Today’s tip isn’t really a tip. It’s a bit of background information before we get into a few related tips… When Live 8 came out, we finally got the ability to fully automate and remotely control plug-ins with greater than 128 parameters. Along with this came the configurable parameter area: For any plug-in with less […]
COLLABORATING: FREEZE!
To easily share Sets between two different computers, both computers must have the same plug-ins installed (or rather, all of the plug-ins used in the Set being shared). When the necessary plug-ins aren’t available on both machines, the common workaround is to use Track Freeze. First, a bit about freezing tracks, then we’ll talk about […]
THE BEST FREE COMPRESSOR
One of my absolute favorite plug-ins is free, and you’re just plain crazy if you don’t have it. The Rough Rider, brought to you by Audio Damage: If you’ve got a small plug-in collection (or even a big one), you’ll find that this sucker is a fantastic compliment to Live’s built-in compressor. While Live’s Compressor […]
SUPA-TRIGGA: ONE BUTTON GLITCHA
In the tracks that I use for my vocal and old time music samples, I use the excellent free plug-in SupaTrigga, which slices up audio and then rearranges, reverses, slows down or silences the slices based on various probabilities. I’ll momentarily turn it on with a MIDI button for a blast of glitchy goodness. I […]
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: 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: 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 […]
AMP & CABINET ON THE JUNKY BUS
I like the drums I’ve programmed for this remix I’m working on, but they just sound too polite. One of my favorite ways to add some nasty to the drums is with a little amp and cabinet action. In the past, I’ve used actual re-amping and NI Guitar Rig to handle this chore. Today, it’s […]
AMP & CABINET ON THE JUNKY BUS, pt. 2
My junky drum bus already sounds pretty cool, but it needs a little Amp for grit. It’s placed after the Rough Rider (and before Cabinet): I settled on the Rock model by ear and turned the Bass and Treble all the way down – the aggression I’m looking for is all in the midrange. Like […]
