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 […]
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 […]
AAAAAND, WE’RE BACK!
Hey everyone! Back in the saddle here at the Secret Tips Laboratory, ready to Bring It, Tips Style. As I mentioned before I took off, I recently spent a good chunk of time reconfiguring my performance template so I could play it with the diminutive Korg NanoKontrol while out in the desert. Results were excellent […]
TIPS VACATION
Well folks, I was overly optimistic that the tips schedule would smooth out… For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been writing a few chapters for an upcoming book, “Your Ableton Live Studio,” and also preparing to play about 10 sets in six days at the Burning Man festival… preparation for this has been an […]
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 […]
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 […]
WAVESHAPIN’
Lately, I’ve been making a lot of aggressive bass sounds with lots of high end buzz and fuzz. For some saturation insanity in your basses, Live’s Saturator used in Waveshaper mode is pretty awesome. What scares folks away from the Waveshaper tends to be the 6 boxes in the lower right that come to life […]
COLLABORATING: (NOT REALLY) LOST AND FOUND
When you open a Set and see the dreaded words “Sample Offline” where a clip’s waveform display should be, it’s time to get the File Manager involved. There are all sorts of scenarios we could discuss here, but here’s a quick and easy tip. Sometimes you know that all files were collected into the Project […]
