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Ableton Live Intro Instruction Manual

1. Clip Launch Sample Envelopes drumioop Launch Mode 0001 5 Audio wav WEE stat Ga Clip _ Start a Tigger gt 44 1 kHz 16 Bit 2 Ch Ja Volume C Signature Me gaio Seg 8PM End Ga End 4 i_4 Quantization HEG Eaa RAM 92 00 O Groove Global gt Transpose 20 C Pan None 7 Ps See o Beals Position GE Region Loop Position ollow Action Ioa os Preserve 00 aE a 5 Detune ar Length Ga Length ooo 1 o Oa 4 0 0008 Ex Lolo 1 8 MIDI clips have these additional Clip View controls e The MIDI Editor toggles with the Envelope Editor on the right hand side of the Clip View and allows editing and creating MIDI notes and velocities e The Notes box contains settings pertaining to how Live plays a MIDI clip and what it displays in the MIDI Editor The Clip View for an Audio Clip CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 96 Ce FFn O00 Eich Bend End aD 1 Pan Region Loop Position Ea Length To make best use of the screen real estate you can show or hide the Launch Envelopes and Sample or MIDI boxes using the Clip View Box selector in the Clips box You can also toggle between the Sample Display MIDI Editor and the Envelope Editor by clicking in the title bars of the Sample Notes box and the Envelopes box respectively Clip Drums A
2. Windows Macintosh Show Hide Plug In Windows Ctrl JAk JP SB Alt_ P Open Second Multiple Windows with C Plug In Edit Button Open Mac Keystroke Plug In Window A with Plug In Edit Button Group Ungroup Devices Ciri _ 8 Activate Deactivate All Devices in Alt Device Activa Alt Device Activa Group tor tor Click to Append Devices to a Selected 4__ CS Device Load Selected Device From Browser Return or Double Return or Double Click Click 32 20 Using the Context Menu A context menu is available in Live for quick access to many commonly used menu items To access the context menu PC Mac on the part of the interface where you would like to execute a particular command It is worth noting that Live s context menu may sometimes contain applicable settings from the Preferences You should change these options with care as they will affect not only the currently selected item but the general settings of the program Some commands only appear in the context menu Among these are the Create Folder Analyze Audio Search In Folder Close All Folders and Refresh commands from the Browser the special grid marker commands for directing Auto Warp and detailed options for zoom adaptive and fixed grid line width 393 Chapter 33 Live Intro vs Live 8 Comparison Chart Live Intro Live 8 Maximum number of audio t
3. Nostalgic for the famed low resolution sound quality of the Ensoniq Mirage Fairlight CMI or Commodore 64 computer Redux returns us to the Dark Ages of digital by reducing a signal s sample rate and bit resolution The Downsample section has two parameters Downsample and a downsample Mode switch The Redux Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 270 If the downsample dial is set to 1 every input sample passes to the output and the signal does not change If set to 2 only every second sample will be processed so the result sounds a bit more digital The higher the number the lower the resulting sample rate and the more deconstructed the sound Downsampling is like applying a mosaic effect to an image There s a loss of information and sharp edges occur between the blocks The Downsample Mode switch defines if the downsampling either interpolates over a smaller range soft down to 20 0 samples or does not interpolate over a larger range hard down to 200 samples Bit Reduction is similar but while downsampling superimposes a grid in time bit reduction does the same for amplitude If the Bit Reduction amplitude dial is set to 8 amplitude levels are quantized to 256 steps 8 bit resolution If set to 1 the result is pretty brutal Each sample contains either a full positive or full negative signal with nothing in between Bit Reduction defines an in
4. CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 384 32 4 Browsing In addition to the shortcuts shown here editing shortcuts can also be used in the Browser Windows Macintosh Scroll Down Up HA HA Close Open Folders AP e gt Set Selected Folder as Browser Root Return Return Load Selected Item from Browser Return or Double Return or Double Click Click Preview Selected File 4 Return 4 Return Activate Browser Search Mode Ctrl 4A NF C HSA A Jump to Search Results 6 32 5 Transport Windows Macintosh Play from Start Marker Stop Space Space Continue Play from Stop Point I Play Arrangement View Selection Ctrl Alt Record F9 F9 Back to Arrangement F10 F10 Activate Deactivate Track 1 8 F1 3 F1 4 CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 385 32 6 Editing Windows Macintosh Cut Ctrl EJEA Copy Ci JE O Paste Cti JV C WV Duplicate Ctrl D C D Delete Delete E Undo Ctrl JZ CHEA Redo Cii Y HA E Rename Cti JR HR Select All Cti JA L BA By holding down an additional modifier key some of the above commands can also be applied to Windows Macintosh Clips and Slots Across all Tracks Time Across all Tracks The Selected Part of the Envelope At
5. The Follow Action Controls 1 The Follow Action Time control defines when the Follow Action takes place in bars beats sixteenths from the point in the clip where play starts The default for this setting is one bar 2 The Follow Action choosers allow selecting two different Follow Actions A and B 3 The Chance A and Chance B controls set the likelihood of each of the two Follow Actions occurring If a clip has Chance A set to 1 and Chance B set to 0 Follow Action A will occur every time the clip is launched As we can see from this example a Chance setting of 0 means that an action will never happen Changing Chance B to 10 in this scenario makes Follow Action A occur much less often approximately once out of every ten clip launches There are eight Follow Actions available m Stop simply stops the clip after it has played for the chosen Follow Action Time Note that this overrides clip loop region settings Play Clip Again restarts the clip Play Previous Clip triggers the previous clip the one above the current one Play Next Clip triggers the next clip down in the group If a clip with this setting is last in a group this Follow Action triggers the first clip CHAPTER 12 LAUNCHING CLIPS 153 Play First Clip launches the first top clip in a group Play Last Clip launches the last bottom clip in a group a Play Any Clip plays any clip in
6. can be used to move from one track or scene to another while renaming CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 386 32 7 Loop Brace and Start End Markers The loop brace and start end markers must first be selected before any of the following commands will apply to them Windows Macintosh Move Start Marker to Position A Click A Click Nudge Loop Left Right J o9 Move Loop By Loop Length HA HA Halve Double Loop Length Ctrl HA DHA Shorten Lengthen Loop Cti JSS BHH Select Material in Loop Click Loop Brace or Click Loop Brace or Cir JQ JL BQ JL 32 8 Session View Commands See also the editing commands Windows Macintosh Launch Selected Clip Slot Return Return Select Neighbouring Clip Slot Arrow Keys Arrow Keys Select all Clips Slots Cir A BA Copy Clips Ctrl Drag At Drag Add Remove Stop Button Ctrl JE BE Insert MIDI clip Ctrl JE JM ol C BA JM or Double Click Slot Double Click Slot Insert Scene Cr J H Insert Captured Scene Ctl DE J BMH J Move Nonadjacent Scenes Without Cr WA C WHN Collapsing Drop Browser Clips as a Scene Ciri CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 387 32 9 Arrangement View Commands The shortcuts for zooming snapping drawing and loop region settings also work in the Arrangement View See also the
7. 41 AP C20 papae sien E cena ds 333 AP C40 E S vie gree ea eds 322 Arm Recording button 179 190 Arpeggiator effect 04 282 ANd GrOOVES eee eee eee eee eee 284 Arrangement see Arrangement View Arrangement Overview 69 Arrangement Position fields 71 Arrangement View 2 008 68 and copying to Session 92 and Session View 0 0e eee ee 11 Grid snapping 4ivicieisewseevees dans 80 insert marker 00 0 eee eee 70 ISOpING MINE deserere nanic iies 75 NAVIGAUON gosedcea rpd pererin caus 69 recording new clips in the 191 SCIUD are serias ianea vices 70 Arrangement View selector 11 asd files o on see analysis files audioclips Les hcdagdibadeuadiod sas see clips audio effects 0005 see devices Audio Fact Sheet 0e eee eee 363 neutral operations h ccivvsadee vss 364 non neutral operations 369 testing and methodology 363 UPS sy cs sesesde ving eda se spend as eos 372 audio files 00005 see samples audio interface setup see Audio Preferences see routing Audio Preferences 02 e scene eee 4 audio tracks 0e eee see tracks Audio Units Plug ins using see devices INDEX 397 authorization authorizing Live more than once 0 eee eee 8 Auto Filter effect
8. 0 0 000 244 Auto Pan effect c cece eee eee 246 Auto Hide Plug In Windows preference 211 Auto Open Plug In Custom Editor prefer ONCE 0s cae ices E EOE 211 Auto Warp 0 ccc cece een eee nee ees 121 Auto Warp Long Samples preference 115 Automatic Rescan on Each Search 32 automation 0c eee eee 22 225 and grid lines 0 eee 229 CrAWING 1 cece ee eee eee eee eee 228 COILING ives tuvseata daa eoeten 229 overriding reactivating 226 FECOMING oss eaucrtaritoseenaes sas 225 Automation Control chooser 228 B Back to Arrangement button 13 91 226 Beat Repeat effect 247 beat time ruler and Arrangement editing 69 and editing envelopes 241 and editing MIDI 130 in the MIDI Editor 131 Beats Mode 0 eee eee eee eee 126 Bit Depth preference 198 bookmarks 02 e cece eee eens 31 breakpoint envelopes see automation see clip envelopes EEEE see File Browser see Live Device Browser see Plug In Device Browser Browser browsing files 0 eee e eee ees 28 C Capture and Insert Scene command 90 Chains 0 eee eee ee see Device Chains Check for Updates command 1 Chord effect 0c cece eee eee 286 Chorus effect 00 c eee eee eee 249 Clip Activator swit
9. 1 Bass Out 2 Drum Out 3 Lead 4 Bass 5 Drums jina toad synth bass FJarums lead slap bass kick drum closed HH 8 Q we W mW Audio From Audio From MIDI From MIDI From MIDI From 3 Lead gt 3 Lead All Ins All Ins All ins v ii 3 4 Konta gt lii 5 Konta gt All Channew All Channee f All Channew Monitor Monitor Monitor HE Auto Om HA Auto Om A Auto Or Audio To Audio To MIDI To Master gt Master 3 Lead x 2 Kontakt a 10 Konmtakt v Sending MIDI from the mixer to a multi timbral instrument is a variation of a case described above One MIDI track hosts the multi timbral instrument and additional MIDI tracks are used to feed its individual parts Each additional MIDI track has its Output Type chooser pointed to the track that contains the instrument and its Output Channel chooser referenc ing the target MIDI channel Additional audio tracks can then be used to tap the instrument s individual outputs as described earlier Feeding Sidechain Inputs Some effects have so called sidechain inputs A vocoder for instance imposes spectral characteristics taken from one signal say spoken word onto another signal for instance a string pad The vocoder is inserted as an audio effect into the string track It has a sidechain input for the speech signal which has to be delivered from another track So we create
10. 161 adding removing 0065 90 Computer MIDI Keyboard option 161 Clip Update Rate preference 112 Consolidate command 82 Clio VIEW s o0 cident cnet aieas 9S Context MENU o s rerrsei rere ui evans 392 and playing the Arrangement 71 Control chooser see Automation Control and remote control mapping 3 chooser see Clip Envelope Control scrub area 0 eee eee 103 chooser Clip View boxes selector 96 129 148 232 control surfaces CIPS soian aneio mu cnadheinyneneddadans 11 and takeover mode n n 314 adding fades to 4 77 108 instant mappings for 341 arranging editing 05 76 locking to devices Si2 as templates aayueciixsdn Gavsea ans 238 manual setup s1ssadS cbadearicecean 313 audigi Clips sus ues annassa 14 natively supported savaievss venue 310 clip multi selections 4 e0hsedsaapeeed 94 copy protection 6 cece eee eee 7 crossfading e cece eee e eee 77 count in for recording 0005 197 deactivating muting 97 Count In preference 4 197 editing MIDI notes velocities 126 CPU fen irtee e E deni eA 358 importing from files 4s06cscsneveses 36 CPU Load meter 0 eee eee 359 in Arrangement View 76 CPU Preferences 2 0 e eee eee ee 4 in audio MIDI tracks n n 13 Create Analysis Files preferenc
11. As you mouse over transients temporary pseudo Warp Markers appear These have the same shape as regular Warp Markers but they re grey Double clicking or dragging a pseudo Warp Marker creates an actual Warp Marker or if there are no Warp Markers later in the clip changes the tempo for the clip segment Holding the PC Mac modifier while creating a Warp Marker on a transient also creates Warp Markers at the adjacent transients Holding the modifier while clicking on a pseudo Warp Marker allows you to drag the transient to a new position Once a Warp Marker has been created holding while dragging the Warp Marker will move the waveform beneath the marker rather than the marker itself You can also select a range of time and create Warp Markers at all of the transients within the range via the Create menu s Insert Warp Markers command If there are no transients within your time selection a Warp Marker will be created at the end of the selection Although Live usually does a good job of placing transients in the right places you can delete and create transients as well via the corresponding commands in the Create menu Saving Warp Markers Your Warp Markers will automatically be saved with the Live Set but you may also want to save them with the sample file itself so that they are reconstructed anytime you drag the file into Live To do this click the Clip View s Save button Note that if a sample has a saved set of W
12. If you are using a natively supported control surface arming a MIDI track will automatically lock this control surface to the instrument in the track Clicking one track s Arm button unarms all other tracks unless the PC Mac modifier is held If multiple tracks are selected clicking one of their Arm buttons will arm the other tracks as well Arming a track selects the track so you can readily access its devices in the Track View 15 3 Recording Recording can be done in both the Session and the Arrangement Views If you want to record onto more than one track simultaneously and or prefer viewing the recording linearly and in progress the Arrangement View may be the better choice If you want to break your recording seamlessly into multiple clips or record while you are also launching clips in Live use the Session View 15 3 1 Recording Into the Arrangement Recording Into the Arrangement CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 192 1 Recording commences when the Control Bar s Record button is activated and the Play button is pressed 2 Recording creates new clips in all tracks that have their Arm button on 3 When the Overdub switch is on the new clips contain a mix of the signal already in the track and the new input signal The Overdub option only applies to MIDI tracks 4 To prevent recording prior to a punch in point activate the Punch In switch This is useful for protecting the parts of a track that you do
13. gt gt 8 ovra 18 CA Arrangement playback does not resume until you explicitly tell Live to resume by clicking the Back to Arrangement button which lights up to remind you that what you hear differs from the Arrangement The Control Bar s Record Button The Arrangement Selector The Back to Arrangement Button CHAPTER 7 SESSION VIEW 92 9 T Stop Clips ST i T L 1 2 s o Y To disable all Arrangement clips simultaneously click on the Stop All Clips button in the Master Track Status field The clips in the Arrangement and in the Session View exist independently from one another which makes it easy to improvise into the Arrangement over and over again until it s right LALLI ILILILL Furthermore you can move clips not only within the Session grid but also from the Session View to the Arrangement and vice versa by using Copy and Paste or by dragging clips over the or m selectors When pasting material from the Arrangement into the Session View Live attempts to pre serve the temporal structure of the clips by laying them out in a matching top to bottom order Moving through the scenes from the top down you can reconstruct the original ar rangement This is useful for taking a composed piece of music back to the improvisational stage The Stop All Clips Button 93 Chapter 8 Clip View The Clip View is where clip properties can be set and adjusted 0001 6 Audio wav 44 1 kHz 16
14. Mac modifier while pressing Rescan will delete your plug in database altogether and run a clean scan of your plug ins 16 2 1 Plug Ins in the Track View polyibiit y SectionOne Mixeri Osc1 Leve Mixeri Osc3 Leve 1 92 dB 1 51 dB Mixer1 Osc2 Leve Defi Cutoff 1 51 dB 152 5 Hz Mixer2 Osct Leve Defi Q 8 34 dB 74 Mixer2 Noise Lev Ocf2 Cutoff A VST Plug in in the Track View Once a plug in is dragged from the Browser into a track it will show up in the Track View For plug ins with fewer than 32 modifiable parameters a Live panel will represent all of the parameters as horizontal sliders Plug ins that contain more than 32 parameters will open with an empty panel which you can then configure to show the parameters you want to access The plug in s original interface can be opened in a separate window P polyiblit The Plug In Unfold Button You can view or hide the plug in s parameters by toggling the button in the plug in s title bar The X Y control field can be used to control two plug in parameters at once and is therefore especially well suited for live control To assign any two plug in parameters to the Live panel X Y field use the drop down menus directly beneath it CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 211 Showing Plug In Panels in Separate Windows BO povyins Mixeri Osct Leve 1 92 dB Mixeri Osc2 Leve 1 51 dB The Plug In Edit
15. You can save time by setting up reasonable defaults for the clips you are recording in the Record Warp Launch Preferences tab In particular it is smart to indicate the rough category of sound to be recorded by choosing the appropriate default Warp Mode If you decide later on a different song tempo the program will automatically maintain good sound quality usually without further adjustment 15 8 Where are the Recorded Samples Recorded samples are stored with the current Set s Project folder under Samples Recorded Until the Set is saved it remains at the location specified by the Temporary Folder preference which is found in the Preferences File Folder tab To make sure Live will not run out of disk space while recording into a new Set please make sure the Temporary Folder is on a drive partition with sufficient free space 15 9 Using Remote Control for Recording Using Key Map Mode and MIDI Map Mode you can operate Live s recording functions without using the mouse You can map the Control Bar s Record and transport controls as well as the track Arm buttons For recording into the Session slots you can map the individual slots as well as the relative navigation controls to initiate recording remotely for instance CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 199 3 MIDI 4 MIDI Master gt icc r A Take 2 2 4 Stop Clips lt gt e Ii The Scene Up Down o ll Buttons One key is used to jump to the next scen
16. inf 12 st o The Arpeggiator Effect Live s Arpeggiator effect takes the individual MIDI notes from a held chord or single note and plays them as a rhythmical pattern The sequence and speed of the pattern can be CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 283 controlled by the device which also provides a full complement of both classic and original arpeggiator features Arpeggiators are a classic element in Eighties synth music The name originates with the musical concept of the arpeggio in which the notes comprising a chord are played as a series rather than in unison Arpeggio is derived from the Italian word arpeggiare which refers to playing notes on a harp 21 1 1 Style and Rate Sections Arpeggiator s Style chooser determines the sequence of notes in the rhythmical pattern ij E E E i E E Up and Down Oo E E E E I E E UpDown and A E DownUp a E E E a E m m a a E E Down amp Up and Up EE a E amp Down E a Oo E o go Converge and E Diverge E E E E A l Con amp Diverge CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 284 E m E E E E E E z a m al Oo 3 E Pinky Up and Pinky E E UpDown E E E i E Oo Oo a a El Thumb Up and E E El E DE P oO Thumb UpDown Play Order places notes in the pattern according to the order in which they are played This is t
17. 19 4 MIDI Controller Clip Envelopes Whether you are working with a new MIDI clip that was recorded directly into Live or one from your files Live allows you to edit and create MIDI controller data for the clip in the form of clip envelopes Choose MIDI Ctrl from a MIDI clip s Device chooser and use the Clip Envelope Control chooser below it to select a specific MIDI controller You can create new clip envelopes for any of the listed controllers by drawing steps or using breakpoints You can also edit clip envelope representations of controller data that is imported as part of your MIDI files or is created while recording new clips Names of controllers that already have clip envelopes appear with an adjacent LED in the Clip Envelope Control chooser Live supports most MIDI controller numbers up to 119 accessible via the scroll bar on the right side of the menu Note that devices to which you send your MIDI controller messages may not follow the conventions of MIDI control channel assignments so that Pitch Bend or Pan for example will not always achieve the results that their names imply 1 16 Many of the techniques described in the following section on unlinking a clip envelope from its associated clip can be adapted for use with MIDI controller clip envelopes 19 5 Unlinking Clip Envelopes From Clips A clip envelope can have its own local loop region settings The ability to unlink the envelope from its clip
18. Signature 4 ji 4 Groove None omit Launch Launch Mode Trigger Legato Quantization cioba v vei 0 0 Follow Action aL od 9 The Clip View for a MIDI Clip The Clip View Box Selector Shows and Hides Various Clip View Components CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 97 8 1 The Clip Box Launch Sample gt Envelopes Bass B2 Signature 4 i 4 Groove gt Laid Back y s lt a gt Pa L 8 1 1 Clip Activator Switch Using this switch you can deactivate a clip so that it does not play when launched in the Session View or during Arrangement playback Clips can also be activated deactivated directly from the Session or Arrangement View with their PC 6 Mac context menus 8 1 2 Clip Name and Color The Clip Name field allows naming the clip By default a clip s name matches the name of the file it references but in general the clip name is independent from the file name You can also rename a clip by selecting it in the Session grid or Arrangement View and using the Rename command in the Edit menu or the clip s PC Ctrl Mac context menu This method also allows you to create your own info text for the clip via the Edit Info Text command Renaming an audio clip does not rename the referenced sample file To rename a file select it in Live s File Browsers and then choose the Edit menu s Rename command The Clip Color chooser allows
19. s folder view at any time by closing the search field AJ ray a gt b Bj Bass Detector Part 1 alc gt B Bass Detector Part 3 alc e gt a Bass Detector Synth Variation alc gt E Fingered Bass Bass 1 alc Closing the Search Field If you select a file from the search results and then close the search field Live makes sure that file remains selected in the folder view opening folders as required BB Parent Folder v P Ciips ri v Po Bass t FE Bass Detector Part 1 alc Bass Detector Part 2ale Locates the File Last EE Bass Detector Part 3 alc Selected Among the r ol ite aaae a Search Results If a search is in progress closing the field immediately stops the search although navigating to other Browsers does not In fact while you re waiting for a search to finish in one Browser you can initiate separate searches in the others A Browser that is in an active search will indicate this via a small rotating ring on the Browser button CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 34 oO gt EE Electro Rivival 130 Kik Snar The Rotating Ring Means That a Search is in Progress For mouse free searching we suggest the following sequence of shortcuts 1 Ctrl jE PC C 8A JF Mac to open the search field 2 Type your search terms 3 Return to Go 4 to jump to the search results 5 4 and 4 to scroll the search results 6
20. Chorus Coan Delay 1 Polarity Highpass 899 Hz 35 a Dry Wet Amount Rate 1 25ms 8 65ms Boms F0 MHz 76 The Chorus effect uses two parallel time modulated delays to create chorus thickening and flanging effects Each delay has its own delay time control calibrated in milliseconds Delay 1 has a highpass filter that can remove low frequencies from the delayed signal Greater highpass values let only very high frequencies pass through to Delay 1 Delay 2 can switch among three different modes When off only Delay 1 is audible In Fix Mode only Delay 1 s delay time will be modulated When Mod is activated Delay 2 will receive the same modulation as Delay 1 The Chorus Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 250 To set both delay lines to Delay 1 s delay time turn on the link button This is especially useful if you want to change both delays with a single gesture The Modulation X Y controller can impart motion to the sounds To change the modula tion rate for the delay times click and drag along the horizontal axis To change the amount of modulation click and drag along the vertical axis You can also make changes by entering parameter values in the Amount and Rate fields be low the X Y controller The Amount value is in milliseconds while the modulation frequency rate is in Hertz Clicking the 20 switch multiplies the modulation frequency by 20 to achi
21. Copy and Paste only affect the current selection their Time counterparts act upon all tracks by inserting and deleting time Any time signature markers within the selected region will also be affected Cut Time cuts a selection of time from the Arrangement thereby moving any audio or MIDI on either side of the cut area closer together in the timeline This command reduces the length of your Arrangement by whatever amount of time you have cut Note that the Cut Time command affects all tracks not only the selected ones Paste Time places copied time into the Arrangement thereby increasing its overall duration by the length of time you have copied Duplicate Time places a copy of the selected timespan into the Arrangement thereby increasing its overall duration by the length of the selection Delete Time deletes a selection of time from the Arrangement thereby moving any audio or MIDI on either side of the deleted area closer together in the timeline This command reduces the length of your Arrangement by the amount of time you have deleted Note that the Delete Time command affects all tracks not only the selected ones A Gap Between Clips Has Been Cut by First Selecting It Then Executing the Cut Time Command CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 82 e Insert Silence inserts as much empty time as is currently selected into the Arrangement before the selection 6 11 Splitting Clips The Split command can divide a
22. Ctrl JA EF PC Mac to close the search field and go back to the folder view 5 1 4 Previewing Files Live allows you to preview samples and clips in the File Browser before they are imported into the program To enable previewing activate the Preview switch next to the Preview Tab at the bottom of the Browser CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 35 Library Name Type ij Brass Attack B3 aif Aiff Brass Attack C 2 aif Aiff Fg Brass Attack 01 aif Aiff Brass Attack E5 aif Aiff a Hint You can preview files even when the Preview switch is not activated by pressing Q JReturn or The Preview Switch Click on a sample file or use and 4 to select it Click in the Tab s scrub area to make playback jump to that point Note that it is not possible to scrub clips that have been saved with Warp turned off You can also select Live Clips in the Browser to load them into the Preview Tab but they will not play automatically You can click on the tab or press to preview them With the Raw button enabled files will preview at their original tempo and will not loop With Raw disabled Live will try to preview files in sync with the current Set so that you can better judge which samples will work for you Please note that scrubbing is not possible when Raw is enabled The previewing volume can be adjusted using the mixer s Preview Volume knob v O i aD 0 ELE o7 Q
23. Druin RACKS g adh ses ccdneden dened nade 222 Pad View ccc eee eee e eee 223 Duplicate Time command in the Arrangement 5 81 in the MIDI Editor 137 Dynamic Tube effect 256 E Edit menu commands and automation 226 230 and CXPOMING spcciais eacesinasee siege 42 and MIDI notes 134 and return tracks 5 183 ANd SCENES 0 eee eee eee ees 87 and tracks ee cece ee eee 181 in the Browser 0 0e0e0e 36 with Clip Stop buttons 90 WIICHDS cus ietew sane igahbwe Meaekses 97 with devices 0eeee eee 204 INDEX 400 with SCENES ju sisneeceneterdaegenesees 90 Fixed Grid options i os pavadsayanacdnns 80 ECIESWIREM roy euiene nanan di ve piura 106 FLAC files hc tinaen davegen aig see samples effect chains see Device Chains Flanger effect eee ee eee es 262 effects soreer iiaeaa nara Ee see devices Fold button 0 eee eee 133 EIC see Essential Instrument Collection Follow Actions 0 e eee eee 151 Envelope Editor 95 232 Follow command 5 70 101 envelopes see automation see clip Follow switch 7O TOL TIE 132 envelopes fragmentary bars 0 e eee eee 74 Envelopes box 0005 95 232 Freeze Track command 360 EQ Eight eff
24. Ld G e S z e e o o 1 Each clip in the Session View has a triangular button at the left edge Click the button with the mouse to launch clip playback at any time or pre select a clip by clicking on its name and launch it using the computer s key You can then move on to the neighboring clips using the arrow keys Please refer the manual section on clip launch settings for details on how to customize this behavior 2 Click on a square Clip Stop button to stop a running clip either in one of the track s slots or in the Track Status field below the Session grid Clips can be controlled remotely with the computer keyboard or a MIDI controller They can even be mapped to MIDI note ranges so that they play chromatically Clips can be played at any time and in any order The layout of clips does not predetermine their temporal succession the Session grid offers random access to the clips it contains Notice that even if you stop playback for a Session View clip the Play button in the Control Bar will remain highlighted and the Arrangement Position fields will continue running These fields keep a continuous flow of musical time going so that you can always know your position in song time during a live performance or while recording into the Arrangement regardless of what your individual Session clips are doing You can always return the Arrangement Position fields to 1 1 1 and stop playback for the entire Live Set by pr
25. PC Mac modifier with the arrow up and down keys doubles or halves the loop length You can also drag the Arrangement s loop brace Dragging the left and right ends sets the loop start and end points dragging between the ends moves the loop without changing its length The loops PC Cti Mac context menu s Set Song Start Time Here command can be used to overrule the default play starts at selection rule when this command is checked play starts at the loop start 6 6 Moving and Resizing Clips A piece of audio or MIDI is represented in the Arrangement View by a clip sitting at some song position in one of Live s tracks Sas SC EC EEE a gt a SEC DEC EE rhode shaker 77777 4 Perc s Dragging a clip s left or right edge changes the clip s length Clips snap to the editing grid as well as various objects in the Arrangement including the edges of other clips locators and time signature changes Moving a Clip Changing a Clip s Length CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 77 6 7 Audio Clip Fades and Crossfades The beginning and end of audio clips in the Arrangement View have adjustable volume fades Additionally adjacent clips on the same audio track can be crossfaded To access the fades for an audio track s clips 1 Unfold the track by clicking the button next to the track name 2 Select Fades in the Fades Device chooser 3 Click and drag the fade h
26. Sets CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 48 gt Desktop fe Name Type Date Modified P AOC Remix 18 08 2008 16 2 S fix AOC Remix Project 24 04 2008 13 1 t E Samples 23 04 2008 13 1 t Acc Remix ais Live Set 24 04 2008 09 4 Live Set 24 04 2008 13 1 MIDI Track 3 MIDI Track MIDI Track MIDI Track A MIDI Track Grooves Unfolding a Set to Wave 21 04 2008 16 2 Reveal its Contents You can now drag the individual tracks and drop them as described at the beginning of this section Any grooves that were saved with your Set are also available as a folder within the unfolded Set Of the three tracks contained in the Set shown in the following figure two contain Session View clips These can be accessed by unfolding the tracks oy vores Revealing the Session View Clips Contained in a Set You can browse preview and import Session View clips from the Set as if they had been stored as individual Live Clips This basically means that any Live Set can serve as a pool of sounds for any other suggesting creative reuse and crossover CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 49 5 5 3 Exporting Session Clips as New Sets You can export a selection of Session View clips as a new Live Set by dragging them to the File Browser To export a Set first click and drag or use the or PC Mac modifiers to select more than one Session View clip Then simply drag the clips to a folder in
27. are explained later in this chapter With respect to MIDI Timecode Live can only act as a MIDI sync slave not a master 28 1 1 Synchronizing External MIDI Devices to Live Live can send MIDI Clock messages to an external MIDI sequencer or drum machine After connecting the sequencer to Live and setting it up to receive MIDI sync turn the device on as a sync destination in Live s MIDI Sync Preferences Output RemoteSL Port 2 The lower indicator LED next to the Control Bar s EXT button will flash when Live is sending sync messages to external sequencers 28 1 2 Synchronizing Live to External MIDI Devices Live can be synchronized via MIDI to an external sequencer After connecting the sequencer to Live and setting it up to send sync use Live s MIDI Sync Preferences to tell Live about the connection MIDI Ports rack Sync Remote y gt Input RemoteSL Port 1 on ony on When an external sync source has been enabled the EXT button appears in the Control Bar You can then activate external sync either by switching on this button or by using the External Sync command in the Options menu The upper indicator LED next to the EXT button will flash if Live receives useable sync messages Choosing a MIDI Slave for Live Setting up Live as a MIDI Slave CHAPTER 28 SYNCHRONIZATION AND REWIRE 354 de Af i 3 When Live is synced to an external MIDI device it can accept song position pointers from this d
28. frequencies in another track s audio The headphones button between the external and EQ sections allows you to listen to only the sidechain input bypassing the compressor s output Since the sidechain audio isn t fed to the output and is only a trigger for the compressor this temporary listening option can make it much easier to set sidechain parameters and hear what s actually making the compressor work 20 5 2 Compression Tips This section presents some tips for using Compressor effectively particularly with the sidechain options CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 255 Mixing a Voiceover Sidechaining is commonly used for so called ducking effects For example imagine that you have one track containing a voiceover and another track containing background music Since you want the voiceover to always be the loudest source in the mix the background music must get out of the way every time the narrator is speaking To do this automatically insert a Compressor on the music track but select the narration track s output as the external sidechain source Sidechaining in Dance Music Sidechaining ducking is a dance music producer s secret weapon because it can help to ensure that basslines or even whole mixes always make room for the kick drum By inserting a compressor on the bass or master track and using the kick drum s track as the sidechain input you can help to control problematic low frequencies that might inte
29. through the scenes 4 Assign these buttons to launch the clip at the highlighted scene in the respective track Relative Session mapping is useful for navigating a large Live Set as Live always keeps the highlighted scene at the Session View s center Note that the number of scenes is limited to 8 in Live Intro Mapping to Clip View Controls The Clip View displays the settings for whichever clip happens to be currently selected but it will also display the settings of multi selected clips To avoid unpleasant musical surprises CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 320 it is important to remember that creating remote control mappings for any control in the Clip View interface could potentially affect any clip in the Live Set For this reason we recommend mapping Clip View controls to relative MIDI controllers to prevent undesirable jumps in parameter values 24 2 5 Computer Keyboard Remote Control The Key Map Mode Switch Creating control surface assignments for your computer keyboard is straightforward 1 Enter Key Map Mode by pressing the KEY switch in the upper right hand corner of the Live screen Notice that the assignable elements of the interface become highlighted in red when you enter Key Map Mode The Mapping Browser will also become available If the Browser is hidden you will want to show it at this point using the appropriate View menu command 2 Click on the Live parameter that you wish to assign to a
30. 0 24 09 043 Diy FbPan Fit Res Rvb Amt n 0 48 0 02 0 06 DIyR Fb Drv Gain ri 0 05 0 05 DiyR FbPan Main Mix A none none 0 38 0 51 The first time you open Live Audio Units Plug ins will not appear in the Plug In Device Browser In order to activate your Audio Units as a plug in source please press the Activate button in the Plug In Device Browser or go to the File Folder Preferences by pressing Ctrl J PC C W Mac There you will find the Plug In Sources section Turning The VST Load Program or Bank Button Left and Save Program or Bank Button Right An Audio Units Plug In CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 218 on the Use Audio Units option activates Audio Units Plug ins so that they appear in Live s Plug In Device Browser Note that you can always turn this option off later if you decide not to use Audio Units Plug in Sources Rescan Plug ins Re r Use VST Plug in System Folders On Plug Ins Audio Units Plug ins sometimes have a feature that allows choosing between different modes for the device You might be able to choose for example between different levels of quality in the rendering of a reverb Choosers for these device modes can only be accessed through the original plug in panel which is opened using the Plug In Edit button P micro TonicAU Pattern Play Stop Opening an Audio Units pNext Plug In Window Audio Units have presets th
31. 161 aUtOMAt ON icv aie daceiaednereones 225 and external audio in out 159 overdubbing 0 0 00 191 194 and external MIDI in out 160 punch in punch out 06 191 and instruments onaniaa 171 resampling the Master output 164 and layering ee 175 step recording ssicwiasdhagresawaeys 195 and post effects recording 168 with COUNt IN kee eee eee eee 197 and recording MIDI as audio 169 recording an Arrangement 90 and ReWire 00 c eee eee eee 163 INDEX 405 and sidechain inputs 174 and MIDI key mapping 31 between tracks 0 eee 165 COILING orenean aE ogden a 90 for creating submixes 170 FECOMdINg cece eee eee eee ee 193 with external synthesizers 162 scrubbing playback in the Arrangement View 70 S in the Clip View ccpicarneendrnoyenes 103 Search button 2 06 6 ss eee cae iei sea eeees 31 sales 2 0 eee eee eee eee ee eee see Ableton search In Folder command 32 Sample box cote ete tees eteee es eee 95 searching in the File Browser 31 sample collections see Essential Instrument FAS GRT cachocesevadaa E 32 Collection Select Loop command 05 79 Sample Display Gaata a aa S 25 101 and clip envelopes 0 233 Sample Editor preference 50 and exporting 6eseeeeeee ee 42 samples Poteet t
32. Bit 2 Ch The Clip View The Clip View is opened by clicking on the Clip Overview or double clicking a clip in the Session or Arrangement View CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 94 ITTF PTT i bi das Ma aai naainianiiaia LL Mt Dads i mi en ee ee 1 Audio In the Session View clicking on a Track Status Field opens the Clip View for editing the clip that is currently running in the track MAiA l The properties of more than one clip can be edited collectively in the Clip View as a multi selection To create a multi selection click and drag from an empty clip slot to highlight the clips or select one clip and use the PC Mac or Q___ modifiers to add to your selection The properties available in the Clip View for a multi selection depend on the contents of the clips generally only properties which the clips have in common are shown 2 Chords 3 Rhodes 4 Perc s 5 Beats PHOENIX rhodes shaker guitarchord rhodes shaker Drums A guitarchoru rhodes2 shaker Drums B theme Drums C Drums B guitarchoru Drums E Controls such as sliders and knobs behave slightly differently when they are part of a multi selection If the clips in a multi selection have differing values for any particular knob or slider parameter clip transposition for example the range of these values will be displayed and can be adjusted with
33. Control Bar s KEY switch to enter Key Map Mode then select the Tap button press the key you would like to use for tapping click the KEY switch again to leave Key Map Mode The assignment will take effect immediately The Tap button can also be assigned to a MIDI note or controller like a foot switch in a similar fashion Although Live responds to your tapping immediately it does apply some degree of inertia to prevent sluggish behavior in the software The more taps Live receives in a row the more precisely it will be able to conclude the desired tempo You can also use tapping to count in If you are working in a 4 4 signature it takes four taps to start song playback at the tapped tempo 9 1 3 Nudging the Tempo The Tap Button The Key Map Mode Switch The Nudge Buttons CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 115 Although Live can be easily synchronized to external MIDI devices you may find yourself in situations in which you need to adjust to sources that aren t locked to one tempo such as live musicians or turntables As long as your Set s tempo is basically the same as that of the unsynchronized material you can use the Nudge buttons to temporarily speed up or slow down Live s playback to match what you hear As with the Tap button these buttons are much easier to use when mapped to MIDI controllers 9 2 Time Warping Samples Live s ability to play any sample in sync with a chosen tempo is a unique and important
34. Germany This manual as well as the software described in it is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license The content of this manual is furnished for informational use only is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Ableton Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this manual is accurate Ableton assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this book Except as permitted by such license no part of this publication may be reproduced edited stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of Ableton Ableton the Ableton Logo the Live logo are trademarks of Ableton AG Apple GarageBand Mac Macintosh Mac OS and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Inc registered in the U S and other countries Finder is a trademark of Apple Inc Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries SONiVOX is the brand name trademark of Sonic Network Inc VST and ASIO are trademarks and software of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH ReWire Recycle and REX2 are trademarks of Propellerhead Software AB All other product and company names
35. Live s Library it is important to make sure that any presets that refer to this device remain associated with it If you save a preset for a Max device that is outside of the Library Live will try to maintain the necessary file references by copying the Max device into the Library and saving the preset based on this copy If the referenced Max file is then moved or renamed however these file associations may be broken If this happens you can use Live s File Manager to fix the problem http www ableton com authorization live8 The Path to the Max Installation CHAPTER 23 MAX FOR LIVE 306 To avoid these issues we recommend always storing Max devices and their presets in the same folder Live s Library is the preferred location Live Devices O Name Type E Max Audio Effect Ableton Device a BufferShuffler P Pluggo P Audio Rate Pan Audio Rate Pan G Inside Outsky Shiver me Timbers E Slow Complexity Stereo Shudder E Tiger Moth A Max Device and its Presets in the Device Browser 23 3 Editing Max for Live Devices Max devices or patches are constructed of objects that send data to each other via virtual cables An empty Max Audio Effect for example already contains some of these elements the plugin object passes all incoming audio to the plugout object which then passes the audio on to any additional devices in the chain Max Audio Effect GAA Audio from Live L R z a 5
36. MIDI event timing But timestamps are only applicable to data within the computer itself MIDI data outside of the computer can make no use of this information and so timing information coming from or going to external hardware is processed by the hardware as soon as it arrives rather than according to a schedule Additionally MIDI cables are serial meaning they can only send one piece of information at a time In practice this means that multiple notes played simultaneously cannot be transmitted simultaneously through MIDI cables but instead must be sent one after the other Depending on the density of the events this can cause MIDI timing problems Another issue that can arise particularly when working with hardware synthesizers from the early days of MIDI is that the scan time of the device may occur at a relatively slow rate Scan time refers to how often the synthesizer checks its own keyboard for input If this rate is too slow jitter may be introduced Of course any such timing problems present at the hardware level may be multiplied as additional pieces of gear are added to the chain Even within the computer the accuracy of timestamps can vary widely depending on the quality of the MIDI hardware errors in driver programming etc Live must assume that any timestamps attached to incoming MIDI events are accurate and that outgoing events will be dealt with appropriately by any external hardware But both situations are impossible
37. Mode 2 eee ee 127 Solo it PlaCe uea 186 Time Ruler Format option 354 Sol6 switch 2 ciaeas cic eadic eee 179 time signature Solo Cue Mode switch 187 and scene names 5 87 90 sound files 00005 see samples time signature changes 13 Spectrum device 00008 278 Toggle Mode 4 c svic0 cee keve Geuedds v3 149 Split DURON se ote pentane ead pees 129 Tones Mode cee eee 127 Split command ce eee 82 Track Activator switch 179 Start Recording on Scene Launch 193 Track Delay control 00 187 start end markers 0e eee 102 Track Delays selector 187 step recording e eee 195 tr ck meter coroners iniia een 179 Stop All Clips button 204 91 Track Status field n nunun 88 SLOP DUTTON shiuteawsageenhagecvekanedes 70 Mrack title bar nickcetuvesneeeackngenwns 181 submixing Track View 1 2 cece ee cece eee eee eee 200 creating submixes IZO tracks erasan eis abn eens site sates as 12 SWING inal toast es tana see groove feature activating eesis Seed ieot wierd aed 179 Sync Delay preference 354 audio and MIDI in 13 Sync In Indicator 0 ee eee 162 automation in eee eee 227 Sync Out Indicator eee 1
38. Set Live Clip or preset that references files which are missing from their referenced locations Live s Status Bar located at the bottom of the main screen will display a warning message Clips and instrument sample slots that reference missing samples will appear marked Offline and Live will play silence instead of the missing samples Live s File Manager offers tools for repairing these missing links Click on the Status Bar message to access these This is actually a shortcut for choosing the Manage Files command from the File menu clicking the Manage Set button and then clicking the Locate button found in the Missing Files section The File Manager will present you with a list of the missing files and associated controls CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 60 Missing Media Files ELEL 3 of the referenced files are missing Tell me more b Automatic Search aS as ale gt 0001 4 Audio wav Missing P CS Step Scquencer amxd M Missing NIA The File Manager s List gt Seen AWS 04 07 06 1 wav I Missing NIA of Missing Files 5 8 1 Manual Repair To manually fix a broken file reference locate the missing file in the File Browser drag it over to the File Manager and drop it on the respective line in the list of missing files Note that Live will not care if the file you offer is really the file that was missing 5 8 2 Automatic Repair Live offers a convenient automatic search function for repairing fil
39. Start Marker CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 243 To keep this complexity under control it is important to have a common point of reference The start marker identifies the point where sample or envelope playback depart from when the clip starts Note that the start end markers and loop brace are subject to quantization by the zoom adaptive grid as is envelope drawing 19 5 3 Imposing Rhythm Patterns onto Samples So far we have been talking about imposing long envelopes onto small loops You can also think of interesting applications that work the other way around Consider a sample of a song that is several minutes long This sample could be played by a clip with a one bar volume envelope loop The volume envelope loop now works as a pattern that is repeatedly punching holes into the music so as to perhaps remove every third beat You can certainly think of other parameters that such a pattern could modulate in interesting ways 19 5 4 Clip Envelopes as LFOs If you are into sound synthesis you may want to think of a clip envelope with a local loop as an LFO This LFO is running in sync with the project tempo but it is also possible to set up a loop period odd enough to render the envelope unsynchronized By hiding the grid you can adjust the clip envelope loop start and end points completely independent of meter grid 244 Chapter 20 Live Audio Effect Reference Live comes with a selection of custom designed bui
40. The LEDs above the Sign controls give you a visual idea of how output pitch compares with that of the original The Mode button determines whether the alteration will be random or when set to Alt will cycle between the allowed output notes in a fixed order sometimes known as cycle round robin The Chance control behaves a bit differently in Alt mode at 100 percent the next output note will always be the next note in the series At 0 percent the next output note will always be the incoming note For example with Chance set to 100 percent Choices set to 12 and Scale set to 1 playing The Random Effect CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 290 C3 once will trigger C3 and each successive C3 will trigger the next semitone higher until the device reaches C4 at which point it will start over at C3 But with Chance set to 100 percent Choices set to 2 and Scale set to 2 incoming C3s will alternate between C3 and D3 This setting is perfect for simulating upbow and downbow alternation with stringed instruments or alternating right and left hand drum samples Hint Try using the Scale effect after Random to constrain the output values to a specific harmonic range Using Random s Alt mode with the Scale device allows you to create a simple step sequencer 21 6 Scale Scale alters incoming note pitch based on a scale mapping Each incoming note is given an outgoing equivalent on the X Y
41. The Preview Volume Knob If your audio hardware offers multiple audio outs you can privately audition or cue files via headphones connected to a separate pair of outs while the music continues to play CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 36 To learn how to set up Live for cueing please refer to the relevant section of the Mixing chapter 5 1 5 Adding Clips from the Browser There are several ways to add clips to a Live Set e Files can be dragged and dropped from the File Browsers into tracks in the Session or Arrangement View Dragging and dropping material from the Browser into the space to the right of Session View tracks or below Arrangement View tracks will create a new track and place the new clip s there Viv canana amp e In the Session View double clicking or pressing on a file in the Browser will automatically create a new track to the right of the other tracks and load it with the clip e Files can be dropped directly into Live from the Explorer Windows Finder Mac 5 1 6 File Maintenance in the Browser You can use Live s File Browsers for all of the file maintenance activities that you are familiar with on your operating system e Move files and folders by dragging and dropping or by copying cutting and pasting Copying cutting and pasting can be done with either Edit menu commands or key board shortcuts A file can be moved from one File Browser to
42. The realities of computer based MIDI are complex and involve so many variables that the ideal systems described above are impossible to achieve There are two fundamental issues 1 Latency refers to inherent and consistent delay in a system This is a particular problem in a DAW because digital audio cannot be transferred into or out of an audio interface in real time and must instead be buffered But even acoustic instruments exhibit a certain degree of latency in a piano for example there is some amount of delay between the time a key is depressed and the time the hammer mechanism actually activates the string From a performance perspec tive small latency times are generally not a problem because players are usually able to adapt the timing of their playing to compensate for delays as long as the delays remain consistent 2 Jitter refers to inconsistent or random delay in a system Within a DAW this can be a particular problem because different functions within the system e g MIDI audio and the user interface are processed separately Information often needs to be moved from one such process to another when converting MIDI CHAPTER 31 MIDI FACT SHEET 376 data into a plug in s playback for example Jitter free MIDI timing involves accurate conversion between different clocks within the system s components the MIDI interface audio interface and the DAW itself The accuracy of this conversion depends on a variety o
43. Thus signals that are mixed across multiple summing points may still result in an extremely small amount of signal degradation This combination of 64 bit summing within a 32 bit architecture strikes an ideal balance between audio quality and CPU memory consumption 30 2 5 Recording external signals bit depth gt A D converter Recording audio signals into Live is a neutral operation provided that the bit depth set in Live s Preferences window is the same or higher than that of the A D converters used for the recording In this context neutral means identical to the audio as it was delivered to Live by the A D converters 30 2 6 Recording internal sources at 32 bit Audio that is recorded via internal routing will be identical to the source audio provided that the recording was made at 32 bits To ensure neutral recordings of plug in instruments and any audio signals that are being processed by effects plug ins internal recording at 32 bits is recommended Please note however that if the source audio is already at a lower bit depth internal recording at that bit depth will also be neutral assuming that no effects are used internally recording an unprocessed 16 bit audio file at 32 bits will not increase the sound quality The neutrality of internal recording is verified using cancellation tests CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 367 30 2 7 Freeze Flatten When tracks are frozen the audio files that are created are
44. To bookmark the current Browser root choose the Bookmark menu s topmost item the Bookmark Current Folder command Note that if the current Browser root is already bookmarked the topmost option in the Bookmark menu will remove the bookmark All File Browsers share the same set of bookmarks a bookmark stored in one Browser can be accessed from another 5 1 3 Searching for Files Live s File Browsers are equipped with a search function for finding files Clicking the Search button in the upper right corner of the Browser or using the PC Mac shortcut will open the Browser s Search Mode CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 32 Name Parent Folder gt 0 Ciips DA gt M Presets After entering your search terms begin the search by clicking the Go button or pressing on your computer keyboard Live will search the entire Browser root for your search terms The results will include files that match all search terms as opposed to any For example if you search for acoustic bass the search will yield all acoustic bass sounds not all acoustic sounds and all bass sounds The search function matches the entered criteria not only to any part of a file s name and suffix e g wav but also to any part of its file path This means that a search for bass for example will yield not only files with names containing the word bass but also those ocated in folders with names containing the wor
45. Toggle MIDI Map Mode Toggle Key Map Mode Computer MIDI Keyboard C 8 jfk CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 389 32 13 Zooming Display and Selections Windows Macintosh Zoom In Zoom Out Drag Click to Append to a Selection CD D Click to Add Adjacent Q CE Clips Tracks Scenes to Multi Selection Click to Add Nonadjacent Ctrl R Clips Tracks Scenes to a Multi Selection Follow Auto Scroll Ctrl Pan Left Right of Selection Ctrl C At 32 14 Clip View Sample Display The shortcuts for zooming and loop region settings also work in the Sample Display Windows Macintosh Quantize Ctrl J u U Quantize Settings A Cti JU amp CO WU Move Selected Warp Marker sles Se Select Warp Marker Ctrl JK BHD Scroll Display to Follow Playback Ctri _ JEF C F Move Clip Region with Start Marker A JKR 4 JK CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 390 32 15 Clip View MIDI Editor The shortcuts for zooming snapping drawing and loop region settings also work in the MIDI Editor Windows Macintosh Quantize Ctrl Gaz Quantize Settings amp D Scroll Editor Vertically Page Page Scrol
46. X Y controllers adjust the lowpass and highpass filters simultaneously for each delay To edit filter bandwidth click and drag on the vertical axis click and drag on the horizontal axis to set the filter band s frequency To refer delay time to the song tempo activate the Sync switch which allows using the Delay Time beat division chooser The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th notes For example selecting 4 delays the signal by four 16th notes which equals one beat a quarter note of delay With Sync Mode active changing the Delay Time field percentage value shortens and extends delay times by fractional amounts thus producing the swing type of timing effect found in drum machines If the Sync switch is off the delay time reverts to milliseconds In this case to edit the delay time click and drag up or down in the Delay Time field or click in the field and type in a value The Filter Delay Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 262 The Feedback parameter sets how much of the output signal returns to the delay line input Very high values can lead to runaway feedback and produce a loud oscillation watch your ears and speakers if you decide to check out extreme feedback settings Each delay channel has its own volume control which can be turned up to 12 dB to compensate for drastic filtering at the input The Dry control adjusts the unprocessed signal level Set it to minimum if using Dela
47. You will see the little LED below the X Y display flash when a note is blocked by gating e In Fixed Mode the Out Hi velocity defines all outgoing note velocities regardless of incoming note velocity The Random function adds or subtracts a random value to the all velocities and is repre sented by a gray area on the display curve The Drive and Compand controls can be combined to create more complex curves Com pand is a simultaneous expanding and compressing tool When set to values greater than zero it forces incoming notes to the outer boundaries of the curve making them play ei ther loudly or softly Compand values of less than zero on the other hand force outgoing velocity toward the mid range Drive pushes all values in the curve to the outer extremes Use these two controls together to sculpt or even redefine the dynamic structure of a piece 293 Chapter 22 Live Instrument Reference Live Intro comes with a selection of custom designed built in instruments The Working with Instruments and Effects chapter explains the basics of using instruments in Live The boxed version of Live Intro ships with the Essential Instrument Collection 2 LE Edition a multi gigabyte library of meticulously sampled and selected instruments ready for use in Simpler Learn how to access the EIC sounds at the end of this chapter CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 294 22 1 Impulse Impulse 6a Volume Y Kick Snare P
48. a specific point in the sample to a specific place in the measure You can use any number of Warp Markers to create an arbitrary mapping of the piece s inherent rhythm to a musical meter Warp Markers are set in the Clip View s Sample Display by double clicking within the sam ple They can then be dragged or moved with the arrow keys to different points in time CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 117 Warp Markers can also be deleted by double clicking them or by pressing the computer keyboard s or key after selecting them 11 2 3 4 5 EE SE Se a ee ee LEM TATE TN TTA LE TEE UAL i iE TTT ik ikii L i LA uhi When working with your sample you can have Live scroll the Sample Display to follow playback Use the Control Bar s Follow switch to activate this feature It also might be helpful to vertically resize the Sample Display by dragging on the split line between the Clip View and the Session View track area E i i ilmo ove Ee a ear gt a Transients and Pseudo Warp Markers When you first load a sample into Live Live automatically analyzes the audio and finds its transients These are the points in the audio where notes or events begin and are usually good places to put Warp Markers Transients appear as small markers at the top of the sample display after zooming in Double Clicking In the Sample Creates a Warp Marker The Follow Switch in the Control Bar CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 118
49. an individual output bus regardless of its crossfade assignment In studio parlance you can think of the crossfader as an on the fly VCA group As with almost everything in Live your crossfading maneuvers can be recorded into the Arrangement for later in depth editing To edit each track s crossfade assignment please choose Mixer from the Envelope Device chooser and X Fade Assign from the Control chooser The crossfader s automation curve is accessible when Mixer is chosen from the Master track s Device chooser and Crossfade is selected from its Control chooser Crossfade Assign Buttons CHAPTER 14 MIXING 186 14 5 Soloing and Cueing By default soloing a track simply mutes all other tracks except in some cases where tracks are feeding other tracks The signal from the soloed tracks is heard through their respective outputs with the pan setting of each track preserved Soloing a clip track leaves any return tracks audible provided that the Solo in Place option is enabled in the Solo button s context menu PC Mac Solo in Place can also be set as the default behavior by selecting the entry in the Options menu Soloing a return track mutes the main output of all other tracks but still allows you to hear any signals that arrive at the return via track sends Live allows you to replace the standard soloing operation with a cueing operation that lets you preview tracks as though you were cueing a
50. and drag a breakpoint to move it to the desired location If the breakpoint you are dragging is in the current selection all other breakpoints in the selection will follow the movement IZ To Move all Breakpoints Within the Selection Drag Any One of Them Your movement is constrained by the neighboring breakpoints unless you hold down the modifier while dragging which will eliminate breakpoints as you wipe over CHAPTER 18 AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES 230 them Holding down the PC Mac modifier while dragging switches to a finer resolution e Click and drag a line segment between two breakpoints to move it vertically without affecting the breakpoint s horizontal position If the line segment is in the current selection the envelope is moved vertically across the selected timespan Live inserts breakpoints at the selection s edges to make sure the move only affects the selected part of the envelope Dragging an Envelope Line Segment Moves the Segment Vertically 18 4 3 Locking Envelopes When moving clips Live normally moves all automation with the clip Sometimes you might want to lock the envelopes to the song position rather than to the clips and the Arrangement View s Lock Envelopes switch does just that You can also choose to lock envelopes from the Options menu 2 Chords ae iso 0 jj drumloop 3 Rhodes 5 m The Lock Envelopes I Il Switch 4 42 43 44 18 4 4 Edit Menu C
51. another by dragging it over the target Browser s button Dropping a Clip to Create a New Track CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 37 e Rename files and folders using the Edit menu s Rename command or the Ctr __ R PC C WR Mac shortcut Cancel renaming with the key e Create folders by opening the context menu with PC S Mac and then selecting the Create Folder command e Delete files and folders using the Edit menu s Delete command or your computer s or key Deleting items within Live moves them to the system trash if necessary you can recover items from the system trash via your computer s operating system 5 1 7 Hot Swap Mode In addition to the drag and drop method of loading files from the Browser Live offers a Hot Swap Mode to save you mouse travel Hot Swap Mode establishes a temporary link between the Browser and for example a virtual instrument While in Hot Swap Mode you can step through samples or presets to audition them in place that is within the instrument Hot swapping for presets is covered in the Live Device Presets section Let s go through an example of hot swapping samples Live s built in Impulse instrument features eight sample player slots that can be filled by dropping samples into them Alternatively we can click the Hot Swap button that appears as we move the mouse over a slot Clicking the Hot Swap button engages Hot Swap Mode Live s Hot Swap Browser opens and th
52. are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders Chapter 1 Welcome to Live 1 1 The Ableton Team Says Thank You Live is the result of musicians wanting a better way to create produce and perform music using a computer A great deal of effort has been put into making Live easy and fun to use yet at the same time capable of helping you create music with unlimited depth and sophistication This effort continues even as you read these lines in fact a new improved Live version might already be available for download Please check on our website nowt or choose the Check for Updates command from the Help menu We hope you enjoy using Live and that it enhances your creative process Should you have suggestions about how we can improve Live please let us know Your Ableton Team 1 http www ableton com downloads 2contact ableton com Chapter 2 First Steps Note This manual has been adapted for Live Intro Specifically this means that features which are not available in Live Intro have not been included To learn more about the differ ences between Live Intro and the full version of Live please see the feature comparison chart or download the full Ableton Reference Manual from the Ableton website The full version reference manual also contains information about all of Ableton s add on instruments When you install Live and run it for the first time you will be presented with an authorization
53. automatically turn on the Follow switch or use the Follow command from the Options menu a il mlo ov ee The Follow Switch Playing and Scrubbing Clips The section of the sample that plays when a clip is launched is set with the clip s region and loop controls An unlooped clip will play from its start marker to its end marker or until it is stopped 0 00 0 05 i 0 10 0 15 H The Clip Start and End Markers These markers can be clicked and dragged to new positions in the Sample Display or they can be moved with the and keys To move the entire clip region i e both the start and end markers select the start marker hold down Q__ J and use the arrow keys Sample N Bass B2 aif Wap y sa G 44 1 kHz 16 Bit 2 Ch L I Edi Gave RV seg spy En Hi Q Fade RAM 96 00 BL Sa q Transpose 2 2 Tones Grain Siz Position t FA ize Ost 7 Using Clip Start and End tune Length t i Detune te en Controls to Change Clip Oct 0 00 dB L 4 oO O Length CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 103 You can also adjust the clip start and end numerically using the respective value fields to the left of the Sample Display For warped clips these fields display values as bars beats sixteenths for unwarped clips the display is in minutes seconds milliseconds Notice that you can use the Set buttons here to place the markers during playback Setting markers this way is quantized according to global quantization Wh
