1 Ableton Reference Manual Version 10 for Windows and Mac Reference Manual by Michelle Hughes, Dennis DeSantis, Ian Gallagher, Kevin Haywood, Rose Knudsen, Gerhard Behles, Jakob Rang, Robert Henke, Torsten Slama. Schönhauser Allee 6-7 | 10119 Berlin, Germany Contact Support: www.ableton.
2 Copyright 2020 Ableton AG. All rights reserved. Made in Germany. This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Ableton. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate.
3 Contents Welcome to Live 1.1 1.2 21 The Ableton Team Says: Thank You………………………………………………………………………21 What’s New in Live 10?……………………………………………………………………………………21 1.2.1 Device Additions and Improvements.........................................................................21 1.2.2 Capture MIDI............................................................................................................. 22 1.2.3 Multi-Clip Editing................................................................................
4 3.1.4 3.1.5 Can I Play my Set from a Computer That Is Not Authorized?................................ 38 What Do I Do About Problems or Questions Regarding Copy Protection?.......... 39 Live Concepts 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.
5 5.6.2 Projects and Presets.................................................................................................... 92 5.6.3 Managing Files in a Project....................................................................................... 92 5.7 Locating Missing Files…………………………………………………………………………………… 93 5.7.1 Manual Repair........................................................................................................... 93 5.7.2 Automatic Repair.......................................
6 Clip View 133 8.1 The Clip Box………………………………………………………………………………………………… 136 8.1.1 Clip Activator Switch................................................................................................ 136 8.1.2 Clip Name and Color...............................................................................................137 8.1.3 Clip Signature............................................................................................................137 8.1.4 Clip Groove Chooser.......................
7 9.3.7 REX Mode................................................................................................................. 170 Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 171 10.1 Creating an Empty MIDI Clip…………………………………………………………………………… 171 10.2 The MIDI Editor……………………………………………………………………………………………… 172 10.3 MIDI Editor Navigation and Transport……………………………………………………………… 174 10.4 Editing MIDI………………………………………………………………………………………………… 176 10.4.1 Non-Destructive Editing...............................................
8 12.3.2 12.3.3 Non-Destructive Quantization................................................................................200 Creating Texture With Randomization....................................................................200 Launching Clips 201 13.1 The Launch Box……………………………………………………………………………………………… 201 13.2 Launch Modes……………………………………………………………………………………………… 202 13.3 Clip Launch Quantization……………………………………………………………………………… 203 13.4 Velocity………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 203 13.
9 15.7 Track Delays………………………………………………………………………………………………… 244 Recording New Clips 245 16.1 Choosing an Input………………………………………………………………………………………… 245 16.2 Arming (Record-Enabling) Tracks……………………………………………………………………… 246 16.3 Recording…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 247 16.3.1 Recording Into the Arrangement............................................................................. 247 16.3.2 Recording Into Session Slots................................................................................
10 18.4.1 Auto Select................................................................................................................289 18.5 Zones…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 290 18.5.1 Signal Flow through Zones......................................................................................290 18.5.2 Key Zones................................................................................................................. 291 18.5.3 Velocity Zones.......................................
11 20.5 Unlinking Clip Envelopes From Clips………………………………………………………………… 326 20.5.1 Programming a Fade-Out for a Live Set................................................................. 326 20.5.2 Creating Long Loops from Short Loops.................................................................. 327 20.5.3 Imposing Rhythm Patterns onto Samples................................................................ 328 20.5.4 Clip Envelopes as LFOs..................................................................
12 22.14 EQ Eight……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 374 22.15 EQ Three……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 377 22.16 Erosion………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 378 22.17 External Audio Effect……………………………………………………………………………………… 379 22.18 Filter Delay……………………………………………………………………………………………………380 22.19 Flanger………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 382 22.20 Frequency Shifter……………………………………………………………………………………………383 22.20.1 Frequency Shifter Tips.........................................................
13 23.1.1 Style and Rate Sections...........................................................................................432 23.1.2 Transposition and Velocity Sections........................................................................434 23.2 Chord………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 435 23.3 Note Length…………………………………………………………………………………………………436 23.4 Pitch…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 437 23.5 Random………………………………………………………………………………………………………438 23.
14 24.6 Operator……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 474 24.6.1 General Overview................................................................................................... 474 24.6.2 Oscillator Section..................................................................................................... 476 24.6.3 LFO Section.............................................................................................................. 479 24.6.4 Envelopes..........................................
15 24.10.6 Mod Sources Tab.....................................................................................................555 24.10.7 MIDI Tab...................................................................................................................558 24.10.8 Global and Unison Controls...................................................................................559 Max for Live 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.
16 27.2.4 27.2.5 Mapping to Relative MIDI Controllers...................................................................590 Computer Keyboard Remote Control.....................................................................593 Using Push 595 28.1 Setup…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 596 28.2 Browsing and Loading Sounds………………………………………………………………………… 596 28.3 Playing and Programming Beats………………………………………………………………………598 28.3.1 Loop Selector.......................................................
17 29.3.2 16 Velocities Mode..................................................................................................652 29.3.3 64-Pad Mode..........................................................................................................653 29.3.4 Loading Individual Drums........................................................................................653 29.3.5 Step Sequencing Beats............................................................................................657 29.
18 30.3 Synchronizing via MIDI………………………………………………………………………………… 718 30.3.1 Synchronizing External MIDI Devices to Live.........................................................718 30.3.2 Synchronizing Live to External MIDI Devices.........................................................719 30.3.3 Sync Delay............................................................................................................... 720 30.4 Connecting via ReWire…………………………………………………………………………………… 720 30.4.
19 32.5 Summary and Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………… 738 MIDI Fact Sheet 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4 33.5 33.6 Ideal MIDI Behavior……………………………………………………………………………………… 739 MIDI Timing Problems…………………………………………………………………………………… 740 Live’s MIDI Solutions……………………………………………………………………………………… 740 Variables Outside of Live’s Control…………………………………………………………………… 741 Tips for Achieving Optimal MIDI Performance…………………………………………………… 744 Summary and Conclusions……………………………………………………………………………… 745 Live Keyboard Shortcuts 34.
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Welcome to Live 21 Chapter 1 Welcome to Live 1.1 The Ableton Team Says: Thank You Live is the result of musicians wanting a better way to create, produce and perform music using a computer. A great deal of effort has been put into making Live easy and fun to use, yet at the same time capable of helping you create music with unlimited depth and sophistication. This effort continues even as you read these lines...
Welcome to Live 22 •Drum Buss (page 365) is a new effect that brings analog-style character, body, and glue to drum tracks. Drum Buss combines a range of commonly used drum processing tools into a single device: •Pedal (page 407) is a new effect, inspired by three classic guitar distortion pedals. Pedal is capable of a range of distortion sounds from warm overdrive to aggressive distortion to heavy and broken fuzz tones. •Utility’s (page 422) Gain control can now be adjusted from -infinity dB to +35 dB.
Welcome to Live 23 1.2.4 Nested Group Tracks Group Tracks (page 236) can now be created or moved within other Group Tracks. There is no limit to the number of nested Group Tracks. 1.2.5 Arrangement Editing Improvements •Holding [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) while scrolling will zoom to the mouse pointer’s position. Holding [ALT] while scrolling will zoom the amplitude or pitch of the selected tracks. •All Arrangement clips within a time selection can be moved using the left and right arrow keys.
Welcome to Live 24 file will be inserted at the Insert Marker position in the Arrangement View or in the selected clip slot in the Session View. •The Lock Envelopes switch (page 315) can be MIDI or key mapped. 1.2.6 Automation Improvements •Clip fades are now always available directly on the clip if the track is tall enough. •In the Arrangement, all automation lanes are shown or hidden via the Automation Mode button or the [A] key.
Welcome to Live 25 (Mac) while scrolling will zoom to the mouse pointer’s position. •The Detail View now zooms to show the selected time within an Arrangement clip. •Pressing [Z] will zoom to the time selection in the Arrangement and Detail Views. Press [X] to zoom back out. •On U.S. keyboards, it is now possible to zoom by pressing [+] without holding [Shift]. •Audio effects can now be dragged to the Master track’s Scene Launch area.
Welcome to Live 26 •Uninstalled Packs or Packs with available updates can be installed directly from the browser. •Group Tracks (including nested Group Tracks) now appear when unfolding Sets in the browser, and can be dragged into the current Set. 1.2.10 Setup Improvements •It is now possible to provide custom names for input and output channels via the Input/ Output Config buttons in the Audio Preferences. These names then appear in all Input/ Output choosers.
Welcome to Live 27 •Added an Assign Track Color to Clips menu item to the context menu of track headers. The command applies the track color only to clips in the currently active view (Session or Arrangement). •Incorporated a new font throughout the interface. •Live’s dials and sliders now look sharp at any zoom level. •Introduced a set of five new Themes (page 32) in place of the previously available Live “Skins”. •The clip/device drop area is now always displayed in Session View to enable dragging.
Welcome to Live 28 Numerous changes for Windows 10: •Live now supports the Jump List. •When using Live 9 and 10 in parallel, they no longer ask for admin rights if you start them interchangeably. •Owners of both Live 9 and 10 can choose which version of Live to open a Live Set with, by using the [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) command on that Set and selecting “Open With”. •It is now possible to associate .als files with a specific Live version, via “Control Panel” “Apps” - “Default Apps”. 1.2.
Welcome to Live 29 •When using the Loop Selector layout in Drum Racks and Simpler’s Slicing Mode, holding Note (Push 1) or Layout (Push 2) momentarily toggles the 16 Velocities layout. •When using the 64-pad layout, holding Note (Push 1) or Layout (Push 2) momentarily shows the loop length controls in the top row of pads. •Holding Shift while pressing Note (Push 1) or holding Shift while pressing Layout (Push 2) now locks the alternate layout on.
Welcome to Live 30 •Nested chains can now be displayed, folded, and unfolded on Push 2. •On Push 2, holding a track’s selection button arms the track.
First Steps 31 Chapter 2 First Steps 2.1 Learn About Live Live comes with a set of interactive lessons to take you step by step through the key features of the program. The lessons are organized in a table of contents, which can be opened directly in the program via the Help menu. We highly recommend following the lessons. Many users have told us that the lessons helped them become familiar with the program very quickly.
First Steps 32 The Info View and its Show/Hide Button. If you require more information on a specific user interface element or topic, please consult this reference manual. The index, found at the end of the manual, contains the names of all user interface elements and will lead you to the relevant section. 2.2 Setting up Preferences Live’s Preferences window is where you can find various settings that determine how Live looks, behaves and interfaces with the outside world.
First Steps 33 the Help menu. •The Link/MIDI Preferences are used to help Live recognize external devices for three separate and distinct purposes: ―Playing MIDI notes. To learn how to route an external device into Live for MIDI input, or how to send MIDI to an external device, please see the Routing and I/O chapter (page 214). ―Controlling parts of the interface remotely. This subject is covered in detail in the MIDI and Key Remote Control chapter (page 583).
First Steps 34 Each one of the selector buttons at the screen borders calls up a specific view; clicking this one, for instance, opens and closes Live’s browser: The Browser Selector. You can run Live in Full Screen Mode by selecting the Full Screen command from the View menu. Full Screen Mode can also be toggled by pressing [F11](PC) / [CTRL][CMD][F](Mac). On Windows and versions of OS X prior to 10.
First Steps 35 Adjusting the Main Window Split.
First Steps 36
Authorizing Live 37 Chapter 3 Authorizing Live Live is protected against illegal use by a copy protection scheme. This scheme has been designed to meet the highest security standards while avoiding hassles for our customers. If you find this procedure to be an inconvenience, please understand that the copy protection secures your investment: It allows Ableton to provide you with support and to continue developing Live.
Authorizing Live 38 If trying Live or another product raises your interest in purchasing it, please visit the Ableton webshop2. This site contains information about Ableton’s distributor and dealer network. It also offers you the opportunity to buy Ableton products online. 3.1.2 What if I Change My Computer’s Components? If you change your computer components for some reason, Live may indeed ask you to authorize the software another time.
Authorizing Live 39 3.1.5 What Do I Do About Problems or Questions Regarding Copy Protection? Please visit Ableton’s technical support page.
Authorizing Live 40
Live Concepts 41 Chapter 4 Live Concepts This chapter introduces the essential concepts of Live. We advise you to read this chapter early in your Live career, as a solid understanding of the program’s basic principles will help you fully exploit Live’s potential for your music-making. 4.
Live Concepts 42 4.2 Live Sets The type of document that you create and work on in Live is called a Live Set (page 84). Live Sets reside in a Live Project — a folder that collects related materials — and can be opened either through the File menu’s Open command or via Live’s browser. A Live Set in the Browser. 4.3 Arrangement and Session The basic musical building blocks of Live are called clips. A clip is a piece of musical material: a melody, a drum pattern, a bassline or a complete song.
Live Concepts 43 two views using the computer’s [Tab] key or their respective selectors. If you’re using two windows, pressing [Tab] will swap the Session and Arrangement from one window to the other. Because the two views have distinct applications, they each hold individual collections of clips. However, it is important to understand that toggling or swapping the views simply changes the appearance of the Live Set and does not switch modes, alter what you hear or change what is stored.
Live Concepts 44 A track can only play one clip at a time. Therefore, one usually puts clips that should play alternatively in the same Session View column, and spreads out clips that should play together across tracks in rows, or what we call scenes (page 123). A Scene in the Session View. At any one time, a track can be playing either a Session clip or an Arrangement clip, but never both. So, who wins? When a Session clip is launched, the respective track stops whatever it is doing to play that clip.
Live Concepts 45 The Back to Arrangement Button in the Session View. The Back to Arrangement Button in the Arrangement View. We can click this button to make all tracks go back to playing the Arrangement. Each track in the Arrangement View also has its own Back to Arrangement button, allowing you to resume Arrangement playback of only certain tracks. A Single Track’s Back to Arrangement Button. We can also capture the current state into the Arrangement by activating the Arrangement Record button.
Live Concepts 46 4.5 Audio and MIDI Clips represent recorded signals. Live deals with two types of signals: audio and MIDI. In the digital world, an audio signal is a series of numbers that approximates a continuous signal as generated by a microphone or delivered to a loudspeaker. A MIDI signal is a sequence of commands, such as “now play a C4 at mezzo piano.“ MIDI is a symbolic representation of musical material, one that is closer to a written score than to an audio recording.
Live Concepts 47 Samples Are Dragged in from Live’s Browser. Live offers many options for playing samples in exciting new ways, allowing you to create an abundance of new sounds without actually changing the original sample — all the changes are computed in real time, while the sample is played. The respective settings are made in the Clip View (page 133), which appears on screen when a clip is double-clicked. An Audio Clip’s Properties as Displayed in the Clip View.
Live Concepts 48 performance. It is also possible to radically change the sonic signature of a sound using extreme warp settings. 4.7 MIDI Clips and MIDI Files A MIDI clip contains musical material in the form of MIDI notes and controller envelopes. When MIDI is imported from a MIDI file (page 82), the data gets incorporated into the Live Set, and the original file is not referenced thereafter. In Live’s browser, a MIDI file appears with a special icon, and with the .mid file extension.
Live Concepts 49 The Device View Displaying a MIDI Track’s Device Chain. Live’s built-in audio effects (page 339), MIDI effects (page 431) and instruments (page 443) are available from the browser and can be added to tracks by dragging them from there into the Device View, or into a Session or Arrangement track. Live’s Built-in Devices Are Available from the Browser. You can also use plug-in devices (page 270) in Live.
Live Concepts 50 Plug-In Devices Are Available from the Browser’s Plug-Ins Label. Consider an audio clip playing in an audio track. The audio signal from the clip reaches the leftmost device in the chain. This device processes (changes) the signal and feeds the result into the next device, and so on. The number of devices per track is theoretically unlimited.
Live Concepts 51 The mixer also includes a crossfader (page 239), which can create smooth transitions between clips playing on different tracks. Live’s crossfader works like a typical DJ mixer crossfader, except that it allows crossfading not only two but any number of tracks — including the returns. Live’s Crossfader. Devices that receive and deliver audio signals are called audio effects. Audio effects are the only type of device that fit in an audio track or a return track.
Live Concepts 52 The Mixer for a MIDI Track without an Instrument. 4.9 Presets and Racks Every Live device can store and retrieve particular sets of parameter values as presets (page 264). As presets are stored independently from Live Sets, new presets become part of your user library that any project can draw from. Live’s Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks (page 283) allow saving combinations of devices and their settings as a single preset.
Live Concepts 53 Track Routing Is Set up Using the In/Out Section in the Arrangement (Left) or Session View (Right). Signals from the tracks can be sent to the outside world via the computer’s audio and MIDI interfaces, to other programs that are connected to Live via ReWire (page 720) or to other tracks or devices within Live. Tracks can also be combined into a Group Track (page 236) which serves as a submixer for the selected tracks.
Live Concepts 54 Track Arm Buttons, as They Appear in the Session View. It is also possible to record into Session View slots on the fly (page 248). This technique is very useful for the jamming musician, as Session recording does not require stopping the music. Clicking the Session Record button records a new clip in the selected Session scene in all armed tracks. The Control Bar’s Session Record Button. Clicking the Session Record button again defines the end of the recording and launches the new clips.
Live Concepts 55 clip is called automation (page 303); a control whose value changes over time is automated. Automation is represented by breakpoint envelopes, which can be drawn, edited and recorded in real-time. The Automated Pan Control and its Envelope. Practically all mixer and effect controls in Live can be automated, even the song tempo.
Live Concepts 56 An Envelope for Clip Transposition. 4.14 MIDI and Key Remote To liberate the musician from the mouse, most of Live’s controls can be “remote-controlled“ via an external MIDI controller. Remote mappings are established in MIDI Map Mode (page 588), which is engaged by pressing the MIDI switch in the Control Bar.
Live Concepts 57 4.15 Saving and Exporting Saving a Live Set saves everything it contains, including all clips, their positions and settings, and settings for devices and controls. An audio clip can, however, lose the reference to its corresponding sample if it is moved or deleted from disk. The links between samples and their clips can be preserved with a special command, Collect and Save (page 95), which makes a copy of each sample and stores it in a project folder along with the Live Set.
Live Concepts 58 •MIDI sequences with matching instruments and effects, e.g., a MIDI drum pattern with the associated Impulse and effects settings; •Different regions or loops (page 140) referencing the same source file; •Variations of a sample loop created by applying Warp Markers (page 157), clip envelopes (page 317) and effects (page 259); •Ideas that may not fit your current project but could be useful in the future.
Managing Files and Sets 59 Chapter 5 Managing Files and Sets Various types of files are used in making music with Live, from those containing MIDI (page 82) and audio (page 72), to more program-specific files such as Live Clips (page 82) and Live Sets (page 84). This chapter will explain everything you need to know about working with each of these file types in Live. However, we should first take a look at Live’s browser, through which most files arrive in the program. 5.
Managing Files and Sets 60 The Browser. The browser display is divided into left and right sections, called the sidebar and the content pane respectively. To resize the sections, drag the divider line horizontally. 5.1.1 Understanding the Browser’s Hierarchy Working in the browser involves choosing one of the labels from the Collections, Categories or Places sections in the sidebar, and then selecting from the items that appear in the content pane.
Managing Files and Sets 61 You can assign Collections labels via a selected item’s [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu, or by using the number key shortcuts [1] through to [7]. Use [0] to reset color assignments. Note that Collections labels can also be assigned to multiple browser items within a selection. Additionally, it is possible to assign a color label to different item “types”. For example, you can assign the same color label to a drum sound, a MIDI effect, and a plug-in.
Managing Files and Sets 62 To exit Edit Mode, press the “Done” button. The Done Button in the Browser. Note that when a hidden unassigned color becomes assigned to a browser item, the Collections label for that color will be shown in the sidebar automatically. However, visible color labels are not automatically hidden if all their assignments are removed. Browser Items and Their Assigned Colors in the Content Pane. In the content pane, square icons indicate the respective color(s) assigned to each item.
Managing Files and Sets 63 •Sounds — all of your Instrument Racks (page 283) and instrument presets, organized by the type of sound they make (rather than by their devices.) •Drums — all of your drum presets. This includes full drum kits, which are available as Drum Racks, as well as single drum hits, which are delivered as Instrument Racks. •Instruments — all of your Instrument Racks, as well as “raw” Live instruments and their presets, organized by device (rather than by the type of sound.
Managing Files and Sets 64 Installing Packs in the Browser (page 64) for more information. •User Library — the User Library is the default location for items you save yourself, including default presets, grooves, your personalized Racks and device presets, your own samples, Live Clips, etc. Files that you save to your User Library will also be available in the appropriate Categories labels. •Current Project — all of the files that are contained in the currently active Project (page 89).
Managing Files and Sets 65 Available Updates for Installed Packs Appear in the Browser. You can also view Packs that you own, but have not installed. These uninstalled Packs appear in the Available Packs section within the Packs label. Downloadable Packs Appear in the Browser. You can download any of these Updates or Available Packs by pressing the download icon next to it. Press the Download Icon to Download a Pack.
Managing Files and Sets 66 Press the Pause Icon to Pause a Pack Download. The Download Progress Is Indicated in Yellow. Should you need to, you can pause downloads and resume them at a later point. To pause a download, press the pause icon. When a download is paused, the paused icon changes back to a download icon. To resume a paused download, press the download icon again. (Note: you can download multiple selected Packs at the same time. You can also pause and resume downloading multiple selected Packs.
Managing Files and Sets 67 Show or Hide the Size of Packs in the Browser. You can delete an installed Pack via its [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu. Note that deleted Packs will appear in your list of Available Packs. It is possible to configure Live’s Preferences to show or hide Updates and Available Packs in the browser. To do this, press the Show Downloadable Packs toggle in the Library Preferences. Show or Hide Downloadable Packs in the Browser. 5.1.
Managing Files and Sets 68 Note: adding a user folder does not actually move the folder to a new location, but simply makes it available in Live’s browser. If you reorganize your drives using Explorer (Windows)/ Finder (Mac), Live may not be able to find user folders if they’ve been moved. For example, if a user folder is contained on an external hard drive, and Live is opened without the drive attached, the user folder will still appear in the browser but will be grayed out.
Managing Files and Sets 69 Previewing Files Live allows you to preview samples, clips, and instrument presets in the browser before they are imported into the program. To enable previewing, activate the Preview switch next to the Preview Tab at the bottom of the browser. The Preview Switch. Hint: You can preview files even when the Preview switch is not activated by pressing [Shift][Enter] or the right arrow key. Click on a file (or use the up and down arrow keys) to select it.
Managing Files and Sets 70 judge which samples will work for you. Please note that scrubbing is not possible when Raw is enabled. The previewing volume can be adjusted using the mixer’s Preview Volume knob. The Preview Volume Knob. If your audio hardware offers multiple audio outs, you can privately audition, or cue, files via headphones connected to a separate pair of outs — while the music continues to play.
Managing Files and Sets 71 •In the Session View, double-clicking or pressing [Enter] on a file in the browser will automatically create a new track to the right of the other tracks and load it with the clip. •Files can be dropped directly into Live from the Explorer (Windows)/Finder (Mac). Hot-Swap Mode In addition to the drag-and-drop method of loading files from the browser, Live offers a HotSwap Mode to reduce your mouse travel.
Managing Files and Sets 72 While in Hot-Swap Mode, pressing the up or down arrow key moves to the next file in the content pane, and pressing [Enter] or double-clicking the file loads it into the Impulse slot (presumably while Impulse is playing incoming MIDI notes). The link between the browser and the instrument will be broken if a different view is selected, or if the [Q] key or the Hot-Swap button is pressed again.
Managing Files and Sets 73 5.2.1 The Decoding Cache To save computational resources, Live keeps the decoded sample files of compressed samples in the cache. Maintenance of the cache is normally not required, as Live automatically deletes older files to make room for those that are new. You can, however, impose limits on the cache size using the File/Folder Preferences’ Decoding Cache section.
Managing Files and Sets 74 Clicking the Clip View’s Save button (page 147) will store the current clip’s settings with the sample’s analysis file. The next time the sample is dragged into Live, it will appear with all its clip settings intact. This is particularly useful for retaining Warp Marker settings with the sample. Storing default clip settings with the analysis file is different from saving the clip as a Live Clip.
Managing Files and Sets 75 Selection Options The Render Dialog’s Selection Options. The Export dialog’s Rendered Track chooser offers several options for which audio signal to render: The Rendered Track Chooser. •Master — the post-fader signal at Live’s Master output. If you are monitoring the Master output, you can be sure that the rendered file will contain exactly what you hear.
Managing Files and Sets 76 tracks that were selected prior to opening the Export dialog. •(single tracks) — the post-fader signal at the output of the selected track. The other Selection fields determine the start time and length of the exported material: •Render Start — sets the position at which rendering will begin. •Render Length — determines the length of the rendered sample.
Managing Files and Sets 77 Rendering Options Audio Rendering Options. The Export dialog offers several audio rendering options: •Include Return and Master Effects – If this is activated, Live will individually render each selected track with any return tracks used by that track, as well as effects used in the Master track. This is especially useful when rendering material for a live performance, or when providing stems to a mixing engineer or remix artist.
Managing Files and Sets 78 •Normalize — If this is activated, the sample resulting from the render process will be normalized (i.e., the file will be amplified so that the highest peak attains the maximum available headroom). •Create Analysis File — If this is activated, Live will create an .asd file that contains analysis information about the rendered sample. If you intend to use the new sample in Live, check this option.
Managing Files and Sets 79 •Bit Depth, Dither Options — If you are rendering at a bit depth lower than 32-bit, choose one of the dither modes. Dithering adds a small amount of noise to rendered audio, but minimizes artifacts when reducing the bit depth. By default, Triangular is selected, which is the “safest“ mode to use if there is any possibility of doing additional processing on your file.
Managing Files and Sets 80 rendering will always produce a video in addition to rendered audio. •Video Encoder — This chooser allows you to select the encoder to use for the video rendering. The choices you have here depend on the encoders you have installed. •Video Encoder Settings — This button opens the settings window for the selected encoder. Note that the settings options will vary depending on the encoder you have chosen. Certain encoders have no user-configurable options.
Managing Files and Sets 81 Waiting for External Devices to Become Silent. •Skip — By default, Live will wait for ten seconds before starting a real-time render. This should allow any sound from external devices to fade out, but if you need more time (for example, if you’re waiting for a long reverb tail), you can increase the wait time by typing a new number in the number box.
Managing Files and Sets 82 5.3 MIDI Files A MIDI file contains commands that prompt MIDI compatible synthesizers or instruments, such as Live’s Simpler, to create specific musical output. MIDI files are exported by hardware and software MIDI sequencers. Importing MIDI files into Live works differently than with samples: MIDI file data is incorporated into the Live Set, and the resulting MIDI clips lose all reference to the original file. MIDI files appear with a special icon in the browser.
Managing Files and Sets 83 audio data itself), so they are very small, which makes it easy to develop and maintain your own collection. To save a clip from the open Live Set to disk, simply drag it to the Places section of the browser and drop it into the Current Project or any user folder. For audio clips, Live will manage the copying of the clip’s sample into this new location based on the selection in the Collect Files on Export chooser (page 96).
Managing Files and Sets 84 5.5 Live Sets The type of document that you create and work on in Live is called a Live Set. Think of this as a single “song.“ Sets must be saved inside projects, so that Live can keep track of and manage all of the various components of the Live Set: Live Clips, device presets, any samples used, etc. 5.5.
Managing Files and Sets 85 Arrangement View Drop Area for Importing Live Sets. If you prefer to import individual tracks from a Set, you can unfold the Live Set in the browser just as if it were a folder. Unfolding a Set to Reveal its Contents. You can now drag the individual tracks and drop them as described at the beginning of this section. Any grooves (page 195) that were saved with your Set are also available as a folder within the unfolded Set.
Managing Files and Sets 86 Revealing the Session View Clips Contained in a Set. You can browse, preview and import Session View clips from the Set as if they had been stored as individual Live Clips. This means that any Live Set can serve as a pool of sounds for any other, suggesting creative reuse and crossover. 5.5.3 Exporting Session Clips as New Sets You can export a selection of Session View clips as a new Live Set by dragging them to the browser.
Managing Files and Sets 87 To delete your custom template Set, press the Clear button in the File/Folder Preferences. This will restore the built-in factory template. You can also temporarily load the built-in factory template by holding [Shift] while selecting New Live Set from the File menu. In addition to this “master” default template, you can create additional template Sets for different types of projects, each with their own unique configuration of tracks, devices, etc.
Managing Files and Sets 88 Every Entry in the File Reference List is a Drop Target for Files. •Hot-swap files — Using the Hot-Swap button at the left-hand side of each entry, you can quickly browse through alternatives for the file that is currently being referenced. This is like dragging files here, only quicker. The File Reference List’s Hot-Swap Button. •Edit a referenced sample — using an external application (which can be chosen in the Preferences’ File/Folder tab).
Managing Files and Sets 89 The File Reference List’s Location Column. 5.6 Live Projects A Live Project is a folder containing Live-related files that belong together. Consider, for example, work on a piece of music: You start out with an empty Live Set; you record audio and thereby create new sample files; you drag in samples from collections; you save different versions of the Live Set along the way so that you can go back and compare.
Managing Files and Sets 90 A Live Set and its Recordings in a Live Project Folder. The project folder (“Tango Project“) contains the Live Set (“Tango.als“) and a Samples folder, which in turn contains a Recorded folder with two samples in it. Note that the current Project is also indicated in the title bar of Live’s application window. Next, we record another track into our Project. We save the modified version of the Live Set under a new name so that we do not lose the previous version.
Managing Files and Sets 91 it outside the Tango Project folder, say on the Desktop. Live creates a new project folder named Samba Project next to Tango Project. A New Project Was Added Next to Tango Project. So far we have seen how to create Live Projects and save versions of Live Sets into them. How do we open a Project? Simply by opening any of its contained Live Sets. Double-clicking “Tango with Piano.als“ opens that Set and the associated Project — as displayed in Live’s title bar.
Managing Files and Sets 92 Note that the new project folder has no Samples folder (yet). “Electro with Piano.als“ is still referencing the piano sample from the original Tango Project. There is nothing wrong with this except for when the Tango Project is moved away or deleted; then “Tango with Piano.als“ will be missing samples. You can prevent this by collecting external files (page 95). Even after the fact, Live’s tools for searching missing files (page 93) can help solve this problem.
Managing Files and Sets 93 •locating files that the Project is missing; •collecting external files into the Project (page 95); •listing unused files in the Project (page 97); •packing a Project in Pack format (page 98); 5.7 Locating Missing Files If you load a Live Set, Live Clip or preset that references files which are missing from their referenced locations, Live’s Status Bar (located at the bottom of the main screen) will display a warning message.
Managing Files and Sets 94 5.7.2 Automatic Repair Live offers a convenient automatic search function for repairing file references. To send Live on a search, click the Automatic Search section’s Go button. To reveal detailed options for guiding the automatic search function, click the neighboring triangular-shaped button. Automatic Repair Options in the File Manager. •Search Folder — includes a user-defined folder, as well as any sub-folders, in the search.
Managing Files and Sets 95 to load them, as the music plays if you like. 5.8 Collecting External Files To prevent a Live Set from containing broken file references, Live provides the option of collecting (i.e., copying) them into the Set’s project folder. This is accomplished via the File Manager: •Choose the Manage Files command from the File menu •Click the Manage Set button •Unfold the triangular-shaped fold button in the External Files section. Options for Collecting External Files.
Managing Files and Sets 96 Separated by location (other Projects, the User Library, installed by factory Packs, and elsewhere — sample collections from external drives, for example), the File Manager provides: •A file count and the associated disk space used; •A Show button that will list the files in the browser; •A Yes/No toggle for engaging or disengaging collection.
Managing Files and Sets 97 •Never means that files will not be copied when saving. 5.9 Aggregated Locating and Collecting Instead of having to deal with problems while you are in a creative mode, you might prefer putting aside some dedicated housekeeping time to solve all the problems in one go.
Managing Files and Sets 98 makes the browser list the unused files; there, you can preview samples (page 69) and delete them if you like. Note you can also find the unused files from the Library: choose the Manage Files command from the File menu, then click the Manage Library button, and then see the Unused Files section.
Managing Files and Sets 99 5.12.2 How Can I Save Presets Into My Current Project? You can save presets directly to the current project by dragging from the device’s title bar and dropping into the Current Project label in the browser. You can then use the File Management tools, collect any referenced samples, etc. 5.12.3 Can I Work On Multiple Versions of a Set? If you’d like to work on different versions of the same Live Set, save them into the same Project.
Managing Files and Sets 100 Then enable the Search Project and Fully Rescan Folders options. Finally, click Go to initiate the search. 5. When searching is complete, click Collect and Save at the bottom of the File Manager to update the Project.
Arrangement View 101 Chapter 6 Arrangement View The Arrangement View displays the Arrangement, which contains music laid out along a song timeline, like a multitrack tape. A Piece of Music in the Arrangement View. The Arrangement View is a powerful editing tool that easily lets you combine and arrange MIDI, loops, sound effects, video and complete pieces of music. 6.
