Ableton Looping Template: Equipment used

One main reason for selecting some of the items here, is that they are cheap to replace. Cheap enough that I can afford to look out for spares. For example, here in Denmark I have seen the Novation Compact SL mk1 go for less than 500 kroner.

• Novation Compact SL - Ableton remote controller with custom controls
• Novation Mini Launchpad: Clip launching
• Akai APD8: triggers drums
• Behringer X-Air 18 : USB Audio Interface
• Asus Memo Tablet: Android

Novation Compact SL

• Battery or USB powered
• Ableton Live compatible
• Two LCD screens.

Akai LPD8

• Small
• USB powered
• Perfect for drum kits

Behringer X-Air 18

• Multi track recording
• Low Latency

 I have previously tried the Ableton Push MK,1 but found although it had many options to control Live, I just did not enjoy using the pads to enter notes. I may not be a great keyboard player but it is what I am used to using and feel more comfortable playing a keyboard. So for this reason I went back to my old Novation Compact SL as my main controller.

The one thing missing from the list at present is a laptop. A few years back I bought my first laptop for music production. Sadly that machine has now died and I need to find a replacement. Any recommendations?

Ableton Template: MIDI Input for Instrument tracks

Signal Flow: Audio and MIDI

In my Live set I have several instrument tracks that I can play from the Compact SL keyboard. Instead of the keyboard notes being directly sent into each track, they are all fed from a single MIDI track. This track has various MIDI effects that can manipulate the incoming notes.

MIDI Effects rack

So for example the Sub-Octave MIDI effect device adds another note an octave below the played note. There is also a MIDI delay that adds delayed notes to the input. All of these plugins are controlled from Lemur template.

Lemur MIDI effects controls

Note that the audio from these tracks are fed into a single audio track, where various effects are added, Before being routed into a Looper device. This way I have one Looper for all my instruments.

Ableton Template:M4l and Ableton Packs Used

Instruments

Mark Two Berlin:

 A great Electric Piano

Tools

Bit Voltage - Quick Recorder

Used on the main output to record live looping.

_P4R - Arm-Me audio v1.5

Enable a track to stay armed for playback.

_P4R - Arm-Me Midi v.1.5

As above but for MIDI tracks

Streuners looping device

Sets the length of the next recorded clip. Keeps both hands free while recording a clip.

BeatSeeker

Synchronizes Ableton tempo to an external audio source.

MIDI Effects

Note Echo

little-scale.KillAll

Sends all notes off message. Used to kill hung notes (when a MIDI note off message is not sent)

mt_sub_octave

Adds a MIDI note one ocatave below

Ableton Looping Template: Overview

For years I have been jealous of musicians and artist that can just sit down and jam. Being a synth based musician it has never been easy to just turn up and start playing with others. When I first started there where not many computers used in music and most of the instruments and equipment was bulky and needed mains power. Something sadly missing from most jams round the campfire.

But in the last few years we are seeing more mobile options available to the synth player. Aside from the obvious mobility of a laptop and MIDI controllers, we are seeing more battery powered devices every year. And all the time we are also seeing a vast improvement in battery power and life.

So with this in mind I decided it was time to join in with the fun. I have worked with synths and other audio equipment other almost thirty five years, so I had a good idea of the ins and outs of the equipment involved.

So first a few things I wanted for my set up:

• Portable: Must be able to pack into something I can carry.
• Lightweight
• Battery powered: but can run on mains where available.
• Fast to set up and take down.
• No control should have two uses.

And the Ableton template should contain:

• Three instrument tracks for an Electric Piano, a Synth and a string based instrument
• A Drum track containing a mixture of kits
• A track with a Drum rack containing  hits.
• One basic audio track with effects for a microphone.
• Another audio track that is feed with a stereo input that can have effects added and mixed into main mix.
• The ability to add more audio tracks to take other musicians input e.g. guitar, vocals etc.
• To be able to lock tempo to an external audio input
• Able to add hardware synths e.g. Moog Werkstatt
• Hands free control of Looper devices
• Custom Lemur touch control template, with feedback from the Ableton template e.g. Looper state: record, overdub, play and stop. 