54. automation envelopes this is a potential source of confusion However clip envelopes differ from automation envelopes in one important way Whereas automation envelopes define the value of a control at any given point in time clip envelopes can only influence this defined value This difference allows the two types of envelopes to work together in harmony when controlling the same parameter Imagine that you have recorded volume automation for an audio clip so that it gradually fades out over four bars What happens to your fade out when you create a clip envelope that gradually increases the mixer volume over four bars At first your fade out will become a crescendo as the clip envelope gradually increases the volume within the range allowed by the automation envelope But once the decreasing automated value meets with the increasing clip envelope value the fade out will begin as automation forces the absolute control value and the operable range of the clip envelope down 19 3 1 Modulating Mixer Volumes and Sends Notice that there are actually two volume modulations Clip Volume and Mixer Volume The latter is a modulation for the mixer s gain stage and therefore affects the post effect signal To prevent confusion a small dot below the mixer s volume slider thumb indicates the actual modulated volume setting CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 239 WL As you raise and lower the Volume slider you can observe the dot following your mo
55. be available for any of the Rack s return chains Each Rack will also be listed in the Input Channel chooser e Rack Name Chain Name Pre FX The signal will be tapped from the point that it enters the Rack before it reaches the chain s devices e Rack Name Chain Name Post FX The signal will be tapped from the end of the chain but before it passes to the chain s mixer e Rack Name Chain Name Post Mixer The signal will be tapped from the output of the chain s mixer just before the point where all of the chains in the Rack are summed together to create the Rack s output Soloing a track that taps a Chain at any of these points will still allow you to hear the output at that point Tap Points for Every Chain in a Track CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 168 13 6 2 Making Use of Internal Routing This section presents several internal routing examples in more detail Post Effects Recording Let s say that you are feeding a guitar into Live building up a song track by track overlaying take onto take It is certainly powerful to have a separate effects chain per track for applying different effects to different takes after the fact You might however want to run the guitar signal through effects a noise gate or an amp model for instance before the recording stage and record the post effects signal Audic 4 Guitar 5 Audic 6 Audio 7 Pad Audio From Audio From Audio From MIDI Fror Ext In 4
56. button opens a floating window that shows the original VST or Audio Units Plug in panel Changing parameters on the floating window has the same effect as changing them in the Live panel and vice versa There are a few important Plug In Preference settings for working with plug in edit windows e f activated the Auto Open Plug In Custom Editor Preference assures that plug in custom editor windows open automatically when plug ins are loaded into tracks from the Browser e Ifthe Multiple Plug In Windows option in the Plug In Preferences is activated you can open any number of plug in windows at once Even with this option off you can hold down the PC Mac modifier when opening a new plug in window to keep the previous window s from closing e Using the Auto Hide Plug In Windows preference you can choose to have Live display only those plug in windows belonging to the track that is currently selected You can use the View menu s Show Hide Plug In Windows command or the Ctr j Alt__ P PC C WA J P Mac shortcut to hide and show your open plug in windows Notice that the name of the track to which the plug in belongs is displayed in the title bar of the plug in editor window The Plug In Edit Button CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 212 Plug In Configure Mode A polyibiit Eou 2 m SectionOne To add plug in parameters to this panel click the Configure button Configure Mode allows
57. button that shows it is currently recording To go from recording immediately into loop playback press the clip s Launch button 4 Alternatively you can click a Clip Stop button or the Stop button in the Control Bar to stop recording leaving the new clip silent Note that by default launching a Session View scene will not activate recording in empty record enabled slots belonging to that scene However you can use the Start Recording on Scene Launch option from the Record Warp Launch Preferences to tell Live that you do want empty scene slots to record under these circumstances CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 15 3 3 Overdub Recording MIDI Patterns Live makes pattern oriented recording of drums and the like quite easy Using Live s Impulse instrument and the following technique you can successively build up drum patterns while listening to the result Or using an instrument such as Simpler which allows for chromatic playing you can build up melodies or harmonies note by note 1 2 Set the Global Quantization chooser to one bar To automatically quantize the notes you are about to record choose an appro priate value for Record Quantization Double click any of the Session View slots in the desired MIDI track the one containing the Impulse or other instrument A new empty clip will appear in the slot The new clip will default to a loop length of one bar but you can change that by double clicking the clip a
58. chapter for details You can create custom info text for the plug in Macintosh only The floating editor windows of some VST Plug ins do not receive computer key strokes This is generally an implementation error in the plug in itself If it is necessary to type into a plug in window for instance for entering a serial number or unlock code hold down while clicking the Plug In Edit button The editor window will then appear as a normal application window rather than as a floating window and receive your typing Note that this functionality is intended only as a workaround for the limitations of such plug ins We recommend closing the window after you have finished typing then reopening it normally before working with the plug in parameters CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 214 16 2 2 Plug In Performance Options The CPU Preferences contain a Plug In Buffer Size setting for balancing plug in latency and performance Here you can set the number of samples processed at any one time by the plug in Higher settings may result in a noticeable performance increase but will also result in higher latencies With the As Audio Buffer setting selected the plug in will calculate the exact number of samples per millisecond as the computer s sound card This setting usually means that very few dropouts or performance problems will occur especially with DSP cards The size of the computer s sound card buffer i e th
59. choice must be made should events be played at the moment they are received which can result in jitter if that moment happens to occur when the system is busy or should they be delayed which adds latency Ableton s choice is to add latency as we believe that it is easier for users to adjust to consistent latency than to random jitter When monitoring is enabled during recording Live adds an additional delay to the times tamp of the event based on the buffer size of your audio hardware This added latency makes it possible to record events to the clip at the time you hear them not the time you play them CHAPTER 31 MIDI FACT SHEET 377 For playback of hardware devices Live also generates timestamps that it attempts to com municate to the MIDI interface drivers for scheduling of outgoing MIDI events Windows MME drivers cannot process timestamps however and for devices that use these drivers Live schedules outgoing events internally Even during high system loads that cause audio dropouts Live will continue to receive incoming MIDI events In the event of audio dropouts there may be timing errors and audio distortion during playthrough but Live should still correctly record MIDI events into clips Later when the system has recovered from the dropouts playback of these recorded events should be accurate 31 4 Variables Outside of Live s Control In general timestamps are an extremely reliable mechanism for dealing with
60. comparing the editing options 1 Piano Audio From Audio From MIDI From MIDI From Ext 3 Absynth Computer Kew l ii Post Mixer gt f All Channes Monitor Monitor in Auto O Of I Auto O in Auto Audio To i Audio To MIDI To Mast Master F N t Monitor OF Ld e m s Recording the Output of e A a Complex Instrument in e o E e Audio Tracks A setup similar to the one described above accomplishes the task We have one MIDI track hosting the virtual instrument and we use additional audio tracks to record the audio result of playing the instrument CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 170 Creating Submixes 2 Snare 3 Bass 4 Hi Hats 5 Submix o o o o o m m m o Audio From Audio From Audio From Audio From Ext In a Ext In No Input gt No Input v u 1 2 gt N 1 2 kd Monitor Monitor Monitor in Auto O in Amio 0 HA Auto Om Audio To Audio To Audio To Audio To 5 Submix 5 Submix__ gt 5 Submix_ w Master 7 Submixing the Individual Track In Track In Track In Drums of a Drum Kit Suppose we have the individual drums of a drum kit coming in on separate tracks for multitrack recording In the mix we can easily change the volumes of the individual drums but adjusting the volume of the entire drum kit against the rest of the music is less con
61. control is the 24 dB 48 dB switch It defines how sharp the filters are cutting the signal at the crossover frequency The higher setting results in more drastic filtering but needs more CPU Note The filters in this device are optimized to sound more like a good powerful analog filter cascade than a clean digital filter The 48 dB Mode especially does not provide a perfect linear transfer quality resulting in a slight coloration of the input signal even if all The EQ Three Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 260 controls are set to 0 00 dB This is typical behavior for this kind of filter and is part of EQ Three s unique sound If you need a more linear behavior choose 24 dB Mode or use the EQ Eight 20 9 Erosion Wide Noise Width Amount The Erosion effect degrades the input signal by modulating a short delay with filtered noise or a sine wave This adds noisy artifacts or aliasing downsampling like distortions that sound very digital To change the sine wave frequency or noise band center frequency click and drag along the X axis in the X Y field The Y axis controls the modulation amount If you hold down the PC Mac modifier key while clicking in the X Y field the Y axis controls the bandwidth Note that bandwidth is not adjustable when Sine is selected The Frequency control determines the color or quality of the distortion If the Mode control is set to Noise this works
62. controls will display this control s envelope on the clip track 3 Envelopes appear on top of the audio waveform or MIDI display An enve lope s vertical axis represents the control value and the horizontal axis represents time For switches and radio buttons the value axis is discontinuous 4 The Fades Device chooser either selects audio clip fades the track mixer one of the track s devices or None to hide the envelope It also provides you with CHAPTER 18 AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES 228 an overview of which devices actually have automation by showing an LED next to their labels You can make things clearer still by selecting Show Automated Parameters Only from the bottom of the chooser 5 The Automation Control chooser selects a control from the device chosen in the Fades Device chooser The labels of automated controls have an LED Once an envelope has been selected on the track several new buttons appear 6 The button moves the envelope into its own automation lane below the clip You can then select another automation parameter from the choosers to view it simultaneously If the Fades Device chooser is set to None this button will be hidden 7 The button hides its respective automation lane Note that hiding a lane from view does not deactivate its envelope 8 If any automation lanes have been created for a given track you can hide or show them all by clicking the additional bu
63. creates an abundance of exciting creative options some of which we A MIDI Controller Clip Envelope CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES will present in the rest of this chapter 19 5 1 Programming a Fade Out for a Live Set Let us start with a straightforward example Suppose you are setting up a Live Set and wish to program a fade out over eight bars to occur when a specific clip is launched but all you have is a one bar loop B N E a w a N Envelopes m Clip Start 22 23 24 3 32 Volume 1j 1 na Transpose End aa Volume 3JL 3a Bae Pan Tonn Loop ic Region Loop Pesition ag 1 1 1 Length a al ol oO i W4 3 1 3 1 Choose the Clip Volume envelope and unlink it from the sample The clip envelope s loop braces now appear colored to indicate this envelope now has its own local loop region settings The loop region controls in the Envelopes box come to life 2 Make sure the clip envelope s Loop switch is off Notice the Sample box s Loop switch is not affected The sample will keep looping although the envelope is now playing as a one shot 3 Type 8 into the leftmost envelope loop length value box 4 Zoom the envelope display out all the way by clicking on the Envelope s time ruler and dragging upwards 5 Insert a breakpoint at the region end and drag it to the bottom zero percent Using a Clip Envelope to Create a Fade Out Over Sev
64. dialog Please see the chapter on authorizing Live should you have questions or concerns during the authorization process If you do not yet own Live you can still try out all of Live s features but you will not be able to save or export your work 2 1 Learn About Live Live comes with a set of interactive lessons to take you step by step through the key features of the program The lessons are organized in a table of contents which can be opened 1 http www ableton com downloads CHAPTER 2 FIRST STEPS 3 directly in the program via the Help menu We highly recommend following the lessons Many users have told us that the lessons helped them become familiar with the program very quickly We also recommend that you read the Live Concepts chapter which encapsulates every thing that Live is and can do and is therefore a worthwhile read for both beginners and experienced users The remaining chapters of this manual serve as in depth reference for the material introduced in Live Concepts 2 1 1 Using the Info View and Index Live s Info View tells you the name and function of whatever you place the mouse over For certain items you can create your own text and it will appear in this window y Spectrum S S e g ea 7 Utility e Info View Dynamic Tube gt The info View provides a brief Dry Wet Envelope description of the user interface element that the mouse is currently 100 over For some elements yo
65. display which is the function of the two value boxes below the envelope choosers The left box sets the minimum and the right box sets the maximum tempo displayed in BPM Note that these two controls also determine the value range of a MIDI controller assigned to the tempo 232 Chapter 19 Clip Envelopes Every clip in Live can have its own clip envelopes The aspects of a clip that are influenced by clip envelopes change depending upon clip type and setup clip envelopes can do anything from representing MIDI controller data to modulating device parameters In this chapter we will first look at how all clip envelopes are drawn and edited and then get into the details of their various applications 19 1 The Clip Envelope Editor aso Use the Clip View Box Selector to bring up the Envelopes Box CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 233 To work with clip envelopes bring up the Clip View s Envelopes box by activating the rightmost Clip View Box selector panel The Envelopes box contains two choosers for selecting an envelope to view and edit Loop db Position Length l The top menu is the Device chooser which selects a general category of controls with which to work Device chooser entries are different for different kinds of clips e Audio clips have entries for Clip the clip s sample controls every effect in the track s device chain and the mixer e MIDI clips have entries f
66. easiest way to visualize Compressor s behavior is by observing how the graph changes when you adjust the threshold ratio and knee values Input level is measured on the horizontal axis while output level is represented vertically Next to the graph is the Gain Reduction meter which shows how much the gain is being reduced at any given moment The more reduction the more audible the effect a gain reduction above 6 dB or so might produce the desired loudness but significantly alters the sound and is easily capable of destroying its dynamic structure This is something that cannot be undone in later production steps Keep this in mind especially when using a compressor limiter or sound loudness CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 252 maximizing tool in the master channel Less is often more here Because compression reduces the volume of loud signals and opens up headroom you can use the Output slider so that the peaks once again hit the maximum available headroom The Output meter shows the output signal s level Enabling the Makeup button below the Output slider automatically compensates the output level if the threshold and ratio settings change The Attack and Release controls are essential parameters for controlling the response time of Compressor by defining how fast it reacts to input level changes Attack defines how long it takes to reach maximum compression once a signal exceeds the threshold while Release sets how lon
67. effect into a clip track only clips playing in this track will be echoed Placing this effect in a return track lets it receive audio from any number of tracks and add echoes to them Sends Sends Sends Sends gt gfal Oo Or Ororo ALLL The Send Controls and Pre Post Toggle CHAPTER 14 MIXING 183 A clip track s Send control regulates how much of the track s output feeds the associated return track s input What s more even the return track s own output can be routed to its input allowing you to create feedback Because runaway feedback can boost the level dramatically and unexpectedly the Send controls in Return tracks are disabled by default To enable them PC 6 Mac on a Return track s Send knob and select Enable Send or Enable All Sends Every return track has a Pre Post toggle that determines if the signal a clip track sends to it is tapped before or after the mixer stage i e the pan volume and track active controls The Pre setting allows you to create an auxiliary mix that is processed in the return track independently of the main mix As the return track can be routed to a separate output this can be used to set up a separate monitor mix for an individual musician in a band The Master track is the default destination for the signals from all other tracks Drag effects here to process the mixed signal before it goes to the master output Effects in the Master track usually pro
68. folder as the sample oe Samples that have an asd file are displayed like this in the Browser oe Samples without an asd file look like this The analysis files themselves do not appear in Live s Browsers Note that you can suppress the creation of asd files by turning off the Create Analysis Files option in the File Folder Preferences All data except for the default clip settings can be recreated by Live if the asd file is missing however this will take some time for longer samples 5 2 3 File Pre Analysis To avoid waiting for longer samples to be analyzed the first time they are imported into Live you may want to pre analyze them To pre analyze all the files contained in any folder in the Browser use the PC 5 Mac context menu s Analyze Audio command This process can also be cancelled via the context menu 5 2 4 Exporting Audio The File menu s Export Audio command allows you to export Live s audio output as new samples The resulting files can be used to burn an audio CD for listening purposes or a data CD which could serve as a backup of your work or be used with other digital audio applications CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 42 Which Signal Will Be Rendered Master All Tracks Vox Simpler Bass 3 Impulse File Type A Retum B Retum The Export dialog s Rendered Track chooser offers several options for which audio signal to render e Master the post fader signal at Live s Master out
69. for Live to verify CHAPTER 31 MIDI FACT SHEET 378 31 5 Tests and Results Our procedure for testing the timing of incoming MIDI events is represented in the following diagram Live MIDI Clip MIDI Source MIDI to Audio The output of a MIDI Source a keyboard or other DAW playing long sequences of random MIDI events is fed to a zero latency hardware MIDI Splitter One portion of the splitter s output is recorded into a new MIDI clip in Live The other portion is fed to a MIDI to Audio Converter This device converts the electrical signal from the MIDI source into simple audio noise Because the device does not interpret the MIDI data it performs this conversion with zero latency The converter s output is then recorded into a new audio clip in Live In an ideal system each event in the MIDI clip would occur simultaneously with the corresponding event in the audio clip Thus the difference in timing between the MIDI and audio events in the two clips can be measured to determine Live s accuracy In order to assess MIDI performance under a variety of conditions we ran the tests with three different audio MIDI combo interfaces at different price points all from well known manufacturers We will refer to these interfaces as A B and C All tests were performed with a CPU load of approximately 50 on both OS X and Windows machines at both 44 1 and 96 kHz and at three different audio buffer sizes for a total of 36 discrete tes
70. for engaging or disengaging collection Note Make sure to confirm your choices by clicking the File Manager s Collect and Save button The File menu s Collect All and Save command is a shortcut that collects and saves all external files referenced by the current Set including those from the Library Note that this can cause a lot of copying especially if your Live Set uses large multisample collections 5 9 1 Collect Files on Export When you save Live Clips device presets or tracks by dragging them into the Browser Live manages the copying of associated files based on the selection made in the Collect Files on Export chooser in the File Folder Preferences This chooser provides the following options e Always the default setting will copy files into the same folder as the clip preset or track without notification e When Ask is selected Live provides a dialog box with options for copying files e Never means that files will not be copied when saving 5 10 Aggregated Locating and Collecting Instead of having to deal with problems while you are in a creative mode you might prefer putting aside some dedicated housekeeping time to solve all the problems in one go Using Live s File Manager you can find missing files and collect external files not only for the current Live Set but also for The File Manager s Collect and Save Button CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 64 The Library choose the Manage Files command
71. found not only in tracks but also in clips Clip envelopes are used to modulate device and mixer controls Audio clips have in addition clip envelopes to influence the clip s pitch volume and more these can be used to change the melody and rhythm of recorded audio MIDI clips have additional clip envelopes to represent MIDI controller data Clip envelopes can be unlinked from the clip to give them independent loop settings so that larger movements like fade outs or smaller gestures like an arpeggio can be superimposed onto the clip s material The Automated Pan Control and its Envelope CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 24 m Clip m Transpow Transpose Volume Pan oop Position inked Length 4 13 MIDI and Key Remote To liberate the musician from the mouse most of Live s controls can be remote controlled via an external MIDI controller Remote mappings are established in MIDI Map Mode which is engaged by pressing the MIDI switch in the Control Bar In this mode you can click on any mixer or effect control and then assign it to a controller simply by sending the desired MIDI message for example by turning a knob on your MIDI control box Your assignments take effect immediately after you leave MIDI Map Mode Session clips can be mapped to a MIDI key or even a keyboard range for chromatic playing MIDI keys and controllers that have been mappe
72. from the File menu then click the Manage Library button The current Live Project choose the Manage Files command from the File menu then click the u Project button e Any Live Project PC Ctrl Mac on a Project in the Live Browser and choose the Manage a ect option e All Projects found in a specific folder and its sub folders PC Ctrl Mac on a folder in the File Browser and choose the na Proj command e Any selection of Live Sets Live Clips Live Presets PC Ctrl Mac on the respective items in the File Browser and choose the o Files command Remember to click the Collect and Save button at the bottom of the File Manager when you are finished Otherwise your changes will be discarded 5 11 Finding Unused Files Live s File Manager can find the unused files in a Project for you You can then review them and decide to delete them individually or collectively When searching for unused files Live will inspect each file in a Project folder checking if it is referenced by any of the Live Sets Live Clips or device presets in the Project If not the file is regarded as unused even if other Projects or programs still use it To find the unused files for the currently open Project choose the Manage Files command from the File menu click the Manage Project button and then click on the triangular shaped fold button next to Unused Files to access a summary and the Show button Cli
73. full brightness to indicate the knob position The behavior of this page is similar to the Volume page Launchpad Send Page 352 Chapt er 28 Synchronization and ReWire 28 1 Synchronizing via MIDI The MIDI protocol defines two ways to synchronize sequencers both of which are supported by Live Both protocols work with the notion of a sync master which delivers a sync signal that is tracked by the sync slave s e MIDI CI ock MIDI Clock works like a metronome ticking at a fast rate The rate of the incoming ticks is tempo dependent Changing the tempo at the sync master e g a drum machine will cause the slave to follow the change The MIDI Clock protocol also provides messages that indicate the song position With respect to MIDI Clock Live can act e MIDI Ti as both a MIDI sync master and slave mecode MIDI Timecode is the MIDI version of the SMPTE protocol the standard means of synchronizing tape machines and computers in the audio and film industry A MIDI Timecode message specifies a time in seconds and frames subdivi sions of a second Live will interpret a Timecode message as a position in the Arrangement Timecode messages carry no meter related information when slaving Live to another sequencer using MIDI Timecode you will have to adjust the tempo manual y Tempo changes cannot be tracked Detailed MIDI Timecode preferences CHAPTER 28 SYNCHRONIZATION AND REWIRE 353
74. guide track 2 1 3 8 E IL Ife Step Recording in the MIDI Editor Arm the MIDI track that contains the clip into which you want to record N Enable the Preview switch in the clip s MIDI Editor Ww Click in the MIDI Editor to place the insert marker at the position where you want to begin recording Pressing on your computer keyboard will move the insert marker to the right according to the grid settings Any notes that are held down as you press will be added to the clip If you continue holding notes as you press again you will extend their duration To delete notes that you ve just recorded keep them depressed and press The step recording navigators can also be MIDI mapped CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 196 15 4 Recording in Sync Live keeps the audio and MIDI you have recorded in sync even when you later decide on a different song tempo In fact Live allows you to change the tempo at any time before after and even during recording You could for instance cheat a bit by turning down the tempo to record a technically difficult part and pull it up again afterwards It is important to record in sync to make sure everything will later play in sync TAP 14 mifin 4 roo The easiest way to record in sync is to play along with or to use the built in metronome which is activated via its Control Bar switch and will begin ticking when the Play button is pressed or a clip is launch
75. invoke it with PC Ctrl 6 Mac Note Stretch markers will then appear in the Note Editor allowing notes to be scaled proportionally in time The markers are a pair of downward pointing indicators that snap to the beginning of the first and last notes in the selection By clicking and dragging one of the markers horizontally the selected notes will move and stretch so that they continue to occupy the same proportion of time that they did when they were initially selected The Note Stretch markers will always snap to the Note Editor s grid lines unless the grid is not shown or the PC Mac modifier is held while dragging If one marker is dragged beyond the boundary of the other then the order of the stretched notes will be reflected in relation to their initial sequence this is sometimes referred to as retrograde behavior Any changes occurring to the notes included in the Note Stretch before the mouse button is released will cancel the stretch operation This can occur for example if the MIDI clip is simultaneously being overdubbed with new notes 10 4 10 Cropping MIDI Clips Unused MIDI data can be deleted by means of the Crop Clip command Simply PC Mac on a MIDI clip in the Session or Arrangement View and select this option Unlike cropping audio clips cropping a MIDI clip does not create a new file on disk 10 4 11 Deactivating Notes To deactivate or mute a note or notes in the MIDI Editor
76. is useful in situations where you need variable decay lengths as is the case with hi hat cymbal sounds 22 1 5 Pan and Volume Each sample has Volume and Pan controls that adjust amplitude and stereo positioning respectively Both controls can be modulated Pan by velocity and a random value and Volume by velocity only 22 1 6 Global Controls The parameters located to the right of the sample slots are global controls that apply to all samples within Impulse s domain Volume adjusts the overall level of the instrument and Transp adjusts the transposition of all samples The Time control governs the time stretching and decay of all samples allowing you to morph between short and stretched drum sounds 22 1 7 Individual Outputs When a new instance of Impulse is dragged into a track its signal will be mixed with those of the other instruments and effects feeding the audio chain of the track It can oftentimes make more sense to isolate the instrument or one of its individual drum samples and send CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 297 this signal to a separate track Please see the Routing chapter to learn how to accomplish this for Impulse s overall signal or for Impulse s individual sample slots 22 2 Simpler Simpler on gt F i il a 7 Start Loop Length Fade Attack Decay Sustain Release LFO Pan Volume 0 00 Q DC mm m re DOAC Rand Ole 282 100 58 0 7 94 Si
77. key Remember that only the controls that are shown with a red overlay are available for mapping 3 Press the computer key to which you wish to assign the control The details of your new mapping will be displayed in the Mapping Browser 4 Leave Key Map Mode by pressing Live s KEY switch once again The Mapping Browser will disappear but your mappings can be reviewed at any time simply by entering Key Map Mode again Keyboard assignments can produce the following effects in Live e Clips in Session View slots will be affected by mapped keys according to their Launch Mode settings e Keys assigned to switches will toggle switch states e Keys assigned to radio buttons will toggle through the available options CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 321 Please be sure not to confuse this remote control functionality with Live s ability to use the computer keyboard as a pseudo MID keyboard that can generate MIDI notes from computer keystrokes for use with instruments 322 Chapter 25 Using the APC40 The APC40 Ableton Performance Controller is a dedicated controller for Ableton Live co designed by Ableton and Akai Professional This chapter will help you set up your APC40 and introduce its capabilities 25 1 Setup Once the APC40 has been powered on and connected to your computer s USB port you will need to select the APC40 in Live s Preferences The APC4O is one of Live s natively supported control surface
78. loop brace to the left right by the current grid setting e and 4 shift the loop brace left right in steps the size of its length e Ctrl Je PC Mac shortens or lengthens the loop brace by the current grid setting e Ctrl NH PC C HAH Mac doubles or halves the loop length Regardless of the position of the loop brace clip play will begin at the position marked by the start marker which means you can set up the clip to run into a loop CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 105 Positi 7 Lengt 1 The Loop Length and Position fields are equipped with Set buttons which can be used to create loops spontaneously during playback e Playing the clip and then clicking the Set Loop Position button moves the beginning of loop to the current playback position rounded to the global quantization setting and engages the loop Then clicking the Set Loop Length button moves the end of the loop to the current playback position This lets you capture the music in a loop on the fly e While the loop is still off you can click the Set Loop Length button to set the loop to end at the current playback position without changing its preset length This simultaneously activates looping The Set buttons the Loop switch the loop brace and the start end markers can all be mapped to MIDI controls You could for example use a rotary encoder to move the loop through a sample in increments the size of
79. notes without the Velocity Editor open click any selected note and drag vertically while pressing the PC Mac modifier Vertical movements in Draw Mode correspond to velocity changes This means that with one horizontal motion and one vertical motion you can draw multiple notes and their velocities without releasing the mouse button If you change velocity with this vertical Drawing Identical Velocities Left and a Crescendo Right CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 140 movement Live will remember the change and use your new velocity on any notes that you draw afterward Note Off Velocity By default the Velocity Editor allows you to adjust note on velocities But you can toggle the editor to show note off velocities via options in the editors PC 6 Mac context menu F co co ome 64 gt wJOTf w Note On Velocity The Velocity Editor Showing Note Off n J Additive Velocities Please note that note off or release velocity is a somewhat esoteric parameter and is only supported by certain devices 10 4 9 MIDI Note Stretch Fold 1 113 12 123 13 13 3 14 143 Three Variations Created c3 with the Stretch Notes Command CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 141 When multiple notes are selected in the Note Editor the Stretch Notes command becomes available from the context menu if you
80. off 20 18 5 Output At the reverb output you can adjust the effect s overall Dry Wet mix and vary the amplitude of reflections and diffusion with the Reflect Level and Diffuse Level controls 20 19 Saturator D Saturator ee Drive Output O Soft Clip off 0 00 dB Output Gow Waveshaper a a Dect 3 71 dB Base Depth rive urve p Zo Freg wan OS B 0 00 Oye 1 O GO mm a wa Y 857 1000Hz 30 128 BP F 81 000 94 5 Saturator is a waveshaping effect that can add that missing dirt punch or warmth to your sound It can coat input signals with a soft saturation or drive them into many different flavors of distortion The Saturator Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 275 An X Y grid helps to visualize Saturator s shaping curve The shaper s input and output values are mapped to the X and Y axes respectively The curve defines the transfer function which is the extent to which output values fluctuate in relation to input values Because this is usually a nonlinear process the incoming signal is reshaped to a greater or lesser degree depending upon its level at each moment in time Incoming signals are first clipped to the dB level set by the Drive control The meter on the right side of the display shows how much Saturator is influencing the signal Signal shaping has six fixed modes Analog Clip Soft Sine Medium Curve Hard Curve Sinoid Fold and Digital Clip The
81. on the right hand side of Launchpad 27 3 2 Session Overview 00 0 0 itt 111111 CS 111111 Ci it tT i tt 1 Ci 111111 Ci EE RRERERC EERE C ERR ES EERE C novation Session Overview CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 345 The Launchpad s Session Overview lets you navigate through large Live Sets quickly without looking at your computer screen Hold down the Session button and the matrix zooms out to reveal an overview of your Session View In the Session Overview each pad represents an eight by eight block of clips giving you a matrix of 64 scenes by 64 tracks Hit a pad to focus on that section of the Session View For example hitting the Session button and then pressing the pad in the third row in the first column will put the focus on scenes 17 25 and tracks 1 8 Furthermore while session is held each scene launch button represents a block of 64 scenes if they are available in your Set In the Session Overview the color coding is a little different e Amber indicates the currently selected block of clips which will be surrounded by the ring in the software e Green there are clips playing in that block of clips though that may not be the block of clips selected e Red there are no clips playing in that range e No color there are no tracks or scenes in that range 27 4 User Modes The User modes allow the grid of 64 buttons plus the 8 vertical system buttons to be freely assigned
82. output will be suppressed while resampling is taking place and will not be included in the recording Samples created by resampling will be stored in with the current Set s Project folder under Samples Recorded Until the Set is saved they remain at the location specified by the CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 165 Temporary Folder 13 6 Internal Routings Live s mixer allows for inter track routings These routings albeit potentially confusing enable many valuable creative and technical options Via the mixer inter track routing can work two ways 1 Track A is set up to send its output signal to Track B This is possible because every track that can receive an output signal of the appropriate type from Track A shows up in its Output Type chooser 2 Track B is set up to receive its input signal from Track A This works because every track that delivers a signal of the appropriate type appears in Track B s Input Type chooser Ick A z B A a B Audio From Audio From Audio From Audio From li li li lij Post Mixer Monitor Monitor Monitor Audio To A Au Track In lan A ii A l MA il Two Ways to Route Track j j S fi 72 i KES il Vf il A into Track B Both approaches result in Track A s output being fed into Track B Approach 1 leaves Track B s in out settings alone and we can at any time add more tracks that feed their output into Track B This is the method of choice for many to one routings such as submixes or s
83. processing in the track s effects chain and mixer Hence the new sample incorporates the effects of in clip attenuation time warping and pitch shifting and of the respective clip envelopes however it does not incorporate the effects To create a new sample from the post effects signal please use the Export Audio command The new samples can be found in the current Set s Project folder under Samples Processed Consolidate Until the Set is saved they remain at the location specified by the Temporary Folder Consolidating Several Clips Into a New Clip 84 Chapter 7 Session View In Live s Arrangement View as in all traditional sequencing programs everything happens along a fixed song timeline For a number of applications this is a limiting paradigm e When playing live or when DJing the order of pieces the length of each piece and the order of parts within each piece is generally not known in advance e In the theatre sound has to react to what happens on stage e When working along with a piece of music or a film score it can be more efficient and inspirational to start with an improvisation which is later refined into the final product This is exactly what Live s unique Session View is for CHAPTER 7 SESSION VIEW 85 7 1 Session View Clips gt rhodes groovy Egrnodes sroovy rr ll T i mil gt oil Nie Se o 3 4 5 6 e 7
84. resolution against which the notes in the groove will be measured A 1 4 Base for example means that the positions of the notes in the groove file are compared to the nearest quarter note and all notes in any clips that are assigned to that groove will be moved proportionally towards the positions of the groove notes At a base of 1 8th the groove s notes are measured from their nearest eighth note Notes in the groove that fall exactly on the grid aren t moved at all so the corresponding notes in your clips will also not be moved Quantize adjusts the amount of straight quantization that is applied before the groove is applied At 100 the notes in your clips will be snapped to the nearest note values as selected in the Base chooser At 0 the notes in clips will not be moved from their original positions before the groove is applied Timing adjusts how much the groove pattern will affect any clips which are using it Random adjusts how much random timing fluctuation will be applied to clips using the selected groove At low levels this can be useful for adding subtle humanization to highly quantized electronic loops Note that Random applies differing randomization The Groove Pool CHAPTER 11 USING GROOVES 145 to every voice in your clip so notes that originally occurred together will now be randomly offset both from the grid and from each other e Velocity adjusts how much the velocity of the not
85. returns to the delay line input The feedback loop also includes a filter that can color the feedback sound thus producing different timbres with successive echoes The Freeze button labeled F will cause the delay to endlessly cycle the audio which is in its buffer at the moment that the button is pressed ignoring any new input until Freeze is disabled The Ping Pong Delay Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 269 The Dry Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals Set it to 100 percent if using Ping Pong Delay in a return track Changing the delay time while Ping Pong Delay is processing audio can cause abrupt changes in the sound of the delayed signal You can choose between three delay transition modes via the PC Ctrl Mac context menu of the device s title bar e Repitch causes a pitch variation when changing the delay time similar to the behavior of old hardware delay units Fade creates a crossfade between the old and new delay times This sounds similar to time stretching if the delay time is gradually changed Fade mode is the default option Jump immediately jumps to the new delay time Note that this will cause an audible click if the delay time is changed while delays are sounding Jump mode corresponds to the default behavior prior to Live 8 When loading Sets that were made in earlier versions Jump will be selected automatically 20 16 Redux Bit Reduction
86. sample s metrical structure For properly prepared loops tempo and duration are calculated automatically most of the time this is accurate enough that the sample is immediately ready for use in Live For other samples you may have to provide some hints We will examine these topics thoroughly in the Tempo Control and Warping chapter The Sample Box Warp Controls The Control Bar s Tempo Field CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 101 8 2 2 Sample Loop Region and Display Zooming and Scrolling daaa aai NT T The Clip Zoom Scroll Area Zooming and scrolling in the Sample Display work much like they do in the Arrangement View When Warp is disabled zooming and scrolling can be done anywhere in the Sample Display When Warp is enabled however scrolling only happens in the beat time ruler and the bottom half of the waveform Click and drag vertically in these areas to smoothly change the zoom level and horizontally to scroll the display IEA PTT TTA FT Daie iiai nb boainioiiiiii a i Miata dl 1 Audio hal ada dada ai te The Clip Overview The Clip Overview provides additional zoom scrolling functionality It always shows the complete clip from start to end The black rectangular outline represents the part of the clip that is currently displayed You can click within the outline and drag horizontally or vertically to scroll or zoom CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 102 To have the Sample Display follow the play position and scroll
87. scale map of the effect All incoming Cs for example might be converted to outgoing Ds The X Y scale map is 12 squares in length and width corresponding to the 12 notes in a full octave Darker squares represent the black keys on a keyboard The base of the diagonal scale the lower left square shown on the map can be changed using the Base control The X axis of the map shows incoming note values and the Y axis their outgoing equivalents Use mouse clicks to move or delete the orange squares which define where an incoming note will be sent on the scale Deleting a note on the scale map means that it will no longer play The Transpose slider can raise or lower the pitch of incoming MIDI notes by 36 semitones The Scale Effect CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 291 You could for example shift a melody written in C major to G major by setting Transpose to 7 st Fold makes it more convenient to create scales by automatically folding back notes if their offset to the original note is greater than six semitones For example if Scale normally maps an incoming C3 to A3 enabling Fold will map C3 to A2 instead The Range and Lowest controls work together to define the note range within which scale mapping will take effect Outside of the range defined by these controls the Scale effect will be inapplicable and the LED light will flash to indicate that some notes are not being processed by the effect but are playing
88. selected device You can paste at the end of a device chain by clicking in the space after the last device or by using the key to move the selection there Generally devices can be placed reordered and deleted without interrupting the audio stream Randoms gt Operator DN LIQ Q Oa Devices are turned on and off using their Activator switches Turning a device off is like temporarily deleting it The signal remains unprocessed and the device does not consume CPU cycles Live devices generally do not load down the CPU unless they are active For more information please refer to the CPU load section The Freeze Track command discussed there is especially helpful when working with CPU intensive devices A MIDI Track s Device Chain Can Contain All Three Device Types Device Activator Switches CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 205 Devices in Live s tracks have input and output level meters These meters are helpful in finding problematic devices in the device chain Low or absent signals will be revealed by the level meters and relevant device settings can then be adjusted or the device can be turned off or removed Auto Pan Utility B Beat Repeat a Mute DC E IS 9 OG Repeat No Trpl Mix Ins Gate 100 7 fiset T A Decay Hz C Normal f a 4256 Of hance itch Decay Volume Yo OG E Phz L Phz R 101 Note that no clipping can occur between devices because ther
89. t lt Build your audio effect here L R Audio to Live Eb 42 H Tpanencecesq A Default Max Audio Effect CHAPTER 23 MAX FOR LIVE 307 To load an empty Max device drag a Max Instrument Max MIDI Effect or Max Audio Effect from the Device Browser into your Set What a Max device actually does depends on the objects that it contains and the way in which they re connected together The area where you work with Max objects is called the editor or patcher and can be accessed by pressing the Edit button in the Max device s title bar Max Audio Effect DA This launches the Max editor in a new window with the current device loaded and ready for editing inixi File Edit view Object Arrange Options Debug Extras Window Help After editing you should save your Max device before you use it in Live This is done via the Save or Save As commands in Max s File menu Saving an edited device will automatically update all instances of that device that are used in your current Live Set If you choose Save As you will be asked whether or not the new version should update only the device that was originally opened for editing or all instances of the device in the Set The default location when saving a Max device is the folder in the Library that corresponds to the type of device being saved We recommend always saving Max devices to this default The Edit Button for a Max Device A Default Max Audio Eff
90. the chosen quantization interval Setting the Clip to Run Into a Loop CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 106 8 2 3 Clip Pitch and Gain The Clip Pitch and Gain Controls The Transpose control shifts the clip pitch in semitones The Detune field fine tunes the clip in cents 100 cents one semitone The Clip Gain slider calibrated in dB changes the clip gain 8 2 4 Destructive Sample Editing Sample The Launch Sample 7 Editor Button The Edit button opens the sample in an external sample editing application which you can specify in the File Folder Preferences To process a sample in an external program you have to stop Live s playback When you return to Live the edited version of the sample will be played back The current set of Warp Markers is retained only if the sample length remains the same as it did prior to editing Remember that changes made to one sample may affect other clips that play the same sample CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 107 8 2 5 Saving Default Clip Settings with the Sample The Save Default Clip button saves the current clip s settings with the sample With multiple clips selected this button will save them all simultaneously Once saved Live will restore the current clip settings whenever you drop the sample into a Live Set This is especially useful with regards to the Warp Markers which have to be set correctly for Live to play long files in sync Note that you can use the Save button without af
91. the indicators 13 4 ReWire Slave Routing Live can operate as a ReWire master or slave in cooperation with another ReWire application As a ReWire master Live can send MIDI to and receive audio from any ReWire slave application installed on the same computer Q MIDI From MIDI From Audio From Audio From AIl Ins Reason x x i All Channes 1 2 MixL eli Monitor Monitor Monitor Monitor 1 Aut In Auto Off HR Auto Or Auto MIDI To MIDI To Audio To Audio To h tput Reason Master Ma NN XT 1 v Oro 4 S e V pr seecesececece N LILIT ITITT o e The following example shows how to send MIDI from one of Live s MIDI tracks into an instrument within Propellerhead s Reason and then route the audio result back into an audio track 1 First start Live 2 Then start Reason and set up the Reason rack as desired An Audio Track Receiving Audio From and a MIDI Track Sending MIDI to Reason CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 164 3 Select Reason from the MIDI track s Output Type chooser 4 The Output Channel chooser presents you with a list of the instruments that you currently have in your Reason rack select the instrument you want to address 5 Select Reason from the audio track s Input Type chooser 6 From the audio track s Input Channel chooser select the audio channel that corresponds to the instrument
92. the tracks in the multi selection have differing values for any Tracks are Represented by Track Title Bars CHAPTER 14 MIXING 182 particular knob or slider parameter volume for example this difference will be maintained as you adjust the parameter If you drag a track s title bar to the Browser it will be saved as a new Set If a track contains audio clips Live will manage the copying of the referenced sampled into this new location based on the selection in the Collect Files on Export chooser You can then type in a name for the newly created Set or confirm the one suggested by Live with Return Tracks are deleted using the Edit menu s Delete command 14 3 Return Tracks and the Master Track In addition to tracks that play clips a Live Set has a Master track and up to two return tracks these cannot play clips but allow for more flexible signal processing and routing The return tracks and the Master track occupy the right hand side of the Session mixer view and the bottom end of the Arrangement View Note that you can hide and show the return tracks using the Returns command in the View menu Like the normal clip tracks the returns and the Master can host effects devices However whereas a clip track s effect processes only the audio within that track return tracks can process audio sent to them from numerous tracks For example suppose you want to create rhythmic echoes with a delay effect If you drag the
93. their waveforms relative to each other Set this to 180 and the LFOs will be perfectly out of phase 180 degrees apart so that when one reaches its peak the other is at its minimum Spin detunes the two LFO speeds relative to each other Each delay is modulated at a different frequency as determined by the Spin amount Adjusting the HiPass control will cut low frequencies from the delayed signal The Dry Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals Set it to 100 percent if using Flanger in a return track Hi Quality mode can be toggled on or off viaa PC Mac context menu entry Enabling Hi Quality results in a brighter sound but there is a very slight increase in CPU usage 20 12 Gate O Gate ee SEERA Threshoi Audio From p Attack 1 Bass x ll tt Pre FX 9 0 42 ms Gain lt q CA 0 00 dB f 69 2 ms Dry Wet 20 dB Release EP o8 100 Flip 2 42 ms The Gate effect passes only signals whose level exceeds a user specified threshold A gate can eliminate low level noise that occurs between sounds e g hiss or hum or shape a sound by turning up the threshold to where it cuts off reverb or delay tails or truncates an instrument s natural decay The Gate Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 264 The Threshold slider sets the gate s sensitivity If the gate is open and passing signal i e the signal exceeds the gate threshold the green LED lights Th
94. to Ableton Live the controllers will automatically work in Combination Mode You can use up to six total APC20s or APC40s side by side The topmost controller selected in your preferences will control tracks 1 8 the second controller selected will control tracks 9 16 and so on When an APC40 and an APC20 are connected at the same time the APC20 s buttons will default to Track Selection and its faders will default to volume allowing swift access to an expanding array of clips and tracks Setting Up The APC40 For Custom Assignments 333 Chapter 26 Using the APC20 The APC20 Ableton Performance Controller is a dedicated controller for Ableton Live co designed by Ableton and Akai Professional This chapter will help you set up your APC20 and introduce its capabilities 26 1 Setup Once the APC20 has been powered on and connected to your computer s USB port you will need to select the APC20 in Live s Preferences The APC20 is one of Live s natively supported control surfaces so setup is quite easy 1 Open Live s Preferences from the Live menu in OS X or the Options menu in Windows 2 Go to the MIDI Sync Tab 3 Select the APC20 preset from the Control Surface chooser Then select the port that the APC20 is connected to in the Input and Output choosers 1 http www akaipro com CHAPTER 26 USING THE APC20 334 Dump Dump 3 None gt None None 4 None None None 5 None 6 None
95. to any parameter in Live Alternatively if no assignments have been made then note data will be sent from the 64 button grid in a layout designed to work well with the Drum Rack device starting from note C1 When User 1 is selected Launchpad can be used to play note data into Live s MIDI tracks if no custom MIDI assignments have been made When User 2 is selected Launchpad does not send note data by default This mode is ideal for doing extensive MIDI customization CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 346 27 4 1 Customizing the Launchpad Controls You can change the assignment of all of the Launchpad s controls by enabling the Remote switches in the MIDI Sync Preferences as described in the section on manual control surface setup MIDI Ports Track Sync Remote Input Multiface Mid Off M Off gt Input Launchpad Lor Lon e Launchpad For Custom Assignments Now by entering Live s MIDI Map Mode you can override the pre assigned functions of all of the Launchpad s controls Tip If you have overridden the Launchpad s default mappings with manual mappings you can easily switch back to the defaults by deactivating the Remote switch of the Launchpad s input port Activating the switch again will re establish your manual mappings CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 347 27 5 Mixer Mode Launchpad Mixer Buttons Launchpad s Mixer mode gives you access to essential mixing controls in Live volume pan send
96. v None None None None Takeover Mode Pickup Setting Up The APC20 26 2 Clip Launch Matrix The APC20 s matrix of buttons gives you direct access to the clips in your Session View The matrix has 40 three color buttons arranged in a five scene deep by eight track wide grid The color coding system lets you know exactly what is happening in each clip and directional controls let you move around inside your Session View CHAPTER 26 USING THE APC20 335 o mannnnnnn Session View Clip and Navigation Controls Pressing a Clip Launch button triggers the clip in the corresponding clip slot in Live If the track is armed to record pressing the button records a new clip The buttons in the matrix light up in different colors so you know what s going on e Amber this slot contains a clip e Green this clip is playing e Red this clip is recording e No color this slot is empty Many aspects of the Live interface are replicated in the APC20 You can stop all music in a track with its Clip Stop button and fire horizontal lines of clips with the Scene Launch buttons Pressing Shift and any of the Clip Stop buttons stops all clips The controller tells you what s going on in the software but importantly the software also CHAPTER 26 USING THE APC20 336 reflects what s happening on the controller The clip slots currently being controlled by the APC s button matrix are shown in Live with a red bo
97. values that are above or below this range turn it off You can reverse this behavior by setting a Min value that is higher than its corresponding Max value In this case controller values that are outside of the range turn the switch on while values inside the range turn it off For all other switches such as transport controls controller values 64 and above turn the switch on while controller values below 64 turn it off e Radio Buttons The controller s 0 127 value range is mapped onto the range of available options e Continuous Controls The controller s 0 127 value range is mapped onto the param eter s range of values Live also supports pitch bend messages and high precision 14 bit Absolute controller messages with a 0 16383 value range The above specifications apply to these as well except that the value range s center is at 8191 8192 24 2 4 Mapping to Relative MIDI Controllers Some MIDI controllers can send value increment and value decrement messages instead of absolute values These controls prevent parameter jumps when the state of a control in Live and the corresponding control on the hardware MIDI controller differ For example imagine that you have assigned the pan knob on your control surface to the pan parameter of a track in Live If the hardware control is panned hard right and the Live control is panned hard left a slight movement in a hardware pan knob that sends absolute values wou
98. your own You can also save presets to specific folders in the Browser such as your Current Project folder by dragging from the title bar of the device and dropping into the Browser location of your choice For detailed information on what can be done with the Browser please see the Manag ing Files and Sets chapter For more on how to store project specific presets see the appropriate section Default Presets Presets saved to the Defaults folders in Live s Library will load in place of Live s generic device settings There are also Defaults folders that allow you to customize how Live responds to various user actions such as sample dropping and slicing Please note that slicing is not available in Live Intro Library Name Ty gt 5 Audio Effects gt 5 Dropping Samples gt 5 Instruments gt 0 mvt Effects gt 5 Sticing The Save Preset Button The Default Presets folders in Live s Library CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 208 To save the current settings of a device as a default preset open the PC g Mac context menu on the device s header and select Save as Default Preset This works for all of Live s instruments MIDI effects and audio effects including the various types of Racks If you have already saved a default preset for a particular device Live will ask you before overwriting it To specify how Live behaves when dragging a sample to a Drum Rack or the Track
99. 0 Audio Fact Sheet Prior to the release of Live 7 much of Ableton s development effort was focused on carefully and objectively testing Live s fundamental audio performance Asa result of this testing we have implemented a number of low level improvements to the audio engine We have also written this fact sheet to help users understand exactly how their audio is or is not being modified when using certain features in Live that are often misunderstood as well as tips for achieving the highest quality results As mentioned above the focus of our research has been on objective that is quantifiable and measurable behavior We make no claims about what you can hear because we can t possibly predict the variables that make up your listening environment audio hardware hearing sensitivity etc Furthermore this paper makes no claims about how Live compares to other audio software Rather it is a summary of measurable facts about what Live actually does under various conditions 30 1 Testing and Methodology As of this writing every version of Live is subjected to a suite of 473 automated tests that cover every aspect of Live s functionality We add additional tests as we add features and CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 364 we will never release an update unless it passes every test 30 2 Neutral Operations Procedures in Live that will cause absolutely no change in audio quality are referred to as neutral operations You can
100. 00 06 o 9 Onz 111111 CS FS Ego O BETO R EEEo i Py o E Eo e tT novation Session Mode When Launchpad is chosen as an active control surface a ring appears on the Session View in Live to indicate which clips are currently controlled by the pad matrix This ring is red if Launchpad is enabled in the first of Live s six control surface choosers Each chooser has a different colored ring allowing you to assign multiple Launchpads at the same time The directional arrows and the Session button increase the scope of the eight by eight grid e Pressing Up or Down moves you up or down one scene at a time Hold the Session button while hitting Up or Down to move eight scenes up or down bank shifting CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 344 e The Left and Right arrow keys move you left or right one track at a time Hold the Session button while hitting Left or Right to move eight tracks at a time bank shifting Pressing a Clip Launch pad triggers the clip in the corresponding clip slot in Live Hitting an empty clip slot in a track that is not armed will stop the clip playing in this track If the track is armed to record pressing the button records a new clip The buttons in the matrix light up in different colours so you know what s going on e Amber this slot contains a clip e Green this clip is playing e Red this clip is recording You can also fire horizontal lines of clips Scenes with the buttons
101. 1 To smoothly change the time zoom level click and drag vertically in the time ruler Drag horizontally in the time ruler to scroll from left to right 2 Click and drag vertically in the note ruler to change which octaves are shown or drag horizontally to change the vertical zoom size of MIDI notes and the keyboard 3 Click and drag over one or more notes to select them or over a portion of the editor s background to select a range of time Then double click on the note ruler or time ruler to automatically zoom in on your selection If nothing is selected double clicking the note ruler will zoom in on the area from the lowest to the highest note in the clip while double clicking the time ruler will zoom out to show the time between the first and last note 4 To zoom in and out around the current selection use the computer keyboard s and keys 5 The Clip Overview just beneath the MIDI Editor can also be used for navigation MIDI Editor Navigation CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 132 It always shows the complete contents of the selected MIDI clip The black rectangular outline represents the part of the clip that is currently displayed in the Editor above To scroll click within the outline and drag left or right to zoom in and out drag up and down 6 Change the length of what is shown in the Editor by dragging the left or right edges of the outline in the Clip Overview 7 To quickly change what is sh
102. 32 bit which ensures that they will not be lower quality than the audio heard prior to freezing But there are some special cases involving Freeze that result in non neutral behavior and should be noted e Frozen Arrangement View tracks can include audio material that extends beyond the end of the clip itself such as reverb tails and delay repetitions Frozen Session View tracks however are always exactly two loop cycles long so any audio that extends beyond two loop cycles during un frozen playback will be cut off after freezing e Time based effects like reverbs and delays are processed in realtime for unfrozen clips so stopping playback during a reverb or delay tail will allow the tail to continue In contrast frozen tails are rendered as audio and so will stop abruptly during playback e Any parameter automations are rendered as part of the audio file for frozen Arrange ment View clips Frozen Session View clips however take a snapshot of all parame ter values at the Arranger s 1 1 1 position and retain them for the duration of the frozen clip This is analogous to the behavior with unfrozen clips when playing normal clips in Session View any Arrangement automations are punched out until the Back to Arrangement button is pressed e Frozen clips are always played back with Warp on and in Beats mode which means they are subject to the same non neutral behavior as any other Warped audio files e Any devices with random p
103. 4 see tracks File Type preference 045 198 File Folder Preferences 0 00 00 4 H and VST Plug ins 214 Filter Delay effect u i cocca 261 hard disk EEEREN ttre teenies see CPU Fixed Grid command seas Lorr aniona go Hard Disk Overload indicator 362 High Quality switch 00 107 INDEX 401 hot swapping saxiisepesesadsanedacdvames 37 instruments 04 see devices and device presets 206 and GrOOVES cece eee eee eee 142 K Sic MPUBE sins reenen 294 and Simpler ccictarsaravextuiuabeus 297 Key Map Mode switch 4 320 Key MIDI In Indicator 4 163 l Key MIDI Out Indicator 163 keyboard shortcuts 20200e ee 382 VO sahivideadadodtdh ite teius et see routing importing files ss ncayncpdeasi aneneen 36 L importing projects eee eee 59 Impulse instrument sprexeyeiaeirsevaens 294 Language preference 00 4 and individual outputs 296 Launch BOX 2sescvesawsticeaesenes 95 148 and MIDI ooo L 294 Launch Modes tai sciaerveniageyankekes 149 CEE n a 295 Launchpad tiiti taia 341 global controls o on 994 Legato Mode cceeee eens 151 ite BUREGT ose encode a a 295 lessons Madea Menta eae das 2 pan and volume 0ese 0eeeeee 296 Library 2 22 2 cesses sees Soren 26 56 sample slots and controls 294 migrat
104. 62 compensating for device delays 187 synthesizer MIDI setup see routing devices IY eevee eg esdios et se ew oaees 200 exporting files with 63 T in Arrangement View 76 Takeover Mode preference 314 in Session View sees eee es 86 INDEX 407 INSEMLING ins cokedaweeSedesedecdons 181 V mixer controls in 00 177 a eee eee ee ee ee 179 Variable Bit Rate files see samples numbering s0eeseeeeeeees 181 Velocity Amount field 150 renaming 20 0 cece eee eee eee 181 Velocity Editor 0 00008 129 Ree iets eceaictinie Goseaaseunented 404 Velocity effect oc vcs tianageesenranesdaces 291 return TACKS sorei setearssstacuraks 182 View menu commands VETUS 2 dower pE EE pa i 19 Crossfader option 178 the Master track 06 182 In Out option 18 157 178 unfolding 5 2eianaemanasinies 77 79 227 Mixer option 0 5 18 178 Transient Envelopes 200 126 Returns option 18 178 182 Transient Loop Mode ciicsisdcaesnnvaas 126 Sends option s 18 178 WANSPOM ii sscasdidgiuadneoharteeatodia 70 Track Delays option 178 Transpose quick chooser button see View selector buttons 2diiersaasiadasa hs 5 quick chooser buttons views working with see View Transposition knob 0 106 menu
