As I’ve alluded to a couple of times already, the most complete solution to the hassles of plug-in parameter configuration is to create a Rack that contains your fully configured plug-in. The process looks like this: 1) Configure the plug-in’s parameters 2) Use the Group command to put the plug-in into a Instrument or Effect […]
RACK THAT FUZZ!
When I get crazy with the Saturator, I usually don’t even bother trying to get the wet/dry balance right. Instead, I set the Saturator to 100% wet, and use a wet/dry rack instead. This makes it much easier to get the levels right in my experience. It also offers more sophisticated sound shaping capabilities. For […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 MASTER FX RACK
While I do the majority of my live effects processing within individual tracks, I also have a few effects that I keep in the Master track. These tend to be dramatic effects used for breakdowns, building tension, etc. There are a few different configurations that I’ve used, but the common element is that I like […]
AMP & CABINET!
Stop the presses! Ableton 8.2 is out, and Amp & Cabinet have been added to the effects roster: I’m a big fan of guitar amp modelers. Ever since I first owned my Ensoniq ASR-10 (which had a built-in amp emulation effect), I’ve gotten a huge kick out of running just about everything through them – […]
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 […]
THE JUNKY BUS, IN SPACE!
In the prior tips, I mentioned using Dual mode to preserve the stereo image of the drum group. In fact, what I ended up doing was exaggerating the stereo image using a Simple Delay after Cabinet: (tip continues below) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Hot Tip: Visiting the Shop supports this website. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~ If you’re not familiar with this […]