Arrangement View 102 9 1 2-3 6 7 8 4 5 Navigating the Arrangement View. 1. To smoothly change the zoom level, click and drag vertically in the beat-time ruler at the top of the Arrangement View (you can also drag horizontally to scroll the display). The Arrangement View can also be zoomed using a pinch gesture on a supported trackpad or touch screen. 2.
Arrangement View 103 6. The Arrangement Overview is like a “bird’s-eye view“ of your music. It always shows the complete piece, from start to end. The black rectangular outline represents the part of the Arrangement that is currently displayed in the Arrangement display below. To scroll the display, click within the outline and drag left or right; to zoom out and in, drag up and down. You can also resize the Arrangement Overview vertically by dragging up and down. 7.
Arrangement View 104 Arrangement Playback Begins from the Insert Marker. To continue playback from the position where it last stopped, rather than from the insert marker, hold down the [Shift] modifier while pressing the space bar. 3. When Permanent Scrub Areas is enabled in Live’s Look/Feel Preferences, clicking in the scrub area above the tracks will make playback jump to that point. The size of these jumps is quantized according to the Control Bar’s Quantization menu setting.
Arrangement View 105 The Arrangement Position fields show the song position in bars-beats-sixteenths. To change the values: •Click and drag up or down in any of these fields. •Click and type a number, then hit [Enter]. •Click and decrement or increment the value with the up and down arrow keys . 5. Arrangement playback can be started at a particular point in one of your clips using the scrub area in the Clip View (page 133). 6.
Arrangement View 106 The Locator Controls. You can recall (jump to) locators by clicking on them, or with the Previous and Next Locator buttons below the Set button. Locators can also be recalled using MIDI/key mapping (page 583). Note that locator recall is subject to quantization. Double-clicking a locator will select it and start Arrangement playback from that point.
Arrangement View 107 6.4 Time Signature Changes Time Signature Changes. Live’s time signature can be changed at any point in the Arrangement by using time signature markers. These can be added at the insert marker position via the Create menu, or anywhere below the beat-time ruler using the [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu.
Arrangement View 108 The Time Signature Editor Can Change Time Signature Marker Values, and Shows an Automation LED. Time signature markers are not quantized; they may be placed anywhere in the timeline, and their positioning is only constrained by the editing grid (page 115). This means that it is possible to place meter changes in “impossible“ places — such as before the end of the previous measure. This creates a fragmentary bar, which is represented in the scrub area by a crosshatched region.
Arrangement View 109 6.5 The Arrangement Loop The Control Bar’s Loop Switch. For Live to repeatedly play a section of the Arrangement, activate the Arrangement loop by clicking on the Control Bar’s Loop switch. The Loop Start Fields (Left) and the Loop Length Fields (Right). You can set loop length numerically using the Control Bar fields: The left-hand set of fields determines the loop start position, while the right-hand set determines loop length.
Arrangement View 110 • the right and left arrow keys nudge the loop brace to the left/right by the current grid setting (page 115). • the up and down arrow keys shift the loop brace left/right in steps the size of its length. •The [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) modifier used with the arrow left and right keys shortens or lengthens the loop by the current grid setting. •The [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) modifier with the arrow up and down keys doubles or halves the loop length.
Arrangement View 111 Changing a Clip’s Length. Dragging a clip’s left or right edge changes the clip’s length. Clips snap to the editing grid, as well as various objects in the Arrangement including the edges of other clips, locators and time signature changes. To slide the contents of a clip within the clip’s boundaries, hold [CTRL][Shift](PC) / [ALT][Shift] (Mac) while dragging the clip’s waveform or MIDI display.
Arrangement View 112 Fades in the Arrangement View. You can also set the length of a fade by selecting a range of time within the clip (page 113) that includes the clip’s beginning or end and executing the Create Fade In/Out command in the Create menu. Adjacent audio clips can be crossfaded.
Arrangement View 113 Automatically Create Short Fades At Clip Edges. Another result of enabling the Create Fades on Clip Edges option is that adjacent audio clips will get automatic 4 ms crossfades. These can then be edited just like manually-created crossfades. There are some limits to the length of fades and crossfades: •Fades cannot cross a clip’s loop boundaries. •A clip’s start and end fades cannot overlap each other.
Arrangement View 114 •Clicking a clip selects the clip. •Clicking into the Arrangement background selects a point in time, represented by a flashing insert marker. The insert marker can then be moved in time with the left and right arrow keys, or between tracks via the up and down arrow keys. Holding [CTRL](PC) / [ALT](Mac) while pressing the left and right arrow keys snaps the insert marker to locators and the edges of clips in the selected track or tracks. •Clicking and dragging selects a timespan.
Arrangement View 115 Clicking the Loop Brace to Select the Loop for Editing. •Holding [Shift] while clicking extends an existing selection in the same track or across tracks. You can also hold [Shift] and use the arrow keys to manipulate the selection. •Pressing the [0] key deactivates a selection of material, even if it contains multiple clips. Note that pressing the [0] key while a track header is selected will deactivate that track.
Arrangement View 116 The following shortcuts to Options menu commands allow quickly working with the grid: •Use [CTRL][1](PC) / [CMD][1](Mac) to narrow the grid, doubling the density of the grid lines (e.g., from eighth notes to sixteenth notes). •Use [CTRL][2](PC) / [CMD][2](Mac) to widen the grid, halving the density of the grid lines (e.g., from eighth notes to quarter notes).
Arrangement View 117 A Gap Between Clips Has Been Cut by First Selecting It (Left), Then Executing the Cut Time Command (Right). •Paste Time places copied time into the Arrangement, thereby increasing its overall duration by the length of time you have copied. •Duplicate Time places a copy of the selected timespan into the Arrangement, thereby increasing its overall duration by the length of the selection.
Arrangement View 118 1. Unfold the track; 2. In the waveform or MIDI display, drag a selection over the part of the clip you want to isolate; 3. Execute the Split command to divide the original clip into three pieces. The Result of Splitting a Clip.
Arrangement View 119 6.12 Consolidating Clips The Consolidate command replaces the material in the Arrangement View selection with one new clip per track. This is very useful for creating structure. Consolidating Several Clips Into a New Clip. Suppose you have, by editing or improvising, come up with a layout of clips that sound good in Arrangement Loop mode.
Arrangement View 120 The new samples can be found in the current Set’s Project folder, under Samples/Processed/ Consolidate. Until the Set is saved, they remain at the location specified by the Temporary Folder (page 255).
Session View 121 Chapter 7 Session View In Live’s Arrangement View (page 101), as in all traditional sequencing programs, everything happens along a fixed song timeline. For a number of applications, this is a limiting paradigm: •When playing live, or when DJing, the order of pieces, the length of each piece and the order of parts within each piece is generally not known in advance. •In the theatre, sound has to react to what happens on stage.
Session View 122 1. Each clip in the Session View has a triangular button at the left edge. Click the button with the mouse to “launch“ clip playback at any time, or pre-select a clip by clicking on its name, and launch it using the computer’s [Enter] key. You can then move on to the neighboring clips using the arrow keys. Please refer the manual section on clip launch settings (page 201) for details on how to customize this behavior. 2.
Session View 123 Group Slots and Group Launch Buttons. 7.2 Tracks and Scenes Each vertical column, or track, can play only one clip at a time. It therefore makes sense to put a set of clips that are supposed to be played alternatively in the same columns: parts of a song, variations of a drum loop, etc. Resized Session View Tracks. For convenient access to more clips at once, you can resize Session View tracks by clicking and dragging at the edges of their title bars.
Session View 124 A Scene in the Session View. Note that pressing the [0] key while a Session View track header is selected will deactivate that track. The horizontal rows are called scenes. The Scene Launch buttons are located in the rightmost column, which represents the Master track (page 238). To launch every clip in a row simultaneously, click on the associated Scene Launch button. This can be very useful in organizing the live performance of a song with multiple parts.
Session View 125 with a meter in the form of “x/y“ (e.g., “4/4“). Any time signature can be used, provided it has a numerator between 1 and 99 and a denominator with a beat value of 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16. Tempo and time signature changes can coexist within a single scene name, and can appear in any position as long as they are separated from each other by at least one character.
Session View 126 ... A One-shot Session Clip... The progress-bar icon represents a one-shot (non-looping) Session clip. The value displays the remaining play time in minutes:seconds. ... Monitoring the Input... A microphone icon appears in an audio track that is set to monitor its input (page 212). A keyboard icon appears in a MIDI track under these same circumstances. ... Playing the Arrangement.
Session View 127 Dropping Multiple Clips Into the Session View. If you are dragging multiple clips into your Set, Live defaults to arranging them in one track; vertically in the Session View or horizontally in the Arrangement View. Hold down [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) prior to dropping them so as to lay the clips out in multiple tracks instead. Note: this works for raw audio or MIDI files but not for Live Clips (page 82) (because they can contain their own embedded devices).
Session View 128 7.4.2 Removing Clip Stop Buttons Slots Without Clip Stop Buttons. You can add and remove Clip Stop buttons from the grid using the Edit menu’s Add/Remove Stop Button command. This is useful for pre-configuring the scene launch behavior: If, for instance, you don’t want scene 3 to affect track 4, remove the scene 3/track 4 Stop button. 7.4.
Session View 129 The Control Bar’s Arrangement Record Button. When the Arrangement Record button is on, Live logs all of your actions into the Arrangement: •the clips launched; •changes of those clips’ properties (page 133); •changes of the mixer and the devices’ controls, also known as automation (page 303); •tempos and time signature changes, if they are included in the names of launched scenes. To finish recording, press the Arrangement Record button again, or stop playback. The Arrangement Selector.
Session View 130 The Back to Arrangement Button in the Session View. The Back to Arrangement Button in the Arrangement View. To disable all Arrangement clips simultaneously, click on the Stop All Clips button in the Master Track Status field. The clips in the Arrangement and in the Session View exist independently from one another, which makes it easy to improvise into the Arrangement over and over again until it’s right. The Stop All Clips Button.
Session View 131 selectors, or by simply dragging clips between the two windows if you’ve enabled the Second Window option via [CTRL][Shift][W](PC) / [CMD][Shift][W](Mac) or in the View menu. When pasting material from the Arrangement into the Session View, Live attempts to preserve the temporal structure of the clips by laying them out in a matching top-to-bottom order. Moving through the scenes from the top down, you can reconstruct the original arrangement.
Session View 132
Clip View 133 Chapter 8 Clip View The Clip View is where clip properties can be set and adjusted. The Clip View. Clicking on the Clip Overview or double-clicking a clip in the Session or Arrangement View opens the Clip View. If you’re using dual monitors, the Clip View will open in the same window you just clicked. To switch the Clip View to the other window, press [Shift][Tab]. (Tip: singleclicking a clip will show that clip in the Clip View, but will not move the Clip View from its current window.
Clip View 134 Clicking a Session View Track Status Field Opens the Clip View. The properties of more than one clip can be edited collectively in the Clip View as a multi-selection. To create a multi-selection, click and drag from an empty clip slot to highlight the clips, or select one clip and use the [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) or [Shift] modifiers to add to your selection.
Clip View 135 •The Launch box controls clip launch behavior and, as such, only appears for Session View clips. Setting Session View clip launch properties is covered in detail in a separate manual chapter (page 201). Audio clips have these additional Clip View controls: •The Sample Display toggles with the Envelope Editor on the right-hand side of the Clip View, and controls Live’s sample-warping capabilities and clip playback settings (page 140).
Clip View 136 between the Sample Display/MIDI Editor and the Envelope Editor by clicking in the title bars of the Sample/Notes box and the Envelopes box, respectively. The Clip View Box Selector Shows and Hides Various Clip View Components. 8.1 The Clip Box The Clip Box. 8.1.1 Clip Activator Switch Using this switch, you can deactivate a clip so that it does not play when launched in the Session View or during Arrangement playback.
Clip View 137 8.1.2 Clip Name and Color The Clip Name field allows naming the clip. By default, a clip’s name matches the name of the file it references but, in general, the clip name is independent from the file name. You can also rename a clip by selecting it in the Session grid or Arrangement View and using the Rename command in the Edit menu or the clip’s [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu.
Clip View 138 The Clip Groove Chooser. The “Open Groove Pool“ entry in this chooser can be used to open the Groove Pool if it is closed. If you want to quickly try out a variety of grooves, you can enable the Hot-Swap button above the chooser and then step through the grooves in the browser while the clip plays. The Commit button under the chooser “writes“ the current groove settings to the clip and disables the assigned groove.
Clip View 139 These buttons can also be mapped to keys or MIDI controllers (page 583). In MIDI Map Mode, a scrub control will appear between the Nudge Backward/Forward buttons and can be assigned to a rotary encoder wheel for continuous scrubbing. The Scrub Control in MIDI Map Mode. With quantization set to values less than one bar, it is easy to offset clip playback from Live’s master clock by launching clips, using the Nudge Backward/Forward buttons or scrubbing within the clip (page 142). 8.
Clip View 140 When the Warp switch is off, Live plays the sample at its original, “normal“ tempo, irrespective of the current Live Set tempo. This is useful for samples that have no inherent rhythmic structure: percussion hits, atmospheres, sound effects, spoken word and the like. Turn the Warp switch on to play rhythmically structured samples (such as sample loops, music recordings, complete music pieces, etc.) in sync with the current song tempo. The Control Bar’s Tempo Field.
Clip View 141 Zooming and scrolling in the Sample Display work much like they do in the Arrangement View (page 101). When Warp is disabled, zooming and scrolling can be done anywhere in the upper half of the Sample Display. When Warp is enabled, however, scrolling only happens in the beat-time ruler. Click and drag vertically in these areas to smoothly change the zoom level, and horizontally to scroll the display.
Clip View 142 Playing and Scrubbing Clips The section of the sample that plays when a clip is launched is set with the clip’s region and loop controls (page 143). An unlooped clip will play from its start marker to its end marker or until it is stopped. The Clip Start and End Markers. These markers can be clicked and dragged to new positions in the Sample Display, or they can be moved with the left and right arrow keys. To move the entire clip region (i.e.
Clip View 143 buttons here to place the markers during playback. Setting markers this way is quantized according to global quantization. When Permanent Scrub Areas is enabled in Live’s Look/Feel Preferences, clicking in the lower half of the waveform or in the beat-time ruler will make clip playback jump to that point. The Clip Scrub Area.
Clip View 144 The Clip Loop Controls. The loop brace can be selected with the mouse and its position changed with commands from the computer keyboard: •the left and right arrow keys nudge the loop brace to the left/right by the current grid setting (page 115). •the up and down arrow keys shift the loop brace left/right in steps the size of its length. •[CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) plus the left or right arrow shortens or lengthens the loop brace by the current grid setting.
Clip View 145 Setting the Clip to Run Into a Loop. The Loop Length and Position fields are equipped with Set buttons, which can be used to create loops spontaneously during playback: Playing the clip and then clicking the Set Loop Position button moves the beginning of loop to the current playback position (rounded to the global quantization setting) and engages the loop. Then, clicking the Set Loop Length button moves the end of the loop to the current playback position.
Clip View 146 8.2.3 Clip Pitch and Gain The Clip Pitch and Gain Controls. The Transpose control shifts the clip pitch in semitones. The Detune field fine-tunes the clip in cents (100 cents = one semitone). The Clip Gain slider, calibrated in dB, changes the clip gain. 8.2.4 Destructive Sample Editing The Launch Sample Editor Button. The Edit button opens the sample in an external sample editing application, which you can specify in the File/Folder Preferences.
Clip View 147 8.2.5 Saving Default Clip Settings with the Sample The Save Default Clip Button. The Save Default Clip button saves the current clip’s settings with the sample. With multiple clips selected, this button will save them all simultaneously. Once saved, Live will restore the current clip settings whenever you drop the sample into a Live Set. This is especially useful with regards to the Warp Markers, which have to be set correctly for Live to play long files in sync.
Clip View 148 made in older versions that used Hi-Q mode may now sound different. For this reason, we have provided a Legacy Hi-Q Mode option, which is enabled by default in the Options menu whenever you load an old Set that has Hi-Q enabled for any clips. Simply disable this option if you wish to use the new mode. 8.2.7 Clip Start and End Fades The Clip Fade Switch. The Clip Fade switch, when enabled, applies a short fade to the clip start and end to avoid clicks at the clip edges.
Clip View 149 8.2.8 Clip RAM Mode The RAM Mode Switch. If the RAM Mode switch is on, Live is loading the audio referenced by the clip into the computer’s memory rather than reading it from disk in real time. RAM Mode can help with these problems: •Your computer’s hard disk is too slow to deliver audio for as many tracks as desired in real time. For more information on disk-related problems, please refer to Managing the Disk Load (page 727).
Clip View 150 after saving the Live Set, in the Set’s Project folder, under Samples/Processed/Reverse. Until the Set is saved, new samples remain at the location specified by the Temporary Folder. There are a few rules for the reversing process. First, any Warp Markers will remain fixed to their positions in the sample. This means that a Warp Marker on the downbeat of the second bar of a clip will end up on the downbeat of the second-to-last bar after reversal.
Clip View 151 Warp Markers will be retained only if the new sample has the exact same length as the old sample. The Sample Display’s [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu includes the Manage Sample File command. This opens the File Manager for the current Set with the sample referenced by the clip selected. From there, you can replace and destructively edit the sample (page 87), in such a way that all clips and instruments referencing the sample will be affected.
Clip View 152 The Note Box’s transform tools allow for fast manipulation of a MIDI clip’s contents. These controls affect the selected notes or time range. If nothing is selected, they affect the whole clip. •the Transpose slider transposes the selection. Type a number to transpose by semitones. Type a note name to set the lowest note. Adding a “-” before the note name sets the highest note. •the :2 and *2 buttons double or halve the playback speed of the selection, respectively.
Clip View 153 clip also sends its bank/program change message. If you are using Live to send MIDI to your synth, this means that each MIDI clip in your Live Set can play a different sound on your synth. Live offers messages for 128 banks with 128 sub-banks, each of which has 128 programs. Please see the documentation that came with your synthesizer to determine how many of these messages it can use.
Clip View 154
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 155 Chapter 9 Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping Unlike music stored on tape or in a traditional digital audio workstation, the music in Live remains “elastic“ at all times. Live is capable of time-warping samples while streaming them from disk so as to synchronize them to the current Live Set’s tempo. This happens without affecting the pitch, which can be changed independently. Mixing and matching audio from different origins is therefore extremely easy. 9.1 Tempo 9.1.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 156 You can have an external sequencer (or drum machine) play along with Live or have Live play along with the sequencer. The respective settings are made in the Link/MIDI Preferences. Please refer to the chapter on synchronization (page 715) for details. 9.1.2 Tapping the Tempo The Tap Button. You can use Live’s Tap Tempo function to set the tempo at any time.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 157 9.1.3 Nudging the Tempo The Phase Nudge Up/Down Buttons. Although Live can be easily synchronized via Link or to external MIDI devices (page 715), you may find yourself in situations in which you need to adjust to sources that aren’t locked to one tempo, such as live musicians or turntables.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 158 The most significant control here is the Warp switch, which toggles an audio clip’s warping on or off. The Warp section of Live’s Preferences will determine the default warp settings for new clips, but they can always be overridden here on a per-clip basis. When the Warp switch is off, Live plays the sample at its original, “normal“ tempo, irrespective of the current Live Set’s tempo.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 159 9.2.2 Warp Markers Think of a sample as a rubber-band that you want to pin to a (musical time) ruler. In Live, the pins are called Warp Markers. A Warp Marker locks a specific point in the sample to a specific place in the measure. You can use any number of Warp Markers to create an arbitrary mapping of the piece’s inherent rhythm to a musical meter. Warp Markers are set in the Clip View’s Sample Display by double-clicking in the upper half of the sample.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 160 places to put Warp Markers. Transients appear as small markers at the top of the sample display after zooming in. Transient Markers. As you mouse over transients, temporary “pseudo“ Warp Markers appear. These have the same shape as regular Warp Markers, but they’re gray. Double-clicking or dragging a pseudo Warp Marker creates an actual Warp Marker or, if there are no Warp Markers later in the clip, changes the tempo for the clip segment.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 161 9.2.3 Using Warp Markers In the following sections, we will look at a couple of applications for time-warping samples. Warping is, of course, an optional property of clips. Syncing Straight Loops When you import a sample that represents a well-cut musical loop of 1,2,4 or 8 bars in length, Live usually makes the correct assumptions to play the loop in sync with the chosen tempo. It creates two Warp Markers, one at the sample’s beginning and one at the end.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 162 Syncing Uncut Loops When importing a loop that has not been edited into a well-cut loop, Live will play it out of sync. Suppose there is a portion of silence at the sample beginning, prior to the first beat. You can easily correct this by placing a Warp Marker at the beginning of the audio and dragging it so that it lines up with the beginning of bar one in the timeline.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 163 2. to mess up the flow of time in the sample. If a single event in a percussive audio loop comes late, just pin a Warp Marker to it and drag the marker to the correct beat position. You may want to pin the adjacent events as well, to avoid affecting neighboring regions in the sample. Using Warp Markers to Manipulate the Groove.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 164 Note that, for the auto-warp mechanism to work, files which are being imported into the program for the first time will need to undergo a first-time analysis process and will not be immediately available for playing or editing. Auto-Warp’s Results in the Clip View. As long as Auto-Warp made the correct set of informed guesses, the clip will be ready to play in perfect sync with the Live Set’s tempo.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 165 Using the Context Menu to Direct Auto-Warp. Directing Auto-Warp is also relatively simple when you have imported a perfectly cut loop. You can tell Auto-Warp to work accordingly using the Warp Sample As ...-Bar/Beat Loop command. Live will propose a loop length that makes the most sense given the current Live Set’s tempo. Decreasing the Live Set’s tempo can, for instance, lead Live to assume the loop is 8 bars at 90 BPM instead of 16 bars at 180 BPM.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 166 You might also find it helpful to select multiple Warp Markers for moving by selecting them with the [Shift] or [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) modifiers held down. The four Warp From Here commands provide various ways of resetting Warp Markers to the right of the selected grid marker or Warp Marker, leaving Warp Markers to the left untouched. These commands are also available from the start marker.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 167 9.2.4 Quantizing Audio In the previous section, you learned how to adjust the timing of events in audio files by manually dragging Warp Markers along the timeline. But it is also possible to automatically snap the entire sample to the grid at once by using the Quantize command. To do this, click in the background of the sample editor and choose the Quantize command from the Edit menu, or use the [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) hotkey.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 168 Let’s investigate which warp modes work best for different types of signals and how to adjust the warping controls for “clean“ stretching. It’s also fun to “misuse“ these controls to achieve interesting artifacts instead of accurate stretching. 9.3.1 Beats Mode Beats Mode works best for material where rhythm is dominant (e.g., drum loops as well as most pieces of electronic dance music).
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 169 9.3.2 Tones Mode Tones Mode serves well for stretching material with a more or less clear pitch structure, such as vocals, monophonic instruments and basslines. Grain Size provides rough control over the average grain size used. The actual grain size is determined in a signal-dependent manner. For signals with a clear sense of pitch contour, a small grain size works best.
Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping 170 Complex Mode is a rather CPU-intensive function, using approximately ten times the CPU resources required by the other Warp Modes. As such, you may want to freeze tracks (page 725) where Complex Mode is used or record (page 245) the results as a new clip to use as a substitute. 9.3.6 Complex Pro Mode Complex Pro Mode uses a variation of the algorithm found in Complex mode, and may offer even better results (although with an increase in CPU usage.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 171 Chapter 10 Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities A MIDI clip in Live contains notes and controller data for playing a MIDI instrument. This instrument can be a virtual instrument in a MIDI track’s device chain (page 259) or an external synth fed via the track’s output routing (page 211). The MIDI clip (page 48) provides the device with a musical score to play, specifying note pitch, length, position and dynamics (referred to as velocity in the MIDI lexicon).
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 172 10.2 The MIDI Editor To bring up the MIDI Editor, double-click a MIDI clip to open the Clip View. You can use the Clip View Box selector to make sure the Notes box (page 151) is showing, then click in the title bar of the Notes box to bring up the MIDI Editor on the right-hand side of the screen. The MIDI Editor. The MIDI Editor is divided into two editing windows: the upper Note Editor and the lower Velocity Editor.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 173 Previewing MIDI Notes. Provided your MIDI track’s device chain contains an instrument (page 259), activating the Preview switch in the MIDI Editor allows you to hear notes as you select and move them. If the MIDI track is armed, activating Preview also allows you to step record (page 251) new notes into the clip. Note that the Preview switch’s on/off state applies to all MIDI tracks in the Live Set.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 174 10.3 MIDI Editor Navigation and Transport Note Scale Position Is Shown Vertically and Beat-Time Horizontally. The MIDI Editor has both vertical and horizontal navigation. Along the horizontal axis lies a time ruler, which shows note position along a musical timeline. The vertical axis contains the note ruler, displaying octaves C-2–C8, and a representation of a piano keyboard (the piano roll).
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 175 2. Click and drag vertically in the note ruler to change which octaves are shown, or drag horizontally to change the vertical zoom size of MIDI notes and the keyboard. 3. Click and drag over one or more notes to select them, or over a portion of the editor’s background to select a range of time. Then, double-click on the note ruler or time ruler to automatically zoom in on your selection.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 176 153) and associated shortcuts can also be helpful in getting around in the MIDI Editor and playing selections quickly and easily. As you work with MIDI, you may find yourself needing extra screen space. You can click and drag vertically on the window split between the Session or Arrangement View and the Clip View to enlarge the MIDI Editor. Enlarge the MIDI Editor by Dragging the Window Split Between Session and Clip Views. 10.4 Editing MIDI 10.4.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 177 This is very useful when working with percussion kits, for example, which are oftentimes mapped out along a keyboard in sections corresponding to percussion type (e.g., snares grouped together two octaves down from hi-hat cymbals, etc.). When working with a MIDI file created by such a mapping, sometimes only one or two of each type of percussion sound is used, and it becomes unnecessary to view the entire keyboard range.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 178 10.4.3 Grid Snapping Most functions in the MIDI Editor are subject to grid snapping (page 115). But when adjusting events with the mouse, the grid is “magnetic”; event positions can be moved freely up to the previous or next grid line and then will snap if you continue to drag. You can hold down the [ALT] (PC) / [CMD](Mac) modifier while performing an action to bypass grid snapping.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 179 [Home] or [End] key, respectively. As we have seen, notes in the MIDI Editor can be moved both horizontally (changing their position in time) and vertically (changing their transposition). They can be moved either by clicking and dragging, or with the arrow keys on your computer keyboard.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 180 10.4.5 Changing Note Length Clicking and dragging on a note’s left or right edges changes its length. As with note positions, note lengths can be adjusted freely up to the previous or next grid line but will be quantized when dragging further unless the [ALT](PC) / [CMD](Mac) modifier is held down. Changing Note Length.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 181 they snap to the visible grid lines. Finally, you can select a note or notes and choose the Quantize command from the Edit menu, or use the [CTRL][U](PC) / [CMD][U](Mac) hotkey. The first time you do this, you will see a dialog box with several quantization options. This will quantize using default settings, or the settings that you previously applied. To adjust your quantization parameters, open the Quantization Settings dialog from the Edit menu.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 182 Changing Note Velocity. As in the Note Editor, you can select multiple velocity markers to change by clicking with the [Shift] modifier held down. Tip: To set a group of notes so that they all have the same velocity, select their markers in the Velocity Editor, drag them up or down to either maximum or minimum velocity, and then adjust velocity to the desired value. As we saw earlier, Draw Mode allows drawing identical velocities for all notes within a grid tile.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 183 Tip #2: To draw a linear velocity ramp across a selection of notes, first select the notes that should be affected (using the [Shift] modifier to select non-adjacent notes if necessary). Make sure Draw Mode is not activated and draw the line into the Velocity Editor while holding the [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) modifier. Notes in the Note Editor display their velocity in their coloring — light notes play softly, and vice versa.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 184 10.4.9 MIDI Note Stretch MIDI Note Stretch Markers. When multiple notes or a range of time are selected in the Note Editor, Note Stretch markers will appear, allowing notes to be scaled proportionally in time. The markers are a pair of downward-pointing indicators that snap to the beginning and end of the selection.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 185 10.4.10 Cropping MIDI Clips MIDI data that is outside of the loop brace can be deleted by means of the Crop Clip command. Simply [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) on a MIDI clip in the Session or Arrangement View and select this option. Unlike cropping audio clips (page 150), cropping a MIDI clip does not create a new file on disk. 10.4.11 Deactivating Notes To deactivate, or mute, a note (or notes) in the MIDI Editor, select it and press [0].
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 186 Multi-Clip Loop Bars in the Note Editor. •Hovering the mouse over an inactive clip’s notes or loop bar will reveal that clip’s color, helping you to choose a different clip in the current selection to edit. Clicking on a clip’s note or loop bar switches to that clip for editing. •The title bar will show the name of the clip selected for editing. This can be particularly useful for identifying different clips with the same color.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 187 While multi-clip editing is useful for looking at clips across different tracks, it can also come in handy when you need to compare and edit multiple clips within the same track. For example, you can create evolving pattern progressions by adding notes to a clip, then making a variation to the clip in the following scene and so on, while maintaining an overview of the other clips in the track. 10.5.
Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities 188
Converting Audio to MIDI 189 Chapter 11 Converting Audio to MIDI (Note: the features discussed in this chapter are not available in the Intro and Lite Editions.) Although Live’s warping allows for audio files to be used much more flexibly than in traditional audio software, there are also a number of ways to extract musical information from audio clips and place it into MIDI clips, for additional creative possibilities.
Converting Audio to MIDI 190 The Slicing Dialog. When you select Slice to New MIDI track, you’ll be presented with a dialog box. This offers a list of slicing divisions, as well as a chooser to select the Slicing Preset. The top chooser allows you to slice at a variety of beat resolutions or according to the clip’s transients or Warp Markers. Since a Rack can contain a maximum of 128 chains, Live won’t let you proceed if your choice would result in more than 128 slices.
Converting Audio to MIDI 191 Note: Live will take a few moments to process all of this information. Playing the MIDI clip will trigger each chain in the Drum Rack in order, according to the timing information that you specified or that was embedded in the audio. This opens up many new editing possibilities, including: 11.1.1 Resequencing Slices Rearranging the Sliced MIDI Data.
Converting Audio to MIDI 192 Slicing is most commonly applied to drum loops, but there’s no reason to stop there. Experiment with slicing audio from different sources, such as voices and ambient textures. The same sorts of resequencing and reprocessing operations can be applied to anything you slice — sometimes with unexpected results. 11.2 Convert Harmony to New MIDI Track This command identifies the pitches in a polyphonic audio recording and places them into a clip on a new MIDI track.
Converting Audio to MIDI 193 The Melody to MIDI Instrument Rack. The Convert Melody command can work with music from your collection, but also allows you to record yourself singing, whistling, or playing a solo instrument such as a guitar and use the recording to generate MIDI notes. 11.4 Convert Drums to New MIDI Track This command extracts the rhythms from unpitched, percussive audio and places them into a clip on a new MIDI track.
Converting Audio to MIDI 194 record yourself singing, playing guitar, or even beatboxing and use the Convert commands to generate MIDI that you can use as a starting point for new music. For the most accurate results, we recommend the following: •Use music that has clear attacks. Notes that fade in or “swell” may not be detected by the conversion process. •Work with recordings of isolated instruments.
Using Grooves 195 Chapter 12 Using Grooves The timing and “feel“ of each clip in your Set can be modified through the use of grooves. Live comes with a large selection of grooves, which appear as .agr files in the browser. Groove Files in the Browser. The easiest way to work with library grooves is to drag and drop them from the browser directly onto clips in your Set. This immediately applies the timing characteristics of the groove file to the clip.
Using Grooves 196 The Hot-Swap Groove Button. Grooves can be applied to both audio and MIDI clips. In audio clips, grooves work by adjusting the clip’s warping behavior (page 157), and thus only work on clips with Warp enabled. 12.1 Groove Pool Once you’ve applied a groove file, you can modify its behavior by adjusting its parameters in the Groove Pool, which can be opened or closed via its selector button at the bottom of Browser. The Groove Pool Selector Button.
Using Grooves 197 The Groove Pool. 12.1.1 Adjusting Groove Parameters Grooves in the Groove Pool appear in a list, and offer a variety of parameters that can be modified in real time to adjust the behavior of any clips that are using them. You can also save and hot-swap grooves via the buttons next to the Groove’s name. The Groove Pool’s controls work as follows: •Base — The Base chooser determines the timing resolution against which the notes in the groove will be measured.
Using Grooves 198 •Velocity — adjusts how much the velocity of the notes in clips will be affected by the velocity information stored in the groove file. Note that this slider goes from -100 to +100. At negative values, the effect of the groove’s velocity will be reversed; loud notes will play quietly and vice versa. •Global Amount — this parameter scales the overall intensity of Timing, Random and Velocity for all of the available groove files.