105. Audio Unit b Gmedia v Novation gt EA BassStation Audio Unit b 5 Sonic Charge v E vst decimate x Consider an audio clip playing in an audio track The audio signal from the clip reaches the leftmost device in the chain This device processes changes the signal and feeds the result into the next device and so on The number of devices per track is theoretically unlimited although there is a limit of eight instruments and twelve audio effects within a single set when using Live Intro In practice the computer s processor speed also imposes a limit on the number of devices you can use at the same time a topic that deserves separate discussion Note that the signal connections between audio devices are always stereo but the software s inputs and outputs can be configured to be mono in the Audio Preferences When the signal has passed through the device chain it ends up in Live s mixer As the Session and Arrangement share the same set of tracks they also share the mixer The mixer can be shown in both views for convenience To optimize the screen layout the individual mixer sections can be shown or hidden using the View menu s entries Plug In Devices Are Available from the Plug In Device Browser CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 19 Se 9 0 4 4 inf inf E ss fey gt ll 0 3 lt NO Yie m f E 2 em Cs 97 The m
106. Browser Live employs lossless compression techniques to minimize the file size of Live Packs De pending on the audio materials in a Project this saves up to 50 percent in file size To unpack a Live Pack i e to restore the original Live Project double click the Live Pack file alp drag it into the Live main window or locate it via the File menu s Install Live Pack command Live will then request that you choose a location for the new Project Note Factory Live Packs those provided by Ableton will automatically be installed in the Live Library 5 13 File Management FAQs 5 13 1 How Do I Create a Project A Project is automatically created whenever you save a Live Set except when you save it into the Library or a preexisting Project You can also manually create a Project by clicking PC 9 Mac in the Browser and selecting Create Project from the context menu CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 66 5 13 2 How Can I Save Presets Into My Current Project As long as you re working in a Project meaning that you ve saved your current Live Set every device in the Device Browser will show a Current Project sub folder You can copy presets from other Browser locations to the current project by PC Mac dragging them You can also save presets directly to the current project by dragging from the device s title bar and dropping into the Current Project You can then use the File Management tools collect any referenced s
107. C 1 to C5 It can also be detuned in cents using the Fine parameter The Decay parameter lets you adjust the amount of time it takes for the resonators to be silent after getting an input signal The longer the decay time the more tonal the result will be similar to the behavior of an undamped piano string As with a real string the decay time depends on the pitch so low notes will last longer than higher ones The Const switch holds the decay time constant regardless of the actual pitch Resonators provides two different resonation modes Mode A provides a more realistic sounding resonation while Mode B offers an effect that is especially interesting when Resonator l s Note parameter is set to lower pitches The brightness of the resulting sound can be adjusted using the Color control All of the resonators have an On Off switch and a Gain control A resonator that is turned off does not need CPU Turning off the first resonator does not affect the other ones Resonators through V follow the Note parameter defined in Resonator but they can each be individually transposed 24 semitones using the Pitch controls and detuned in cents using the Detune controls The output section features the obligatory Dry Wet control and a Width parameter that affects only the wet signal and blends the left and right outputs of Resonators II V into a mono signal if set to zero CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 272 20 18 Reverb D Rever
108. ER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 130 a n f CS S l v Previewing MIDI Notes Provided your MIDI track s device chain contains an instrument activating the Preview switch in the MIDI Editor allows you to hear notes as you select and move them If the MIDI track is armed activating Preview also allows you to step record new notes into the clip Note velocity is adjusted in the Velocity Editor by clicking and dragging on the associated markers You can also use Draw Mode in the Velocity Editor It will draw identical velocities for all notes within a grid tile After drawing a few notes and moving them around you will probably want to know how to get around in the Note Editor So before we get into detailed editing information we will first explain MIDI Editor navigation 10 3 MIDI Editor Navigation and Transport Note Scale Position Is 4 Shown Vertically and Beat Time Horizontally CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 131 The MIDI Editor has both vertical and horizontal navigation Along the horizontal axis lies a time ruler which shows note position along a musical timeline The vertical axis contains the note ruler displaying octaves CO C10 and a representation of a piano keyboard the piano roll Note that if the Preview switch at the top of the piano roll is activated you can listen to the results of your piano roll playing
109. Fades on Clip Edges option is that adjacent audio clips will get automatic 4 ms crossfades These can then be edited just like manually created crossfades There are some limits to the length of fades and crossfades e Fades cannot cross a clip s loop boundaries e A clip s start and end fades cannot overlap each other When a fade handle is selected a dotted red line will appear on the relevant clip to indicate the limit for that fade handle This is especially helpful when editing crossfades because one clip s loop boundary may be hidden under the other clip Note that fades are a property of clips rather than the tracks that contain them and are independent of automation envelopes Crossfaded Clips Automatically Create Short Fades At Clip Edges CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 79 6 8 Selecting Clips and Time With the exception of moving and resizing clips Arrangement editing in Live is selection based You select something using the mouse then execute a menu command e g Cut Copy Paste Duplicate on the selection This editing method lends itself to an efficient division of labor between the two hands One hand operates the mouse or trackpad while the other hand issues the keyboard shortcuts for the menu commands The menu eventually is only used as a reference for looking up the keyboard shortcuts Here is how selection works Clicking a clip selects the clip Clicking into the Arrangement background s
110. GIDS aseiveiearelutivuwet beads see clips MIDI controllers see control surfaces MIDI Editor 020205 95 128 and drawing MIDI 129 and drawing velocities 13 and grid lines 134 136 and recording MIDI 194 and step recording 195 creating and editing notes 134 editing velocities 138 loop region settings for 133 MIDI note stretch 0 140 NAVIGAUON eray perita anan tee 130 note off velocity 00 140 rearranging notes in 134 MIDI effects 00005 see devices MIDI Fact Sheet eee eee 374 MIDI tileS s4 s ccsceaca cutee eee el oe at 15 and time signature changes 75 MIDI interface setup see routing MIDI Map Mode switch 315 MIDI Ports list 00 00 cee eee e eee 161 MIDI Preferences cee eevee eee ee 4 MIDI synchronization 00 352 MIDI Timecode Frame Rate preference 354 MIDI Timecode Start Offset preference 354 MIDI Track In Indicator 163 MIDI Track Out Indicator 163 MIDI tracks 0 000 cece ee see tracks Minimum Free Space preference 39 INDEX 403 HEN cawianatancnarnecsapentanawes 18 177 Pan quick chooser button see quick chooser Mixer Section selector 178 buttons modulat
111. Guitar 4 Guitar m12 _ fii PostFX ii Post Mixer 3 Monitor Monitor Monitor Monitor HA Auto in Auto Gf in Auto Gif This is easily accomplished by devoting a special audio track for processing and monitoring the incoming guitar signal We call this track Guitar and drag the desired effects into its device chain We do not record directly into the Guitar track instead we create a couple more tracks to use for recording Those tracks are all set up to receive their input Post FX from the Guitar track Note that we could also tap the Guitar track Post Mixer if we wished to record any level or panning from it As for monitoring we set the Guitar track s Monitor radio button to In because we always want to listen to our guitar through this track no matter what else is going on in Live The other tracks Monitor radio buttons are set to Off An Example Setup for Post Effects Recording CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 169 Recording MIDI as Audio When working with MIDI and complex software instruments it is sometimes more useful to record the resulting audio than the incoming MIDI A single MIDI note can prompt for example Native Instruments Absynth to produce something that sounds more like a piece of music than a single tone This output lends itself more to representation as an audio waveform than a single note in a MIDI clip particularly when
112. I Play my Set from a Computer That Is Not Authorized Even if Live is not authorized you can still load and perform a Live Set with no time limitation You cannot however save or export your work When you go on tour consider taking along your Live program CD and a CD with the last state of your Live Set s In case of an emergency you can install and run Live on any computer available and play your backup Live Set s 3 1 5 What Do I Do About Problems or Questions Regarding Copy Protection Please visit Ableton s technical support page 3http www ableton com support Chapter 4 Live Concepts This chapter introduces the essential concepts of Live We advise you to read this chapter early in your Live career as a solid understanding of the program s basic principles will help you fully exploit Live s potential for your music making 4 1 Live Sets The type of document that you create and work on in Live is called a Live Set Live Sets reside in a Live Project a folder that collects related materials and can be opened either through the File menu s Open command or via the built in File Browsers A Live Set in the File Browser CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 11 Selecting the Library bookmark in Live s File Browser will take you to the Live Library of creative tools Depending on what content you have installed there may be a number of demo Sets here and double clicking a Live Set s name in the Browser wi
113. Live s devices Samples contains all of the samples that are used by Live s presets Templates contains a collection of template Sets with pre configured tracks and routing configurations for a variety of common recording scenarios After you ve been using Live for a while you ll probably find that there are additional folders in your Library This is normal Installing Live Packs recording your own samples or performing other common procedures will change the folder structure over time CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 58 5 7 1 Changing the Library Location Upgrading an Old Library The Library can reside in the hard drive location of your choice In the Preferences Library tab you will find the Change Location button Change Location Live Pack The Change Location button Clicking the Change Location button will allow you to create a new Library by pointing to an empty folder or creating a new one Once you ve selected a Library path one of several possibilities will occur depending on the new location e If the target location is an empty folder on a different hard drive you will be given the option to copy your current Library to this new location Live will then offer to open a Explorer Windows Finder Mac window so that you can delete the Library from the old location e f the target location is an empty folder on the same hard drive you will be given the option to move your current Library to this
114. Preferences The Launchpad is one of Live s natively supported control surfaces so setup is quite easy 1 Open Live s Preferences from the Live menu in OS X or the Options menu in Windows 2 Go to the MIDI Sync Tab 3 Select the Launchpad preset from the Control Surface chooser Then select the port that the Launchpad is connected to in the Input and Output choosers 1 http www novationmusic com CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 342 Control Surface Input Output Launchpad 7 Launchpad Launchpad 27 2 Launchpad s Four Modes 9 9 The row of buttons on the top of Launchpad includes four directional arrow buttons to navigate through the Session View and four mode buttons which switch between Session mode User mode 1 User mode 2 and Mixer mode These modes are explained in more detail below 27 3 Session Mode In Session Mode the Launchpad s matrix of pads gives you physical access to the clips in your Session View The matrix has 64 three color pads arranged in a eight by eight grid The color coding system lets you know exactly what is happening in each clip and directional controls let you move around inside your Session View Setting Up The Launchpad Launchpad s Mode Buttons CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 343 learn view mixer inst fx user I Q000 ESk Launchpad Session Mode Button 27 3 1 Launching Clips 00
115. Range sliders and zooming are disabled To get an even better view you can toggle the location of the display between the device chain and Live s main window by clicking the button in Spectrum s title bar 20 22 Utility utirity Mute BOCH Gain 5 00 dB Stereo gt Panorama sir 4 Width 66 4 Phz i PAZA Utility can perform some very useful tasks especially in combination with other devices The Mute button simply silences the incoming signal when enabled Note The active mute controls of a track are always placed at the very end of the signal chain However since you can place Utility anywhere in a signal chain you can use its mute function to cut the input of a delay line or reverb without turning off the output of these devices The DC switch filters out DC offsets and extremely low frequencies that are far below the The Utility Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 280 audible range It will only have a sonic effect if a signal contains these frequencies and is processed after Utility with nonlinear effects such as compressors or waveshapers The Gain control adjusts the level of the input signal 35 dB The Channel Mode chooser allows selective processing of the left and right channels of a sample If for example Left is selected the right channel is ignored and the left channel appears on both outputs This is especially useful if you have a ste
116. Reference Manual Live Intro for Windows and Mac OS Created by Bernd Roggendorf Gerhard Behles Robert Henke Awi Reiner Rudolph Stefan Haller Stefan Franke Frank Hoffmann Andreas Zapf Ralf Suckow Gregor Klinke Matthias Mayrock Friedemann Schautz Ingo Koehne Jakob Rang Pablo Sara Nicholas Allen Henrik Lafrenz Jan Buchholz Kevin Haywood Dominik Wilms Christian Kleine Amaury Groc Daniel B ttner Alex Koch Henrik Hahn Simon Frontzek Torsten Wendland Torsten Slama Eduard M ller Jeremy Bernstein Bernard Chavonnet Carl Seleborg Claes Johanson Bernhard Bockelbrink Nico Starke J rg KluBmann Stefan Brunner Tobias Hahn Stefan von der Mark Carsten HenBinger Stephan Diehl David Talbot Robert Feldbinder Diez Roggisch Justine Lera Dennis DeSantis lan Gallagher Philipp Gries Marie Hoffmann Marian Kalus Stephan Krohn Michael D hr Dennis Fischer Reference Manual by Dennis DeSantis lan Gallagher Kevin Haywood Rose Knudsen Gerhard Behles Jakob Rang Robert Henke Torsten Slama Content provided by SONiVOX www sonivoxrocks com Chocolate Audio www chocolateaudio com Puremagnetik www puremagnetik com Cycling 74 www cycling74 com SonArte www sonarte ca e instruments www e instruments com Zero G www zero g co uk Physical Modeling technology provided by Applied Acoustics Systems www applied acoustics com ier Copyright 2010 Ableton AG All rights reserved Made in
117. The Diffusion network creates the reverberant tail that follows the early reflections The decay time control adjusts the time required for this tail to drop to 1 1000th 60 dB of its initial amplitude High and low shelving filters provide frequency dependent reverberation decay The high frequency decay models the absorption of sound energy due to air walls and other materials in the room people carpeting and so forth The low shelf provides a thinner decay Each filter may be turned off to save CPU consumption The Freeze control freezes the diffuse response of the input sound When on the reverber ation will sustain almost endlessly Cut modifies Freeze by preventing the input signal from CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 274 adding to the frozen reverberation when off the input signal will contribute to the diffused amplitude Flat bypasses the high and low shelf filters when freeze is on If Flat is off the frozen reverberation will lose energy in the attenuated frequency bands depending on the state of the high and low shelving filters The Echo Density and Scale parameters provide additional control over the diffusion s den sity and coarseness and when the room size is extremely small have a large impact on the coloration contributed by the diffusion The Chorus section adds a little modulation and motion to the diffusion Like the Spin section you can control the modulation frequency and amplitude or turn it
118. The Main Live Screen Most of your work in Live happens in the main Live screen This screen consists of a number of views and each view manages a specific aspect of your Live Set which is the type of document that you create and work on in Live Since screen space is usually limited the Live views can t all be displayed at the same time Each one of the selector buttons at the screen borders calls up a specific view clicking this one for instance opens Live s Device Browser Oo Name stru r istrument R To hide one of Live s views and free up screen space click on the triangle shaped button next to it To restore the view click the button again o Name You can run Live in Full Screen Mode by selecting the Full Screen command from the View menu To leave Full Screen Mode click the button that appears in the lower right corner of the screen Full Screen Mode can also be toggled by pressing F11_ Note On Mac OS X this key is assigned by default to Expos and will not toggle Full Screen Mode unless Expos has been deactivated or assigned to a different key in OS X s System Preferences The Device Browser Selector A View Show Hide Button CHAPTER 2 FIRST STEPS If one of the browser views is open you can adjust the main window s horizontal split by dragging Live Devices v PD instruments Pad gt E Drum Rack Ableton Device gt E instrument Rack Ableton Device gt E Analog b E El
119. This also means that computers lacking certain devices used in one Live Set can still play the Set when the relevant device tracks are frozen 29 2 Managing the Disk Load A hard drive s access speed which is related to but not the same thing as rotational speed can limit Live s performance Most audio optimized computers use 7200 RPM or faster drives Laptops to save power often use 5400 RPM or slower drives which is why projects on laptops usually have lower track counts The amount of disk traffic Live generates is roughly proportional to the number of audio channels being written or read simultaneously A track playing a stereo sample causes more disk traffic than a track playing a mono sample CIT The Disk Overload indicator flashes when the disk was unable to read or write audio quickly enough When recording audio this condition causes a gap in the recorded sample when playing back you will hear dropouts Do the following to avoid disk overload e Reduce the amount of audio channels being written by choosing mono inputs instead of stereo inputs in the Audio Preferences Channel Configuration dialog e Use RAM Mode for selected clips e Reduce the number of audio channels playing by using mono samples instead of stereo samples when possible You can convert stereo samples to mono using any standard digital audio editing program which can be called up from within Live The Disk Overload Indicator 363 Chapter 3
120. View of a MIDI track e Create an empty Simpler e Adjust the parameters as you like e Drag the edited device to the On Drum Rack or On Track View folder which can be found at Library Defaults Dropping Samples 16 2 Using Plug Ins The collection of devices that you can use in Live can be extended with plug ins Live supports Steinberg Media s VST Plug ins format as well as Apple Computer s Audio Units AU Plug ins format Mac OS X only You can use up to four VST AU instruments and six VST AU effects per Set Working with VST and Audio Units Plug ins is very much like working with Live devices VST and AU instruments can only be placed in Live MIDI tracks and like Live instruments they will receive MIDI and output audio signals Plug in audio effects can only be placed in audio tracks or following instruments Please see the previous section Using the Live Devices for details CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 209 v P gt Bram Smantelectronix gt E s Mjexoscope Audio Unit b 5 Gmedia v F Novation gt WA BassStation Audio Unit t Sonic Charge v Povst decimate x Audio Units and VST Plug ins are browsed and imported using the Plug In Device Browser which is accessed via its selector Plug in instruments can be differentiated from plug in effects in the Browser as they appear with a keyboard icon The Browser s search functionality is only available for Audio Units Plug ins
121. a groove via the process below 11 2 1 Extracting Grooves The timing and volume information from any audio or MIDI clip can be extracted to create a new groove You can do this by dragging the clip to the Groove Pool or via the Extract Groove command in the clip s PC 5 Mac context menu Extract Groove s he A Extract Grooves From Audio or MIDI Clips Grooves created by extracting will only consider the material in the playing portion of the clip 11 3 Groove Tips This section presents some tips for getting the most out of grooves 11 3 1 Non Destructive Quantization Grooves can be used to apply real time non destructive quantization to clips To do this simply set the groove s Timing Random and Velocity amounts to 0 and adjust its Quantize and Base parameters to taste With only Quantize applied the actual content of the groove is ignored so this technique works the same regardless of which Groove file you use CHAPTER 11 USING GROOVES 147 11 3 2 Creating Texture With Randomization You can use a groove s Random parameter to create realistic doublings This can be partic ularly useful when creating string textures from single voices To do this first duplicate the track containing the clip that you want to thicken Then apply a groove to one of the clips and turn up its Random parameter When you play the two clips together each note will be slightly and randomly out o
122. a proprietary set of parameters located in the area below the sample slots and visible when the sample is clicked Adjustments to sample settings are only captured once you hit a new note they do not affect currently playing notes Note that this behavior also defines how Impulse reacts to parameter changes from clip envelopes or The Impulse Instrument CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 295 automation which are applied once a new note starts If you want to achieve continuous changes as a note plays you may want to use the Simpler Slot 8 s parameters also include a Link button located in the lower left corner which links slot 8 with slot 7 Linking the two slots allows slot 7 s activation to stop slot 8 s playback and vice versa This was designed with a specific situation in mind but can of course be used for other purposes Replicating the way that closed hi hats will silence open hi hats Each slot can be played soloed muted or hot swapped using controls that appear when the mouse hovers over it 22 1 2 Start Transpose and Stretch The Start control defines where Impulse begins playing a sample and can be set up to 100 ms later than the actual sample beginning The Transp Transpose control adjusts the transposition of the sample by 48 semitones and can be modulated by incoming note velocity or a random value as set in the appropriate fields The Stretch control has values from 100 to 100 percent Negati
123. actually a 1 0 chance that Nothing happens after the Follow Action Time which means that there is effectively no Follow Action But now imagine a group consisting of one single clip Follow Action A is set to Play Clip Again with a Chance of 8 Follow Action B is set to None with a Chance of 1 The clip uses a long sample and Follow Time is set to one bar Clicking on the clip will play the first bar after which it will be very likely that it will play the first bar again However after a few repetitions it will eventually come to Action B Nothing and continue playing the rest of the sample Or a clip can be played from its start to a specific point when its Follow Action tells it to Play Next Clip The same file can be used in the next clip in the group but this one can be set to loop This second clip can have any manner of Follow Action settings so that it might then play forever for a specified time or until random chance leads to the next clip in the group 12 6 4 Adding Variations in Sync Paired with clio envelopes and warping Follow Actions can be used to create all sorts of interesting variations within a group of similar clips You could for example use Follow Actions to randomly trigger clips with different MIDI controller clip envelopes so that fine variations in pitch bend or modulation of an instrument or synth could occur as the clips in a group interacted Audio clips could morph bet
124. ally recommended You may also find that adjusting the individual track delays is useful in these cases but please note that the Track Delay controls are unavailable when device delay compensation is deactivated Note that device delay compensation can depending on the number of tracks and devices in use increase the CPU load 220 Chapter 17 Instrument Drum and Effect Racks A Rack is a flexible tool for working with effects plug ins and instruments in a track s device chain Racks can be used to build complex signal processors dynamic performance instruments stacked synthesizers and more Yet they also streamline your device chain by bringing together your most essential controls While Racks excel at handling multiple devices they can extend the abilities of even a single device by defining new control relationships between its parameters Racks greatly expand upon the concept of device groups introduced in Live 5 The device groups of any Live Sets imported from Live 5 are automatically converted to Racks by Live Intro Note that these Live Sets once saved can no longer be opened in older versions of Live Please note that Racks cannot be edited in Live Intro You can use Racks that have been created in the full version of Live but you will only be able to access some of their controls To learn more about how Racks work internally please download the full Ableton Reference Manual from the Ableton website 1 http ww
125. amples You can also set the Browser root to any folder in the Browser via the PC 6 Mac context menu by double clicking the folder or by selecting it and pressing Return Moving through the files in Live s Browser can be done with either the mouse or the computer keyboard e Scroll up and down in the Browser with and the mousewheel or by clicking and dragging while holding the PC Mac modifier e Close and open folders with and H e Jump to the parent folder of any closed folder using J Hint If executed on a top level folder this is an alternative to selecting the Parent Folder item and will move the Browser root up one level To clean up the Browser use PC Ctrl Mac to access the context menu and then select the Close All Folders option to show only top level folders Double clicking a Library Is this Browser s Root The File Browser s Parent Folder Item A Folder in the Browser CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 31 File Browser s selector button will do the same 5 1 2 Browser Bookmarks Using bookmarks you can quickly save and recall frequently used folder locations in the Browser Clicking in the Browser s title bar will open the Bookmark menu Current Project Desktop Workspace The Bookmark Menu The Bookmark menu lists a number of preset bookmarks such as Desktop and Library Selecting the latter will bring you to the Live Library
126. amples etc 5 13 3 Can Work On Multiple Versions of a Set If you d like to work on different versions of the same Live Set save them into the same Project This will usually be the Project that was created when you saved the first version of the Live Set If a Project contains multiple Live Sets it will only collect one copy of any samples used by the various versions which can save disk space and help with organization 5 13 4 Where Should I Save My Live Sets You can save Live Sets anywhere you want but saving to the Library or pre existing Project folders can cause problems and should be reserved for special cases You should only save Live Sets in the Library if you intend to use them as templates for other Live Sets Likewise you should only save a Live Set to an existing Project if it is somehow related to the Project for example an alternate version of a song that s already in the Project 5 13 5 Where Should I Save My Live Clips If you d like to have your Live Clips available in all of your Projects create a Library sub folder and save your clips there You can also save clips anywhere else on your computer CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 67 5 13 6 Can I Use My Own Folder Structure Within a Project Folder You can organize your files any way you want within a Project but you ll need to use the File Manager to relink the files that you ve moved around 1 In Live s Browser or via your operating system reorg
127. an additional audio track named Speech and set its Output Type chooser to the Strings track From the Output Channel chooser we select the vocoder s sidechain input Tracks Feeding MIDI to and Tapping Audio From the Parts of a Multi Timbral Instrument CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 175 1 Absynth 2 Speech 3 Strings 4 MIDI Spoken Woj String ve MIDI From Audio From Ext In X JITEA Audio To Audio To M 3 Strings vokatorB LALE OF ll Some vocoder plug ins include a built in synthesizer to generate the carrier signal In this case the only difference from the above procedure is that the vocoder instrument is dragged into a MIDI track Feeding the side chain audio input works as described above Please note that Ableton s Auto Filter Compressor and Gate devices have their own sidechain controls with integrated routing choosers that match those found in tracks Thus when using these devices it is not necessary to follow the above procedure you can simply select the sidechain source from within the device itself Layering Instruments Suppose that we have a MIDI track containing an instrument playing a string sound which we would like to augment by adding a brass sound playing the same notes This can be easily done by adding a MIDI track that contains an instrument playing the brass sound and setting its Input Type chooser to tap the s
128. an be selected and uninstalled at once By default the Live 8 Library contains the following sub folders Ableton Project Info contains files that Live uses to identify the Library and keep track of what Live Packs have been installed You should not use or modify this folder or its contents Clips contains Live Clips example Sets construction kits Session View based song ideas loops and other related items The actual contents of this folder will vary depending on what products and Live Packs you have installed You can use this material in your own musical productions or to get hints about ways to use Live The construction kits in particular can be used in a variety of ways Loading an entire construction kit loads a new Live Set You can also unfold the Set in the Browser and import individual tracks or clips into a Set that s already in progress Defaults presets placed into the default device folders will load in place of Live s generic device settings Additionally the Defaults folder contains special folders corresponding to user actions such as sample dropping Presets placed in these folders define what Live will do when you perform the action Grooves all of Live s factory groove files Lessons all of Live s built in lessons as well as any additional images and Live Sets that the lessons refer to You should not change anything in this sub folder Presets contains all of the factory presets for
129. and effect presets are stored in the Live Library making them available to any project At times however it may make more sense to save a preset with the current Project You might for example want to keep a number of alternative master EQ settings for a given piece These EQ presets are specific to the piece and of little use to other Projects For this reason every device in the Device Browser has a Current Project sub folder You can drag a preset to this folder after saving it or simply drag the title bar of the device and drop it there directly Name v fe Current Project Electro with Piano E Hi Boost E Treble Boost When saving presets that contain samples to a new location Live may copy the samples depending on the settings in the Collect Files on Export chooser in the File Folder Prefer ences You can then type in a new name for the device or confirm the one suggested by Live with f 5 6 3 Managing Files in a Project Live s File Manager offers several convenient tools for managing Projects Once you ve opened a Live Set that is part of the Project you wish to manage choose the Manage Files command from the File menu and then click the Manage Project button The File Manager will present you with an overview of the Project s contents and tools for Project Specific Presets Appear Under Current Project in the Device Browser CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 56 e locating files that the Project is missi
130. and you now want to toggle among them without losing the sync For this you could use a large quantization setting one bar or greater however this might limit your musical expression Another option which works even with quantization turned off is to engage Legato Mode for the respective clips When a clip in Legato Mode is launched it takes over the play position from whatever clip was played in that track before Hence you can toggle clips at any moment and rate without ever losing the sync Legato Mode is very useful for creating breaks as you can momentarily play alternative loops and jump back to what was playing in the track before Unless all the clips involved play the same sample differing by clip settings only you might hear dropouts when launching clips in Legato Mode This happens because you are unexpectedly jumping to a point in the sample that Live has had no chance to pre load from disk in advance You can remedy this situation by engaging Clip RAM Mode for the clips in question 12 6 Follow Actions Follow Actions allow creating chains of clips that can trigger each other in an orderly or random way or both A clip s Follow Action defines what happens to other clips in the The Legato Mode Switch CHAPTER 12 LAUNCHING CLIPS 152 same group after the clip plays A group is defined by clips arranged in successive slots of the same track Tracks can have an unlimited number of groups separated by empty slots
131. andle to change the length of the fade 4 Click and drag the slope handle to change the shape of the fade s curve You can also set the length of a fade by selecting a range of time within the clip that includes the clip s beginning or end and executing the Create Fade command in the clip s PC Cti Mac context menu Adjacent audio clips can be crossfaded Creating and editing crossfades is similar to creating and editing start and end fades Fades in the Arrangement View e click and drag a fade handle over the opposite clip s edge to create a crossfade e click and drag the slope handle to adjust the shape of the crossfade s curve e select a range of time that includes the boundary between the adjacent clips and execute the Create Crossfade command from the PC Ctrl Mac context CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 78 menu Audio be Pee Selecting a fade handle and pressing the key deletes the fade unless the Create Fades on Clip Edges option is enabled in the Record Warp Launch Preferences In this case pressing returns the fade handle to a default length of 4 ms With this option enabled new clips in the Arrangement View will have these short declicking fades by default Warp Fades Record Warp Loop Warp Short Samples Launch Auto Warp Long Samples On CPU Default Warp Mode Beat Create Fades on Clip Edges on Licenses Launch User Account Another result of enabling the Create
132. anize the files and folders within your Project folder 2 Navigate to the Project folder in the Browser and choose Manage Project via the PC Mac context menu 3 If you ve changed the original location of any samples used in the Project the Missing Samples section of the File Manager will indicate this Click the Locate button to search for the samples 4 Since you know that your samples are all in the Project folder unfold Automatic Search Then enable the Search Project and Fully Rescan Folders options Finally click Go to initiate the search 5 When searching is complete click Collect and Save at the bottom of the File Manager to update the Project 5 13 7 How Do Export A Project to the Library and Maintain My Own Folder Structure If you export a Project to the Library Live will look in the Library to see if the folder names there match those in your Project and will create any missing folders as necessary For example if your Project folder contains samples in Samples My Samples Live will look in the Library for a Samples folder which it will find because it s part of the standard Library and then for a My Samples sub folder which it will not find but will then create 68 Chapter 6 Arrangement View The Arrangement View displays the Arrangement which contains music laid out along a song timeline like a multitrack tape O a o o o A Piece of Music in the A
133. ap Tempo button to tap along thereby setting the Live Set s tempo to match that of the clip 3 Turn warping on again and use the Warp From Here Start At command to tell Auto Warp to use your tapped tempo as a reference e Warp From Here Straight tells Auto Warp that this is a clip with no tempo variations common in electronically produced works Auto Warp will then set a single Warp Marker derived from its guess of the file s original tempo Warp BPM From Here will also set a single Warp Marker but in this case Auto Warp is forced to interpret the clip as exactly matching the Live Set s tempo This is useful in cases when you happen to know the exact BPM value of an electronically produced work and can type it into the Control Bar before warping Multi Clip Warping When clips of equal length are multi selected adding or changing Warp Markers for one clip will apply identical Warp Markers to all This is convenient in any situation where several tracks have the same rhythm and you wish to alter the timing of each recording in the same way A common scenario would be when multi tracking a band s performance where the musicians all play in time with each other yet the timing itself is in some way flawed CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 125 9 2 4 Quantizing Audio In the previous section you learned how to adjust the timing of events in audio files by manually dragging Warp Markers along the timeline But i
134. apabilities Warping means chang ing the speed of sample playback independently from the pitch so as to match the song tempo The tempo can be adjusted on the fly in the Control Bar s Tempo field TAP 129 00 11 111 4 4 00 The most elementary use of this technique and one that usually requires no manual setup is synchronizing sample loops to the chosen tempo Live s Auto Warp algorithm actually makes it easy to line up any sample with the song tempo such as a recording of a drunken jazz band s performance It is also possible to radically change the sonic signature of a sound using extreme warp settings 4 6 MIDI Clips and MIDI Files A MIDI clip contains musical material in the form of MIDI notes and controller envelopes When MIDI is imported from a MIDI file the data gets incorporated into the Live Set and the original file is not referenced thereafter In the Live File Browsers a MIDI file appears as a folder that can be opened to reveal its individual component tracks which can be selectively dragged into the Live Set An Audio Clip s Properties as Displayed in the Clip View The Control Bar s Tempo Field CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 16 Library Name MIDI Files Are Dragged in from Live s File Browsers As you d expect a MIDI clip s contents can be accessed and edited via the Clip View for instance to change a melody or paint a drum pattern Start aa Pich Bend End TD L Cio Regi
135. arameters e g the Chance control in the Beat Repeat device will no longer exhibit random behavior after freezing This is because as with time based effects the random values that were in place at the moment of freezing will be rendered as part of the new file and will thus no longer be calculated in real time Please note that the Flatten command replaces any original clips and devices with the audio files created by freezing When using this command it is important to keep in mind the special cases above what you hear after freezing is exactly what you will get when flattening so if the results are not to your liking be sure to unfreeze and make any necessary changes to device parameters before invoking the Flatten command This procedure is tested by rendering the output of an audio track and comparing it to the frozen audio from the same track via phase cancellation to ensure that the files are identical CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 368 30 2 8 Bypassed Effects Bypassed effects in Live are removed from the signal flow This is true for both Live s built in effects devices and third party VST and AU plug ins Consequently audio at the output of a bypassed effect is identical to the audio at the input Please note however that effects devices with parameters that inherently require delay e g the Look Ahead settings in Compressor will still introduce this delay when bypassed in order to maintain automatic delay compensatio
136. arge values the reflections decay more rapidly and the diffused onset occurs later A The Reverb Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 273 higher value can sometimes improve the source s intelligibility while a lower value may give a smoother decay Spin applies modulation to the early reflections The X Y control accesses the depth and frequency of these modulations A larger depth tends to provide a less colored more spectrally neutral late diffusion response If the modulation frequency is too high doppler frequency shifting of the source sound will occur along with surreal panning effects Spin may be turned off using the associated switch for modest CPU savings 20 18 3 Global Settings The Quality chooser controls the tradeoff between reverb quality and performance Eco uses minimal CPU resources while High delivers the richest reverberation The Size parameter controls the room s volume At one extreme a very large size will lend a shifting diffused delay effect to the reverb The other extreme a very small value will give it a highly colored metallic feel The Stereo Image control determines the width of the output s stereo image At the highest setting of 120 degrees each ear receives a reverberant channel that is independent of the other this is also a property of the diffusion in real rooms The lowest setting mixes the output signal to mono 20 18 4 Diffusion Network
137. arp Markers Auto Warp will have no effect When this is the case you can use any of the PC Mac context menu commands described in this section to initiate auto warping Transient Markers CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 119 9 2 3 Using Warp Markers In the following sections we will look at a couple of applications for time warping samples Warping is of course an optional property of clips Syncing Straight Loops When you import a sample that represents a well cut musical loop of 1 2 4 or 8 bars in length Live usually makes the correct assumptions to play the loop in sync with the chosen tempo It creates two Warp Markers one at the sample s beginning and one at the end The Seg BPM field displays Live s guess of the loop s tempo if you happen to know the tempo of the loop you can type it in here Sometimes Live s guess of the original tempo is wrong by half or double If so correct this by clicking on the buttons labeled 2 and 2 respectively The sample plays at double speed when you press 2 because you are changing Live s interpretation of the sample s tempo which serves as a point of reference for determining the required time stretch factor Syncing Uncut Loops When importing a loop that has not been edited into a well cut loop Live will play it out of sync Suppose there is a portion of silence at the sample beginning prior to the first beat You can easily correct this by placing a Wa
138. as external sidechaining adjustable knee more EQ options an improved peak mode and a new feedback model which is lovingly based on some classic hardware compressors The new Compressor is fully backward compatible with Compressor and Compressor II presets A compressor s two most important parameters are the Threshold and the compression Ratio The Threshold slider sets where compression begins Signals above the threshold are attenuated by an amount specified by the Ratio parameter which sets the ratio between the input and output signal For example with a compression ratio of 3 if a signal above the threshold increases by 3 dB the compressor output will increase by only 1 dB If a signal above the threshold increases by 6 dB then the output will increase by only 2 dB A ratio of 1 means no compression regardless of the threshold The Knee control adjusts how gradually or abruptly compression occurs as the threshold is approached With a setting of O dB no compression is applied to signals below the threshold and full compression is applied to any signal at or above the threshold With very high ratios this so called hard knee behavior can sound harsh With higher or soft knee values the compressor begins compressing gradually as the threshold is approached For example with a 10 dB knee and a 20 dB threshold subtle compression will begin at 30 dB and increase so that signals at 10 dB will be fully compressed The
139. as is loading presets directly from Track View devices via the Hot Swap button In some instances factory presets for Audio Units will only appear in the Browser once the device has been placed in a track and its Hot Swap button activated Note The first time you start Live no plug ins will appear in the Plug In Device Browser as you must first activate your plug in sources Activating your plug in sources tells Live which plug ins you want to use and where they are located on your computer Information on activating and deactivating plug in sources can be found later in this chapter in the sections on the VST Plug in folder and Audio Units Plug ins Note for Intel Mac users Intel Mac computers cannot natively run VST or AU plug ins that have been written for the PowerPC platform Only plug ins of type Universal or Intel can be used in Live If you install de install a plug in while the program is running Live will not detect your changes or implement them in the Plug In Device Browser until the next time you start the program Use the Rescan button in the File Folder Preferences to rescan your plug ins while Live is running so that newly installed devices become immediately available in the Plug In Device Browser The Plug In Device Browser CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 210 You can also rescan if you believe that your plug in database has somehow become cor rupted Holding down the PC
140. at function just like those for the Live effects However some AU presets cannot be dragged to different locations in the Browser as they are read only Audio Units presets have an aupreset extension and are stored in the following directory according to their manufacturer s name Home Library Audio Presets Manufacturer Name Plug in Name 16 5 Device Delay Compensation Live automatically compensates for delays caused by Live and plug in instruments and effects including those on the return tracks These delays can arise from the time taken by devices to process an input signal and output a result The compensation algorithm keeps all of Live s tracks in sync regardless of what their devices are doing while minimizing delay between the player s actions and the audible result CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 219 Device delay compensation is on by default and does not normally have to be adjusted in any way However Live Sets that were created with Live 4 or earlier will open without device delay compensation To manually turn latency compensation on or off use the Delay Compensation option in the Options menu Unusually high individual track delays or reported latencies from plug ins may cause no ticeable sluggishness in the software If you are having latency related difficulties while recording and playing back instruments you may want to try turning off device delay com pensation however this is not norm
141. at their unaltered pitch 21 7 Velocity Drive Velocity can alter incoming MIDI note velocity values 1 127 in either a controlled or random manner It can function on MIDI Note On Velocity or Note Off Rel Vel messages or both depending on the setting of the Operation chooser The Out Low and Out Hi knobs control the outgoing velocity from 1 to 127 which is represented by the Y axis of the X Y display Incoming velocities that are shown in the display are within the range chosen by the Range and Lowest controls and are represented on the X axis The resulting curve shows how velocity is being altered by the effect If Lowest and Out Low are both set to zero and Range and Out Hi are set to 127 the display will show a straight diagonal line that indicates the equivalent of an effect bypass Softly played notes are being output quietly and vice versa If instead Out Hi is set to zero and The Velocity Effect CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 292 Out Low to 127 the slope of the line will be reversed and softly played notes will actually produce the loudest output What happens to incoming notes that are outside of the range set with the Range and Lowest controls This depends on which Mode is selected e Clip Mode does just what it says It clips incoming note velocities so that they stay within the range e Gate Mode removes incoming notes altogether if their velocities are outside of the range
142. ating new sounds and textures as well as getting rid of unwelcome house guests or terrifying small pets just kidding To refer delay time to the song tempo activate the Sync switch which allows using the Delay Time beat division chooser The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th notes For example selecting 4 delays the signal by four 16th notes which equals one beat a quarter note of delay With Sync Mode active changing the Delay Time field percentage value shortens and extends delay times by fractional amounts thus producing the swing type of timing effect found in drum machines If the Sync switch is off the delay time reverts to milliseconds In this case to edit the delay time click and drag up or down in the Delay Time field or click in the field and type in a value You can route each parameter to the X Y controller s horizontal or vertical axis To assign a parameter to the X axis choose it from the parameter row below the controller To assign a The Grain Delay Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 266 parameter to the Y axis use the parameter row on the left side The Feedback parameter sets how much of the output signal returns to the delay line input Very high values can lead to runaway feedback and produce a loud oscillation watch your ears and speakers if you decide to check out extreme feedback settings You can transpose the grain pitch with the Pitch paramete
143. ato vibrato English Horn Bas soon Clarinet French Oboe Concert Flute Alto Sax Ensemble Woodwinds legato Plucked Instruments Harp fingers Jazz Upright Bass P Bass fingers picks Six String Nylon Guitar tones chords Strat Clean tones chords Mallets Glockenspiel hard mallets Xylophone hard mallets Voice Mixed Choir ahh ohh Drum Machine one drum machine selected from the Drum Machines add on prod uct Acoustic Drum Kit one stereo multisampled drum kit selected from the Session Drums add on product Special Features of the Guitar and Bass Banks In the EIC LE edition the guitar instruments have additional banks for single key chords with strumming Lower octaves play down strums while upper octaves play up strums 304 Chapter 23 Max for Live Max for Live an add on product co developed with Cycling 74 allows users to extend and customize Live by creating instruments audio effects and MIDI devices Max for Live can also be used to extend the functionality of hardware controllers and even modify clips and parameters within a Live Set In addition to providing a comprehensive toolkit for building devices Max for Live also comes with a collection of pre made instruments effects and tutorials These can be used just like Live s built in devices and can also give you ideas for your own device building projects Please note that this content will only be available after Max is in
144. atures are the same as those found in Instrument and Effect Racks But Drum Racks have a slightly different layout some unique controls and special behavior that is optimized for creating drum kits The Macro Controls CHAPTER 17 INSTRUMENT DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS 223 17 2 1 Pad View c2 c 2 D2 D 2 inan LLLLI HHH Multi China Crash 61 Wiel s mieis imi pis Open Hat Multi PedalHat Buzz sss ITEC CCL seen Kick Snare Hit Cowbell a ia ziii gMbP s PSM PSM S sess C 1 small snare GM Suggestion Side Stick The Pad View is unique to Drum Racks and offers an easy way to map and manipulate samples and devices Each pad represents one of the 128 available MIDI notes The pad overview to the right shifts the set of visible pads up or down in octave increments either by dragging the view selector to a new area or by using your computer keyboard s and keys Use the PC Mac modifier to shift the view by single rows instead A Rack s inner structure can sometimes be quite complicated Pad View can make it much easier to work by letting you focus on only the top level the notes and sounds It s important to remember that a pad represents a note rather than a chain More specifically it represents all chains no matter how deep in the Rack that are able to receive that pad s note What you can control with each pad is related to how many chains it represents e An empty pad shows only the not
145. audio to a lower bit depth it is a good idea to apply dithering in order to minimize artifacts Dithering a kind of very low level noise is inherently a non neutral procedure but it is a necessary evil when lowering the bit resolution Please note that Live s internal signal processing is all 32 bit so applying even a single gain change makes the resulting audio 32 bit as well even if the original audio is 16 or 24 bit Dither should never be applied more than once to any given audio file so unless you are mastering and finalizing in Live it is best to always render at 32 bit and avoid dithering altogether 30 3 4 Recording external signals bit depth lt A D converter Recording audio signals into Live is a non neutral operation if the bit depth set in Live s Preferences window is lower than that of the A D converters used for the recording This is not recommended 30 3 5 Recording internal sources below 32 bit Audio that is recorded via internal routing will lose quality if the recording is made at a bit depth below 32 bits To ensure neutral recordings of plug in instruments and any CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 371 audio signals that are being processed by effects plug ins internal recording at 32 bits is recommended Please note however that if the source audio is already at a lower bit depth internal recording at that bit depth will also be neutral assuming that no effects are used internally recording an unprocess
146. avigating the Arrangement View CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 70 and drag downwards to zoom in around that part Note that you can also drag horizontally to scroll the display Using this method you can zoom and scroll to focus around any part of the Arrangement with just one mouse motion 6 To have the Arrangement display follow the song position and scroll automati cally turn on the Follow switch or use the Follow command from the Options menu 6 2 Transport There are a number of ways to control Live s transport with the computer keyboard and mouse 1 You can start Arrangement playback by clicking the Control Bar s Play button and stop playback by clicking the Stop button Arrangement playback can also be toggled on and off by pressing the keyboard s space bar gt gt laje OVR Bar 4 2 You can set the Arrangement playback position by clicking anywhere along the Arrangement to place the flashing insert marker Double clicking the Stop button will return the Arrangement play position to 1 1 1 To continue playback from the position where it last stopped rather than from the insert marker hold down the modifier while pressing the space bar 3 When Permanent Scrub Areas is enabled in Live s Look Feel Preferences clicking in the scrub area above the tracks will make playback jump to that point The size of these jumps is quantized according to the Control Bar s Quantization The Play and Stop Butto
147. b a Input Processing Early Reflections Global Diffusion Network Reflect Mocu Hi Cut Spiny Quality iG S 47 Ll jii 3 5 dB e e Diffuse A A OSE SEs SH Hz Gis S 90 0 Hz 0 75 BP Hz B 3 008 Predelay Shape Stereo Freeze Density Scale Dry Wet GS 8 O meg SS 35 3 ms 0 50 100 00 60 40 35 20 18 1 Input Processing The input signal passes first through high and low cut filters whose X Y controller allows changing the band s center frequency X axis and bandwidth Y axis Either filter may be switched off when not needed to save CPU power Predelay controls the delay time in milliseconds before the onset of the first early reflection This delays the reverberation relative to the input signal One s impression of the size of a real room depends partly on this delay Typical values for natural sounds range from 1ms to 25ms 20 18 2 Early Reflections These are the earliest echoes that you hear after they bounce off a room s walls before the onset of the diffused reverberation tail Their amplitude and distribution give an impression of the room s character The Shape control sculpts the prominence of the early reflections as well as their overlap with the diffused sound With small values the reflections decay more gradually and the diffused sound occurs sooner leading to a larger overlap between these components With l
148. be placed anywhere in the timeline and their positioning is only constrained by the editing grid This means that it is possible to place meter changes in impossible places such as before the end of the previous measure This creates a fragmentary bar which is represented in the scrub area by a crosshatched region Live is happy to leave these incomplete measures as they are but if you d like your Set to conform to the rules of music theory you can use the two PC Mac context menu options to correct incomplete bars ZZ YAZ 7 16 Delete Fragmentary Bar Time Complete Fragmentary Bar insert Time e Delete Fragmentary Bar Time deletes the duration of the fragmentary bar from the Arrangement thereby moving any audio or MIDI on either side of the deleted area closer together in the timeline The next time signature marker will now fall on a legal barline e Complete Fragmentary Bar inserts time at the beginning of the fragmentary bar so that it becomes complete The next time signature marker will now fall on a legal barline Please note that these resolution options affect all tracks deleting and inserting time The Time Signature Editor Can Change Time Signature Marker Values and Shows an Automation LED A Fragmentary Bar and its Resolution Options CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 75 changes the length of the entire Arrangement If you import a MIDI file into the Arrangement you ll b
149. be smoothed with the Fade control which crossfades the two points This method is especially useful when working with long textural samples By default Simpler uses constant power fades But by turning off Use Constant Power Fade for Loops inthe PC Ctrl _ 9 Mac context menu you can enable linear crossfades 22 2 3 Zoom Quite often one starts with a longer region of a sample and ends up using only a small part of it Simpler s Sample view can be zoomed and panned just as in other parts of Live drag CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 299 vertically to zoom and drag horizontally to pan different areas of the sample into view 22 2 4 Envelope Simpler contains three classic ADSR envelopes as seen in most synthesizers for shaping the dynamic response of the sample Volume filter frequency and pitch modulation are all modifiable by toggling their respective buttons in the envelope section Attack controls the time in milliseconds that it takes for the envelope to reach its peak value after a note is played Decay controls the amount of time it takes for the envelope to drop down to the Sustain level which is held until the note is released Release time is the amount of time after the end of the note that it takes for the envelope to drop from the Sustain level back down to zero The influence of envelopes on pitch and filter cutoff can be decided using the envelope amount Env controls in each of these secti
150. be sure that using these functions will never cause any signal degradation Applying neutral operations to audio that was recorded into Live ensures that the audio will be unchanged from the point of analog to digital conversion Applying neutral operations to files imported into Live ensures that the imported audio will be identical to the files saved on disk Applying neutral operations to files being exported from Live ensures that the quality of your output file will be at least as high as what you heard during playback The list of neutral operations found below is provided primarily as an abstract reference while all of these operations are in fact neutral it is important to remember that each of them may and almost certainly will occur within a context that also contains non neutral operations For example running an audio signal through an effects device is a non neutral operation So any neutral operations that occur after it will of course still result in audio that is altered in some way Even a gain change is technically non neutral Neutral operations include 30 2 1 Undithered Rendering The Export Audio command renders Live s audio output to a file on disk Rendering is a neutral operation under certain conditions e the sample rate of the rendered file is the same as that set for the audio hardware in Live s Preferences e no non neutral operations have been applied Live s rendering performance is tested by load
151. bles two filters The first of these controlled with the Base control dictates how much the effect will be reduced or increased for very low frequencies The second filter essentially an equalizer is used for controlling higher frequencies It is shaped with the Freq cutoff frequency Width and Depth controls The Output control attenuates the level at the device output When the Soft Clip switch is activated Saturator will also apply an instance of its Analog Clip curve to the output The Dry Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals Set it to 100 percent when using Saturator in a return track Aliasing can be reduced by enabling Hi Quality mode which can be accessed via the PC Mac context menu This improves the sound quality particularly with high frequency signals but there is a slight increase in CPU usage 20 20 Simple Delay Simple Delay Delay Time Link 4 16 ms 4 16 0 00 4 Feedback Dry Wet 12 The Simple Delay provides two independent delay lines one for each channel left and right With Link engaged the right channel s delay setting is disabled thus applying the left channel s settings to both sides To refer delay time to the song tempo activate the Sync switch which allows using the Delay Time beat division chooser The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th The Simple De
152. bly do not need this information 31 1 Ideal MIDI Behavior To understand how MIDI works within a digital audio workstation DAW it is helpful to introduce some common terms and concepts A DAW must be able to accommodate three distinct MIDI related scenarios 1 Recording refers to sending MIDI note and controller information from a hard ware device such as a MIDI keyboard into a DAW for storage An ideal recording CHAPTER 31 MIDI FACT SHEET 375 environment would capture this incoming information with perfect timing accu racy in relation to the timeline of the song as accurately as an audio recording 2 Playback refers to two related scenarios when dealing with DAWs The first in volves sending MIDI note and controller information from the DAW to a hardware device such as a synthesizer The second involves converting stored MIDI infor mation into audio data within the computer as played back by a plug in device such as the Operator synthesizer In both cases an ideal playback environment would output a perfect reproduction of the stored information 3 Playthrough involves sending MIDI note and controller information from a hard ware device such as a MIDI keyboard into the DAW and then in real time back out to a hardware synthesizer or to a plug in device within the DAW An ideal playthrough environment would feel as accurate and responsive as a physical instrument such as a piano 31 2 MIDI Timing Problems
153. by muting all other tracks but can also be used for cueing With multiple tracks selected pressing any of their Solo switches will solo all of them Otherwise tracks can only be soloed one at a time unless the the PC Mac modifier is held down or the Exclusive Solo option in the Record Warp Launch Preferences is deactivated 6 If the Arm Recording button is on the track is record enabled With multiple tracks selected pressing any of their Arm switches will arm all of them Other wise tracks can only be armed one at a time unless the the PC Mac modifier is held down or the Exclusive Arm option in the Record Warp Launch Preferences is deactivated With Exclusive Arm enabled inserting an instrument into a new or empty MIDI track will automatically arm the track CHAPTER 14 MIXING 180 14 1 1 Session Mixer Features 11 Audio 12 Audio B gt m gt a o a Oo a m Gint Cnt Cant inf inf FI a 4t a ao ao LE LJILILI LJL LJLJLI EHSA LILI E Stop Clips i 6 i o I ceococcooooooooooooooooooos 3 o gy AS O a a a eo an mMM eup eeecccccccccccccccccsecccs CG H eecccccccccccccccccccscsss ERED m ena S The Session Mixer s Possibilities The Mixer section of the Session Mixer has several addi
154. by step tutorials for building a variety of Max devices These Lessons are available from Live s Help View which can be accessed from Live s Help menu 309 Chapter 24 MIDI and Key Remote Control To liberate the musician from the mouse most of Live s controls can be remote controlled with an external MIDI controller and the computer keyboard This chapter describes the details of mapping to the following specific types of controls in Live s user interface 1 Session View slots Note that MIDI and computer key assignments are bound to the slots not to the clips they contain Switches and buttons among them the Track and Device Activator switches the Control Bar s tap tempo metronome and transport controls Radio buttons A radio button selects from among a number of options One instance of a radio button is the crossfader assignment section in each track which offers three options The track is assigned to the crossfader s A position the track is unaffected by the crossfader or the track is affected by the crossfader s B position Continuous controls like the mixer s volume pan and sends The crossfader the behavior of which is described in detail in the respective section of the Mixing chapter CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 310 24 1 MIDI Remote Control Live can be controlled remotely by external MIDI control surfaces such as MIDI keyboards or controller boxes Live also of
155. c signal This can be useful in compensating for delays incurred by the signal transmission The Sync Delay for a specific MIDI device appears as you select the MIDI device from the MIDI Sync Preferences MIDI Ports list To adjust the delay have both Live and the other sequencer play a rhythmical pattern with The External Sync Switch CHAPTER 28 SYNCHRONIZATION AND REWIRE 355 pronounced percussive sounds While listening to the output from both adjust the Sync Delay control until both sounds are in perfect sync MIDI Clock Sync Delay Sync Type Adjusting Sync Delay 28 2 Connecting via ReWire Live supports the ReWire interface for connecting with another ReWire compatible audio program running on the same computer The ReWire technology developed by Propellerhead Software provides ReWire compatible programs with e common access to the audio hardware e shared transport functionality e synchronization to audio word clock and song positioning e exchange of audio streams The programs in a ReWire connection play distinct roles The ReWire master accesses the audio hardware and provides mixing facilities the ReWire slave s have no direct link to the audio hardware but instead send their audio output into the Master s mixer Common ReWire master applications are Pro Tools Cubase Nuendo Logic Digital Per former Sonar and Max MSP Common ReWire slave applications are Reason Rebirth Storm Project 5 and Ma
