FAO DJ Soulman & other Ableton 5 gurus

[Mark Sun]

Hi Les,

Have been getting quite excited playing with ableton 5, loads of great potential there.. but when I try to Dj with it, the tracks are out of synch I set warp markers at 1,9,16 etc, and I've been moving the warp markers to sit neatly on the kick - am I doing it right?? The tutorial is excellent for creating tracks but kinda sucks for the djing bit..

Thanks for any help!

 

[fergie19]

Mark, heard alot of you talking about this, but what actually is it? Take it its not just simply djing through laptop?

 

[DJ Soulman]

Hi Les,

Have been getting quite excited playing with ableton 5, loads of great potential there.. but when I try to Dj with it, the tracks are out of synch I set warp markers at 1,9,16 etc, and I've been moving the warp markers to sit neatly on the kick - am I doing it right?? The tutorial is excellent for creating tracks but kinda sucks for the djing bit..

Thanks for any help!

Hi Mark
Firstly do you use the Abelton forum?

http://www.ableton.com/index.php?main=forum

There are loads of great explanations on warp marking, and some excellent video's created by users. Here's one of the best;

http://www.drum-aberdeen.co.uk/Ableton/How_To_Warp_a_Track.html

There is an excellent Tips & Tricks section on the forum with so much I often copy & paste the interesting bits and store them with Wordpad on my computer for quick access.

There's also an excellent new website set up by one of the users aimed specifically for the DJ user element, it's only been running for a couple of weeks and is very active already. Join up it'll be worth it!

http://www.abletonlivedj.com/forum/

Incidently, there is a new beta test version of Live! 5.0.3 which is updated every week. Software development as it should be!!! I couldn't use Live! 5.0.1 or 5.0.2 due to instability with sound drops, etc. The Abeltons have been working on this for a month and have made significant improvements, especially on more efficient processor use. The beta test 5.0.3b4 now works flawlessly on my dodgy laptop, now I'm getting really excited! I can at last use it properly.

The mix in my sig was done originally in Live! 4.1.4. However, last week I pulled it down and added my personal jingles after discovering that there had been over 300 downloads all over the world!!! Shutting the barn door after the horse has bolted I suppose but it was an interesting excersise anyway. I added the jingles with version 5.0.3b4 and re-created the mix without any sound drop problems.

I haven't started using Live! for real DJing yet, just want to be more familiar with the software first. Also, as above I couldn't use version 5. Version 4 only works with wave files and not really practical in my DJing situation. I'm pretty close to using it for part of my DJing residency (for the house music sections ) 'cos I use vinyl extensively and don't have to rely entirely on the computer.

Sorry for the long post, I'm rambling on again, what was the question?

PS I bought the Evolution UC33e controller, for DJing using a MIDI controller makes a huge difference!!!

 

[DJ Soulman]

Mark, heard alot of you talking about this, but what actually is it? Take it its not just simply djing through laptop?

Yes it is!!!

http://www.ableton.com/

 

[Mark Sun]

Thanks Les, I knew you'd be the guy to ask about this stuff

Have you looked into controllers yet? I'm going to be running a powerbook, so I'll need a multichannel sound card as well as a controller.. thinking of getting a firewire sound interface and the m-audio trigger finger.. but that's more cash I can't afford right now!

I got really excited playing with ableton in regards to production though - it makes it such a spontaneous and fun process.. however I'm just at the point now where I'm really able to do exactly what I want with cubase, so not sure I'll make the switch over quite yet...

It's all good fun though!

Fergie: Ableton Live was actually designed to produce music, but a lot of DJs use it to mix with. At it's most basic, it can be used like any PCDJ software, but it's much more powerful, with the ability to drop multiple loops into a mix, add effects, remix, record and play on the fly etc etc etc, it's a pretty awesome peice of kit

 

[DJ Soulman]

Have you looked into controllers yet?

Erm.........

PS I bought the Evolution UC33e controller, for DJing using a MIDI controller makes a huge difference!!!

I'm going to be running a powerbook, so I'll need a multichannel sound card as well as a controller.. thinking of getting a firewire sound interface and the m-audio trigger finger.. but that's more cash I can't afford right now!

