try it for yourselves, its pretty impressive.

which version do you have alex? and what's the difference between regular and le version? thanks.

i dunno the difference between LE and the full, i've never tried LE, and i still use ableton 5. never bothered to upgrade just cuz it has everything i need.

i gotz my A6 for free...dammm i love the air group!!!




:-P

cool. do most guys who are making those dope mash ups using ableton? i thnk i heard that spinbad is a user of ableton. his mixes are dope even though they are all pre-recorded.

lvmez: i'm surprised to how few people i know use ableton for mashups. a lot of people are using audition/cool edit pro or acid. but you can do an entire mix cd just in ableton, with all the edits you want.

Does anyone know how to have multiple tempo changes in a project?

You shouldn't spend more than $399 for a full version of Ableton Live 6. You can also get the Ableton Live 6 LE package for $149 @ Guitar Center. If you buy now, you should qualify to get the free upgrade to Ableton Live 7 when it comes out by the end of the year.

yep, just add automation to the tempo paramater.

in the arrange view, expand the master track and pick project tempo, and you'll get an automation line for it in the master track...then you can set the min bpm and max bpm for more precise control over the tempo change, and draw the automation line based on how many measures and how gradual you want the tempo change to occur.

Expand your Master track out and in the drop down box select song tempo. You can draw in your tempo changes with the envelopes as you would with voume, panninge etc.

DOH...

yeah i saw that, but i would like to know if there is a big difference in the programs. i imagine there is. where did you see ableton for $399? how long have you been using ableton for alex? did it take you long to figure it out?

Yeah for sure, I agree there are better multitrack editing programs out there, but if you are trying to quantize tracks either for remixing or making edits, nothing is as solid as Ableton.

i actually made this graphic for a friend before, just rememberd i still have it:

alexrage.com

lvmez - scour the internet for tutorials as mentioned above. I followed a few and with some help from the Ableton Forum, I was able to teach myself enough to get started. The rest with come with more experience with the product.

i just a paragraph on there website that discibed both versions and it seems to me that the regular version might for live performancees and the LE version is strictly for home use, which would be fine for me, but i want to make sure i'm not losing any functions.

sorry alex, didn't understand that graphic.

I do. It's just like assigning a Volume track, but you do it to the Master track. On your Master Track, select Song Tempo, and give it a range. Than plot your points.

Here's an example of a Spanish Rock mix I was working on.

livemag.web.aplus.net

This helps explain the difference
createdigitalmusic.com

also you might try to cop one on a student plan, I know you can save several hundred on the full version with an academic discount.

Sweet...thanks..

thanks overpour. i might just get the LE version. i just want to do remixes and mash ups. i'm not trying to be the next dr.dre, lol.

the plugin limitations and no clip envelopes really freaks me out about the LE version.

good point. i have to research what price i can get the regular version at? thanks again.

I may look into this for using instead of an MPC for playing live Funk Carioca and then also have it for remixing and producing... that's not to say I actually have the skills and experience to get any of that done, but why not dream!

Ableton is great - it comes with 2 licences too so just go in on it with a friend

hey guys, when making a mashup and using ableton in 'arrangement', im still kind of confused on how to mix an acapella and a beat together. It's easy to mix two beats together because it automatically warps it, but since theres no beat on the acapella it gets warped all weird.

Is there anyway you guys can give me suggestions to do it better? For example instead of warping, just be able to change bpms of each individual tracks manually?

Appreciate it guys, and yeah i took tutorials and read some of the manual :)

you can enter the bpm in the clip info manually...but i always use the warp markers and "beat match" the bpm by ear, and push and pull the warp markers so that it falls into beat. it takes practice, and no, ableton live will not automatically make the mashups for you. sycnhing vocals to beats is a skill and will take practice. your best bet to start out is to beatmatch the original track to your beats, and then add another audio track with the acapella and match the acapella over the original...then after some practice you'll be able to match up the acapella to the beat just by listening and realizing when the beat would hit on the acapella.

