Even with my tracks broken down into multiple clips, I still want a bit more flexibility in terms of getting around a clip on the gig. For example, I might want to mix in a song from a position other than the four that I’ve already picked out. This is where the clip nudge controls come in handy.
Like the Set switches for the clip’s loop points, these buttons are only activated while a clip is playing back. Clicking them moves the clip’s playback position forward or backward by the global quantize value (which is set to 1 Bar for the set I’ve been discussing lately). I use them sort of like transport controls, repeatedly clicking to jump forwards or back one bar at a time.
The really cool thing about using the nudge controls in this way is that Live maintains the relative position in the bar as it moves back and forth, making the transitions very smooth – especially for dance music which tends to evolve and change slowly. This means that I can even nudge a track once it’s playing through the PA, which really comes in handy if a section is getting a little boring and I want to get to the transition a little sooner.
MIDI mapping the nudge controls works just like the loop controls – your controller will control whatever clip is currently being displayed in the clip view.
