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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
STORM GATE: THE RACK
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 […]
PERFORMANCE RACK COMPRESSION
For a variety of effect racks I’ve built, I’ve found that building in some compression is quite useful. For example, when I first built the StormGate rack, I found that it sounded good on some material and far less so than others. In particular, there’s was lots of material where the result was not nearly […]
THE SAMPLE BUS
Over the last few tips, I’ve been breaking down every element of my performance template that hasn’t come up in previous tips. When I’m all done, we’ll spend a little time looking at how it’s all put together. If you’ve been following along, something you’ll know about my set is that I’m regularly mashing a […]