Equipment used:

• Novation Compact SL - MIDI controller
• Novation Mini Launchpad
• Akai APD8
• Behringer X-Air 18 Sound card

 I have previously tried the Ableton Push 1 but found although it had many options to control Live, I just did not enjoy using the pads to enter notes. I may not be a great keyboard player but it is what I am used to using and feel more comfortable playing a keyboard. So for this reason I went back to my old Novation Compact SL as my main controller.

Back after a long break

So it has been a few years since I have posted anything. Mainly due to my time being taken by retraining myself as a software developer. I have taken three separate courses in computer science, web integration and some basic network experience. And there has been so much I have learnt that I can reuse in the world of computing, midi and other electronic instruments.
In the coming post I hope to show you my current studio set up and a few tricks I have learnt on my coding journey.

Waldorf blofeld VST editor with Ableton Live.

Found a plugin that works with live and the blofeld. Plugin here: ctrlr.org blofeld panel: filchblofeld Video: Video Please note that I am not the author of either software.

Novation Nio usb souncard

I recently got hold of one of these cards for my portable set up which is based on a HP Notepad running Ableton Live.

A decent card with four inputs, one stereo line, one guitar and a mic input with phantom power. And more importantly for my rig it has two stereo outputs. So I can send the main mix out of the first, and a monitor mix sent out of the headphones, that I can use for a cue mix.

Researching a new USB Soundcard.

I need a new soundcard for my notebook, so I can get my rig more portable. I have a few criteria, it must be USB, have stable 64bit driver for Windows7, guitar and microphone inputs and have four outputs. One stereo pair for the mix and another for the cue mix.

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Tascam US-20

2 x Inputs 2 x XLR (One doubles as a instrument input for guitar etc)
4 x Outputs Phono
Price 1200dkr

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M-Audio Fast Track Pro

The A/B button selects the output source sent to the front-panel headphone output. In the A (out) position, the main line output signal
(Outputs 1 and 2) is sent to the headphone outputs. In the B (in) position, the S/PDIF output signal (Outputs 3 and 4) is sent to the
headphone outputs.
The headphone output level is controlled by the Level control knob. This output level is ind

Price 1300dkr

Ableton Live Looping

Trying out some live looping using Ableton Live and a bunch of midi controllers.

One condition I have is no recordings are used. The closed I use is the vocal or speach samples.

YouTube - LiveLooping - PWDM

Ableton Looper Midi Setup

Updated the wiring on the Ableton Live Looping set. Cleaned it up and made some improvements.

Now the encoder leds light up to the volume level of tracks 1 to 8. This gives a good overview of what tracks are playing.

This is achieved by routing the remote midi out track from Ableton back out to the BCR.

Ableton Live
Looping MIDI Setup

DIY Midi Controller

Finished the wiring today and all the controls tested in Ableton.

Next stage, make a wooden case.

BassBoy - Monophonic digital MIDI controlled bass synthesizer based on ATXMega32D4 microcontroller

BassBoy - Monophonic digital MIDI controlled bass synthesizer based on ATXMega32D4 microcontroller: 
"BassBoy is a 16-bit monophonic digital MIDI controlled bass synthesizer. Device receives all information via MIDI input"

This looks and sounds fantastic. Not surprised they have sold out at that price.

Got to order one soon.

Setting up a Sound Card in Ableton Live

First we open up preferences. And click on the Audio tab.

From here we can set up our sound card to run with Ableton Live.

In the Driver Type drop down, choose the right ASIO driver for your sound card.

You might also have the option of changing the Audio Device as well to match your sound card.

Remember it should be set to ASIO drivers and Device.

The next step is to set up the audio inputs we want to listen or record from. Click on the Input Config button.

You should see something similiar to the image below. Yours may differ depending on how many Audio inputs your sound card has.

This represents the physical audio inputs of  your sound card. To the left are mono inputs and to the right there are stereo inputs.

For the direct input of a electric guitar you would use a mono input. Also the same for a microphone or a bass guitar.

If you wanted to use a keyboard or a guitar multifx pedal box,  you would probably use a stereo input. 

Check your equipment manuals to see which you would need.

Click ok when your done to go back to the Audio preferences.

Now we just need to do the same with the Audio outputs.

Pretty much the same as the Audio inputs. From here you choose which physical audio output on your sound card you want to use.

For most set ups only one stereo output would be needed.

From Here

PWDM Midi Set up

Thought I would share my own midi set up as an example of what can be achieved using different techniques.

First a quick list of the equipment used with a short description of how it fits into the set.

