what's everybody doing with Ableton Live?

["Tom Rex" <tomrex1@cox.net>]

I’ve played song phrases chromatically across the MIDI keyboard, and that’s a lot of fun.

 

What I’ve been doing most recently is mapping the clips on my keyboard, and playing and layering them, along with the effects.

 

I’ve been experimenting with different 8 pack samples, which you can download weekly from Acid Planet.  I use samples from any 5 different packs that go nice and layer nice together, (that’s relative, of course :) on 5 different tracks, and map them to 5 octaves, on the white keys, from C to A, so I have 30 different sounds to layer and play.  I use the B in each octave to turn off the sample that’s playing in that octave.  It’s a “prepared piano” of sorts. 

 

If you layer them “right”  you can almost play them randomly.  If I map bass samples, say, to the 1^st octave, and drums to the 2^nd, sometimes I’ll hit different keys in each octave at the same time, which gives me different D&B permutations.  It’s also fun to “play” the samples, by turning the quantization off.  I have yet to combine this with, say, mapping a sample chromatically for an octave.

 

I then insert effect(s) in each track. and use the black keys in each octave to turn them on and off, say the C# key  I use the other 4 black keys in each octave to control some of the effects while the samples are playing,  but with mixed results.  These I still have to experiment with, since the keys usually just turn them on and off, which is OK for some of the user interface elements.

 

I have an Evolution UC-33e with knobs and sliders that might do a better job on these, but I haven’t used it yet with the midi keyboard, although Live can map both of them just fine.  Chopitch would be a great effect to start with.  It has 14 sliders!  I’ve actually experimented a little with this one when I 1^st downloaded it.  Way to go, Matthias!

 

So, while all of that is cooking, it’s time to get inside the samples with the mouse.  You can’t just let it sit there!  This is the biggie that Ableton has been promoting for Live 3.  The transpose knob is a fun place to start. 

 

And then there’s your computer keyboard.  Also, foot controllers that I haven’t started with yet. And the Echoplex…?

 

Of course, you can record all of this, so it shows up in the Arranger View for you to later edit.

 

I guess that’s about as far as I’ve gotten.  What about you?  Where have you taken Live, or where has it taken you?  I know that Per uses it a lot, and shared some in the last few days with the discussion thread that’s been going on.

 

Cheers,

Tom