For the StormGate rack that I use in my performance set, the concept is simple: have a single knob that can be used to sweep through a variety of patterns. First, you’ll need to program a series of patterns of course. I suggest creating 6-8 patterns for starters. With a manageable number of patterns, you […]
STORM GATE: GETTING THE GRID RIGHT
Understanding the grid on the StormGate can be a little tricky at first. The key thing to understand is that the basic unit of measurement it uses is the 1/8 note. Take a look at the Steps section: If you play with the numeric control at the top, you’ll find that it doesn’t affect the […]
STORM GATE: SECRET WEAPON
Man, I’m not going to have any secrets left by the end of this year. Sigh. Another way I mix up and mess up my hobo tracks during a performance is to rhythmically gate them using another groovy free plug in: StormGate1. There’s a paid version called StormGate3 that has more features, but it seems […]
RELATIVE CLIP LAUNCHERS
So, since I’ve gotten so far into the subject of scene navigation, the question inevitably follows: once you’ve gotten to the desired location in your set, then what? How do you launch them clips? The answer lies in the MIDI (or Keyboard) map. While you’re in map mode, take a look at the area directly […]
NAVIGATING THE MEGA-SET, pt. 3
OK, a little more on navigation: The last tip was all about how using an absolute (0-127) MIDI CC to control scene navigation is less than ideal, but it turns out there’s also a way you can use that to your advantage. The trick is in knowing that sending a 0 or a 127 to […]
NAVIGATING THE MEGA-SET, pt. 2
There are a few things to bear in mind when mapping Live’s scene navigators. The up/down arrows are pretty straightforward, but the numeric control, not as much. Unlike most controls in Live which work perfectly well when being sent absolute MIDI data, this control is designed to be controlled by relative MIDI data. Absolute MIDI […]
NAVIGATING THE MEGA-SET
If you’re navigating through a set using a Launchpad or an APC-40, the obvious way to do it is using the buttons on the controller to move the colored rectangle up or down to the new location in the set. On the Launchpad, you hold down the Session button, while using the up/down buttons to […]
DJ SAMPLER
My solution for mixing between two clips located on the same track (as mentioned in the previous tip), is to capture a 1 bar loop using a rack that lives in the Master track – sorta based on a sampler you might see in a DJ mixer. The rack has two chains – an empty […]
THE MEGA-SET
Even though I’ve described some other approaches to performance, my main tool for performance in Live is the mega-set. This just means that I keep adding new material to my set as I develop it until it eventually has hundreds of clips. If I want to change directions during a performance, it’s just a matter […]
SUPA-TRIGGA: THE RACK
Like pretty much everything I use in performance, my Supa-Trigga lives in a Rack. There are two particular reasons for this. The first reason is that SupaTrigga is a buffer-based effect, meaning that it has to have a bit of audio stored in memory before it can begin processing it. This means that it won’t […]