CME-UF5
 A cheap midi keyboard controller from China. Gives me a 5 octave piano keyboard, 9 faders and 8 knobs.
Has a usb plug but is not very reliable when using it so I stick with the midi out instead.

Behringer BCR
A midi controller with 32 knobs and 24 buttons. A great controller in my opinion and with this editor, very versatile.

Philip Rees C16
Another midi controller this time with 16 faders. Very easy to edit and set up.

Korg Padkontrol
16 pads that make drumming with fingers very easy.

Recording from Vinyl into Audacity

Download and install Audacity and also the Lame3 mp3 encoder (needed to save the tracks as mp3)

Then plug in the lead from the Hifi/record player etc into Line input on the pc. (The input should be marked on the pc, its usually light blue)



Next start up Audacity and go to menu edit/preferences.



Now on the Audio I/O page you need to choose the sound input of your PC in the recording section.



Also under that make sure you choose Stereo for Channels.



Close that window and on the main page click the arrow pointing down next to the microphone icon. Click on Monitor Input.



Now play your record or tape and you should see the bars moving to show the audio input is working.



Now your all set to record your tracks. The transport is just like and old tape player, Stop,record etc.

What Is A MIDI Controller

As you can see from the previous few post a Midi Controller can come in many shapes and sizes. From a simple keyboard to a huge mixing desk arrangment. One thing they all have in common is that they can control your music software.

Most modern DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software has this ability built in and are usually very easy to setup,Take Ableton Live, all you have to do is click the midi learn button, then move a button/knob/slider on screen and finally move the control on the midi controller you want use. Thats it, now when you want to change that control in the software, you just move the control on the controller.

Take the example of my Waldorf Blofeld synth module. Most of the controls on the synth are to be found deep inside a menu driven OS. This makes editing a sound on the Blofeld slow and boring. (althought the Blofeld has a very good interfaces, its just not as hands on as using a midi controller).

Using the Berhinger BCR Ican map each knob to a separate control on the Blofeld. So for example I can control the envelope, filter, FX, etc.

This way I can create new sounds a lot faster and a lot more hands on experience.

Kid Beyond - Whats possible with Midi

A fairly basic setup using Ableton Live, Bomes Midi Translator and A Midi Footpedals.

A Few Examples of What MIDI is Capable of

Dj Controller

A Lava Lamp

Touch Screen

Keyboard

Best MIDI Software

When it comes to software tools for MIDI on the PC, you should not be without Midi-Ox and Bomes Midi Translator. (I,ll cover Bomes Midi Translator another time)

Midi-Ox is and all round Midi tool that can be used for many different fault finding or setup problems. One such problem is checking that an external Midi keyboard or Midi controller is sending Midi messages and that the PC is receiving them.

Open Midi-ox and go to the Options in the menu bar and click on Midi Devices

 

From here we can choose which Midi inputs or outputs. For this test we just need to choose the Midi input that our external keyboard/controller is plugged into. Just click on the input you need in the top left box.

In the picture below I have choosen the Midi input to which my Behringer BCR Midi controller is plugged into. (Note that I,ve renamed the Midi Input to BCR so I can remember what equipment is plugged into which Midi Input or Output, yopu can do this in Options/Customize Port Names)

 When you highlighted your Midi port click Ok and the window will close,enabling that Midi port to be used in Midi-Ox.

Now just make sure the Input Monitor window is open, by clicking View/Input Monitor.

Now when you press a key on the Midi keyboard or use a button or knob on the Midi controller, you should see a stream of numbers in the input monitor window.

The picture above shows that the BCR Midi controller is indeed working and the PC is recieving the Midi signal.

MIDI and PC help

I,ve recently started offering my help with MIDI and PC problems. The sort of problems I can help with are.

• Setting up new MIDI and PC hardware. Do you want to get that new synth, controller or FX box working with you DAW software like Cubase, Reason, Live etc.

• Advice on setting up Hardware only MIDI rigs, maybe you just want your groovebox running in sync with a drum machine, maybe add an MIDI controller to take hands on control of your equipment.

• MIDI explained in simple terms, sometimes all these new technology can be overwhelming. I have over 20 years experiance with all types of MIDI hardware and software. 

• Thinking of a buying some new hardware and would like impartial advice. Tell me what you need and I,ll see about getting you the best piece of equipment to do the job.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.
2000monkeys@gmail.com