Using Grooves 199 12.2 Editing Grooves The effect that groove files have on your clips is a combination of two factors: the parameter settings made in the Groove Pool and the positions of the notes in the groove files themselves. To edit the contents of groove files directly, drag and drop them from the browser or Groove Pool into a MIDI track. This will create a new MIDI clip, which you can then edit, as you would with any other MIDI clip.
Using Grooves 200 12.3.1 Grooving a Single Voice Drummers will often use variations in the timing of particular instruments in order to create a convincing beat. For example, playing hi-hats in time but placing snare hits slightly behind the beat is a good way of creating a laid-back feel. But because groove files apply to an entire clip at once, this kind of subtlety can be difficult to achieve with a single clip.
Launching Clips 201 Chapter 13 Launching Clips The Live Session View is set apart by the fact that it gives you, the musician, a spontaneous environment that encourages performance and improvisation. An important part of how you take advantage of the Session View lies within how you configure your various Session View clips. This chapter explains the group of settings used to define how each Session View clip behaves when triggered, or “launched.“ 13.
Launching Clips 202 Note that you can edit the launch settings of more than one clip at the same time by first selecting the clips and then opening the Clip View. 13.2 Launch Modes The Clip Launch Mode Chooser. The Launch Mode chooser offers a number of options for how clips behave with respect to mouse clicks, computer keyboard actions or MIDI notes: •Trigger: down starts the clip; up is ignored. •Gate: down starts the clip; up stops the clip. •Toggle: down starts the clip; up is ignored.
Launching Clips 203 13.3 Clip Launch Quantization The Clip Quantization Chooser. The Clip Quantization chooser lets you adjust an onset timing correction for clip triggering. To disable clip quantization, choose “None.“ To use the Control Bar’s Global Quantization setting, choose “Global.“ Global quantization can be quickly changed using the [CTRL][6](PC) / [CMD][6](Mac), [7], [8], [9], and [0] shortcuts.
Launching Clips 204 The Velocity Amount control allows you to adjust the effect of MIDI note velocity on the clip’s volume: If set to zero, there is no influence; at 100 percent, the softest notes play the clip silently. For more on playing clips via MIDI, see the respective section (page 583). 13.5 Legato Mode The Legato Mode Switch. Suppose you have gathered, in one track, a number of looping clips, and you now want to toggle among them without losing the sync.
Launching Clips 205 13.6 Follow Actions Follow Actions allow creating chains of clips that can trigger each other in an orderly or random way (or both). A clip’s Follow Action defines what happens to other clips in the same group after the clip plays. A group is defined by clips arranged in successive slots of the same track. Tracks can have an unlimited number of groups, separated by empty slots. 1 2 3 The Follow Action Controls. 1.
Launching Clips 206 “Previous“ triggers the previous clip (the one above the current one). “Next“ triggers the next clip down in the group. If a clip with this setting is last in a group, this Follow Action triggers the first clip. “First“ launches the first (top) clip in a group. “Last“ launches the last (bottom) clip in a group. “Any“ plays any clip in the group. “Other“ is similar to “Any,“ but as long as the current clip is not alone in the group, no clip will play consecutively.
Launching Clips 207 2 3 Creating a Group With the Two Clips. 3. Set up Follow Actions for the first clip. You will want to make Follow Action Time equal to the clip’s length. Set the Follow Action A chooser to “Next,“ with a Chance setting of 1, leaving Follow Action B alone. Now this clip is set up to advance to the looping clip after it plays. 4. Activate the Loop switch for the second clip.
Launching Clips 208 The default setting for Follow Action is actually a 1:0 chance that “No Action“ happens after the Follow Action Time, which means that there is effectively no Follow Action. But now, imagine a group consisting of one single clip. Follow Action A is set to “Play Again,“ with a Chance of 8. Follow Action B is set to “No Action,“ with a Chance of 1. The clip uses a long sample, and Follow Time is set to one bar.
Launching Clips 209 13.6.6 Creating Nonrepetitive Structures Follow Actions are great when it comes to sound installations, as they allow you to create structures that play for weeks or months and never exactly repeat. You can set the Follow Action Time controls in a series of clips to odd intervals, and the clips will interact with each other so that they never quite play in the same order or musical position.
Launching Clips 210
Routing and I/O 211 Chapter 14 Routing and I/O In the context of Live, “routing“ is the setup of the tracks’ signal sources and destinations (i.e., their inputs and outputs). Most routing happens in the mixer’s track In/Out section, which offers, for every track, choosers to select a signal source and destination. The mixer’s In/Out section is Live’s “patchbay.“ The In/Out section can be independently shown or hidden from the Session and Arrangement Views.
Routing and I/O 212 outputs, except for MIDI tracks without instruments. Remember that instruments convert MIDI to audio (page 48). Within a chooser pair, the upper chooser selects the signal category (“Ext.,“ for instance, for external connections via an audio or MIDI interface), and is called the Input/Output Type chooser. If this signal type offers sub-selections or channels, they are available from the lower chooser, or the Input/Output Channel chooser. In our “Ext.
Routing and I/O 213 where (for instance, a ReWire device program). With this setting, output from the clips is suppressed. An “In“ monitoring setting can be easily recognized even when the In/Out section is hidden by the blue color of the track’s Activator switch. •Monitoring can be turned off altogether by choosing the Off option.
Routing and I/O 214 14.2.1 Mono/Stereo Conversions When a mono signal is chosen as an audio track’s input, the track will record mono samples; otherwise it will record stereo samples. Signals in the track’s device chain are always stereo, even when the track’s input is mono or when the track plays mono samples. Mono is turned into stereo simply by using the identical signal for left and right channels.
Routing and I/O 215 14.3.2 Playing MIDI With the Computer Keyboard The computer keyboard can be used for generating MIDI notes from computer keyboard strokes. To turn the computer MIDI keyboard on, use the Control Bar’s Computer MIDI Keyboard button, or the [M] shortcut to the Options menu entry. Activating the Computer MIDI Keyboard. The center row of letter keys on the keyboard will play notes corresponding to the white keys on a piano, beginning on the left with the note C3.
Routing and I/O 216 MIDI out to the external synthesizer and return its audio — all within a single track. (Note: the External Instrument device is not available in the Intro and Lite Editions.) Important: If you are using a keyboard synthesizer both as a master keyboard to play into Live and as a sound generator, then please make sure to check the synthesizer’s “Local Off“ function.
Routing and I/O 217 14.4 ReWire Device Routing Live can operate as a ReWire host or device in cooperation with another ReWire application. As a ReWire host, Live can send MIDI to, and receive audio from, any ReWire device application installed on the same computer. An Audio Track Receiving Audio From and a MIDI Track Sending MIDI to Reason.
Routing and I/O 218 9. Arm the MIDI track. Now, any MIDI that you are playing into Live will arrive in Reason, which will generate the corresponding audio back into the audio track, ready for further processing in Live’s mixer and effects. If you want to continue work on the project without reopening Reason, simply record Reason’s audio by arming the audio track and engaging Record Mode. A similar procedure is possible with the External Instrument device.
Routing and I/O 219 wise adjust the tracks that are feeding the Master output. You will probably want to use the Master Volume meter to make sure that your level is as high as possible without clipping (indicated by red in the meter). Then you can arm the track and record into any of its empty clip slots (page 248). Note that the recording track’s own output will be suppressed while resampling is taking place, and will not be included in the recording.
Routing and I/O 220 Both approaches result in Track A’s output being fed into Track B. Approach 1 leaves Track B’s in/out settings alone, and we can, at any time, add more tracks that feed their output into Track B. This is the method of choice for “many-to-one“ routings such as submixes or several MIDI tracks playing the same instrument. In this scenario, soloing Track B will still allow you to hear the output of the tracks that are feeding it. Also, you can still solo Track A and hear its output signal.
Routing and I/O 221 the tapped signal, but changes to its mixer settings will not. Soloing a track that taps another track Post FX will allow you to hear the tapped track. •Post Mixer taps the final output of a track, after it has passed through its device chains and mixer. Soloing a track that taps another track Post Mixer will not allow you to hear the tapped track. Routing Points in Racks Tap Points for Every Chain in a Track.
Routing and I/O 222 •(Rack Name) | (Chain Name) | Post Mixer — The signal will be tapped from the output of the chain’s mixer, just before the point where all of the chains in the Rack are summed together to create the Rack’s output. Soloing a track that taps a Chain at any of these points will still allow you to hear the output at that point. 14.6.2 Making Use of Internal Routing This section presents several internal routing examples in more detail.
Routing and I/O 223 As for monitoring, we set the Guitar track’s Monitor radio button to In, because we always want to listen to our guitar through this track, no matter what else is going on in Live. The other tracks’ Monitor radio buttons are set to Off. Recording MIDI as Audio When working with MIDI and complex software instruments, it is sometimes more useful to record the resulting audio than the incoming MIDI.
Routing and I/O 224 Creating Submixes Submixing the Individual Drums of a Drum Kit. Suppose we have the individual drums of a drum kit coming in on separate tracks for multitrack recording. In the mix, we can easily change the volumes of the individual drums, but adjusting the volume of the entire drum kit against the rest of the music is less convenient. Therefore, we add a new audio track to submix the drums.
Routing and I/O 225 Several MIDI Tracks Playing the Same Instrument Consider a MIDI track containing a virtual instrument — a Simpler playing a pad sound, for example. We have already recorded MIDI clips into this track when we realize that we would like to add an independent, parallel take for the same instrument. So we add another MIDI track.
Routing and I/O 226 The Instrument Has Been Isolated in a Dedicated Track. We might be bothered by the fact that muting the pad track (by turning off its Activator switch) also mutes the other MIDI track. To be precise, the other track keeps playing, but its MIDI is played by an instrument that is out of the mix. This can be easily remedied by cutting the clips from the pad track and pasting them into a third track that can be independently muted (and that can hold its own MIDI effects).
Routing and I/O 227 Using Impulse’s Individual Outs to Separately Process Sample Slots. We simply create an audio track and select from its Input Type chooser the track with the Impulse. The Input Channel chooser now offers, in addition to Pre FX, Post FX and Post Mixer, Impulse’s eight individual outputs, labeled according to the sample used in each slot. Notice that routing an individual output from Impulse into another track automatically takes this signal out of Impulse’s own internal mix.
Routing and I/O 228 Tracks Feeding MIDI to and Tapping Audio From the Parts of a Multi-Timbral Instrument. Sending MIDI from the mixer to a multi-timbral instrument is a variation of a case described above (page 225). One MIDI track hosts the multi-timbral instrument, and additional MIDI tracks are used to feed its individual parts. Each additional MIDI track has its Output Type chooser pointed to the track that contains the instrument, and its Output Channel chooser referencing the target MIDI channel.
Routing and I/O 229 Note that the main outputs of the multi-timbral instrument will still output to the track that contains the instrument — only auxiliary outputs are available to the External Instrument device. Feeding Sidechain Inputs Some effects have so-called “sidechain inputs.“ A vocoder, for instance, imposes spectral characteristics taken from one signal (say, spoken word) onto another signal, for instance a string pad. The vocoder is inserted as an audio effect into the string track.
Routing and I/O 230 by adding a MIDI track that contains an instrument playing the brass sound and setting its Input Type chooser to tap the string track’s Post FX signal. Using an Auxiliary MIDI Track to Layer Instruments. Perhaps you wonder why this works, given that the string track’s output is audio and not MIDI. When routing MIDI in from another track, we are tapping the MIDI at the latest possible stage, which is after any MIDI Effects, and just before the instrument.
Mixing 231 Chapter 15 Mixing 15.1 The Live Mixer Live includes a mixer section that is accessible from two views: The Arrangement View Mixer. In the Arrangement View, the mixer appears as a horizontal strip to the right of the track area. To display all mixer controls for a track, unfold the track using the button next to its name, and adjust its height accordingly.
Mixing 232 The Session View Mixer. The Session View is a standard vertical mixer layout, which you may find more intuitive than the Arrangement mixer. Note that the [Tab] key toggles between the Arrangement and Session Views if you’re working with a single window. If you’re working with two windows, the [Tab] key swaps the Arrangement and Session between the windows, which allows you to see your Arrangement while using the Session mixer. The View menu options listed below show or hide mixer components.
Mixing 233 The Mixer Section Selectors. Let’s look at the mixer controls: 5 2 6 4 3 1 4 1 5 6 2 3 The Mixer Controls. 1. The Meter shows both peak and RMS output levels for the track. While monitoring, however, it shows peak and RMS input levels. Peak meters show sudden changes in level, while RMS meters give a better impression of perceived loudness. 2. The Volume control adjusts the track’s output level.
Mixing 234 tracks, but can also be used for cueing (page 242). With multiple tracks selected, pressing any of their Solo switches will solo all of them. Otherwise, tracks can only be soloed one at a time unless the [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) modifier is held down or the Exclusive Solo option in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences is deactivated. 6. If the Arm Recording button is on, the track is record-enabled (page 245). With multiple tracks selected, pressing any of their Arm switches will arm all of them.
Mixing 235 Because of the enormous headroom of Live’s 32-bit floating point audio engine, Live’s audio and MIDI tracks can be driven far “into the red“ without causing the signals to clip. The only time that signals over 0 dB will be problematic is when audio leaves Live and goes into the outside world.
Mixing 236 can also enter your own info text (page 31) for a track via the Edit Info Text command in the Edit menu or in the tracks’ [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu. Tracks are Represented by Track Title Bars. You can drag tracks by their title bars to rearrange them, or click and drag on their edges to change their width (in the Session View) or height (in the Arrangement View).
Mixing 237 224), and also offer the ability to fold and unfold their contained clip tracks via the button in the title bar. This can help you to organize large Sets by hiding away tracks that you don’t need to see. An Unfolded Group Track Visualized in Session View... When tracks are placed into a group, their Audio To routing choosers (page 219) are automatically assigned to their Group Track unless they already had a custom routing (i.e. to a destination other than “Master.
Mixing 238 stopping all contained clips. Likewise, selecting a Group Slot serves as a shortcut for selecting all of the contained clips. To apply a Group Track’s color to all of its contained tracks and clips, you can use the Assign Track Color to Grouped Tracks and Clips command in the respective Group Track header’s [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu.
Mixing 239 For example, suppose you want to create rhythmic echoes with a delay effect. If you drag the effect into a clip track, only clips playing in this track will be echoed. Placing this effect in a return track lets it receive audio from any number of tracks and add echoes to them. The Send Controls and Pre/Post Toggle. A clip or group track’s Send control regulates how much of the track’s output feeds the associated return track’s input.
Mixing 240 The Crossfader and Selector. The crossfader is accessed via the Session View’s mixer selectors. It features seven different crossfade curves so that you can choose the one that fits your style the best. To change the curve, [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) on the crossfader, then select an entry from the context menu. Choose from Seven Crossfader Curves. The chart below details the power level and response of each crossfader curve.
Mixing 241 A+B Power Level Crossfader Response Transition Dipped Intermediate Constant Power Slow Fade Slow Cut Fast Cut Crossfader Curve Properties. The crossfader can be mapped to any continuous MIDI controller (absolute or incremental) (page 583). In addition to the crossfader’s central slider, its absolute left and right positions are separately available for MIDI or keyboard mapping.
Mixing 242 Crossfade Assign Buttons. Each track has two Crossfade Assign buttons, A and B. The track can have three states with respect to the crossfader: •If neither Assign button is on, the crossfader does not affect the track at all. •If A is on, the track will be played unattenuated as long as the crossfader is in the left half of its value range. As the crossfader moves toward the right across the center position, the track fades out. At the crossfader’s rightmost position, the track is muted.
Mixing 243 any return tracks audible, provided that the Solo in Place option is enabled in the Solo button’s [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu. Solo in Place can also be set as the default behavior by selecting the entry in the Options menu. Soloing a return track mutes the main output of all other tracks, but still allows you to hear any signals that arrive at the return via track sends.
Mixing 244 selected in the Cue Out chooser. Note that the Track Activator switch on the same track still controls whether or not the track is heard at the Master output. 5. The Cue Volume control adjusts the volume of the cueing output. Note that when cueing is set up and activated, the output of audio files that you are previewing in the browser is also heard through the Cue Out. 15.7 Track Delays A Track Delay control is available for every track in Live.
Recording New Clips 245 Chapter 16 Recording New Clips This chapter is about recording new clips from audio and MIDI input signals. Note that this is a different kind of recording than the capturing of Session clips into the Arrangement (page 128). For successful audio recording, please make sure the audio preferences are set up properly. For more on this, please see the built-in program lesson on setting up Audio Preferences.
Recording New Clips 246 The Track In/Out Section in the Arrangement (Left) and Session View (Right). Audio tracks default to recording a mono signal from external input 1 or 2. MIDI tracks default to recording all MIDI that is coming in through the active external input devices (page 214). The computer keyboard can be activated as a pseudo-MIDI input device (page 215), allowing you to record MIDI even if no MIDI controller hardware is currently available.
Recording New Clips 247 By default, armed tracks are monitored, meaning that their input is passed through their device chain and to the output, so that you can listen to what is being recorded. This behavior is called “auto-monitoring“ and you can change it to fit your needs (page 212). If you are using a natively supported control surface, arming a MIDI track will automatically lock this control surface to the instrument in the track (page 584).
Recording New Clips 248 launched.) Tip: regardless of the state of this preference, holding [Shift] while pressing Arrangement Record will engage the opposite behavior. 2. Recording creates new clips in all tracks that have their Arm button on. 3. When MIDI Arrangement Overdub is enabled, new MIDI clips contain a mix of the signal already in the track and the new input signal. Note that overdubbing only applies to MIDI tracks. 4. To prevent recording prior to a punch-in point, activate the Punch-In switch.
Recording New Clips 249 1 5 4 2 3 Recording Into the Session View. 1. Set the Global Quantization chooser to any value other than “None“ to obtain correctly cut clips. 2. Activate the Arm button for the tracks onto which you want to record. Clip Record buttons will appear in the empty slots of the armed tracks. 3. Click the Session Record button to record into the selected scene in all armed tracks.
Recording New Clips 250 ing a new scene if necessary. Note that the New button is only available in Key Map Mode and MIDI Map Mode. Detailed steps for creating keyboard assignments are available in Computer Keyboard Remote Control (page 593). Please refer to MIDI and Key Remote Control (page 583) for more information about MIDI assignments. The New Button Appears in the Control Bar When Key Map Mode Is Active.
Recording New Clips 251 7. The clip overdubs as it loops, allowing you to build your pattern layer by layer. However, if you would like to pause recording for a moment to rehearse, you can deactivate overdubbing by pressing the Session Record button again. The contents of the clip will continue to play, but you can play along without being recorded. When you are ready to record again, press the Session Record button once again.
Recording New Clips 252 1. Arm the MIDI track that contains the clip into which you want to record. 2. Enable the Preview switch in the clip’s MIDI Editor. 3. Click in the MIDI Editor to place the insert marker at the position where you want to begin recording. Pressing the right arrow key on your computer keyboard will move the insert marker to the right, according to the grid settings. Any notes that are held down as you press the right arrow key will be added to the clip.
Recording New Clips 253 The Preview Volume Knob. To adjust the metronome volume, use the mixer’s Preview Volume knob. Further metronome settings can be adjusted via the pull-down menu next to the metronome switch. Notice that Live’s metrical interpretation of the material in a clip can be edited, at any time, using Warp Markers (page 159). Warp Markers can be used to fix timing errors and to change the groove or feel of your audio or MIDI recordings.
Recording New Clips 254 16.5 Recording Quantized MIDI Notes If you will be recording MIDI, you have the option of automatically quantizing MIDI notes while recording. The Record Quantization chooser in the Edit menu allows selecting the meter subdivisions with which your recorded notes will align. When recording into the Arrangement, record quantization is an independent step in Live’s Undo history.
Recording New Clips 255 16.7 Setting up File Types The following Preferences from the Record/Warp/Launch tab are relevant to the sample files that are created by recording: •The sample file type you would like Live to create can be chosen from the File Type chooser in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences. •The bit depth of the sample file you will create by recording can be chosen from the Bit Depth chooser in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences.
Recording New Clips 256 The Scene Up/Down Buttons. One key is used to jump to the next scene... A Track Launch Button. ... and another key to start and end recording in the respective track. You can also map the step recording navigators (page 251). The Step Recording Arrows. This allows you to, for example, use MIDI foot pedals to move the clip’s insert marker, thereby keeping both hands free for playing a keyboard.
Recording New Clips 257 16.10 Capturing MIDI Live is always listening to MIDI input on armed (page 246) or input-monitored tracks (page 212), and Capture MIDI lets you retrieve the material you’ve just played on those tracks. This is particularly useful if you forgot to press the Record button before playing, or if you prefer to improvise or experiment freely without the stress of recording. The Capture MIDI Button in the Control Bar.
Recording New Clips 258 the detected phrase will appear prior to the clip start marker. This enables you to adjust the start/end or loop markers to set a different loop. (Tip: to discard unwanted material outside the set loop, simply [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) on the clip and select the Crop Clip command.) 16.10.
Working with Instruments and Effects 259 Chapter 17 Working with Instruments and Effects Every track in Live can host a number of devices. These devices can be of three different sorts: •MIDI effects act upon MIDI signals and can only be placed in MIDI tracks. •Audio effects act upon audio signals and can be placed in audio tracks. They can also be placed in MIDI tracks as long as they are “downstream“ from an instrument. •Instruments are devices that reside in MIDI tracks, receive MIDI and output audio.
Working with Instruments and Effects 260 To save space in the Device View, a device can be collapsed by double-clicking on its title bar or by choosing Fold from its [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu. Devices Can Be Folded. To learn about a particular device and how to operate it, consult the Live Audio Effect Reference (page 339), Live MIDI Effect Reference (page 431) or the Live Instrument Reference (page 443).
Working with Instruments and Effects 261 17.1 Using the Live Devices Devices in Live’s Browser. Live’s built-in devices can be accessed in the browser. You will notice that Live’s Synths, Audio Effects, and MIDI Effects each have their own labels in the browser’s sidebar. The easiest way to place a device in a track is to double-click on it in the browser, which creates a new track to hold the device.
Working with Instruments and Effects 262 MIDI and Audio Track Arm Buttons. This is how you would play live instruments through effects on a track, for example, or use a MIDI keyboard’s input to play a track’s instrument. Note that you can easily move from this setup into recording new clips for further use in Live (page 245). If you have alternative monitoring preferences, please see the Monitoring section (page 212) to learn how to make these settings.
Working with Instruments and Effects 263 A MIDI Track’s Device Chain Can Contain All Three Device Types. To remove a device from the chain, click on its title bar and press your computer’s [Backspace] or [Delete] key, or select Delete from the Edit menu. To change the order of devices, drag a device by its title bar and drop it next to any of the other devices in the Device View. Devices can be moved to other tracks entirely by dragging them from the Device View into the Session or Arrangement Views.
Working with Instruments and Effects 264 Devices in Live’s tracks have input and output level meters. These meters are helpful in finding problematic devices in the device chain: Low or absent signals will be revealed by the level meters, and relevant device settings can then be adjusted, or the device can be turned off or removed. The Level Meters Between Devices in a Chain. Note that no clipping can occur between devices because there is practically unlimited headroom.
Working with Instruments and Effects 265 Presets in the Browser. You can browse and load presets quickly with the computer keyboard: •Scroll up and down using the up and down arrow keys. •Close and open device folders using the left and right arrow keys. •Press [Enter] to load a device or preset. Pressing [Q] or clicking a device’s Hot-Swap Presets button will temporarily link the browser to a device and reveal its presets.
Working with Instruments and Effects 266 The Hot-Swap Presets Button. The link between the browser and the device will be broken if a different view is selected, or if the [Q] key or the Hot-Swap button is pressed again. Preset hot-swapping can also be cancelled with a press of the [Esc] key or by pressing the close button in the Hot-Swap bar at the top of the browser.
Working with Instruments and Effects 267 Default Presets Presets saved to the Defaults folders in your User Library will load in place of the generic device settings. There are also Defaults folders that allow you to: •customize how Live responds to various user actions, such as sample dropping, slicing, and converting audio to MIDI. •cause newly-created MIDI and audio tracks to load with certain devices already in place, complete with custom parameter settings.
Working with Instruments and Effects 268 •From the plug-in’s Configure Mode (page 273), set up your desired collection of parameters •Open the [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu on the track header and select “Save as Default Configuration” If you have both VST and Audio Units versions of a particular plug-in installed, you can create separate default configuration presets for each type.
Working with Instruments and Effects 269 •Adjust parameters in any of the devices •Assign Macro Controls (page 298) to any of the controls in the chain’s devices •Drag the entire Drum Rack to the Defaults/Slicing folder in your User Library You can create multiple slicing presets and choose between them in the Slicing Preset chooser in the slicing dialog. Note that slicing is not available in the Intro and Lite Editions.
Working with Instruments and Effects 270 click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu options for saving default presets will save them to your main User Library, and so cannot be used to save Project-specific defaults. 17.2 Using Plug-Ins The collection of devices that you can use in Live can be extended with plug-ins. Live supports Steinberg Media’s VST plug-in format, as well as the Audio Units (AU) plug-in format (macOS only).
Working with Instruments and Effects 271 Note: The first time you start Live, no plug-ins will appear in the Plug-Ins label as you must first “activate“ your plug-in sources. Activating your plug-in sources tells Live which plug-ins you want to use and where they are located on your computer. Information on activating (and deactivating) plug-in sources can be found later in this chapter, in the sections on the VST Plug-In folder (page 276) and Audio Units Plug-Ins (page 279).
Working with Instruments and Effects 272 panel, which you can then configure to show the parameters you want to access. The plug-in’s original interface can be opened in a separate window (page 272). The Plug-In Unfold Button. You can view or hide the plug-in’s parameters by toggling the button in the plug-in’s title bar. The X-Y control field can be used to control two plug-in parameters at once and is therefore especially well-suited for live control.
Working with Instruments and Effects 273 keep the previous window(s) from closing. •Using the Auto-Hide Plug-In Windows preference, you can choose to have Live display only those plug-in windows belonging to the track that is currently selected. You can use the View menu’s Show/Hide Plug-In Windows command or the [CTRL][ALT][P](PC) / [CMD][ALT][P](Mac) shortcut to hide and show your open plug-in windows.
Working with Instruments and Effects 274 The parameters that you assign are unique for each instance of a given plug-in in your Set, and are saved with the Set. If you would like to save a setup using a particular collection of parameters, you can create a Rack (page 283) containing the configured plug-in. Racks can then be saved to your User Library and loaded into other Sets. You can also save a particular parameter configuration as a default preset (page 267).
Working with Instruments and Effects 275 •You can create custom info text for the plug-in. 17.2.2 Sidechain Parameters Normally, the signal being processed and the input source that triggers the plug-in device are the same signal. But by using sidechaining, it is possible to apply processing to a signal based on the level of another signal. In plug-in devices that support sidechaining, you can access the sidechain parameters on the left side of the device. Plug-In Sidechain Parameters.
Working with Instruments and Effects 276 17.3 VST Plug-Ins 17.3.1 The VST Plug-In Folder When you start Live for the first time, you will need to activate your VST plug-in sources before working with VST plug-ins. Depending on your computer platform, you may also have to tell Live about the location of the VST plug-in folder containing the devices you want to use.
Working with Instruments and Effects 277 Setting up VST Plug-In Sources for macOS. Set up your VST plug-ins under macOS by doing the following: 1. Your VST plug-ins will normally be installed in the following folder in your home and local directories: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST. You can turn Live’s use of these plug-ins on or off with the Use VST plug-ins in System Folders option. 2. You may have an alternative folder in which you store your VST plug-ins (perhaps those that you use only with Live).
Working with Instruments and Effects 278 will automatically make them unavailable, meaning that they will not appear in the browser and will not be rescanned again until they are reinstalled. 17.3.2 VST Presets and Banks Every VST plug-in instance “owns“ a bank of presets. A preset is meant to contain one complete set of values for the plug-in’s controls. To select a preset from the plug-in’s bank, use the chooser below the title bar. The number of presets per bank is fixed.
Working with Instruments and Effects 279 Windows only: Please select from the File Type filter in the Windows dialog whether you want to locate VST Presets (VST Program Files) or VST Banks (VST Bank Files). To save the currently selected preset as a file, click the VST Save Preset or Bank button to bring up a standard file-save dialog; select “VST Preset“ from the Format menu (Macintosh)/from the File Type menu (Windows); select a folder and name.
Working with Instruments and Effects 280 Activating Audio Units Plug-Ins. Audio Units plug-ins sometimes have a feature that allows choosing between different modes for the device. You might be able to choose, for example, between different levels of quality in the rendering of a reverb. Choosers for these device modes can only be accessed through the original plug-in panel, which is opened using the Show/Hide Plug-In Window button. Opening an Audio Units Plug-In Window.
Working with Instruments and Effects 281 compensation. To manually turn latency compensation on (or off), use the Delay Compensation option in the Options menu. When Delay Compensation is on, the Reduced Latency When Monitoring option is available in the Options menu. This option toggles latency compensation on and off for tracks which have input monitoring on.
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Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 283 Chapter 18 Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks Inside An Audio Effect Rack. A Rack is a flexible tool for working with effects, plug-ins and instruments in a track’s device chain. Racks can be used to build complex signal processors, dynamic performance instruments, stacked synthesizers and more. Yet they also streamline your device chain by bringing together your most essential controls.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 284 18.1 An Overview of Racks 18.1.1 Signal Flow and Parallel Device Chains Inside An Audio Effect Rack. In any of Live’s tracks, devices are connected serially in a device chain, passing their signals from one device to the next, left to right. By default, the Device View displays only a single chain, but there is actually no limit to the number of chains contained within a track. Racks allow (among other things) additional device chains to be added to any track.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 285 18.1.2 Macro Controls The Macro Controls. One unique property of Racks are their Macro Controls. The Macro Controls are a bank of eight knobs, each capable of addressing any number of parameters from any devices in a Rack.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 286 effects. In this case, all MIDI effects have to be at the beginning of the Instrument Rack’s device chain, followed by an instrument, and then any audio effects. •Drum Racks (page 294) are similar to Instrument Racks; they can contain instruments as well as MIDI and audio effects and their devices must be ordered according to the same signal flow rules.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 287 1 2 6 3 4 5 Components of a Drum Rack. 1. Racks have distinct views that can be shown or hidden as needed. Therefore, every Rack has a view column on its far left side that holds the corresponding view selectors. The actual view selectors available differ depending on whether an Instrument, Drum or Effect Rack is being used. 2. Macro Controls 3. Chain List. In Drum Racks, this view can include both drum chains and return chains. 4. Devices 5.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 288 appear. Simply select an entry from the list, and Live will select that device and move it into view for you. Navigate Racks Quickly Via a Context Menu. 18.4 Chain List The Chain List in an Audio Effect Rack. As signals enter a Rack, they are first greeted by the Chain List. We will therefore also choose this point for our own introduction.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 289 Note: Racks, chains and devices can be freely dragged into and out of other Racks, and even between tracks. Selecting a chain, then dragging and hovering over another Session or Arrangement View track will give that track focus; its Device View will open, allowing you to drop your chain into place.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 290 zones, which are discussed next, and is quite helpful when troubleshooting complex configurations. 18.5 Zones Zones are sets of data filters that reside at the input of every chain in an Instrument or Effect Rack. Together, they determine the range of values that can pass through to the device chain. By default, zones behave transparently, never requiring your attention. They can be reconfigured, however, to form sophisticated control setups.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 291 4. An incoming MIDI note gets compared to a chain’s key zone. If the MIDI note lies within the key zone, it is passed to the next zone for comparison; if it does not, then we already know that the note will not be passed to that chain’s devices. 5. The same comparisons are made for the chain’s velocity and chain select zones. If a note also lies within both of these zones, then it is passed to the input of the first device in that chain. 6.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 292 18.5.3 Velocity Zones The Velocity Zone Editor. Each chain in an Instrument Rack or MIDI Effect Rack also has a velocity zone, specifying the range of MIDI Note On velocities that it will respond to. The Velocity Zone Editor, when displayed, replaces the Key Zone Editor to the right of the Chain List. MIDI Note On velocity is measured on a scale of 1-127, and this value range spans the top of the editor.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 293 The chain select zone is a data filter just like the other zones; although all chains in a Rack receive input signals, only those with chain select zones that overlap the current value of the Chain selector can be addressed and thereby produce output. By default, the chain select zones of Instrument and MIDI Effect Racks filter only notes, ignoring all other incoming MIDI events (such as MIDI CCs).