156. ccs est eecee eens 72 command for audio eee 181 command for selected MIDI notes 137 Repeat Mode 0 0 cee e eee 149 for clip launching ee ne ae 150 resampling 164 see recording for MIDI notes during recording 197 Rescan Plug Ins preference 209 Quantize menu command 125 137 Resonators effect cece cece ee 270 quick chooser buttons 233 return tracks ccc eee cece 19 182 R Reverb effect cece eee eee 272 Diffusion Network 273 Rec ETETETT EEEE TEET 221 Early Reflections 272 Macro Controls eeeeee 999 Global Settings ayesha eS EE TEET 273 routing tap points o on 167 Input Processing 45 272 RAM Mode switch n n 109 Output serereairneserttnertietenees 274 EEA E ec chi cudsieeesiiesutscceawth le cave wae Reverse DUTTON isiiiarisireiei iine ias 109 Re Pitch Mode ooon aaau 127 REWUIG 25 050 oh crs cauangacanshid ened 355 Record Dutton sscudsdsisatheukaivadeuaanmhes 90 Live as master 0 0s 163 Record Quantization 005 197 Live as slave 26s eee ee ee eeeee 356 Record Warp Launch Preferences 4 recording onasan see recording recording tutorials Aid ieweaedah yea see Ableton ahd remote control ses ax Sock odca ies 198 TOUN snaceerat dean sen dantaeasedics 21 157 audio and MIDI no s aoaaa 189 and computer keys
157. ch lt sa s00 hsuancres anes 97 Clp DOX pornea a a E 95 Clip Color chooser 00005 97 Clip Envelope Control chooser 233 Clip Envelope Device chooser 233 clip envelopes scca cc tosdssatiynersee 23 232 and changing note pitch 235 and changing note volume 236 as LFOS oc gedesddandeiddowioudd dn 243 changing clips for 238 creating long loops with 242 for MIDI controls 05 240 general editing of 232 imposing rhythm with 243 loop region settings for 240 mixer control modulation with 238 scrambling beats with 236 unlinking from clips 2 4 0ce iewes 241 using for fade outs 240 Clip Fade switch 00 108 Clip Gain slider 0 4 106 Clip Groove chooser 05 98 Clip Launch button vaczstencnneagupecdans 85 Clip Name field oiuciasusvadadestaxndeaes 97 Clip Nudge buttons 99 Clip Overview 00 02 eee ee 94 for zooming scrolling 101 INDEX 398 Clip Quantization chooser 150 Compressor effect cee eee 250 Clip Record button foes sy sansave ges 22 193 and sidechain sin crwsnvedarsawedio 253 Clip Signature fields 6 0000sseseene ee 98 NDR psn dbeagedoudagednas saina 254 Clip Stop button csenedcieiaesensin 85 Computer MIDI Keyboard button
158. choose not to use your VST Plug ins in Live by turning off the Use VST Plug In Custom Folder option it Use VST Plug in System Folders Off Use VST Plug in Custom Folder VST Plug in Custom Folder Not Set Set up your VST Plug ins under Mac OS X by doing the following 1 Your VST Plug ins will normally be installed in the following folder in your home and local directories Library Audio Plug lns VST You can turn Live s use of these plug ins on or off with the Use VST Plug ins in System Folders option 2 You may have an alternative folder in which you store your VST Plug ins perhaps those that you use only with Live You can use VST Plug ins in this folder in addi tion to or instead of those in the System folders To tell Live about the location of this folder click the Browse button next to the VST Plug In Custom Folder entry to open a folder search dialog for locating and selecting the appropriate folder 3 Note that you can turn off your VST Plug ins in this folder using the Use VST Plug In Custom folder option Once you have configured your Plug In Preferences the Plug In Device Browser will display all plug ins it finds in the selected VST Plug in folder s as well as any sub folders It is also possible to use VST Plug ins stored in different folders on your computer To do this create a Mac OS or Windows alias of the folder where additional VST Plug ins are stored and then place the alias in the VST Plug In Cu
159. choosing a clip color The Clip Box CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 98 8 1 3 Clip Signature Using the Clip Signature fields you can specify the time signature of a MIDI or audio clip This setting is relevant only for display it does not affect playback Please note that Clip Signature is completely separate from the project s time signature and can be set independently for each clip This makes it easy to create complex polymetric textures by simultaneously triggering clips with different meters and or loop lengths 8 1 4 Clip Groove Chooser The Clip Groove chooser selects the groove used for the clip from the grooves available in the Groove Pool Clip Groove The Open Groove Pool entry in this chooser can be used to open the Groove Pool if it is closed If you want to quickly try out a variety of grooves you can enable the Hot Swap button above the chooser and then step through the grooves in the Browser while the clip plays The Commit button under the chooser writes the current groove settings to the clip and disables the assigned groove If the groove uses the Velocity parameter committing on an audio clip will create a volume Clip Envelope in order to convert the groove s velocity information into audio volume changes Note that this will overwrite any volume Clip Envelope that was already in the clip The Clip Groove Chooser CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 99 8 1 5 Clip Offset and Nudging To jump within a pla
160. cking the Show button makes the File Browser list the unused files there you can preview samples and delete them if you like Note you can also find the unused files from the Library choose the Manage Files command from the File menu then click the Manage Library button and then see the Unused Files section Last but not least ae can find the unused files for all Projects found in a specific folder and its sub folders PC Cti Mac on a folder in the File Browser and choose the CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 65 Manage Projects command then see the Unused Files section Live inspects each Project individually and labels a file unused even if another Projects in the same folder does use that file To prevent losses you may want to first collect the files into their respective Projects and then purge the Projects of unused files 5 12 Packing Projects into Live Packs Live s File Manager provides the option of packing a Live Project in Live Pack format for convenient archiving and transfer To do this choose the Manage Files command from the File menu click the Manage Project button and then click on the triangular shaped fold button next to Packing Click the Create Live Pack button to bring up a file select dialog where you can specify the name and location of a new Live Pack file Creating a new Live Pack from a Project does not affect the Project If you want the Project deleted you can delete it using the File
161. clicking a Session View clip s Launch button also selects the clip since you will typically want the Clip View to show the newly launched clip However some power users don t want the current focus e g a return track s devices to disappear just because a clip has been launched especially when starting a clip in order to try it with the return track device settings Turn off the Select on Launch option from the Launch Preferences if you prefer the view to remain as is when you launch clips or scenes Dropping Multiple Clips Into the Session View CHAPTER 7 SESSION VIEW 90 7 4 2 Removing Clip Stop Buttons Slots Without Clip Stop Buttons You can add and remove Clip Stop buttons from the grid using the Edit menu s Add Remove Stop Button command This is useful for pre configuring the scene launch behavior If for instance you don t want scene 3 to affect track 4 remove the scene 3 track 4 Stop button 7 4 3 Editing Scenes In addition to the standard Edit menu commands such as cut copy paste and duplicate there are two useful commands in the Create menu that apply specifically to scenes e Insert Scene inserts an empty scene below the current selection e Capture and Insert Scene inserts a new scene below the current selection places copies of the clips that are currently running in the new scene and launches the new scene immediately with no audible interruption This command is very helpful when developing materials i
162. clip or isolate part of it To split a clip in two halves do the following 1 Unfold the track 2 In the waveform or MIDI display click at the position where you want the clip to be split 3 Execute the Split command To isolate a part of a clip do the following 1 Unfold the track 2 In the waveform or MIDI display drag a selection over the part of the clip you want to isolate 3 Execute the Split command to divide the original clip into three pieces The Result of Splitting a Clip 6 12 Consolidating Clips The Consolidate command replaces the material in the Arrangement View selection with one new clip per track This is very useful for creating structure CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 83 Suppose you have by editing or improvising come up with a layout of clips that sound good in Arrangement Loop mode Selecting that part of the Arrangement for instance by using the Edit menu s Select Loop command and then executing the Consolidate command creates a new clip that can be treated as a loop You can now for instance drag the clip edges to create more repetitions You might also want to drag the new loop via the Session View selector into a Session View slot for real time arrangement purposes When operating on audio clips Consolidate actually creates a new sample for every track in the selection The new samples are essentially recordings of the time warping engine s audio output prior to
163. clips or devices or drag it into the space in the Session or Arrangement View containing no tracks Note that Live Clips that are imported into tracks already containing devices or clips will appear with their clip settings but not their devices You could for instance drop a bassline Live Clip on an existing track that drives a bass instrument rather than creating a new track Clips belonging to any Live Sets already on disk are also Live Clips Please see the section on merging Sets for more on this topic Note that storing default clip settings with a sample s analysis file is different from saving a Live Clip The default clip in the asd file annotates the sample with sensible default values warp gain and pitch settings so that it will play in a defined way when it is added to a Set Live Clips on the other hand are stored on disk as separate musical ideas For example you could create a number of variations from the same audio clip by using different warp pitch envelope and effect settings and store them all as separate Live Clips In the Browser you could then independently sort and preview these clips even though they are all referring to the same source sample 5 5 Live Sets The type of document that you create and work on in Live is called a Live Set Think of this as a single song Sets must be saved inside projects so that Live can keep track of and manage all of the various components of the Live Set Live Clips de
164. commands see view selector Trigger Mode 0 eee 149 buttons Triplet Grid command 005 80 Vinyl Distortion effect 5 280 tutorials see Ableton see lessons Volume control see eee 129 Volume quick chooser button see U quick chooser buttons VST Plug ins using see devices Undo command VST Plug In Custom Folder button 214 and Arrangement editing 133 and automation editing 226 and recorded clips ccssnsegadhne ns 192 and recording MIDI 197 Unfold Track button 71 19 227 Unfreeze Track command 360 unlocking the program see copy protection updates see Check for Updates command Use Audio Units preference 217 Use Plug In Custom Folder 214 Use VST Plug In System Folders 214 User Account Licenses Preferences Sif Utility effect csiis sieram et dross asasi 279 W Warp BPM From Here command 124 Warp As Bar Loop command Warp From Here Start At command 124 Warp From Here Straight command 124 Warp From Here command 124 Warp Markers iss aatsexceabeeecuck eres 116 and transients 04 117 DSCUAO raroa ine nos aie aE tae 117 SAVING sora v dines T bide 118 saving settingS 0 107 Warp Mode chooser 545 125 408 INDEX Warp Modes xcs osavunsotsr
165. commands like Cut Copy and Paste only affect the currently selected notes or the notes within a time selection But as in Arrangement editing there are Time commands that act upon the entire MIDI clip by inserting and deleting time Note that these operations do not change the clip start end position or the loop brace settings Changing Note Length CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 137 e Cut Time cuts a selection of time from the MIDI clip thereby moving any notes on either side of the cut area closer together in the timeline e Paste Time places copied time into the MIDI clip along with any notes that were in the copied time e Duplicate Time places a copy of the selected timespan into the clip along with any contained notes e Delete Time deletes a selection of time from the MIDI clip thereby moving any notes on either side of the deleted area closer together in the timeline e Insert Silence inserts as much empty time as is currently selected into the clip before the selection 10 4 7 Quantizing Notes There are three options for quantizing MIDI notes in Live First you can quantize MIDI notes as you record them Secondly as previously mentioned you can move notes so that they snap to the visible grid lines Finally you can select a note or notes and choose the Quantize command from the Edit menu or use the PC Mac hotkey The first time you do this you will see a dialog box with
166. d bass Compressed sample metadata tags are also included in the search making it possible to search for songs from a specific album or artist for example The names of MIDI tracks within multitrack MIDI files are also included in searches Live maintains an index of the hard disk so that it can deliver search results instantly The index is kept up to date as you create install delete rename and move files within Live it has no way of knowing however what you are doing outside of Live If you have subsequently moved files using programs other than Live the initial results of a search might be incomplete The Go button s label will change to Rescan If you can t find a file in the search results or need to be sure that the results are comprehensive click the Rescan button or once more and Live will rebuild its index for the current Browser root io ie Bass Detector Part 1 alc Activating Browser Search Mode The Search Field and Go Button The Rescan Button CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 33 Automatic rescanning for new searches can be activated and deactivated in the File Folder Preferences While a search rescan is going on the adjacent search button is labeled Stop Rescanning happens in the background and you can keep making music while Live does its work but you can also abort the search with this button if the disk traffic is bothering you You can go back to the Browser
167. d originated in a MIDI file on your hard drive none of your editing will alter the original MIDI file as Live incorporates its contents into your Live Set when importing 10 4 2 Folding and Looping An important feature of the MIDI Editor is the Fold button located in the upper left corner Activating this button will immediately hide all rows or key tracks that do not contain MIDI notes in any clips in the track This is very useful when working with percussion kits for example which are oftentimes mapped out along a keyboard in sections corresponding to percussion type e g snares grouped together two octaves down from hi hat cymbals etc When working with a MIDI file created by such a mapping sometimes only one or two of each type of percussion sound is used and it becomes unnecessary to view the entire keyboard range When editing MIDI you might find that you want to change which part of the clip you are listening to or loop the clip in order to listen to it repeatedly You can use the loop region markers for this The Fold Button Extracts Key Tracks Containing Notes CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 134 0 O oO oO Bo 0 O O D o 0 10 4 3 Grid Snapping Most functions in the MIDI Editor are subject to grid snapping You can hold down the PC Mac modifier while performing an action to bypass grid snapping Note movements will also snap to an offset
168. d to Live s controls are not available for recording via MIDI tracks These messages are filtered out before the incoming MIDI is passed on to the MIDI tracks Session clips switches buttons and radio buttons can be mapped to computer keyboard keys as well This happens in Key Map Mode which works just like MIDI Map Mode Live offers in addition to this general purpose mapping technique dedicated support for the Akai APC40 Akai APC20 and Novation Launchpad which allows for mouse free operation of the program An Envelope for Clip Transposition The Key MIDI Map Controls CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 25 4 14 Saving and Exporting Saving a Live Set saves everything it contains including all clips their positions and settings and settings for devices and controls An audio clip can however lose the reference to its corresponding sample if it is moved or deleted from disk The links between samples and their clips can be preserved with a special command Collect and Save which makes a copy of each sample and stores it in a project folder along with the Live Set A separate Save button in the Clip View saves a set of default clip settings along with the sample so that each time the sample is dragged into the program it will automatically appear with these settings This is especially useful if you have made warp settings for a clip and want to use it in multiple Live Sets Exporting audio from Live can be done from both the S
169. der obsolete The APC40 s crossfader is fully replaceable from the bottom of the device so you can extend the lifetime of this already durable unit CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 332 25 10 Customizing the APC40 Controls You can change the assignment of all of the knobs faders and buttons on the APC40 by enabling the Remote switches in the MIDI Sync Preferences as described in the section on manual control surface setup MIDI Ports Track Sync Remote Ing Multif j ff ff ff b Input APC40 Input USB Audio Device Fom Of Pom b Output APC40 Output USB Audio Device om Por HIGHT Wer d gt AV Pali ff ff Now by entering Live s MID Map Mode you can override the pre assigned functions of all of the APC40 s knobs faders and buttons The eight Track Control knobs can be assigned in four banks which can be switched with the buttons below them Likewise the Device Control knobs can be assigned in eight banks by holding down Shift while pressing one of the eight buttons below these knobs Tip If you have overridden the APC40 s default mappings with manual mappings you can easily switch back to the defaults by deactivating the Remote switch of the APC40 s input port Activating the switch again will re establish your manual mappings 25 11 Combination Mode The APC40 controller becomes even more powerful when combined with additional APC40s or the Akai Professional APC20 When you connect more than one APC unit
170. dio hardware interface incurs over your speakers The In Out section offers for every audio track and MIDI track a Monitor radio button with the following three options e The default Auto monitoring setting does the right thing for most straightforward recording applications Monitoring is on when the track is armed record enabled but monitoring is inhibited as long as the track is playing clips CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 159 eeseceececeee To permanently monitor the track s input regardless of whether the track is armed or clips are playing choose In This setting effectively turns the track into what is called an Aux on some systems the track is not used for recording but for bringing in a signal from elsewhere for instance a ReWire slave program With this setting output from the clips is suppressed An In monitoring setting can be easily recognized even when the In Out section is hidden by the orange color of the track s Activator switch Monitoring can be turned off altogether by choosing the Off option This is useful when recording acoustic instruments which are monitored through the air when using an external mixing console for monitoring or when using an audio hardware interface with a direct monitoring option that bypasses the computer so as to avoid latency Generally it is preferable to work with an audio interface that allows for negligible latencies a few milliseconds If you are rec
171. dio tracks and MIDI tracks can record their input signal and thereby create new clips Recording is enabled on a track by pressing its Arm button With multiple tracks selected pressing any of their Arm buttons will arm all of them You can also hold down the PC Mac modifier when clicking the Arm buttons to arm several tracks at once If the Exclusive Arm option is enabled in the Record Preferences inserting an instrument into a new or empty MIDI track will automatically arm the track When the Control Bar s Record Track Routing Is Set up Using the In Out Section in the Arrangement Left or Session View Right CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 22 button is on every armed track records its input signal into the Arrangement Every take yields a new clip per track It is also possible to record into Session View slots on the fly This technique is very useful for the jamming musician as Session recording does not require stopping the music When a track is armed its Session slots exhibit Clip Record buttons and clicking one of these commences recording Clicking the Clip Record button again defines the end of the recording and launches the new clip As these actions are subject to real time launch quantization the resulting clips can be automatically cut to the beat Session recording in conjunction with the Overdub option and Record Quantization is the method of choice for creating drum patterns which are built up by successively addin
172. e 3 MIDI 4 MIDI Master gt spencos Take 2 2 4 Stop Clips b P 7 l and another key to start and end recording in the respective track A Track Launch Button You can also map the step recording navigators 1 1 3 The Step Recording ra Arrows This allows you to for example use MIDI foot pedals to move the clip s insert marker thereby keeping both hands free for playing a keyboard 200 Chapter 16 Working with Instruments and Effects Every track in Live can host a number of devices These devices can be of three different sorts e MIDI effects act upon MIDI signals and can only be placed in MIDI tracks e Audio effects act upon audio signals and can be placed in audio tracks They can also be placed in MIDI tracks as long as they are downstream from an instrument e Instruments are devices that reside in MIDI tracks receive MIDI and output audio The Track View is where you insert view and adjust the devices for the selected track To select a track and open the Track View to access its devices double click the track s name The Track View appears in the bottom area of the Live screen Please note that the number of Ableton or third party instruments and effects that can be used in a single Set is limited in Live Intro CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 201 v E Dynamic Tube Ableton Devici 5 il J Il Py ij E EQ Eight Ableton De
173. e 41 in Session View 0005 85 Create Folder command 37 Live Clipss stea cvadsevewndsaievaurdse 45 Cropping MIDI GIDE vixexvekeriuresaeaaradanss 15 udio GPS essasi deerrnndeewners 110 FEMAMING isd cody eed edes tas deve nes 97 WIT clips 025 chase duened ats inadons 141 POVETSING is cn suites ealeaes saegines sad 109 crossfader 2ccacainiehd deakata cies 195 183 saving files on export 63 and remote control 184 saving settings for 107 automating the 185 setting properties of 93 crossfades Close All Folders command 30 TORCHDS sessseacctapannanppnnner tx 371 Collect Files on Export a iscesusi dames 63 iN SIMPleEr aah gata pi rani teneia nan 298 color scheme see Skin preference in the Arrangement View 77 Complete Fragmentary Bar command 74 Cue Out chooser 00005 186 compressed audio files see samples cue PONsiwssicdessstaunee tends see locators INDEX 399 CUEING ds aka eles ia de ated a a a 186 the Live instruments 293 Cut Time command the Live MIDI effects 282 in the Arrangement 81 the Max Audio Effect 304 in the MIDI Editor 137 the Max Instrument 304 D Decoding and Web Cache preferences 39 Delay Compensation option Delete All Time Signature Chan
174. e Pressing the Note Mode button changes the functionality of the clip launch matrix When Note Mode is on i e when the button is lit the buttons on the grid send MIDI notes instead of controlling Live s Session View a Note Mode Button 26 7 Combination Mode The real power of the APC20 comes through when you combine it with additional APC20s or the Akai Professional APC40 When you connect more than one APC unit to Ableton Live the controllers will automatically work in Combination Mode You can use up to six total APC20s or APC40s side by side The CHAPTER 26 USING THE APC20 340 topmost controller selected in your preferences will control tracks 1 8 the second controller selected will control tracks 9 16 and so on When an APC40 and an APC20 are connected at the same time the APC20 s buttons will default to Track Selection and its faders will default to volume allowing swift access to an expanding array of clips and tracks 341 Chapter 27 Using the Launchpad The Launchpad is a dedicated controller for Ableton Live co designed by Ableton and Novation Launchpad has 64 square shaped pads and 16 round buttons all of which are pre configured to integrate perfectly with Live This chapter will help you set up your Launchpad and introduce its capabilities 27 1 Setup Once the Launchpad has been connected to one of your computer s USB ports you will need to select the Launchpad in Live s
175. e you can always select a frozen track and choose Unfreeze Track from the Edit menu to change device or clip settings On slower machines you can unfreeze processor intensive tracks one at a time to make edits freezing them again when you are done Many editing functions remain available to tracks that are frozen Launching clips can still be done freely and mixer controls such as volume pan and the sends are still available Other possibilities include e Edit cut copy paste duplicate and trim clips CHAPTER 29 COMPUTER AUDIO RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES 361 e Draw and edit mixer automation and mixer clip envelopes e Consolidate e Record Session View clip launches into the Arrangement View e Create move and duplicate Session View scenes Drag frozen MIDI clips into audio tracks When performing edits on frozen tracks that contain time based effects such as reverb you should note that the audible result may be different once the track is again unfrozen depending on the situation This is because if a track is frozen the applied effects are not being calculated at all and therefore cannot change their response to reflect edited input material When the track is again unfrozen all effects will be recalculated in real time lt etp a 4 1Audio ll mer Reverb a tee ae l A Frozen Arrangement 2 MIDI Track with a Reverb Tail Frozen Arrangement View tracks will play back any relevant material extending beyo
176. e Attenuation slider located beneath the Threshold fader can attenuate signals below the threshold rather than just cutting them off If set to inf dB a closed gate will mute the input signal A setting of 0 00 dB means that even if the gate is closed there is no effect on the signal Settings in between these two extremes attenuate the input to a greater or lesser degree when the gate is closed With the Flip button enabled the gate works in reverse the signal will only pass if its level is below the threshold The Attack time determines how long it takes for the gate to switch from closed to open when a signal goes from below to above the threshold Very short attack times can produce sharp clicking sounds while long times soften the sound s attack When the signal goes from above to below the threshold the Hold time kicks in Note to tech heads the gate has hysteresis so the release occurs about 3 dB lower than the threshold After the hold time expires the gate closes over a period of time set by the Release parameter Normally the signal being gated and the input source that triggers the gate are the same signal But by using sidechaining it is possible to gate a signal based on the level of another signal To access the Sidechain parameters unfold the Gate window by toggling the button in its title bar Enabling this section with the Sidechain button allows you to select another track from the choosers below This caus
177. e Hot Swap icon appears next to one of the files shown The Hot Swap Button in an Impulse Slot CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 38 gt C Documents and amples Waveforms Y Ba A Kick Gretsch 1 Room A aif Aiff Peg A Kick Ludwig 1 A aif go Aiff Bae A Kick Remo 1 A aif Aiff Bae E Kick 1 aif Aiff Fg E Kick 2 aif Aiff E Kick 3 aif Aiff Prg E Kick 4 ait Aiff Bad A Kick Gretsch 1 Room A wav Wave A Kick Gretsch 1 Room B wav Wave Prg A Kick Gretsch 2 A wav Wave Bad A Kick Gretsch 2 B wav Wave Raw While in Hot Swap Mode pressing the Return key loads that file into the Impulse slot presumably while Impulse is playing incoming MIDI notes pressing 4 then loads the next sample and so on Instead of using the keys we can also click on the file s Hot Swap icon to load it The link between the Browser and the instrument will be broken if a different view is selected or if the Hot Swap button is pressed again Hot swapping can also be cancelled with a press of the key or by pressing the close button in the Hot Swap bar at the top of the Browser When Hot Swap Mode is re entered the Hot Swap Browser will try to reconstruct what you saw when you loaded the current file into the Impulse slot If for instance the current file was found by searching for gretsch kick the Hot Swap Browser will come up with that search string in the search field In our example we were hot swapping for an empty Impulse slo
178. e a combination of sidechain and original signal as the envelope follower s trigger With Dry Wet at 100 the envelope follower tracks the sidechain source exclusively At 0 the sidechain is effectively bypassed Note that increasing the gain does not increase the volume of the source signal in the mix The sidechain audio is only a trigger for the envelope follower and is never actually heard The Auto Filter also contains a Low Frequency Oscillator to modulate filter frequency in a CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 246 periodic fashion The respective Amount control sets how much the LFO affects the filter This can be used in conjunction with or instead of the envelope follower The Rate control specifies the LFO speed It can be set in terms of hertz or synced to the song tempo allowing for controlled rhythmic filtering Available LFO waveform shapes are sine creates smooth modulations with rounded peaks and valleys square triangle sawtooth up sawtooth down and sample and hold generates random positive and negative modulation values in mono and stereo There are two LFOs one for each stereo channel The Phase and Offset controls define the relationship between these two LFOs Phase keeps both LFOs at the same frequency but can set the two LFO waveforms out of phase with each other creating stereo movement Set to 180 the LFO outputs are 180 degrees apart so that when one LFO reaches its peak the othe
179. e a oe exe ca see groove feature Scene Launch button MEE E 86 Simple Delay effect 0 00 00 276 Scene Select field 00005 ang Simpler instrument 00ee 0 00 297 Scene Up Down buttons 198 319 and CPU resources 0000 301 SCONCES Skid ara adhd bode ed bi ddeGendes 12 86 envelope oniiir reren 299 INDEX 406 NRG stance amennaieads pnp er ai 299 Tap Tempo button 9 0c c c0caevsannies 114 Glide and Spread ic vesiinixaytaes 300 with warping se ia tiaaSnnindiansncdmares 124 LPO ss aay gisy cokes teenandiar Gauges 299 technical support ss iciisrsicde apdicnan ness 8 Multisample Mode 6 2 lt 00 ce045 297 tempo PAN so bsuawsthe deus Shed AOO 301 and scene names 5 87 90 sample controls 1s iccsaveiecsdxses 298 automating 6 6 cece eee eee ee 231 Sample View catvanctadenwuyes taney x 297 MIDI mapping ranges 231 TWANSPOSE 5 acini vinh osetia nee 300 MUGGING s osarss encase deaeene nen ens 114 VOIES sciiiyidibieteddolad lad ikele 300 SOING g hakt daa donde dade wade ded odes 113 VOUS wis5 centsasueransteaadesenes 301 TAPPING concvsiasientadees etc eek 114 ZOON oraret iuret i i naer h 298 Tempo field cusses iadnpeesaieneuys 100 113 site or secondary licenses 8 Tempo Nudge buttons lt cc essiicsieais 114 Skin preference 0 0c cece 4 Temporary Folder preference 198 Snap to Grid command 80 Texture
180. e and then self adjusts its compression be havior Because feedback compressors analyze signals that have already been compressed their Attack and Release parameters are a bit less precise and act more like suggestions to the compressor But feedback compression generally results in a much smoother sound with less overall gain reduction but also less potential for distortion artifacts The classic analog compressor models that are so highly sought after in hardware based studios are generally all feedback models Note that for reasons of quantum physics Lookahead and external sidechaining are disabled when using the FB model Ableton s engineers are hard at work developing code that will allow our software to predict the future but we don t anticipate having this available until at least the next major release 20 5 1 Sidechain Parameters Compressor CE pimen Eg Envelope Threshold Output Audio From Filter Type Peak H H 5 Drums Sa i PreFX v rl Opto Gain Freq Attack a 20 8 dB 371 Hz 28 2 ms i Dry Wet Q Release 13 6 dB 4 95 dB Rato Knee Model Lookahead 100 0 71 32 9ms 0 0 06 EE A ES 1 ms o Makeu Normally the signal being compressed and the input source that triggers the compressor The Compressor Device With Sidechain Section CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 254 are the same signal But by using sidechain
181. e given an option to import any time signature information that was saved with the file If you choose to do this Live will automatically create time signature markers in the correct places This makes it very easy to work with complex music created in other sequencer or notation software 6 5 The Arrangement Loop For Live to repeatedly play a section of the Arrangement activate the Arrangement loop by clicking on the Control Bar s Loop switch be You can set loop length numerically using the Control Bar fields The left hand set of fields determines the loop start position while the right hand set determines loop length The Edit menu s Loop Selection command accomplishes all of the above at once It turns the Arrangement loop on and sets the Arrangement loop brace to whatever timespan is selected in the Arrangement jguitarchorus variat va rhodes The loop brace can be selected with the mouse and manipulated with commands from the computer keyboard e and nudge the loop brace to the left right by the current grid setting The Control Bar s Loop Switch The Loop Start Fields Left and the Loop Length Fields Right The Arrangement s Loop Brace CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 76 e and shift the loop brace left right in steps the size of its length e The PC Mac modifier used with the arrow left and right keys shortens or lengthens the loop by the current grid setting e The
182. e grooves in the Browser while the clip plays Clip The Hot Swap Groove Button Grooves can be applied to both audio and MIDI clips In audio clips grooves work by adjusting the clip s warping behavior and thus only works on clips with Warp enabled 11 1 Groove Pool Once you ve applied a groove file you can modify its behavior by adjusting its parameters in the Groove Pool which can be opened or closed via its selector button at the bottom of Browser a T The Groove Pool Selector Button You can also double click grooves in the Browser to load them directly to the Groove Pool before applying them to a clip The Groove Pool contains all grooves that have been loaded in this way or that are being used in clips Inactive grooves those that are not being used by a clip appear with their parameters greyed out CHAPTER 11 USING GROOVES 144 a v Current Song s Groove Pool Laid Back 1m6 Floating 16ths m6 o 2nd Line Qe linet v 0 mm Heavy Backbeat 8__v 11 1 1 Adjusting Groove Parameters Grooves in the Groove Pool appear in a list and offer a variety of parameters that can be modified in real time to adjust the behavior of any clips that are using them You can also save and hot swap grooves via the buttons next to the Groove s name The Groove Pool s controls work as follows e Base The Base chooser determines the timing
183. e is practically unlimited headroom Clipping can occur when an overly strong signal is sent to a physical output or written to a sample file Further information about track types in Live can be found in the Routing and I O chapter in cluding information on using return tracks to distribute the effect of a single device amongst several tracks After reading about using devices in Live it might also be interesting to look into clip envelopes which can modulate individual device parameters on a per clip basis 16 1 1 Live Device Presets Every Live device can store and retrieve their parameter settings as presets Presets for Live instruments and effects are managed through the Device Browser Each device appears there as a folder that can be opened to reveal its presets The Level Meters Between Devices in a Chain CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 206 Live Devices Name Type Date Modified E Notch Step 26 11 2007 12 04 E Slide Away 26 11 2007 12 04 E swin 26 11 2007 12 04 Current Projec E Auto Pan Ableton Device E 1to4 Note Contenders 26 11 2007 12 04 E 90 Degrees 26 11 2007 12 04 E Around The Head 26 11 2007 12 04 E Chopper 26 11 2007 12 04 E Copycat 26 11 2007 12 04 You can browse and load presets quickly with the computer keyboard e Scroll up and down using the and keys e Close and open device folders using the and keys e Press Return to load a device or preset Operator
184. e it will trigger When you mouse over it the Status Bar will display this note as well as the suggested GM instrument e A pad that triggers only one chain shows the name of the chain In this case the pad serves as a handy front end for many controls that are normally accessed deeper in the Rack such as mute solo preview and Hot Swap You can also rename and delete the chain via the pad e A pad that triggers multiple chains shows Multi as its name and its mute solo and preview buttons will affect all of its chains Hot Swap and renaming are disabled for a Multi pad but you can delete all of its chains at once Pad View As It Appears in the Full Version of Live CHAPTER 17 INSTRUMENT DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS 224 Pad View excels as a performance interface particularly when triggered by a hardware control surface with pads If your pad controller is one of Ableton s natively supported control surfaces simply select it as a control surface in the MIDI Sync tab of Live s Preferences From then on as long as you have a Drum Rack on a track that s receiving MIDI your pad controller will trigger the pads that are visible on your screen If you scroll the pad overview to show a different set of pads your controller will update automatically 225 Chapter 18 Automation and Editing Envelopes Often when working with Live s mixer and devices you will want the controls movements to become part of the music The
185. e number of samples it calculates per millisecond can be set using the Buffer Size setting in the Audio Preferences 16 3 VST Plug Ins 16 3 1 The VST Plug In Folder When you start Live for the first time you will need to activate your VST Plug in sources before working with VST Plug ins Depending on your computer platform you may also have to tell Live about the location of the VST Plug in folder containing the devices you want to use In order to set up your VST sources press the Activate button in the Plug In Device Browser or open the File Folder Preferences by pressing Ctrl J PC CW Mac There you will find the Plug In Sources section Use VST Plug in Custom Folder VST Plug in Custom Folder C Program Files Vstplugins For Windows proceed as follows 1 Use the VST Plug In Custom Folder entry to tell Live about the location of your VST Plug ins Click the Browse button to open a folder search dialog for locating and selecting the appropriate folder Setting up VST Plug In Sources for Windows CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 215 2 Once you have selected a VST Custom Folder and Live has scanned it the path will be displayed Note that on Windows Live may have found a path in the registry without the need for browsing 3 Make sure that the Use VST Plug In Custom Folder option is set to On so that your selected folder is an active source for VST Plug ins in Live Note that you can
186. e original Tango Project There is nothing wrong with this except for when the Tango Project is moved away or deleted then Tango with Piano als will be missing samples You can prevent this by collecting external files Even after the fact Live s tools for searching missing files can help solve this problem There is actually no need to keep a Project s Live Set exactly one level below the Project itself Within a project folder you can create any number of sub folders and move files around to organize them as desired although you many need to use the File Manager to teach the Project about the changes you ve made In general Live will do what it can to prevent situations such as orphaned Project less Live Sets and Live Clips and presets which have the potential of confusing both the user and Live s file management tools It cannot however control situations in which Sets or files are moved out of order and become disorganized via the Explorer Windows Finder Mac A note for users of older Live versions Live 8 does not allow overwriting Live Sets that were created by older versions to prevent compatibility problems Instead you will be requested to Save As Doing this will insure that the newly saved Live Sets reside in project folders A New Project Was Added by Saving a Live Set Outside its Original Project CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 55 5 6 2 Projects and Presets By default new instrument
187. e other audio components in your studio Please note that there is a limit of four inputs and outputs available in Live Intro 13 2 1 Mono Stereo Conversions When a mono signal is chosen as an audio track s input the track will record mono samples otherwise it will record stereo samples Signals in the track s device chain are always stereo even when the track s input is mono or when the track plays mono samples Mono is turned into stereo simply by using the identical signal for left and right channels When a track is routed into a mono output the left and right signals are added together and attenuated by 6 dB to avoid clipping 13 3 External MIDI In Out MIDI from the outside world is routed into Live just like audio From the Input Type chooser of a MIDI track you can either select a specific MIDI input port or All Ins which is the merged input of all external MIDI ports The Input Channel chooser offers the individual input channels of the selected MIDI port and the merged signal of all channels All As is the case with audio inputs the Input Channel chooser also has meters next to every entry to represent activity on the respective input channel If multiple MIDI tracks are selected any changes you make to these choosers will be applied to all selected tracks CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 161 13 3 1 The MIDI Ports List in the Preferences MIDI Ports Track Sync Remote Input ReMOTE LE o on On Out
188. e program 5 1 Working with the File Browsers Live offers three File Browsers which can be accessed via their selector buttons CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 29 The File Browser Selector Buttons Erg 0001 1 GuitarX wav Feel nnna 2Aceardtian waw Each Browser can point to a different disk location which Live will remember across sessions The Browser display is divided into columns corresponding to Name Date Live Pack etc which you can show and hide using the PC Mac context menu options E Synth Rhythmic Synth Poly E Synth Module Poly Today 15 34 Today 15 34 Operator 26 01 2009 03 59 Showing Hiding Browser E Synth Module Mono Operator Adv 26 01 2009 03 59 Columns Columns can be reordered by drag and drop To resize the columns drag their divider lines horizontally Live Devices 2 Name Pack Modified Resizing Browser Synth Hollow Ringer perator Adv 6 01 2009 03 59 Columns 5 1 1 Browsing the Folder Hierarchy Each of the three File Browsers has its own root directory shown at the top of the Browser the contents of which are available for browsing below CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 30 Grooves The Browser root can easily be changed The topmost Browser item called Parent Folder will move the Browser root up one step up in the disk hierarchy when double clicked gt 5 Presets gt M S
189. e rate is determined by the host application rather than by Live e External synchronization will be disabled synchronize to the ReWire master application instead Live will not send sync or controller messages to the MIDI output Controlling Live via MIDI is still possible e Live will not act as a ReWire master application For instance you cannot run Rebirth as a ReWire slave of Live while Live is running as a ReWire slave of Cubase You can however run both Live and Rebirth as ReWire slaves of Cubase at the same time e Time signature and tempo will be determined by the settings in the ReWire master application If your Live Set contains any tempo or time signature changes they will be ignored CHAPTER 28 SYNCHRONIZATION AND REWIRE 357 28 2 3 More on ReWire You can find tutorials on connecting Live to specific ReWire master programs at the Ableton tutorial website The Ableton FAQ website is the first place to go if you encounter ReWire related problems If you cannot seem to find an answer there please contact the Ableton support team 1 http www ableton com tutorials http www ableton com faq 3http www ableton com support 358 Chapter 29 Computer Audio Resources and Strategies Real time audio processing is a demanding task for general purpose computers which are usually designed to run spreadsheets and surf the Internet An application like Live requires a powerful CPU and a fast hard disk T
190. e references To send Live on a search click the Automatic Search section s Go button To reveal detailed options for guiding the automatic search function click the neighboring triangular shaped button CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 61 Missing Media Files a 3 of the referenced files are missing Tell me more Y Automatic Search Search folder Drop custom folder here Search Project Search Library Name Location Candi 0001 4 Audio wav Missing NIA Automatic Repair CS Step Sequencer amxd Missing NJA Options in the File Seen AWS 04 07 06 1 wav Missing N A Manager e Search Folder includes a user defined folder as well as any sub folders in the search To select the folder click the associated Set Folder button e Search Project includes this Set s project folder in the search e Search Library includes the Live Library in the search For each missing file the automatic search function may find any number of candidates Let s consider the following cases e No candidate found you can choose another folder and try again or locate the sample manually e One candidate found Live accepts the candidate and considers the problem solved e Several candidates found Live requires your assistance Click the Hot Swap button i e the leftmost item in every line of the list of missing files to have the File Browser present the candidates in Hot Swap Mode You can now double click the candida
191. e result of the clip envelope s modulation can therefore never exceed the absolute volume setting but the clip envelope can drag the audible volume down to silence 19 2 4 Scrambling Beats One very creative use of clip envelopes is to modulate the sample offset Sample offset modulation makes the most sense for rhythmical samples and is only available for clips that are set up to run in the Beats Warp Mode Imposing a Volume Envelope on a Sample CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 237 Try sample offset modulation with a one bar drum loop Make sure Beats Mode is chosen in the Envelopes box choose Clip from the Device chooser and Sample Offset from the Clip Envelope Control chooser The Envelope Editor appears with a vertical grid overlay In envelope Draw Mode set steps to non zero values to hear the loop scrambled What is going on Imagine the audio is read out by a tape head the position of which is modulated by the envelope The higher a value the envelope delivers the farther away the tape head is from its center position Positive envelope values move the head towards the future negative values move it towards the past Fortunately Live performs the modulation in beats rather than centimeters A vertical grid line is worth a sixteenth note of offset and the modulation can reach from plus eight sixteenths to minus eight sixteenths Sample offset modulation is the tool of choice for quickly creating interest
192. e s built in lessons 24 1 2 Manual Control Surface Setup If your MIDI control surface is not listed in the MIDI Sync Preferences Control Surface chooser it can still be enabled for manual mapping in the MIDI Ports section of this tab MIDI Ports Track Sync Remote gt Input Oxygens Port 1 On Off Off Input RemoteSL Port 1 On on on Input RemoteSL Port 2 on on On gt Output Oxygens Port 1 Off Off Off gt Output RemoteSL Port 1 on on on gt Output RemoteSL Port 2 on on on gt Output RemoteSL Port 3 Off Off on The MIDI Ports table lists all available MIDI input and output ports To use an input port for remote control of Live make sure the corresponding switch in its Remote column is set to On You can use any number of MIDI ports for remote mapping Live will merge their incoming MIDI signals When working with a control surface that provides physical or visual feedback you will also need to enable the Remote switch for its output port Live needs to be able to communicate with such control surfaces when a value has changed so that they can update the positions of their motorized faders or the status of their LEDs to match To test your setup try sending some MIDI data to Live from your control surface The Control Bar s MIDI indicators will flash whenever Live recognizes an incoming MIDI message Once your controller is recognized by Live yo
193. e transport controls as described in the respective chapter CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 72 6 3 Launching the Arrangement with Locators E m i ee T afafa Using Locators to guitarchord puitarcngra Launch Play in the MRifrnbops ___ rhodos2 _ rhodos modes2 f Arrangement Locators can be set at any point in the Arrangement This can be done in real time during playback or recording with the Set Locator button and will be quantized according to the global quantization value set in the Control Bar Clicking the Set Locator button when the Arrangement is not playing will create a locator at the insert marker or selection start You can also create a locator using the context menu in the scrub area above the tracks or via the Create menu Note that the position of a new locator is quantized according to the Control Bar s Quantization menu setting J Bass Bass Bass The Locator Controls You can recall jump to locators by clicking on them or with the Previous and Next Locator buttons on either side of the Set button Locators can also be recalled using MIDI key mapping Note that locator recall is subject to quantization Double clicking a locator will select it and start Arrangement playback from that point After jumping to the first or last locator in the Arrangement the Previous and Next Locator buttons will jump to the Arrangement start or end respectively Locators can be moved b
194. eSL Port 2 Dump 4 None None None v Dump 5 None v None gt None v Dump 6 None None gt None v Dump Open the first chooser in the Control Surface column to see whether your control surface is supported natively by Live if it is listed here you can select it by name and then define its MIDI input and output ports using the two columns to the right If your controller is not Setting Up Control Surfaces CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 311 listed here don t fret it can still be enabled manually in the next section Manual Control Surface Setup Depending on the controller Live may need to perform a preset dump to complete the setup If this is the case the Dump button to the right of your control surface s choosers in the Live Preferences will become enabled Before pressing it verify that your control surface is ready to receive preset dumps The method for enabling this varies for each manufacturer and product so consult your hardware s documentation if you are unsure Finally press the Dump button Live will then set up your hardware automatically Instant Mappings In most cases Live uses a standard method for mapping its functions and parameters to physical controls This varies of course depending upon the configuration of knobs sliders and buttons on the control surface These feature dependent configurations are known as instant mappings W
195. ecome part of the selected program Note that VST programs are different from Live device presets Whereas the presets for a Live device are shared among all instances and Live Sets the VST programs belong to this specific instance of the VST Plug in D A polyibiit To rename the current program select the VST s Device Title Bar and execute the Edit menu s Rename Plug In Program command Then type in a new program name and confirm by pressing The VST Plug In Program Chooser Renaming a VST Plug in Program CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 217 VST programs and banks can be imported from files Clicking a VST s Load Program or Bank button brings up a standard file open dialog for locating the desired file Windows only Please select from the File Type menu whether you want to locate VST Device Program files or VST Device Bank files To save the currently selected program as a file click the VST Save Program or Bank button to bring up a standard file save dialog select VST Program from the Format menu Mac intosh from the File Type menu Windows select a folder and name For saving the entire bank as a file proceed likewise but choose VST Bank as a file type format 16 4 Audio Units Plug Ins Audio Units Plug ins are only available in Mac OS X In most respects they operate just like VST Plug ins DA A Psp 84 Configure amp gt DiyL Fb Fit Cutoff Rvb Damp e
196. ect 00 00 257 Full Screen Mode cece eee eee 5 EQ Three effect 0c cece ees 259 Erosion effect seen eee e eee 260 G Essential Instrument Collection 301 Exclusive Arm Solo preference ae 179 Gate effect 0 cece cece eee 263 Export Audio 0ecceceueseneeeees 41 Gate Mode 1 0eeeeeeeeee eee 149 Export MIDI Clip command 45 Global Quantization chooser pereur iseti 22 exporting audio see Export Audio and Session recording 192 exporting video see Export Audio Grain Delay CHSC ni ceca sess EE 265 External Instr ment Grain Flux field AA A E N A E 127 and ReWire devices oe an oana 164 Grain Size Ee TEE TET E 127 external sync see MIDI synchronization T Size knop 2 ees idi ceeds ieeaees 127 gri F and Arrangement editing 80 and envelope drawing 229 Fades Device chooser 77221 and MIDI editing 134 FAQS ann kenge eat Enne ee tates see Ableton and time signature markers 74 File Browser 0 cee cece eee eee ee 28 in editing clip envelopes 243 opening Sets with the 10 working with the 80 file management see Manage Files groove feature 0 0 98 142 command Groove Pool eee e eee eee ee 143 File Manager e eee eee 55 Group Tracks
197. ect in the Patcher CHAPTER 23 MAX FOR LIVE 308 location Note unlike Live s native devices Max devices are not saved inside Live Sets but rather as separate files 23 4 Max Dependencies As mentioned earlier there are some special file management considerations when creating presets for Max devices Additionally Max devices themselves may depend on other files such as samples pictures or even other Max patches in order to work properly In this case you may want to use Live s file management tools to collect all of these dependencies into a single place particularly if you want to share your Max devices One way in which Max for Live helps to deal with external dependencies is by allowing you to freeze a Max device A frozen device contains all of the files that are needed to use it Note that freezing of Max devices is not the same as Live s Freeze Track command To learn more about freezing and about how Max deals with managing dependencies for its own files we recommend reading the built in Max documentation 23 5 Learning Max Programming To help you learn more about building and editing Max devices Cycling 74 provides comprehensive documentation and tutorials built into the Max environment To access this documentation select Max Help from the Help menu in any Max window There is also a Max for Live Help entry in the same menu Max for Live also comes with a number of Lessons which provide step
198. ected as the next to be launched CHAPTER 7 SESSION VIEW 87 unless the Select Next Scene on Launch option in the Launch Preferences is set to Off This allows you to trigger scenes from top to bottom without having to select them first Computer keys or a MIDI controller can be used to launch scenes and scroll between them Scenes can be renamed using the Rename command in the Edit menu or the PC Mac context menu One can quickly rename several scenes by executing the Rename command and using the computer s Tab key to move from one scene to the next You can also enter your own info text for a scene via the Edit Info Text command in the Edit menu or in the scene s PC 5 Mac context menu The context menu also contains a color palette where you can choose a custom scene color Scenes can be reordered by drag and drop Multiple adjacent or nonadjacent scenes can be selected at once by clicking or Ctrl__ clicking respectively If you drag a selection of nonadjacent scenes they will be collapsed together when dropped To move nonadjacent scenes without collapsing use 4 instead of the mouse Scene names can be both descriptive and functional if Live detects a viable tempo and or time signature as part of a scene name the project will automatically adjust to these parameters when the scene is launched To assign a tempo to a scene select the scene and rename it with a viable tempo e g 96 BPM Any te
199. ectric o gt E External instrument Ableton O gt E impulse Ableton Device gt E Operator Ableton Device Adjusting the Main Window Split Chapter 3 Authorizing Live Live is protected against illegal use by a copy protection scheme This scheme has been designed to meet the highest security standards while avoiding hassles for our customers If you find this procedure to be an inconvenience please understand that the copy protection secures your investment It allows Ableton to provide you with support and to continue developing Live Please be aware that the standard Live license grants you the right to use Live on only one computer at a time You can however authorize Live more than once under the legal and technical conditions described later The first time you run Live you will be prompted to complete the authorization process The software will walk you through the steps If the computer that you wish to authorize is connected to the internet you can authorize immediately by pressing the appropriate button in the dialog box If you do not have an internet connection press the No internet on this computer button and follow the instructions CHAPTER 3 AUTHORIZING LIVE 8 3 1 Copy Protection FAQs 3 1 1 Can I Use Live or Other Ableton Products Without a Serial Number If you do not yet own Live or its add on products you can still try them out but saving and exporting will be disabled If trying L
200. ed To adjust the metronome volume use the mixer s Preview Volume knob Notice that Live s metrical interpretation of the audio being played can be edited at any time using the Warp Markers Warp Markers can be used to fix timing errors and to change the groove or feel of your recordings Using Warp Markers you can fix things in your recordings that would otherwise require complicated editing or could not be done at all Likewise the metrical interpretation of recorded MIDI can be changed after recording using the MIDI clip s Original BPM controls The Metronome Switch The Preview Volume Knob CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 197 15 5 Recording Quantized MIDI Notes If you will be recording MIDI you have the option of automatically quantizing MIDI notes while recording The Record Quantization chooser in the Edit menu allows selecting the meter subdivisions with which your recorded notes will align When recording into Session slots or into the Arrangement record quantization is an independent step in Live s Undo history This means that if for example you recorded with Record Quantization set to Eighth Note Triplet Quantization and then changed your mind using the Edit menu s Undo command would undo only the quantization and leave your recording otherwise intact For Session and Arrangement recording the Record Quantization setting cannot be changed mid recording When overdub recording with the Clip V
201. ed 16 bit audio file at 32 bits will not increase the sound quality 30 3 6 Consolidate Consolidating clips in the Arrangement View creates new audio files which are non neutral in comparison to the original audio data Specifically the new files will be normalized with their clip volumes adjusted to play back at the same volume as heard prior to consolidation Normalization is a gain change which is a non neutral operation Also the new files will be created at the sample rate and bit depth set in Live s Preferences window which may differ from those in the original audio files 30 3 7 Clip fades When Create Fades on Clip Edges is enabled in the Record Warp Launch Preferences a short up to 4 ms fade is applied to the clip start and end to avoid clicks at the clip edges These declicking fades can also be applied to Session View clips via the Clip Fade button Additionally Arrangement View clips have editable fades and crossfades Applying any of these fade options is a non neutral operation 30 3 8 Panning Live uses constant power panning with sinusoidal gain curves Output is O dB at the center position and signals panned fully left or right will be increased by 3 dB In order to minimize this volume change it may be helpful to narrow the overall stereo width before doing extreme panning This can be done via the Width control in the Utility device CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 372 30 3 9 Grooves Under most cond
202. editing commands Windows Macintosh Split Clip at Selection Ctrl JE BES Consolidate Selection into Clip Ctl JU u Create Fade Crossfade Ctrl JAk JF C DAt SF Loop Selection Ctrl J L WL Insert Silence Ctr h t C B Pan Left Right of Selection Ctrl Alt C HAt Unfold all Tracks Alt Unfold button Alt Unfold button Scroll Display to Follow Playback Ctrl F C WF 32 10 Commands for Tracks See also the editing commands Windows Macintosh Insert Audio Track Ctr T C 8T Insert MIDI Track amp ee Insert Return Track Ctrl C Rename Selected Track Cti JR WR While Renaming Go to next Track S si Move Nonadjacent Tracks Without Ctrl arrow keys 88 arrow keys Collapsing Arm Solo Multiple Tracks Ctrl Click 3 Click Add Device from Browser Double Click Double Click CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 32 11 388 Commands for Breakpoint Envelopes The shortcuts for zooming snapping drawing and loop region settings also work in the Envelope Editor and Arrangement View See also the editing commands Windows Macintosh Finer Resolution for Dragging Enable Dragging Over Breakpoints 32 12 Key MIDI Map Mode and the Computer MIDI Keyboard Windows Macintosh
203. eeter e ttre rete ee tenes 14 select Next Seaneon Launch option 86 collecting Pete ee et ee et eet eee eee rene 62 Select Next Scene on Launch preference 319 destructive editing 90 106 Select on Launch preference 89 finding unused hehe aa 64 Send controls 0ee0eee esse es 19 182 high quality interpolation 107 Session View 0 ceceeececeeceeeeeeeee 84 offline missing eee eee eee 59 and Arrangement View 11 played from RAM Mode 109 GION s eresie ve arnai 89 replacing TELE EEA ETE 50 copying to Arrangement 92 reversing cette steer eens 109 recording an Arrangement 90 saving with clip settings 107 recording audio in 192 UE WRT Os avec AE 115 Session View selector 0 00e00e 11 working With 0 0seeeeee teens 3 Set 1 1 1 Here command 0 0060 122 Saturator effect eee ee eee 274 setlocator button oea dunes keane 72 Save a Copy command 66 46 Set Locator command n u 72 Save As command cee eee ee 46 Set Song Start Time Here command 73 Save command es sees ee eee A6 SeS toda aoaaa see Live Sets Save Current Set as Default button 4 shortcuts see keyboard shortcuts Save Default Clip button 40 107 Show Hide Plug In Windows command 211 Scale ef6ct 2 00214 nce asnetgnesancs 290 shuffl
204. elects a point in time represented by a flashing insert marker The insert marker can then be moved in time with the and keys or between tracks via and 4 Holding Ctrl PC Mac while pressing the and keys snaps the insert marker to locators and the edges of clips in the selected track or tracks Clicking and dragging selects a timespan To access the time within a clip for editing unfold its track by clicking the button next to the track name Clicking and dragging in the waveform display below the clip s horizontal strip allows you to select time within the clip Notice that you can adjust the height of the unfolded track by dragging the split line below the Unfold Track button Note that you can actually unfold all of your tracks at once by holding down the PC Mac modifier when clicking the button Clicking on the loop brace is a shortcut for executing the Edit menu s Select Loop command which selects all material included within the loop Adjusting an Unfolded Track s Height CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 80 e Holding while clicking extends an existing selection in the same track or across tracks You can also hold 4__ and use the arrow keys to manipulate the selection Clicking the Loop Brace to Select the Loop for Editing 6 9 Using the Editing Grid To ease editing the cursor will snap to grid lines that represent the meter subdivisions of the song tempo The gr
205. en Permanent Scrub Areas is enabled in Live s Look Feel Preferences clicking in the lower half of the waveform or in the beat time ruler will make clip playback jump to that point FORT RET MARRY PAT APRN ee ne The size of this jump is quantized by the global quantization setting which can be quickly changed using the Ctr_ 6 PC __38 6 Mac 7 6 and 0 shortcuts While the mouse is held down over the scrub area a portion of the clip the size of the chosen quantization setting will be repeatedly played With small quantization settings or a setting of None this allows you to scrub through the music When the Permanent Scrub Areas preference is off you can still scrub by Q___ clicking anywhere in the scrub area or in the beat time ruler Looping Clips To have the clip play as a potentially infinite loop turn on the Loop switch Note that the Warp switch must be activated before the Loop switch is accessible as unwarped clips The Clip Scrub Area CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 104 cannot be looped You can click and drag to change the position and length of the loop brace in the Sample Display or you can type exact values into the Loop Length and Position fields to the left of the display Sample The Clip Loop Controls The loop brace can be selected with the mouse and its position changed with commands from the computer keyboard e and P nudge the
206. ences 005 4 loop brace in the Arrangement 75 With CMDS csassssopapirirsoredearaps 104 Loop Selection command 75 Loop Start Punch In Position fields 19 Loop switch Clip View 0 103 241 242 Control Bar 00 008 75 with MIDI elips s153 ceeeeacecnnenes 133 Loop To Next Locator command 73 Loop Punch Region Length fields 75 Loop Region controls 102 104 and clip envelopes ccaccacenanegada 241 with MIDI elips wi mea tedaeadagands 133 Loop Warp Short Samples preference 115 M Macro Controls 0 000ee eee eee 222 Manage Files command and changing file references 49 and collecting external files 62 and collecting external samples 63 and finding unused files 64 and importing projects 59 and locating missing files 59 and packing Live Projects 65 and project management 55 managing files see File Manager Mapping Browser 0005 35 mapping to MIDl keys 24 309 and recording e eee eee 198 Master Out chooser 00 186 Master track Max for Live Maximum Cache Size preference 3 Metronome switch 0e0 ee 196 MIDI OXPOMING os cacceederecisaseces cates 45 QUANTIZING 4 2 0cesawda send asss 137 197 sending bank program changes 112 MIBIS
207. ent and audio that plays back unwarped at a given tempo will always play back unwarped at that tempo even if the tempo is changed and then changed back For example if you ve recorded some tracks at 120 BPM but then decide you d like to slow the tempo down to record a particularly difficult solo passage the original tracks will play back neutrally again after returning the tempo to 120 BPM Only the recording made at the slower tempo will be stretched Please note that grooves work by modifying the positions of Warp markers This means that playback of audio clips with groove applied will be non neutral even at the original tempo The neutrality of unstretched clip playback is verified by performing cancellation tests on rendered output CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 366 30 2 4 Summing at Single Mix Points Since version 7 Live uses double precision 64 bit summing at all points where signals are mixed including Clip and return track inputs the Master track and Racks Mixing in Live is thus a neutral operation for signals mixed at any single summing point This is tested by loading pairs of 24 bit files white noise and fixed frequency sine waves and their phase inverted complements adding the pairs together eight times and rendering the output as 32 bit files All tests result in perfect phase cancellation Please note that while 64 bit summing is applied to each single mix point Live s internal processing is still done at 32 bit