A multichannel soundcard is not entirely necessary depending on the MIDI controller you get and how you want to work. Before getting the UC33e Controller I was using 3 stereo outs to my Pioneer DJM600 using 2 stereo channels as virtual left & right decks and the 3rd for overlaying extra drum loops and single shot samples. Since getting the UC33e I can do the same inside the software using the Controller. I now have 6 channels setup inside the software with volume faders, 3 band eq, FX, etc. and all controlled with the UC33e! I have a fader on the UC33e setup to control the crossfader inside the software. With this method I only need 1 stereo pair output, 'course if I wanted to use headphones, then I'd use 2 stereo pairs for output and setup the headphone system in Abelton. Ooh......... more things to explore.

I quite like the UC33e as it is powered from the USB and therefore 1 wire. Also it sits on the front of the laptop and I can imagine in tight DJ booths you only need the footprint of the laptop and you have a very powerful system right there.

I got really excited playing with ableton in regards to production though - it makes it such a spontaneous and fun process.. however I'm just at the point now where I'm really able to do exactly what I want with cubase, so not sure I'll make the switch over quite yet...

Don't forget, you can use the Rewire system to synchronise Cubase to Abelton............and Abelton can use VST plugins too.

It's all good fun though!

Abso.....bloody.....lutely!!!

 

[Mark Sun]

A multichannel soundcard is not entirely necessary depending on the MIDI controller you get and how you want to work. Before getting the UC33e Controller I was using 3 stereo outs to my Pioneer DJM600 using 2 stereo channels as virtual left & right decks and the 3rd for overlaying extra drum loops and single shot samples. Since getting the UC33e I can do the same inside the software using the Controller. I now have 6 channels setup inside the software with volume faders, 3 band eq, FX, etc. and all controlled with the UC33e! I have a fader on the UC33e setup to control the crossfader inside the software. With this method I only need 1 stereo pair output, 'course if I wanted to use headphones, then I'd use 2 stereo pairs for output and setup the headphone system in Abelton. Ooh......... more things to explore.

I've read that 4 times and still don't understand it

You have more than 1 stereo output from your laptop?? I only want a multichannel sound interface so I can monitor like a normal djing set up - can I split a stereo signal into 2 mono outputs, one for each track (cued and live)? That would be great as I can't be arsed buying another bit of kit if I can help it..

 

[russ]

 

[DJ Soulman]

A multichannel soundcard is not entirely necessary depending on the MIDI controller you get and how you want to work. Before getting the UC33e Controller I was using 3 stereo outs to my Pioneer DJM600 using 2 stereo channels as virtual left & right decks and the 3rd for overlaying extra drum loops and single shot samples. Since getting the UC33e I can do the same inside the software using the Controller. I now have 6 channels setup inside the software with volume faders, 3 band eq, FX, etc. and all controlled with the UC33e! I have a fader on the UC33e setup to control the crossfader inside the software. With this method I only need 1 stereo pair output, 'course if I wanted to use headphones, then I'd use 2 stereo pairs for output and setup the headphone system in Abelton. Ooh......... more things to explore.

I've read that 4 times and still don't understand it

You have more than 1 stereo output from your laptop?? I only want a multichannel sound interface so I can monitor like a normal djing set up - can I split a stereo signal into 2 mono outputs, one for each track (cued and live)? That would be great as I can't be arsed buying another bit of kit if I can help it..

Whoops, sorry if I confused you Mark, I'll try and make it clearer.

I use a Maya 5.1 USB soundcard, it has one stereo pair input and three stereo pairs for output. When I first got Abelton Live I used the three stereo pair outputs to three separate chanels of my Pioneer DJM600 and operated the mixer in the conventional way.

Once I bought the UC33e I changed the way I work with the program. I now use the UC33e to control 6 chanels with eq & FX within the software. I use one of the UC33e faders to control the internal crossfader. In this way all mixing is done within the software. Therefore, I only need one stereo pair for the master output to the mixer. It is not necessary to use headphones for cueing as, after warping your tracks, beat matching is automatic and is no longer the predominant part of mixing. This is where Abelton has been embraced by DJ's as it's now down to creative possibilties, remixing on the fly and blurs the distinction between DJ and producer.