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 294 Let’s move the chain select zones of the second and third chains so that each of our zones is occupying its own adjacent value: The first chain’s zone has a value of 0, the second chain’s zone has a value of 1, the third has a value of 2, and the fourth has a value of 3.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 295 1 2 3 4 The Chain List in a Drum Rack. 1. In addition to the standard selectors found on all Racks, Drum Racks have four additional controls in the view column. From top to bottom, these are toggles for the Input/Output, Send, and Return sections, and the Auto Select button. 2. Input/Output Section. The Receive chooser sets the incoming MIDI note to which the drum chain will respond. The list shows note names, MIDI note numbers and standard GM drum equivalents.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 296 18.6.1 Pad View Pad View. The Pad View is unique to Drum Racks and offers an easy way to map and manipulate samples and devices. Each pad represents one of the 128 available MIDI notes. The pad overview to the left shifts the set of visible pads up or down in groups of 16, either by dragging the view selector to a new area or by using your computer keyboard’s up and down arrow keys. Use the [ALT](PC) / [CMD](Mac) modifier to shift the view by single rows instead.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 297 Dragging a pad to another pad swaps the note mapping between the pads. This means that any MIDI clips triggering the affected notes will now play the “wrong“ sounds — although this might be exactly what you want. [ALT](PC) / [CMD](Mac)-dragging one pad to another will layer any chains from both pads in a nested Instrument Rack. You can always change your mappings from within the chain list as well, by adjusting the Receive choosers.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 298 18.7 Using the Macro Controls Making Macro Control Assignments in Map Mode. With the potential for developing complex device chains, Macro Controls keep things manageable by taking over the most essential parameters of a Rack (as determined by you, of course). Once you have set up your ideal mapping, the rest of the Rack can be hidden away. The Macro Control view’s dedicated Map button opens the door to this behavior.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 299 slider’s value. The current values can also be inverted by pressing [right-click](PC) / [CTRLclick](Mac) on the entry in the Mapping Browser. 5. Select another device parameter if you’d like to create more mappings, or click on the Map mode button once more to exit Macro Map Mode.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 300 Mixing Rack Chains in the Session View. Chains in the Session View mixer look similar to tracks, but they have no clip slots. Their mixing and routing controls mirror those found in the Rack’s chain list, so any changes made to these controls in either area will be reflected in the other immediately. Likewise, many chain operations such as reordering, renaming and regrouping can be performed from either the mixer or the chain list.
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks 301 in the mixer and drag it to the mixer’s drop area. This creates a new track with the full contents of the snare chain: both its devices and its MIDI data. If you would like to extract only the devices, drag from the chain list instead of from the mixer. Extracting Drum Chains in the Mixer Extracts MIDI Data.
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Automation and Editing Envelopes 303 Chapter 19 Automation and Editing Envelopes Often, when working with Live’s mixer and devices, you will want the controls’ movements to become part of the music. The movement of a control across the song timeline or Session clip is called automation; a control whose value changes in the course of this timeline is automated. Practically all mixer and device controls in Live can be automated, including the song tempo. 19.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 304 When Automation Arm is on, all changes of a control that occur while the Control Bar’s Arrangement Record button is on become Arrangement automation. Try recording automation for a control; for instance a mixer volume slider. After recording, play back what you have just recorded to see and hear the effect of the control movement. You will notice that a little LED has appeared in the slider thumb to indicate that the control is now automated.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 305 1 2 3 Controls for Recording Session Automation. 1. Enable the Automation Arm button to prepare for automation recording. 2. Activate the Arm button for the tracks onto which you want to record. Clip Record buttons will appear in the empty slots of the armed tracks. 3. Click the Session Record button to begin recording automation. It is also possible to record automation into all playing Session clips, regardless of whether or not they are in armed tracks.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 306 The Session Automation Recording Preference. This allows you to, for example, overdub Session automation into an existing MIDI clip without also recording notes into the clip. Any automation in Session View becomes track-based automation when clips are recorded or copied into Arrangement View. 19.2.1 Session Automation Recording Modes The automation recording behavior differs depending on how you adjust parameters while recording.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 307 but it’s easy to disable a control’s automation temporarily to avoid overwriting existing data: If you change an automated control’s value while not recording, the automation LED goes off to indicate the control’s automation is inactive. Any automation is therefore overridden by the current manual setting. When one or more of the automated controls in your Live Set are not active, the Control Bar’s Re-Enable Automation button lights up. The Re-Enable Automation Button.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 308 Here is how automation editing works in the Arrangement: 3 1 5 8 6 2 4 7 Automation Envelopes in the Arrangement View. 1. To show automation envelopes, enable Automation Mode by clicking the toggle button above the track headers, or using the [A] shortcut to the View menu item. Note that you can disable Automation Mode by pressing the toggle button or [A] shortcut key again. 2.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 309 Once an envelope has been selected on the track, several new buttons appear: 6. The button moves the envelope into its own automation lane below the clip. You can then select another automation parameter from the choosers to view it simultaneously. Holding [CTRL](PC) / [CMD](Mac) while pressing the button moves the selected envelope, as well as all automated envelopes, into their own automation lane(s) below the clip.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 310 Drawing an Envelope. Drawing creates steps as wide as the visible grid, which you can modify using a number of handy shortcuts (page 115). Holding down the [Shift] modifier while dragging vertically allows you to adjust the automation value of a step at a finer resolution. For freehand drawing, you can hide the grid using the Snap to Grid Options menu entry or the [CTRL][4](PC) / [CMD][4](Mac) shortcut.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 311 A Breakpoint’s Automation Value. •Click and drag a breakpoint to move it to the desired location. If the breakpoint you are dragging is in the current selection, all other breakpoints in the selection will follow the movement. When dragging a breakpoint, a thin black vertical line will appear to help you see where your breakpoint is positioned in relation to the grid lines.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 312 •When moving a line segment or breakpoint, hold [Shift] while dragging to restrict movement to either the horizontal or vertical axis. •Holding down the [Shift] modifier while dragging vertically allows you to adjust the breakpoint or line segment value at a finer resolution. •Hold [ALT](PC) / [ALT](Mac) and drag a line segment to curve the segment. Double-click while holding [ALT](PC) / [ALT](Mac) to return the segment to a straight line. A Curved Envelope Segment.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 313 While Dragging a Handle, A Rectangle Indicates the Amount of Stretching or Skewing. •Dragging the left and right center handles lets you stretch the automation along the horizontal axis. Dragging over existing breakpoints outside the time selection will remove them. If you hold [Shift] while stretching, these breakpoints will be moved in proportion to the movement of the handle.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 314 The Simplify Envelope Command Removes Unnecessary Breakpoints. Make a time selection on the automation you wish to simplify, and choose Simplify Envelope in the [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu. 19.5.5 Inserting Automation Shapes Automation Shapes Inserted into an Envelope. Automation shapes can help you quickly create complex rhythmic automation patterns, as well as more subtle, slow-paced movements like swells, builds and drops.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 315 The Two Rows Contain Different Types of Automation Shapes. There are two types of automation shapes. In the top row of available shapes, you’ll find several common waveforms: sine, triangle, sawtooth, inverse sawtooth and square. When inserted, these shapes will be scaled horizontally to the time selection and vertically to the automated parameter range. If there is no time selection, the shapes will be scaled horizontally to the current grid size.
Automation and Editing Envelopes 316 19.5.7 Edit Menu Commands When working with automation data in the Arrangement View, several Edit menu commands behave differently depending on whether or not your selection is within the clip track or its automation lanes. Cut, Copy, Duplicate or Delete commands applied to an envelope selection within a single lane will only apply to this envelope. The clip itself and other automation that occurs in that time selection will be unaffected.
Clip Envelopes 317 Chapter 20 Clip Envelopes Every clip in Live can have its own clip envelopes. The aspects of a clip that are influenced by clip envelopes change depending upon clip type and setup; clip envelopes can do anything from representing MIDI controller data to automating or modulating device parameters. In this chapter, we will first look at how all clip envelopes are drawn and edited, and then get into the details of their various applications. 20.
Clip Envelopes 318 The Clip View’s Envelopes Box. The top menu is the Device chooser, which selects a general category of controls with which to work. Device chooser entries are different for different kinds of clips: •Audio clips have entries for “Clip” (the clip’s sample controls), every effect in the track’s device chain, and the mixer. •MIDI clips have entries for “MIDI Ctrl“ (MIDI controller data), every device in the track’s device chain, and the mixer.
Clip Envelopes 319 20.2 Audio Clip Envelopes Clip envelopes extend Live’s “elastic“ approach to audio and, in conjunction with Live’s audio effects, turn Live into a mighty sound-design tool. Using clip envelopes with audio clips, you can create an abundance of interesting variations from the same clip in real time — anything from subtle corrections to entirely new and unrelated sounds. 20.2.
Clip Envelopes 320 The fast way to do this is by enabling Draw Mode (page 309) and drawing steps along the grid. Deactivate Draw Mode to edit breakpoints and line segments. This is useful for smoothing the coarse steps by horizontally displacing breakpoints. The Transposition Envelope with Steps (Top) and Ramps (Bottom). Note that the warp settings determine how accurately Live’s time-warping engine tracks the envelope shape.
Clip Envelopes 321 20.2.3 Muting or Attenuating Notes in a Sample Select “Clip” in the Device chooser and “Volume Modulation” in the Control chooser. By drawing steps in Draw Mode or creating shapes with breakpoints, you can impose an arbitrary volume shape onto the sample. Imposing a Volume Envelope on a Sample. The volume envelope’s output is interpreted as a relative percentage of the clip volume slider’s current value.
Clip Envelopes 322 easier to perform using Live’s Arrangement View, and the results can easily be consolidated into new clips. Repeating Steps and Slowing Time with the Sample Offset Envelope. Some sample offset envelope gestures have a characteristic effect: a downward “escalator“ shape, for instance, effectively repeats the step at the envelope’s beginning.
Clip Envelopes 323 you distinguish between these, automation envelopes are colored in red, whereas modulation envelopes are colored in blue. Additionally, in parameters with knob controls, automation moves the absolute position (or the “needle”), whereas modulation is indicated by the blue segment on the ring. (Note: when the “Live 9” Theme (page 32) is in use, modulation envelopes and knob indicators are shown in orange.
Clip Envelopes 324 LEDs Indicate Existing Automation and Modulation Envelopes for the Selected Parameter. 20.3.1 Modulating Mixer Volumes and Sends Notice that there are actually two modulation envelopes that affect volume: Clip Volume Modulation and Track Volume Modulation. The latter is a modulation for the mixer’s gain stage and therefore affects the post-effect signal. To prevent confusion, a small dot below the mixer’s volume slider thumb indicates the actual, modulated volume setting.
Clip Envelopes 325 Modulating a Send. The Blue Segment of the Send Knob’s Position Ring Indicates the Modulated Value. 20.3.2 Modulating Pan The Pan modulation envelope affects the mixer pan stage in a relative way: The pan knob’s position determines the intensity of the modulation. With the pan knob set to the center position, modulation by the clip envelope can reach from hard left to hard right; the modulation amount is automatically reduced as you move the pan knob towards the left or right.
Clip Envelopes 326 of the listed controllers by drawing steps or using breakpoints. You can also edit clip envelope representations of controller data that is imported as part of your MIDI files or is created while recording new clips: names of controllers that already have clip envelopes appear with an adjacent LED in the Clip Envelope Control chooser. Live supports most MIDI controller numbers up to 119, accessible via the scroll bar on the right side of the menu.
Clip Envelopes 327 3 1 4 2 Using a Clip Envelope to Create a Fade-Out Over Several Repetitions of a Loop. 1. Choose the Clip or Mixer Volume envelope, and unlink it from the sample. The clip envelope’s loop braces now appear colored to indicate this envelope now has its own local loop/region settings. The loop/region controls in the Envelopes box “come to life.“ If you toggle the envelope’s Loop switch, you’ll notice the Sample box’s Loop switch is not affected.
Clip Envelopes 328 We depart from the clip we just set up to fade out over eight bars. Activate the clip volume envelope’s Loop switch. Now, as you play the clip, you can hear the eight-bar fade-out repeating. You can draw or edit any envelope to superimpose onto the sample loop.
Clip Envelopes 329 20.5.4 Clip Envelopes as LFOs If you are into sound synthesis, you may want to think of a clip envelope with a local loop as an LFO. This LFO is running in sync with the project tempo, but it is also possible to set up a loop period odd enough to render the envelope unsynchronized. By hiding the grid, you can adjust the clip envelope loop start and end points completely independent of meter grid.
Clip Envelopes 330
Working with Video 331 Chapter 21 Working with Video Live’s flexible architecture makes it the perfect choice for scoring to video. You can trim video clips to select parts of them and use Warp Markers to visually align music in the Arrangement View with the video. You can then render (page 74) your edited video file along with your audio. Before diving in, you will want to be familiar with the concepts presented in the Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping chapter (page 155).
Working with Video 332 21.2 The Appearance of Video in Live 21.2.1 Video Clips in the Arrangement View A video clip in the Arrangement View looks just like an audio clip, except for the “sprocket holes“ in its title bar. A Video Clip in the Arrangement View. For the most part, video clips in the Arrangement View are treated just like audio clips. They can be trimmed, for example, by dragging their right or left edges.
Working with Video 333 21.2.2 The Video Window The Video Window in the Arrangement View. The Video Window is a separate, floating window that always remains above Live’s main window. It can be dragged to any location you like, and it will never get covered up by Live. You can toggle its visibility with a command in the View menu. The Video Window can be resized by dragging its bottom right-hand corner.
Working with Video 334 Setting a Video Clip as Tempo Leader. Remember from the Audio Clips, Tempo, and Warping chapter (page 155) that, although any number of warped Arrangement clips can have the Tempo Leader option activated, only the bottom-most, currently playing clip is the actual tempo leader. This also means that it is possible for video clips that are not the current tempo leader to become warped, resulting in warped video output in the Video Window.
Working with Video 335 ment View. 2. Drag a QuickTime movie from Live’s browser and drop it into an audio track in the Arrangement View. The Video Window will appear to display the video component of the movie file. (Remember that you can move this window to any convenient location on the screen.) 3. Now that the video clip is loaded, drag an audio clip into the Arrangement View’s drop area. A new track will automatically be created for it.
Working with Video 336 1. First, we drop a movie file at the start of the Arrangement (1.1.1). A Video Clip at the Start of the Arrangement. 2. Next, we double-click on the video clip’s title bar to display its contents in the Clip View. There, we drag the Start Marker to the right so the video clip starts at the beginning of the action. Dragging the Start Marker behind the Pre-Roll. 3. Now, both the action and the music to be composed start at 1.1.1 / 00.00.00.00.
Working with Video 337 The Video Clip and the Final Clip of Music. 5. Now, we click on the video clip’s title bar (to deselect everything else), then drag the video clip’s left edge to the left as far as possible to reveal the pre-roll again. The Video Clip with Pre-Roll Restored.
Working with Video 338
Live Audio Effect Reference 339 Chapter 22 Live Audio Effect Reference Live comes with a selection of custom-designed, built-in audio effects. The Working with Instruments and Effects chapter (page 259) explains the basics of using effects in Live. 22.1 Amp The Amp Effect. (Note: the Amp effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Amp is an effect that emulates the sound and character of seven classic guitar amplifiers.
Live Audio Effect Reference 340 •Boost is based on the ”Tremolo” channel of the same amp, and is great for edgy rock riffs. •Blues is based on a ’70s-era guitar amp with a bright character. This classic amp is popular with country, rock and blues guitarists. •Rock is modeled after a classic 45 watt amp from the ’60s. This is perhaps the best known rock amp of all time. •Lead is based on the ”Modern” channel of a high-gain amp popular with metal guitarists.
Live Audio Effect Reference 341 22.1.1 Amp Tips Because Amp is modeled on real-world analog devices, its behavior can sometimes be difficult to predict. Here are some tips on getting the most out of Amp: Amps and Cabinets Guitar amps are designed to be used with accompanying speaker cabinets. For this reason, Amp comes with a companion effect called Cabinet (page 348) which is designed to be used after Amp in a device chain. If you’re looking for authenticity, we recommend this signal flow.
Live Audio Effect Reference 342 22.2 Auto Filter The Auto Filter Effect. The Auto Filter effect provides classic analog filter emulation. It can be modulated by an envelope follower and/or an LFO to create moving filter effects. The envelope follower can track either the filtered signal or an external sidechain source. Auto Filter offers a variety of filter types including lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, and a special Morph filter.
Live Audio Effect Reference 343 The most important filter parameters are the typical synth controls Frequency and Resonance. Frequency determines where in the harmonic spectrum the filter is applied; Resonance boosts frequencies near that point. When using the lowpass, highpass, or bandpass filter with any circuit type besides Clean, there is an additional Drive control that can be used to add gain or distortion to the signal before it enters the filter.
Live Audio Effect Reference 344 The Gain knob adjusts the level of the external sidechain’s input, while the Dry/Wet knob allows you to use a combination of sidechain and original signal as the envelope follower’s trigger. With Dry/Wet at 100%, the envelope follower tracks the sidechain source exclusively. At 0%, the sidechain is effectively bypassed. Note that increasing the gain does not increase the volume of the source signal in the mix.
Live Audio Effect Reference 345 Legacy Filters If you open a Set that was created in a version of Live older than version 9.5, any instance of Auto Filter in the Set will open with legacy filters in place of the filters discussed previously. These consist of 12 dB or 24 dB lowpass, bandpass and highpass filters, as well as a notch filter, and do not feature a Drive control. Each Auto Filter loaded with the legacy filters shows an Upgrade button in the title bar.
Live Audio Effect Reference 346 Though both LFOs run at the same frequency, the Phase control lends the sound stereo movement by offsetting their waveforms relative to each other. Set this to ”180”, and the LFOs will be perfectly out of phase (180 degrees apart), so that when one reaches its peak, the other is at its minimum. Phase is particularly effective for creating vibrato effects. The Offset control shifts the start point of each LFO along its waveform.
Live Audio Effect Reference 347 Gate defines the total length of all repetitions in sixteenth notes. If Gate is set to ”4/16”, the repetitions will occur over the period of one beat, starting at the position defined by Interval and Offset. Activating the Repeat button bypasses all of the above controls, immediately capturing material and repeating it until deactivated. The Grid control defines the grid size — the size of each repeated slice.
Live Audio Effect Reference 348 22.5 Cabinet The Cabinet Effect. (Note: the Cabinet effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Cabinet is an effect that emulates the sound of five classic guitar cabinets. Developed in collaboration with Softube, Cabinet uses physical modelling technology to provide a range of authentic sounds, with optimized mics and mic positioning. The Speaker chooser allows you to select from a variety of speaker sizes and combinations.
Live Audio Effect Reference 349 Near Off-Axis Near On-Axis Far Cabinet Mic Positions. The switch below the Microphone chooser toggles between a Dynamic and Condenser mic. Dynamic mics are a bit grittier and commonly used when close-micing guitar cabinets because they are capable of handling much higher volumes. Condenser mics are more accurate, and are commonly used for micing from a distance. Of course, Cabinet’s virtual condenser mic won’t be damaged by high volume levels, so feel free to experiment.
Live Audio Effect Reference 350 Multiple mics A common studio technique is to use multiple mics on a single cabinet, and then adjust the balance during mixing. This is easy to do by using Live’s Audio Effect Racks (page 283).
Live Audio Effect Reference 351 The Mid parameter controls the gain of a sweepable bell filter. Unlike the Low and High parameters, Mid has a range of +/- 12 dB. The frequency slider located above the Mid control allows you to set the center frequency of this filter from 120 Hz to 7.5 kHz. When boosting, the High parameter controls the gain of a high shelf filter, up to 15 dB. When attenuating, the shelving filter is combined with a low-pass filter.
Live Audio Effect Reference 352 22.7 Chorus The Chorus Effect. The Chorus effect uses two parallel time-modulated delays to create chorus (thickening) and flanging effects. Each delay has its own delay time control, calibrated in milliseconds. Delay 1 has a highpass filter that can remove low frequencies from the delayed signal. Greater highpass values let only very high frequencies pass through to Delay 1. Delay 2 can switch among three different modes. When off, only Delay 1 is audible.
Live Audio Effect Reference 353 The Feedback control determines how much of the output signal feeds back into the input, while the Polarity switch sets (surprise!) the polarity. Polarity changes have the most effect with high amounts of feedback and short delay times. The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to 100 percent when using Chorus in a return track.
Live Audio Effect Reference 354 The orange Gain Reduction meter shows how much the gain is being reduced at any given moment. The more reduction, the more audible the effect; a gain reduction above 6 dB or so might produce the desired loudness, but significantly alters the sound and is easily capable of destroying its dynamic structure. This is something that cannot be undone in later production steps.
Live Audio Effect Reference 355 This view is useful for setting the Knee parameter, which is visible as a pair of dotted lines around the threshold. Compressor’s Transfer Curve. •The Activity view shows the level of the input signal in light gray. In this mode, the GR and Output switches toggle between showing the amount of gain reduction in orange or the output level in a darker gray. These views are useful for visualizing what’s happening to the signal over time.
Live Audio Effect Reference 356 A slight amount of attack time (10-50 ms) allows peaks to come through unprocessed, which helps preserve dynamics by accentuating the initial portion of the signal. If these peaks cause overloads, you can try shortening the attack time, but extremely short times take the ”life” out of the signal, and may lead to a slight “buzziness” caused by distortion.
Live Audio Effect Reference 357 22.8.1 Sidechain Parameters The Compressor Device With Sidechain Section. Normally, the signal being compressed and the input source that triggers the compressor are the same signal. But by using sidechaining, it is possible to compress a signal based on the level of another signal or a specific frequency component. To access the Sidechain parameters, unfold the Compressor window by toggling the button in its title bar.
Live Audio Effect Reference 358 output, and is only a trigger for the compressor, this temporary listening option can make it much easier to set sidechain parameters and hear what’s actually making the compressor work. 22.8.2 Compression Tips This section presents some tips for using Compressor effectively, particularly with the sidechain options. Mixing a Voiceover Sidechaining is commonly used for so-called ”ducking” effects.
Live Audio Effect Reference 359 Live Sets that use Compressor and which were made in earlier versions of Live will show an Upgrade button in the title bar of each instance of Compressor when loading the Set in Live 9. Press the Upgrade button in order to upgrade that Compressor instance to the latest, improved algorithms. Note that this may cause your Set to sound different. 22.9 Corpus The Corpus Effect. (Note: the Corpus effect is not available in the Intro, Standard and Lite Editions.
Live Audio Effect Reference 360 Enabling Off Decay causes MIDI note off messages to mute the resonance. The slider below the switch determines the extent to which MIDI note off messages mute the resonance. At 0%, note offs are ignored, and the decay time is based only on the value of the Decay parameter, which is located under the Resonance Type selector. This is similar to how real-world mallet instruments such as a marimbas and glockenspiels behave.
Live Audio Effect Reference 361 •Beam simulates the resonance properties of beams of different materials and sizes. •Marimba, a specialized variant of the Beam model, reproduces the characteristic tuning of marimba bar overtones which are produced as a result of the deep arch-cut of the bars. •String simulates the sound produced by strings of different materials and sizes. •Membrane is a model of a rectangular membrane (such as a drum head) with a variable size and construction.
Live Audio Effect Reference 362 The Brightness control adjusts the amplitude of various frequency components. At higher values, higher frequencies are louder. This parameter is not used with the Pipe or Tube resonators. Inharm. (Inharmonics) adjusts the pitch of the resonator’s harmonics. At negative values, frequencies are compressed, increasing the amount of lower partials. At positive values, frequencies are stretched, increasing the amount of upper partials.
Live Audio Effect Reference 363 22.10 Delay The Delay Effect. The Delay provides two independent delay lines, one for each channel (left and right). To refer delay time to the song tempo, activate the Sync switch, which allows using the Delay Time beat division chooser. The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th notes. For example, selecting ”4” delays the signal by four 16th notes, which equals one beat (a quarter note) of delay. If the Sync switch is off, the delay time reverts to milliseconds.
Live Audio Effect Reference 364 Filter frequency and delay time can be modulated by an LFO, making it possible to achieve a range of sounds from light chorus-like effects through to heavy contorted noise. The Rate slider sets the frequency of the modulation oscillator in Hertz. The Filter slider adjusts the amount of modulation that is applied to the filter, and the Time slider adjusts the amount of modulation that is applied to the delay time.
Live Audio Effect Reference 365 er to 100%. Select the Fade transition mode and make sure Ping Pong is disabled. Set the Dry/ Wet control to 80% or above. Chorus Effect Disable the Stereo Link switch, set the left channel’s delay time to 12ms, and adjust the right channel’s delay time to 17ms. Dial the Feedback to 60%. Enable the bandpass filter, set the Filter Frequency to 750 Hz, and adjust the Width slider to 6.5.
Live Audio Effect Reference 366 There are three types of distortion which can be applied to the input signal. Each distortion type adds an increasing degree of distortion, while lending its own character to the overall sound: •Soft: waveshaping distortion •Medium: limiting distortion •Hard: clipping distortion with bass boost For more intensity, it is possible to drive the input prior to distorting it. The Drive control lets you determine how much drive is applied to the input signal.
Live Audio Effect Reference 367 The Boom knob adjusts the amount of low-end enhancement that the resonant filter produces. The Bass Meter lets you see the Boom’s effect on the signal, which can be particularly useful if you can’t hear it. The Freq knob adjusts the frequency of the low-end enhancer. Force To Note lets you tune the low-end enhancer by setting its frequency to the value of the nearest MIDI note. The Decay control adjusts the decay rate of the low frequencies.
Live Audio Effect Reference 368 Three tube models, A, B and C, provide a range of distortion characteristics known from real amplifier tubes. Tube A does not produce distortions if Bias is set low, but will kick in whenever the input signal exceeds a certain threshold, creating bright harmonics. Tube C is a very poor tube amp that produces distortions all the time. The qualities of Tube B lie somewhere between these two extremes.
Live Audio Effect Reference 369 22.13 Echo The Echo Effect. (Note: the Echo effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Echo is a modulation delay effect that lets you set the delay time on two independent delay lines, while giving you control over envelope and filter modulation. The Channel Mode buttons let you choose between three different modes: Stereo, Ping Pong and Mid/Side.
Live Audio Effect Reference 370 The Feedback parameter defines how much of each channel’s output signal feeds back into the delay lines’ inputs. The “Ø“ button inverts each channel’s output signal before adding it back to their inputs. 22.13.1 Echo Tab The Echo tab provides a visualization and control of the delay lines and filter parameters. Echo’s Tunnel Visualization. The Echo Tunnel’s circular lines represent the individual repeats, progressing from the outside of the tunnel to its center.
Live Audio Effect Reference 371 The Filter toggle enables a high-pass and low-pass filter. The HP slider adjusts the cutoff frequency of the high-pass filter and the adjacent Res slider adjusts the high-pass filter’s resonance. The LP slider adjusts the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter, and you can use the Res slider on the right side to adjust the low-pass filter’s resonance. The Filter Display makes it possible to visualize the filter curves.
Live Audio Effect Reference 372 Mod Delay adjusts the amount of modulation that is applied to the delay time. Modulation x4 scales the delay time modulation depth by a factor of four. With short delay times, this produces deep flanging sounds. Mod Filter adjusts the amount of modulation that is applied to the filter. Env Mix blends between the modulation oscillator and an envelope follower. At 100%, only the envelope’s modulation will be heard. At 0%, only the LFO’s modulation will be heard. 22.13.
Live Audio Effect Reference 373 When enabled, Wobble adds an irregular modulation of the delay time to simulate tape delays. You can adjust the Amount of wobble added to the signal, and Morph between different types of wobble modulation. Repitch causes a pitch variation when changing the delay time, similar to the behavior of hardware delay units. When Repitch is disabled, changing the delay time creates a crossfade between the old and new delay times.
Live Audio Effect Reference 374 22.14 EQ Eight The EQ Eight Effect. (Note: the EQ Eight effect is not available in the Intro and Lite Editions.) The EQ Eight effect is an equalizer featuring up to eight parametric filters per input channel, useful for changing a sound’s timbre. The input signal can be processed using one of three modes: Stereo, L/R and M/S. Stereo mode uses a single curve to filter both channels of a stereo input equally.
Live Audio Effect Reference 375 •Notch (sharply cuts frequencies within a narrow range); •High shelf (boosts or cuts frequencies higher than the specified frequency); •12 or 48 dB/octave High cut (cuts frequencies above the specified frequency). Each filter band can be turned on or off independently with an activator switch below the chooser. Turn off bands that are not in use to save CPU power. To achieve really drastic filtering effects, assign the same parameters to two or more filters.
Live Audio Effect Reference 376 To temporarily solo a single filter, enable Audition mode via the headphone icon. In Audition mode, clicking and holding on a filter dot allows you to hear only that filter’s effect on the output. You can also select a band for editing by clicking near its number and then edit parameter values with the Freq, Gain and Q dials (and/or type values into the number fields below each dial).
Live Audio Effect Reference 377 22.15 EQ Three The EQ Three Effect. If you have ever used a good DJ mixer you will know what this is: An EQ that allows you to adjust the level of low, mid and high frequencies independently. Each band can be adjusted from -infinite dB to +6 dB using the gain controls. This means that you can completely remove, for example, the bass drum or bassline of a track, while leaving the other frequencies untouched.
Live Audio Effect Reference 378 0.00 dB. This is typical behavior for this kind of filter, and is part of EQ Three’s unique sound. If you need a more linear behavior choose 24 dB Mode or use the EQ Eight. 22.16 Erosion The Erosion Effect. The Erosion effect degrades the input signal by modulating a short delay with filtered noise or a sine wave. This adds noisy artifacts or aliasing/downsampling-like distortions that sound very ”digital.
Live Audio Effect Reference 379 22.17 External Audio Effect The External Audio Effect. (Note: the External Audio Effect is not available in the Intro and Lite Editions.) The External Audio Effect is a bit different than Live’s other effects devices. Instead of processing audio itself, it allows you to use external (hardware) effects processors within a track’s device chain.
Live Audio Effect Reference 380 Since hardware effects introduce latency that Live cannot automatically detect, you can manually compensate for any delays by adjusting the Hardware Latency slider. The button next to this slider allows you to set your latency compensation amount in either milliseconds or samples.
Live Audio Effect Reference 381 termined by the filter settings. The feedback from each of the three delays is also routed back through the filters. Each of the three delays can be switched on and off independently. The Filter Delay device assigns delay 1 to the input signal’s left channel, delay 2 to the left and right channels and delay 3 to the right channel.
Live Audio Effect Reference 382 22.19 Flanger The Flanger Effect. (Note: the Flanger effect is not available in the Lite Edition.) Flanger uses two parallel time-modulated delays to create flanging effects. Flanger’s delays can be adjusted with the Delay Time control. The Feedback control sends part of the output signal back through the device input, while the Polarity switch (”+” or ”-”) sets the polarity. Delay Time and Feedback can be changed simultaneously using the effect’s X-Y controller.
Live Audio Effect Reference 383 Spin detunes the two LFO speeds relative to each other. Each delay is modulated at a different frequency, as determined by the Spin amount. Adjusting the HiPass control will cut low frequencies from the delayed signal. The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to 100 percent if using Flanger in a return track. Hi-Quality mode can be toggled on or off via a [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu entry.
Live Audio Effect Reference 384 By changing the Mode from Shift to Ring, Frequency Shifter switches from classical frequency shifting to ring modulation. In Ring mode, the selected frequency amount is added to and subtracted from the input. For example, if the incoming audio signal (A) is a sine wave at 440 Hz and the Frequency is set to 100 Hz (B), the output will contain partials at 340 Hz (A-B) and 540 Hz (A+B).
Live Audio Effect Reference 385 this up an octave, we multiply these frequencies by two, resulting in new frequencies at 880 Hz and 1760 Hz. 22.20.1 Frequency Shifter Tips Frequency shifting and ring modulation can produce some very interesting sounds. Here are some tips for using the Frequency Shifter device. Drum tuning Tuning sampled acoustic drums can be tricky.
Live Audio Effect Reference 386 22.21 Gate The Gate Effect. (Note: the Gate effect is not available in the Lite Edition.) The Gate effect passes only signals whose level exceeds a user-specified threshold. A gate can eliminate low-level noise that occurs between sounds (e.g., hiss or hum), or shape a sound by turning up the threshold so that it cuts off reverb or delay tails or truncates an instrument’s natural decay. As of Live 9, Gate’s internal behavior has been subtly improved.
Live Audio Effect Reference 387 With the Flip button enabled, the gate works in reverse; the signal will only pass if its level is below the threshold. A gate can only react to an input signal once it occurs. Since it also needs to apply an attack/ release envelope, the gating is always a bit too late. A digital gate can solve this problem by simply delaying the input signal a little bit. Gate offers three different Lookahead times: zero ms, one ms and ten ms.
Live Audio Effect Reference 388 These can either be frequencies in the signal to be gated or, by using the EQ in conjunction with an external sidechain, frequencies in another track’s audio. The headphones button between the external and EQ sections allows you to listen to only the sidechain input, bypassing the gate’s output.
Live Audio Effect Reference 389 compressor to return to normal operation after the signal falls below the threshold. The Release knob’s values are in seconds. When Release is set to A (Auto), the release time will adjust automatically based on the incoming audio. The Glue Compressor’s Auto Release actually uses two times - a slow one as a base compression value, and a fast one to react to transients in the signal.
Live Audio Effect Reference 390 22.22.1 Sidechain Parameters The Glue Compressor With Sidechain Section. Normally, the signal being compressed and the input source that triggers the compressor are the same signal. But by using sidechaining, it is possible to compress a signal based on the level of another signal or a specific frequency component. To access the Sidechain parameters, unfold the Glue Compressor window by toggling the button in its title bar.