208. er lt 5 Beas v Left and Session View 1 Impulse ow 1 Impulse_ ov Right Audio tracks default to recording a stereo signal from the external input pair 1 2 MIDI tracks default to recording all MIDI that is coming in through the active external input devices The computer keyboard is by default activated as a pseudo MIDI input device allowing you to record MIDI even if no MIDI controller hardware is currently available For every track you can choose an input source other than the default any mono or stereo external input a specific MIDI channel from a specific MIDI in device audio from ReWire slave programs or a signal coming from another track The Routing chapter describes these options in detail 15 2 Arming Record Enabling Tracks 1 ii z an OrORO a aai S ll z 2 3 Rhodes 3 13 E S S Track Arm Buttons in the pa poa O r A B A B A B Arrangement Left and Session Right Mixers y 1 Bass n n A 2 Chords To select a track for recording click on its Arm button It doesn t matter if you click a track s Arm button in the Session View or in the Arrangement View since the two share the same set of tracks By default armed tracks are monitored meaning that their input is passed through their device chain and to the output so that you can listen to what is being recorded This behavior is called auto monitoring and you can change it to fit your needs CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 191
209. eral Repetitions of a Loop CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 242 Now as you play the clip you can hear the one bar loop fading out over eight bars Please note toggling Linked Mode changes the envelope data Toggling back and forth effectively deletes the envelope data To return to the previous state please use the Edit menu s Undo command 19 5 2 Creating Long Loops from Short Loops Let us take this a step further For a different part of your set you would like to use the same one bar loop because it sounds great but its repetition bores you You would like to somehow turn it into a longer loop We depart from the clip we just set up to fade out over eight bars Activate the clip volume envelope s Loop switch Now as you play the clip you can hear the eight bar fade out repeating You can draw or edit any envelope to superimpose onto the sample loop This of course not only works for volume but for any other control as well how about a filter sweep every four bars Note that you can create as much time as needed in the Envelope Editor either by dragging the loop braces beyond the view limit or by entering values into the numeric region loop controls You can choose an arbitrary loop length for each envelope including odd lengths like 3 2 1 It is not hard to imagine great complexity and confusion arising from several odd length envelopes in one clip pre sa The Sample Left and Envelope Right
210. ercA PercB PercC PercD Hi1 Hi 2 2 29 dB Stat Transp Stretch Drive Freq Res Pan Volume Time DADDADQAAD 0 00ms 2st 0 0 300 1 00kH2 030 100s 0 0008 00 Velocity Velocity eamate hiaan baiment Transp 0 0 0 0 4 DS Rien Random Mode 0 0 A Impulse is a drum sampler with complex modulation capabilities The eight drum samples loaded into Impulse s sample slots can be time stretched filtered and processed by enve lope saturation pan and volume components nearly all of which are subject to random and velocity based modulation 22 1 1 Sample Slots Drag and drop samples into any of Impulse s sample slots from the Browser or the Session and Arrangement Views Alternatively each sample slot features a Hot Swap button for hot swapping samples Loaded samples can be deleted with your computer keyboard s or key Imported samples are automatically mapped onto your MIDI keyboard providing that it is plugged in and acknowledged by Live C3 on the keyboard will trigger the leftmost sample and the other samples will follow suit in the octave from C3 to C4 Impulse s eight slots will appear labeled in the MIDI Editor s key tracks when the Fold button is active even if the given key track is void of MIDI notes Mapping can be transposed from the default by applying a Pitch device or it can be rearranged by applying a Scale device Each of the eight samples has
211. ermined by the Spin amount The Dry Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals Set it to 100 percent if using Phaser in a return track CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 268 20 15 Ping Pong Delay A PingPong 8 33 ms Feedback Dry Wet AN V 95 30 The Ping Pong Delay effect uses a single tapped delay line to create a delay that jumps from the left to the right output The delay is preceded by a lowpass and highpass filter that can be controlled with an X Y controller To define the filter bandwidth click and drag on the vertical axis To set the position of the frequency band click and drag on the horizontal axis To refer delay time to the song tempo activate the Sync switch which allows using the Delay Time beat division chooser The numbered switches represent time delay in 16th notes For example selecting 4 delays the signal by four 16th notes which equals one beat a quarter note of delay This delay time represents the time it takes for the input signal to appear at the left channel The delay time between the input and the right channel is twice as long If the Sync switch is off the delay time reverts to milliseconds In this case to edit the delay time click and drag up or down in the Delay Time field or click in the field and type in a value The Feedback parameter controls how much of the right channel output signal
212. es in a single key track to the current selection or removes them if they were already selected CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 136 Selecting a note or notes makes it subject to commands from the Edit menu such as Copy and Paste Notes in the clipboard will be pasted starting at the location of the insert marker You can also use the PC Mac modifier to click and drag copies of notes to a new location If you click and drag to move notes but then decide that you would like to copy them instead you can press the PC Mac modifier even after starting the drag When editing or drawing you may sometimes place a new note on top of one that already exists If the new note overlaps with the beginning of the original note the original note will vanish If the new note overlaps with the tail of the original the original note s length will change so that it lasts just until the new note s beginning 10 4 5 Changing Note Length Clicking and dragging on a note s left or right edges changes its length Note length can only be changed when Draw Mode is inactive and will be quantized unless the PC Mac modifier is held down while dragging 16 16 2 Ss ESS Tip To set a group of notes to the same length select them all grab the end of the longest one drag them all down to zero length and then extend them 10 4 6 The Time Commands in the MIDI Editor The standard clipboard
213. es in clips will be affected by the velocity information stored in the groove file Note that this slider goes from 100 to 100 At negative values the effect of the groove s velocity will be reversed loud notes will play quietly and vice versa e Amount this is a global parameter and scales the overall intensity of Timing Random and Velocity for all of the available groove files At 100 the parameters will be applied at their assigned values Note that the Amount slider goes up to 130 which allows for even more exaggerated groove effects 11 1 2 Committing Grooves Clip Pressing the Commit button below the Clip Groove chooser writes your groove parame ters to the clip For MIDI clips this moves the notes accordingly For audio clips this creates Warp Markers at the appropriate positions in the clip After pressing Commit the clip s Groove chooser selection is automatically set to None 11 2 Editing Grooves The effect that groove files have on your clips is a combination of two factors the parameter settings made in the Groove Pool and the positions of the notes in the groove files them selves To edit the contents of groove files directly drag and drop them from the Browser The Commit Groove Button CHAPTER 11 USING GROOVES 146 or Groove Pool into a MIDI track This will create a new MIDI clip which you can then edit as you would with any other MIDI clip You can then convert the edited clip back into
214. es the selected track s signal to act as the gate s trigger instead of the signal that is actually being gated The Gain knob adjusts the level of the external sidechain s input while the Dry Wet knob allows you to use a combination of sidechain and original signal as the gate s trigger With Dry Wet at 100 the gate is triggered entirely by the sidechain source At 0 the sidechain is effectively bypassed Note that increasing the gain does not increase the volume of the source signal in the mix The sidechain audio is only a trigger for the gate and is never actually heard Sidechain gating can be used to superimpose rhythmic patterns from one source onto another For example a held pad sound can be triggered with the rhythm of a drum loop CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 265 by inserting a Gate on the pad s track and choosing the drum loop s track as the sidechain input 20 13 Grain Delay Grain Delay 0 00 ms 50 tz 5 00 4 _0 00 0 0 1 2 5 6 il Eom Delay Time Spray The Grain Delay effect slices the input signal into tiny particles called grains that are then individually delayed and can also have different pitches compared to the original signal source Randomizing pitch and delay time can create complex masses of sound and rhythm that seem to bear little relationship to the source This can be very useful in cre
215. essing the Control Bar s Stop button twice The Controls for a Session View Clip CHAPTER 7 SESSION VIEW 86 The Arrangement gt eae Ove Se 1 Bar eee Po Position Fields and the Stop Button 7 2 Tracks and Scenes Each vertical column or track can play only one clip at a time It therefore makes sense to put a set of clips that are supposed to be played alternatively in the same columns parts of a song variations of a drum loop etc Digital 02 AAA Resized Session View ri irri i ae Tracks For convenient access to more clips at once you can resize Session View tracks by clicking and dragging at the edges of their title bars Tracks can be narrowed this way so that only Clip Launch buttons and essential track controls are visibile 1 Bass 2 Chords 3 Rhodes 4 Perc s 5 Beats 6 Crash Master synth 1 rhodes groovy intro ermee A Scene in the Session Bss guitartheme gt rhodes B Drums c Crash Verse2 View The horizontal rows are called scenes The Scene Launch buttons are located in the rightmost column which represents the Master track To launch every clip in a row simultaneously click on the associated Scene Launch button This can be very useful in organizing the live performance of a song with multiple parts The scene below a launched scene will automatically be sel
216. ession and Arrangement Views Live will export the audio coming through on the Master output as an audio file of your specifications via Export Audio Live can also export individual MIDI clips as MIDI files Exporting and saving material for later use in Live can be done very conveniently with the Live Clip format Session View clips can be dragged back out of a Live Set to the File Browsers and thereby exported to disk as Live Clips A Live Clip in the File Browser Live Clips are a very powerful way of storing ideas as they save not only the clip s Clip View settings but also the corresponding track s instruments and effects chain Live Clips in the Browser can be previewed and added to any open Live Set just like sample files In the Live Set they restore the original clip s creative options Using Live Clips you can build your own personalized library of CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 26 e MIDI sequences with matching instruments and effects e g a MIDI drum pattern with the associated Impulse and effects settings e Different regions or loops referencing the same source file e Variations of a sample loop created by applying Warp Markers clip envelopes and effects e Ideas that may not fit your current project but could be useful in the future 4 15 The Library The Live Library acts as a repository of sounds that are available to all projects In Live s File Browsers the Library is accessible through a bookmar
217. eve more extreme sounds The Feedback control determines how much of the output signal feeds back into the input while the Polarity switch sets surprise the polarity Polarity changes have the most effect with high amounts of feedback and short delay times The Dry Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals Set it to 100 percent when using Chorus in a return track Enabling the Crisp option via the PC Mac context menu can improve the sound quality particularly at higher frequencies This is enabled by default except when loading Sets that use Chorus and were made in earlier versions of Live 20 5 Compressor Compressor oe Envelope Threshold Output i al am i in Attack a 28 2 ms i ll Release 4 95 dB 13 6 dB Ratio Knee Lookahead Model 329ms BESE oe Fri a F ims o ae The Compressor Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 251 A compressor reduces gain for signals above a user settable threshold Compression re duces the levels of peaks opening up more headroom and allowing the overall signal level to be turned up This gives the signal a higher average level resulting in a sound that is subjectively louder and punchier than an uncompressed signal The latest incarnation of the Compressor effect merges the functionality of the former Compressor and Compressor II devices into a single unit and adds additional functionality such
218. everal MIDI tracks playing the same instrument In this scenario soloing Track B will still allow you to hear the output of the tracks that are feeding it Also you can still solo Track A and hear its output signal In this case all other tracks are muted including those that might also feed into Track B Technically what you hear is the output of Track B with everything except Track A s signal removed CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 166 Approach 2 on the other hand leaves Track A unaffected except for Track B tapping its output We can easily add more tracks like Track B that all tap Track A s output Instrument layering is a good example of such a one to many routing setup 13 6 1 Internal Routing Points Signals travel from Live s tracks into their respective device chains and then into the track mixer where they might become panned or have their levels altered by the tracks faders Whenever a track s Audio From input chooser is set to another track as described in the previous section s Approach 2 the signal received can be tapped from one of three different points chosen from the Input Channel chooser Pre FX Post FX or Post Mixer rom Audio From From 1 TrackA s ll ii Post Mixer w Monito ii Pre FX ij Post FX R Wii Post Mixer e Pre FX taps the signal that is coming directly from a track before it has been passed on to the track s device chains FX or mixer Therefore changes that are made to the tapped
219. evice syncing it not only in terms of tempo but in terms of its position in the song If the master jumps to a new position within the song Live will do the same However if the Control Bar s Loop switch is activated playback will be looped and song position pointers will simply be wrapped into the length of the loop 28 1 3 MIDI Timecode Options Timecode options can be set up per MIDI device Select a MIDI device from the MIDI Sync Preferences MIDI Ports list to access the settings The MIDI Timecode Frame Rate setting is relevant only if MIDI Timecode is chosen from the MIDI Sync Type menu The MIDI Timecode Rate chooser selects the type of Timecode to which Live will synchronize All of the usual SMPTE frame rates are available When the Rate is set to SMPTE All Live will auto detect the Timecode format of incoming sync messages and interpret the messages accordingly Note that you can adjust the Timecode format that is used for display in the Arrangement View Go to the Options menu and then access the Time Ruler Format sub menu The MIDI Timecode Offset setting is also only relevant if MIDI Timecode is chosen from the Sync Type menu You can specify a SMPTE time offset using this control Live will interpret this value as the Arrangement s start time 28 1 4 Sync Delay The Sync Delay controls which are separately available for each MIDI device allow you to delay Live s internal time base against the syn
220. f factors including the operating system and driver architecture used Jitter much more so than latency creates the feeling that MIDI timing is sloppy or loose 31 3 Live s MIDI Solutions Ableton s approach to MIDI timing is based on two key assumptions 1 In all cases latency is preferable to jitter Because latency is consistent and predictable it can be dealt with much more easily by both computers and people 2 If you are using playthrough while recording you will want to record what you hear even if because of latency this occurs slightly later than what you play Live addresses the problems inherent in recording playback and playthrough so that MIDI timing will be responsive accurate and consistently reliable In order to record incoming events to the correct positions in the timeline of a Live Set Live needs to know exactly when those events were received from the MIDI keyboard But Live cannot receive them directly they must first be processed by the MIDI interface s drivers and the operating system To solve this problem the interface drivers give each MIDI event a timestamp as they receive it and those are passed to Live along with the event so that Live knows exactly when the events should be added to the clip During playthrough a DAW must constantly deal with events that should be heard as soon as possible but which inevitably occurred in the past due to inherent latency and system delays So a
221. f sync with its counterpart on the other track 148 Chapter 12 Launching Clips The Live Session View is set apart by the fact that it gives you the musician a spontaneous environment that encourages performance and improvisation An important part of how you take advantage of the Session View lies within how you configure your various Session View clips This chapter explains the group of settings used to define how each Session View clip behaves when triggered or launched 12 1 The Launch Box Remember that clips in the Session View are launched by their Clip Launch buttons or remote control Clip launch settings are made in the Launch box The Launch box only applies to Session View clips as Arrangement View clips are not launched but played according to their positions in the Arrangement To view the Launch box open the Clip View of a Session View clip by double clicking the clip then activating the leftmost Clip View Box selector panel CHAPTER 12 LAUNCHING CLIPS 149 Clip Launch Use the Clip View Box Selector to Bring up the Launch Box Note that you can edit the launch settings of more than one clip at the same time by first selecting the clips and then opening the Clip View 12 2 Launch Modes Clip Launch Launch Mode Trigger The Clip Launch Mode zI Chooser The Launch Mode chooser offers a number of options for how clips behave with respect to mouse clicks computer keyboard actions or MIDI note
222. feature In addition you can warp the rhythmic flow of a piece changing its feel or even move notes to other meter positions A clip s warping properties are set in the Sample box which is a sub section of the Clip View Sample gt The most significant control here is the Warp switch which toggles a clip s warping on or off The Warp section of Live s Preferences will determine the default warp settings for new clips but they can always be overridden here on a per clip basis When the Warp switch is off Live plays the sample at its original normal tempo irre spective of the current Live Set s tempo This is useful for samples that have no inherent rhythmic structure percussion hits atmospheres sound effects spoken word and the like Turn the Warp switch on to play rhythmically structured samples such as sample loops music recordings complete music pieces etc in sync with the current song tempo To direct Live s assumptions about new samples use the Record Warp Launch tab of Live s The Sample Box s Warping Controls CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 116 Preferences If the Auto Warp Long Samples preference is on Live assumes that long samples contain music that should be played in sync with the Live Set s tempo If you would rather have Live default to playing long samples as they are disengage this preference 9 2 1 Tempo Master Slave All war
223. fecting any existing clips Save just saves default settings for future clips using this sample The clip data becomes part of the analysis file that accompanies the sample Note that storing default clip settings with the sample is different from saving the clip as a Live Clip which also saves devices and device settings 8 2 6 High Quality Interpolation If the High Quality switch is on Live uses an advanced sample rate conversion algorithm that provides better sound quality at the expense of a higher CPU load Samples processed with the Hi Q algorithm generate less distortion particularly at high frequencies when transposing a sample and or matching an imported sample s sampling rate to the system s sampling rate With this mode enabled samples can be transposed roughly 19 semitones in either direction before aliasing is likely to be audible Note As of Live 7 the Hi O mode uses an algorithm that produces even smaller audible artifacts than in previous versions Although we think this has greatly improved sound quality any Sets made in older versions that used Hi O mode may now sound different For The Save Default Clip Button The High Quality Switch CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 108 this reason we have provided a Legacy Hi Q Mode option which is enabled by default in the Options menu whenever you load an old Set that has Hi O enabled for any clips Simply disable this option if you wish to use the new mode 8 2 7 Clip Start a
224. fers dedicated control via the Akai APC40 Akai APC20 and Novation Launchpad Before we explain how remote control assignments are made and implemented let s first make the distinction between MIDI remote control and a separate use of MIDI in Live as the input for our MIDI tracks Let s suppose that you are using a MIDI keyboard to play an instrument in one of Live s MIDI tracks If you assign C 1 on your MIDI keyboard to a Session View Clip Launch button that key will cease play C 1 of your MIDI track s instrument as it now belongs solely to the Clip Launch button MIDI keys that become part of remote control assignments can no longer be used as input for MIDI tracks This isa common cause of confusion that can be easily resolved by observing the Control Bar s MIDI indicators Before making any MIDI assignments you will need to set up Live to recognize your control surfaces This is done in the MIDI Sync tab of Live s Preferences which can be opened with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl J PC __ _ Mac 24 1 1 Natively Supported Control Surfaces Control Surfaces are defined in the table at the top of the MIDI Sync tab Up to six supported control surfaces can be used simultaneously in Live Control Surface Input Output 1 RemoteSL RemoteSL Port 1 RemoteSL Port 1 Dump 2 Oxygen8v2 v Oxygens Port 1 Oxygens Port 1 Gimp 3 Tranzport RemoteSL Port 2 Remot
225. files that you are previewing in the Browser is also heard through the Cue Out 14 6 Track Delays A Track Delay control is available for every track in Live The control allows delaying or pre delaying the output of tracks in milliseconds in order to compensate for human acoustic hardware and other real world delays This section of the interface can be shown or hidden using its respective Mixer Section selector Stop Clips Track Delay Track Delay Track Delay Track Delay Track Delay Track Delay Track Delay 0 00 ms 0 00 ms 0 00 ms 0 00 ms 0 00 ms 0 00 ms 0 00 ms 0 We do not recommend changing track delays on stage as it could result in undesirable clicks or pops in the audio signal Micro offsets in Session View clips can be achieved using the nudge buttons in the Clip View however track delays can be used in the Arrangement View for such offsets Note that delay compensation for plug ins and Live devices is a separate feature and is The Track Delay Control and Selector CHAPTER 14 MIXING 188 automatic by default Unusually high Track Delay settings or reported latencies from plug ins may cause noticeable sluggishness in the software If you are having latency related difficulties while recording and playing back instruments you may want to try turning off device delay compensation however this is not normally recommended You may also find that adjusting the individual track delays
226. focus is in your Live Set To enable or disable locking PC Ctrl Mac on a device s title bar and then select your preferred controller from the Lock to context menu You ll recognize the same list of control surfaces that you defined in the MIDI Sync Preferences By default the instrument in a MIDI track will automatically be locked to the control surface when the track is armed for recording H z Rename Device Ctri R Edit Info Text Start Loop Length Fade V AG Sustain Release LFO Pan Volume 0 00 Rand LFO Group Ctri G 0 00 100 100 0 00 Group To Drum Rack 0 048 50 0 ms 0 0 c 0 00 Filter Freq Res Vel Fold Transp LFO Glide Spread Vel ot Show Preset Name Ost lt 0 00 On 0 0 Type Key fe Detune Env Time Voices z oa 4 500m 0 6 W Save as Default Preset v Use Constant Power Fade for Loops A hand icon in the title bar of locked devices serves as a handy reminder of their status Control Surfaces Can Follow Device Selection Getting Hands On Control Surfaces Can Be Locked to Devices CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 313 Note Some control surfaces do not support locking to devices This capability is indicated for individual controllers in the Control Surface Reference lesson Select the Lessons option from the View menu to access Liv
227. g notes to the pattern while it plays in a loop It only takes a MIDI keyboard or the computer keyboard and a MIDI track with Live s Impulse percussion instrument to do this seeeeeeeeeeee 4 11 Automation Envelopes Often when working with Live s mixer and effects you will want the controls movements to become part of the Arrangement The movement of a control across the Arrangement timeline is called automation a control whose value changes in the course of this timeline is automated Automation is represented in the Arrangement View by breakpoint envelopes which can be edited and drawn Track Arm Buttons as They Appear in the Session View The Control Bar s Quantization Chooser CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 23 2Chords m Mixer lt m Track Panning v Practically all mixer and effect controls in Live can be automated even the song tempo Creating automation is straightforward All changes of a control that occur while the Control Bar s Record switch is on become automation Changing an automated control s value while not in Record Mode is similar to launching a Session clip while the Arrangement is playing It deactivates the control s automation in favor of the new control setting The control will stop tracking its automation and rest with the new value until the Back to Arrangement button is pressed which will resume Arrangement playback 4 12 Clip Envelopes Envelopes are
228. g it takes for the compressor to return to normal operation after the signal falls below the threshold A slight amount of attack time 10 50 ms allows peaks to come through unprocessed which helps preserve dynamics by accentuating the initial portion of the signal If these peaks cause overloads you can try shortening the attack time but extremely short times take the life out of the signal and may lead to a slight buzziness caused by distortion Short release times can cause pumping as the compressor tries to figure out whether to compress or not while generally considered an undesirable effect some engineers use it on full drum kits to give unusual sucking effects Careful adjustment of attack and release times is essential when it comes to compression of rhythmical sources If you are not used to working with compressors play a drum loop and spend some time adjusting Attack Release Threshold and Gain It can be very exciting A compressor can only react to an input signal once it occurs Since it also needs to apply an attack release envelope the compression is always a bit too late A digital compressor can solve this problem by simply delaying the input signal a little bit Compressor offers three different Lookahead times zero ms one ms and ten ms The results may sound pretty different depending on this setting Compressor can be used in three different EF envelope follower modes With Peak se lected Com
229. g the grid Deactivate Draw Mode to edit breakpoints and line segments This is useful for smoothing the coarse steps by horizontally displacing breakpoints 1 2 3 4 15 Note that the warp settings determine how accurately Live s time warping engine tracks the envelope shape To obtain a more immediate response reduce the Grain Size value in Tones or Texture Mode or choose a smaller value for the Granulation Resolution in Beats Mode To correct the tuning of individual notes in the sample hold down the Ctrl PC The Transposition Envelope with Steps Top and Ramps Bottom CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 236 Mac modifier while drawing or moving breakpoints to obtain a finer resolution To scroll the display hold down the PC Mac modifier while dragging Pitch is modulated in an additive way The output of the transposition envelope is simply added to the Transpose control s value The result of the modulation is clipped to stay in the available range 48 48 semitones in this case 19 2 3 Muting or Attenuating Notes in a Sample Click on the Volume quick chooser to access an audio clip s volume envelope By drawing steps in Draw Mode or creating shapes with breakpoints you can impose an arbitrary volume shape onto the sample ara 1 16 The volume envelope s output is interpreted as a relative percentage of the clip volume slider s current value Th
230. g this feature with the Retrigger parameter which we will explain in a moment This can be used to create rhythmically generated arpeggios separated by pauses The Retrigger parameter resets the pattern so that it starts again from the beginning Retriggering can be deactivated Off set to occur when new notes are pressed Note or set to occur at a specified song position or beat time Beat Beat retriggering can be specified in terms of notes or bars and is aligned with song position An LED in the upper right corner of the section indicates when the pattern has been retriggered 21 1 2 Transposition and Velocity Sections The pattern generated by Arpeggiator can be transposed the device s transposition controls allow forcing this transposition into a specific major or minor key or using the Transpose chooser s Shift option doing it in semitones The distance between transposition steps is set in scale intervals for Major and Minor transposition or semitones for Shift transposition with the Distance control Using the Steps parameter you can choose the number of times the sequence is transposed When Distance is set to a positive value a setting of 8 Steps will transpose the sequence a total of eight times playing it in higher notes each time When Distance is set to a negative value the sequence will transpose lower each time CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 286 The dynamics of Arpeggiator are controlled using the
231. g up additional space at the top of the Arrangement In many ways time signature markers look and function like locators they can be moved with the mouse or with your computer keyboard s arrow keys and their value can be changed using the Edit menu s Edit Value command or with the Ctrl_j R PC CR Mac shortcut They can be also be deleted using the ke or Delete key or via delete commands in the Edit and Create menus The time signature marker PC Ctrl_ Mac context menu offers a number of features including a Delete All Time Signature Changes command and options to loop or select the area up to the next time signature marker Time Signature Changes CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 74 Any time signature with a one or two digit numerator and a denominator of 1 2 4 8 or 16 can be used as a time signature marker value The numbers must be separated by a delimiter such as a slash comma period or any number of spaces These marker values can also be set by adjusting the time signature fields in the Control Bar either by typing in values or dragging the numerator and denominator sliders This will change the time signature marker value at the current play location and works either with the transport stopped or during playback When the Arrangement contains time signature changes the time signature editor displays an automation LED in the upper left corner C Time signature markers are not quantized they may
232. gel G Q QO amp Oe N Clicking a device s Hot Swap Presets button will temporarily link the Browser to a device calling up its presets in the Device Browser With the device and Browser linked in this manner you can quickly browse load and audition different presets You can even replace the current device with a new one by simply selecting another device s preset To load a device s default factory settings select the parent folder of its presets i e the one with the device s name from the Device Browser The link between the Device Browser and the device will be broken if a different view is selected or if the Hot Swap button is pressed again Preset hot swapping can also be cancelled with a press of the Esc _ key or by pressing the close button in the Hot Swap bar at the top of the Browser Note that although importing via the Browser is the recommended method presets can also be dropped directly into Live from the Explorer Windows Finder Mac Presets in the Device Browser The Hot Swap Presets Button CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 207 Saving Presets You can create and save any number of your own presets in the Device Browser gt Operator l e Q O OY A Click the Save Preset button to save a device s current settings including any custom info text as a new preset You will be redirected to the Browser where you can press to use Live s suggested name or you can type one of
233. ges com MAG seere ernennen EO 73 Delete Automation command 226 Delete command and devices 000 e eee eee 204 and envelopes 4aceauacadenkysa ces 234 and tracks a s2kesieveseneieswnee ds 182 in the Browser 000eeee cues 37 Delete Fragmentary Bar Time command 74 Delete Locator button 72 Delete Locator command 72 Delete Time command in the Arrangement 81 in the MIDI Editor 137 Delete Time Signature Change command 73 Demo Sets 0 0c cece eee eee ee 10 D tune field yer cele aeknaaedeanhagens 106 Device Activator switch 204 Device Chains internal routing points for 165 signal flow in Racks 221 Device chooser see Clip Envelope Device chooser see Fades Device chooser CEVICES papra aA S 16 compensating for delays 218 PIeSClS onc tiadectaseee cated ewes eos 205 the Live audio effects 244 the Max MIDI Effect 304 using Audio Units Plug ins 217 using Live devices 202 using plug in devices 208 using VST Plug ins 214 CITNGr orenera tastaseesansanceuee eee 43 Double Halve Original BPM buttons 111 119 Draw Mode 000e cee eee eee 228 and drawing MIDI 129 with clip envelopes 00 235 Draw Mode command 228
234. h that makes the most sense given the current Live Set s tempo Decreasing the Live Set s tempo can for instance lead Live to assume the loop is 8 bars at 90 BPM instead of 16 bars at 180 BPM Sometimes more accurate control of Auto Warp is necessary The best way to go about warping a clip that requires more detailed attention is in sections working gradually from left to right You can set a Warp Marker by double clicking in the sample to the right of each correctly warped section pinning it into place The shortcuts for working with the clip loop brace and start end markers can speed up this process considerably You might also find it helpful to select multiple Warp Markers for moving by selecting them with the or Ctrl PC Mac modifiers held down Using the Context Menu to Direct Auto Warp CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 124 The four Warp From Here commands provide various ways of resetting Warp Markers to the right of the selected grid marker or Warp Marker leaving Warp Markers to the left untouched These commands are also available from the start marker e Warp From Here runs the Auto Warp algorithm on the material to the right of the selected marker e Warp From Here Start At directs Auto Warp to use the current Live Set s tempo as a starting point for tempo tracking The strategy here is as follows 1 Deactivate the Warp switch for the clip so that it plays unwarped 2 Use the Control Bar s T
235. hains to be used simultaneously but their chains process input somewhat differently Rather than receiving the same input signals each Drum Rack chain receives input from only a single assigned MIDI note The entire contents of any Rack can be thought of as a single device This means that adding a new Rack at any point in a device chain is no different than adding any other device and Racks can contain any number of other Racks If more devices are placed after a Rack in a track s device chain the Rack s output is passed on to them as usual Inside An Audio Effect Rack As It Appears in the Full Version of Live CHAPTER 17 INSTRUMENT DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS 222 17 1 2 Macro Controls Audio Effect Rack AN Skitter Slosh 2900 33 18 30 Drife Cough Wompa 9 107 One unique property of Racks are their Macro Controls The Macro Controls are a bank of eight knobs each capable of addressing any number of parameters from any devices in a Rack How you use them is up to you whether it be for convenience by making an important device parameter more accessible for defining exotic multi parameter morphs of rhythm and timbre or for constructing a mega synth and hiding it away behind a single customized interface For the greatest degree of expression try MIDl mapping the Macro Controls to an external control surface 17 2 Drum Racks We ve already talked a bit about Drum Racks and most of their fe
236. hanged with the Frequency control which can be adjusted in tandem with Feedback using the effect s X Y controller The device has two modes Space and Earth for changing the spacing of notches along the spectrum and hence the color of the sound This effect can be further adjusted with the Color control Periodic control of the filter frequency is possible using the envelope section You can increase or decrease the envelope amount or invert its shape with negative values and then use the Attack and Release controls to define envelope shape Phaser contains two LFOs to modulate filter frequency for the left and right stereo channels The LFOs have six possible waveform shapes sine square triangle sawtooth up sawtooth down and random The extent of LFO influence on the filter frequency is set with the Amount control LFO speed is controlled with the Rate control which can be set in terms of hertz Rate can also be synced to the song tempo and set in meter subdivisions e g sixteenth notes The Phase control lends the sound stereo movement by setting the LFOs to run at the same frequency but offsetting their waveforms relative to each other Set this to 180 and the LFOs will be perfectly out of phase 180 degrees apart so that when one reaches its peak the other is at its minimum Spin detunes the two LFO speeds relative to each other Each filter frequency is then modulated using a different LFO frequency as det
237. he same layout e The upper chooser pair Audio MIDI From selects the track s input Audio tracks have an audio input and MIDI tracks have a MIDI input Return tracks receive their input from the respective sends e The Monitor radio button selects the monitor mode the conditions under which the track s input is heard through the track e The lower chooser pair Audio MIDI To selects the track s output All tracks have audio outputs except for MIDI tracks without instruments Remember that instruments convert MIDI to audio Within a chooser pair the upper chooser selects the signal category Ext for instance for external connections via an audio or MIDI interface and is called the Input Output Type chooser If this signal type offers sub selections or channels they are available from the lower chooser or the Input Output Channel chooser In our Ext example these would be the individual audio MIDI inputs and outputs 13 1 Monitoring 1 Monitoring in the context of Live means passing a track s input signal on to the track s output Suppose you have set up an audio track to receive its input signal from a guitar Monitoring then means that the signal from your live guitar playing actually reaches the track s output via the track s device chain If the track s output is set to Master you can hear the guitar signal processed by whatever effects are used and delayed by whatever latency the au
238. he world of infinite Undo but it s easy to disable a control s automation temporarily to avoid overwriting existing data If you change an automated control s value while not in Record mode the automation LED goes off to indicate the control s automation is inactive Any automation is therefore overridden by the current manual setting rine eS 1 Bar 0 When one or more of the automated controls in your Live Set are not active the Control Bar s Back to Arrangement button lights up This button serves two purposes 1 It reminds you that the current state of the controls differs from the state captured in the Arrangement Volume Pan and the Track Activator Switch Have Been Automated The Back to Arrangement Button CHAPTER 18 AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES 227 2 You can click on it to reactivate all automation and thereby return to the automa tion state as it is written on tape 18 4 Drawing and Editing Automation In the Arrangement View automation curves can be viewed and edited as breakpoint envelopes 1 Drums 1 S Il 2 5 iain comp 1 REEE L R E ER A ka ia AAE AE I T IR ETT T ajm Mixer x m Track Volume v D 3 Bass 3 si fen Automation Envelopes in the Arrangement 2 ll Fes View 1 To show a track s envelopes unfold the track by clicking the button next to the track name 2 Clicking on one of the track s mixer or device
239. herefore only recognizable when more than one chord or note has been played In addition to the Arpeggiator styles above there is a Chord Trigger mode which repeats the incoming notes as a block chord as well as three settings for creating random arpeggios e Choosing Random will produce a continuously randomized sequence of the incoming MIDI notes e Random Other creates random patterns from incoming MIDI notes but will not repeat a given note until all other incoming notes have been used e Random Once creates one random pattern from incoming MIDI notes and repeats that pattern until the incoming MIDI changes at which point a new pattern is created Arpeggiator will play the pattern of notes at the speed set by the Rate control which can be calibrated in either milliseconds or beat time using the neighboring Sync Free button With Sync chosen Arpeggiator will be synced to the song tempo A Gate control to the right of Rate determines the length of notes played by Arpeggiator as a percentage of the current Rate setting Any setting larger than 100 will therefore play notes that overlap i e are legato The rhythmic pattern generated by Arpeggiator does not necessarily have to be straight a selection of groove patterns can be applied with the respective control just beneath the Mode chooser Grooves in Arpeggiator behave similarly to grooves in clips and the intensity of the groove is determined by the Amount slider in the Groove Po
240. his section will provide some insight on these issues and should help you avoid and solve problems with running audio on a computer 29 1 Managing the CPU Load To output a continuous stream of sound through the audio hardware Live has to perform a huge number of calculations every second If the processor can t keep up with what needs to be calculated the audio will have gaps or clicks Factors that affect computational speed include processor clock rates e g speed in MHz or GHz architecture memory cache performance how efficiently a processor can grab data from memory and system bus bandwidth the computer s pipeline through which all data must pass For this reason many people involved with pro audio use computers that are optimized for musical applications CHAPTER 29 COMPUTER AUDIO RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES 359 Fortunately Live supports multicore and multiprocessor systems allowing the processing load from things like instruments effects and I O to be distributed among the available resources Depending on the machine and the Live Set the available processing power can be several times that of older systems If you are working on a multicore or multiprocessor system you will want to enable support for it in the CPU tab of Live s Preferences The Control Bar s CPU meter displays how much of the computer s computational potential is currently being used For example if the displayed percentage is 10 percent the c
241. horizontally in the X Y display or double click on the Freq field and type in a value Holding the PC Mac modifier while dragging vertically in the X Y display changes the frequency band s Q bandwidth The Pinch Effect section adds odd harmonics to the input signal These distortions typically occur 180 degrees out of phase creating a richer stereo image The Pinch Effect has the same controls as the Tracing Model but generates a rather different sound The Drive control increases or decreases the overall distortion amount created by both the Tracing Model and Pinch There are two distortion modes Soft and Hard The Soft Mode simulates the sound of a dub plate while Hard Mode is more like that of a standard vinyl record The stereo mono switch determines whether the Pinch distortion occurs in stereo or mono Set it to stereo for realistic simulation of vinyl distortions The Crackle section adds noise to the signal with noise density set by the Density control The Volume control adjusts the amount of gain applied to the noise 282 Chapter 21 Live MIDI Effect Reference Live comes with a selection of custom designed built in MIDI effects The Working with Instruments and Effects chapter explains the basics of using effects in Live 21 1 Arpeggiator Arpeggiator aa Style Transpose Velocity On Chord Trigger ov Groove Straight y 7 Decay 1 92 A Repeats Distance Target
242. i r97 p113 129 145 p161 177 TT z ar WW WT we Woe we Ww vi uo CEA As long as Auto Warp made the correct set of informed guesses the clip will be ready to play in perfect sync with the Live Set s tempo However if Auto Warp does not quite do what you want you can control its results The remainder of this section will focus on various ways of guiding Live s auto warping Remember that the metronome in the Control Bar will probably come in handy as you warp longer pieces l I 4 foe It might happen that Auto Warp guesses the tempo correctly but gets the downbeat wrong To remedy this you can do one of the following e Hold the key while dragging the first Warp Marker This will allow you to adjust the position of the waveform under the Warp Marker e Zoom in and create a Warp Marker on the downbeat Then drag it to the beginning of bar 1 in the timeline e Use the start markers PC Ctrl Mac context menu to select the Set 1 1 1 Here command Auto Warp s Results in the Clip View The Metronome Switch CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 123 Warp From Here Warp From Here Start at 98 00 BPM Warp From Here Straight Warp 98 00 BPM From Here Warp as 8 Bar Loop Directing Auto Warp is also relatively simple when you have imported a perfectly cut loop You can tell Auto Warp to work accordingly using the Warp As Bar Loop command Live will propose a loop lengt
243. id can be set to be either zoom adaptive or fixed You can set the width of both zoom adaptive and fixed grid lines using the PC 6 Mac context menu available in either the Arrangement View track area or the Clip View display The following shortcuts to Options menu commands allow quickly working with the grid e Use Ctrl 1 PC 96 1 Mac to narrow the grid doubling the density of the grid lines e g from eighth notes to sixteenth notes e Use Ctrl _J PC E3 lines e g from eighth note N Mac to widen the grid halving the density of the grid to quarter notes nn e Use Ctrl _ J6 PC 8 3 Mac to toggle triplets mode this would for instance change the grid from eighth notes to eighth note triplets e Use Ctrl 4 PC 8 4 Mac to turn grid snapping on or off When the grid is off the cursor does not snap to meter subdivisions e Use Ctrl 6 PC 8 5 Mac to toggle fixed and adaptive grid modes CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 81 The current spacing between adjacent grid lines is displayed in the lower right corner of the Arrangement View or Clip View You can hold down the PC Mac modifier while performing an action to bypass grid snapping If the grid is already disabled this modifier will temporarily enable it 6 10 Using the Time Commands Whereas the standard commands like Cut
244. iew Loop activated changes to the Record Quan tization take effect immediately and they cannot be separately undone with the Edit menu command Recorded MIDI notes can also be quantized post recording with the Edit menu s Quantize command as described in the chapter on editing MIDI 15 6 Recording with Count in A count in for recording can be set in Live s Record Warp Launch Preferences When the Count In preference is set to any value other than None Live will not begin recording until the count in is complete The Arrangement Position fields in the Control Bar display the count in in orange as bars beats sixteenths Po ee The count in runs from negative bars beats sixteenths beginning at 2 1 1 for example with a Count In setting of 2 bars up to 1 1 1 at which point recording commences Note that count in recording does not apply when Live is synced to external MIDI devices or being used as a ReWire slave The Count In is Displayed in the Control Bar CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 198 15 7 Setting up File Types The following Preferences from the Record Warp Launch tab are relevant to the sample files that are created by recording e The sample file type you would like Live to create can be chosen from the File Type chooser in the Record Warp Launch Preferences e The bit depth of the sample file you will create by recording can be chosen from the Bit Depth chooser in the Record Warp Launch Preferences
245. ile Dragging a file from the File Browser and dropping it on an entry in the list makes the Live Set reference the new file instead of the old one For samples used in audio clips Live retains the clip properties the Warp Markers are kept if the new sample has the same or a greater length as the old sample and discarded otherwise Please note that replacing a sample will change all clips in your set that reference this sample Name Location Candidates Edit gt Drumloop wav Project Drumloop 1 e Hot swap files Using the Hot Swap button at the left hand side of each entry you can quickly browse through alternatives for the file that is currently being referenced This is like dragging files here only quicker Drum p wav Externa Edit Drumioop wav Project Drum Drumloop wav Project Live 7 Library e Edit a referenced sample using an external application which can be chosen in the Preferences File Folder tab Clicking the Edit button will open the referenced sample in the external application The sample will remain offline as long as the Edit switch is engaged For samples used in audio clips the current set of Warp Markers is retained only if the sample length remains the same as before Note that the Edit button is only available for samples not for other types of files such as Max devices Drumloop wav Externa Drumloop wav Project Live 7 Library e View a file s location The Location column states if a f
246. ile is missing or if it resides in the Live Library a Project or somewhere else external When unfolded the entry shows the specific places in the Set where the file is used Every Entry in the File Reference List is a Drop Target for Files The File Reference List s Hot Swap Button The File Reference List s Edit Switch CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 51 5 6 Live Projects A Live Project is a folder containing Live related files that belong together Consider for example work on a piece of music You start out with an empty Live Set you record audio and thereby create new sample files you drag in samples from collections you save different versions of the Live Set along the way so that you can go back and compare Perhaps you also save Live Clips or device presets that belong to this particular musical piece The project folder for this Live Project will maintain all the files related to this piece of music and Live s File Manager will provide the tools you need to manage them 5 6 1 Projects and Live Sets You can manually create a Project by clicking PC Mac in the Browser and selecting Create Project from the context menu Usually Live takes care of this automatically When you save a Live Set under a new name or in a new folder location Live will create a new project folder and store the Live Set there unless you are saving the Live Set into an existing Live Project Let s
247. ill give you a progress display and further actions in the program will be temporarily locked though running clips will continue to play You can play the reversed clip and perform other actions in the program as soon as Live begins to draw the new waveform into the Sample Display Once a sample is reversed a link to the reversed sample will be maintained until you quit the program and reversing the same clip again or a copy will be instantaneous It is not recommended that you reverse clips in a live performance situation as a slight glitch can sometimes occur while Live reapplies the warp and loop settings 8 2 10 Cropping Audio Clips The Sample Displays PC Mac context menu includes the Crop Sample command This function creates similarly to the Reverse function a new sample by copying the one currently in use but only the excerpt that is actually used plus a 50 millisecond safety margin on both ends The new sample can be found after saving the Live Set in the Set s Project folder under Samples Processed Crop Until the Set is saved the new sample remains at the location specified by the Temporary Folder 8 2 11 Replacing and Editing the Sample To replace the sample referenced by the clip with a different one drop the new sample directly from the File Browser into the Clip View Clip settings like pitch and volume will CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 111 be retained The Warp Markers will be retained only if the
248. improves the sound quality particularly with high frequency signals but there is a slight increase in CPU usage 20 7 EQ Eight O EQ Eight CE eon fw amp BH Q J Mode Edit Scale Gain 8 2 SSE Le o BR 100 4 5 00 akg The EQ Eight Effect The EQ Eight effect is an equalizer featuring up to eight parametric filters per input channel useful for changing a sound s timbre It extends the functionality of the former EQ Four device and is fully backward compatible with EQ Four presets The input signal can be processed using one of three modes Stereo L R and M S Stereo mode uses a single curve to filter both channels of a stereo input equally L R mode provides an independently adjustable filter curve for the left and right channels of a stereo input M S mode Mid Side provides the same functionality for signals that have been recorded using M S encoding When using the L R and M S modes both curves are displayed simultaneously for reference although only the active channel is editable The Edit switch indicates the active channel and is used to toggle between the two curves The filters can switch between six responses From left to right in the display these are CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 258 e Low cut cuts frequencies below the specified frequency e Low shelf boosts or cuts frequencies lower than the specified frequency e Bell curve boosts or c
249. in Live the files can be imported without any loss of quality Rendering audio from Live with a sampling rate other than the one that was used while working on the project is also a non neutral operation and may result in a loss of sound quality It is recommended to always render using the original sampling rate and then convert the rendered file using a dedicated mastering application that is optimized for these kinds of CPU intensive offline tasks While we recommend that you use a high quality offline tool for sample rate conversion we recognize that one of Live s core features is its ability to pitch shift and warp audio in real time For this situation it is necessary to make a trade off between CPU performance and precision We recommend the use of the Hi O button for any clips which undergo CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 370 transposition in a given Set The algorithm behind the Hi Q switch was rewritten for Live 7 and now results in considerably lower distortion than in previous versions 30 3 2 Volume Automation Automation of volume level results in a change in gain which is necessarily a non neutral operation But certain implementations of automation envelopes can result in audible artifacts particularly if the envelopes are not calculated at a fast enough rate Since Live 7 volume automation curves are updated for each audio sample resulting in extremely low levels of distortion 30 3 3 Dithering Whenever rendering
250. in conjunction with the Width control which defines the noise bandwidth Lower values lead to more selective distortion frequencies while higher values affect the entire input signal Width has no effect in Sine Mode Noise and Sine use a single modulation generator However Wide Noise has independent noise generators for the left and right channels which creates a subtle stereo enhancement The Erosion Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 261 20 10 Filter Delay Filter Delay ea input Filter Feedback Pan Volume Dry NAG 21 SOL 6 0dB AMAA QA 24 50R 9 0dB The Filter Delay provides three independent delay lines each preceded by linked lowpass and highpass filters This allows applying delay to only certain input signal frequencies as determined by the filter settings The feedback from each of the three delays is also routed back through the filters Each of the three delays can be switched on and off independently The Filter Delay device assigns delay 1 to the input signal s left channel delay 2 to the left and right channels and delay 3 to the right channel The Pan controls at the right can override the delay channels outputs otherwise each delay outputs on the channel from which it derives its input Each delay channel s filter has an associated On switch located to the left of each X Y controller The
251. ing Jump mode corresponds to the default behavior prior to Live 8 When loading Sets that were made in earlier versions Jump will be selected automatically CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 278 20 21 Spectrum O Spectrum Block 16384 7 Channe E R RR Refresh F 0 ms Avg 8 Graph ine Scale x Gin 69 ST a 14 90 Spectrum performs realtime frequency analysis of incoming audio signals The results are represented in a graph with dB along the vertical axis and frequency pitch along the horizontal The peak levels are retained on the graph until the song is restarted Note that Spectrum is not an audio effect but rather a measurement tool it does not alter the incoming signal in any way The Block chooser selects the number of samples that will be analyzed in each measurement Higher values result in better accuracy but at the expense of increased CPU load Channel determines which channel is analyzed left right or both The Refresh slider determines how often Spectrum should perform an analysis As with the Block parameter this allows for a tradeoff between accuracy and CPU load A fast response time is more accurate but also more CPU intensive The Avg slider allows you to specify how many blocks of samples will be averaged for each update of the display With a setting of one each block is shown This results in much more activity i
252. ing it is possible to compress a signal based on the level of another signal or a specific frequency component To access the Sidechain parameters unfold the Compressor window by toggling the button in its title bar The sidechain parameters are divided into two sections On the left are the external controls Enabling this section with the Sidechain button allows you to select any of Live s internal routing points from the choosers below This causes the selected source to act as the compressor s trigger instead of the signal that is actually being compressed The Gain knob adjusts the level of the external sidechain s input while the Dry Wet knob allows you to use a combination of sidechain and original signal as the compressor s trigger With Dry Wet at 100 the compressor is triggered entirely by the sidechain source At 0 the sidechain is effectively bypassed Note that increasing the gain does not increase the volume of the source signal in the mix The sidechain audio is only a trigger for the compressor and is never actually heard Note that FB mode and automatic Makeup are not available when using external sidechain On the right of the external section are the controls for the sidechain EQ Enabling this section causes the compressor to be triggered by a specific band of frequencies instead of a complete signal These can either be frequencies in the compressed signal or by using the EQ in conjunction with an external sidechain
253. ing Views Windows Macintosh Toggle Full Screen Mode F11 Ctrl F11 Toggle Session Arrangement View So Ss Toggle Track Clip View A JS or JB or F12 Ctrl _J F12 _ Hide Show Detail View Gtr At or HAt iL or N F12 Ctrl A F12 Hide Show Info View Hide Show Browser Ctrl Ait C WA B Hide Show Overview Cti At JO At 3O Hide Show In Out Ctrl At JA BAR Sl Hide Show Sends Ctrl Alt C WA 6 Hide Show Mixer Ctrl Alt 3B Alt M Open the Preferences Ctrl Ji CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 383 Windows Macintosh Close Window Dialog Esc Esc 32 2 Accessing Menus Under Windows you can access each menu by pressing and the first letter of the menu Alt__ F for File for instance While a menu is open you can use e J to navigate the menu items e to open the neighboring menu to choose a menu item 32 3 Adjusting Values Windows Macintosh Decrement Increment HA HA Finer Resolution for Dragging Ciri C 8 Return to Default Delete e Type in Value 0 0 Go to Next Field Bar beat 16th DO aia Abort Value Entry Esc Esc Confirm Value Entry Return Return
254. ing algo 4 6 rithms Complex and Complex Pro Warp Modes No Yes Multiple automation lanes Yes Yes Native audio slicing support No Yes Maximum number of send and return tracks per 2 12 project Track Freeze Yes Yes CHAPTER 33 LIVE INTRO VS LIVE 8 COMPARISON CHART 395 Live Intro Live 8 Clip envelopes and Follow Actions Yes Yes External Instrument Audio Effect devices No Yes Automatic plug in delay compensation Yes Yes Tempo Nudge Yes Yes MIDI remote control instant mapping Yes Yes MIDI output to hardware synths Yes Yes MIDI Clock syne Yes Yes ReWire Master Yes Yes ReWire Slave Yes Yes REX file support No Yes Multicore multiprocessor support Yes Yes SmartPriming memory management Yes Yes POW R dithering No Yes Video import and export No Yes WAV AIFF MP3 Ogg Vorbis FLAC file support Yes Yes 396 Index A Ableton e mail addresses Sal6 ictacacdevenicvet wedeeeie vies 8 technical support Kenda sa vpcdadavena ss 8 web addresses FAQS ia ccascnasned aetawsa eednta t 35 tutorials 2 00 0 eee eee 357 webshop cctranescahenseeesanseess 8 Adaptive Grid options 80 Add Remove Stop Button command 90 agr files 0 0 see groove feature analysis files 0 cece eee eee eee 40 storing clip settings in 107 analysis of files batch processing 0 41 Analyze Audio command
255. ing from older versions 58 saturator and envelope 296 F PAITIN 0 0 eee eee eee eee 59 Start Transpose and Stretch 295 Library Location preference 58 nfo VEW tse 3 0 neee eeel ae aeaueneadeen es 3 Library Preferences 00ss0seee 5 insert Link Unlink Envelope switch 241 BE og oo vdacnacicnxuiedienexned s 202 Live CMDS 4h fia sateniausketendedtianbetes 45 instrument eee eee eee eee 202 Live Device Browser 5 202 PIUQ INS 0 eee eeecee essen esse es 208 LIVE Packs iasx ss cseetyerswwniunteruwweds 56 GIS coho deci ot banc cn sah 181 Live Projects scsirecsersssiverirsriesdrni 51 Insert Audio Track command 181 and device preSetS cor enredetneens 55 insert marker 00 00 cece eee eee eee 70 and Live S 51 Insert MIDI Clip command 128 paking sorre nirt rinepta imurit nunk 65 insert MIDI Trackcomimand ooocoiocin 181 Live Sets bessrrerarersrrrrrnttrtrtttt 10 46 Insert Return Track command 183 changing file references Pap ee Ts 49 Insert Scene command 5 90 exporting and importing 47 Insert Silence command n n nuun 82 saving the default template a inthe MIDI Editor iiaia 137 OCAatOTS neva iaeedinsebe pasts aeadessdeun 72 Insert Time Signature Change command 73 Lock Envelopes command ee eee ee 230 Lock Envelopes switch iaiicisieseis sins 230 INDEX Look Feel Prefer
256. ing percussive sounds Simpler reacts to MIDI Pitch Bend messages with a sensitivity of 5 semitones You can also modulate the Transpose parameter with clip envelopes and external controllers CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 301 The Voices parameter sets the maximum number of voices that Simpler can play simultane ously If more voices are needed than have been allocated by the Voices chooser voice stealing will take place in which the oldest voice s will be dropped in favor of those that are new For example if your Voices parameter is set to 8 and ten voices are all vying to be played the two oldest voices will be dropped Simpler does try to make voice stealing as subtle as possible Panorama is defined by the Pan control but can be further swayed by randomness or modulated by the LFO Finally the output volume of Simpler is controlled by the Volume control which can also be dependent upon note velocity as adjusted by the Velocity control Tremolo effects can be achieved by allowing the LFO to modulate the Volume parameter 22 2 9 Strategies for Saving CPU Power Real time synthesis needs lots of computing power However there are strategies for reducing CPU load Save the CPU spent on Simpler by doing some of the following e Turn off the Filter if it is not needed e Use filter types that are less CPU intensive when possible A filter s CPU cost correlates with the steepness of its slope LP24 requ
257. ing the Lessons option from the View menu and then opening the Control Surface Reference lesson 24 2 1 Assigning MIDI Remote Control W Key j mo 2 D E The MIDI Map Mode Master Switch CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 316 Once your remote control setup has been defined in the MIDI Sync Preferences giving MIDI controllers and notes remote control assignments is simple 1 Enter MIDI Map Mode by pressing the MIDI switch in Live s upper right hand corner Notice that assignable elements of the interface become highlighted in blue and that the Mapping Browser becomes available If your Browser is closed PC Mac will open it for you 2 Click on the Live parameter that you d like to control via MIDI 3 Send a MIDI message by pressing a keyboard key turning a knob etc on your MIDI controller You will see that this new MIDI mapping is now listed in the Mapping Browser 4 Exit MIDI Map Mode by pressing the MIDI switch once again The Mapping Browser will disappear but you can always review your mappings by entering MIDI Map Mode again 24 2 2 Mapping to MIDI Notes MIDI notes send simple Note On and Note Off messages to Live s interface elements These messages can produce the following effects on controls in Live e Session View Slots Note On and Note Off messages affect clips in the slot according to their Launch Mode settings Switches A Note On message toggles the switch s state Radio Button
258. ing three types of unprocessed audio files white noise fixed frequency sine waves and sine sweeps in 16 24 and 32 bit word lengths and rendering these to output files also with varying bit resolutions Phase cancellation testing of the original and output files shows the following CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 365 e rendering to a file with the same bit depth as the original results in complete phase cancellation e rendering to a file with a higher bit depth than the original results in complete phase cancellation e rendering to a file with a lower bit depth than the original results in the smallest amount of distortion possible within a 32 bit system 30 2 2 Matching sample rate no transposition Playback of an unstretched audio file in Live is a neutral operation provided that the file s sample rate is the same as that set in Live s Preferences and that the file is played back without transposition This is verified by cancellation tests of rendered output Please note that playback in this context refers only to the audio within Live prior to the point at which it reaches your audio hardware 30 2 3 Unstretched Beats Tones Texture Re Pitch Warping If the tempo of a Clip is the same as the tempo of the Set that clip will play back unstretched In this case if the Warp mode of the Clip is set to Beats Tones Texture or Re Pitch playback will be neutral Any Warping caused by changing the Set s tempo is non perman
259. ing variations of beat loops We discourage using this technique for analytical cut and splice tasks they are much easier to perform using Live s Arrangement View and the results can easily be consolidated into new clips 1 1 2 13 14 2 Repeating Steps and Slowing Time with the Sample Offset Envelope Some sample offset envelope gestures have a characteristic effect a downward escalator shape for instance effectively repeats the step at the envelope s beginning Similarly a smooth ramp with a downwards slope is slowing time and can create nice slurring effects when the slope is not quite exactly 45 degrees try this with a 1 32 Granulation Resolution CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 238 19 2 5 Using Clips as Templates As you are making creative use of clip envelopes the clips containing them develop a life of their own independent of the original sample You might wonder at a point What does this clip sound like with a different sample This is easy to find out by selecting the clip so that it is displayed in the Clip View and dragging the desired sample from one of the File Browsers or the Session or Arrangement View onto the Clip View All clip settings including the envelopes will remain unaltered only the sample will be replaced 19 3 Mixer and Device Clip Envelopes Clip envelopes can be used to modulate mixer and device controls Since mixer and device controls can also be controlled by the Arrangement s
