I've tried using Ableton Live as an effects box, with filters, delays, loops, samples...
Latency can be kept low enough, but my powerbook always crashes (kernel panic!) after a few minutes of running both apps together.
It's a G4 powerbook 1.25ghz.
I've bought a pcmcia card so now I have a second usb controller and two more ports for midi controllers - the SL1 stays alone on the built-in usb bus.
Unfortunately, it still panics :-(

Last time I tried with 1.4, I'll try again with 1.5 as soon as I can repair my laptop (broken lcd).

This sounds like it could be awesome if it's possible to run the two without crashing.

I use Ableton live and Scratch LIVE together - a very nice combination.

I use Serato 1.5 on the laptop to loop up certain breaks then record into Abelton live and then Layer from Abelton live
While controlling all of it from the MPc 4000 as the master....

And I have all of the mix out on LIVE wired into the mic input on the serato.. So I can record the mix from serato and live and instantly load the mix on my decks....

Once 1.5 fixes recording again it will be usable..

but I recommend the live remix..
Aloha

Mac or Pc?
Can you give us more details?

Sweet user name Lester, love that movie.




Your a brave man Sam. I too would like to hear more about your setup.

I have been messing with this and it's not something I would try live. Also beware, when Ableton reads your mp3's it can strip them of all the track markers and bpm info.

Ableton and Serato are workin on this, and it was discussed at length in another post.

Supposedly if you let Serato anaylize your file first and then let Ableton go it doesn't happen, but that hasn't been my experience.

I was using a PC, a 2GHz P4. It was a while ago that I last played with it.. I think probably Scratch LIVE 1.4 and Ableton live 3 (maybe Ableton 4).

ACME and Yaz, you have both tried the 1.5 public beta, right? I will start a thread in the public beta area asking for feedback on using 1.5 with Ableton, please join in and let us know if anything is not working.

cool.

linkage: www.scratchlive.net

Do you need a sound card?

Yes

Can u tell me how u did that.

I've used the built in audio interface in my powerbook (or a motu 896 in the studio) and linked that to the mixer efx send/receive loop.
Then I used a midi controller to control Live.

You could also send both outputs from the SL1 to an audio interface and mix in the box with Live and a controller.

keep latency low in Ableton Live (i.e. 64 samples)

ok thanks, going to try that!

what kind of controller do u use?

I have Behringer BCF2000 and a Novation Remote 25.
Anything with faders and knobs will do the job.

we need a way to control live's tempo with Serato...

That would be cool as long as there was no way to rig it so people could auto bpm mix with Serato.

That would be an amazing advance...like a sofware version of the peavey grabber (c-loops)

And many more possibilities!
Think of the whole daw running on the clock from one of the records...

mixer efx send/receive loop link to audio interface input
or output??

STOP it with the auto beatmatching shit accusations!!!!!

All this Ableton sync issue is to allow people to put loops over two running tracks alongside an acapella or remix tracks on the fly BUT not to mix from A into B and then back into A after B finished!

Stop this nonsense and lets have a MIDI clock to sync SSL with Ableton, it would life much easier! Well actually the best would be Ableton to include a pitch bend button but that won't happen unfortunately!

Send -> input
output -> receive

actually it would be possible to pitch bend ableton if we had an appropriate controller:

- a fader for the pitch (like the technics) which sends midi cc
- a small joystick (like pitch wheel on keyboards) which modifies the value sent by the fader, i.e. +/-6

Maybe we can already do that with some sort of midi utility ?

This sounds a bit like the option to Synchronise Live via MIDI Timecode. The manual seems to suggest that Live will act as a slave to an external MIDI Timecode signal. Not sure how you would select Serato as the Active Device tho...

You can't.

I have been researching this hard for the last few days because of the ultimate flexiblitly with ableton for going cross genre/tempo. I have found a few ways to do this automatically and a few to do it manually, but none that would work as simply as if Serato had a timecode out or Ableton had a plugin to read and convert audio output to midi clock.
There are a few pieces of hardware made by www.RedSound.com that output a midi clock signal based on bpm but they are currently out of stock with indefinate plans on another production run. The RedSound Micro Sync Beat Xtractor seems to be the best solution, but it is also the first thing I couldn find on eBay and every dj equipment related website ive come across is out of stock. When I contacted them via email they aluded to a new piece of hardware that does this and has effects and to a possible plug in version.
The only software solution Ive found is a plugin called InTime by www.Circular-logic.com . I downloaded the software last night and havent been able to get it to work yet, but it claims to do what is needed to sync.
The other way is the old fashioned way, using a controller. When assigning midi in ableton, if you look at the bottom of the screen with the parameter you want to assign highlighted, you can adjust the values and limits of the control. Meaning you can make the resolution of the midi pitch fader better and easier to control, but in doing so you lessen the amount of BPMs you can adjust. The tap tempo on ableton is good but not great so I only use it to get close and then adjust from there with the fader. I think it would be possible to assign a pitch bend to a velosity/aftertouch sensitive drum pad type controller (like the M-Audio Trigger Finger), but I havent found how to assign something to pitch bend yet. Im pretty sure its possible though, cause if you look at the new X:one 3D there is a pitch bend button.
I have had no problems running both progs on my comp (iBook G4 1.5, 1G ram). If anyone knows how to assign the pitch bend please let me know, or if you can get InTime to work right also let me know how you did it.
I also found a little midi to keystroke converter, but I dont remember where I got it, Ill post when I do.

Found the Midi to Keystroke plugin - www.dontcrack.com

It seems to me that the InTime plug-in works on midi, not on audio.

And again, we only need a way to increment the pitch for a short time and then revert to the pitch assigned to a midi fader - why none in the midi controller market has achieved that yet ?
That's simply two controllers for one cc, one is absolute, the other is relative to the first one.