Live Audio Effect Reference 391 Context Menu Options Oversampling can be toggled on or off via the [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) context menu. Enabling this option causes the Glue Compressor to internally process at two times the current sampling rate, which may reduce aliasing and transient harshness. There is a slight increase in CPU usage with Oversampling enabled. Note that with Oversampling enabled, the level may exceed 0 dB even with Soft clip enabled. 22.
Live Audio Effect Reference 392 note) of delay. With Sync Mode active, changing the Delay Time field percentage value shortens and extends delay times by fractional amounts, thus producing the ”swing” type of timing effect found in drum machines. If the Sync switch is off, the delay time reverts to milliseconds. In this case, to edit the delay time, click and drag up or down in the Delay Time field, or click in the field and type in a value.
Live Audio Effect Reference 393 22.24 Limiter The Limiter Effect. (Note: the Limiter effect is not available in the Lite Edition.) The Limiter effect is a mastering-quality dynamic range processor that ensures that the output does not exceed a specified level. Limiter is ideal for use in the Master track, to prevent clipping. A limiter is essentially a compressor with an infinite ratio. (For more information about compression theory, see the manual entry for the Compressor device (page 348).
Live Audio Effect Reference 394 The meter gives a visual indication of how much gain reduction is being applied to the signal. Note that any devices or channel faders that appear after Limiter may add gain. To ensure that your final output will never clip, place Limiter as the last device in the Master track’s device chain and keep your Master fader below 0 dB. 22.25 Looper The Looper Effect. (Note: the Looper effect is not available in the Lite Edition.
Live Audio Effect Reference 395 the length of the originally recorded material. The Play button plays back the current state of Looper’s buffer without recording any new material. The Stop button stops playback. The behavior of the transport controls changes depending on whether or not Live’s playback is running. With the transport running, Looper behaves like a clip, and is subject to launch quantization as determined by the Quantization chooser (page 53).
Live Audio Effect Reference 396 Stopped Clear Record Empty Click Play Overdub Undo/Redo Doubleclick Hold Diagram of Looper’s Multi-Purpose Transport Button Behavior Looper’s Multi-Purpose Transport Button is optimized for use with a MIDI footswitch. To assign a footswitch, enter MIDI Map Mode (page 588), click the button and then press your attached footswitch. Then exit MIDI Map Mode.
Live Audio Effect Reference 397 record until you press another transport button. If you specify a fixed number of bars to record by selecting another option in the chooser, Looper will record for the specified time and then switch to Play or Overdub, as determined by the button next to this chooser. •Song not running: If Looper’s Record Length chooser is set to the default ”x bars,” Looper will make a guess about the tempo of the material you’ve recorded as soon as you press Overdub, Play or Stop.
Live Audio Effect Reference 398 The Speed knob adjusts Looper’s playback speed (and thus pitch). The up and down arrow buttons to the left are shortcuts to raise or lower the pitch by octaves (thus doubling or halving the playback speed). These buttons are subject to the Quantization chooser setting. Enabling the Reverse button plays the previously recorded material backwards. Any material that you overdub after enabling Reverse will be played forward.
Live Audio Effect Reference 399 22.25.1 Feedback Routing Looper can be used as both a source and a target for internal routing (page 219) to other tracks. This allows you to, for example, create Looper overdubs that continually feed back through another track’s devices. To set this up: 1. Insert Looper on a track. 2. Record at least one pass of material into Looper. 3. Create another audio track. 4. In the new track’s top Audio From and Audio To choosers, select the track containing the Looper. 5.
Live Audio Effect Reference 400 (Note: the Multiband Dynamics effect is not available in the Intro and Lite Editions.) The Multiband Dynamics device is a flexible tool for modifying the dynamic range of audio material. Designed primarily as a mastering processor, Multiband Dynamics allows for upward and downward compression and expansion of up to three independent frequency bands, with adjustable crossover points and envelope controls for each band.
Live Audio Effect Reference 401 are above a threshold. Like upward compression, this technique is known as upward expansion and is much less common. This diagram shows that either type of expansion results in a signal with a larger dynamic range. upward expansion (uncommon) original dynamic range larger dynamic range original dynamic range larger dynamic range downward expansion (common) Downward and Upward Expansion.
Live Audio Effect Reference 402 22.26.2 Interface and Controls The High and Low buttons toggle the high and low bands on or off. With both bands off, the device functions as a single-band effect. In this case, only the Mid controls affect the incoming signal. The frequency sliders below the High and Low buttons adjust the crossovers that define the frequency ranges for each band.
Live Audio Effect Reference 403 In technical terms, lowering the volume in the block above the Above threshold applies downward compression, while raising it applies upward expansion. Likewise, lowering the volume in the block below the Below threshold applies downward expansion, while raising it applies upward compression. In all cases, you are adjusting the ratio of the compressor or expander. The thresholds and ratios of all bands can also be adjusted via the column to the right of the display.
Live Audio Effect Reference 404 22.26.3 Sidechain Parameters The Multiband Dynamics Device With Sidechain Section. Normally, the signal being processed and the input source that triggers the device are the same signal. But by using sidechaining, it is possible to apply dynamics processing to a signal based on the level of another signal or a specific frequency component. To access the Sidechain parameters, unfold the Multiband Dynamics window by toggling the button in its title bar.
Live Audio Effect Reference 405 Basic Multiband Compression By using only the upper thresholds, Multiband Dynamics can be used as a traditional ”downward” compressor. Adjust the crossover points to suit your audio material, then apply downward compression (by dragging down in the upper blocks in the display or by setting the numerical ratios to values greater than 1.
Live Audio Effect Reference 406 22.27 Overdrive The Overdrive Effect. (Note: the Overdrive effect is not available in the Intro and Lite Editions.) Overdrive is a distortion effect that pays homage to some classic pedal devices commonly used by guitarists. Unlike many distortion units, it can be driven extremely hard without sacrificing dynamic range. The distortion stage is preceded by a bandpass filter that can be controlled with an X-Y controller.
Live Audio Effect Reference 407 22.28 Pedal The Pedal Effect. (Note: the Pedal effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions). Pedal is a guitar distortion effect. In combination with Live’s Tuner (page 420), Amp (page 339) and Cabinet (page 348) effects, Pedal is great for processing guitar sounds. Pedal can also be used in less conventional settings, such as a standalone effect on vocals, synths or drums. The Gain control adjusts the amount of distortion applied to the dry signal.
Live Audio Effect Reference 408 The Bass control is a peak EQ, with a center frequency of 100 Hz. This is useful for boosting the “punch” in bass or drum sounds, or attenuating low frequencies of guitars. The Mid control is a three-way switchable boosting EQ. The Mid Frequency switch sets the center frequency and range of the Mid control. The center frequency is the middle of the frequency range that the Mid control operates upon.
Live Audio Effect Reference 409 22.28.1 Pedal Tips Positioning Pedal in the Device Chain The incoming signal will have an impact on how the distortion will respond. For example, adding a Compressor before Pedal in the device chain will give a more balanced end result. On the other hand, adding an EQ or filter with high gain and resonance settings before Pedal can yield a screaming distortion effect. Techno Kick Choose a suitable kick with a long decay (e.g., Kit-Core 909, with decay turned up).
Live Audio Effect Reference 410 Sub Warmer To add upper harmonics and warmth to a simple sub bass, choose the OD pedal, turn on the Sub switch and turn up the Bass control. Then, slowly increase the Gain until the desired effect is reached. You can then cut or boost the mid frequencies using the Mid control. 22.29 Phaser The Phaser Effect. (Note: the Phaser effect is not available in the Lite Edition.) Phaser uses a series of all-pass filters to create a phase shift in the frequency spectrum of a sound.
Live Audio Effect Reference 411 Phaser contains two LFOs to modulate filter frequency for the left and right stereo channels. The LFOs have six possible waveform shapes: sine, square, triangle, sawtooth up, sawtooth down and random. The extent of LFO influence on the filter frequency is set with the Amount control. LFO speed is controlled with the Rate control, which can be set in terms of hertz. Rate can also be synced to the song tempo and set in meter subdivisions (e.g., sixteenth notes).
Live Audio Effect Reference 412 If the downsample dial is set to ”1”, every input sample passes to the output and the signal does not change. If set to ”2”, only every second sample will be processed, so the result sounds a bit more ”digital.” The higher the number, the lower the resulting sample rate, and the more ”deconstructed” the sound. Downsampling is like applying a mosaic effect to an image: There’s a loss of information and sharp edges occur between the blocks.
Live Audio Effect Reference 413 This device consists of five parallel resonators that superimpose a tonal character on the input source. It can produce sounds resembling anything from plucked strings to vocoder-like effects. The resonators are tuned in semitones, providing a musical way of adjusting them. The first resonator defines the root pitch and the four others are tuned relative to this pitch in musical intervals. The input signal passes first through a filter, and then into the resonators.
Live Audio Effect Reference 414 22.32 Reverb The Reverb Effect. 22.32.1 Input Processing The input signal passes first through high and low cut filters, whose X-Y controller allows changing the band’s center frequency (X-axis) and bandwidth (Y-axis). Either filter may be switched off when not needed to save CPU power. Predelay controls the delay time, in milliseconds, before the onset of the first early reflection. This delays the reverberation relative to the input signal.
Live Audio Effect Reference 415 Spin applies modulation to the early reflections. The X-Y control accesses the depth and frequency of these modulations. A larger depth tends to provide a less-colored (more spectrally neutral) late diffusion response. If the modulation frequency is too high, doppler frequency shifting of the source sound will occur, along with surreal panning effects. Spin may be turned off, using the associated switch, for modest CPU savings. 22.32.
Live Audio Effect Reference 416 The Echo Density and Scale parameters provide additional control over the diffusion’s density and coarseness, and, when the room size is extremely small, have a large impact on the coloration contributed by the diffusion. The Chorus section adds a little modulation and motion to the diffusion. Like the Spin section, you can control the modulation frequency and amplitude, or turn it off. 22.32.
Live Audio Effect Reference 417 a nonlinear process, the incoming signal is reshaped to a greater or lesser degree depending upon its level at each moment in time. Incoming signals are first clipped to the dB level set by the Drive control. The meter on the right side of the display shows how much Saturator is influencing the signal. Signal shaping has six fixed modes: Analog Clip, Soft Sine, Medium Curve, Hard Curve, Sinoid Fold and Digital Clip.
Live Audio Effect Reference 418 filter, essentially an equalizer, is used for controlling higher frequencies. It is shaped with the Freq (cutoff frequency), Width and Depth controls. The Output control attenuates the level at the device output. When the Soft Clip switch is activated, Saturator will also apply an instance of its ”Analog Clip” curve to the output. The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. Set it to 100 percent when using Saturator in a return track.
Live Audio Effect Reference 419 Channel determines which channel is analyzed — left, right or both. The Refresh slider determines how often Spectrum should perform an analysis. As with the Block parameter, this allows for a tradeoff between accuracy and CPU load. A fast response time is more accurate, but also more CPU intensive. The Avg slider allows you to specify how many blocks of samples will be averaged for each update of the display. With a setting of one, each block is shown.
Live Audio Effect Reference 420 22.35 Tuner The Tuner Device. Tuner analyzes and displays the incoming monophonic pitch as well as its distance from the nearest semitone. Based on classic guitar tuners, Tuner’s large display is designed for easy visibility on stage, and is perfect for tuning external instruments or synthesizers. Note that Tuner is not an audio effect, but rather a measurement tool — it does not alter the incoming signal in any way.
Live Audio Effect Reference 421 Tuner in Target Mode. In Strobe Mode, the curve becomes a rotating band of lights. The direction of rotation indicates whether the signal is sharp or flat. If the band rotates to the right, the incoming pitch is sharp, while flat signals cause the band to rotate to the left. The further your signal is out of tune, the faster the band will move. Tuner in Strobe Mode.
Live Audio Effect Reference 422 Tuner in Histogram View. Drag up or down in the display to scroll to different pitches, or drag horizontally to zoom in or out. With Auto enabled, the display will automatically adjust so that the incoming pitch is in the center of the display. The Reference slider allows you to change the tuning reference that Tuner uses when analyzing incoming signals.
Live Audio Effect Reference 423 Utility can perform some very useful tasks, especially in combination with other devices. There are two separate Phase controls, one for each input channel (Left and Right). As their names imply, they invert the phase of each channel. The Channel Mode chooser allows selective processing of the left and right channels of a sample. If, for example, Left is selected, the right channel is ignored and the left channel appears on both outputs.
Live Audio Effect Reference 424 The Mute button simply silences the incoming signal when enabled. Note: The active/mute controls of a track are always placed at the very end of the signal chain. However, since you can place Utility anywhere in a signal chain, you can use its mute function to cut the input of a delay line or reverb without turning off the output of these devices. The DC switch filters out DC offsets and extremely low frequencies that are far below the audible range.
Live Audio Effect Reference 425 The Pinch Effect section adds odd harmonics to the input signal. These distortions typically occur 180 degrees out of phase, creating a richer stereo image. The Pinch Effect has the same controls as the Tracing Model, but generates a rather different sound. The Drive control increases or decreases the overall distortion amount created by both the Tracing Model and Pinch. There are two distortion modes: Soft and Hard.
Live Audio Effect Reference 426 Vocoders work by running both the carrier and modulator signals through banks of bandpass filters. The output level of each of the modulator’s filters is then analyzed and used to control the volume of the corresponding filter for the carrier signal. Live’s Vocoder should be inserted on the track that contains the audio material you plan to use as your modulator.
Live Audio Effect Reference 427 Sens. sets the sensitivity of the unvoiced detection algorithm. At 100%, the unvoiced noise generator is always on. At 0%, only the main carrier source is used. The Fast/Slow switch adjusts how quickly Vocoder switches between unvoiced and voiced detection. Vocoder’s large central area shows the levels of the individual bandpass filters. Clicking within this display allows you to attenuate these levels. The Bands chooser sets the number of filters that will be used.
Live Audio Effect Reference 428 The Dry/Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals. 22.38.1 Vocoder Tips This section explains how to set up the most common Vocoder applications. Singing Synthesizer The classic vocoder application is the ”singing synthesizer.” To set this up in Live: 1. Insert Vocoder in the track that contains your vocal material.
Live Audio Effect Reference 429 1. Set the Carrier chooser to Modulator. 2. Set the Depth to 100%. 3. Enable Enhance. Now experiment with different settings of the Formant knob to alter the character of the source. For even more sound-sculpting possibilities, try adjusting the various filterbank parameters as well.
Live Audio Effect Reference 430
Live MIDI Effect Reference 431 Chapter 23 Live MIDI Effect Reference Live comes with a selection of custom-designed, built-in MIDI effects. The Working with Instruments and Effects chapter (page 259) explains the basics of using effects in Live. 23.1 Arpeggiator The Arpeggiator Effect. Live’s Arpeggiator effect takes the individual MIDI notes from a held chord (or single note), and plays them as a rhythmical pattern.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 432 23.1.1 Style and Rate Sections Arpeggiator’s Style chooser determines the sequence of notes in the rhythmical pattern. “Up“ and “Down“. “UpDown“ and “DownUp“. “Down & Up“ and “Up & Down“. “Converge“ and “Diverge“. “Con & Diverge“.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 433 “Pinky Up“ and “Pinky UpDown“. “Thumb Up“ and “Thumb UpDown“. Play Order places notes in the pattern according to the order in which they are played. This is therefore only recognizable when more than one chord or note has been played.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 434 chooser. Grooves in Arpeggiator behave similarly to grooves in clips, and the intensity of the groove is determined by the Amount slider in the Groove Pool (page 196). With the Hold parameter active, Arpeggiator will continue to play the pattern even after the keyboard keys have been released. The pattern will be repeated until any other key is pressed.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 435 a total of eight times, playing it in higher notes each time. (When Distance is set to a negative value, the sequence will transpose lower each time.) The dynamics of Arpeggiator are controlled using the velocity section. With Velocity set to “On“ and Target set to 0, for example, the sequence will gradually fade out, eventually reaching 0 velocity. The Decay control sets the amount of time Arpeggiator takes to reach the Target velocity.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 436 The order in which pitches are added to the chord is inconsequential: The effect of a +12 semitone shift added with the Shift 1 control, for example, is equal in effect to a +12 semitone shift added with the Shift 6 control. Note that no two notes of the same pitch can contribute to the chord, and that selecting the same shift value twice (e.g.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 437 On/Off Balance — This determines the velocity of the output note. It is a balance between the incoming note’s Note On and Note Off velocities. If your MIDI keyboard does not support MIDI Note Off velocity, you can just set this to zero. Decay Time — This is the time needed for an incoming note’s velocity to decay to zero. The decay begins immediately from the moment the device receives a MIDI Note On message.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 438 23.5 Random The Random Effect. Random adds an element of the unknown to the otherwise commonplace pitch parameter. The Chance control defines the likelihood that an incoming note’s pitch will be changed by a random value. You can think of it as being something like a dry/wet control for randomness.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 439 For example, with Chance set to 100 percent, Choices set to 12 and Scale set to 1, playing C3 once will trigger C3, and each successive C3 will trigger the next semitone higher until the device reaches C4, at which point it will start over at C3. But with Chance set to 100 percent, Choices set to 2 and Scale set to 2, incoming C3s will alternate between C3 and D3.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 440 The Transpose slider can raise or lower the pitch of incoming MIDI notes by +/- 36 semitones. You could, for example, shift a melody written in C major to G major by setting Transpose to +7 st. Fold makes it more convenient to create scales by automatically “folding“ back notes if their offset to the original note is greater than six semitones. For example, if Scale normally maps an incoming C3 to A3, enabling Fold will map C3 to A2 instead.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 441 notes are being output quietly, and vice versa. If instead, Out Hi is set to zero and Out Low to 127, the slope of the line will be reversed, and softly played notes will actually produce the loudest output. What happens to incoming notes that are outside of the range set with the Range and Lowest controls? This depends on which Mode is selected. •Clip Mode does just what it says: It clips incoming note velocities so that they stay within the range.
Live MIDI Effect Reference 442
Live Instrument Reference 443 Chapter 24 Live Instrument Reference Live comes with a selection of custom-designed, built-in instruments. The Working with Instruments and Effects chapter (page 259) explains the basics of using instruments in Live. 24.1 Analog The Analog Instrument. (Note: the Analog instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Analog is a virtual analog synthesizer, created in collaboration with Applied Acoustics Systems.
Live Instrument Reference 444 24.1.1 Architecture and Interface Analog’s signal flow is shown in the figure below: Filter 1 Oscillator 1 Amp 1 L R Oscillator 2 Pre Filter Mix LFO 1 Filter Env 1 Amp Env 1 Filter 2 Amp 2 Filter Env 2 Amp Env 2 Output LFO 1 L R L R LFO 2 LFO 2 Noise Diagram of Analog’s Signal Flow. The primary sound sources of the synthesizer are two oscillators and a noise generator.
Live Instrument Reference 445 24.1.2 Oscillators Display and Shell Parameters for the two Oscillators. Analog’s two oscillators use physical modelling to capture the character of vintage hardware oscillators. Because they use modelling instead of wavetables, they avoid aliasing. Each oscillator can be turned on or off independently via the switch labelled Osc 1 or Osc 2 in the shell, and the oscillator’s output level is adjusted by the slider to the right of this activator.
Live Instrument Reference 446 of space between the notes on the keyboard. At 0%, the oscillator is not modulated by note pitch at all. To get a sense of how this works, try leaving one of the oscillators at 100% and setting the other’s Key scaling to something just slightly different. Then play scales near middle C. Since C3 will always trigger the same frequency regardless of the Key value, the oscillators will get farther out of tune with each other the farther away from C3 you play.
Live Instrument Reference 447 The Noise generator produces white noise and includes its own -6db/octave low-pass filter. The generator can be turned on or off via the Noise switch in the shell. Its output level is adjusted by the slider to the right of this activator. The F1/F2 slider controls the balance of the noise generator’s output to each of the two filters. When the slider is at the center position, equal amounts of signal will be sent to both filters.
Live Instrument Reference 448 Below each mode chooser is an additional control which differs between the two filters. In Filter 1, the To F2 slider allows you to adjust the amount of Filter 1’s output that will be sent to Filter 2. The Follow switch below Filter 2’s mode chooser causes this filter’s cutoff frequency to follow the cutoff of Filter 1. If this is enabled, Filter 2’s cutoff knob controls the amount of offset between the two cutoff amounts.
Live Instrument Reference 449 In addition to the envelope controls, the displays for the amplifiers contain various modulation parameters. The Pan and Level amounts can be independently modulated by LFO, note pitch and amp envelope via the sliders in the Pan Mod and Level Mod sections respectively. Note that, when using note pitch as the modulation source for Level, middle C will always sound the same regardless of the modulation amount. Positive values will cause the level to increase for higher notes.
Live Instrument Reference 450 The S.Time slider can cause the Sustain level to decrease even if a key remains depressed. Lower values cause the Sustain level to decrease more quickly. Finally, the release time is set with the Release knob. This is the time it takes for the envelope to reach zero after the key is released. The Slope switches toggle the shape of the envelope segments between linear and exponential. This change is also represented in the envelope visualization.
Live Instrument Reference 451 24.1.7 LFOs Display and Shell Parameters for the two LFOs. Analog’s two LFOs can be used as modulation sources for the oscillators, filters and amplifiers. As with the other sections, each LFO has independent parameters. The LFO 1 and LFO 2 switches in the shell toggle the respective LFO on and off, while the Rate knob sets the LFO’s speed. The switch next to this knob toggles the Rate between frequency in Hertz and tempo-synced beat divisions.
Live Instrument Reference 452 24.1.8 Global Parameters Display and Shell Parameters for the Global Options. The Global shell and display parameters adjust how Analog responds to MIDI data, as well as controls for performance parameters such as vibrato and glide. The Volume control in the shell adjusts the overall output of the instrument. This is the instrument’s master level, and can boost or attenuate the output of the amplifier sections.
Live Instrument Reference 453 The Gli switch turns the glide effect on or off. This is used to make the pitch slide between notes rather than changing immediately. With Legato enabled, the sliding will only occur if the second note is played before the first note is released. The Time slider sets the overall speed of the slide. Turning on the glide effect enables an additional Glide Mode chooser in the display. Selecting Const causes the glide time to be constant regardless of interval.
Live Instrument Reference 454 Note that the Quick Routing options do not affect any changes you may have made to the oscillator level, tuning or waveform parameters — they only adjust the routing of the oscillators to the filters and subsequent amplifiers. 24.2 Collision The Collision Instrument. (Note: the Collision instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Collision is a synthesizer that simulates the characteristics of mallet percussion instruments.
Live Instrument Reference 455 The LFO tab contains two independent low-frequency oscillators (LFOs), which can each modulate multiple parameters. Similarly, the MIDI tab allows for MIDI pitch bend, modulation wheel and aftertouch messages to be routed to multiple destinations. To the right of the resonators is a section of global parameters, including overall output volume, polyphony and resonator routing options.
Live Instrument Reference 456 The Stiffness knob adjusts the hardness of the mallet. At low levels, the mallet is soft, which results in fewer high frequencies and a longer, less distinct impact. As you increase the stiffness, the impact time decreases and high frequencies increase. This parameter can also be modulated by pitch and velocity via the Key and Vel sliders. The Color knob sets the frequency of the noise component. At higher values, there are less low frequencies in the noise.
Live Instrument Reference 457 The attack time — how quickly Noise reaches full volume — is set with the A (Attack) slider, while the time it takes for the envelope to reach the sustain level after the attack phase is set by the D (Decay) slider. The S (Sustain) slider sets the level at which the envelope will remain from the end of the decay phase to the release of the key. When this slider is set to 0, there is no sustain phase. With it set to 100, there is no decay phase.
Live Instrument Reference 458 adjusted with the linked control. Dragging the parameter to its absolute maximum or minimum value will make the settings thereafter identical, adjustable as a single value. Tuning Section Resonator Tuning Parameters. The Tune and Fine knobs function as coarse and fine tuning controls. Tune moves up or down in semitone increments, while Fine adjusts in increments of one cent (up to a maximum of one quarter tone (50 cents) up or down).
Live Instrument Reference 459 Physical Properties Section Physical Properties of the Resonator. The type chooser allows you to select from seven types of physically modeled resonant objects: •Beam simulates the resonance properties of beams of different materials and sizes. •Marimba, a specialized variant of the Beam model, reproduces the characteristic tuning of marimba bar overtones which are produced as a result of the deep arch-cut of the bars.
Live Instrument Reference 460 This is similar to how real-world mallet instruments such as a marimbas and glockenspiels behave. At 100%, the resonance is muted immediately at note off, regardless of the Decay time. The Material slider adjusts the variation of the damping at different frequencies. At lower values, low frequency components decay slower than high frequency components (which simulates objects made of wood, nylon or rubber).
Live Instrument Reference 461 Mixer Section Resonator Mixer. Each resonator has its own Volume and Pan controls. Pan can also be modulated by note pitch via the K (Key) slider below the knob. The Bleed control mixes a portion of the original oscillator signal with the resonated signal. At higher values, more of the original signal is applied. This is useful for restoring high frequencies, which can often be damped when the tuning or quality are set to low values. 24.2.4 LFO Tab Collision’s LFOs.
Live Instrument Reference 462 The switch next to the waveform chooser toggles the LFO’s rate between frequency in Hertz and tempo-synced beat divisions. Depth sets the overall intensity of the LFO, while Rate adjusts its speed. The sliders below these parameters allow for additional modulations; Depth can be modulated by velocity while Rate can be modulated by note pitch. With Retrig. enabled, triggering a note restarts the LFO with the waveform phase set by the Offset parameter.
Live Instrument Reference 463 The Global Section Collision’s Global Section. The global section contains the parameters that relate to the overall behavior and performance of Collision. The Volume knob acts as Collision’s master output control. Collision contains a built-in limiter that automatically activates when the audio level is too high. This is indicated by the LED above Collision’s global Volume control.
Live Instrument Reference 464 Mallet Noise Resonator 1 Resonator 2 Resonators in 1 + 2 (Parallel) Configuration. The Voices chooser sets the available polyphony. Since each voice that’s used requires additional CPU, you may need to experiment with this chooser to find a good balance between playability and performance, particularly on older machines. With Retrig. enabled, notes which are already sounding will be immediately stopped when retriggered, rather than generating an additional voice.
Live Instrument Reference 465 Of course, to program unrealistic sounds, anything goes: •try using the Noise excitator, particularly with long envelope times, to create washy, quasigranular textures. These parameters can also be used to simulate special acoustic effects such as bowed vibraphones or crystal glasses. •experiment with the resonators in parallel (1 + 2) configuration. •use the LFOs and MIDI controllers to modulate Collision’s parameters.
Live Instrument Reference 466 with the real instruments to get some truly amazing new sounds that still retain a warm acoustic quality. 24.3.1 Architecture and Interface The mechanism of the electric piano is actually quite simple. A note played on the keyboard activates a mallet that hits a fork. The sound of that fork is then amplified by a magnetic coil pickup and sent to the output, very much like an electric guitar. The fork is made of two parts, called the tine bar and tone bar.
Live Instrument Reference 467 24.3.3 Fork Section The Fork section is further divided into Tine and Tone subsections. This area is the heart of Electric’s sound generating mechanism. The Tine subsection controls the portion of the fork that is directly struck by the mallet. The Decay knob adjusts how long it takes the tine’s sound to fade out while a note is held. The Color knob controls the relative amplitude of high and low partials in the tine’s spectrum.
Live Instrument Reference 468 24.3.5 Pickup Section The Pickup section simulates the behavior of the magnetic coil pickup that amplifies the sound of the resonating fork. The R-W buttons switch between two different types of pickups. In the R position, Electric simulates electro-dynamic pickups, while W is based on an electro-static model.
Live Instrument Reference 469 Electric will play in equal temperament, which means that two notes are an octave apart when the upper note’s fundamental pitch is exactly twice the lower note’s. But because the actual resonance behavior of a vibrating tine or string differs from the theoretical model, equal temperament tends to sound “wrong“ on pianos. Stretch tuning attempts to correct this by sharpening the pitch of upper notes while flattening the pitch of lower ones. The result is a more brilliant sound.
Live Instrument Reference 470 ReWire Options Shown in the Routing Choosers. If another track in your set contains a multitimbral plug-in, you can select this track in the top chooser. In this case, the second chooser allows you to select a specific MIDI channel in the plug-in. The Audio From chooser provides options for returning the audio from the hardware synth, plugin, or ReWire device.
Live Instrument Reference 471 sible latency. In this case, be sure to switch back to milliseconds before changing your sample rate. Any latency introduced by devices within Live will be compensated for automatically, so the slider will be disabled when using the External Instrument Device to route internally. Latency adjustments when routing to ReWire devices will probably not be necessary, as most ReWireenabled programs also compensate automatically.
Live Instrument Reference 472 ping samples (page 71). Loaded samples can be deleted with your computer keyboard’s [Backspace] or [Delete] key. Imported samples are automatically mapped onto your MIDI keyboard, providing that it is plugged in and acknowledged by Live. C3 on the keyboard will trigger the leftmost sample, and the other samples will follow suit in the octave from C3 to C4.
Live Instrument Reference 473 24.5.3 Filter The Filter section offers a broad range of filter types, each of which can impart different sonic characteristics onto the sample by removing certain frequencies. The Frequency control defines where in the harmonic spectrum the filter is applied; the Resonance control boosts frequencies near that point. Filter Frequency can be modulated by either a random value or by MIDI note velocity. 24.5.
Live Instrument Reference 474 24.5.7 Individual Outputs When a new instance of Impulse is dragged into a track, its signal will be mixed with those of the other instruments and effects feeding the audio chain of the track. It can oftentimes make more sense to isolate the instrument or one of its individual drum samples, and send this signal to a separate track. Please see the Routing chapter (page 226) to learn how to accomplish this for Impulse’s overall signal or for Impulse’s individual sample slots.
Live Instrument Reference 475 level and frequency of all oscillators at once via the shell, and then adjust each individual oscillator’s envelope, waveform and other parameters in its display. Operator can be folded with the triangular button at its upper left. This is convenient if you do not need to access the display details. Operator Folded. Each of Operator’s oscillators can either output its signal directly or use its signal to modulate another oscillator.
Live Instrument Reference 476 noise. You can also draw your own waveforms via a partial editor. The instrument is made complete with an LFO, a pitch envelope and a filter section. Note that lots of “classic“ FM synthesizers create fantastic sounds without using filters at all, so we suggest exploring the possibilities of FM without the filter at first, and adding it later if necessary.
Live Instrument Reference 477 User Waveforms The “User“ entry in the Wave chooser allows you to create your own waveforms by drawing the amplitudes of the oscillator’s harmonics. You can also select one of the built-in waveforms and then edit it in the same way. The small display next to the Wave chooser gives a realtime overview of your waveform. When your mouse is over the Oscillator display area, the cursor will change to a pencil.
Live Instrument Reference 478 useful, for example, in creating live drum sounds. Fixed Mode also allows producing very low frequencies down to 0.1 Hz. Note that when Fixed Mode is active, the frequency of the oscillator is controlled in the shell with the Frequency (Freq) and Multiplier (Multi) controls. Operator includes a special Osc
Live Instrument Reference 479 filter, but this depends on the nature of the sound itself and cannot generally be predicted. If you want to familiarize yourself with the sound of aliasing, turn Tone up fully and play a few very high notes. You will most likely notice that some notes sound completely different from other notes. Now, turn Tone down and the effect will be reduced, but the sound will be less bright. 24.6.3 LFO Section Operator’s LFO Display and Shell Parameters.
Live Instrument Reference 480 The overall intensity of the LFO is set by the LFO Amount control in the shell. This parameter scales both the Dest. A and B amounts and can be modulated by note velocity via the display’s Amt
Live Instrument Reference 481 play a note a bit out of sync, it will repeat perfectly but stay out of sync. In Sync Mode however, the first repetition is quantized to the nearest 16th note and, as a result, all following repetitions are synced to the song tempo. Note that Sync Mode only works if the song is playing, and otherwise it will behave like Beat Mode.
Live Instrument Reference 482 24.6.5 Filter Section Operator’s Filter Display and Shell Parameters. Operator’s filters can be very useful for modifying the sonically rich timbres created by the oscillators. And, since the oscillators also provide you with the classic waveforms of analog synthesizers, you can very easily build a subtractive synthesizer with them. Operator offers a variety of filter types including lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, and a special Morph filter.
Live Instrument Reference 483 The most important filter parameters are the typical synth controls Frequency and Resonance. Frequency determines where in the harmonic spectrum the filter is applied; Resonance boosts frequencies near that point. When using the lowpass, highpass, or bandpass filter with any circuit type besides Clean, there is an additional Drive control that can be used to add gain or distortion to the signal before it enters the filter.
Live Instrument Reference 484 Legacy Filters If you open a Set that was created in a version of Live older than version 9.5, any instance of Operator in the Set will open with legacy filters in place of the filters discussed previously. These consist of 12 dB or 24 dB lowpass, bandpass and highpass filters, as well as a notch filter, and do not feature a Drive control. Each Operator loaded with the legacy filters shows an Upgrade button in the title bar.