260. ion aicieaenccdes see clip envelopes Parent Folder item sicccwesase cen aenads 30 MONON MIK scien a ees niese eee es 183 Paste Time command MONILONING is sees sir tsri er ttri Vana ered 158 in the Arrangement 81 monitoring through Live see Audio in the MIDI Editor 137 Preferences pencil tool cusraven aod yearn see Draw Mode MPS files ences dvaharearaioees see samples Phaser effect c cece eens 266 Multicore Multiprocessor Support 358 Ping Pong Delay effect 268 Multiple Plug In Windows preference 211 Pitch Bend quick chooser button see MOLINE ooann see Track Activator switch quick chooser buttons ClIDS ai deae i dedtg te ddameinsudies ace 97 Piteheffect pinvcteapeceuci aren euanr eds 288 Play button 20 e eee cece eee ees 70 N plug ins USING 068 see devices Plug In Buffer Size preference 214 Narrow Grid command 80 p ug In Configure Mode 6 212 New command eee eee eee eee 46 p ug In Device Browser 0 0 00 209 Next Locator button eee 72 p ug In Device Browserselector 208 normalizing rendered audio 43 Plug In Edit button ccceeee eee 211 Note Editor serere en a a 129 p ug In Unfold button o on 210 Note Length effect 008 287 pre listening samples see previewing Notes box 004 intern tee es 29 Pre P
261. ionality in particular stretching and synchronization CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 373 30 5 Summary and Conclusions Ableton wrote this paper in order to help users understand exactly how audio is affected when performing various procedures in Live Our focus has been on functions that have proven over the years to cause confusion or uncertainty and the list of both neutral and non neutral operations presented here is necessarily incomplete We encourage you to refer to this paper if you have any questions about the functions discussed but we also encourage you to contact us if you have additional questions that we haven t answered Live is a product but it is also an ongoing process and one that benefits greatly from user input 1contact ableton com 374 Chapter 31 MIDI Fact Sheet In conjunction with our work on the audio engine Ableton has spent additional effort an alyzing Live s MIDI timing and making improvements where necessary We wrote this fact sheet to help users understand the problems involved in creating a reliable and accurate computer based MIDI environment and to explain Live s approach to solving these prob lems Note the MIDI timing issues discussed in this paper are generally not applicable to users with high quality audio and MIDI hardware If you have already invested time and money into optimizing these factors in your studio and are not experiencing problems with MIDI timing you proba
262. ires more CPU than LP12 Turn off the LFO for a slightly positive influence on CPU Stereo samples need significantly more CPU than mono samples as they require twice the processing Decrease the number of simultaneously allowed voices with the Voice control e Turn Spread to 0 if it is not needed 22 3 The Essential Instrument Collection 2 The boxed version of Live Intro ships with the Essential Instrument Collection 2 LE Edition a multi gigabyte library of meticulously sampled instruments created in cooperation with CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 302 SONiVOX Chocolate Audio and Puremagnetik Note The Essential Instrument Collection 2 LE Edition is not included with downloadable purchases Download customers can choose however to purchase it later 22 3 1 Essential Instrument Collection 2 Installation The Essential Instrument Collection 2 LE Edition EIC is installed separately from the main Live Intro installation The various instruments are grouped into separate Live Packs that can be installed as needed To install Live Packs drag them into the Live application window either from your operating system or from Live s Browser After you have installed the EIC Live Packs you will need to authorize them Further details can be found at the Ableton website 22 3 2 Accessing The EIC Instruments After installation the EIC instruments are accessed through Live s Device Browser in exactly the sa
263. is useful in these cases Note that the Track Delay controls are unavailable when device delay compensation is deactivated 189 Chapter 15 Recording New Clips This chapter is about recording new clips from audio and MIDI input signals Note that this is a different kind of recording than the capturing of Session clips into the Arrangement For successful audio recording please make sure the audio preferences are set up properly For more on this please see the built in program lesson on setting up Audio Preferences Also keep in mind that devices such as microphones guitars and turntables do not operate at line level meaning that they will need to have their levels boosted before they can be recorded For these devices you must therefore use either an audio interface with a preamp or an external preamp 15 1 Choosing an Input A track will record whatever input source is shown in its In Out section which appears when the View menu s In Out option is checked In the Arrangement View unfold and resize the track in order to completely see the In Out section CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 190 All Channee in ai A MIDI From MIDI From Master All ins All Ins z All Channes i All Channew A yp Monlior Monlior The Track In Out Section in A OA in At OA Auto au in the Arrangemen nto rel bo giles Sala 5 Beats v Mast
264. ithin Live s built in lessons you will find a Control Surface Reference that lists all currently supported hardware complete with the details of their instant mappings Lessons can be accessed at any time by selecting the Help View option from the View menu Note You can always manually override any instant mappings with your own assignments In this case you will also want to enable the Remote switches for the MIDI ports that your control surface is using This is done in the MIDI Ports section of the MIDI Sync Preferences tab and is described in the next section Instant mappings are advantageous because the control surface s controllers will automati cally reassign themselves in order to control the currently selected device in Live CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 312 Star Length Fade ioo Attack Decay Sustain Release LFO Volume O O Q Qmm C e oO LOE 11 1 444 100 0 00 7 10ms 16 3ms 13 85 9ms 0 0 0 00 Filter Freq Res Vel LFO LFO Rate Attack Retig Transp LFO Glide Spread Vel On 0 0 0 00 GH Fiz 5 BB mi EGAN 0st 4 0 00 Poras ae Type Key Env Type Freq Key Offset Detune Env Time Voices BP24 137kHi 242 GR 72 4 7 v BRR 00 000 oct q ost 4 Bim 11 320 In addition to following device selection natively supported control surfaces can be locked to specific devices guaranteeing hands on access no matter where the current
265. ithout affecting the pitch which can be changed independently Mixing and matching audio from different origins is therefore extremely easy 9 1 Tempo 9 1 1 Setting the Tempo 129 00 The Control Bar s Tempo field allows you to change the playback tempo of your Live Set at any time in real time You can even automate the tempo to create smooth or sudden tempo changes along the song timeline For maximum tempo control during performance you can MIDI map separate controllers to the Tempo field on both sides of the decimal point Setting one knob to control coarse tempo in BPM and another to control fine tempo The Control Bar s Tempo Field CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 114 in hundredths of a BPM allows for enough precision to adjust to live performers or other unsynchronized sources You can have an external sequencer or drum machine play along with Live or have Live play along with the sequencer The respective settings are made in the MIDI Sync Preferences and the EXT switch next to the tempo control is activated to have Live follow an external MIDI clock source Please refer to the section on synchronization for details 9 1 2 Tapping the Tempo You can use Live s Tap Tempo function to set the tempo at any time As you click the Control Bar s Tap Tempo button once every beat the tempo of the Live Set will follow your tapping It is better to assign the Tap button to a computer key than using the mouse Click on the
266. itions playback of a warped clip that is at the same tempo as the Set is a neutral operation However if a groove is applied playback will be non neutral at any tempo 30 4 Tips for Achieving Optimal Sound Quality in Live For users looking to achieve optimal audio quality in Live we have provided a list of recommended practices and program settings Decide which sample rate to use for a project prior to beginning work rather than changing the sample rate while working on the project Record audio into Live using high quality hardware components audio interface ca bles etc and at the highest sample rate and bit depth your interface and computer will support Avoid using samples that are at different sample rates within the same project If you want to work with such files we recommend that you first convert them to the sample rate set for your audio interface in an offline application that is optimized for this task For all audio clips disable both the Warp and Fade options in the Clip View Do not adjust the Transpose and Detune controls for any clips Always render at 32 bit and at the sample rate set for your audio interface If you need audio files at a different sample rate and or bit depth we recommend that you convert your rendered files in an offline application that is optimized for these tasks rather than in Live Please note that these practices while ensuring optimal audio quality disable some of Live s funct
267. ive is smart and avoids wasting CPU cycles on tracks and devices that do not contribute anything useful For example dragging devices into a Live Set that is not running does not significantly increase the CPU load The load increases only as you start playing clips or feed audio into the effects When there is no incoming audio the effects are deactivated until they are needed again If the effect produces a tail like reverbs and delays deactivation occurs only after all calculations are complete While this scheme is very effective at reducing the average CPU load of a Live Set it cannot reduce the peak load To make sure your Live Set plays back continuously even under the most intense conditions play back a clip in every track simultaneously with all devices enabled 29 1 3 Track Freeze Live s Freeze Track command can greatly help in managing the CPU load incurred by devices and clip settings When you select a track and execute the Freeze Track command Live will create a sample file for each Session clip in the track plus one for the Arrangement Thereafter clips in the track will simply play back their freeze files rather than repeatedly calculating processor intensive device and clip settings in real time The Freeze Track command is available from Live s Edit menu and from the PC Mac context menu of tracks and clips Once any processing demands have been addressed or you have upgraded your machin
268. ive or another product raises your interest in purchasing it please visit the Ableton webshop This site contains information about Ableton s distributor and dealer network It also offers you the opportunity to buy Ableton products online 3 1 2 What if Change My Computer s Components If you change your computer components for some reason Live may indeed ask you to authorize the software another time Live does not need to be reauthorized when computer peripherals are replaced audio or MIDI hardware printers modems But you may need to authorize again if the motherboard processor or network card is replaced On some computers reformatting a hard drive will require a new authorization 3 1 3 Can I Authorize Live More than Once The standard Live license allows you to use Live on only one computer at a time However the Ableton server will provide you with two authorizations in good faith that you will use Live on only one machine at a time You can therefore run Live on both a studio desktop computer and a tour laptop but not at the same time Should the Ableton server reject your demand for another authorization please contact Ableton s technical support Thttp www ableton com shop http www ableton com support CHAPTER 3 AUTHORIZING LIVE 9 To use Live on more than one computer at a time you may require a secondary license or a site license Ableton offers these licenses at special rates 3 1 4 Can
269. ixer has controls for volume pan position and sends which adjust the contribution each track makes to the input of any return tracks Return tracks only host effects and not clips Via their sends all tracks can feed a part of their signal into a return track and share its effects The mixer also includes a crossfader which can create smooth transitions between clips playing on different tracks Live s crossfader works like a typical DJ mixer crossfader except that it allows crossfading not only two but any number of tracks including the returns Ap Ag Ag A A e e e o7 Devices that receive and deliver audio signals are called audio effects Audio effects are the only type of device that fit in an audio track or a return track However two more types of devices are available for use in MIDI tracks MIDI effects and instruments Consider a MIDI track playing a clip The MIDI signal from the clip is fed into the track s device chain There it is first processed by any number of MIDI effects A MIDI effect receives and delivers MIDI signals One example is the Scale effect which maps the incoming notes onto a user defined musical scale The last MIDI effect in the chain is followed by an instrument Instruments for instance Live s Simpler and Impulse receive MIDI and deliver audio Following the instrument the signal can be additionally processed by audio effects as in an audio track The Live Mixer in the Arrangement View Lef
270. ize The Audio Preferences are used to set up Live s audio connections with the outside world via an audio interface Please take the time to follow the program s built in Setting up Audio I O lesson which will walk you through all the steps required to set up and optimize the settings for any given system To access the lesson use the Help View command from the Help menu The MIDI Sync Preferences are used to help Live recognize MIDI devices for two separate and distinct purposes Playing MIDI notes To learn how to route an external device into Live for MIDI input please see the Routing and I O chapter Controlling parts of the interface remotely This subject is covered in detail in the MIDI and Key Remote Control chapter The File Folder Preferences pertain to Live s file management and the location of plug in devices The Record Warp Launch Preferences allow customizing the default state for new Live Sets and their components as well as selecting options for new recordings The CPU Preferences include options for managing the processing load including multicore multiprocessor support CHAPTER 2 FIRST STEPS 5 e The User Account Licenses Preferences are used to manage licensing and installation of the Live platform and add on components like the Operator instrument e The Library Preferences allow you to specify the location of Live s Library repair the Library and manage currently installed Live Packs 2 3
271. k Bookmarks can be selected by clicking the Browser s title bar to open the Bookmark menu Workspace C Multisamples E Musik E Sam A _ Choosing the Library Bookmark The first time you run Live it will automatically install its Library to your standard user folder You can of course move it to a new location After installation the Library will already contain a few sound ideas courtesy of Ableton We encourage you to experiment with this material to get a sense of what the program can do but we do not recommend removing or changing the contents of the factory Library If you do however you can always repair your Library Ableton provides additional Library content in the form of Live Packs which are available from installation CDs DVDs or the Ableton website Owners of a boxed version of Live Intro 2http www ableton com downloads CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 27 can enjoy the Essential Instrument Collection 2 LE a multi gigabyte library of meticulously sampled and selected instruments 28 Chapter 5 Managing Files and Sets Various types of files are used in making music with Live from those containing MIDI and audio to more program specific files such as Live Clips and Live Sets This chapter will explain everything you need to know about working with each of these file types in Live However we should first take a look at Live s File Browsers through which most files arrive in th
272. l Editor Horizontally Ctr Page t Page 38 Page t Page Copy Note Ctrl Drag Alt Drag Change Velocity From Note Editor Alt Drag 36 Drag Add Delete Note in Edit Mode Double Click Double Click Move Insert Marker to Beginning Home home Move Insert Marker to End End end Scroll Display to Follow Playback Cti JF Move Clip Region with Start Marker Jee 32 16 Grid Snapping and Drawing Windows Macintosh Toggle Draw Mode Ctrl _ JB 8B Narrow Grid Ctrl E W Widen Grid Cti Je C Be Triplet Grid Ctrl JB WB Snap to Grid Cii Je Ba Fixed Zoom Adaptive Grid Ctrl jG 8G Bypass Snapping While Dragging Alt R CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 391 32 17 Global Quantization Windows Macintosh Sixteenth Note Quantization Ctrl J6 C 6 Eighth Note Quantization Quarter Note Quantization 1 Bar Quantization Ctrl JE C E Quantization Off Cti JO C 80 32 18 Working with Sets and the Program Windows Macintosh New Live Set Ctr JN WN Open Live Set Ctri j O TEO Close Live Set Ctrl JW E Save Live Set Ctl JS AS Save Live Set As A Cti JG C E Quit Live Ciri JQ EO Hide Live IH Export Audio Ctl JA JR HAJR Export MIDI file i jE C Se JE CHAPTER 32 LIVE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 392 32 19 Working with Plug Ins and Devices
273. lation rhythmically with stepped changes that track the master tempo The numbered buttons represent 16th notes so for example selecting 4 as a beat value produces a modulation change once per beat The Envelope section controls how the envelope modulation affects the filter frequency The Amount control defines the extent to which the envelope affects the filter frequency while the Attack control sets how the envelope responds to rising input signals Low Attack values cause a fast response to input levels high values integrate any changes gradually creating a looser slower response Think of it as adding inertia to the response Lower Release values cause the envelope to respond more quickly to falling input signals Higher values extend the envelope s decay Normally the signal being filtered and the input source that triggers the envelope follower are the same signal But by using sidechaining it is possible to filter a signal based on the envelope of another signal To access the Sidechain parameters unfold the Auto Filter window by toggling the button in its title bar Enabling this section with the Sidechain button allows you to select another track from the choosers below This causes the selected track s signal to trigger the filter s envelope follower instead of the signal that is actually being filtered The Gain knob adjusts the level of the external sidechain s input while the Dry Wet knob allows you to us
274. launch Rudio From oN The progress bar icon represents a one shot non looping Session clip The value displays the remaining play time in minutes seconds ao 9 Widt From MIDI From A microphone icon appears in an audio track that is set to monitor its input A keyboard icon appears in a MIDI track under these same circumstances Audio From Audio F If the track is playing clips from the Arrangement a miniature display representing the Arrangement clips being played appears A Track Playing a Looping Session Clip A One shot Session Clip Monitoring the Input Playing the Arrangement CHAPTER 7 SESSION VIEW 89 7 4 Setting Up the Session View Grid Clips arrive in the Session View by being imported from the File Browsers or through recording Library re Name 1 Audio 2 MIDI A E oore 04 oct14a aif oroi o 04 oct14b aif Beet o 04 oct14c aif o o b 0 04 oct18 o mi If you are dragging multiple clips into the Session View Live defaults to arrange them vertically in one track Hold down PC Mac prior to dropping them so as to lay the clips out in one scene Clips can be moved around the Session grid by drag and drop To move several clips at once select them by using the Q___J or Ctrl PC Mac modifier before dragging You can also click into an empty slot and rubber band select from there 7 4 1 Select on Launch By default
275. lay Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 277 notes For example selecting 4 delays the signal by four 16th notes which equals one beat a quarter note of delay If the Sync switch is off the delay time reverts to milliseconds In this case to edit the delay time click and drag up or down in the Delay Time field or click in the field and type in a value The Feedback parameter defines how much of each channel s output signal feeds back into the delay lines inputs Internally they are two independent feedback loops so a signal on the left channel does not feed back into the right channel and vice versa The Dry Wet control adjusts the balance between the processed and dry signals Set it to 100 percent when using Simple Delay in a return track Changing the delay time while Simple Delay is processing audio can cause abrupt changes in the sound of the delayed signal You can choose between three delay transition modes via the PC 5 Mac context menu of the device s title bar e Repitch causes a pitch variation when changing the delay time similar to the behavior of old hardware delay units e Fade creates a crossfade between the old and new delay times This sounds similar to time stretching if the delay time is gradually changed Fade mode is the default option e Jump immediately jumps to the new delay time Note that this will cause an audible click if the delay time is changed while delays are sound
276. ld tell CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 318 Live to pan right causing an abrupt jump in the track s panning A pan knob sending relative messages would prevent this since its incremental message to Live would simply say Pan slightly to the left of your current position There are four types of relative controllers Signed Bit Signed Bit 2 Bin Offset and Twos Complement Convention Mode Increment Decrement Relative Signed Bit 001 064 065 127 Relative Signed Bit 2 065 127 001 064 Relative Bin Offset 065 127 063 001 Relative 2 s Comp 001 064 127 065 Each of these are also available in a linear mode Some MIDI encoders use acceleration internally generating larger changes in value when they are turned quickly For contro surfaces that are not natively supported Live tries to detect the controller type and whether acceleration is being used or not You can improve the detection process by moving the relative controller slowly to the left when you make an assignment Live will offer its suggestion in the Status Bar s mode chooser but if you happen to know the relative controller type you can manually select it Live will do the following with relative MIDI controller messages e Session View Slots Value increment messages are treated like Note On messages Value decrement messages are treated like Note Off messages e Switches Increment messages t
277. ll open that Live Set 4 2 Arrangement and Session The basic musical building blocks of Live are called clips A clip is a piece of musical material a melody a drum pattern a bassline or a complete song Live allows you to record and alter clips and to create larger musical structures from them songs scores remixes DJ sets or stage shows A Live Set consists of two environments that can hold clips The Arrangement is a layout of clips along a musical timeline the Session is a real time oriented launching base for clips Every Session clip has its own play button that allows launching the clip at any time and in any order Each clip s behavior upon launch can be precisely specified through a number of settings The Arrangement is accessed via the Arrangement View and the Session via the Session View you can toggle between the two views using the computer s Tab key or their respective selectors Because the two views have distinct applications they each hold individual collections of clips However it is important to understand that flipping the views simply changes the appearance of the Live Set and does not switch modes alter what you hear or change what is stored Wi Key MIDI 2 D Clips in the Session View Left and in the Arrangement View Right The Arrangement and Session View Selectors CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 12 The Arrangement View and the Session View interact in useful ways O
278. look at an example to illustrate this process We have recorded some audio into a new Live Set We now save the Live Set under the name Tango on the Desktop Here is the result as displayed by the Live Browser The File Reference List s Location Column CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 52 Name Parent Folder v Exp Tango Project v P Samples 3 v P Recorded Erg 0001 1 Guitar wav Erg 0001 2 Accordion wav om E A Live Set and its A Recordings in a Live Project Folder The project folder Tango Project contains the Live Set Tango als and a Samples folder which in turn contains a Recorded folder with two samples in it Note that the current Project is also indicated in the title bar of Live s application window Next we record another track into our Project We save the modified version of the Live Set under a new name so that we do not lose the previous version Accepting the Save As command s default suggestion we store the new version of the song in the Tango Project folder MG Desktop Name E Parent Folder v E Tango Project 6 v P gt samples v FP Recorded Erg 0001 1 Guitar wav Erg 0001 2 Accordion wav Er 0001 3 Piano wav A Second Version of the A LP at a Live Set Has Been gt E Tango ais Added to the Project The Tango Project now contains two Live Sets and its Samples Recorded folder contains the samples used by both of them And now for something c
279. lt in audio effects The Working with Instruments and Effects chapter explains the basics of using effects in Live 20 1 Auto Filter Auto Filter e Bua Envelope LFO S amp H Audio From Amount Shape 5 Drums x ANJ ii PreFX_ Y 127 13 4 Gain Attack Rate 19 9 3B 5 08 ms Gi e Mz sas Wet Phi y eaman Quantize Beat me CIPHER EA 4 84 9 41 4ms EAKA 8 2 46 Q The Auto Filter Effect The Auto Filter effect provides classic analog filter emulation It can be modulated by an envelope follower and or an LFO to create moving filter effects The envelope follower can track either the filtered signal or an external sidechain source CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 245 There are four different filter types lowpass highpass bandpass and notch For each type the X Y controller adjusts frequency to adjust click and drag on the X axis and Q also called resonance to adjust click and drag on the Y axis You can also click on the Freq and Q numeric displays and type in exact values Low Q values create a broad filter curve while higher values introduce a narrow resonant peak to the sound With bandpass filtering Q sets the bandwidth of the passed signal The Quantize Beat control applies quantized modulation to the filter frequency With Quan tize Beat off frequency modulation follows the control source Turning this feature on updates the filter modu
280. lue and calculates a smooth convergence of the two as the control is moved As soon as they are equal the destination value tracks the control s value 1 1 MIDI Controller Takeover Mode CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 315 24 2 The Mapping Browser 3 Sampler Sampler Filter On 3 Sampler Sampler Shaper On 3 Sampler Sampler Shaper Type 3 Sampler Sampler Volume Envelope 3 Sampler Sampler Fitter Envelope De 3 Sampler Sampler Volume Envelope 3 Sampler Sampler Filter Envelope Att 3 Sampler Sampler Volume Envelope 3 Sampler Sampler Filter Envelope Pe The Mapping Browser Sampler zone d Sample Pit Filter and Selector All manual MIDI computer keyboard and Macro Control mappings are managed by the Mapping Browser The Mapping Browser is hidden until one of the three mapping modes is enabled It will then display all mappings for the current mode For each mapping it lists the control element the path to the mapped parameter the parameter s name and the mapping s Min and Max value ranges The assigned Min and Max ranges can be edited at any time and can be quickly inverted with a PC 6 Mac context menu command Delete mappings using your computer s or key Note that Instant Mappings are context based and are not displayed in the Mapping Browser Their mapping structure can be displayed while working in Live by choos
281. manner will create tracks of the appropriate type e g a MIDI track will be created if a MIDI file or effect is dragged in A track is represented by its track title bar You can click on a track title bar to select the track and then execute an Edit menu command on the track One such command is Rename One can quickly rename a series of tracks by executing this command or the Rename shortcut Ctrl R PC ___ 8 R Mac and then using the Tab key to move from title bar to title bar When a symbol precedes a name the track will get a number that updates automatically when the track is moved Adding additional symbols will prepend the track number with additional zeros You can also enter your own info text for a track via the Edit Info Text command in the Edit menu or in the tracks s PC Ctrl Mac context menu 2 Audio 3 MIDI 4 MIDI You can drag tracks by their title bars to rearrange them or click and drag on their edges to change their width in the Session View or height in the Arrangement View Multiple adjacent or nonadjacent tracks can be selected at once by 4___ clicking or Ctrl_ clicking respectively If you drag a selection of nonadjacent tracks they will be collapsed together when dropped To move nonadjacent tracks without collapsing use arrow keys instead of the mouse When multiple tracks are selected adjusting one of their mixer controls will adjust the same control for the other tracks If
282. me way as Live s other built in instruments You will find them as categorized presets within the Instrument Rack folder EIC instruments are therefore loaded just like any other device by dragging a preset from the Browser into an empty MIDI track The EIC presets are available in Full and Lite versions allowing you to choose the right balance of fidelity and polyphony for your needs The Lite version reduces CPU RAM and disk requirements by reducing the number of zones and sample layers used Both the normal and Lite presets use 24 bit multisamples There is also an EIC LE Pack available which contains very efficient versions of the EIC instruments suitable for sketching out ideas The LE instruments are all composed of 16 bit sample files All of the EIC presets are conveniently mapped to Macro Controls for greater expression Thttp www ableton com shop http www ableton com authorize CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 303 22 3 3 The Included Instruments The following multisampled instruments are included Acoustic Keyboards Grand Piano Harpsichord Celesta Electric Keyboards E Piano MK 1 B3 Jazz Organ B3 Rock Organ Orchestral Strings Solo Strings legato Double Bass Cello Viola Violin Ensemble Strings legato pizzicato Orchestral Brass Solo Brass legato French Horn Bass Trombone Tuba Eb Trumpet Ensemble Brass legato staccato Orchestral Woodwinds Solo Woodwinds legato leg
283. mespan by moving the insert marker PC Mac while pressing the arrow keys extends or retracts from the opposite side of the selection The insert marker can be moved to the beginning or end of a MIDI clip by pressing the Home or End key respectively As we have seen notes in the MIDI Editor can be moved both horizontally changing their position in time and vertically changing their transposition They can be moved either by clicking and dragging or with the arrow keys on your computer keyboard in either case they are subject to grid and offset snapping If you are playing the clip while you edit notes you can listen to them play in their new assignments as you change them Several key modifiers also apply to note editing To transpose selected notes by octave hold down while pressing 4 or A or extends or retracts the duration of selected notes according to the grid settings To change the selection to the next note in the same key track hold PC Alt_ lt Mac while pressing or Ctrl PC Mac or moves the selection to the next note in time To nudge notes without snapping to the grid hold PC Mac and press or You can use the modifier to click and add individual notes or additional rubber band selections to your current selection You can also remove a single note from your selection by holding down and clicking on it Holding ___ and clicking on the piano roll adds all not
284. mouse cursor hover over the Session View selector Drop the two clips into a track They now form a Follow Action group CHAPTER 12 LAUNCHING CLIPS 154 2 Audio 3 Audio 4 MIDI 2 Limon 3 Set up Follow Actions for the first clip You will want to make Follow Action Time equal to the clip s length Set the Follow Action A chooser to Play Next Clip with a Chance setting of 1 leaving Follow Action B alone Now this clip is set up to advance to the looping clip after it plays 4 Activate the Loop switch for the second clip The first clip will now proceed to the second after it has played in its entirety the second clip will simply play in a loop until it is stopped 12 6 2 Creating Cycles One of the most obvious possibilities that Follow Actions open up is using a group of samples to form a musical cycle If we organize several clips as a group and use the Play Next Clip Follow Action with each clip they will play one after the other ad infinitum or until we tell them to stop Cycles can be peppered with occasional rearrangements through the addition of other Follow Actions such as Play Any Clip with smaller relative Chance settings 12 6 3 Temporarily Looping Clips There are some interesting applications of Follow Actions when it comes to creating tem porary musical loops Creating a Group With the Two Clips CHAPTER 12 LAUNCHING CLIPS 155 The default setting for Follow Action is
285. movement of a control across the song timeline is called automation a control whose value changes in the course of this timeline is automated Practically all mixer and device controls in Live can be automated including the song tempo 18 1 Recording Automation Creating automation is straightforward All changes of a control that occur while the Control Bar s Record switch is on become automation Try recording automation for a control for instance a mixer volume slider After recording play back what you have just recorded to see and hear the effect of the control movement You will notice that a little LED has appeared in the slider thumb to indicate that the control is now automated Try recording automation for track panning and the Track Activator switch as well their automation LEDs appear in their upper left corners CHAPTER 18 AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES 226 main comp 1 4 1Comps S e FFT RT PTT STEP ETT FT PT r m men nn wil 18 2 Deleting Automation To delete automation data PC Mac on an automated control to open its context menu and select Delete Automation The automation LED disappears and the control s value stays constant across the entire song You can also delete automation by editing breakpoint envelopes 18 3 Overriding Automation In practice you will often want to try out new control moves without overwriting existing automation data Well nothing is forever in t
286. mpier Oi On Al We might be bothered by the fact that muting the pad track by turning off its Activator switch also mutes the other MIDI track To be precise the other track keeps playing but its MIDI is played by an instrument that is out of the mix This can be easily remedied by cutting the clips from the pad track and pasting them into a third track that can be independently muted and that can hold its own MIDI effects The original pad track now acts as a mere instrument container As we are not recording new clips into this track we can set its Input Type chooser to No Input which makes its Arm button disappear and helps to avoid confusion when the mixer s In Out section is hidden Tapping Individual Outs From an Instrument Some software instruments like Live s Impulse percussion sampler offer multiple audio outputs for the signals they produce By default Impulse mixes the output of its eight sample slots internally and delivers the mix at the instrument s audio out Any audio effects following Impulse in the same track process the composite signal Sometimes it is desirable to take an individual drum sound out of the mix for individual effects processing and mixing This is possible because Impulse offers its sample slots as audio sources to other tracks The Instrument Has Been Isolated in a Dedicated Track CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 173 1 Audio 2 Snare 3 MIDI 4 Bass Audio From Audio F
287. mpo can be used as long as it is within the range allowed by Live s Tempo control 20 999 BPM To assign a time signature to a scene rename the scene with a meter in the form of x y e g 4 4 Any time signature can be used provided it has a numerator between 1 and 99 and a denominator with a beat value of 1 2 4 8 or 16 Tempo and time signature changes can coexist within a single scene name and can appear in any position as long as they are separated from each other by at least one character For example 2 4 108 BPM 72 BPM 7 8 and 60 BPM Chorus 3 4 are all scene names that will cause simultaneous meter and tempo changes 4 BASS 3 4 96 BPM gt BASS _ BONGOs 108 BPM 7 16 gt BASS BONGOS C main groove Bridge 6 8 112 BPM BASS CHG Wang mo back beat 120BPM Outro 4 4 Scenes with tempo and or time signature changes in their names will have a colored Scene These Scenes Will Change the Tempo and Time Signature CHAPTER 7 SESSION VIEW 88 Launch button 7 3 The Track Status Fields You can tell a track s status by looking at the Track Status field just above the active track s mixer controls eo MAA The pie chart icon in a clip track represents a looping Session clip The number to the right of the circle is the loop length in beats and the number at the left represents how many times the loop has been played since its
288. n that track with LED rings to automatically show you the levels on the selected parameter Four buttons below the dials give you additional control options Clip Track lets you switch between viewing the devices on a track or the properties of a track s clip in the currently selected scene Device On Off turns the currently selected device on or off Device Left and Device Right indicated by two arrows shift you one step sideways along a track s device chain Some effects or virtual instruments have more than eight parameters When holding down CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 328 the Shift button these eight buttons let you select eight banks of eight device parameter controls For more information see the Control Surface Reference Lesson 25 6 Transport and Global Buttons Live s Play Stop and Global Record buttons are all easily accessible and four global buttons access Live s functions cleaning up your screen view onstage and freeing you from the mouse in the studio STi e Detail View opens and closes the Clip Track View so you can see more of your clips e Record Quantization lets you toggle input quantization between none and the last selected quantization setting Transport and Global Controls CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 329 e MIDI Overdub lets you overdub on a MIDI clip e Metronome turns the metronome on and off 25 7 Track Control The Track Control section covers pan settings or send levels f
289. n the Session View You can capture an interesting moment as a new scene and move on changing clip properties and trying clip combinations Please note that the number of scenes is limited to eight in Live Intro 7 5 Recording Sessions into the Arrangement Your Session View playing can be recorded into the Arrangement allowing for an improvi sational approach to composing songs and scores CHAPTER 7 SESSION VIEW 91 gt gt mie ove Se Bar d When the Record button is on Live logs all of your actions into the Arrangement e the clips launched e changes of those clips properties e changes of the mixer and the devices controls also known as automation e tempos and time signature changes if they are included in the names of launched scenes To finish recording press the Record button again or stop playback W KEY MID 2 D g To view the results of your recording bring up the Arrangement View As you can see Live has copied the clips you launched during recording into the Arrangement in the appropriate tracks and the correct song positions Notice that your recording has not created new audio data only clips The Session clips and the Arrangement clips in one track are mutually exclusive Only one can play at atime When a Session clip is launched Live stops playing back the Arrangement in favor of the Session clip Clicking a Clip Stop button causes the Arrangement playback to stop which produces silence
290. n the display which can be useful for finding the spectrum of short peaks As you increase the Avg value the display updates more smoothly providing an average of the spectrum over time This is more consistent with the way we actually hear The Graph button switches between displaying the spectrum as a single interpolated line and discrete frequency bins The Scale X buttons allow you to toggle the scaling of the frequency display between linear logarithmic and semitone Note that logarithmic and semitone are actually the same The Spectrum Device CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 279 scaling but switch the legending at the top of the display between Hertz and note names Linear scaling is particularly useful for detailed analysis of high frequencies As you move your mouse over Spectrum s display a box appears that shows the amplitude frequency and note name at the pointer s position The Range Auto button at the bottom left of Spectrum s interface toggles between manually and automatically adjusting the display s dynamic range With Range selected you can zoom and scroll the amplitude by moving your mouse over the amplitude legending on the display s left side Drag vertically to scroll and horizontally to zoom You can also use the Range sliders to set the minimum and maximum amplitude values shown With Auto selected the display automatically scales itself based on the incoming audio level Note that in Auto mode the
291. n with the rest of the project In most cases the effects of this behavior will be completely inaudible The neutrality of bypassed effects is tested by loading one instance of each of Live s effects devices into an audio track deactivating them and then rendering the output of the track The rendered file is then compared to the rendered output of the same track with no loaded devices Phase cancellation testing of the two files confirms that they are identical 30 2 9 Routing The routing of signals within Live is a neutral operation The signal at the routing destination will be identical to the signal at the routing source It is important to note that Live s flexible routing architecture allows for a variety of scenarios including routing from before or after any track s effects or mixer and tapping the output of individual sample slots within the Impulse instrument In these cases it is likely that the signal heard at the output point will be different from the signal heard prior to routing because it has been tapped before reaching the end of its original signal chain 30 2 10 Splitting Clips Clips which are already neutral will remain neutral after splitting Splitting only affects playback position within the sample and has no effect on the sample data itself Playback across a split boundary is seamless and sample accurate The neutrality of clip splitting is tested under a variety of conditions e splitting unwarped clips with l
292. name implies Start defines where sample playback starts The sample will play for the length defined by the Length parameter Both parameters are defined as a percentage of the whole region so setting start to 25 percent and length to 50 percent for example will start playback 1 4 of the way through the sample and stop playback at the 3 4 mark using 50 percent of the sample Samples are played by Simpler as one shots or as loops depending on whether or not the Loop switch is active When looping is active the Loop control dictates the length of the loop starting from the end of the playing sample Simpler will play the first instance of a looped sample beginning with the Start point then continue playing only the loop region When the sample s start or end points are moved Simpler will try to preserve the loop length for as long as possible by automatically adjusting the Start Loop and Length settings It is possible for glitches or pops to occur between a looped sample s start and end points due to the discontinuity in waveform amplitude i e the sample s loudness The Snap switch will help mitigate these by forcing Simpler s loop markers to snap to zero crossing points in the sample points where the amplitude is zero Note Snapping is based on the left channel of stereo samples It is therefore still possible even with Snap activated to encounter glitches with stereo samples The transition from loop end to loop start can
293. nd End Fades Sample iL The Clip Fade switch when enabled applies a short fade to the clip start and end to avoid clicks at the clip edges The length of the fade is signal dependent and ranges from 0 4 milliseconds This switch is only available for clips in Session View In Arrangement View clip fades are adjusted via envelopes The Clip Fade switch is on by default for all new clips when the Create Fades on Clip Edges option is enabled in the Record Warp Launch Preferences Launct Auto Warp Long Samples CPU Default Warp Mode Create Fades on Clip Edges one Licenses Launc The Clip Fade Switch Automatically Create Short Fades At Clip Edges CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 109 8 2 8 Clip RAM Mode If the RAM Mode switch is on Live is loading the audio referenced by the clip into the computer s memory rather than reading it from disk in real time RAM Mode can help with these problems e Your computer s hard disk is too slow to deliver audio for as many tracks as desired in real time For more information on disk related problems please refer to Managing the Disk Load e You are experiencing audio dropouts when playing clips in Legato Mode Use RAM Mode with care as RAM is usually a scarce resource Your computer is using the hard disk for swapping out RAM contents that have not been used in a while The more clips you are running in RAM Mode the higher the likelihood for them to be swapped out Live can handle disk
294. nd Forth Each segment of audio between transients plays to its end Playback then reverses until it reaches a zero crossing near the middle of the segment and then proceeds again towards the end of the segment This pattern continues until the time when the next transient occurs This mode in conjunction with the Preserve Transients selection can often result in very good quality at slower tempos CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 127 The Transient Envelope slider applies a volume fade to each segment of audio At 100 there is no fade At 0 each segment decays very quickly Long envelope times can help to smooth clicks at the end of segments while short times can be used to apply rhythmic gating effects 9 3 2 Tones Mode Tones Mode serves well for stretching material with a more or less clear pitch structure such as vocals monophonic instruments and basslines Grain Size provides rough control over the average grain size used The actual grain size is determined in a signal dependent manner For signals with a clear sense of pitch contour a small grain size works best Larger grain sizes help avoid artifacts that can occur when the pitch contour is unclear but the tradeoff can be audible repetitions 9 3 3 Texture Mode Texture Mode works well for sound textures with an ambiguous pitch contour e g poly phonic orchestral music noise atmospheric pads etc It also offers rich potential for manipulating all kinds of so
295. nd changing its loop properties Arm the track 5 Launch the clip Note that holding PC Mac while double clicking the empty slot to create The notes you play are added into the looping clip and you can observe your recording in the Clip View By default the Control Bar s Overdub switch is activated so that you can build your pattern layer by layer However if you would like to pause recording for a moment to rehearse you can deactivate the Overdub switch The contents of the clip will continue to play but you can play along without being recorded When you are ready to record again simply turn on the Overdub switch Stop recording by pressing a Clip Stop button or the Stop button in the Control Bar a new clip will implicitly arm the track and launch the clip At any time while overdub recording is going on you can use the Undo command to remove the last take or even draw move or delete notes in the Clip View s Note Editor Note that you can also add notes to existing Session clips while the Overdub switch is on CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 195 15 3 4 MIDI Step Recording The MIDI Editor allows you to record notes with the transport stopped by holding down keys on your controller or computer MIDI keyboard and advancing the insert marker according to the grid settings This process known as step recording allows you to enter notes at your own pace without needing to listen to a metronome or
296. nd the lengths of their clips e g the tails of Reverb effects These frozen tails will appear in the Arrangement as crosshatched regions located adjacent to their corresponding clips They are treated by Live as separate temporary clips that disappear when unfrozen since the effect is then calculated in real time Therefore when moving a frozen clip in the Arrangement you will usually want to select the second frozen tail clip as well so that the two remain together For frozen Session clips only two loop cycles are included in the frozen clip which means that clips with unlinked clip envelopes may play back differently after two loop cycles when frozen The samples generated by the Freeze Track command are stored in your temporary recording folder until you save your Live Set at which point they are moved to the following project folder sub directory Samples Processed Freeze CHAPTER 29 COMPUTER AUDIO RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES 362 You can also decide to flatten frozen tracks which completely replaces the original clips and devices with their audible result The Flatten command is available from the Edit menu Besides providing an opportunity to conserve CPU resources on tracks containing a large number of devices the Track Freeze command simplifies sharing projects between comput ers Computers that are a bit low on processing power can be used to run large Live Sets as long as any CPU intensive tracks are frozen
297. ne can for instance improvise with Session clips and record a log of the improvisation into the Arrangement for further refinement This works because Arrangement and Session are connected via tracks 4 3 Tracks Tracks host clips and also manage the flow of signals as well as the creation of new clips through recording sound synthesis effects processing and mixing 2Chords ai m Auto Filter F a A Track in the Arrangement View The Session and Arrangement share the same set of tracks In the Session View the tracks are laid out vertically from left to right while in the Arrangement View they are horizontal from top to bottom A simple rule governs the cohabitation of clips in a track A track can only play one clip at a time Therefore one usually puts clips that should play alternatively in the same Session View column and spreads out clips that should play together across tracks in rows or what we call scenes Fm _ 1 Bass 2 Chords 3 Rhodes 4 Perc s 5 Beats 6 Crash Master synth 1 rhodes groovy Intro gt Verset A Scene in the Session Bass A gt rhodes groovy Drums c Crash Verse2 View CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 13 The exclusivity of clips in a track also implies that at any one time a track will either play a Session clip or an Arrangement clip bu
298. new location e If the target location is not empty but does not contain a Library Live will create a subfolder called Library at this location and then offer to copy move the old Library contents In all three of these cases you may also choose to create a new Library without copying or moving any content from the previous location Live will then offer to install any default packages to the new location e If the target location is a Library that was made with an older version of Live you will be warned about possible compatibility issues It is generally not a good idea to try to share a single Library between two different versions of Live Note Live will not allow you to create a Library inside an existing Project CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 59 Live Pack To the right of the Change Location button is the Repair Library button If you have modified your Library outside of Live within another version of Live or on a different computer or if you are missing some of the Ableton content you can use this function to update the factory content and refresh the Library s metadata Note that this may take some time 5 7 2 Importing Projects into the Library You can merge the contents of a Live Project into the Library to make them available to any Project To do this PC 6 Mac on a Project folder in the File Browser and select the Manage Project command 5 8 Locating Missing Files If you load a Live
299. new sample has the exact same length as the old sample The Sample Display s PC Mac context menu includes the Manage Sample File command This opens the File Manager for the current Set with the sample referenced by the clip selected From there you can replace and destructively edit the sample in such a way that all clips and instruments referencing the sample will be affected You can also use the Show in Browser command in the PC 6 Mac context menu to reveal the file in the Browser 8 3 The Notes Box Orig BPM Start Sel 140 00 af aif 4 Da e Bank 16 44 None s Sub Bank Loop None Position Ga 1 1 Program IL 18 J Length Get 16 oj 0 8 3 1 Tempo Controls The Orig BPM field displays Live s interpretation of the tempo at which the clip s MIDI was recorded When dragging up or down in the Original BPM field or clicking the 2 and 2 buttons you will see that the notes in the MIDI Editor are correspondingly stretched or compressed This is useful for aligning notes that you have recorded without a tempo reference like Live s metronome The Notes Box CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 112 8 3 2 Bank and Program Change Live can send MIDI bank program change messages to external devices and plug ins that support MIDI program change messages According to the settings in these controls launching a clip also sends its bank program change message If yo
300. ng e collecting external files into the Project e listing unused files in the Project e packing a Project in Live Pack format e exporting the Project s contents to the Library 5 7 The Live Library The Live Library acts as a repository of commonly used files such as samples clips and Live Device Presets that are available to all Live Projects In Live s File Browsers the Library is accessible through a bookmark C Multisampies E Musik E Sampies Clips can be conveniently saved in Live Clip format for later reuse by dragging them from the open Live Set into the desired folder in the Library Device presets are saved in the Library by default but you can also save them with a Project Ableton delivers Library content that can serve as a starting point for creative exploration Content is shipped in the form of Factory Live Packs Factory Live Packs are available from installation CDs DVDs or the Ableton website To install a Factory Live Pack in the Library double click the Live Pack file alp drag it into the Live main window or locate it via the File menu s Install Live Pack command 7http www ableton com downloads Choosing the Library Bookmark CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 57 A list of the currently installed Factory Live Packs is available from the Preferences Library tab Here you can select Live Packs from the list and click the Uninstall button to remove them Multiple Live Packs c
301. nnot play the sample before it has been analyzed This will not happen if the sample has already been analyzed i e Live finds an analysis file for this sample or if the Record Warp Launch Preferences Auto Warp Long Samples preference has been deactivated To prevent waiting for analysis of longer samples you can pre analyze them via the Browser as we will see in a moment An analysis file can also store default clip settings for the sample Clicking the Clip View s Save button will store the current clip s settings with the sample s analysis file The next time the sample is dragged into Live it will appear with all its clip settings intact This is particularly useful for retaining Warp Marker settings with the sample Storing default clip settings with the analysis file is different from saving the clip as a Live Clip While analysis files are a handy way to store default information about a particular sample s settings keep in mind that you can use different settings for each clip within a Live Set even if those clips refer to the same sample on disk But if you drag a new version of the sample into a Live Set Live will use the settings stored in the analysis file for the newly created clip Preferences for the Decoding and Web Cache CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 41 The analysis file s name is the same as that of the associated sample with an added asd extension Live puts this analysis file in the same
302. not want to record over and allows you to set up a pre roll or warm up time The punch in point is identical to the Arrangement Loop s start position 5 Likewise to prevent recording after the punch out point activate the Punch Out switch The punch out point is identical to the Arrangement Loop s end position 6 When you are recording into the Arrangement Loop Live retains the audio recorded during each pass You can later unroll a loop recording either by repeatedly using the Edit menu s Undo command or graphically in the Clip View After loop recording double click on the new clip In the Clip View s Sample Display you can see a long sample containing all audio recorded during the loop recording process The Clip View s loop brace defines the audio taken in the last pass moving the markers left lets you audition the audio from previous passes 15 3 2 Recording Into Session Slots You can record new clips on the fly into any Session slots CHAPTER 15 RECORDING NEW CLIPS 193 4 3 2 1 Recording a New Clip Into the Session View 1 Set the Global Quantization chooser to any value other than None to obtain correctly cut clips 2 Activate the Arm button for the tracks onto which you want to record Clip Record buttons will appear in the empty slots of the armed tracks 3 Click on any of the Clip Record buttons to commence recording A new clip will appear in the slot with a red Clip Launch
303. ns in the Control Bar Arrangement Playback Begins from the Insert Marker CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 71 menu setting While the mouse is held down over the scrub area a portion of the Arrangement the size of the chosen quantization setting will be repeatedly played With small quantization settings or a setting of None this allows you to scrub through the music When the Permanent Scrub Areas preference is off you can still scrub by 4 __ clicking anywhere in the scrub area or in the beat time ruler r 7 5 7 4 Bass Bass Bass Bass guitarchord guitarchora guitarchord Scrubbing Arrangement 420_KRid 20_KRid modes rnodes2 modes rnodes2 I Playback 4 The song position can be adjusted numerically using the Control Bar s Arrange ment Position fields Setting the Play Position in the Arrangement Position Fields gt 17 1 1 ove 1Bar GC The Arrangement Position fields show the song position in bars beats sixteenths To change the values e Click and drag up or down in any of these fields e Click and type a number then hit Return e Click and decrement or increment the value with and 4 5 Arrangement playback can be started at a particular point in one of your clips using the scrub area in the Clip View 6 Several Arrangement playback positions can be set using launchable locators Note that any computer keyboard key or MIDI message can be mapped to th
304. nto tracks or drop areas in the Session and Arrangement Views or into the Track View Dragging a sample to the Track View of a MIDI track creates a Simpler instrument with this sample loaded Note If you are using an external input signal to feed your Live track using the default settings the track s Arm button in the mixer must be activated in order to hear the input through the devices in your track s device chain On MIDI tracks this is normally activated automatically when inserting an instrument The Live Device Browser CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 203 G 7 LILII ITITITI B This is how you would play live instruments through effects on a track for example or use a MIDI keyboard s input to play a track s instrument Note that you can easily move from this setup into recording new clips for further use in Live If you have alternative monitoring preferences please see the Monitoring section to learn how to make these settings To add another device to the track simply drag it there or double click its name to append it to the device chain Signals in a device chain always travel from left to right You can drop audio effects in at any point in an audio track s device chain keeping in mind that the order of effects determines the resulting sound The same is true for a MIDI track s device chain If you drop an instrument into a MIDI track s device chain be aware that signals following to the
305. o Rendering Options Normalize Render as Loop on tie dal The Export dialog offers several audio rendering options Normalize If this is activated the sample resulting from the render process will be normalized i e the file will be amplified so that the highest peak attains the maximum available headroom Render as Loop If this is activated Live will create a sample that can be used as a loop For example suppose your Live Set uses a delay effect If Render as Loop is on Live will go through the rendering process twice The first pass will not actually write samples to disk but add the specified delay effect As the second pass starts writing audio to disk it will include the delay tail resulting from the first pass File Type Bit Depth Sample Rate These options specify the type of sample to be created Convert to Mono If this is activated Live will create a mono file instead of a stereo file Dither Options If you are rendering at a bit depth lower than 32 bit choose one of Audio Rendering Options CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 44 the dither modes Dithering adds a small amount of noise to rendered audio but min imizes artifacts when reducing the bit depth By default Triangular is selected which is the safest mode to use if there is any possibility of doing additional processing on your file Rectangular mode introduces an even smalle
306. ol With the Hold parameter active Arpeggiator will continue to play the pattern even after the keyboard keys have been released The pattern will be repeated until any other key is pressed When Hold is active and any of the original keys also remain physically held notes CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 285 can be added to the pattern simply by playing them Notes can also be removed from the pattern in this scenario by playing them a second time allowing the gradual buildup and rearrangement of the pattern over time Tip If you want the pattern to stop playing momentarily deactivate Hold The Offset parameter shifts the sequence of notes in the pattern by the number of places selected with the control This is best illustrated with an example A setting of 1 makes the second note in the pattern play first and the first note last If you imagine the pattern as a circle of notes that is played in a clockwise direction from a set start point the Offset parameter effectively rotates this circle counter clockwise one note at a time changing where in the pattern play begins With the Repeats parameter the pattern can be set to repeat a specified number of times until it is retriggered A setting of inf will repeat the pattern indefinitely Hint This feature provides an excellent way of emulating the strum of a guitar or playing a chord as an arpeggio once or twice Another interesting effect can be achieved by combinin
307. ol lends the sound stereo movement by offsetting their waveforms relative to each other Set this to 180 and the LFOs will be perfectly out of phase 180 degrees apart so that when one reaches its peak the other is at its minimum Phase is particularly effective for creating vibrato effects The Offset control shifts the start point of each LFO along its waveform The device s influence on incoming signals is set with the Amount control 20 3 Beat Repeat Beat Repeat 0 0625 0 125 0 1875 EN C ray C 116 Q Repeat mo 14 o A ins Gate Chance Gate Pitch Pitch Decay Volume Decay YO MA Q 6 316 Ost 100 4 1 dB 46 5 Beat Repeat allows for the creation of controlled or randomized repetitions of an incoming signal The Beat Repeat Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 248 The Interval control defines how often Beat Repeat captures new material and begins re peating it Interval is synced to and set in terms of the song tempo with values ranging from 1 32 to 4 Bars The Offset control shifts the point defined by Interval forward in time If Interval is set to 1 Bar for example and Offset to 8 16 material will be captured for repetition once per bar on the third beat i e halfway or eight sixteenths of the way through the bar You can add randomness to the process using the Chance control which defines the likeli hood of re
308. ommands When working with automation data the Edit menu commands behave differently depend ing on whether or not your selection is within the clip track or its automation lanes CHAPTER 18 AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES 231 To copy cut delete or duplicate automation from a track independent of the associated clip make sure the parameter you want to work with is in its own lane Any edit commands applied to an envelope selection within a single lane will only apply to this envelope The clip itself will be unaffected You can also work with envelopes in multiple lanes simultaneously If you want your edits to apply to both the clip and all of its associated envelopes apply edit commands to a selection in the clip track Note that Live allows you to copy and paste envelope movements not only from one point in time to another but also from one parameter to another Since the parameters may be completely unrelated this can have unexpected but possibly interesting results 18 4 5 Editing the Tempo Automation The ability to dynamically stretch and compress audio to track any tempo or tempo variation is one of Live s specialties In Live the song tempo is just another automated control To edit the song tempo envelope unfold the Master track choose Mixer from the top envelope chooser and Song Tempo from the bottom one 4 5 The Tempo Envelope When adjusting the tempo envelope you might want to scale the value axis
309. ompletely different We choose the File menu s New command and record a samba tune As this has nothing to do with our tango dabblings we decide CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 53 to save it outside the Tango Project folder say on the Desktop Live creates a new project folder named Samba Project next to Tango Project v PD Recorded Erg 0001 1 Guitar wav Erg 0001 2 Accordion wav Erg 0001 3 Piano wav I gt B Tango with Piano als A New Project Was Added Next to Tango Project So far we have seen how to create Live Projects and save versions of Live Sets into them How do we open a Project Simply by opening any of its contained Live Sets Double clicking Tango with Piano als opens that Set and the associated Project as displayed in Live s title bar Let s suppose that in the course of our work on Tango with Piano als we get sidetracked The piece evolves towards something entirely different and we feel that it should live in a Project of its own So we Save As under a new name and in some location outside the current Project say the Desktop CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 54 v E Tango Project v Samples v amr Recorded Erg 0001 1 Guitar wav Erg 0001 2 Accordion wav Erg 0001 3 Piano wav gt Tango with Piano als b M Tananais Note that the new project folder has no Samples folder yet Electro with Piano als is still referencing the piano sample from th
310. omputer is just coasting along If the percentage is 100 percent the processing is being maxed out it s likely that you will hear gaps clicks or other audio problems Note that the CPU meter takes into account only the load from processing audio not other tasks the computer performs e g managing Live s user interface Audio calculations have the highest priority in Live Therefore even if the CPU shows a high percentage of processor usage the audio stream should remain uninterrupted However non critical functions such as screen redraws might slow down because these tasks are handled only when the audio processing lightens up a bit 29 1 1 CPU Load from Multichannel Audio One source of constant CPU drain is the process of moving data to and from the audio hardware This drain can be minimized by disabling any inputs and outputs that are not required in a project There are two buttons in the Audio Preferences to access the Input and Output Configuration dialogs which allow activating or deactivating individual ins and outs Live does not automatically disable unused channels because the audio hardware drivers usually produce an audible hiccup when there is a request for an audio configuration change The CPU Load Meter CHAPTER 29 COMPUTER AUDIO RESOURCES AND STRATEGIES 360 29 1 2 CPU Load from Tracks and Devices Generally every track and device being used in Live incurs some amount of CPU load However L