Josh I knew you'd do this after the text message u sent, haha

@alex: thanks for the response dude. i know how to beatmatch an acapella over an instrumental,

but heres what im trying to get at, for example if i put an acapella over a beat, theres over a hundred warp markers and it would be impractical to move all of them to get on beat. because sometimes, in my experience, an auto warped acapella warps weird over a beat. am i making sense??

So i guess your saying it is possible to change the bpm of each track individually? Thats what i'd like to do

ahh, ok, gotcha...with acapellas, i completely clear what auto warp did since it assumes the peaks are beats. i right click on the first marker and hit "warp straight" which will warp the whole track to one straight bpm and then I line up the downbeat, and tweak from there. multiple warp markers are really only necessary when the track drifts away from being in time. the less warp markers, the better, IMO. hope that helps.

in fact, i pretty much always clear what auto warp did, and warp the track myself going 8 measures at a time, and then refining down from there.

thats a great tip alex thanks man!!!!!!

i have Ableton 6 juss chillin on my lappie....still havent opened it

no problem...glad i could help =]

+1
i just got ableton this week an its 10x harder to use with hiphop tracks than a house track.....u can sync a 2 house tracks instantly .....but some hiphop lol, your gona have to read and put in some work till u learn it....so yea....get the demo first

oh sh*t ya'll check it out ^^^^ P-Didy is gracing us with his presence....


"Bad Boy, take that, take that, take that!"

uh oh...its pdidy. the mash up kng himself

did anyone get the LE version? it's much cheaper. just wondering if it's just better to get the full version.

Hey Jesse, of course you knew i had to do this... over on the Ableton board things are messy and as easy to find help as it is to figure it out yourself... bunch of EDM people too (freaks... ha ha j/k)

Check this crazy shit I made yesterday in a few hours, oh Ableton how I love thee.....And yes I know its sick and wrong. ;)

serialsickness.com

i like the sound about 40 seconds in where it picks up a NIN sound

i got the lite version along with the trigger-finger - it works great but i simply can't find the time to learn it properly and i don't have enough creativity to make tunes...

i do use it to correct old songs - when they didn't use computers and everything was recorded with real instruments - warping is a great function in ableton live and every now and then i just correct a song.. sometimes, all you have to do is load the track and export it - that simple...

ivmez - about the le version, you have a lot of things locked but to be very honest and if you're just learning how to use it, it's a great tool - you don't have to pay a lot of money and you get the most important thing from your program: export the stuff you do

:)

i just want to make sure that there isn't a big difference in available functions.

i find it easier to chop the vocal into multiple parts and warp them individually - easier than trying to get the whole track in sync.

right on soo

forget about the trigger-finger
this iz tha shiz!

Akia MPD24
akaipro.com
Watchwww.youtube.com
Watchwww.youtube.com
Watchwww.youtube.com

my next purchase ;)

i wasn't impressed with those vidz. same beat.

coudnt find a better vid..sorry
but just wanted to show the unit

ayo

bump

Ive used ableton a few times...I tried to make a mix tape on it but it just was too much work! Warping and beat matching all the tracks. Then having to adjust the EQ three for each transition...etc I just find it much easier to do it with my real decks and mixer..

Maybe if i got a nice midi controller it would make things easier...

I have the Akia MPD24 too and it is the shit. The pads on the trigger-finger just didn't feel right to me. But I had a MPC before so maybe it's just me.

Have it.
Love it.
Can't wait til 7 is out. 64bit and that drum rack is very exciting, it looks like a giant MPC.
Aside from some basic recording you will definitely need two computers if you want to run ableton and serato at the same time. You will get keystroke conflictions. It is to bad serato cannot be opened inside ableton as a VST.

i don't really use it much - most of the usage was when i was still doing some nights as vj and i used it with resolume

now, it's just to test beats with the sampler and that's it

Yeah...whoa!!

i love balle funk so personally think that shit's tight.

i like the faders on the mpd..the trigger-finger's seem to small and hard to work with. plus the trigger finger's look like they would break easy. the mpd24 just looks better quality.

just my thought's

I've tried to fuck with it.. but its really hard ot work with.

that would be awesome...