Live Instrument Reference 485 24.6.7 Glide and Spread Operator’s Pitch Display and Shell Parameters. Operator includes a polyphonic glide function. When this function is activated, new notes will start with the pitch of the last note played and then slide gradually to their own played pitch. Glide can be turned on or off and adjusted with the Glide Time control in the pitch display.
Live Instrument Reference 486 Note that turning off the oscillators will not save CPU power. 24.6.9 Finally... Operator is the result of an intense preoccupation with FM synthesis and a love and dedication to the old hardware FM synthesizers, such as the Yamaha SY77, the Yamaha TX81Z and the NED Synclavier II. FM synthesis was first explored musically by the composer and computer music pioneer John Chowning in the mid-1960s.
Live Instrument Reference 487 Voices — This sets the maximum number of notes that can sound simultaneously. If more notes than available voices are requested, the oldest notes will be cut off. Retrigger (R) — When enabled, notes that are enabled will be retriggered, rather than generating an additional voice. Interpolation — This toggles the interpolation algorithm of the oscillators and the LFO. If turned off, some timbres will sound more rough, especially the noise waveform.
Live Instrument Reference 488 OSC Crossfade B/D — Crossfades the volumes of the B and D oscillators based on the value of the modulation source. OSC Feedback — Modulates the amount of feedback for all oscillators. Note that feedback is only applied to oscillators that are not modulated by other oscillators. OSC Fixed Frequency — Modulates the pitch of all oscillators that are in Fixed Frequency mode.
Live Instrument Reference 489 Pitch Shell and Display Pitch Envelope On — This turns the pitch envelope on and off. Turning it off if it is unused saves some CPU power. Pitch Envelope Amount (Pitch Env) — This sets the overall intensity of the pitch envelope. A value of 100% means that the pitch change is exactly defined by the pitch envelope’s levels. A value of -100% inverts the sign of the pitch envelope levels.
Live Instrument Reference 490 Filter Shell and Display Filter On — This turns the filter on and off. Turning it off when it is unused saves CPU power. Filter Type — This chooser selects from lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, and Morph filters. Circuit Type — This chooser selects from a variety of circuit types that emulate the character of classic analog synthesizers. Filter Frequency (Freq) — This defines the center or cutoff frequency of the filter.
Live Instrument Reference 491 Dry/Wet — This adjusts the balance between the dry signal and the signal processed by the waveshaper. LFO Shell and Display LFO On — This turns the LFO (low-frequency oscillator) on and off. Turning it off when it is unused saves some CPU power. LFO Waveform — Select from among several typical LFO waveforms. Sample and Hold (S&H) creates random steps, and Noise supplies bandpass-filtered noise. All waveforms are bandlimited to avoid unwanted clicks.
Live Instrument Reference 492 LFO Rate
Live Instrument Reference 493 Osc Feedback (Feedback) — An oscillator can modulate itself if it is not modulated by another oscillator. The modulation is dependent not only on the setting of the feedback control but also on the oscillator level and the envelope. Higher feedback creates a more complex resulting waveform. Osc Phase (Phase) — This sets the initial phase of the oscillator. The range represents one whole cycle.
Live Instrument Reference 494 Envelope Decay Time (Decay) — This sets the time it takes for a note to reach the sustain level from the peak level. For the oscillator envelopes, the shape of this segment of the envelope is exponential. For the filter and pitch envelopes, the shape of the segment can be adjusted. Envelope Release Time (Release) — This is the time it takes for a note to reach the end level after a note-off message is received.
Live Instrument Reference 495 er. Negative slope values cause the envelope to remain flat for longer, then move faster at the end. A slope of zero is linear; the envelope will move at the same rate throughout the segment. Attack Slope (A.Slope) — Adjusts the shape of the Attack envelope segment. Decay Slope (D.Slope) — Adjusts the shape of the Decay envelope segment. Release Slope (R.Slope) — Adjusts the shape of the Release envelope segment.
Live Instrument Reference 496 24.7 Sampler The Sampler Instrument. (Note: the Sampler instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions. Sampler users who want to share their presets with all Live users can convert their work to Simpler (page 522) presets. To do this, [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) on Sampler‘s title bar and choose the Sampler -> Simpler command.) Sampler is a sleek yet formidable multisampling instrument that takes full advantage of Live‘s agile audio engine.
Live Instrument Reference 497 multiple points within its critical sonic range. This typically means capturing the instrument at different pitches as well as different levels of emphasis (played softly, moderately, loudly, etc.). The resulting multisample is a collection of all the individually recorded sample files. The acoustic piano, for example, is a commonly multisampled instrument.
Live Instrument Reference 498 Sampler’s Title Bar Context Menu. Although Cut, Copy, Rename, Edit Info Text, and Delete should already be familiar, the other options deserve some explanation. Group — Selecting this will load Sampler into a new Instrument Rack. Fold — Folds Sampler so that only the device title bar is visible. Unfold quickly by double-clicking the device title bar. Show Preset Name — By default, Sampler takes the top-most sample in the sample layer list as its title.
Live Instrument Reference 499 Use Constant Power Fade for Loops — By default, Sampler uses constant-power fades at loop boundaries. Uncheck this to enable linear crossfades at looping points. Sampler -> Simpler — Converts Sampler presets to Simpler presets. 24.7.4 Sampler’s Tabs Sampler’s features are organized categorically into tabs (Zone, Sample, Pitch/Osc, Filter/Global, Modulation and MIDI), accessed from Sampler‘s title bar.
Live Instrument Reference 500 The Key Zone Editor. The Zone Editor opens in its own dedicated view, directly above the Device View. When used in conjunction with Sampler’s other tabs, this layout greatly accelerates the creation and editing of multisamples. On the left side of the Zone Editor is the sample layer list, where multisamples are organized. All of the individual samples belonging to a multisample are shown in this list, where they are referred to as layers.
Live Instrument Reference 501 Key Zone, Velocity Zone and Sample Select Editors. The Sample Layer List The Sample Layer List. All samples contained in the currently loaded multisample are listed here, with each sample given its own layer. For very large multisamples, this list might be hundreds of layers long! Fortunately, layers can be descriptively named (according to their root key, for example).
Live Instrument Reference 502 The Sample Layer List’s Context Menu Pressing [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) within the sample layer list opens a context menu that offers options for sorting and displaying the layers, distributing them across the keyboard and various other sample management and “housekeeping“ options. Delete — Deletes the currently selected sample(s). Duplicate — Duplicates the currently selected sample(s). Rename — Renames the selected sample.
Live Instrument Reference 503 Manage Sample — Opens the File Manager and selects the chosen sample. Normalize Volume — Adjusts Sampler’s Volume control so that the highest peak of each selected sample uses the maximum available headroom. Normalize Pan — Adjusts Sampler’s Pan control so that each selected sample has equal volume across the stereo spectrum.
Live Instrument Reference 504 Key zones define the range of MIDI notes over which each sample will play. Samples are only triggered when incoming MIDI notes lie within their key zone. Every sample has its own key zone, which can span anywhere from a single key up to the full 127. A typical multisampled instrument contains many individual samples, distributed into many key zones.
Live Instrument Reference 505 Sample Select Zones The Sample Select Editor. Each sample also has a Sample Select zone, which is a data filter that is not tied to any particular kind of MIDI input. Sample Select zones are very similar to the Chain Select Zones (page 292) found in Racks, in that only samples with sample select values that overlap the current value of the sample selector will be triggered. The Sample Select Editor, when toggled, appears alongside the sample layer list.
Live Instrument Reference 506 24.7.6 The Sample Tab The Sample Tab. The playback behavior of individual samples is set within the Sample tab. Most of this tab is dedicated to displaying the waveform of the currently selected sample. Hovering your mouse over the waveform will display relevant information about the sample in the Status Bar (bottom of screen). It is important to keep in mind that most of the values in this tab reflect the state of the currently selected sample only.
Live Instrument Reference 507 The Sample Chooser. Root Key (RootKey) — Defines the root key of the current sample. Detune — Sample tuning can be adjusted here by +/- 50 cents. Volume — A wide-range volume control, variable from full attenuation to a gain of +24 dB. Pan — Samples can be individually panned anywhere in the stereo panorama. Sample Playback All of the following parameters work in conjunction with the global volume envelope (in the Filter/Global tab) to create the basic voicing of Sampler.
Live Instrument Reference 508 Envelope End Level (End) — (LFO, Filter and pitch envelopes only) This is the level reached at the end of the Release stage. Envelope Rates
Live Instrument Reference 509 Sustain Mode — The optional Sustain Loop defines a region of the sample where playback will be repeated while the note is in the sustain stage of its envelope. Activating the Sustain Loop also allows the Release Loop to be enabled. This creates several playback options: No Sustain Loop — Playback proceeds linearly until either the Sample End is reached or the volume envelope completes its release stage.
Live Instrument Reference 510 Sustain Loop Release Loop Sustain and Release Loops. Release Loop — sets the start position of the Release Loop. The end of the Release Loop is the Sample End. The Release Loop Slider. Sustain- and Release-Loop Crossfade (Crossfade) — Loop crossfades help remove clicks from loop transitions. By default, Sampler uses constant-power fades at loop boundaries.
Live Instrument Reference 511 Sustain Crossfade Release Crossfade Sustain- and Release-Loop Crossfades. Sustain- and Release-Loop Detune (Detune) — Since loops are nothing more than oscillations, the pitch of samples may shift within a loop, relative to the loop’s duration. Tip: this is especially noticeable with very short loops. With Detune, the pitch of these regions can be matched to the rest of the sample. Sustain- and Release-Loop Detune Sliders.
Live Instrument Reference 512 in Browser, Manage Samples, Normalize Volumes and Normalize Pan are available. Additionally, you can zoom in or out of playing or looping regions, depending on which Sustain and Loop Modes are selected. Waveform Context Menu. Finally, a few options remain on the far-right side of the Sample tab. Vertical Zoom (slider) — Magnifies the waveform height in the sample display. This is for visual clarity only, and does not affect the audio in any way.
Live Instrument Reference 513 24.7.7 The Pitch/Osc Tab The Pitch/Osc Tab. The Modulation Oscillator (Osc) Sampler features one dedicated modulation oscillator per voice, which can perform frequency or amplitude modulation (FM or AM) on the multisample. The oscillator is fully featured, with 21 waveforms (available in the Type chooser), plus its own loopable amplitude envelope for dynamic waveshaping. Note that this oscillator performs modulation only — its output is never heard directly.
Live Instrument Reference 514 Fixed — When enabled, the modulation oscillator’s frequency will remain fixed at the rate determined by the Freq and Multi parameters, and will not change in response to incoming MIDI notes. Freq — With Fixed set to On, this rate is multiplied by the Multi parameter to determine the modulation oscillator’s fixed frequency. Multi — With Fixed set to On, the Freq parameter is multiplied by this amount to determine the modulation oscillator’s fixed frequency.
Live Instrument Reference 515 Transpose (Transp) — Global transpose amount, indicated in semitones. Detune — Global detune amount, indicated in cents. Key Zone Shift (Zn Shft) — This transposes MIDI notes in the Key Zone Editor only, so that different samples may be selected for playback, even though they will adhere to the played pitch. Good for getting interesting artifacts from multisamples.
Live Instrument Reference 516 The OSR circuit option is a state-variable type with resonance limited by a unique hard-clipping diode. This is modeled on the filters used in a somewhat rare British monosynth, and is available for all filter types. The MS2 circuit option uses a Sallen-Key design and soft clipping to limit resonance. It is modeled on the filters used in a famous semi-modular Japanese monosynth and is available for the lowpass and highpass filters.
Live Instrument Reference 517 up, the signal passes from the shaper to the filter; with the triangle pointing down, it passes from the filter to the shaper. Legacy Filters If you open a Set that was created in a version of Live older than version 9.5, any instance of Sampler in the Set will open with legacy filters in place of the filters discussed previously. These consist of 12 dB or 24 dB lowpass, bandpass and highpass filters, as well as a notch filter, and do not feature a Drive control.
Live Instrument Reference 518 The Pan slider is a global pan control (acting on all samples), while Pan
Live Instrument Reference 519 The Auxiliary Envelope On the left, the Auxiliary (Aux) envelope functions much like the envelopes in the Pitch/Osc tab, with Initial, Peak, Sustain and End levels, ADSR, Loop mode and slope points. This envelope can be routed to 29 destinations in both the A and B choosers. How much the Auxiliary envelope will modulate destinations A and B is set in the two sliders to the right.
Live Instrument Reference 520 Volume (Vol) — LFO 1 can modulate the global volume level. This slider determines the depth of the modulation on a 0-100 scale. Pan (Pan) — LFO 1 can modulate the global pan position. This slider determines the depth of the modulation on a 0-100 scale. Filter — LFO 1 can modulate the filters cutoff frequency (Freq in the Filter/Global tab). This slider determines the depth of the modulation on a 0-24 scale. Pitch — LFO 1 can modulate the pitch of samples.
Live Instrument Reference 521 LFOs 2 and 3. 24.7.10 The MIDI Tab The MIDI Tab. The MIDI tab’s parameters turn Sampler into a dynamic performance instrument. The MIDI controllers Key, Velocity, Release Velocity, Aftertouch, Modulation Wheel, Foot Controller and Pitch Bend can be mapped to two destinations each, with varying degrees of influence determined in the Amount A and Amount B sliders.
Live Instrument Reference 522 24.7.11 Importing Third-Party Multisamples Sampler can use multisamples created by a number of other software and hardware samplers. To import a third-party multisample, navigate to the file in Live‘s browser and drag it into a Live Set. This will import it into your User Library. Importing will create new Sampler presets, which you can find in the browser under User Library/Sampler/Imports.
Live Instrument Reference 523 processed by envelope, filter, LFO, volume and pitch components. But unlike a conventional sampler, Simpler includes some unique functionality inherited from Live’s clips. Specifically, Simpler can play back samples using Live’s warping. Warped samples will play back at the tempo of your Set, regardless of which note you play.
Live Instrument Reference 524 24.8.1 Playback Modes The most important parameter that determines how Simpler will treat samples is the mode switch, which is used to choose one of Simpler’s three playback modes. This switch is found on the left side of the Sample tab or along the bottom of the expanded sample view. Mode Switch in the Sample Tab. Mode Switch in the Expanded View.
Live Instrument Reference 525 a number of different options for how Simpler will automatically create slices. This mode is ideal for working with rhythmic drum breaks. Classic Playback Mode The Sample Tab in Classic Playback Mode. In Classic Playback Mode, the various sample position controls change which region of the sample you play back. These controls include the Start and Length parameters as well as the two “flags” that appear in the waveform display.
Live Instrument Reference 526 the left channel of stereo samples. It is therefore still possible, even with Snap activated, to encounter glitches with stereo samples. The transition from loop end to loop start can be smoothed with the Fade control, which crossfades the two points. This method is especially useful when working with long, textural samples. The Gain slider allows you to boost or cut the level of the sample.
Live Instrument Reference 527 With Trigger enabled, the sample will continue playing even after the note is released; the amount of time you hold the pad has no effect when Trigger is on. You can shape the volume of the sample using the Fade In and Fade Out controls. Fade In determines how long it takes the sample to reach its maximum volume after a note is played, while Fade Out begins a fade out the specified amount of time before the end of the sample region. Fade In and Fade Out Controls.
Live Instrument Reference 528 •Transient - Slices are placed on the sample’s transients automatically. The Sensitivity slider determines how sensitive Simpler is to transient levels within the sample, and thus how many slices will be automatically created. Higher numbers result in more slices, up to a maximum of 64 slices. •Beat - Slices are placed at musical beat divisions. The Division chooser selects the beat division at which Simpler will slice the sample region.
Live Instrument Reference 529 24.8.2 Warp Controls Simpler’s Warp Controls. When the Warp switch is off, Simpler behaves like a “conventional” sampler; as you play back the sample at different pitches, the sample plays back at different speeds. In some cases, this is exactly the effect that you want. But when working with samples that have their own inherent rhythm, you may want to enable Warp.
Live Instrument Reference 530 Simpler’s filter section offers a variety of filter types including lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, and a special Morph filter. Each filter can be switched between 12 and 24 dB slopes as well as a selection of analog-modeled circuit behaviors developed in conjunction with Cytomic that emulate hardware filters found on some classic analog synthesizers.
Live Instrument Reference 531 adjusted via the knobs or by dragging the filter response curve in the display area. Filter frequency can also be modulated by the following: •note velocity, via the Vel control in the filter’s display •note pitch, via the Key control in the filter’s display •filter envelope, via the Envelope control in the filter’s display. •LFO, via the Filter slider in the LFO section. Legacy Filters If you open a Set that was created in a version of Live older than version 9.
Live Instrument Reference 532 24.8.4 Envelopes Simpler’s Filter and Amplitude Envelope Controls. Simpler contains three classic ADSR envelopes, as seen in most synthesizers, for shaping the dynamic response of the sample. Amplitude, filter frequency, and pitch modulation are all modifiable by toggling their respective buttons in the envelope section. Attack controls the time in milliseconds that it takes for the envelope to reach its peak value after a note is played.
Live Instrument Reference 533 time it takes to move from the Sustain level to the initial value is defined by the Time parameter. For Beat and Sync modes, if a note is still held after the amount set in the Rate slider, the envelope will restart from its initial value. Simpler’s Amplitude Envelope Loop Chooser and Time Control. 24.8.5 LFO Simpler’s LFO Section. The LFO (low-frequency oscillator) section offers sine, square, triangle, sawtooth down, sawtooth up and random waveforms.
Live Instrument Reference 534 The Key parameter scales each LFO’s Rate in proportion to the pitch of incoming notes. A high Key setting assigns higher notes a higher LFO rate. If Key is set to zero, all voices’ LFOs have the same rate and may just differ in their phase. The Volume, Pitch, Pan, and Filter sliders determine how much the LFO will modulate the volume, pitch, pan, and filter, respectively. 24.8.6 Global Parameters Simpler’s Global Parameters.
Live Instrument Reference 535 modulate the Transpose parameter with clip envelopes and external controllers. For fine tuning of the pitch, use the Detune control, which can be adjusted +/- 50 cents. Simpler includes a glide function. When this function is activated, new notes will start from the pitch of the last note played and then slide gradually to their own pitch. Two glide modes are available: Glide, which works monophonically, and Portamento, which works polyphonically.
Live Instrument Reference 536 containing a Drum Rack rather than replacing the current Simpler. Additionally, when slicing to a new track, a clip is created that plays back the slices in order. For more about slicing, see the dedicated chapter for this topic (page 189). 24.8.8 Strategies for Saving CPU Power Real-time synthesis needs lots of computing power. However, there are strategies for reducing CPU load.
Live Instrument Reference 537 24.9 Tension The Tension Instrument. (Note: the Tension instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Tension is a synthesizer dedicated to the emulation of string instruments, and developed in collaboration with Applied Acoustics Systems. The synthesizer is entirely based on physical modeling technology and uses no sampling or wavetables.
Live Instrument Reference 538 the string is then transmitted to the body of the instrument, which can radiate sound efficiently. In some instruments, the string vibration is transmitted directly to the body through the bridge. In other instruments, such as the electric guitar, a pickup is used to transmit the string vibration to an amplifier.
Live Instrument Reference 539 friction, causing the string to alternate between sticking to the hair and breaking free. The frequency of this alternation between sticking and slipping determines the fundamental pitch. The Force knob adjusts the amount of pressure being applied to the string by the bow. The sound becomes more “scratchy“ as you increase this value. The friction between the bow and the string can be adjusted with the Friction control. Higher values usually result in a faster attack.
Live Instrument Reference 540 where the picking position is always basically the same regardless of the notes being played. On a piano, the excitator position is relative — the hammers normally strike the string at about 1/7th of their length — and so is best modelled with Fix. Pos turned off. The excitator’s position can additionally be modulated by velocity or note pitch, via the Vel and Key sliders. The Excitator section can be toggled on or off via the switch next to its name.
Live Instrument Reference 541 The Decay slider determines how long it takes for the resonating string to decay to silence. Higher values increase the decay time. The
Live Instrument Reference 542 The Damper Section Tension’s Damper Section. All string instruments employ some type of damping mechanism that mutes the resonating string. In pianos, this is a felt pad that is applied to the string when the key is released. In instruments such as guitars and violins, the player damps by stopping the string’s vibration with the fingers.
Live Instrument Reference 543 The Mass, Stiffness and Velocity parameters can be further modulated by note pitch, via the sliders below. The stiffness of the damper mechanism is adjusted with the Damping knob, which affects the overall amount of vibration absorbed by the damper. Lower values result in less damping (longer decay times.) But this becomes a bit less predictable as the Damping value goes over 50%. At higher values, the mechanism becomes so stiff that it bounces against the string.
Live Instrument Reference 544 The Pickup Section Tension’s Pickup Section. The Pickup section models an electromagnetic pickup, similar to the type found in an electric guitar or electric piano. The only control here is the Position slider, which functions similarly to this parameter in the Excitator and Damper sections. At 0%, the pickup is located at the string’s termination point, while at 50% it is under the midpoint of the string.
Live Instrument Reference 545 The body type chooser allows you to select from different body types modelled after physical instruments. The body size chooser sets the relative size of the resonant body, from extra small (XS) to extra large (XL). In general, as you increase the body size, the frequency of the resonance will become lower. You can further modify the body’s frequency response with the Hi Cut and Low Cut knobs. The decay time of the body’s resonance can be adjusted with the Decay knob.
Live Instrument Reference 546 Tension’s Filter section features a highly configurable multi-mode filter that sits between the String and Body sections. In addition, the filter can be modulated by a dedicated envelope generator and low-frequency oscillator (LFO). The filter’s chooser allows you to select the filter type. You can choose between 2nd and 4th order low-pass, band-pass, notch, high-pass and formant filters.
Live Instrument Reference 547 The LFO’s speed is set with the Rate knob. The switches below this knob toggle the Rate between frequency in Hertz and tempo-synced beat divisions. The entire Filter section can be toggled on or off via the switch next to its name. Global and Keyboard Parameters Tension’s Global and Keyboard Parameters.
Live Instrument Reference 548 creasing the Stretch amount raises the pitch of upper notes while lowering the pitch of lower ones. The result is a more brilliant sound. Negative values simulate “negative“ stretch tuning; upper notes become flatter while lower notes become sharper. The Error slider increases the amount of random tuning error applied to each note. Try very high values if you would like to relive your experiences from junior high school orchestra.
Live Instrument Reference 549 When programming Tension, it may help to think about the various sections as if they really are attached to a single, physical object. For example, a bow moving at a slow speed could perhaps excite an undamped string. But if that string is constricted by an enormous damper, the bow will need to increase its velocity to have any effect. To get a sense of what’s possible, it may help to study how the presets were made.
Live Instrument Reference 550 ing a note with the oscillator fixed to just one of these samples will produce a steady tone with a consistent timbre. But the real power of wavetable synthesis comes by moving between the various samples in the table as the note plays, which results in a shifting timbre. Wavetable synthesis is extremely well-suited for producing dynamic sounds that change over time. 24.10.2 Oscillators Wavetable’s oscillators have been optimized for maximum sound quality.
Live Instrument Reference 551 useful when loading files that have been prepared specifically for use as a wavetable. However, it can also be “misused” to create unpredictable, noisy or glitchy sounds. Wavetable’s Raw Mode Switch. The oscillator’s wavetable is visualized in the center of the oscillator tab. Clicking and dragging within the visualization will move to a different position within the wavetable. You can also change the wavetable position via the Wave Position slider.
Live Instrument Reference 552 width can be adjusted for all wavetables.) Sync applies a “hidden” oscillator that resets the phase of the audible oscillator, altering its timbre. •Modern — provides two additional options for distorting the shape of the waveform. Warp is similar to pulse width, while Fold applies wavefolding distortion. Note that the values of the two effects parameters don’t change when the effect type changes.
Live Instrument Reference 553 Wavetable’s Filters. Wavetable offers a variety of filter types including lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, and a special Morph filter. Each filter can be switched between 12 and 24 dB slopes as well as a selection of analog-modeled circuit behaviors developed in conjunction with Cytomic that emulate hardware filters found on some classic analog synthesizers. The Clean circuit option is a high-quality, CPU-efficient design that is the same as the filters used in EQ Eight.
Live Instrument Reference 554 The Morph filter has an additional Morph control which sweeps the filter type continuously from lowpass to bandpass to highpass to notch and back to lowpass. Filter routing allows you to arrange the filters in various configurations for drastically different sculpting techniques. You can choose from one of three different routings: •Serial — routes all oscillators into Filter 1, and routes Filter 1 into Filter 2. Sub is routed to both filters.
Live Instrument Reference 555 1. The outputs of a parameter’s modulation sources are summed together. 2. The summed modulation value is added to the current parameter value. Modulation values for additive modulation are centered around 0, with 0 being the “neutral” value. Additive modulation values can be negative or positive. Modulation sources that output negative and positive values are “bipolar” sources. Modulation sources that only output positive values are “unipolar” sources.
Live Instrument Reference 556 Wavetable’s Mod Sources Tab. Envelopes Wavetable’s envelopes (Amp, Env 2 and Env 3) can be modified using Time and Slope parameters, while Env 2 and Env 3 include additional Value controls. Note that you can adjust the Time, Slope and Value parameters by clicking and dragging the envelope display. Attack sets the time needed to travel from the initial value to the Peak value. The shape of this stage of the envelope is determined by the Attack Slope value.
Live Instrument Reference 557 The Final slider sets the value at the end of the Release stage. This control is not available for the amp envelope. The Loop Modes drop-down lets you choose from one of three modes: •None will hold the Sustain portion until a note off, and will not loop. •Trigger will play all segments once a note on is received. •Loop will loop the entire envelope without holding the Sustain, until the voice ends.
Live Instrument Reference 558 Amount adjusts the amount of LFO modulation that is applied to incoming signals. Note that this is a multiplicative modulation destination. The Offset slider offsets the phase of the LFO so that it starts at a different value. Note that Offset cannot be modulated. You can use the LFO Attack slider to adjust the time the LFO takes to fade in, when it has been triggered by a note on.
Live Instrument Reference 559 When Random is assigned, Wavetable will modulate target parameters by a random value, which is calculated each time a note is triggered. Click on a parameter in the instrument to make it appear temporarily in the matrix. If you apply modulation to this parameter, it will remain in the matrix. If no modulation is applied, the parameter will disappear from the matrix when you click another parameter. Note that the Matrix tab and MIDI tab share the same rows. 24.10.
Live Instrument Reference 560 channels. •Shimmer: the oscillator pitches are jittered at random intervals, giving a shimmering reverb-like effect. A small amount of wavetable offset is also applied for extra fullness. •Noise: pitches are jittered as in the Shimmer unison mode, but at a much faster rate, resulting in noisy breathy textures. A small amount of wavetable offset is applied for extra fullness.
Max for Live 561 Chapter 25 Max for Live Max for Live, an add-on product co-developed with Cycling ’74, allows users to extend and customize Live by creating instruments, audio effects, and MIDI devices. Max for Live can also be used to extend the functionality of hardware controllers and even modify clips and parameters within a Live Set. In addition to providing a comprehensive toolkit for building devices, Max for Live also comes with a collection of pre-made instruments, effects and tutorials.
Max for Live 562 The Path to the Max Installation. Once Live has found the external Max application, Max for Live should be ready for use. At this point, the Max content will begin to install into your Live Library. 25.2 Using Max for Live Devices Max for Live comes with a collection of instruments and effects which are ready for use. Max for Live devices appear in the Max Instrument, Max MIDI Effect and Max Audio Effect folders in the Max for Live label in the browser.
Max for Live 563 25.3 Editing Max for Live Devices Max devices (or “patches“) are constructed of objects that send data to each other via virtual cables. An empty Max Audio Effect, for example, already contains some of these elements: the plugin~ object passes all incoming audio to the plugout~ object, which then passes the audio on to any additional devices in the chain. A Default Max Audio Effect.
Max for Live 564 A Default Max Audio Effect in the Patcher. After editing, you should save your Max device before you use it in Live. This is done via the Save or Save As commands in Max’s File menu. Saving an edited device will automatically update all instances of that device that are used in your current Live Set. If you choose Save As, you will be asked whether or not the new version should update only the device that was originally opened for editing or all instances of the device in the Set.
Max for Live 565 One way in which Max for Live helps to deal with external dependencies is by allowing you to freeze a Max device. A frozen device contains all of the files that are needed to use it. Note that freezing of Max devices is not the same as Live’s Freeze Track command (page 725). To learn more about freezing, and about how Max deals with managing dependencies for its own files, we recommend reading the built-in Max documentation. 25.
Max for Live 566
Max for Live Devices 567 Chapter 26 Max for Live Devices Live comes with a selection of custom-designed, built-in Max for Live devices. The Working with Instruments and Effects chapter (page 259) explains the basics of using devices in Live. Max for Live devices have additional functionalities and editing possibilities, which are described in the Max for Live chapter (page 561). 26.1 Max for Live Instruments 26.1.1 DS Clang The DS Clang Instrument.
Max for Live Devices 568 The Tone A/B sliders let you set the volume for each cowbell tone independently. The Filter control sets the high-pass and band-pass filter cutoff, allowing you to change the color of the sound. At higher values, the signal has more high-frequency content. The Noise slider allows you to set the amount of white noise applied to the signal. When the Clave switch is activated, you can add repeats to the clave sound using the Repear slider.
Max for Live Devices 569 The Spread slider sets the stereo width of the clap. 0% yields a mono signal while 100% creates a widened stereo image. The Tone slider adjusts the color of the clap. At higher values, the signal has more high-frequency content. You can use the Tune parameter to change the pitch of the clap. The Decay knob sets the length of the clap, while the Volume control adjusts the overall level of the instrument.
Max for Live Devices 570 26.1.4 DS FM The DS FM Instrument. (Note: the DS FM instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Inspired by a classic Japanese FM synthesizer, DS FM lets you create a variety of effects, from static bursts to metallic lasers. The Tone slider in the display sets the low-pass filter cutoff, allowing you to change the color of the drum. At higher values, the signal has more high-frequency content. Feedb.
Max for Live Devices 571 26.1.5 DS HH The DS HH Instrument. (Note: the DS HH instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) DS HH is a blend of noise and sine waveforms, with which you can produce an number of sounds, from sharp closed hats to sizzling open hats. The Noise toggle lets you choose between two noise types: white or pink. The Tone slider in the display sets the high-pass filter cutoff, allowing you to change the color of the hat.
Max for Live Devices 572 26.1.6 DS Kick The DS Kick Instrument. (Note: the DS Kick instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) DS Kick is a kick drum synth with a modulated sine wave. The Pitch slider lets you tune the kick in Hz. You can shape the kick sound by adding distortion via the Drive slider, or adding harmonics using the OT slider. The Attack parameter smooths the sound of the sine wave. The Click switch adds a click sound to the kick, creating a sharper transient.
Max for Live Devices 573 26.1.7 DS Sampler The DS Sampler Instrument. (Note: the DS Sampler instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) DS Sampler makes use of your own samples to create a drum synth module. You can load a sample by dragging and dropping it onto the upper half of the display. The Start control adjusts the position of the sample start, while the Length slider sets the sample playback length. You can use the Tune slider to tune your sample by +/- 48 semitones.
Max for Live Devices 574 26.1.8 DS Snare The DS Snare Instrument. (Note: the DS Snare instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) DS Snare consists of a pitched oscillator and noise, providing a snare palette ranging from a traditional acoustic snare sound, to the gated noise snare often heard in electronic dance music. The Color parameter controls the tone of the pitched signal, while the Tone parameter controls the presence of the noise signal.
Max for Live Devices 575 26.1.9 DS Tom The DS Tom Instrument. (Note: the DS Tom instrument is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) DS Tom combines an impulse with several different pitched oscillator waveforms, allowing you to synthesize toms with various timbral qualities, from deep and thunderous to sharp and tappy. You can use the Pitch slider to tune the tom in Hz.
Max for Live Devices 576 26.2 Max for Live Audio Effects 26.2.1 Envelope Follower The Envelope Follower Effect. (Note: the Envelope Follower effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Envelope Follower uses a well-known technique which involves capturing a signal, smoothing and reshaping its amplitude course in order to obtain a more or less continuous curve, and finally mapping the curve to one or more control parameters.
Max for Live Devices 577 26.2.2 LFO The LFO Effect. (Note: the LFO effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) LFO is a parameter modulation LFO for Live-specific parameters and third party plug-in parameters. Activate the Map switch and click on a parameter in Live to assign that parameter as a mapping target. To assign an additional mapping target, click on the button at the top-right of the display, click any of the unassigned Map switches and click on another parameter in Live.
Max for Live Devices 578 To hold the current output value, activate the Hold switch. With the R (Retrigger) button enabled, the waveform restarts at the same position in its phase each time a note is triggered. With R disabled, the oscillator is free-running. 26.2.3 Shaper The Shaper Effect. (Note: the Shaper effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Shaper is a multi-breakpoint envelope which generates modulation data for musical expression.