311. on CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 213 in the panel s X Y field These entries are removed when you adjust another param eter To make the entry permanent thus adding it to Live s panel either edit the parameter s automation or clip envelope select another parameter in the automation or clip envelope choosers or select the temporary parameter in one of the X Y field s choosers When a parameter is changed on a plug in s edit window during recording automation data is recorded automatically When recording is stopped the automated parameters are automatically added to Live s panels for any plug ins that were adjusted When in MIDI key or Macro mapping mode adjusting any parameter in the plug in s window will create it in Live s panel The new panel entry will be automatically selected allowing you to map it immediately Once a plug in is placed in a track and you have optionally configured its parameters in Live s panel you can use it just like a Live device You can map MIDI controller messages to all of the parameters in Live s panel You can drag or copy the device to different locations in the device chain or to other tracks according to the rules of audio effects and instruments You can modulate its continuous parameters with clip envelopes You can use the multiple I O features of some plug ins by assigning them as sources or targets in the routing setup of tracks See the Routing and O
312. on Loop Position aa i i i A MIDI Clip s Properties as Displayed in the Clip View 4 7 Devices and the Mixer A track can have not only clips but also a chain of devices for processing signals Double clicking a track s title bar brings up the Track View which shows the track s device chain CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 17 v E Dynamic Tube Ableton Devici il il i o7 Il o E EQ Eight Ableton Devic Q i Rate LFO BS Filter Freq Bere CO 1 94 r PitchEnv Spread Transpose Pix GQ Ost Time Tone Volume e N dB amp FOR i e e Bas a egegejey amp ey The Track View Displaying a MIDI Track s Device Chain Live s built in audio effects MIDI effects and instruments are available from the Device Browser and can be added to tracks by dragging them from there into the Track View or into a Session or Arrangement track gt E Electric gt E External instrument gt E Impulse gt E Operator gt E Sampler gt E Simpler gt E Tension gt 5 MDI effects v P Audio Effects gt E Audio Effect Rack v E Auto Filter Live s Built in Devices 26 11 2007 12 04 Are Available from the Device Browser You can also use plug in devices in Live VST and Audio Units Mac OS X only Plug ins are CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 18 available from the Plug In Device Browser v P Bram Smartelectronix gt E s Mjexoscope
313. ons 22 2 5 Filter The Filter section offers classic 12 dB or 24 dB lowpass bandpass and highpass filters as well as a notch filter each of which can impart different sonic characteristics onto the sample by removing certain frequencies from the waveform The most important parameters are the typical synth controls Frequency and Resonance Frequency determines where in the harmonic spectrum the filter is applied Resonance boosts frequencies near that point The best way to understand the effects of these controls is simply to play with them The Frequency parameter can be modulated by an LFO note velocity and an envelope each of which have an amount control in the Filter section The Key tracking control allows for shifting the filter s frequency according to note pitch 22 2 6 LFO The LFO low frequency oscillator section offers sine square triangle sawtooth down sawtooth up and random waveforms The LFO run freely at frequencies between 0 01 and CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 300 30 Hz or sync to divisions of the Set s tempo LFOs are applied individually to each voice or played note in Simpler The Key parameter scales each LFO s Rate in proportion to the pitch of incoming notes A high Key setting assigns higher notes a higher LFO rate If Key is set to zero all voices LFOs have the same rate and may just differ in their phase The LFO will modulate the filter pitch panorama and volume according
314. ontrol of your mix as well as all soloing pre cueing muting pans sends and more The APC20 features eight tracks and a master fader all of which can be expanded with the Session Overview A Cue Level knob controls cue volume so you can pre listen to a clip or the metronome without your audience hearing it You can shift these eight tracks around the Session View Press the right or left buttons to move incrementally one track at a time In the Session Overview you can jump in blocks of eight tracks at a time Transport and Global Controls CHAPTER 26 USING THE APC20 338 ae _ gt i abteton The Vol Pan Send A Send B Send C User 1 User 2 and User 3 buttons provide additional control possibilities by re assigning the eight faders to the selected function Selecting Pan for example lets you use the eight faders to control track pan setting To change the functionality of the faders simply hold down the Shift button and select the parameter you want to control The selected parameter bank will light up red showing you that it s selected When you release the shift button the faders will remain locked to the corresponding function The user banks let you use Live s MIDI Map Mode to customize what the banks of faders control Try mapping tempo or the global groove amount to your faders The Master fader works as a master fader in all modes Mixer Controls CHAPTER 26 USING THE APC20 339 26 6 Note Mod
315. oop on and off e splitting warped but unstretched clips with loop on and off CHAPTER 30 AUDIO FACT SHEET 369 In all cases output is rendered and compared with the output of an unsplit version of the same source Phase cancellation testing of the two files confirms that they are identical 30 3 Non Neutral Operations Procedures in Live that will cause a change in audio quality are referred to as non neutral operations Users can be guaranteed that using these operations will cause at least some change to the signal Applying non neutral operations to files imported into Live ensures that the imported audio will differ from the files saved on disk Applying non neutral operations to files being exported from Live ensures that what you hear during realtime playback will be different from what will end up in your new file Non neutral operations include 30 3 1 Sample rate conversion transposition Sample rate conversion during both real time playback and rendering is a non neutral operation Playback of audio files at a sample rate that is different from the rate set in Live s Preferences window will cause signal degradation Transposition is also a form of sample rate conversion and thus also results in non neutral behavior To minimize potential negative results it is recommended to do sample rate conversion as an offline process in another application Once the samples have been converted to the sample rate that you plan to use
316. or MIDI Ctrl MIDI controller data and every device in the track s device chain The bottom menu the Clip Envelope Control chooser selects among the controls of the item chosen in the top menu In both choosers parameters with altered clip envelopes appear with LEDs next to their names You can simplify the appearance of these choosers by selecting Show Modulated Parameters Only from either of them The quick chooser buttons below the menus select commonly edited controls Clicking the menus or the quick chooser buttons brings up the Envelope Editor showing the selected envelope instead of the Sample Display or MIDI Editor You can toggle the display by clicking on the title bars of the Sample Notes and Envelopes boxes The techniques for drawing and editing clip envelopes are the same as those for automation envelopes in the Arrangement View If you create a nice section of envelope that you want to have repeat several times try the following The Clip View s Envelopes Box CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 234 1 Enclose the desired selection in the loop brace and click the brace so that it is selected This will execute the Edit menu s Select Loop command which selects all material in the loop 2 Copy the envelope with PC Mac 3 Shift the loop brace to the right by one loop length with 4 Paste the envelope with PC Mac Note that you can use the arrow keys to quickly manipulate the loop b
317. or whichever eight tracks are currently selected It consists of eight endless dials with LED rings and four buttons Pan Send A Send B and Send C Track Controls The buttons let you select what the encoders are controlling while the encoders control the amount or depth of the pan or send levels CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 330 25 8 Tempo Control Tap Tempo and Nudge Left Right buttons are essential for live performance helping you to stay in sync with turntables other musicians or a live band and correct timing issues quickly nih As you hit the Tap Tempo button once every beat the tempo of the Live Set will follow your tapping You can also use tapping to count in If you are working in a 4 4 signature it takes four taps to start song playback at the tapped tempo On stage and in the studio you may find yourself in situations in which you need to adjust to sources that aren t locked to one tempo such as live musicians or turntables You can use the Nudge buttons to temporarily speed up or slow down Live s playback to match what you hear Tempo Control CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 331 25 9 Crossfader The APC40 s replaceable crossfader is an essential DJ control and is also handy for control ling effect volume and modulation curves Crossfader In Live you can set any track as an A or B destination and then crossfade between the A and B selections Normal wear and tear can render a crossfa
318. ording into Live with monitoring set to Off you may want to make the Audio Preferences Overall Latency adjustment which is described in the built in program tutorial on setting up the Audio Preferences If multiple tracks are selected pressing one of the Monitor buttons applies this selection to all of the selected tracks 13 2 External Audio In Out An audio interface s inputs are selected by choosing Ext In from the Input Type chooser of an audio track The Input Channel chooser then offers the individual input channels Entries in this chooser each have meters next to their names to help you identify signal presence and overload when the meter flashes red Setting up the audio interface s outputs works the same way via the output chooser pair If multiple tracks are selected any changes you make to these choosers will be applied to all selected tracks The list of available inputs and outputs depends on the Audio Preferences which can be Audio and MIDI Track Arm Buttons CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 160 1n 1 reached via the Input and Output Channel choosers Configure option Note that the Audio Preferences also provide access to the Channel Configuration dialogs which determine which inputs and outputs are used and whether they are available to Live as mono or stereo pairs Essentially the Channel Configuration dialog tells Live what it needs to know about how the computer is connected to th
319. ostswitehes ao oi oao e a 183 Nudge buttons see Clip Nudge buttons preferences cccceccceeeeeeeeees 4 o and recording clips iso cies eas 198 Preserve chooser satasackixazedawsevegan 126 offline elips iidtdiodsdippeiavepraeavndos s DE PTESETS eer iiaientasn osere ea ase sends 205 Ogg files i see samples converting Simpler to Sampler val Open Open Recent command 46 Defaults Haneda eines panadis eh Satis 207 Original BPM field a an 111 119 for specific Live Projects 55 Overdub Switch 5 ceinareehapnnes 192 194 saving with files sassis 63 Overdubbing ce eee eee ee 194 Preview SWitCh 20 es ee ee ee eee 34 130 Preview Tab 4ccisaadeagndaghonassideie daly 34 P Preview Volume knob 0005 196 previewing Packs ci picocatweds eiii niia see Live Packs in the Browser s cc0u sesreueds 34 Pan Control oisrsridsrgisicssii riistat 179 in the MIDI Editor 130 INDEX 404 Previous Locator button 0 72 recording automation 225 DIOCESSOR nent ten tene aE see CPU Redux effect scp eesaxearnsdonwennaynws 269 projects project management see Live registration 4 see Ableton Projects remote control see mapping to MIDI keys Punch In Out switches 192 Rename command in the Browser 0 0eee00 37 Q WCU DS 2s tadinvndaeihennsa eden dwar 97 quantisation with locators 68c
320. overloads more gracefully than swapped out audio arriving late Disk overloads result in unwanted mutes whereas RAM overload results in both mutes and rhythmical hiccups 8 2 9 Reversing Samples This function creates a new sample by reversing the sample referenced by the current clip It then reapplies the old clip s settings according to some rules that we will explain in a moment and replaces the original sample with the reversal in the Clip View The new sample can be found after saving the Live Set in the Set s Project folder under Samples The RAM Mode Switch The Reverse Button CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 110 Processed Reverse Until the Set is saved new samples remain at the location specified by the Temporary Folder There are a few rules for the reversing process First any Warp Markers will remain fixed to their positions in the sample This means that a Warp Marker on the downbeat of the second bar of a clip will end up on the downbeat of the second to last bar after reversal Clip loop region settings are similarly flipped Second clip envelopes remain fixed to their position in time Therefore a mixer volume envelope that lowers the volume of the first half of a clip will continue to do exactly that after reversal The reversal process is quite fast about as fast as copying but for very long samples it might take a little time When this is the case the Status Bar in the lower portion of the Live screen w
321. own in the Editor click on a section that you want to examine in the Clip Overview then drag downwards to zoom in or scroll by dragging left and right The Control Bar s Follow ra il gt m o ove F1 Bar 2 Switch The area displayed in the Note Editor can be set to scroll with playback using the Follow switch from the Control Bar When Permanent Scrub Areas is enabled in Live s Look Feel Preferences clicking in the scrub area below the beat time ruler starts playback from that point rounded by the global quantization setting When the Permanent Scrub Areas preference is off you can still scrub by 4__ clicking anywhere in the scrub area or in the beat time ruler Learning about the loop region controls and associated shortcuts can also be helpful in getting around in the MIDI Editor and playing selections quickly and easily As you work with MIDI you may find yourself needing extra screen space You can click and drag vertically on the window split between the Session or Arrangement View and the Clip View to enlarge the MIDI Editor 5 6 A B Enlarge the MIDI Editor by Dragging the o J Window Split Between Session and Clip Views CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 133 10 4 Editing MIDI 10 4 1 Non Destructive Editing You can always return your MIDI clip to its previous state by using the Edit menu s Undo command Furthermore if the MIDI clip being edite
322. p itch 0 10ms 595s 140dB 358s 0 0 c 0 00 Filter Freq Res Vel LFO Rate Attack Retrig Transp LFO Glide Spread Vel Con aaja a eea mx Type C Key Env Type Freq Key Detune Env Time Voices LP249 6 13kHh 694 B4 0 4 A RR Be Looe Oct 4 0st 4 300ms3 0 127R Simpler is an instrument that integrates the basic elements of a sampler with a set of classic synthesizer parameters A Simpler voice plays a user defined sample section which is in turn processed by envelope filter LFO volume and pitch components 22 2 1 Sample View The Sample View displays the sample waveform Samples can be dragged into Simpler either directly from the Browser or from the Session or Arrangement View in the form of clips In the latter case Simpler will utilize only the section of the sample demarcated by the clip s start end or loop markers Samples can be replaced by dragging in a new sample or by activating the integrated Hot Swap button Note When playing instruments from Ableton s Essential Instrument Collection 2 Simpler runs in Multisample Mode The Sample View has no function in this mode The Simpler Instrument CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 298 22 2 2 Sample Controls Simpler plays a specific region or loop of the sample as determined by a group of sample controls The Start and Length controls work together to specify where Simpler begins and ends its sweep of the sample As the
323. ped clips in the Arrangement View have one further option They can be defined as tempo masters by toggling their Master Slave switches Any number of clips can be set as tempo masters but only one clip at a time can actually be the tempo master This distinction is always granted to the bottom most currently playing clip in the Arrangement View The clip that is the current tempo master will play as if warping was off but with one important difference the rest of the Live Set will be warped so that it plays in sync with the current tempo master This is achieved by adding tempo automation to the Master track for the duration of the tempo master clip You will notice that the Tempo field in Live s Control Bar becomes disabled in this state this is because all tempo control is handed over to the tempo master clip When toggling a clip s Master Slave switch or when deleting a clip that was set as tempo master the Master track tempo automation is removed again restoring the proper tempo to the region If you wish instead to keep the generated tempo automation to continue working with it then PC Mac on the Control Bar s Tempo field and choose the Unslave Tempo Automation command All clips will then be set to Slave but the tempo automation will remain in place 9 2 2 Warp Markers Think of a sample as a rubber band that you want to pin to a musical time ruler In Live the pins are called Warp Markers A Warp Marker locks
324. petitions actually taking place when Interval and Offset ask for them If Chance is set to 100 percent repetitions will always take place at the given Interval Offset time if set to zero there will be no repetitions Gate defines the total length of all repetitions in sixteenth notes If Gate is set to 4 16 the repetitions will occur over the period of one beat starting at the position defined by Interval and Offset Activating the Repeat button bypasses all of the above controls immediately capturing material and repeating it until deactivated The Grid control defines the grid size the size of each repeated slice If set to 1 16 a slice the size of one sixteenth note will be captured and repeated for the given Gate length or until Repeat is deactivated Large grid values create rhythmic loops while small values create sonic artifacts The No Triplets button sets grid division as binary Grid size can be changed randomly using the Variation control If Variation is set to 0 grid size is fixed But when Variation is set to higher values the grid fluctuates considerably around the set Grid value Variation has several different modes available in the chooser below Trigger creates variations of the grid when repetitions are triggered 1 4 1 8 and 1 16 trigger variations in regular intervals and Auto forces Beat Repeat to apply a new random variation after each repetition the most complex form of grid va
325. pitch range are limited based on their untransposed pitch prior to the transposition stage of the effect CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 289 21 5 Random Random Chance 0 100 E Choices Scale M 1 Le Random adds an element of the unknown to the otherwise commonplace pitch parameter The Chance control defines the likelihood that an incoming note s pitch will be changed by a random value You can think of it as being something like a dry wet control for randomness The random value that determines the pitch change is created by two variables The Choices control defines the number of different random notes possible from a range of 1 to 24 the Scale control value is multiplied by the Choices control value and the result dictates the pitches that random notes are allowed to have relative to that of the incoming note For example if you play the note C3 with Chance set to 50 percent Choices set to 1 and Scale set to 12 half of the resulting notes will play at C3 and half will play at C4 But with Chance set to 50 percent Choices set to 12 and Scale set to 1 half of the resulting notes will play at C3 and half will play at one of any semitone that is between C 3 and C4 These examples assume that the Sign buttons are set to Add and the Mode button is set to Rnd The Sign controls decide whether the random alteration adds to the original note s pitch subtracts from it or does a little of both
326. ple before it has been analyzed Please see the section on analysis for an explanation 5 2 1 The Decoding and Web Cache To save computational resources Live keeps the decoded sample files of compressed sam ples in the cache Maintenance of the cache is normally not required as Live automatically deletes older files to make room for those that are new You can however impose limits on the cache size using the File Folder Preferences Decoding amp Web Cache section The cache will not grow larger than the Maximum Cache Size setting and it will always leave the Minimum Free Space on the hard disk Pressing the nearby Cleanup button will delete all files not being used by the current Live Set Thttp www apple com quicktime download CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 40 File Folder Decoding amp Web Cache Record Minimum Free Space 500 00 MB Warp Maximum Cache Size Off 10 00 GB Launch Cache Folder CPU C Documents and Settings dds Application Data Ableton Cache Cache User Account Plug in Sources Licenses 5 2 2 Analysis Files asd An analysis file is a little file that Live creates when a sample file is brought into the program for the first time The analysis file contains data gathered by Live to help optimize the stretching quality soeed up the waveform display and automatically detect the tempo of long samples When adding a long sample to a project Live might tell you that it ca
327. pressor reacts to short peaks within a signal RMS mode causes Compressor to be less sensitive to very short peaks and compress only when the incoming level has exceeded the threshold for a slightly longer time Opto mode results in a non linear release curve Specifically the release behavior is faster initially and slows down as the gain reduc tion approaches zero So which type should you use There s no right answer of course but there are some common uses for each mode Peak mode is more aggressive and pre CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 253 cise and so works well for limiting tasks where you need to ensure that there are absolutely no signals over the set threshold RMS is closer to how people actually perceive loudness and is usually considered more musical Opto mode because of its non linear release time is often considered smooth and natural sounding Opto compressors are commonly used on vocals bass and electric guitar But as always when it comes to compression trust your ears and not the meters In addition to the EF modes Compressor offers three Model types that offer further options for how the device measures and responds to signal levels FF1 and FF2 are both feed forward models which analyze the loudness of the incoming signal These are the models used in the former Compressor and Compressor II devices respectively FB is a feedback model which analyzes the output of the devic
328. put If you are monitoring the Master output you can be sure that the rendered file will contain exactly what you hear e All tracks the post fader signal at the output of each individual track including return tracks and MIDI tracks with instruments Live will create a separate sample for each track All samples will have the same length making it easy to align them in other multitrack programs e Individual tracks the post fader signal at the output of the selected track When Export Audio is invoked while the Arrangement View is up Live will render the selected time range If you would like to render the current Arrangement loop choose the Select Loop command from the Edit menu prior to choosing Export Audio If you choose Export Audio while the Session View is up Live will ask you to specify the length of the sample to be rendered The Export Audio dialog will come up with a bars beats sixteenths field where you can type in the desired length Live will capture audio starting at the current play start position for whichever duration you have specified Remember a rendered audio file contains only what you heard prior to rendering So for example if you re playing back some combination of Session View clips and Arrangement material then that is what will be captured in your rendered file regardless of which view is active when you render The Rendered Track Chooser CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 43 Audi
329. put ReMOTE LE On on On You can configure which MIDI ports are made available to Live using the MIDI Ports section of the MIDI Sync Preferences All available input and output ports are listed here For Live s tracks to receive send MIDI from to a specific MIDI port the corresponding switch in the Track column must be set to On You can use any number of MIDI ports for track input and output the mixer s In Out choosers allow them to be addressed individually 13 3 2 Playing MIDI With the Computer Keyboard The computer keyboard can be used for generating MIDI notes from computer keyboard strokes To turn the computer MIDI keyboard on use the Control Bar s Computer MIDI Key board button or the PC Mac shortcut to the Options menu entry LES miD 3 D The center row of letter keys on the keyboard will play notes corresponding to the white keys on a piano beginning on the left with the note C3 The black keys on a piano correspond to the upper row of computer keys The five leftmost letters on the lower row of the keyboard Z X C V and B on a U S English keyboard are used to transpose the note range and to set velocity as follows e The leftmost keys Z and X adjust the keyboard s octave range e The next two keys C and V adjust incoming note velocity by intervals of twenty 20 40 60 and so on e The fifth key from the bottom left B places an accent on incoming MIDI notes This key boosts note
330. put signal of OdB as 16 bit Signals above OdB are clipped and the red overload LED will light up Turning off Bit Reduction results in modest CPU savings 20 17 Resonators Resonators ee Filter Mode I m iv v Width A E E E E E amp Note Pitch Pitch Pitch Pitch Q 50 0 Hz 770 G1 7 st 7 st 3 st 3 st Const 0 34 74 84 124 55468 Color Gain Gain Gain Gain Gain Dry Wet QQ 85 7 0 00dB 0 004B 000GB 0000B 0 004B 49 gang This device consists of five parallel resonators that superimpose a tonal character on the input source It can produce sounds resembling anything from plucked strings to vocoder like effects The resonators are tuned in semitones providing a musical way of adjusting The Resonators Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 271 them The first resonator defines the root pitch and the four others are tuned relative to this pitch in musical intervals The input signal passes first through a filter and then into the resonators There are four input filter types to select from lowpass bandpass highpass and notch The input filter frequency can be adjusted with the Frequency parameter The first resonator is fed with both the left and right input channels while the second and fourth resonators are dedicated to the left channel and the third and fifth to the right channel The Note parameter defines the root pitch of all the resonators ranging from
331. r which acts much like a crude pitch shifter The Spray control adds random delay time changes Low values smear the signal across time which adds noisiness to the sound High Spray values completely break down the structure of the source signal introducing varying degrees of rhythmic chaos This is the recommended setting for anarchists The Random Pitch control adds random variations to each grain s pitch Low values create a sort of mutant chorusing effect while high values can make the original source pitch completely unintelligible This parameter can interact with the main Pitch control thus allowing degrees of stability and instability in a sound s pitch structure The size and duration of each grain is a function of the Frequency parameter The sound of Pitch and Spray depends very much on this parameter Grain Delay now also has a dry wet control it can be routed to the vertical axis of the X Y controller 20 14 Phaser oe Envelope LFO S amp H Amount Shape M ws 46 5 Rate Hz vn Phase Offset PEG 180 227 The Phaser Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 267 Phaser uses a series of all pass filters to create a phase shift in the frequency spectrum of a sound The Poles control creates notches in the frequency spectrum The Feedback control can then be used to invert the waveform and convert these notches into peaks or poles Filter cutoff frequency is c
332. r amount of dither noise but at the expense of additional quantization error Note that dithering is a procedure that should only be applied once to any given audio file If you plan to do further processing on your rendered file it s best to render to 32 bit to avoid the need for dithering at this stage Create Analysis File If this is activated Live will create an asd file that contains analysis information about the rendered sample If you intend to use the new sample in Live check this option 5 3 MIDI Files A MIDI file contains commands that prompt MIDI compatible synthesizers or instruments such as Live s Simpler to create specific musical output MIDI files are exported by hardware and software MIDI sequencers Importing MIDI files into Live works differently than with samples MIDI file data is incorporated into the Live Set and the resulting MIDI clips lose all reference to the original file MIDI files appear as folders in the File Browser opening the folders gives you access to the file s individual tracks also called voices or instruments Desktop Name Parent Foidor gt Tango Project v Z bach_847 mid 2 Piano right Z Piano left E Fuga 1 o Fuga 2 E Fuga 3 Note that while you can rename or delete entire MIDI files via the Browser this is not possible with the individual MIDI tracks contained within them This is also the case with the A MIDI File and its Tracks in
333. r is at its minimum Spin detunes the two LFO speeds relative to each other Each stereo channel is modulated at a different frequency as determined by the Spin amount For sample and hold the Phase and Spin controls are not relevant and do not affect the sound Instead the Auto Filter offers two kinds of sample and hold The upper sample and hold type available in the chooser provides independent random modulation generators for the left and right channels stereo while the lower one modulates both channels with the same signal mono 20 2 Auto Pan Amount Rate 9 9 87 3 3 Hz E The Auto Pan Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 247 Auto Pan offers LFO driven manipulation of amplitude and panning for creating automatic panning tremolo and amplitude modulation and beat synchronized chopping effects Auto Pan s LFOs modulate the amplitude of the left and right stereo channels with sine triangle sawtooth down or random waveforms The Shape control pushes the waveform to its upper and lower limits hardening its shape The waveform can be set to Normal or Invert use Invert to for example create the saw up waveform from the saw down waveform LFO speed is controlled with the Rate control which can be set in terms of hertz Rate can also be synced to the song tempo Though both LFOs run at the same frequency the Phase contr
334. race and start end markers in other useful ways to expedite clip envelope editing tasks To delete a clip envelope i e to set it back to its default value first go to Edit Select All then to Edit Delete Let us now look at some uses of clip envelopes 19 2 Audio Clip Envelopes Clip envelopes extend Live s elastic approach to audio and in conjunction with Live s audio effects turn Live into a mighty sound design tool Using clip envelopes with audio clips you can create an abundance of interesting variations from the same clip in real time anything from subtle corrections to entirely new and unrelated sounds 19 2 1 Clip Envelopes are Non Destructive Using clip envelopes you can create new sounds from a sample without actually affecting the sample on disk Because Live calculates the envelope modulations in real time you can have hundreds of clips in a Live Set that all sound different but use the same sample You can of course export a newly created sound by rendering or by resampling In the Arrangement View you can use the Consolidate command to create new samples CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 235 19 2 2 Changing Pitch and Tuning per Note Drop a sample loop from the Browser into Live and play it Click on the Transpose quick chooser button You can now alter the pitch transposition of individual notes in the sample as you listen to it The fast way to do this is by enabling Draw Mode and drawing steps alon
335. racks per project 64 Unlimited Maximum number of MIDI tracks per project Unlimited Unlimited Group Tracks No Yes Maximum audio bit depth and resolution 32 bit 192kHz 32 bit 192kHz Maximum number of audio inputs 2 stereo Unlimited Maximum number of audio outputs 2 stereo Unlimited Includes Simpler instrument for sample based syn Yes Yes thesis Includes Impulse instrument for percussion sound de Yes Yes sign Maximum number of Ableton instruments racks per 8 Unlimited project In Line Rack Mixer No Yes CHAPTER 33 LIVE INTRO VS LIVE 8 COMPARISON CHART 394 Live Intro Live 8 Number of included Ableton audio effects 23 30 Looper No Yes Overdrive No Yes Limiter No Yes Vocoder No Yes Multiband Dynamics No Yes Frequency Shifter No Yes Maximum number of Ableton audio effects per 12 Unlimited project Number of included Ableton MIDI effects 7 7 Maximum number of Ableton MIDI effects per project Unlimited Unlimited External VST AU instrument instances per project 4 Unlimited External VST AU effect instances per project 6 Unlimited Effect sidechaining Yes Yes Instrument Drum Effect Rack editing No Yes Time signature changes Yes Yes Session View Yes Yes Maximum number of scenes per project 8 Unlimited Number of Grooves per project 4 Unlimited Arranger Crossfades Yes Yes Screen magnifier Yes Yes Number of included real time time stretch
336. rator allowing you to treat both components as if they were separate devices This allows you to use Live as the hub of your MIDI studio which receives MIDI from the keyboard and dispatches the incoming MIDI as well as the MIDI from the clips as appropriate 13 3 4 MIDI In Out Indicators Live s Control Bar contains three pairs of indicator LEDs that tell you about incoming and outgoing MIDI These indicators tell you not only about the presence of signals but also about their use In every pair the upper indicator flashes when a MIDI message is received and the lower indicator flashes when a MIDI message is sent eyf F i 4 e gt gt me ove tear 2 SIE y Keyi mo The three indicator pairs represent from left to right 1 MIDI Clock and Timecode signals that are used for synchronizing Live with other sequencers Note that this set of indicators is only visible when an external sync The Control Bar s MIDI Indicators CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 163 source has been enabled in the MIDI Ports List in the Preferences 2 MIDI messages that are used for remote controlling Live s user interface ele ments 3 MIDI messages coming from and going to Live s MIDI tracks MIDI messages that are mapped to remote control Live s user interface elements are eaten up by the remote control assignment and will not be passed on to the MIDI tracks This is a common cause of confusion that can be easily resolved by looking at
337. rder The cursor controls allow you to navigate around the Session View e Pressing Up or Down moves you up or down one scene at a time e The Left and Right arrow keys move you left or right one track at a time 26 3 Session Overview The APC20 s Session Overview lets you navigate through large Live Sets quickly without looking at your computer screen Hold down the Shift button and the matrix zooms out to reveal an overview of your Session View In the Session Overview each clip launch button represents a five scene by eight track block of clips giving you a matrix of 125 scenes by 64 tracks Hit a button to focus on that section of the Session View For example hitting the Shift button and then pressing the button in row three column one will put the focus on scenes 11 15 and tracks 1 8 In the Session Overview the color coding is a little different e Amber indicates the currently selected block of clips which will be surrounded by a border in the software e Green there are clips playing in that block of clips though that may not be the block of clips selected e Red there are no clips playing in that range e No color there are no tracks or scenes in that range 26 4 Transport and Global Buttons Live s Play Stop and Global Record buttons are all easily accessible while MIDI Overdub lets you overdub on a MIDI clip CHAPTER 26 USING THE APC20 337 jem sp BEE 26 5 Mixer The Mixer section gives you c
338. re is also the flexible Waveshaper mode featuring six adjustable waveshaping parameters In the Analog Clip and Digital Clip modes the signal is clipped completely and immediately Soft Sine Medium Curve and Hard Curve modes soften signal clipping to varying degrees Sinoid Fold mode can be good for special effects The most dramatic effects can be created by selecting the Waveshaper curve which has its own dedicated set of controls To access these six parameter fields unfold the Saturator window by toggling the button in its title bar The Waveshaper mode s six additional parameters are Drive Lin Curve Damp Depth and Period e Drive determines how much the input signal will be influenced by the Waveshaper parameters Setting Drive to zero will negate the effect entirely Lin works together with the Curve and Depth parameters to alter the linear portion of the shaping curve Curve adds mostly third order harmonics to the input signal e Damp flattens any signal near the grid s origin It behaves like an ultra fast noise gate e Depth controls the amplitude of a sine wave that is superimposed onto the distortion curve e Period determines the density of ripples in the superimposed sine wave The DC button activates a DC filter at Saturator s input stage This is mainly useful for removing DC offsets from audio material that contains them CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 276 Activating the Color button ena
339. record on a DJ mixer This allows choosing clips and adjusting effects without the audience hearing before bringing tracks into the mix In order to set Live up for cueing you must be using an audio interface with at least four dedicated outputs or two dedicated stereo outputs The respective settings are accessible in the Session View mixer Make sure you have the Mixer and In Out options checked in the View menu 4 5 li Mon Monito 4 cue i e 1 The Master Out chooser selects the output on your interface to be used as the main output 2 The Cue Out chooser selects the output on your hardware interface to be used The Cueing Related Session Mixer Controls CHAPTER 14 MIXING 187 for cueing This has to be set to an output other than that selected for the Master If the desired outputs don t show up in these choosers please check the Audio Preferences 3 Activate cueing by setting the Solo Cue Mode switch to Cue 4 The tracks Solo switches are now replaced by Cue switches with headphone icons When a track s Cue switch is pressed that track s output signal will be heard through the output selected in the Cue Out chooser Note that the Track Activator switch on the same track still controls whether or not the track is heard at the Master output 5 The Cue Volume control adjusts the volume of the cueing output Note that when cueing is set up and activated the output of audio
340. reo file that contains different information on both channels and you want to use only one The Panorama chooser pans the signal anywhere in the stereo field The Width control acts as a continuous mono to stereo controller when set from O to 100 percent However beyond 100 percent the output starts to fold in on itself At 200 percent the output contains only the difference between the left and right channels If either Left or Right have been chosen in the Channel Mode chooser the Width control has no function and is therefore disabled At the bottom of the device you will find two Phase controls one for each channel As their names imply they invert the phase of each channel 20 23 Vinyl Distortion Vinyl Distortion 2n Tracing Model Crackle Volume 0 31 Density The Vinyl Distortion effect emulates some of the typical distortions that occur on vinyl records during playback These distortions are caused by the geometric relationships between the The Vinyl Distortion Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 281 needle and the recorded groove The effect also features a crackle generator for adding noisy artifacts The Tracing Model section adds even harmonic distortion to the input signal Adjust the amount of distortion with the Drive knob or click and drag vertically in the Tracing Model X Y display To adjust the distortion s frequency or color drag
341. represents a block of 25 scenes if they are available in your Set In the Session Overview the color coding is a little different e Amber indicates the currently selected block of clips which will be surrounded by the red border in the software e Green there are clips playing in that block of clips though that may not be the block of clips selected e Red there are no clips playing in that range e No color there are no tracks or scenes in that range CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 326 25 4 Mixer Section The APC40 features eight tracks each with its own fader solo pre cue activator and record arm buttons A Master fader controls the master volume and a Cue Level knob controls cue volume So you can pre listen to a clip or the metronome without your audience hearing it ANN Mixer Controls You can shift these eight tracks around the Session View using the directional controls Press the right or left arrows to move incrementally one track at a time Hold the Shift button and press the right or left arrows to jump in blocks of eight tracks at a time CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 327 25 5 Device Control The APC40 features eight endless dials and four control buttons that map to your devices automatically for flexibility and speed on stage or in the studio g k maca SELIM mara Device Controls The Track Selection buttons route the eight endless encoders to the first device or Rack o
342. res that play for weeks or months and never exactly repeat You can set the Follow Action Time controls in a series of clips to odd intervals and the clips will interact with each other so that they never quite play in the same order or musical position Remember that each clip can have two different Follow Actions with corresponding Chance settings have fun 157 Chapter 13 Routing and I O In the context of Live routing is the setup of the tracks signal sources and destinations i e their inputs and outputs Most routing happens in the mixer s track In Out section which offers for every track choosers to select a signal source and destination The mixer s In Out section is Live s patchbay The In Out section can be independently shown or hidden from the Session and Arrange ment Views Toggle its visibility using the I O Mixer Section selector or via the View menu s In Out option 1 Audio 2 Audio 3 Audio 4 Audio 5 MIDI 6 MIDI Master 1 2 Q Q Stop Clips Audio From Audio From Audio From MIDI From MIDI From Computer Kew 5 MIDI z i All Channey Post Mixer gt Ext In No Input a A Return li Post FX a2 x Monitor HR Auto Om Audio To Master x The Mixer s In Out Section and Mixer Section Selectors CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 158 For every track that can play clips the In Out section has t
343. rfere with the kick drum s attack Using the sidechain EQ in conjunction with this technique can create ducking effects even if you only have a mixed drum track to work with as opposed to an isolated kick drum In this case insert the Compressor on the track you want to duck Then choose the drum track as the external sidechain source Then enable the sidechain EQ and select the lowpass filter By carefully adjusting the Frequency and Q settings you should be able to isolate the kick drum from the rest of the drum mix Using the sidechain listen mode can help you tune the EO until you find settings you re happy with Note that mastery of these techniques may result in a noticeable increase in drink tickets remix offers and dates CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 256 20 6 Dynamic Tube D Dynamic Tube a Dry Wet Envelope N Y LV 100 Output x A c 4 76 dB E Drive Tone Bias b 4 GAO 8 57 dB 0 32 13 The Dynamic Tube effect infuses sounds with the peculiarities of tube saturation An in tegrated envelope follower generates dynamic tonal variations related to the level of the input signal Three tube models A B and C provide a range of distortion characteristics known from real amplifier tubes Tube A does not produce distortions if Bias is set low but will kick in whenever the input signal exceeds a certain threshold creating bright harmonics Tube C is a very poor tube amp that prod
344. rformed a similar procedure for testing the timing of outgoing MIDI events as represented in the following diagram Live i Converter Audio Recording another instance of Live Audio Clip MIDI Output Test Configuration In all cases the output tests showed comparable results to the input tests CHAPTER 31 MIDI FACT SHEET 380 31 6 Tips for Achieving Optimal MIDI Performance In order to help users achieve optimal MIDI performance with Live we have provided a list of recommended practices and program settings Use the lowest possible buffer sizes available on your audio hardware thereby keeping latency to a minimum Audio buffer controls are found in the Audio tab of Live s Preferences and vary depending on the type of hardware you re using For more information see the Lesson Setting Up Audio I O Use a high quality MIDI interface with the most current drivers in order to ensure that MIDI timestamps are generated and processed as accurately as possible Do not enable track monitoring if you are recording MIDI while listening directly to a hardware device such as an external synthesizer Likewise disable track monitor ing when recording MIDI data that is generated by another MIDI device such as a drum machine When monitoring is enabled Live adds latency to compensate for playthrough jitter Therefore it is important to only enable monitoring when actually playing through The DirectMusic architecture on Windo
345. riation in Beat Repeat especially if triplets are also allowed Beat Repeat s repetitions can be pitched down for special sonic effects Pitch is adjusted through resampling in Beat Repeat lengthening segments to pitch them down without again compressing them to adjust for the length change This means that the rhythmical structure can become quite ambiguous with higher Pitch values The Pitch Decay control tapers the pitch curve making each repeated slice play lower than the previous one Warning This is the most obscure parameter of Beat Repeat CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 249 Beat Repeat includes a combined lowpass and highpass filter for defining the passed fre quency range of the device You can turn the filter on and off and set the center frequency and width of the passed frequency band using the respective controls The original signal which was received at Beat Repeat s input is mixed with Beat Repeat s repetitions according to one of three mix modes Mix allows the original signal to pass through the device and have repetitions added to it Insert mutes the original signal when repetitions are playing but passes it otherwise and Gate passes only the repetitions never passing the original signal Gate mode is especially useful when the effect is housed in a return track You can set the output level of the device using the Volume control and apply Decay to create gradually fading repetitions 20 4 Chorus
346. right of the instrument are audio signals available only to audio effects Signals preceding to the left of the instrument are MIDI signals available only to MIDI effects This means that it s possible for a MIDI track s device chain to hold all three types of devices first MIDI effects then an instrument and finally audio effects MIDI and Audio Track Arm Buttons CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 204 f Dynamic Tube Ableton Devic il il i o7 Il E EQ Eight Ableton Devici 2 O Rand Operator 28 Or vee Coarse Chance Fine Fixed Level Q 2 s 19 24 dB 50 Fine Fixed Level O Lev r Amount Bit Reduction Rate meeen Che E Filter Freq Res i Band 2408 _ v A O 6 03 kH 1 94 r Pitch Env Spread Transpose ip E z a Ss or Sha a 4 dB Multi Fixed el a T G 14 6B Fine Fixed Level 3 2 dB C l Time Volume Tone o 4 n gt dB 3 Operator To remove a device from the chain click on its title bar and press your computer s or key or select Delete from the Edit menu To change the order of devices drag a device by its title bar and drop it next to any of the other devices in the Track View Devices can be moved to other tracks entirely by dragging them from the Track View into the Session or Arrangement Views Edit menu commands such as cut copy paste and duplicate can be used on devices Pasted devices are inserted in front of the
347. rom MIDI From Audio From 3 MIDI All ins x ij Post Mixer j Pre FX ij Post FX ij Post Mixer FAI Channew ij bass Impulse ij snare a Imputse OT ij tom b Impulse ij Pan impulse ij hh c Impulse ij hh o Impulse 3 We simply create an audio track and select from its Input Type chooser the track with the Impulse The Input Channel chooser now offers in addition to Pre FX Post FX and Post Mixer Impulse s eight individual outputs labeled according to the sample used in each slot Notice that routing an individual output from Impulse into another track automatically takes this signal out of Impulse s own internal mix This convenience is not standard behavior of most plug in instruments however Soloing a track that taps one of Impulse s sample slots will still allow you to hear the output of that slot Using Multi Timbral Plug In Instruments Many plug in instruments support multi timbral operation A multi timbral instrument is like several instruments in one with each component part or whatever term the manufacturer uses receiving MIDI on a separate MIDI channel Usually the multi timbral instrument offers individual outputs so that the parts can be separately routed into the mixer Or the instrument might offer a submixer of its own Using Impulse s Individual Outs to Separately Process Sample Slots CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 174
348. rp Marker at the beginning of the audio and dragging it so that it lines up with the beginning of bar one in the timeline Likewise A Two Bar Loop as It Appears in the Clip View by Default CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 120 you can eliminate silence after the actual loop end by placing a Warp Marker at the sample s right edge Setting the Warp Markers for a Poorly Cut Loop Syncing Odd Length Loops If you import a sample that contains a seven bar loop Live initially assumes the loop is eight bars long or four depending on its length and plays it out of sync For correct playback the marker at the end of the sample needs to be at the beginning of bar eight not bar nine To fix this simply drag the ending marker to the correct position If Live s initial guess had been a four bar loop the eighth bar may not initially be visible In that case you can drag the Warp Marker at the end toward the right until the eight becomes visible Manipulating Grooves You can now create any number of Warp Markers by double clicking within the sample or on transient locations Drag in a straight looped sample set a few Warp Markers and move them around to see what happens Warp Markers really serve two purposes 1 to provide a correct interpretation of the flow of musical time in the sample 2 to mess up the flow of time in the sample CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 121 If a single event in a perc
349. rrangement View The Arrangement View is a powerful editing tool that easily lets you combine and arrange MIDI loops sound effects and complete pieces of music CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 69 6 1 Navigation Live offers several fast methods for zooming and scrolling the Arrangement display KE guitarchord i guitarchord To smoothly change the zoom level click and drag vertically in the beat time ruler at the top of the Arrangement View you can also drag horizontally to scroll the display To zoom in and out around the current selection use the computer keyboard s and keys To pan the display click and drag while holding the Ctr j Alt__ PC Mac modifier Double clicking in the beat time ruler also zooms to the current selection If nothing is selected double clicking the beat time ruler zooms out to show the entire Arrangement The Arrangement Overview is like a bird s eye view of your music It always shows the complete piece from start to end The black rectangular outline repre sents the part of the Arrangement that is currently displayed in the Arrangement display below To scroll the display click within the outline and drag left or right to zoom out and in drag up and down To change the displayed part of the Arrangement drag the outline s left and right edges To see a specific part of the Arrangement in more detail click on it in the Overview N
350. s e Trigger down starts the clip up is ignored e Gate down starts the clip up stops the clip e Toggle down starts the clip up is ignored The clip will stop on the next down e Repeat As long as the mouse switch key is held the clip is triggered repeatedly at the clip quantization rate CHAPTER 12 LAUNCHING CLIPS 150 12 3 Clip Launch Quantization Clip Launch Sample gt Quantization Global z 4 S The Clip Quantization Chooser The Clip Quantization chooser lets you adjust an onset timing correction for clip triggering To disable clip quantization choose None To use the Control Bar s Global Quantization setting choose Global Global quantization can be quickly changed using the Ctrl_ 6 PC C 6 Mac 7 6 and shortcuts Note that any setting other than None will quantize the clip s launch when it is triggered by Follow Actions 12 4 Velocity Clip Launch Sample gt Vel _0 0 TN The Velocity Amount Field CHAPTER 12 LAUNCHING CLIPS 151 The Velocity Amount control allows you to adjust the effect of MIDI note velocity on the clip s volume If set to zero there is no influence at 100 percent the softest notes play the clip silently For more on playing clips via MIDI see the respective section 12 5 Legato Mode Clip Launch Sample Suppose you have gathered in one track a number of looping clips
351. s Note On messages toggle through the available options Variable Parameters When assigned to a single note Note On messages toggle the parameter between its Min and Max values When assigned to a range of notes each note is assigned a discrete value equally spaced over the parameter s range of values Hint Session View slots can be assigned to a MIDI note range for chromatic playing First play the root key this is the key that will play the clip at its default transposition and then while holding down the root key hold one key below the root and one above it to define the limits of the range CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 317 24 2 3 Mapping to Absolute MIDI Controllers Absolute MIDI controllers send messages to Live in the form of absolute values ranging from O to 127 These values lead to different results depending on the type of Live control to which they are assigned A value message of 127 for example might turn the Volume control on a Live track all the way up or play a Session View clip Specifically MIDI controller messages from 0 to 127 can produce the following effects on controls in Live e Session View Slots Controller values 64 and above are treated like Note On messages Controller values 63 and below are treated like Note Off messages e Switches For track activators and on off buttons in devices controller values that are within the mapping s Min and Max range turn the switch on Controller
352. s clip stop track activation solo and record arm The directional arrows to change the focus of the ring are still accessible in Mixer mode CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 348 27 5 1 Mixer Overview 00 00 06 Olle E EE Ei c E E CA O e l Oa o EE RREREHC i gt ee EERE C E E EEEo novation This is the view displayed when pressing the Mixer button It provides an overview of the main mixing controls in Live The top four rows of pads indicate the status of track volume and track pan as well as sends A and B for each track e if the parameter is at its default value the pad is dimmed e if the parameter is NOT at its default value the pad is fully lit Hitting the pad will instantly set the parameter to its default value 0 dB for volume center for pan O for sends The bottom four rows of pads and the bottom four buttons on the right provide direct access to key controls for each track e pads in the stop row will stop the clip currently playing in this track e pads in the trk on row will mute this track the pads turn off e pads in the solo row will solo this track Launchpad Mixer Overview CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 349 e pads in the arm row will arm this track The bottom four buttons on the right provide additional control for each track e the stop button will stop all clips currently playing e the trk on button will mute all tracks all pad
353. s so setup is quite easy 1 Open Live s Preferences from the Live menu in OS X or the Options menu in Windows 2 Go to the MIDI Sync Tab 3 Select the APC40 preset from the Control Surface chooser Then select the port that the APC40 is connected to in the Input and Output choosers 1 http www akaipro com CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 323 Control Surface Input Output USB Audio Device v USB Audio Device 3 None None None 4 None None None 5 None None None 6 None None None Takeover Mode None Setting Up The APC40 25 2 Clip Launch Matrix The APC40 s matrix of buttons gives you physical access to the clips in your Session View The matrix has 40 three color buttons arranged in a five scene deep by eight track wide grid The color coding system lets you know exactly what is happening in each clip and directional controls let you move around inside your Session View CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 324 VN LS m m m m a ee m a ica Session View Clip and Navigation Controls Pressing a Clip Launch button triggers the clip in the corresponding clip slot in Live If the track is armed to record pressing the button records a new clip The buttons in the matrix light up in different colors so you know what s going on e Amber this slot contains a clip e Green this clip is playing e Red this clip is recording Many aspects of the Live interface are replicated in the APC40 You can s
354. s MIDI and audio effects to the built in instruments CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 21 4 9 Routing As we have seen all tracks deliver signals either audio or MIDI Where do these signals go This is set up in the mixer s In Out section which offers for every track choosers to select a signal source and destination The In Out section accessible through the View menu s In Out option is Live s patchbay Its routing options enable valuable creative and technical methods such as resampling submixing layering of synths complex effects setups and more All Channee In wto oe MIDI From MIDI From Master Ed All Ins a All ins i All Channes f All Channe All Channesw Monitor Monitor _in Auto Of in Auto om tn ato Off Audio To MIDI To 5 Beats 2 Master gt 5 Beats 1 impulse 9 1 Impulse Signals from the tracks can be sent to the outside world via the computer s audio and MIDI interfaces to other programs that are connected to Live via ReWire or to other tracks or devices within Live Likewise a track can be set up to receive an input signal to be played through the track s devices Again tracks can receive their input from the outside from a ReWire program or from another track or device in Live The Monitor controls regulate the conditions under which the input signal is heard through the track 4 10 Recording New Clips Au
355. s turn off e the solo button will un solo all soloed tracks e the arm button will un arm all armed tracks 27 5 2 The Volume Page Launchpad Volume Page novation Press the vol button to enter the Volume page In the Volume page all eight pads of a column turn into a track volume fader The pads have the following values in dB from bottom to top inf 48 24 18 12 6 0 6 All pads below and including the selected value light up in full brightness to indicate the fader position CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 350 27 5 3 The Pan Page BEE RE o novation Launchpad Pan Page Press the pan button to enter the Pan page In the Pan page all eight pads of a column turn into a track panorama knob for the selected track with left at the bottom and right at the top The pads have the following values from bottom to top 50L 30L 15L center center 15R 30R 50R The pan control is centered when the two pads in the middle are fully lit CHAPTER 27 USING THE LAUNCHPAD 351 27 5 4 The Send Pages novation Press the snd A or snd B button to enter a Send page In the two Send pages for Send A and Send B all eight pads of a column turn into a send knob for the selected track The pads have the following values in dB from bottom to top inf 48 24 18 12 6 0 6 All pads below and including the selected value light up in
356. select it and PC 6 Mac to access the context menu The Deactivate Note s command will mute the note making it appear gray in the display To reactivate notes use the context menu s Activate Note s command You can de or reactivate all of the notes in a single key track at once by PC Mac ona key in the piano roll 142 Chapter 11 Using Grooves The timing and feel of each clip in your Set can be modified through the use of grooves Live s Library includes a large selection of grooves which appear as agr files in the Browser Please note that Live Intro accommodates up to four grooves per Set Library Name Type Date Modified Grooves 07 10 2008 17 01 E 2nd Line agr 07 10 2008 17 00 Edgy agr 07 10 2008 17 00 E Heavy Backbeats agr 07 10 2008 17 00 E Rock Push agr 07 10 2008 17 00 E Slightly Behind agr 07 10 2008 17 00 Slow Texas Shuffle agr 07 10 2008 17 00 E Swing 8 agr 07 10 2008 17 00 E Swing 16 agr 07 10 2008 17 01 E Swing 32 agr 07 10 2008 17 01 Groove Files in the Browser The easiest way to work with Library grooves is to drag and drop them from the Browser directly onto clips in your Set This immediately applies the timing characteristics of the CHAPTER 11 USING GROOVES 143 groove file to the clip If you want to quickly try out a variety of grooves you can enable the Hot Swap button above a clip s Clip Groove chooser and then step through th
357. sequential The effect of a 12 semitone shift added with the Shift 1 control for example is equal in effect to a 12 semitone shift added with the Shift 6 control The Chord Effect CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 287 Note that no two notes of the same pitch can contribute to the chord and that selecting the same shift value twice e g 8 semitones on both Shift 2 and Shift 3 will result in the latter control appearing disabled indicating that it is a duplicate and therefore not in use Actually there is no such thing as two notes with the same pitch playing at the same time within the entire Live universe 21 3 Note Length O Note Length Trigger Release Vel Note Off Mode a Sync Length Decay Time 3 S 1 8 24 58 Gate Note Length alters the length of incoming MIDI notes It can also be used to trigger notes from MIDI Note Off messages instead of the usual Note On messages When the device is set to trigger from a Note On message only the timing controls are available The length of held notes can be adjusted in milliseconds or synced in relation to the song tempo Gate defines the percentage of the Length value that notes should be held for At 200 percent the Gate parameter will double a note s length When the device is set to trigger from a Note Off event the moment at which a played note is released the timing of an incoming note will be delayed by its length because it
358. several quantization options This will quantize using default settings or the settings that you previously applied To adjust your quantization parameters open the Quantization Settings dialog from the Edit menu A Gap Between MIDI Notes Has Been Cut by First Selecting It Then Executing the Cut Time Command CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 138 Quantize To Adjust Note Using the options presented here you can select either the current grid size or a specific meter value for quantization and set either the note start or end or both to be quantized Quantizing the note end will stretch the note so that it ends at the chosen meter subdivision You can also quantize notes without giving them that quantized feel using the Amount control which will move notes only by a percentage of the set quantization value 10 4 8 Editing Velocities To change velocity for a MIDI note click and drag on the associated marker in the Velocity Editor To help you locate the velocity marker belonging to a MIDI note that may be stacked vertically with others Live highlights the velocity marker for whichever note your mouse is hovering over Velocity changes will be shown numerically in a small display in the time ruler Quantizing MIDI Notes Changing Note Velocity CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 139 As in the Note Editor you can select multiple velocit
359. slot in a MIDI track and choosing the Create menu s Insert MIDI Clip command or in the Arrangement View by selecting a timespan in a MIDI track and choosing the Create menu s Insert MIDI Clip command CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 129 10 2 The MIDI Editor To bring up the MIDI Editor double click a MIDI clip to open the Clip View You can use the Clip View Box selector to make sure the Notes box is showing then click in the title bar of the Notes box to bring up the MIDI Editor on the right hand side of the screen The MIDI Editor is divided into two editing windows the upper Note Editor and the lower Velocity Editor You can resize the Velocity Editor by dragging on the split line that runs between it and the Note Editor You can also show and hide the Velocity Editor using the triangular button on the left hand side of the split line 1 1 1 0 ove Se 1 Bar pea Switch to Draw Mode by activating the Control Bar s Draw Mode switch You can now draw MIDI notes into the Note Editor with the mouse Deactivating Draw Mode allows notes to be selected and moved around via clipboard operations or by clicking and dragging either vertically to change their transposition or horizontally to change their position in time MIDI notes can also be added and deleted by double clicking when Draw Mode is inactive The MIDI Editor The Control Bar s Draw Mode Switch CHAPT
360. solute or incremental In addition to the crossfader s central slider its absolute left and right positions are separately available for MIDI or keyboard mapping There are two special scenarios for remote control with respect to the crossfader CHAPTER 14 MIXING 185 e A key mapped to any one of the three assignable crossfader positions left center or right will toggle the crossfader s absolute left and right positions e Mapping to two of the three fields allows for a snapping back behavior when one of the assigned keys is held down and the other is pressed and released JARRI Em e AE o a en gt Each track has two Crossfade Assign buttons A and B The track can have three states with respect to the crossfader e f neither Assign button is on the crossfader does not affect the track at all e If Ais on the track will be played unattenuated as long as the crossfader is in the left half of its value range As the crossfader moves toward the right across the center position the track fades out At the crossfader s rightmost position the track is muted e Likewise if B is on the track s volume will be affected only as the crossfader moves left across its center position It is important to understand that the Crossfade Assign buttons do not affect the signal routing The crossfader merely influences the signal volume at each track s gain stage The track can be routed to
361. sound affects the notes from both tracks 8 Pad 3 9 Pad 10 Pad 2 Master aoe i D 2 MIDI From MIDI From All ins All Ins v All Channes f All Channey Monitor Monitor m Ao OF in A o co Audio To MIDI To L Master 9 Pad x Se eeececee wo s M ee gt c m Sy Ce This is accomplished by setting the new MIDI track s Output Type chooser to Pad Note that the Output Channel chooser now offers a selection of destinations We can either feed the new track s output into the input of the pad track or we can directly address the Simpler The Track In option in the Output Channel represents the pad track s input signal the signal to be recorded which is not what we want We instead select Simpler Ch 1 to send the new track s MIDI directly to the Simpler bypassing the recording and monitoring stage With this setup we can choose to record new takes on either track and they will all play the same pad sound Feeding an Additional MIDI Track Into an Existing MIDI Track to Reuse its Instrument CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 172 7 Audio 8 Pad 3 9 Pad 10 Pad2 Master ar 7 gt eee 2 Stop Clips Audio From MIDI From MIDI From MIDI From All ins No Input All ins v Il i All Channew i All Channee 1 Simpler 1 Si