However, if you do want to use headphones, there is a facility in the software to allow you to send a cue mix to a second stereo pair on your multichanel soundcard. You can then use a second chanel on your mixer just for headphone cueing.

Hope that's clearer.

PS Can't find anyway of mono outputing and separating the stereo pair.

 

[Mark Sun]

Cool, that makes sense I'd like to monitor the tracks coming in, as I may decide to pre-prepare a loop or something, and can't do that if everything I'm doing is live..

Thanks for the help

 

[DJ Soulman]

Cool, that makes sense I'd like to monitor the tracks coming in, as I may decide to pre-prepare a loop or something, and can't do that if everything I'm doing is live..

Thanks for the help

You're welcome, anything I can help you with, just ask.

 

[fatphilb]

WARP MARKING VIDEO'S!!!

BRILLIANT!!!

Im RUBBISH at warp marking, and its the crucial skill to using Ableton! Therefore, i am RUBBISH on Ableton. Mind you, never really tried very hard before. Been waiting till I get my new fangled Computer (next monday hooooOOORAY!)

 

[DJ Soulman]

WARP MARKING VIDEO'S!!!

BRILLIANT!!!

Im RUBBISH at warp marking, and its the crucial skill to using Ableton! Therefore, i am RUBBISH on Ableton. Mind you, never really tried very hard before. Been waiting till I get my new fangled Computer (next monday hooooOOORAY!)

It's a doddle once you get the hang of it, you can warp a track in less than a minute.

 

[Mark Sun]

WARP MARKING VIDEO'S!!!

BRILLIANT!!!

Im RUBBISH at warp marking, and its the crucial skill to using Ableton! Therefore, i am RUBBISH on Ableton. Mind you, never really tried very hard before. Been waiting till I get my new fangled Computer (next monday hooooOOORAY!)

It's a doddle once you get the hang of it, you can warp a track in less than a minute.

Got the hang of it! It's wicked fun, have been using my little midi keyboard controller to trigger loops / filter / eq etc - loads of fun

Now just need to find a cheap multichannel interface for my Powerbook

 

[steve_UK]

fyi - the mags future music, computer music etc have good tutorials which address specific uses of Ableton 5.0

Also, there is a computer music special out at the moment which is dedicated to live 5.

I found the warping function pretty easy, just set marker 1.1.1 to the first kick then press 'warp from here'. I tend to check the sync of all beats up to 17 and then the last 90 seconds or so, so that the next track syncs up.

Its great fun, my mates love the CDs that I am making, even got one circulating around Poland at the moment !

I've just begun to play around with the FX and devices, awesome potential there.

 

[Mark Sun]

can I split a stereo signal into 2 mono outputs, one for each track (cued and live)? That would be great as I can't be arsed buying another bit of kit if I can help it..

Apparently (though I haven't actually tried it yet), you can download software which will make this possible for mac OSX machines..

http://www.jackosx.com/

It sets up a music server on the mac osx environment, allowing you to route the sound output from any application to any channel.. nice!

 

[DJ Soulman]

Got the hang of it! It's wicked fun, have been using my little midi keyboard controller to trigger loops / filter / eq etc - loads of fun

Now just need to find a cheap multichannel interface for my Powerbook

Excellent! Methinks you'll be DJing with it before too long.

Apparently (though I haven't actually tried it yet), you can download software which will make this possible for mac OSX machines..

Ah, PC man myself, know nothing about Macs.

 

[Mark Sun]

can I split a stereo signal into 2 mono outputs, one for each track (cued and live)? That would be great as I can't be arsed buying another bit of kit if I can help it..

Apparently (though I haven't actually tried it yet), you can download software which will make this possible for mac OSX machines..

http://www.jackosx.com/

It sets up a music server on the mac osx environment, allowing you to route the sound output from any application to any channel.. nice!

Well I actually got this working, but then was left a bit cold at having only mono output - very noticable on a small home system.. so... shiny toy disease has struck again and I went out and bought a edirol firewire sound interface