Max for Live Devices 579 The smaller display on the top right provides an oscilloscope-style view of the output signal. The Jitter slider adds randomness to the waveform, while the Smooth control smooths value changes. The Rate control specifies the LFO speed. The switches to the right of the Rate control toggle between frequency in Hertz and tempo-synced beat divisions. Depth sets the overall intensity of the LFO. The phase of the oscillator can be shifted using the Phase control.
Max for Live Devices 580 click any of the unassigned Map switches and click on another parameter in Live. A total of eight parameters can be assigned. To unassign a parameter, click on the button to the right of its Map switch. For each modulated parameter, the Min and Max sliders let you scale the resulting output range after the modulation is applied. The Loop Mode drop-down lets you choose from one of four loop modes: •Free: the trigger rate is unaffected.
Max for Live Devices 581 26.3.2 Expression Control The Expression Control Effect. (Note: the Expression Control effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Expression Control is a parameter modulation device that allows for a wide variety of internal MIDI mappings. The MIDI controller’s Velocity, Modulation Wheel, Pitch Bend, Aftertouch and Keytrack can each be mapped to one destination.
Max for Live Devices 582 26.3.3 Note Echo The Note Echo Effect. (Note: the Note Echo effect is not available in the Intro, Lite and Standard Editions.) Note Echo is an echo delay effect that creates additional MIDI notes at specific time intervals with decreasing velocity, depending on feedback setting. Activate the Sync switch, which allows using the Delay Time beat division chooser. The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th notes.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 583 Chapter 27 MIDI and Key Remote Control To liberate the musician from the mouse, most of Live’s controls can be remote-controlled with an external MIDI controller and the computer keyboard. This chapter describes the details of mapping to the following specific types of controls in Live’s user interface: 1. Session View slots — Note that MIDI and computer key assignments are bound to the slots, not to the clips they contain. 2.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 584 our MIDI tracks. Let’s suppose that you are using a MIDI keyboard to play an instrument in one of Live’s MIDI tracks. If you assign C-1 on your MIDI keyboard to a Session View Clip Launch button, that key will cease playing C-1 of your MIDI track’s instrument, as it now ”belongs” solely to the Clip Launch button. MIDI keys that become part of remote control assignments can no longer be used as input for MIDI tracks.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 585 Instant Mappings In most cases, Live uses a standard method for mapping its functions and parameters to physical controls. This varies, of course, depending upon the configuration of knobs, sliders and buttons on the control surface. These feature-dependent configurations are known as instant mappings. Within Live’s built-in lessons, you will find a Control Surface Reference that lists all currently supported hardware, complete with the details of their instant mappings.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 586 Getting Hands-On: Control Surfaces Can Be Locked to Devices. A hand icon in the title bar of locked devices serves as a handy reminder of their status. Note: Some control surfaces do not support locking to devices. This capability is indicated for individual controllers in the Control Surface Reference lesson. Select the Help View option from the Help menu to access Live’s built-in lessons. 27.1.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 587 You can use any number of MIDI ports for remote mapping; Live will merge their incoming MIDI signals. When working with a control surface that provides physical or visual feedback, you will also need to enable the Remote switch for its output port. Live needs to be able to communicate with such control surfaces when a value has changed so that they can update the positions of their motorized faders or the status of their LEDs to match.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 588 Value Scaling — This option ensures smooth value transitions. It compares the physical control’s value to the destination parameter’s value and calculates a smooth convergence of the two as the control is moved. As soon as they are equal, the destination value tracks the control’s value 1:1. 27.2 The Mapping Browser The Mapping Browser. All manual MIDI, computer keyboard (page 593) and Macro Control (page 285) mappings are managed by the Mapping Browser.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 589 Once your remote control setup has been defined in the Link/MIDI Preferences, giving MIDI controllers and notes remote control assignments is simple: 1. Enter MIDI Map Mode by pressing the MIDI switch in Live’s upper right-hand corner. Notice that assignable elements of the interface become highlighted in blue, and that the Mapping Browser becomes available. If your browser is closed, [CTRL][ALT][B](PC) / [CMD][ALT][B](Mac) will open it for you. 2.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 590 27.2.3 Mapping to Absolute MIDI Controllers Absolute MIDI controllers send messages to Live in the form of absolute values ranging from 0 to 127. These values lead to different results depending on the type of Live control to which they are assigned. A value message of 127, for example, might turn the Volume control on a Live track all the way up or play a Session View clip.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 591 this, since its incremental message to Live would simply say, ”Pan slightly to the left of your current position.” There are four types of relative controllers: Signed Bit, Signed Bit 2, Bin Offset and Twos Complement. Each of these are also available in a ”linear” mode. Some MIDI encoders use ”acceleration” internally, generating larger changes in value when they are turned quickly.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 592 4 3 1 2 The Relative Session Mapping Strip. 1. Assign these buttons to keys, notes or controllers to move the highlighted scene up and down. 2. Assign this scene number value box to a MIDI controller — preferably an endless encoder — to scroll through the scenes. For details, see the previous section on Relative Map Modes (page 590). 3. Assign this button to launch the highlighted scene.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 593 27.2.5 Computer Keyboard Remote Control The Key Map Mode Switch. Creating control surface assignments for your computer keyboard is straightforward: 1. Enter Key Map Mode by pressing the KEY switch in the upper right-hand corner of the Live screen. Notice that the assignable elements of the interface become highlighted in red when you enter Key Map Mode. The Mapping Browser will also become available.
MIDI and Key Remote Control 594
Using Push 595 Chapter 28 Using Push Ableton Push is an instrument for song creation that provides hands-on control of melody and harmony, beats, sounds, and song structure. In the studio, Push allows you to quickly create clips that populate Live’s Session View as you work entirely from the hardware. On stage, Push serves as a powerful instrument for clip launching. Push’s controls are divided into a number of sections, as shown in the diagram below.
Using Push 596 There are also a number of videos that will help you get started with Push. These are available at https://www.ableton.com/learn-push/ 28.1 Setup Setting up the Push hardware is mostly automatic. As long as Live is running, Push will be automatically detected as soon as it is connected to a USB port on your computer. After connection, Push can be used immediately. It is not necessary to install drivers and Push does not need to be manually configured in Live’s Preferences. 28.
Using Push 597 In and Out Buttons. Navigate up via the Selection Control button (the first row below the display) in each column. Navigate down one folder via the State Control button for each level (the second row below the display). Samples and presets from official Packs or Live’s core library will preview when selected in the browser. To load a device preset, press the green button on the right. To load the default preset of the selected device, press the green button on the left.
Using Push 598 28.3 Playing and Programming Beats To create beats using Push, first make sure Note Mode is enabled. The Note Mode Button. Then use Browse Mode to load one of the Drum Rack presets from Live’s library. When working with a MIDI track containing a Drum Rack, Push 2’s 8x8 pad grid can be configured in a few different ways, depending on the state of the Note button. Pressing this button cycles between three different modes. 28.3.
Using Push 599 Step Sequencer Controls Drum Rack Pads Loop Length Controls The Pad Grid When Working With Drums The 16 Drum Rack pads are laid out, like Live’s Drum Rack, in the classic 4x4 arrangement, allowing for real-time playing. The Drum Rack pad colors indicate the following: •Bright yellow — this pad contains a sound. •Dull yellow — this pad is empty. •Green — this pad is currently-playing. •Light Blue — this pad is selected. •Dark blue — this pad is soloed. •Orange— this pad is muted.
Using Push 600 Octave Up/Down Buttons. 28.3.2 16 Velocities Mode Press the Layout button to switch to the 16 Velocities layout. In this mode, the bottom right 16 pads represent 16 different velocities for the selected Drum Rack pad. Tap one of the velocity pads to enter steps at that velocity. Holding the Note button gives you momentary access to the loop length controls (page 616). You can also lock the loop length controls in place by holding Shift and pressing the Note button.
Using Push 601 28.3.4 Loading Individual Drums Browse Mode can also be used to load or replace individual pads within a loaded Drum Rack. To switch between browsing Drum Racks and single pads, press the Device button to show the devices on the track. Device Button. By default, the Drum Rack is selected, as indicated by the arrow in the display. To select an individual pad instead, tap that pad, then press the selection button below the pad’s name. Selecting an Individual Pad in a Drum Rack.
Using Push 602 28.3.5 Step Sequencing Beats Tapping a pad also enables it for step sequencing. (Tip: to select a pad without playing it, press and hold the Select button while tapping a pad.) Select Button. To record notes with the step sequencer, tap the pads in the step sequencer controls to place notes in the clip where you want them. The clip will begin playing as soon as you tap a step.
Using Push 603 As the clip plays, the currently playing step is indicated by the moving green pad in the step sequencer section. (When Record is enabled, the moving pad will be red.) Tapping a step that already has a note will delete that note. Press and hold the Mute button while tapping a step to deactivate it without deleting it. Press and hold Solo button while tapping a pad to solo that sound. Mute and Solo Buttons.
Using Push 604 The pad colors in the step sequencer section indicate the following: •Unlit — this step doesn’t contain a note. •Blue — this step contains a note. Darker blues indicate higher velocities. •Dull yellow — this step contains a note, but the note is muted. •Light Red — the right two columns of pads will turn red if triplets are selected as the step size. In this case, these pads are not active; only the first six pads in each row of steps can be used.
Using Push 605 Metronome Button. •Then Press the Record button to begin recording Record Button. Now any Drum Rack pads you play will be recorded to the clip. Pressing Record again will stop recording but will continue playing back the clip. Pressing Record a third time will enable overdub mode, allowing you to record into the clip while it plays back. Subsequent presses continue to toggle between playback and overdub.
Using Push 606 New Button. 28.3.7 Fixed Length Recording Press the Fixed Length button to set the size of new clips to a predetermined length.
Using Push 607 Fixed Length Button. Press and hold Fixed Length to set the recording length. Fixed Length Recording Options. When Fixed Length is disabled, new clips will continue to record until you press the Record, New or Play/Stop buttons. Tip: enabling Fixed Length while recording will switch recording off and loop the last few bars of the clip, depending on the Fixed Length setting.
Using Push 608 28.4 Additional Recording Options 28.4.1 Recording with Repeat With Push’s Repeat button enabled, you can hold down a pad to play or record a stream of continuous, rhythmically-even notes. This is useful for recording steady hi-hat patterns, for example. Varying your finger pressure on the pad will change the volume of the repeated notes. Repeat Button. The repeat rate is set with the Scene/Grid buttons. Note that Push “remembers” the Repeat button’s state and setting for each track.
Using Push 609 Swing Knob. 28.4.2 Quantizing Pressing Push’s Quantize button will snap notes to the grid in the selected clip. Quantize Button.
Using Push 610 Quantization Options. Swing Amount determines the amount of swing that will be applied to the quantized notes. Note that the Swing amount can be adjusted from Encoder 1 or from the dedicated Swing knob. Quantize To sets the nearest note value to which notes will be quantized, while Quantize Amount determines the amount that notes can be moved from their original positions.
Using Push 611 (Tip: press and hold the Add Track button to select between Audio, MIDI and Return tracks.) Adding a track puts Push into Browse mode, so you can immediately load an instrument. After loading your instrument, make sure Note Mode is enabled. Note that when pressing the Add Track button while a track within a Group Track is selected, any new tracks will be inserted into that Group Track.
Using Push 612 •Red — the currently-playing note when recording. To play triads, try out the following shape anywhere on the grid: C Major Chord. Holding the Note button gives you momentary access to the loop length controls (page 616), which appear in the top row of pads. You can lock the loop length controls in place by holding Shift and pressing the Note button. To unlock the loop length pads, press the Note button again. 28.5.
Using Push 613 Using the display and the Selection and State Control buttons, you can change the key played by the pad grid. The currently selected key is marked with an arrow in the display: By default, the pads and scale selection options indicate major scales. You can change to a variety of other scale types using the first encoder, or the two buttons below the display on the far left. The selected scale type is also marked with an arrow. Key and Scale Selection.
Using Push 614 Additional Note Layout Options. The “4th” and “3rd “options refer to the note interval that the grid is based on, while the ^ and > symbols refer to the rotation of the grid. For example, the default layout is “4th ^” which means that each row of pads is a 4th higher than the row below it. The “4th >” option is also built on 4ths, but now moves to the right rather than upwards; each column is a 4th higher than the column to the left. The “Sequent” options lay out all notes in order.
Using Push 615 Loop Length Controls Step Sequencer Controls Play Position The Pad Grid When Step Sequencing Pitches. When using the Melodic Sequencer, all eight rows of pads allow you to place notes in the clip. You can adjust the loop length and access additional step sequencing pages via the loop length pads (page 616). The loop length pads can be momentarily accessed in the top row while holding the Note button. You can also lock the loop length pads in place.
Using Push 616 The Display Shows the Range of Available Notes. Additionally, brightly-lit touch strip lights indicate the currently available note range, while dimly-lit touch strip lights indicate that the clip contains notes within the corresponding note range. Pressing Note again will toggle to the Melodic Sequencer + 32 Notes layout (page 618).
Using Push 617 Each Loop Length Pad Corresponds to One Page. Note that the page you see is not necessarily the page you hear. When you set the loop length, the pages will update so that the current play position (as indicated by the moving green pad in the step sequencer section) always remains visible. But in some cases, you may want to disable this auto-follow behavior. For example, you may want to edit a single page of a longer loop, while still allowing the loop to play for the length you set.
Using Push 618 If you need to access the loop length pads frequently, you can lock them in place. To do this, hold Shift and tap the Note button. (Note that Push remembers this locked/unlocked state for each track.) To unlock the loop length pads, press the Note button again. To duplicate the contents of a sequencer page, hold Duplicate, press the loop length pad for the page you want to duplicate, and press the loop length pad for the destination page.
Using Push 619 ing the Octave buttons to shift by one note in the scale. The display will briefly show the available range as you adjust it. As with the 64 Notes layout, the notes in the bottom half of the pad grid can be adjusted via the Scale menu (page 612). 28.7.2 Sequencer Tapping a step in the top half of the pad grid adds all selected notes to that step. Steps containing notes are displayed in a blue color.
Using Push 620 step sequencing pages via the loop length pads (page 616). The loop length pads can be momentarily accessed in the fifth row while holding the Note button. You can also lock the loop length pads in place. To do this, hold Shift and tap the Note button. (Note that Push remembers this locked/unlocked state for each track.) To unlock the loop length pads, press the Note button again.
Using Push 621 Pink Track Arm Button. The specific behavior of the Up/Down Arrows is determined by the Workflow mode, which is set in Push’s User preferences (page 629). In both modes, the Up/Down Arrows move up or down by a single scene. In Scene Workflow, the selected scene is triggered. In Clip Workflow, only the selected track’s clip is triggered. Clips in other tracks are not affected.
Using Push 622 Device Mode Settings. The In and Out buttons allow you to navigate to additional devices and parameters that may not be immediately available. In and Out Buttons. Use these buttons to access: •additional banks of parameters (for effects that have more than one bank of parameters). •additional device chains within Racks that contain more than one chain. 28.
Using Push 623 Volume and Pan & Send Buttons. In Volume Mode, the encoders control track volume. Pressing the Pan & Send button repeatedly will cycle between controlling pans and however many sends are available in your Live Set. Press Push’s Track button to enable Track Mode. Track Button. In Track Mode, the encoders control track volume, pan and the first six sends of the selected track. Press the Selection Control buttons to select which track will be controlled in Track Mode.
Using Push 624 Note that when Split Stereo Pan Mode (page 231) is active while in Pan & Send Mode, the display will show the current pan value, but the pan dial will be disabled. In Track Mode, the display will show either the pan control or stereo pan sliders, depending on the active pan mode. 28.11 Recording Automation Changes that you make to device and mixer parameters can be recorded to your clips as automation, so that the sound will change over time as the clip plays.
Using Push 625 Automated parameters are shown with a “�” symbol next to the parameter name in the display. Parameters that you have overridden (by manually adjusting the parameter while not recording) will show their value in brackets. Automated and/or Overridden Parameters are Indicated in the Display. To reenable all automation that you have manually overridden press and hold Shift and press the Automation button. 28.
Using Push 626 You can then adjust the corresponding encoders in order to: •Nudge notes backwards or forwards in time. The value represents the percentage that the note is offset from the previous grid line. (Negative values indicate that the note occurs before the grid line.) •adjust the coarse Length of the selected notes. •Fine-tune the length adjustment of the selected notes •change the Velocity of the selected notes.
Using Push 627 In both the drum and melodic step sequencers, you can copy a step (including all of its note-specific parameters) and paste it to another step. To do this, hold Duplicate and tap the step you’d like to copy. Then tap the destination step and release Duplicate. 28.12.2 Per-Step Automation When in Device Mode or Volume Mode, hold one or more steps in order to create and edit device or mixer automation for only the selected step(s).
Using Push 628 •Playing clips pulse green to white. •Recording clips pulse red to white. You can stop all music in a track by enabling Stop Mode and pressing that track’s State Control button. Stopping Clip Playback. To stop all clips, press and hold Shift, and then press Stop. Push tells you what’s going on in the software, but, importantly, the software also reflects what’s happening on the hardware. The clip slots currently being controlled by Push’s pad grid are shown in Live with a colored border.
Using Push 629 •Amber: indicates the currently selected block of clips, which will be surrounded by the colored border in the software. •Green: there are clips playing in that block of clips (though that may not be the block of clips selected). •Red: there are no clips playing in that range. •No color: there are no tracks or scenes in that range. 28.14 Setting User Preferences Press and hold the User button to adjust the sensitivity of Push’s velocity response, aftertouch, and other settings.
Using Push 630 Pad Threshold sets the softest playing force that will trigger notes. More force is required at higher settings. Note that at lower settings, notes may trigger accidentally and pads may “stick” on. Velocity Curve determines how sensitive the pads are when hit with various amounts of force, and ranges from Linear (a one-to-one relationship between striking force and note velocity) to various logarithmic curves. Higher Log values provide more dynamic range when playing softly.
Using Push 631 musical ideas. In Scene Workflow (which is the default), musical ideas are organized and navigated in scenes. In Clip Workflow, you’re working with only the currently selected clip. In Scene Workflow: •Duplicate creates a new scene containing all of the currently playing clips, and seamlessly switches to playing them back. This is the same as the Capture and Insert Scene command in Live’s Create menu (page 128).
Using Push 632 126 -> 108 127 -> 127 28.15 Push Control Reference The function of each section and control is explained below. Focus/Navigation Section Focus/Navigation Section. Note Mode — when selected, the Pad Section changes its functionality based on the type of track that is currently selected: •MIDI track containing an instrument — the pads plays notes. Pressing Note additional times toggles between real-time playing and melodic step sequencing.
Using Push 633 Arrow Keys — move through your Live Set (in Session Mode) and between tracks or scenes/clips (in Note Mode). Select — In Session Mode, hold Select and press a clip to select the clip without launching it. This will also display the clip name in the display. In Note Mode, hold Select and press a Drum Rack pad to select its notes without triggering the pad. Add Section Add Section. These buttons add new devices or tracks to your Live Set.
Using Push 634 Note Section Note Section. These buttons adjust how notes are played on Push. Scales — When Note Mode is on and an instrument track is selected, pressing this button allows you to select which scale will be played on the pads. Note that this button has no effect when a Drum Rack track is selected or when in Session Mode.
Using Push 635 Octave Up/Down — if an instrument track is selected, these buttons shift the pads up or down by octave. If a Drum Rack is selected, these buttons shift the Drum Rack’s pad overview up or down by 16 pads. In Session Mode, these buttons shift control of the Session View up or down by eight scenes. These buttons will be unlit if no additional octaves are available. State Control Section State Control Section.
Using Push 636 Display/Encoder Section Display/Encoder Section. The six buttons to the right of the display determine the editing mode of the encoders. In all modes, the ninth encoder controls the volume of the Master track (or the Pre-Cue volume if Shift is held.) Holding Shift while adjusting any of the first eight encoders allows you to fine-tune whichever parameter is currently being controlled by that encoder.
Using Push 637 Track Mode. In Track Mode, the encoders control track volume, pan and the first six sends of the selected track. Select which clip track to control via the eight Selection Control buttons. Press the Master button to select the Master track. In Clip Mode, the encoders control various parameters for the selected clip. The parameters depend on the type of clip selected: Clip Mode With a MIDI Clip Selected.
Using Push 638 •Loop Length (or Clip End if Loop is off) •Loop On/Off •Warp Mode •Detune •Transpose •Gain Device — The encoders control parameters for the selected device. Browse — The encoders scroll through the available devices and presets. Tempo Section Tempo Section.
Using Push 639 Tap Tempo — as you press once every beat, the tempo of the Live Set will follow your tapping. If the “Start Playback with Tap Tempo” button is enabled in Live’s Record/Warp/Launch Preferences, you can also use tapping to count in: If you are working in a 4:4 signature, it takes four taps to start song playback at the tapped tempo. Metronome — toggles Live’s metronome on or off. The left encoder adjusts Live’s tempo in increments of one BPM.
Using Push 640 Quantize will affect transients. Press and hold Quantize to access quantization settings. After changing these settings, press once to exit and then press and release to apply your changes. Double — doubles the material within the loop, as well as the length of the loop. Transport Section Transport Section. Fixed Length — when enabled, all newly created clips will be a fixed number of bars.
Using Push 641 next clip slot, while continuing playback of any currently playing clips in other tracks. Hold Duplicate while pressing a Drum Rack pad to copy the pad and paste it to a new location in the Drum Rack. New — Pressing New stops the selected clip and prepares Live to record new material. This allows you to practice before making a new recording. On armed MIDI tracks, holding Record while pressing New triggers Capture MIDI (page 257). Record — Press the Record button to begin recording.
Using Push 642 When an instrument track is selected, the touch strip adjusts pitch bend or modulation wheel amount when playing in real-time, or the available range of notes when step sequencing. When a Drum Rack track is selected, the touch strip selects the Drum Rack bank. Pitch bend is selected by default when an instrument track is selected. To change the functionality of the touch strip, hold Select and tap the strip. This toggles between pitch bend and mod wheel functionality each time you tap it.
Using Push 643 Scene/Grid Section Scene/Grid Section. These buttons also change their functionality depending on whether Session Mode or Note Mode is selected. When Session Mode is selected, these buttons launch Session View scenes. (Tip: hold the Select button while pressing a Scene button to select the scene without launching it.
Using Push 644 footswitch to the port while depressing it, but we recommend using footswitches with a physical polarity switch.
Using Push 2 645 Chapter 29 Using Push 2 Ableton Push 2 is an instrument for song creation that provides hands-on control of melody and harmony, beats, samples, sounds, and song structure. In the studio, Push 2 allows you to quickly create clips that populate Live’s Session View as you work entirely from the hardware. On stage, Push 2 serves as a powerful instrument for real-time playing, step sequencing, and clip launching. Overview of Push 2’s Controls.
Using Push 2 646 Much of Push 2’s behavior depends on which mode it is in, as well as on which type of track is selected. To help you learn how to work with Push 2, this chapter will walk you through some of the fundamental workflows, and then will provide a reference of all of Push 2’s controls. There are also a number of videos that will help you get started with Push 2. These are available at https://www.ableton.com/learn-push/ 29.
Using Push 2 647 The Browse Button. The display is divided into columns. When you first enter Browse Mode, the far left column shows either the specific category of device being browsed or the Collections label (page 60), which lets you access tagged browser items quickly. Each column to the right shows the next subfolder (if any exist) or the contents of the current folder.
Using Push 2 648 Navigate Up and Down in the Browser Hierarchy. By default, samples and presets from official Packs or Live’s core library will preview when selected in the browser. You can toggle preview on or off via the Preview button. Preview Button.
Using Push 2 649 To adjust the previewing volume, hold the Shift button while turning the Master volume encoder. Shift Button. Master Volume Encoder. To load the selected item, press the Load button. Loading Items in Browse Mode. What you see when in Browse Mode depends on the device that was last selected. If you were working with an instrument, Browse Mode will show you replacement instruments. If you were working with an effect, you will see effects.
Using Push 2 650 29.3 Playing and Programming Beats To create beats using Push 2, first make sure Note Mode is enabled The Note Mode Button. Then use Browse Mode to navigate to the Drums section of the browser and load one of the Drum Rack presets from Live’s library. When working with a MIDI track containing a Drum Rack, Push 2’s 8x8 pad grid can be configured in a few different ways, depending on the state of the Layout button. Pressing this button cycles between three different modes.
Using Push 2 651 Step Sequencer Controls Drum Rack Pads Loop Length Controls The Pad Grid with the Loop Selector Layout The 16 Drum Rack pads are laid out, like Live’s Drum Rack, in the classic 4x4 arrangement, allowing for real-time playing. Controls in the display and the pads in the Drum Rack match the color of the track, with subtle variations that help you understand what’s happening. The Drum Rack pad colors indicate the following: •the track’s color — this pad contains a sound.
Using Push 2 652 Octave Up/Down Buttons. Holding the Layout button gives you momentary access to the 16 Velocities layout (page 652). You can also lock the alternate layout in place by holding Shift and pressing the Layout button. To unlock the 16 Velocities layout, press the Layout button again. 29.3.2 16 Velocities Mode Press the Layout button to switch to the 16 Velocities layout. In this mode, the bottom right 16 pads represent 16 different velocities for the selected Drum Rack pad.
Using Push 2 653 Holding the Layout button gives you momentary access to the loop length controls (page 671). You can also lock the loop length controls in place by holding Shift and pressing the Layout button. To unlock the loop length pads, press the Layout button again. 29.3.3 64-Pad Mode You can also use the entire 8x8 pad grid for real-time drum playing. This is useful when working with very large drum kits, such as those created by slicing (page 189).
Using Push 2 654 Selecting an Individual Pad in a Drum Rack. Now, entering Browse Mode again will allow you to load or replace the sound of only the selected pad. (The selected pad will flash.) Once in Browse Mode, tapping other pads will select them for browsing, allowing you to quickly load or replace multiple sounds within the loaded Drum Rack. After loading the selected item, the Load button’s name will change to Load Next.
Using Push 2 655 lower display buttons. You can navigate to the previous or next pad via the left and right arrow keys. Press the Drum Rack’s Lower Display Button to Access Individual Pads. Additional Pad Options To copy a pad to a different location in your Drum Rack, hold the Duplicate button and press the pad you’d like to copy. Duplicate Button. While continuing to hold Duplicate, press the pad where you’d like to paste the copied pad.
Using Push 2 656 When a single pad is selected, you can adjust its choke group assignment (page 295) via the first encoder or transpose the pad via the second encoder. Assign a Pad to a Choke Group or Transpose the Pad. When working with drums, Push 2’s pads can be colored individually. To change a pad’s color, hold Shift and tap the pad. Then tap one of the pads on the outer ring to choose that color for the selected pad.
Using Push 2 657 Choose a Color for a Drum Pad. 29.3.5 Step Sequencing Beats Tapping a pad selects it and also enables it for step sequencing. To record notes with the step sequencer, tap the pads in the step sequencer controls to place notes in the clip where you want them. The clip will begin playing as soon as you tap a step. By default, each step sequencer pad corresponds to a 16th note, but you can change the step size via the Scene/Grid buttons.
Using Push 2 658 Scene/Grid Buttons. Adjust the tempo using the Tempo encoder. Each click of the encoder will adjust the tempo in increments of one BPM. Holding Shift while adjusting will set the tempo in increments of .1 BPM. Adjust the Tempo with the Tempo Encoder. As the clip plays, the currently playing step is indicated by the moving green pad in the step sequencer section. (When Record is enabled, the moving pad will be red.) Tapping a step that already has a note will delete that note.
Using Push 2 659 Mute and Solo Buttons. You can also adjust the velocity and micro-timing of individual notes, as described in the section on step sequencing automation (page 696). To delete the entire pattern, press the Delete button. To delete all notes for a single pad, press and hold Delete while tapping that pad. (Holding Delete while pressing a pad that has no notes recorded in the current pattern deletes all of the devices from that pad.) Delete Button.
Using Push 2 660 When Triplets are Selected, the Unlit Steps are Unavailable. For detailed information about adjusting the loop length pads, see the section called Adjusting the Loop Length (page 671). 29.3.6 Real-time Recording Drum patterns can also be recorded in real-time by playing the Drum Rack pads. Follow these steps to record in real-time: •If you want to record with a click track, press the Metronome button to enable Live’s built-in click.
Using Push 2 661 Record Button. If you’ve enabled a recording count-in in Live (page 254), you’ll see a countdown bar move across the top of Push 2’s display and flash in tempo. This can serve as a helpful visual reference for when to begin playing. Count-In Bar in Push 2’s Display Now any Drum Rack pads you play will be recorded to the clip. Pressing Record again will stop recording but will continue playing back the clip.
Using Push 2 662 Tip: if you press and release Accent quickly, the button will stay on. If you press and hold, the button will turn off when released, allowing for momentary control of accented notes. In 16 Velocities mode, you can tap one of the 16 velocity pads to record the selected sound at that velocity. Note that Accent overrides this behavior. Pressing New stops playback of the currently selected clip and prepares Live to record a new clip on the currently selected track.
Using Push 2 663 Fixed Length Recording Options. When Fixed Length is disabled, new clips will continue to record until you press the Record, New or Play/Stop buttons. By default, starting a recording with Fixed Length enabled will create an empty clip of the selected length, and then begin recording from the beginning of the clip, in accordance with Live’s global launch quantization.
Using Push 2 664 Repeat Button. The repeat rate is set with the Scene/Grid buttons. Note that Push “remembers” the Repeat button’s state and setting for each track. Tip: if you press and release Repeat quickly, the button will stay on. If you press and hold, the button will turn off when released, allowing for momentary control of repeated notes. Turn up the Swing knob to apply swing to the repeated notes. When you touch the knob, the display will show the amount of swing. Swing Knob. 29.4.
Using Push 2 665 Quantize Button. Press and hold Quantize to change the quantization options: Quantization Options. Swing Amount determines the amount of swing that will be applied to the quantized notes. Note that the Swing amount can be adjusted from Encoder 1 or from the dedicated Swing knob. Quantize To sets the nearest note value to which notes will be quantized, while Quantize Amount determines the amount that notes can be moved from their original positions.
Using Push 2 666 You can also trigger Arrangement Recording while Live’s Session View is in focus by holding Shift and pressing Record. Note that this behavior is reversed when the Arrangement is in focus; holding Shift and pressing Record will then toggle Session recording. 29.5 Playing Melodies and Harmonies After working on a beat, you’ll want to create other elements such as a bassline, harmony parts, etc.
Using Push 2 667 Choose a Track Type and Optionally Load A Device. Note that when pressing the Add Track button while a track within a Group Track is selected, any new tracks will be inserted into that Group Track. After creating a track, you can change its color. To do this, hold Shift and press the lower display button for the track. Then tap one of the pads on the outer ring to choose that color for the selected track.
Using Push 2 668 •the track’s color — this note is the root note of the key (C.) •White — this note is in the scale, but is not the root. •Green — the currently-playing note (other pads will also turn green if they play the same note.) •Red — the currently-playing note when recording. To play triads, try out the following shape anywhere on the grid: C Major Chord. Holding the Layout button gives you momentary access to the loop length controls (page 671).
Using Push 2 669 Using the upper and lower display buttons, you can change the key played by the pad grid. The currently selected key appears in white, while the other key options appear in gray: By default, the pads and scale selection options indicate major scales. You can change to a variety of other scale types using encoders 2 through 7. The selected scale type is highlighted. Key, Scale, and Layout Options.
Using Push 2 670 In Key/Chromatic: The lower left display button toggles between In Key and Chromatic. With In Key selected, the pad grid is effectively “folded” so that only notes within the key are available. In Chromatic Mode, the pad grid contains all notes. Notes that are in the key are lit, while notes that are not in the key are unlit. Scale options are saved with the Set, and Push 2 will return to these settings when the Set is loaded again.
Using Push 2 671 When using the Melodic Sequencer, all eight rows of pads allow you to place notes in the clip. You can adjust the loop length and access additional step sequencing pages via the loop length pads (page 671). The loop length pads can be momentarily accessed in the top row while holding the Layout button. You can also lock the loop length pads in place. To do this, hold Shift and tap the Layout button. (Note that Push remembers this locked/unlocked state for each track.
Using Push 2 672 Each Loop Length Pad Corresponds to One Page. Note that the page you see is not necessarily the page you hear. When you set the loop length, the pages will update so that the current play position (as indicated by the moving green pad in the step sequencer section) always remains visible. But in some cases, you may want to disable this auto-follow behavior. For example, you may want to edit a single page of a longer loop, while still allowing the loop to play for the length you set.
Using Push 2 673 •Red — this is the currently recording page. If you need to access the loop length pads frequently, you can lock them in place. To do this, hold Shift and tap the Layout button. (Note that Push remembers this locked/unlocked state for each track.) To unlock the loop length pads, press the Layout button again. You can also navigate to the previous or next page by pressing the Page Left/Right buttons.