362. sound quality particularly with low frequency signals or when working at high sample rates There is a slight increase in CPU usage in Hi Quality mode CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 259 20 8 EQ Three O EQ Three ZE GainLow GainMid GainHi Y inf dB 6 00 dB inf dB L H Freqlow Freqhi 623 Hz 3 61 kHz If you have ever used a good DJ mixer you will know what this is An EQ that allows you to adjust the level of low mid and high frequencies independently Each band can be adjusted from infinite dB to 6 dB using the gain controls This means that you can completely remove for example the bass drum or bassline of a track while leaving the other frequencies untouched You can also turn on or off each band using the On Off buttons located under the gain controls These buttons are especially handy if assigned to computer keys EQ Three gives you visual confirmation of the presence of a signal in each frequency band using three LEDs Even if a band is turned off you can tell if there is something going on in it The internal threshold for the LEDs is set to 24 dB The frequency range of each band is defined via two crossover controls FreqLo and FregHi If FreqLo is set to 500 Hz and FreqHi to 2000 Hz then the low band goes from 0 Hz to 500 Hz the mid band from 500 Hz to 2000 Hz and the high band from 2000 Hz up to whatever your soundcard or sample rate supports A very important
363. stalled and authorized 23 1 Installing and Authorizing Max for Live In order to use Max for Live you must install Live 8 1 or newer and Max 5 1 or newer Max is available as a download from Cycling 74 s website Like all Ableton add ons Max for Live must be authorized before it can be used The chapter Thttp www cycling74 com CHAPTER 23 MAX FOR LIVE 305 on authorizing Live contains more information about this process and in depth instructions can be found at the Ableton website If you ve installed Max to somewhere other than the default location you will first need to point to it in Live s File Folder Preferences Sample Editor f MIDI Max Application Max Application CAProgram Files Cyding 74 Max 5 0 Download the latest version of Max from cyding74 com CPU Decoding amp Web Cache Once authorization is complete and Live has found the Max application Max for Live should be ready for use At this point the Max content will begin to install into your Live Library 23 2 Using Max for Live Devices Max for Live comes with a collection of instruments and effects which are ready for use Max for Live devices appear in the Max Instrument Max MIDI Effect and Max Audio Effect sections of Live s Device Browser Many of these devices also come with their own presets which are similar to Live s device presets but with one important difference because a Max device can be stored outside of
364. stigate which warp modes work best for different types of signals and how to adjust the warping controls for clean stretching It s also fun to misuse these controls to achieve interesting artifacts instead of accurate stretching 9 3 1 Beats Mode Beats Mode works best for material where rhythm is dominant e g drum loops as well as most pieces of electronic dance music The granulation process is optimized to preserve transients in the audio material Use the Preserve control to preserve divisions in the sample as boundaries when warping For the most accurate results particularly with percussive material choose Transients This setting uses the positions of the analyzed or user created transients to determine warping behavior To preserve specific beat divisions regardless of the sample s contents choose one of the fixed note values For some interesting rhythmic artifacts choose large note values in conjunction with pitch transposition The Transient Loop Mode chooser sets the looping properties for the clip s transients Loop Off Each segment of audio between transients plays to its end and then stops Any remaining time between the end of a segment and the next transient will be silent Loop Forward Each segment of audio between transients plays to its end Playback then jumps back to a zero crossing near the middle of the segment and continues looping until the time when the next transient occurs Loop Back a
365. stom folder or in the VST Plug In Setting up VST Plug In Sources for Mac OS X CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 216 System folder on Mac OS X selected in Live s File Folder Preferences The alias can point to a different partition or hard drive on your computer Live will scan the set VST Plug in folder as well as any alias folders contained therein Some VST Plug ins contain errors or are incompatible with Live During the scanning process these may cause the program to crash When you re launching Live a dialog will appear to inform you about which plug in caused the problem Depending on what Live detects about the plug in you may be given the choice between performing another scan or making the problematic plug in unavailable If you choose to rescan and they crash the program a second time Live will automatically make them unavailable meaning that they will not appear in the Plug In Device Browser and will not be rescanned again until they are reinstalled 16 3 2 VST Programs and Banks Every VST Plug in instance owns a bank of programs A program is meant to contain one complete set of values for the plug in s controls v polyibiit gt amp SectionOne a To select a program from the plug in s bank use the chooser below the title bar The number of programs per bank is fixed You are always working in the currently selected program that is all changes to the plug in s controls b
366. t and Session View Right Live s Crossfader CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 20 QE a three ee e e e l GainLow GainMid GainHi E u 003e 0 0048 0 0048 i j A MIDI Effect an infected Bass A0 ws H en Bre Tnk Ci Ma a Freglow may Fregtt Instrument and an Audio Snap _ RootKeyDetune Scale Pan Sample End Release Mode Release Mode Crossfade Detune iy Wo oa 4 094 Cc 16697 DA a Ee E o o oa RW 155fz 10 9 kHz Effect ina MIDI Track If a MIDI track has no instrument and no audio effects then the track s output is a plain MIDI signal which has to be sent somewhere else to be converted into audio In this case the track s mix and Send controls disappear from the mixer 1 Audio 2 MIDI 3 MIDI 4 MIDI Al Al 1 2 S Ss e A B A B 4 8 Presets and Racks The Mixer for a MIDI Track without an Instrument ia seeeeceeeeeee Every Live device can store and retrieve particular sets of parameter values as presets As presets are stored independently from Live Sets new presets become part of a library that any project can draw from Live s Instrument Drum and Effect Racks allow saving combinations of devices and their settings as a single preset This feature allows for the creation of powerful multi device creations and effectively adds all the capabilities of Live
367. t so Live came up with something appropriate a search for Drum Kick in Library Samples Waveforms The Hot Swap Browser CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 39 5 2 Sample Files A sample is a file that contains audio data Live can play both uncompressed file formats WAV AIF and Sound Designer II for Mac and compressed file formats MP3 AAC Ogg Vorbis Ogg FLAC and FLAC A note on using Variable Bit Rate VBR files Please install QuickTime for decoding purposes if you do not already have it on your system It can be downloaded from the Apple website As Live plays the samples directly from disk you can work with a large number of large samples without running into RAM memory limitations Please note however that you may run into disk throughput problems if your disk is nearly full and or on Windows systems highly fragmented Hard drive rotation speed can also affect disk performance Refer to the section on managing the disk load for more information Live can combine uncompressed mono or stereo samples of any length sample rate or bit depth without prior conversion To play a compressed sample Live decodes the sample and writes the result to a temporary uncompressed sample file This usually happens quickly enough that you will be able to play the sample right away without waiting for the decoding process to finish Note When adding a long sample to a project Live might tell you that it cannot play the sam
368. t configurations Windows e Interface A The maximum jitter was 4 ms with the majority of the jitter occurring at 1 ms e Interface B For most of the tests the maximum jitter was 3 or 4 ms At 96 kHz and 1024 sample buffer there were a small number of events with 5 ms of jitter MIDI Input Test Configuration CHAPTER 31 MIDI FACT SHEET 379 At 44 1 kHz and 512 sample buffer occasional events with 6 ms occurred In all cases the majority of the jitter occurred at 1 ms e Interface C For most of the tests the maximum jitter was 5 ms At 96 kHz and 512 sample buffer there were a small number of events with between 6 and 8 ms of jitter At 44 1 kHz and 1024 sample buffer there were a small number of events with jitter as high as 10 ms In all cases the majority of the jitter occurred at 1 ms OS X e Interface A At 44 1 kHz and 1152 sample buffer jitter was fairly evenly distributed between 4 and 11 ms For all other tests the maximum jitter was 5 ms In all tests the majority of the jitter occured at 1 ms e Interface B For most of the tests the maximum jitter was 4 or 5 ms At 44 1 kHz and 1152 sample buffer there was a fairly even distribution of jitter between 2 and 11 ms In all cases the majority of the jitter occurred at 1 ms e Interface C In all tests the maximum jitter was 1 ms with most events occurring with no jitter We also pe
369. t is also possible to automatically snap the entire sample to the grid at once by using the Quantize command To do this click in the background of the sample editor and choose the Quantize command from the Edit menu or use the Ctrl J U PC C WU Mac hotkey This will quantize using default settings or the settings that you previously applied To adjust your quantization parameters open the Quantization Settings dialog from the Edit menu Quantize To Current Grid y Amount a oK Canes Using the options presented here you can select either the current grid size or a specific me ter value for quantization You can also quantize without that quantized feel by adjusting the Amount control which will move Warp Markers by a percentage of the set quantization value 9 3 Adjusting for Good Stretching Quality Live offers a number of time stretching modes to accommodate all sorts of audio material Each clip s time stretching mode and associated parameters are set in the Clip View s Sample Box Quantizing Audio Samples CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 126 The warp modes are different varieties of granular resynthesis techniques Granular resyn thesis achieves time compression and expansion by repeating and skipping over parts of the sample the grains The warp modes differ in the selection of grains as well as in the details of overlapping and crossfading between grains Let s inve
370. t never both So who wins When a Session clip is launched the respective track stops whatever it is doing to play that clip In particular if the track was playing an Arrangement clip it will stop it in favor of the Session clip even as the other tracks continue to play what is in the Arrangement The track will not resume Arrangement playback until explicitly told to do so p rPisie p EI B o This is what the Back to Arrangement button found in the Control Bar at the top of the Live screen is for This button lights up to indicate that one or more tracks are currently not playing the Arrangement but are playing a clip from the Session instead We can click this button to make all tracks go back to the Arrangement Or if we like what we hear we can capture the current state into the Arrangement by activating the Record button Disengaging Record Mode or stopping Live using the Stop button leaves us with an altered Arrangement 4 4 Audio and MIDI Clips represent recorded signals Live deals with two types of signals audio and MIDI In the digital world an audio signal is a series of numbers that approximates a continuous signal as generated by a microphone or delivered to a loudspeaker A MIDI signal is a sequence of commands such as now play a C4 at mezzo piano MIDI is a symbolic representation of musical material one that is closer to a written score than to an audio recording MIDI signals are generated by input devices s
371. tes in the File Browser to load them as the music plays if you like CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 62 5 9 Collecting External Files To prevent a Live Set from containing broken file references Live provides the option of collecting i e copying them into the Set s project folder This is accomplished via the File Manager e Choose the Manage Files command from the File menu e Click the Manage Set button e Unfold the triangular shaped fold button in the External Files section Current Live Set 6 View and Replace Files Click below to view all samples videos and other media files used by the current Live Set View Files Missing Files There are no missing files External Files This Live Set uses external files Live can collect them for you and copy them into the current Project folder Tell me more 6 factory files from the Library 437 KB Collect Into Project 2 files from other Projects 3 2 MB Collect Into Project 1 file from elsewhere 567 KB Collect Into Project Freeze Max device files Options for Collecting External Files Separated by location the Library installed by factory Live Packs other Projects and else where sample collections from external drives for example the File Manager provides CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 63 e A file count and the associated disk space used e A Show button that will list the files in the File Browser e A Yes No toggle
372. the Browser CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 45 individual components of Live Sets 5 3 1 Exporting MIDI Files Live MIDI clips can be exported as Standard MIDI files To export a MIDI clip use the File menu s Export Selected MIDI Clip command This command will open a file save dialog allowing you to choose the location for your new MIDI file Exporting a MIDI file is different from saving the clip as a Live Clip 5 4 Live Clips Individual clips can be exported to disk in the Live Clip format for easy retrieval and reuse in any project Because they only contain references to samples on disk rather than the audio data itself Live Clips are very small which makes it easy to develop and maintain your own collection To save a clip from the open Live Set to disk simply drag it to the File Browser and drop it into any folder Live will manage the copying of the clip s sample into this new location based on the selection in the Collect Files on Export chooser You can then type in a new name for the clip or confirm the one suggested by Live with Return Live Clips are a great way of storing your ideas for later use or development as they save not only the original clip including all its clip and envelope settings but also the original track s devices In order to recreate a Live Clip s device chain either import it into a track A Live Clip in the Browser CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 46 containing no
373. the File Browser where you can either confirm Live s suggested name or type in one of your own 5 5 4 Template Sets Use the File Folder Preferences Save Current Set as Default button to save the current Live Set as the default template Live will use these settings as the initialized default state for new Live Sets You can use this to pre configure e Your multichannel input output setup e Preset devices like EQs and Compressors in every track e Computer key mappings e MIDI mappings The template Live Set Template als is located in Live s Preferences folder and can be copied or deleted from there The easiest way to locate this folder is to search your disk for Template als In addition to the template Set that loads by default the Live Library contains a folder called Templates This is a collection of Sets with pre configured tracks and routing configurations for a variety of common recording scenarios 5 5 5 Viewing and Changing a Live Set s File References To view a list of the files referenced by the current Live Set choose the Manage Files command from the File menu click the Manage Set button and then click the View Files button Live will display one line for each file used by the Live Set To list all clips or instruments in the Live Set where the file is actually used click the triangle to expand the line Here is what you can do CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 50 e Replace a f
374. the control Dragging the knob or slider to its absolute maximum or minimum value will make the clips settings thereafter identical adjustable as a single value MIDI clips and audio clips in Live have different sets of properties and consequently do not share the same set of Clip View controls The two types of clips do have the following Clicking the Clip Overview Opens the Clip View Clicking a Session View Track Status Field Opens the Clip View Creating a Clip Multi Selection CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 95 in common e The Clip box contains basic clip settings e The Envelopes box and the Envelope Editor manage the clip s envelopes which are used to modulate the effects mixer and clip or MIDI controls Clip envelopes and their associated Clip View components are covered in detail in a separate manual chapter e The Launch box controls clip launch behavior and as such only appears for Session View clips Setting Session View clip launch properties is covered in detail in a separate manual chapter Audio clips have these additional Clip View controls e The Sample Display toggles with the Envelope Editor on the right hand side of the Clip View and controls Live s sample warping capabilities and clip playback settings e The Sample box contains settings pertaining to how the clip plays its sample and displays it in the Sample Display
375. the group ale 6 Play Other Clip is similar to Play Any Clip but as long as the current clip is not alone in the group no clip will play consecutively There is also the possibility to have no Follow Action by selecting No Action or leaving the chooser blank Note that a Follow Action happens exactly after the duration that is specified by the Follow Action Time controls unless clip quantization is set to a value other than None or Global Follow Actions circumvent global quantization but not clip quantization So why do you need these things Music is repetition and change Music based on loops or short melodic fragments has a tendency to sound static Follow Actions allow you to create structures that will repeat but can also be surprising Remember that you can always record the results of your experiments so this can provide a good source for new material In the following sections we will look at some practical examples and ideas for Follow Actions 12 6 1 Looping Parts of a Clip Let s say that you want to play a longer clip but then you want only the last eight bars to loop You can set this up using Follow Actions 1 Drag the clip into the Arrangement View and make sure that the Clip View s Loop switch is not activated Use the Edit menu s Split command to split the clip between the non looping and looping parts 2 Click and drag the resulting two clips into the Session View by letting the
376. tional features that are not visible by default The mixer is resizable and dragging upwards on the top of the mixer will extend the height of the track meters adding tick marks a numeric volume field and resettable peak level indicators Increasing a track s width in this state will add a decibel scale alongside the meter s tick marks These enhancements are tailored for use in traditional mixing settings but are available anytime the Mixer section is displayed Because of the enormous headroom of Live s 32 bit floating point audio engine Live s meters can be driven far into the red without causing the signals to clip The only time that signals over 0 dB will be problematic is when routing to or from physical inputs and outputs like those of your sound card or when saving audio to a file Nevertheless Live provides this optional visual feedback for signals that travel beyond 0 dB in any track CHAPTER 14 MIXING 181 14 2 Audio and MIDI Tracks Audio and MIDI tracks in Live are for hosting and playing clips as explained earlier You can add up to 64 audio and unlimited MIDI tracks to your Live Set s mixer using the appropriate Create menu commands Tracks can also be created by double clicking or pressing on files in the Browser to load them or by dragging objects from the Browser into the space to the right of Session View tracks or below Arrangement View tracks Devices or files loaded into Live in this
377. to the setting of the LFO amount controls in each of these sections The time required for the LFO to reach full intensity is determined by the Attack control 22 2 7 Glide and Spread Simpler includes a glide function When this function is activated new notes will start from the pitch of the last note played and then slide gradually to their own pitch Two glide modes are available Glide which works monophonically and Portamento which works polyphonically Glide is also adjusted with the Glide Time control Simpler also offers a special Spread parameter that creates a rich stereo chorus by using two voices per note and panning one to the left and one to the right The two voices are detuned and the amount of detuning can be adjusted with the Spread control Tip Whether or not spread is applied to a particular note depends upon the setting of the Spread parameter during the note on event To achieve special effects you could for instance create a sequence where Spread is zero most of the time and turned on only for some notes These notes will then play in stereo while the others will play mono 22 2 8 Pitch Pan Volume and Voices Simpler plays back a sample at its original pitch if the incoming MIDI note is C3 however the Transpose control allows transposing this by 48 semitones Pitch can also be modulated by an LFO or pitch envelope using the amount controls in this section The pitch envelope is especially helpful in creat
378. to which you are sending MIDI 7 Set the audio track s Monitor radio button to In 8 Select All Ins from the MIDI track s Input Type chooser 9 Arm the MIDI track Now any MIDI that you are playing into Live will arrive in Reason which will generate the corresponding audio back into the audio track ready for further processing in Live s mixer and effects If you want to continue work on the project without reopening Reason simply record Reason s audio by arming the audio track and engaging Record Mode 13 5 Resampling Live s Master output can be routed into an individual audio track and recorded or resampled Resampling can be a fun and useful tool as it lets you create samples from what is currently happening in a Live Set that can then be immediately integrated It can be used to record tracks that include processor intensive devices so as to delete the devices or for quickly previewing before rendering to disk The Resampling option in any audio track s Input Type chooser will route the Master output to that track You can then decide on what exactly you will be resampling and mute solo or otherwise adjust the tracks that are feeding the Master output You will probably want to use the Master Volume meter to make sure that your level is as high as possible without clipping indicated by red in the meter Then you can arm the track and record into any of its empty clip slots Note that the recording track s own
379. top all music in a track with its Clip Stop button and fire horizontal lines of clips with the Scene Launch buttons Stop All Clips does just that The controller tells you what s going on in the software but importantly the software also reflects what s happening on the controller The clip slots currently being controlled by the CHAPTER 25 USING THE APC40 325 APC s button matrix are shown in Live with a red border The directional arrows and Shift button increase the scope of the eight by five grid e Pressing Up or Down moves you up or down one scene at a time Hold the Shift button while hitting Up or Down to move five scenes up or down e The Left and Right arrow keys move you left or right one track at a time Hold the Shift button while hitting Left or Right to move eight tracks at a time 25 3 Session Overview The APC40 s Session Overview lets you navigate through large Live Sets quickly without looking at your computer screen Hold down the Shift button and the matrix zooms out to reveal an overview of your Session View In the Session Overview each clip launch button represents a five scene by eight track block of clips giving you a matrix of 125 scenes by 64 tracks Hit a button to focus on that section of the Session View For example hitting the Shift button and then pressing the button in row three column one will put the focus on scenes 11 15 and tracks 1 8 Furthermore while Shift is held each scene launch button
380. track s devices or mixer have no effect on the tapped signal Soloing a track that taps another track Pre FX will allow you to hear the tapped track e Post FX taps the signal at the output of a track s device chains FX but before it has been passed back to the track mixer Changes to the tapped track s devices will therefore alter the tapped signal but changes to its mixer settings will not Soloing a track that taps another track Post FX will allow you to hear the tapped track e Post Mixer taps the final output of a track after it has passed through its device chains and mixer Soloing a track that taps another track Post Mixer will not allow you to hear the tapped track Tap Points for Track Routing CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 167 Routing Points in Racks 1 Track A 2 Track B 3 Audio 4 Guitar 5 Audio Audio From 1 TrackA jj li Post Mixer w ii Pre FX ij Post FX ij Post Mixer ij 1989 Multi FX Delay Chain Pre FX ij 1989 Multi FX Delay Chain Post FX ij 1989 Multi FX Delay Chain Post Mixer il Q ji 1989 Mut Fx Phaser Chain Pre FX Ip ij 1989 Multi FX Phaser Chain Post FX ij 1989 Multi FX Phaser Chain Post Mixer If a track has one or more Instrument or Effect Racks in its device chain internal routing points Pre FX Post FX and Post Mixer will also be available for every chain within the Rack If a track contains one or more Drum Racks internal routing points will
381. tring track s Post FX signal Routing a Speech Signal Into a Vocoder s Sidechain Input CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 176 2 Speech 3 Strings 4 Brass 5 Strings metody Audio From MIDI From MIDI From Audio From Ext In 4 Brass All ins oii Ext In X Il 1 2 Post FX i All Channes Il Monitor Monitor in Auto O In Auto Off Audio To Audio To 5 Strings Master Track In Using an Auxiliary MIDI O T Q ji Track to Layer Ji il Instruments Perhaps you wonder why this works given that the string track s output is audio and not MIDI When routing MIDI in from another track we are tapping the MIDI at the latest possible stage which is after any MIDI Effects and just before the instrument 177 Chapter 14 Mixing 14 1 The Live Mixer Live includes a mixer section that is accessible from two views 24 1 3 The Arrangement View Mixer In the Arrangement View the mixer appears as a horizontal strip to the right of the track area To display all mixer controls for a track unfold the track using the button next to its name and adjust its height accordingly CHAPTER 14 MIXING 178 The Session View Mixer The Session View is a standard vertical mixer layout You ll likely find the Session View mixer more int
382. tton that appears at the bottom of the track s title bar Clicking PC Ctrl Mac on a track name or automation lane header opens a context menu with additional options for viewing envelopes This context menu also contains commands to quickly clear all automation envelopes for the track or any of its devices 18 4 1 Drawing Envelopes With Draw Mode enabled you can click and drag to draw an envelope curve gt gt m ove Se 1 Bar 7 The Draw Mode Switch To toggle Draw Mode select the Draw Mode option from the Options menu click on the Control Bar s Draw Mode switch or press PC Mac CHAPTER 18 AUTOMATION AND EDITING ENVELOPES 229 Drawing an Envelope Drawing creates steps as wide as the visible grid which you can modify using a number of handy shortcuts For freehand drawing you can hide the grid using the Snap to Grid Options menu entry or the PC Mac shortcut To temporarily enable freehand drawing while the grid is shown hold down PC Mac while drawing 18 4 2 Editing Breakpoints With Draw Mode off the envelope display looks and works differently The line segments and the breakpoints connecting them become draggable objects Clicking and dragging in the envelope s background defines a selection Here is what you can do e Double click at a position on a line segment to create a new breakpoint there e Double click on a breakpoint to delete it e Click
383. u are using Live to send MIDI to your synth this means that each MIDI clip in your Live Set can play a different sound on your synth Live offers messages for 128 banks with 128 sub banks each of which has 128 programs Please see the documentation that came with your synthesizer to determine how many of these messages it can use If you do not want your clip to send program or bank change messages simply set the bank program choosers to None 8 3 3 MIDI Loop Region These controls manage how the contents of a MIDI clip are played and shown in the MIDI Editor They work the same way as those for audio clips In the MIDI Editor the zoom scroll area is located above the beat time ruler the scrub area just below 8 4 Clip Defaults and Update Rate You can change the rate at which Live applies your Clip View settings to a running clip Clip View changes will be quantized by the rate selected from the Clip Update Rate chooser in the Record Warp Launch Preferences Certain clip settings such as Launch Mode and Warp Mode can be set up as defaults for all new clips This is also done in the Record Warp Launch Preferences 113 Chapter 9 Tempo Control and Warping Unlike music stored on tape or in a traditional digital audio workstation the music in Live remains elastic at all times Live is capable of time warping samples while streaming them from disk so as to synchronize them to the current Live Set s tempo This happens w
384. u can n Output 00 4 Attack create your own text and it will appear in this window allal To save screen space fold in the Info 0 00 dB 5 00 ine View by clicking the triangle shaped Drive Tone Bias 3 ii peas button near the lower left corner A O G Show Hide Info View 0 00 dB 0 00 00 35 0 ms The Info View and its Show Hide Button If you require more information on a specific user interface element or topic please consult this reference manual The index found at the end of the manual contains the names of all user interface elements and will lead you to the relevant section CHAPTER 2 FIRST STEPS 4 2 2 Setting up Preferences Live s Preferences window is where you can find various settings that determine how Live looks behaves and interfaces with the outside world This window is accessed from the Preferences command which in Windows is available in the Options menu and in OS X is available in the Live menu Preferences can also be accessed with the Cti PC C E Mac shortcut Live s Preferences are distributed over several tabs In the Look Feel tab you can modify various settings including the language used for text display and the color scheme or skin for the Live user interface This is also where you can adjust the size of objects displayed on the screen the Zoom Display slider allows you to zoom Live s screen to any percentage between 50 and 200 of the standard interface s
385. u have completed the setup phase but we recommend that you take the time to select a Takeover Mode before you leave the Preferences behind Your next step will be creating MIDI mappings between your control surface and Live Luckily this is a simple task and you only need to do it for one parameter at a time Defining Control Surfaces Manually CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 314 24 1 3 Takeover Mode Take Over Mode Value Scaling MIDI Ports rack Sync Remote When MIDI controls that send absolute values such as faders are used in a bank switching setup where they address a different destination parameter with each controller bank you will need to decide how Live should handle the sudden jumps in values that will occur when moving a control for the first time after switching the bank Three takeover modes are available None As soon as the physical control is moved its new value is sent immediately to its destination parameter usually resulting in abrupt value changes Pick Up Moving the physical control has no effect until it reaches the value of its destination parameter As soon as they are equal the destination value tracks the control s value 1 1 This option can provide smooth value changes but it can be difficult to estimate exactly where the pick up will take place Value Scaling This option ensures smooth value transitions It compares the physical control s value to the destination parameter s va
386. uces distortions all the time The qualities of Tube B lie somewhere between these two extremes The Tone control sets the spectral distribution of the distortions directing them into the higher registers or through the midrange and deeper The Drive control determines how much signal reaches the tube greater Drive yields a dirtier output The intensity of the tube is controlled by the Bias dial which pushes the signal into the celebrated realms of nonlinear distortion With very high amounts of Bias the signal will really start to break apart The Bias parameter can be positively or negatively modulated by an envelope follower which is controlled with the Envelope knob The more deeply the envelope is applied the more the Bias point will be influenced by the level of the input signal Negative Envelope values create expansion effects by reducing distortion on loud signals while positive values will make loud sounds dirtier Attack and Release are envelope characteristics that define how quickly the envelope reacts The Dynamic Tube Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 257 to volume changes in the input signal Together they shape the dynamic nature of the distortions Note that if Envelope is set to zero they will have no effect Cut or boost the device s final signal level with the Output dial Aliasing can be reduced by enabling Hi Quality mode which can be accessed via the PC Mac context menu This
387. uch as MIDI or USB keyboards It takes an instrument to convert MIDI signals into audio signals that can actually be heard Some instruments such as Live s Simpler are for chromatic playing of one sound via the keyboard Other instruments such as Live s Impulse have a different percussion sound assigned to each keyboard key Audio signals are recorded and played back using audio tracks and MIDI signals are lFor an introduction to digital audio and MIDI please see http img uoregon edu emi emi php and http www midi org The Back to Arrangement Button CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 14 recorded and played back using MIDI tracks The two track types have their own corre sponding clip types Audio clips cannot live on MIDI tracks and vice versa Information about inserting reordering and deleting audio and MIDI tracks is found here 4 5 Audio Clips and Samples An audio clip contains a reference to a sample also known as a sound file or audio file or a compressed sample such as an MP3 file The clip tells Live where on the computer s drives to find the sample what part of the sample to play and how to play it When a sample is dragged in from one of Live s built in File Browsers Live automatically creates a clip to play that sample Prior to dragging in a sample one can audition or preview it directly in the Browser the switch in the Browser with the headphone icon activates previewing Current Project Li
388. uitive than the Arrangement mixer which comes in handy when you work with automation Note that the Tab key toggles between the Arrangement and Session Views The View menu options listed below show or hide mixer components You can use different mixer view setups in the Session View and in the Arrangement View e In Out e Sends e Returns e Mixer Track Delays e Crossfader The Mixer Section selectors on the right hand side of the screen duplicate the View Menu commands making it possible to quickly show or hide different mixer components Stop Clips ty 8 The Mixer Section Selectors CHAPTER 14 MIXING 179 Let s look at the mixer controls OF Of OF J i m c mA oe On s 1 The Meter shows the track s RMS average and peak output level While moni toring however it shows the input level The Mixer Controls 2 The Volume control adjusts the track s output level With multiple tracks selected adjusting the volume of one of them will adjust the others as well 3 The Pan control positions the track s output in the stereo field To reset the Pan control to center click on its associated triangle With multiple tracks selected adjusting the pan knob for one of them will adjust the others as well 4 To mute the track s output turn off the Track Activator switch With multiple tracks selected toggling one of their Track Activators will toggle the others as well 5 The Solo switch solos the track
389. unds in a creative way The Grain Size control determines the grain size used but unlike in Tones Mode this is a setting that Live will use unaltered without considering the signal s characteristics Fluctuation introduces randomness into the process Larger values give more randomness 9 3 4 Re Pitch Mode In Re Pitch Mode Live doesn t really time stretch or compress the music instead it adjusts the playback rate to create the desired amount of stretching In other words to speed up playback by a factor of 2 it s transposed up an octave This is like the DJ stretching method of using variable speed turntables to sync two records or what happens to samples in samplers when they re transposed The Transpose and Detune controls have no effect in Re Pitch Mode 128 Chapter 10 Editing MIDI Notes and Velocities A MIDI clip in Live contains notes and controller data for playing a MIDI instrument This instrument can be a virtual instrument in a MIDI track s device chain or an external synth fed via the track s output routing The MIDI clip provides the device with a musical score to play specifying note pitch length position and dynamics referred to as velocity in the MIDI lexicon MIDI is composed and edited in Live s MIDI Editor 10 1 Creating an Empty MIDI Clip MIDI clips are created e by means of recording e or by double clicking an empty Session slot in a MIDI track e or by selecting an empty Session
390. urn the switch on Decrement messages turn it off e Radio Buttons Increment messages make the radio button jump forward to the next available option Decrement messages make it jump backward e Continuous Controls Each type of relative MIDI controller uses a different inter pretation of the 0 127 MIDI controller value range to identify value increments and decrements Please consult the documentation that came with your MIDI controller if you need further information on relative MIDI controllers CHAPTER 24 MIDI AND KEY REMOTE CONTROL 319 Relative Session View Navigation Notice that you can make not only absolute mappings to individual slots and scenes but also relative mappings to move the highlighted scene and operate on the highlighted clips In both MIDI Map Mode and Key Map Mode a strip of assignable controls appears below the Session grid gt d T ma B 2 C i gt OO 1 Assign these buttons to keys notes or controllers to move the highlighted scene up and down The Relative Session Mapping Strip 2 Assign this scene number value box to a MIDI controller preferably an endless encoder to scroll through the scenes For details see the previous section on Relative Map Modes 3 Assign this button to launch the highlighted scene If the Record Warp Launch Preferences Select Next Scene on Launch option is checked you can move successively and hopefully successfully
391. ussion loop comes late just pin a Warp Marker to it and drag the marker to the correct beat position You may want to pin the adjacent events as well to avoid affecting neighboring regions in the sample Removing a sample s natural groove by applying Warp Markers is an interesting creative method particularly in conjunction with Live s ability to impose an artificial groove onto clips in real time Syncing Longer Pieces Live s Auto Warp algorithm makes longer samples and entire songs readily available for integration into your project You can use the Browser to import long samples or MP3 AAC Ogg Vorbis Ogg FLAC and FLAC files When you drag a file into Live that is too long to justify the assumption that it is a loop or a one shot Live will auto warp the clip by default though this can be changed in the Record Warp Launch Preferences Note that for the auto warp mechanism to work files which are being imported into the program for the first time will need to undergo a first time analysis process and will not be immediately available for playing or editing As explained in the section in this manual on analysis files analysis can be batch processed with the PC Mac context menu s Analyze Audio command Once analysis is finished you can view the results of Auto Warp s assumptions about the file Using Warp Markers to Manipulate the Groove CHAPTER 9 TEMPO CONTROL AND WARPING 122 a hes 133 r49 r65 8
392. uts over a range of frequencies e Notch sharply cuts frequencies within a narrow range e High shelf boosts or cuts frequencies higher than the specified frequency e High cut cuts frequencies above the specified frequency Each filter band can be turned on or off independently Turn off bands that are not in use to save CPU power To edit the filter curve click and drag on the filter dots in the display Horizontal movement changes the filter frequency while vertical movement adjusts the filter band s gain To adjust the filter Q also called resonance or bandwidth hold down the PC Mac modifier while dragging the mouse Note that the gain cannot be adjusted for the low cut notch and high cut filters In these modes vertical dragging adjusts the filter Q You can also use the numbered filter selector buttons to select a band for editing and then edit parameter values with the Freq Gain and Q dials and or type values into the number fields below each dial To achieve really drastic filtering effects assign the same parameters to two or more filters As boosting will increase levels and cutting will decrease levels use the global Gain field to optimize the output level for maximum level consistent with minimum distortion The Scale field will attenuate the gain of all filters that support gain all except low cut notch and high cut Enabling Hi Quality mode via the PC Mac context menu can improve the
393. uuzasaonsnct 125 Warp switchs seers ntiadhieiieeles 100 WANDING acaicn atcrhaedeas ia 145 longer pieces sis cissrensversenvenss 121 manipulating grooves 120 MUMS CHS wicca xcayicrionxagsstinnds 124 odd length loops wii sanraveynuntss 120 straight OOPS lt cansracanoerneswanr 119 tempo master slave 116 UNGUtIOGDS sc 02candanecega cranes 119 webshop 04 s aeinasedeapadenes see Ableton Widen Grid command 5545 80 Z Zoom Display eos nna onni indoaaria 4 Zooming in Arrangement View 69 in Clip View cis eaneusererareeaa rand 101
394. ve 7 Library ve Erg 0001 7 Audio 1 wav Wave Erg 0001 7 Audio 2 wav Wave Erg 0001 7 Audio wav Wave Erg 0001 8 Audio wav Wave Erg 0001 Bass wav Wave Erg 0002 6 Audio 1 wav Wave ee 0002 6 Audio 2 wav Wave Erg 0002 6 Audio wav Wave Exp 0002 7 Audio wav Wave Samples Are Dragged in Raw from Live s File Browsers Live offers many options for playing samples in exciting new ways allowing you to create an abundance of new sounds without actually changing the original sample all the changes are computed in real time while the sample is played The respective settings are made in the Clip View which appears on screen when a clip is double clicked CHAPTER 4 LIVE CONCEPTS 15 Clip Launch Sample Envelopes drumioop Launch Mode 0001 5 Audio wav WEE stat Ga Clip _ Start Ta Tigger gt 44 1 kHz 16 Bit 2 Ch IOG Volume C Signature uegao Seg BPmM End Ge Transpose Ena 4 Jil 4 Quantization HE0 FBS RAM _92 00 OO Groove Cotai vij Transpose C Pan Neve bs ae oO Beals Position GB Region Loop Position ollow Action dtd os rene 00 aE 5 5 Detune a Length Gap Length eoce 1 0 Oa 4 0 0048 Ex JLC Many powerful manipulations arise from Live s warping c
395. ve values will shorten the sample and positive values will stretch it Two different stretching algorithms are available Mode A is ideal for low sounds such as toms or bass while Mode B is better for high sounds such as cymbals The Stretch value can also be modulated by MIDI note velocity 22 1 3 Filter The Filter section offers a broad range of filter types each of which can impart different sonic characteristics onto the sample by removing certain frequencies The Frequency control defines where in the harmonic spectrum the filter is applied the Resonance control boosts frequencies near that point Filter Frequency can be modulated by either a random value or by MIDI note velocity CHAPTER 22 LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 296 22 1 4 Saturator and Envelope The Saturator gives the sample a fatter rounder more analog sound and can be switched on and off as desired The Drive control boosts the signal and adds distortion Coincidentally this makes most signals much louder and should usually be compensated for by lowering the sample s volume control Extreme Drive settings on low pitched sounds will produce the typical overdriven analog synth drum sounds The envelope can be adjusted using the Decay control which can be set to a maximum of 10 0 seconds Impulse has two decay modes Trigger Mode allows the sample to decay with the note Gate Mode forces the envelope to wait for a note off message before beginning the decay This mode
396. velocity by 20 as long as it is held down Once it is released however velocity will drop back to its original value If your keyboard is already set to input notes at 120 holding this key will raise note velocity to 127 The MIDI Ports List in the Preferences Activating the Computer MIDI Keyboard CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 162 As it happens when the computer keyboard is set to send notes between C3 and C4 the keys are mapped to MIDI notes such that the center row of the keyboard ASDF addresses the Impulse percussion sampler s sample slots This means that you can play and record drum patterns right off the computer keyboard Note that when the computer MIDI keyboard is activated it will steal keys that may have otherwise been assigned to remote control elements of the Live interface To prevent this you can turn the computer MIDI keyboard off when it is not needed 13 3 3 Connecting External Synthesizers Routing MIDI to an external synthesizer is straightforward The Output Type chooser is set to whatever MIDI port the synthesizer is connected to the Output Channel chooser is used to select which MIDI channel to send on Important If you are using a keyboard synthesizer both as a master keyboard to play into Live and as a sound generator then please make sure to check the synthesizer s Local Off function Every synthesizer has this function which effectively separates the keyboard from the sound gene
397. velocity section With Velocity set to On and Target set to 0 for example the sequence will gradually fade out eventually reaching O velocity The Decay control sets the amount of time Arpeggiator takes to reach the Target velocity With Retrigger activated retriggering of the sequence will also retrigger the velocity slope Tip The velocity section s Retrigger option can be used in conjunction with Beat retriggering to add rhythm to the dynamic slope 21 2 Chord gt Shitt2 Shina OC 3 st 54 4 Shit 5 Shift 6 v pet Y This effect assembles a chord as the name implies from each incoming note and up to six others of user defined pitch The Shift 1 6 knobs allow selecting the pitch of the notes that contribute to the chord from a range of 36 semitones relative to the original Setting Shift 1 to 4 semitones and Shift 2 to 7 semitones for example yields a major chord in which the incoming note is the root The Velocity control beneath each Shift knob makes further harmonic sculpting possible given that the instrument allows for changes in volume or timbre as function of velocity It is a relative control with a range of 1 to 200 percent 100 percent defined as playing at a velocity equal to that of the incoming MIDI note Use the Velocity controls to do anything from adding slight overtones to washing out most of the other chord elements The order in which pitches are added to the chord is incon
398. vement in a relative fashion Modulating the track s Send controls is just as easy Again the modulation is a relative percentage The clip envelope cannot open the send further than the Send knob but it can reduce the actual send value to minus infinite dB 2AIAAO 19 3 2 Modulating Pan The Pan envelope affects the mixer pan stage in a relative way The pan knob s position determines the intensity of the modulation With the pan knob set to the center position modulation by the clip envelope can reach from hard left to hard right the modulation amount is automatically reduced as you move the pan knob towards the left or right When the pan knob is turned all the way to the left for instance the pan clip envelope has no effect at all 19 3 3 Modulating Device Controls All devices in a clip s track are listed in the upper clip envelope Device chooser Modulating the devices controls works just as you would expect When modulating device controls it is important to keep the interaction of clip envelopes and device settings in mind Unlike a device preset the clip envelope cannot define the values for the devices controls it can only change them relative to their current setting Modulating the Mixer Volume The Little Dot Below the Volume Slider Thumb Represents the Modulated Volume Setting Modulating a Send The Send Knob s Position Ring Indicates the Modulated Value CHAPTER 19 CLIP ENVELOPES 240
399. venient Therefore we add a new audio track to submix the drums The individual drum tracks are all set to output to the submix track which outputs to the Master The submix track gives us a handy volume control for the entire drum kit Audio From Audio From Audio From Audio From Ext In Y Ext In Ext In gt Ext In N 1 2 gt N 1 2 1 2 N 1 2 x Monitor _ Monitor 4 Monitor Monitor Cin Aol On in Ao O in Aao On in A O Audio To Audio To Audio To Audio To Sends Only v Sends Only Sends Only v Sends Only ae eed e Sends Submixing by setting a Sends Sends Sends 3 A A A A track s Output Type to Q Q Q Q Sends Only A third possibility is to use Live s return tracks for submixing This is done by selecting the Sends Only option in a track s Output Type then turning up a Send control as desired The corresponding return track will then act as a submixer channel CHAPTER 13 ROUTING AND I O 171 Several MIDI Tracks Playing the Same Instrument Consider a MIDI track containing a virtual instrument a Simpler playing a pad sound for example We have already recorded MIDI clips into this track when we realize that we would like to add an independent parallel take for the same instrument So we add another MIDI track We could now drag another Simpler into the new track but we would really like to reuse the Simpler from the pad track so that changing the pad s
400. vice presets any samples used etc 5 5 1 Creating Opening and Saving Sets Use the File menu s New Live Set command to create new Live Sets and the Open or Open Recent command to open existing ones In the File Browser you can double click or press on a Live Set to open it The File menu s Save command saves the current Live Set exactly as it is including all clips and settings CHAPTER 5 MANAGING FILES AND SETS 47 You can use the Save As command to save the current Live Set under a different name and or in a different directory location or the Save a Copy command to create a copy of the current Live Set with a new name and or new directory location 5 5 2 Merging Sets Live makes it easy to merge Sets which can come in handy when combining work from different versions or pieces To add all tracks except the return tracks from one Live Set into another drag the Set from the File Browser into the current Set and drop it onto any track title bar or into the drop area next to or below the tracks The tracks from the dropped Set will be completely reconstructed including their clips in the Session and Arrangement View their devices and their automation Drop Files and Devices Here If you prefer to import individual tracks from a Set you can unfold the Live Set in the File Browser just as if it were a folder Session View Drop Area for Importing Live Sets Arrangement View Drop Area for Importing Live
401. vici Devices in the Track View To save space in the Track View a device can be collapsed by double clicking on its title bar or by choosing Fold from its PC S Mac context menu Devices Can Be Folded To learn about a particular device and how to operate it consult the Live Audio Effect Reference Live MIDI Effect Reference or the Live Instrument Reference To learn about creating and using custom groupings of instruments and effects check out the Instrument Drum and Effect Racks chapter Get hands on with devices by assigning their parameters to MIDI or key remote control CHAPTER 16 WORKING WITH INSTRUMENTS AND EFFECTS 202 16 1 Using the Live Devices b E External instrument gt E Impulse gt E Operator gt E Sampler gt E Simpler gt E Tension gt 5 MIDI Effects v P Audio Effects gt E Audio Effect Rack v Ge Auto Filter Ableton Device v T E Cut 0 Move L 26 11 2007 12 04 Click on the Device Browser selector to access the palette of Live s built in devices You will notice that MIDI effects audio effects and instruments each have their own folders in the Browser The easiest way to place a device in a track is to double click on it in the Browser which creates a new track to hold the device Alternatively select a destination track by clicking within it then select a device or preset in the Browser and press to add it to the selected track You can also drag devices i
402. vide mastering related functions such as compression and or EQ You can create multiple return tracks using the Create menu s Insert Return Track command but by definition there is only one Master track 14 4 Using Live s Crossfader Live includes a crossfader that can create smooth transitions between clips playing on different tracks Live s crossfader works like a typical DJ mixer crossfader except that it allows crossfading not only two but any number of tracks including the returns fT it TY TS i fT ul EAI ee ee eee i 4 6 7 e o e Q7 f B WE a The Crossfader and Selector o t The crossfader is accessed via the Session View s mixer selectors It features seven different crossfade curves so that you can choose the one that fits your style the best To change the CHAPTER 14 MIXING 184 curve PC Mac on the crossfader then select an entry from the context menu Dipped Intermediate v Constant Power Slow Fade Slow Cut Fast Cut Transition R Return to Default Del mk of e e B A B The chart below details the power level and response of each crossfader curve Choose from Seven Crossfader Curves A B Power Level Crossfader Response Transition Dipped Intermediate Constant Power Slow Fade Slow Cut Crossfader Curve Properties Fast Cut The crossfader can be mapped to any continuous MIDI controller ab
403. w ableton com downloads CHAPTER 17 INSTRUMENT DRUM AND EFFECT RACKS 221 17 1 An Overview of Racks 17 1 1 Signal Flow and Parallel Device Chains D stant Remix Map Mode Dynamic Tube OA Chan Maco2 Macro 3 Macro 4 JANO Chain miae Oret Sopa Selector a Ta x 26 A ORY ji oom cS ejj N rA A A Q m f Outpt ook 31 o 0 o Gidakia joes st 4S ei ad Attack Macro 5 Macro6 Macro7 Macro 8 Mostly Buzz ii Hee Rk 4 amp il 0 00 68 ee 5 00 ms Quarter Kin jj BOO 2U 4 M S A jj 10 0 ms Drive G 1G G 1 mes 0 Drop Audio Effects Here Hib o8 o o o o v Fip 500ms 0 00408 0 00 0 0 In any of Live s tracks devices are connected serially in a device chain passing their signals from one device to the next left to right By default the Track View displays only a single chain but there is actually no limit to the number of chains contained within a track Racks allow among other things additional device chains to be added to any track When a track has multiple chains they operate in parallel In Instrument and Effect Racks each chain receives the same input signal at the same time but then processes its signal serially through its own devices The output of each of the parallel chains is mixed together producing the Rack s output Drum Racks also allow multiple parallel c
404. ween different effect or clip transposition settings Using Follow Actions and Legato Mode together provides a powerful way of gradually changing a melody or beat Imagine that you have several identical clips of a melody that form a group and they are set up to play in Legato Mode Whenever their Follow Actions tell them to move on to another clip in the group the melody will not change as Legato Mode will sync the new play position with the old one in beat time The settings and clip envelopes of each clip or even the actual notes contained in a MIDI clip can then be slowly adjusted so that the melody goes through a gradual metamorphosis CHAPTER 12 LAUNCHING CLIPS 156 12 6 5 Mixing up Melodies and Beats You can let Follow Actions perform unpredictable remixes and solos for you Use a clip containing a beat or melody and copy it so that there are several instances of it forming a group Alternatively you can use several different beats or melodies that you want to mix together The start and end for each clip can be set differently as can clip envelopes and other clip settings As long as Follow Action Time in each clip is equal to the length of the clip that you want to play you can set up two Follow Actions with different Chance values in each clip launch a clip and surprise yourself 12 6 6 Creating Nonrepetitive Structures Follow Actions are great when it comes to sound installations as they allow you to create structu
405. which is based on the original placement of the note relative to the grid This is useful for preserving a groove or loose playing style that you do not necessarily want to set straight 10 4 4 Editing Notes Editing in the MIDI Editor is similar to editing in the Arrangement In both cases your actions are selection based you select something using the mouse then execute a menu command e g Cut Copy Paste Duplicate on the selection Here is how selection works e Clicking a note selects the note Multiple notes can be selected in unison rubber band select more than one note with one mouse motion by clicking in empty space then dragging to enclose the notes in the dotted line that appears deselects all selected notes e Clicking into the background of the MIDI Editor selects a point in time represented by a flashing insert marker Use the Loop Region Markers to Select a Specific Region of the Clip to Play CHAPTER 10 EDITING MIDI NOTES AND VELOCITIES 135 Clicking and dragging in the background selects a timespan To select all of the notes that begin during the timespan press Return After placing the insert marker you can manipulate it using your computer keyboard Press or to move the insert marker to the left or right according to the grid settings PC Mac J or moves the insert marker to the next note boundary Hold down while pressing the arrow keys to extend or retract the selected ti
406. will be starting at the point at which it would have been stopping Note Length s other settings will then determine the duration of the newly triggered note Three other parameters are available when the device is triggering from Note Off messages On Off Balance This determines the velocity of the output note It is a balance between the incoming note s Note On and Note Off velocities If your MIDI keyboard does not support MIDI Note Off velocity you can just set this to zero The Note Length Effect CHAPTER 21 LIVE MIDI EFFECT REFERENCE 288 Decay Time This is the time needed for an incoming note s velocity to decay to zero The decay begins immediately from the moment the device receives a MIDI Note On message The value at the time of Note Off will become the velocity of the output MIDI note Key Scale The pitch of incoming notes can be used to alter the length of the output notes With positive values notes below C3 will be made progressively longer and notes above C3 will be made shorter Negative values will invert this relationship 21 4 Pitch Pitch The Pitch Effect Pitch is a transposition tool that changes incoming note pitch by 128 semitones The Range and Lowest controls act together to define a pitch range through which notes are allowed to pass Notes outside of the defined pitch range will be blocked and the effect s LED light will flash when this happens Notes outside of the
407. ws allows outgoing MIDI events to be sched uled by the operating system rather than scheduled by Live alone so performance may differ depending on whether or not you re using MME or DirectMusic mode If you experience timing issues we recommend switching to the other mode This is set in the MIDI Ports list in the MIDI Sync Preferences MIDI Ports rack Sync Remote Selecting the MIDI Port Type Windows CHAPTER 31 MIDI FACT SHEET 381 31 7 Summary and Conclusions Ableton wrote this paper in order to help users understand a variety of related topics e the inherent problems in computer based MIDI systems e our approach to solving these problems in Live e additional variables that we cannot account for As mentioned before the best way to solve MIDI timing issues in your studio is to use the highest quality hardware components available For users of such components all software MIDI systems should perform with no noticeable issues For users with less than optimal hardware however Live still offers an additional degree of accuracy by minimizing jitter but at the expense of a small amount of additional latency We encourage you to refer to this paper if you have any questions about Live s approach to MIDI timing but we also encourage you to contact us if you have additional questions or concerns that we haven t addressed 1contact ableton com 382 Chapter 32 Live Keyboard Shortcuts 32 1 Showing and Hid
408. x MSP Live can act as both a ReWire master and slave Note that the ReWire protocol itself does not consume much CPU power However as expected running two audio intensive programs on the same computer requires more resources than running a single program CHAPTER 28 SYNCHRONIZATION AND REWIRE 356 28 2 1 Running Live in ReWire Master Mode The step by step procedure for sending MIDI to and receiving audio from a ReWire slave program is presented in the routing chapter 28 2 2 Running Live in ReWire Slave Mode In ReWire slave mode Live can both receive MIDI from but also send audio to the master application All of Live s MIDI tracks are accessible to the master application as destinations for MIDI signals and all of its audio tracks and MIDI tracks containing instruments are accessible as audio sources If you have not used Live yet please launch Live so that it can install its ReWire engine in your system Live will run in ReWire slave mode if it detects a running ReWire master application upon startup Therefore always start the ReWire master application first and then start Live Likewise you will first have to quit Live then the ReWire master application Live s operation in ReWire slave mode differs from the usual operation in some regards e Live will not have direct access to the audio interfaces audio input output is handled by the ReWire master application No audio input will be available to Live e The sampl
409. y clicking and dragging or with the arrow keys on your computer keyboard To name a locator select it by clicking its triangular marker and choose the Rename Edit CHAPTER 6 ARRANGEMENT VIEW 73 menu command or use the Ctrl R PC C R Mac shortcut You can also enter your own info text for a locator via the Edit Info Text command in the Edit menu or in the locators PC 6 Mac context menu Locators can be removed with your computer s or key the Create menu or the Delete Locator button Note that the locator PC Ctrl Mac context menu offers a quick way of looping playback between two locators with its Loop To Next Locator command The locator PC Ctrl Mac context menu s Set Song Start Time Here command can be used to overrule the default play starts at selection rule when this command is checked play starts at the locator 6 4 Time Signature Changes or ms Jor ms tft r ms L Orun s Drums LR Jor ims LR a Sees ae eee eee Sees ae eee were es ee eee Se ee wee a gt a a aoa Ba E A fant A re o gt Live s time signature can be changed at any point in the Arrangement by using time signature markers These can be added at the insert marker position via the Create menu or anywhere below the beat time ruler using the PC 6 Mac context menu Time signature markers appear just below the beat time ruler but this marker area is hidden if a set contains no meter changes freein
410. y in a return track 20 11 Flanger EZ Envelope LFO S amp H Amount Shape Mm 40 9 Rate 0 11 Hz Phase ro V Delay Time Feedback S Sri 100 m E 302 Flanger uses two parallel time modulated delays to create flanging effects Flanger s delays can be adjusted with the Delay Time control The Feedback control sends part of the output signal back through the device input while the Polarity switch or sets the polarity Delay Time and Feedback can be changed simultaneously using the effect s X Y controller Periodic control of delay time is possible using the envelope section You can increase or decrease the envelope amount or invert its shape with negative values and then use the Attack and Release controls to define envelope shape Flanger contains two LFOs to modulate delay time for the left and right stereo channels The LFOs have six possible waveform shapes sine square triangle sawtooth up sawtooth down and random The extent of LFO influence on the delays is set with the Amount control The Flanger Effect CHAPTER 20 LIVE AUDIO EFFECT REFERENCE 263 LFO speed is controlled with the Rate control which can be set in terms of hertz Rate can also be synced to the song tempo and set in meter subdivisions e g sixteenth notes The Phase control lends the sound stereo movement by setting the LFOs to run at the same frequency but offsetting
411. y markers to change by clicking with the Q___ modifier held down Tip To set a group of notes so that they all have the same velocity select their markers in the Velocity Editor drag them up or down to either maximum or minimum velocity and then adjust velocity to the desired value As we saw earlier Draw Mode allows drawing identical velocities for all notes within a grid tile While in Draw Mode velocity drawing is limited to only those notes that are currently selected To draw markers individually as you would want to with a crescendo for instance deactivate grid snapping with the PC Mac shortcut or simply hold down the PC Mac modifier Foi 4 12 13 14 Fo 4 12 13 14 vy Tip To draw a velocity ramp with notes that are all in the same key track press and click on the piano roll to select all notes within the desired key track make sure Draw Mode is activated and draw the ramp into the Velocity Editor while holding the modifier so that you affect only the selected notes Tip 2 To draw a linear velocity ramp across a selection of notes first select the notes that should be affected using the modifier to select non adjacent notes if necessary Make sure Draw Mode is not activated and draw the line into the Velocity Editor while holding the PC Mac modifier Notes in the Note Editor display their velocity in their coloring light notes play softly and vice versa To change the velocity of
412. ying clip in increments the size of the global quantization period you can use the Nudge buttons in the Clip box Clip Using the Nudge Buttons to Jump Through a Clip These buttons can also be mapped to keys or MIDI controllers In MIDI Map Mode a scrub control will appear between the Nudge buttons and can be assigned to a rotary encoder wheel for continuous scrubbing Clip The Scrub Control in lL MIDI Map Mode With quantization set to values less than one bar it is easy to offset clip playback from Live s master clock by launching clips using the Nudge buttons or scrubbing within the clip CHAPTER 8 CLIP VIEW 100 8 2 The Sample Box 8 2 1 Warp Controls Sample When the Warp switch is off Live plays the sample at its original normal tempo irrespec tive of the current Live Set tempo This is useful for samples that have no inherent rhythmic structure percussion hits atmospheres sound effects spoken word and the like Turn the Warp switch on to play rhythmically structured samples such as sample loops music recordings complete music pieces etc in sync with the current song tempo TAP 129 00 I 4 4 00 To verify this note that a warped sample s speed follows the tempo as you change the Control Bar s Tempo control Live offers a number of controls to adjust the time warping engine for optimal stretching quality For accurate warping Live needs to know the
413. you to customize Live s panel to show only the plug in parameters that you need to access To do this e Enter Configure Mode by pressing the Configure button in the device s header e Click on a parameter in the plug in edit window to add it to Live s panel For some plug ins it may be necessary to actually change the parameter s value Additionally certain plug ins do not publish all of their parameters to Live These parameters cannot be added to Live s panel While in Configure Mode parameters in Live s panel can be reordered or moved by dragging and dropping them to new locations Parameters can be deleted by pressing the key If you try to delete a parameter that has existing automation data clip envelopes or MIDI key or Macro mappings Live will warn you before proceeding The parameters that you assign are unique for each instance of a given plug in in your Set and are saved with the Set Certain plug ins do not have their own windows and instead only show their parameters in Live s panel For these plug ins it is not possible to delete parameters when in Configure Mode although they can still be moved and reordered There are several ways to add plug in parameters to Live s panel without entering Configure Mode e Adjusting a parameter in the plug in s floating window creates temporary entries for that parameter in the clip envelope and automation choosers as well as the choosers The Configure Butt

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