Using Push 2 674 29.7.1 32 Notes The bottom half of the pad grid lets you play notes in real-time, and select them for step sequencing. Each pad corresponds to one of the available pitches in the currently selected scale. Pressing a pad will select and play the note. Selected notes are represented by a lighter version of the track’s color. Tip: to select a pad without triggering it, press and hold the Select button while tapping a pad.
Using Push 2 675 The pad colors in the step sequencer indicate the following: •the clip’s color — this step contains a note. •Green — this step is currently playing. •White — this step is selected. •Light gray — this step contains a note, but the note is muted. •Gray — this pad is empty. •Unlit — the right two columns of pads will be unlit if triplets are selected as the step size. In this case, these pads are not active; only the first six pads in each row of steps can be used.
Using Push 2 676 The Layout Button. You can also lock the loop length pads in place. To do this, hold Shift and tap the Layout button. (Note that Push remembers this locked/unlocked state for each track.) To unlock the loop length pads, press the Layout button again. You can also navigate to the previous or next page by pressing the Page Left/Right buttons. The Page Left/Right Buttons.
Using Push 2 677 Press Browse to Load a Sample in an Empty Simpler. After loading a sample and switching to Device View, you will see the sample’s waveform in Push 2’s display, along with a number of parameters that allow you to quickly adjust how the sample plays back. This is the main bank of Simpler’s controls. Simpler’s Main Parameter Bank in the Display. By default, Simpler will automatically set certain parameters based on the length of the loaded sample.
Using Push 2 678 a complete ADSR envelope and supports looping, allowing for samples to sustain as long as a note is held down. Classic Mode is polyphonic by default, and the pad grid uses the same layout in this mode as is used when playing other pitched instruments. •One-Shot Playback Mode is exclusively for monophonic playback, and is optimized for use with one-shot drum hits or short sampled phrases. This mode has simplified envelope controls and does not support looping.
Using Push 2 679 clockwise zooms in. The specific portion of the sample that you zoom to is determined by the last-touched sample position control (Start, End, S Start, S Length, or S Loop Length.) Pressing Simpler’s upper display button will enter Edit Mode. When in Edit Mode, the lower display buttons select additional pages of parameters and the upper display buttons toggle certain settings on or off. Pressing Simpler’s upper display button again will exit Edit Mode.
Using Push 2 680 29.8.2 One-Shot Mode Simpler’s Main Bank in One-Shot Mode With Additional Edit Mode Controls. In One-Shot Mode, the Zoom, Start, and End controls function the same as in Classic Mode, as do the Warp as..., :2, x2, Crop, and Reverse buttons. With Trigger enabled, the sample will continue playing even after the pad is released; the amount of time you hold the pad has no effect when Trigger is on. You can shape the volume of the sample using the Fade In and Fade Out encoders.
Using Push 2 681 1. In Edit Mode, press the second lower display button to view the Global parameter bank. 2. Set the Glide Mode parameter to Glide. 3. Set the Voices parameter to 1. (Note that this parameter is only available in Classic Mode. In One-Shot Mode, playback is always monophonic.) Now, as you play the pads legato, the sample will transpose without changing playback position. For best results, make sure Warp is on (in the Warp parameter bank).
Using Push 2 682 •Beat - Slices are placed at musical beat divisions. The Division encoder selects the beat division at which Simpler will slice the sample region. •Region - Slices are placed at equal time divisions. The Regions encoder selects the number of evenly-spaced slices that will be created. •Manual - When Manual is selected, no slices are placed automatically. Instead, slices are created manually by enabling Pad Slicing and tapping empty pads as the sample plays back. To create manual slices: 1.
Using Push 2 683 Up to 64 Slices Can Be Created. By default, the pad grid uses the 64-pad drum layout when in Slicing Mode. Pressing the Layout button cycles between 64-pad, Loop Selector, and 16 Velocities modes. The Playback encoder determines how many slices can be triggered simultaneously. Mono is monophonic; only one pad can be played or sequenced at a time. When set to Poly, multiple pads can be triggered together.
Using Push 2 684 29.9 Navigating in Note Mode Now that you’ve created a few tracks, you can continue to add more. But you may want to move between already-existing tracks to continue working on musical ideas using those instruments and devices. You can move directly to a new track using the lower display buttons or move sequentially to the previous or next track using the left and right arrow buttons. Arrow Buttons.
Using Push 2 685 Icon for a Manually Armed Track. The specific behavior of the Up/Down Arrows is determined by the Workflow mode, which is set in Push 2’s Setup menu (page 704). In both modes, the Up/Down Arrows move up or down by a single scene. In Scene Workflow, the selected scene is triggered. In Clip Workflow, only the selected track’s clip is triggered. Clips in other tracks are not affected.
Using Push 2 686 Device Mode Settings. Once a device is selected, pressing its upper display button again will enter Edit Mode. When in Edit Mode, the lower display buttons select additional pages of parameters for the selected device. Device Parameter Pages in Edit Mode. When in Edit Mode, pressing the leftmost upper display button will take you back up to the Device Mode’s top level. Press the Leftmost Upper Display Button to Exit Edit Mode.
Using Push 2 687 Certain devices, such as Live’s Operator instrument (page 474), have more than eight pages of parameters. When working with these devices in Edit Mode, the rightmost lower display button will show an arrow. Press this button to scroll to the additional pages (and then press the leftmost lower display button to get back.) Scroll to Additional Pages of Parameters. 29.10.
Using Push 2 688 Deleting a Device. To disable a device (without deleting it), hold the Mute button and press the upper display button that corresponds to the device. Disabled devices (and all of their parameters) appear gray in the display. To reenable a disabled device, hold Mute and again press the upper display button that corresponds to the device. Holding the Mute button for a few moments will lock it on.
Using Push 2 689 A Drum Rack. To open a Rack, select it using the corresponding upper display button. Then press this button again. The Rack will unfold, revealing the devices in the currently selected chain. An unfolded Rack appears in the display with an underline that extends to the end of the enclosed devices. Each press of a selected Rack’s upper display button will toggle it open or closed. (Note that Drum Racks cannot be folded or unfolded directly from Push 2.
Using Push 2 690 The Encoders Adjust Parameters for the Selected Device. To access the devices on additional chains within a multi-chain Rack, press and hold the Rack’s upper display button. The Rack’s chains will be shown at the bottom of the display and can be selected via the corresponding lower display buttons. Selecting a Chain Within a Rack. 29.11 Track Control And Mixing To control volumes, pans, or sends with the encoders, press the Mix button.
Using Push 2 691 Mix Button. Each press of the Mix button toggles between Track Mix Mode and Global Mix Mode. In Track Mix Mode, the first two upper display buttons select between mix parameters for the selected track and input and output routing options for that track. The lower display buttons are used to select the track. With Mix selected, the encoders adjust volume, pan, and send levels for the currently selected track. The Mix Controls in Track Mix Mode.
Using Push 2 692 Scroll to View Additional Sends. With Input & Output selected, all of the track’s routing and monitoring options can be adjusted from the encoders. The Input and Output Settings in Track Mix Mode. In Global Mix Mode, the encoders adjust either volumes, pans, or send levels for the eight visible tracks. Select which parameter will be controlled via the upper display buttons. Controlling the Pans for Eight Tracks.
Using Push 2 693 If your Set contains more than six return tracks, the rightmost upper display button will change to an arrow, which allows you to shift the available sends to the right. Volumes and Pans will always remain visible. If your Set contains more than eight tracks, the left and right arrow keys allow you to shift the visible tracks left or right. Press the Master button to select the Master track. Press Master again to return to the previously selected track. The Master Track Button.
Using Push 2 694 A Group Track and Tracks Containing an Instrument Rack and a Drum Rack. These types of tracks can be unfolded, allowing you to use the Mix Modes to control the tracks and chains within them. To unfold one of these tracks, select it using the corresponding lower display button. Then press this button again. The Group Track or Rack will unfold, revealing the enclosed tracks or chains.
Using Push 2 695 29.12 Recording Automation Changes that you make to device and mixer parameters can be recorded to your clips as automation, so that the sound will change over time as the clip plays. To record automation, press Push 2’s Automation button so that it turns red. Automation Button. This toggles Live’s Session Automation Arm button, allowing you to record changes you make to Push 2’s encoders as part of the clip.
Using Push 2 696 29.13 Step Sequencing Automation In both the drum and melodic step sequencers, it’s possible to automate parameters for the selected step. The parameters that are available will change depending on the display mode you are currently in. When in Clip Mode, hold one or more steps to access note-specific parameters (page 701). When in Device Mode or Mix Mode, hold one or more steps in order to create and edit device or mixer automation for only the selected step(s).
Using Push 2 697 Loading a Sample into an Empty Clip Slot in an Audio Track. The display colors reflect the color of the clip, and the clip’s name is highlighted in the upper-left corner. Some of the adjustable parameters change depending on the type of clip selected. In MIDI tracks containing Drum Racks, notes are displayed in their respective pad color. In all MIDI tracks, the velocity of each note is indicated by its opacity. Clip Mode With a MIDI Clip Selected.
Using Push 2 698 Loop Position will result in the Start Offset moving along with it. With Loop off, you can control the Start and End position. This is the region that will play (once) when the clip is launched. Hold Shift while adjusting any of these controls to adjust by 16th-note subdivisions. You can Zoom in or out of the sample with the first encoder. The position you’ll zoom to is centered around the last position encoder you touched (Start, Length, Loop, etc.) Clip Mode With an Audio Clip Selected.
Using Push 2 699 29.14.2 Real-Time Playing Layouts When recording your real-time playing using the 64 Notes, 64 Pads or 64 Slices layouts, Clip Mode’s display lets you see the incoming MIDI notes, and the view adjusts so that all existing notes fit on the display at the same time (Note that this “folded” display is also shown in Session Mode (page 702).) Clip Mode’s Folded Display. 29.14.
Using Push 2 700 Pitch Range and Note Indicators in Clip Mode. Melodic Sequencer The Melodic Sequencer layout has a range of seven notes on each page. The sequenceable area can be moved horizontally via the loop length pads or Page Left/Right buttons, or vertically via the Octave Up/Down buttons or touch strip. Melodic Sequencer + 32 Notes In this layout, the display will adjust to fit all notes in the clip.
Using Push 2 701 Drums/Slicing Loop Selector and 16 Velocities The Loop Selector and 16 Velocities layouts show the selected pad only. The sequenceable area can be moved horizontally via the loop length pads or Page Left/Right buttons, or vertically by selecting a different pad. 29.14.4 Note-Specific Parameters When working in any sequencing layout in Clip Mode, you can adjust note settings for each step. To access these settings, simply press and hold a step.
Using Push 2 702 When working with drums, you can adjust nudge, length, and velocity for every note played by a particular pad by pressing and holding the Select button, pressing the pad, and then adjusting the encoders. 29.15 Controlling Live’s Session View Press Push 2’s Session button to switch from Note Mode to Session Mode. (Press and hold the Session button to temporarily toggle Session Mode. Releasing the button will then return to Note Mode.
Using Push 2 703 the Mute or Solo button for a few moments will lock it on. You can then release the button and toggle tracks on and off just by pressing the corresponding lower display buttons. Press Mute or Solo again to unlock it. Pressing the Stop Clip button will stop the playing clip in the currently selected track. Hold Stop Clip and press any track’s lower display button to stop the playing clip in that track. Mute, Solo, and Stop Clip Buttons.
Using Push 2 704 While recording MIDI from an external source (such as a MIDI sequencer or MIDI keyboard), the folded display lets you see all incoming notes. When in Session Mode, holding the Layout button gives you momentary access to the Session Overview, which is explained in more detail below. 29.15.1 Session Overview Push 2’s Session Overview lets you navigate through large Live Sets quickly without looking at your computer screen.
Using Push 2 705 Setup Button. Setup Options. When Pad Sensitivity is turned up, it takes less force to trigger a higher velocity. A Pad Sensitivity of 10 results in higher output levels at any given input velocity, while a setting of 0 results in lower output levels at the same velocity. The default (and recommended) setting is 5. Pad Gain boosts or cuts the overall velocity curve. Higher values shift the curve towards the top of the velocity range, while lower values reduce it.
Using Push 2 706 Tip: To use a linear velocity curve, set Pad Gain to 4 and Pad Dynamics to 7. Display Light adjusts the brightness of Push 2’s display, while LED Brightness adjusts the brightness of the pads and buttons. At very low LED Brightness settings, pads may appear to be the wrong color. The default (and recommended) setting for both controls is 100%. The Workflow option determines how Push 2 behaves when the Duplicate, New, or Up/Down arrow buttons are pressed.
Using Push 2 707 29.17 Push 2 Control Reference The function of each button and control is explained below. Tap Tempo — As you press once every beat, the tempo of the Live Set will follow your tapping. If the “Start Playback with Tap Tempo” button is enabled in Live’s Record/Warp/Launch Preferences, you can also use tapping to count in: If you are working in a 4:4 signature, it takes four taps to start song playback at the tapped tempo.
Using Push 2 708 Stop Clip — Stops the playing clip in the currently selected track. Hold Stop Clip and press any track’s lower display button to stop the playing clip in that track. While Stop Clip is held down, the lower display buttons will pulse for any tracks that contain a currently playing clip. Press Stop Clip again to unlock it. Hold Shift and press Stop Clip to stop all clips. Convert — Converts the current instrument or clip into a different format.
Using Push 2 709 Drum Rack. Hold Duplicate while pressing a track selection button to duplicate that track. In Session Mode, hold Duplicate and press a clip to copy it. Continue holding Duplicate and tap another clip slot to paste the clip there. New — Pressing New stops the selected clip and prepares Live to record new material. This allows you to practice before making a new recording. Fixed Length — When enabled, all newly created clips will be a fixed number of bars.
Using Push 2 710 Encoders and display buttons — The encoders and the two banks of eight buttons above and below the display change function depending on a variety of factors, including the selected track type, the current mode, etc. In all modes, the far-right encoder controls the volume of the Master track (or the Pre-Cue volume if Shift is held.) Holding Shift while adjusting any of the encoders allows you to fine-tune whichever parameter is currently being controlled by that encoder.
Using Push 2 711 Browse — Press to enter Browse Mode, where you can load instruments and effects to tracks. (page 646) Mix — Each press of the Mix button toggles between Track Mix Mode and Global Mix Mode. In Track Mix Mode, the encoders adjust volume, pan, and send levels for the currently selected track. The lower display buttons are used to select the track (page 690). While in another mode, press and hold to temporarily toggle to Mix Mode. Releasing the button will then return to the previous mode.
Using Push 2 712 Layout — Press to change the layout of the pad grid. When in Session Mode, Layout toggles the Session Overview on or off (page 704). When in Note Mode, the layout options depend on the type of track that is currently selected and the current mode. •MIDI track containing an instrument — toggles between enabling the pad grid for realtime playing of notes and melodic step sequencing.
Using Push 2 713 Select — In Session Mode, hold Select and press a clip to select the clip without launching it. This will also display the clip name in the display. In Note Mode, hold Select and press a Drum Rack pad to select it without triggering the pad. Footswitches Two ports on the back of Push 2 allow you to connect momentary footswitches. Footswitch 1 acts as a sustain pedal. Footswitch 2 gives you hands-free control of Push 2’s recording functionality.
Using Push 2 714
Link, Synchronization, and ReWire 715 Chapter 30 Link, Synchronization, and ReWire Ableton Link is a technology that keeps devices in time over a wired or wireless network. Link is built into Live as well as a growing number of iOS applications, and any Link-enabled software can play in time with any other Link-enabled software simply by joining the same network. When using Link, you can start and stop playback of each device or application independently of every other connected device or application.
Link, Synchronization, and ReWire 716 Showing the Link Toggle in Live’s Preferences. It is possible to sync start and stop commands across all connected apps that have Start Stop Sync enabled. To do this, click the button next to “Start Stop Sync”. The Start Stop Sync Toggle in Live’s Preferences. 30.2 Using Link The Link toggle in Live’s Control Bar will appear. Click to toggle Link on or off.
Link, Synchronization, and ReWire 717 Link Toggle. When on, the toggle will update to show the number of other Link-enabled apps or instances of Live that are on the same network. Link Indicator Showing Another Connection. If at least one other Link-enabled app or instance of Live is connected, the Arrangement Position display will show a moving “progress bar” whenever Live’s transport is not running.
Link, Synchronization, and ReWire 718 30.3 Synchronizing via MIDI If you’re working with devices that don’t support Link, you can synchronize via MIDI. The MIDI protocol defines two ways to synchronize sequencers, both of which are supported by Live. Both protocols work with the notion of a sync host, which delivers a sync signal that is tracked by the sync device(s). MIDI Clock: MIDI Clock works like a metronome ticking at a fast rate.
Link, Synchronization, and ReWire 719 30.3.2 Synchronizing Live to External MIDI Devices Live can be synchronized via MIDI to an external sequencer. After connecting the sequencer to Live and setting it up to send sync, use Live’s Link/MIDI Preferences to tell Live about the connection. Setting up Live as a MIDI Device. When an external sync source has been enabled, the EXT button appears in the Control Bar.
Link, Synchronization, and ReWire 720 Live will synchronize. All of the usual SMPTE frame rates are available. When the Rate is set to “SMPTE All,“ Live will auto-detect the Timecode format of incoming sync messages and interpret the messages accordingly. Note that you can adjust the Timecode format that is used for display in the Arrangement View: Go to the Options menu, and then access the Time Ruler Format submenu.
Link, Synchronization, and ReWire 721 •common access to the audio hardware; •shared transport functionality; •synchronization to audio word clock and song positioning; •exchange of audio streams. The programs in a ReWire connection play distinct roles: The ReWire host accesses the audio hardware and provides mixing facilities; the ReWire device(s) have no direct link to the audio hardware, but instead send their audio output into the host’s mixer.
Link, Synchronization, and ReWire 722 Live’s operation in ReWire device mode differs from the usual operation in some regards: •Live will not have direct access to the audio interfaces; audio input/output is handled by the ReWire host application. No audio input will be available to Live. •The sample rate is determined by the host application rather than by Live. •External synchronization will be disabled (synchronize to the ReWire host application instead).
Computer Audio Resources and Strategies 723 Chapter 31 Computer Audio Resources and Strategies Real-time audio processing is a demanding task for general-purpose computers, which are usually designed to run spreadsheets and surf the Internet. An application like Live requires a powerful CPU and a fast hard disk. This section will provide some insight on these issues, and should help you avoid and solve problems with running audio on a computer. 31.
Computer Audio Resources and Strategies 724 The Control Bar’s CPU meter displays how much of the computer’s computational potential is currently being used. For example, if the displayed percentage is 10 percent, the computer is just coasting along. If the percentage is 100 percent, the processing is being maxed out — it’s likely that you will hear gaps, clicks or other audio problems. Note that the CPU meter takes into account only the load from processing audio, not other tasks the computer performs (e.
Computer Audio Resources and Strategies 725 31.1.3 Track Freeze Live‘s Freeze Track command can greatly help in managing the CPU load incurred by devices and clip settings. When you select a track and execute the Freeze Track command, Live will create a sample file for each Session clip in the track, plus one for the Arrangement. Thereafter, clips in the track will simply play back their “freeze files“ rather than repeatedly calculating processor-intensive device and clip settings in real time.
Computer Audio Resources and Strategies 726 on the situation. This is because, if a track is frozen, the applied effects are not being calculated at all, and therefore cannot change their response to reflect edited input material. When the track is again unfrozen, all effects will be recalculated in real time. A Frozen Arrangement Track with a Reverb Tail. Frozen Arrangement View tracks will play back any relevant material extending beyond the lengths of their clips (e.g., the “tails“ of Reverb effects).
Computer Audio Resources and Strategies 727 CPU-intensive tracks are frozen. This also means that computers lacking certain devices used in one Live Set can still play the Set when the relevant device tracks are frozen. 31.2 Managing the Disk Load A hard drive’s access speed (which is related to, but not the same thing as rotational speed) can limit Live’s performance. Most audio-optimized computers use 7200 RPM or faster drives.
Computer Audio Resources and Strategies 728
Audio Fact Sheet 729 Chapter 32 Audio Fact Sheet Prior to the release of Live 7, much of Ableton‘s development effort was focused on carefully and objectively testing Live‘s fundamental audio performance. As a result of this testing, we have implemented a number of low-level improvements to the audio engine.
Audio Fact Sheet 730 files imported into Live ensures that the imported audio will be identical to the files saved on disk. Applying neutral operations to files being exported from Live ensures that the quality of your output file will be at least as high as what you heard during playback.
Audio Fact Sheet 731 32.2.2 Matching sample rate/no transposition Playback of an unstretched audio file in Live is a neutral operation, provided that the file‘s sample rate is the same as that set in Live‘s Preferences and that the file is played back without transposition. This is verified by cancellation tests of rendered output. Please note that “playback“ in this context refers only to the audio within Live, prior to the point at which it reaches your audio hardware. 32.2.
Audio Fact Sheet 732 ming within a 32-bit architecture strikes an ideal balance between audio quality and CPU/ memory consumption. 32.2.5 Recording external signals (bit depth >/= A/D converter) Recording audio signals into Live is a neutral operation, provided that the bit depth set in Live‘s Preferences window is the same or higher than that of the A/D converters used for the recording. In this context, “neutral“ means “identical to the audio as it was delivered to Live by the A/D converters.“ 32.2.
Audio Fact Sheet 733 ranger‘s 1.1.1 position and retain them for the duration of the frozen clip. This is analogous to the behavior with unfrozen clips; when playing normal clips in Session View, any Arrangement automations are “punched out“ until the Back to Arrangement button is pressed. Frozen clips are always played back with Warp on and in Beats mode, which means they are subject to the same non-neutral behavior as any other Warped audio files. Any devices with random parameters (e.g.
Audio Fact Sheet 734 flexible routing architecture allows for a variety of scenarios, including routing from before or after any track‘s effects or mixer and tapping the output of individual sample slots within the Impulse instrument. In these cases, it is likely that the signal heard at the output point will be different from the signal heard prior to routing, because it has been tapped before reaching the end of its original signal chain. 32.2.
Audio Fact Sheet 735 Pitch modes. Although the Complex modes may sound better, particularly when used with mixed sound files containing many different kinds of audio material, they are never neutral — not even at the original tempo. Because of this, and because of the increased CPU demands of these algorithms, we recommend using them only in cases where the other Warp modes don‘t produce sufficient results. 32.3.
Audio Fact Sheet 736 Please note that Live‘s internal signal processing is all 32-bit, so applying even a single gain change makes the resulting audio 32-bit as well — even if the original audio is 16- or 24-bit. Dither should never be applied more than once to any given audio file, so unless you are mastering and finalizing in Live, it is best to always render at 32-bit and avoid dithering altogether. 32.3.
Audio Fact Sheet 737 32.3.9 Panning Live uses constant power panning with sinusoidal gain curves. Output is 0 dB at the center position and signals panned fully left or right will be increased by +3 dB. In order to minimize this volume change, it may be helpful to narrow the overall stereo width before doing extreme panning. This can be done via the Width control in the Utility device. 32.3.
Audio Fact Sheet 738 32.5 Summary and Conclusions Ableton wrote this paper in order to help users understand exactly how audio is affected when performing various procedures in Live. Our focus has been on functions that have proven over the years to cause confusion or uncertainty, and the list of both neutral and non-neutral operations presented here is necessarily incomplete.
MIDI Fact Sheet 739 Chapter 33 MIDI Fact Sheet In conjunction with our work on the audio engine, Ableton has spent additional effort analyzing Live‘s MIDI timing and making improvements where necessary. We wrote this fact sheet to help users understand the problems involved in creating a reliable and accurate computer-based MIDI environment, and to explain Live‘s approach to solving these problems.
MIDI Fact Sheet 740 3. Playthrough involves sending MIDI note and controller information from a hardware device (such as a MIDI keyboard) into the DAW and then, in real-time, back out to a hardware synthesizer or to a plug-in device within the DAW. An ideal playthrough environment would “feel“ as accurate and responsive as a physical instrument such as a piano. 33.
MIDI Fact Sheet 741 2. If you are using playthrough while recording, you will want to record what you hear — even if, because of latency, this occurs slightly later than what you play. Live addresses the problems inherent in recording, playback and playthrough so that MIDI timing will be responsive, accurate and consistently reliable. In order to record incoming events to the correct positions in the timeline of a Live Set, Live needs to know exactly when those events were received from the MIDI keyboard.
MIDI Fact Sheet 742 to a schedule. Additionally, MIDI cables are serial, meaning they can only send one piece of information at a time. In practice, this means that multiple notes played simultaneously cannot be transmitted simultaneously through MIDI cables, but instead must be sent one after the other. Depending on the density of the events, this can cause MIDI timing problems.
MIDI Fact Sheet 743 converter‘s output is then recorded into a new audio clip in Live. In an ideal system, each event in the MIDI clip would occur simultaneously with the corresponding event in the audio clip. Thus the difference in timing between the MIDI and audio events in the two clips can be measured to determine Live‘s accuracy.
MIDI Fact Sheet 744 Live MIDI Clip MIDI-to-Audio Converter Audio Recording (another instance of Live) Audio Clip MIDI Output Test Configuration. In all cases, the output tests showed comparable results to the input tests. 33.5 Tips for Achieving Optimal MIDI Performance In order to help users achieve optimal MIDI performance with Live, we have provided a list of recommended practices and program settings.
MIDI Fact Sheet 745 33.6 Summary and Conclusions Ableton wrote this paper in order to help users understand a variety of related topics: •the inherent problems in computer-based MIDI systems; •our approach to solving these problems in Live; •additional variables that we cannot account for. As mentioned before, the best way to solve MIDI timing issues in your studio is to use the highestquality hardware components available.
MIDI Fact Sheet 746
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 747 Chapter 34 Live Keyboard Shortcuts 34.
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 748 34.2 Accessing Menus Under Windows, you can access each menu by pressing [ALT] and the first letter of the menu ([ALT][F] for “File,” for instance). While a menu is open, you can use: •the up and down arrow keys to navigate the menu items; •the right and left arrow keys to open the neighboring menu; •[Enter] to choose a menu item. In macOS, you can access individual menu entries by pressing [CMD][?]. This opens a search field that will suggest menu entries as you type.
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 749 Windows Macintosh Scroll Down/Up up and down arrow keys up and down arrow keys Close/Open Folders right and left arrow keys right and left arrow keys Load Selected Item from Browser [Enter] [Enter] Preview Selected File [Shift][Enter] [Shift][Enter] Search in Browser [CTRL][F] [CMD][F] Jump to Search Results down arrow key down arrow key Assign Color(s) to Selected Browser Item(s) [1]...[7] [1]...
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 750 Paste [CTRL][V] [CMD][V] Duplicate [CTRL][D] [CMD][D] Delete [Delete] [Delete] Undo [CTRL][Z] [CMD][Z] Redo [CTRL][Y] [CMD][Y] Rename [CTRL][R] [CMD][R] Select All [CTRL][A] [CMD][A] By holding down an additional modifier key, some of the above commands can also be applied to: Windows Macintosh Clips and Slots Across all Tracks [Shift] [Shift] Time Across all Tracks [Shift] [Shift] The Selected Part of the Envelope [ALT] [ALT] [Tab] can be used to
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 751 Select Material in Loop [CTRL][Shift][L] [CMD][Shift][L] 34.8 Session View Commands See also the editing commands.
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 752 Insert Silence [CTRL][I] [CMD][I] Pan Left/Right of Selection [CTRL][ALT] [CMD][ALT] Unfold Selected Tracks [U] [U] Unfold all Tracks [ALT][U] [ALT][U] Adjust Height of Selected Tracks [ALT][+] and [ALT][-] [ALT][+] and [ALT][-] Scroll Display to Follow Playback [CTRL][Shift][F] [CMD][Shift][F] Optimize Arrangement Height [H] [H] Optimize Arrangement Width [W] [W] Deactivate Selection [0] [0] Nudge Selection Left/Right right and left arrow keys right
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 753 Move Nonadjacent Tracks Without Collapsing [CTRL] arrow keys [CMD] arrow keys Arm/Solo Multiple Tracks [CTRL] click [CMD] click Solo Selected Tracks [S] [S] Add Device from Browser [Enter] [Enter] Deactivate Selected Track [0] [0] 34.11 Commands for Breakpoint Envelopes The shortcuts for zooming, snapping/drawing and loop/region settings also work in the Envelope Editor and Arrangement View. See also the editing commands.
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 754 34.13 Zooming, Display and Selections Windows Macintosh Zoom In [+] [+] Zoom Out [-] [-] Drag/Click to Append to a Selection [Shift] [Shift] Click to Add Adjacent Clips/Tracks/Scenes to Multi-Selection [Shift] [Shift] Click to Add Nonadjacent Clips/Tracks/ Scenes to a Multi-Selection [CTRL] [CMD] Follow (Auto-Scroll) [CTRL][Shift][F] [CMD][Shift][K] Pan Left/Right of Selection [CTRL][ALT] [CMD][ALT] 34.
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 755 34.15 Clip View MIDI Editor The shortcuts for zooming, snapping/drawing and loop/region settings also work in the MIDI Editor. Windows Macintosh Quantize [CTRL][U] [CMD][U] Quantize Settings...
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 756 34.17 Global Quantization Windows Macintosh Sixteenth-Note Quantization [CTRL][6] [CMD][6] Eighth-Note Quantization [CTRL][7] [CMD][7] Quarter-Note Quantization [CTRL][8] [CMD][8] 1-Bar Quantization [CTRL][9] [CMD][9] Quantization Off [CTRL][0] [CMD][0] 34.18 Working with Sets and the Program Windows Macintosh New Live Set [CTRL][N] [CMD][N] Open Live Set [CTRL][O] [CMD][O] Save Live Set [CTRL][S] [CMD][S] Save Live Set As...
Live Keyboard Shortcuts 757 Load Selected Device From Browser [Enter] [Enter] 34.20 Using the Context Menu A context menu is available in Live for quick access to many commonly used menu items. To access the context menu, [right-click](PC) / [CTRL-click](Mac) on the part of the interface where you would like to execute a particular command. It is worth noting that Live’s context menu may sometimes contain applicable settings from the Preferences.
Index 758 Index A Adaptive Grid options................................... 115 Add/Remove Stop Button command.......... 128 Amp effect.....................................................339 tips........................................................... 341 Analog...........................................................443 amplifiers................................................448 architecture and interface.....................444 envelopes...............................................449 filters...
Index 759 clip in audio/MIDI tracks............................... 46 Clip Activator Switch.................................... 136 Clip box......................................................... 134 Clip Color chooser....................................... 137 Clip Envelope Control chooser.....................318 Clip Envelope Device chooser......................318 clip envelopes.........................................55, 317 and changing note pitch........................319 and changing note volume.
Index 760 Convert Drums to MIDI command.............. 193 Convert Harmony to MIDI command......... 192 Convert Melody to MIDI command............ 192 Corpus effect.................................................359 count-in for recording...................................254 CPU................................................................723 CPU Load meter............................................ 724 Create Analysis Files preference....................74 crossfader...................................
Index 761 Echo Tab................................................. 370 Global Controls..................................... 373 Modulation Tab..................................... 371 Edit button...................................................... 146 Edit menu commands and automation.............................306, 316 and MIDI notes...................................... 178 and scenes............................................. 124 with clips.................................................
Index 762 I importing files.................................................. 70 Impulse........................................................... 471 and individual outputs........................... 474 and MIDI................................................472 filter......................................................... 473 global controls....................................... 473 Link button..............................................472 pan and volume.....................................
Index 763 and collecting external samples............. 96 and finding unused files.......................... 97 and locating missing files........................ 93 and packing Live Projects........................ 98 and project management........................ 92 Mapping Browser.........................................588 mapping to MIDI/keys........................ 56, 583 and recording.........................................255 Master Out chooser......................................
Index 764 filter.........................................................482 Glide and Spread..................................485 global controls.......................................484 layout...................................................... 474 LFO..........................................................479 oscillators................................................ 476 parameter list..........................................486 Overdrive effect............................................
Index 765 Clip Mode..............................................696 Clip Mode and MIDI Tracks.................698 control reference.................................... 707 Convert button.......................................708 Device Mode.........................................685 fixed length recording...........................662 footswitches.............................................713 loading individual drums.......................653 loop length.............................................
Index 766 and Link..................................................722 Live as device......................................... 721 Live as host..............................................217 REX Mode..................................................... 170 ring modulation.............................................383 routing...................................................... 52, 211 and computer keys.................................215 and creating submixes...........................
Index 767 filter.........................................................529 global parameters.................................534 LFO..........................................................533 One-Shot Playback Mode....................526 Pan..........................................................534 playback modes.................................... 524 Slicing Playback Mode......................... 527 Transpose................................................534 Voices...............................
Index 768 resizing...................................................236 returns....................................................... 50 return tracks............................................238 the Master track.....................................238 unfolding........................................ 114, 308 Track Status field........................................... 125 Track Title Bar................................................235 Transient Envelopes......................................
Index 769 oscillators................................................550 sub oscillator..........................................552 wavetable synthesis...............................549 Widen Grid command.................................. 116 Z Zoom Display.................................................. 32 Zooming in Arrangement View............................. 101 in Clip View.............................................
