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Beginners Guide to Creating A DJ Set in Ableton Live 5
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| Mav 3000 |
Hi,
I have searched this forum, the Ableton.com forum and the Internet generally for help on this but have not been able to find what I'm looking for. This is a beginners question which many of you may think is simple - please don't flame as we all have to start somewhere!
I am using the demo of Ableton Live 5. I can lay MP3s and mix them. I can create basic 'loops' in the waveforms after successfully warping my tracks.
My problem lies in the fact I no do not know where to go from here. If anyone can help in any of the areas below please could you do so as it would greatly help me out:
1) How do I create a DJ Set? so I simply list all of my MP3s in a row on two audio channels?
2) I loop points on the fly, releasing the loop as I mix the track in - how can I create multiple loops per trck to make each tune different from the original in my mixes?
3) I can't find the option to set the pre-listener output to my second sound card, nor do I know how to monitor one channel while playing the master output - how is this done? I have read a tutorial online which shows pre-listening in Live 3, but the screens shown in live 3 don't appear to be in Live 5!
4) When I select an EQ for a channel, it appears, but after I then click on a track to play with the loop, how do I return to the EQ I've asigned to the track?
5) How do I automate the set (mixing, EQing etc? Can the entire set including mixes be automated for future playback and modification?)
6) I have a Korg Kaoss Pad - can this be used to control the crossfader if I assign it via midi? I don't yet have a midi controller.
Thank you for any constructive comments or help.
Mav 3000 |
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| Beatflux |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mav 3000
Hi,
I have searched this forum, the Ableton.com forum and the Internet generally for help on this but have not been able to find what I'm looking for. This is a beginners question which many of you may think is simple - please don't flame as we all have to start somewhere!
I am using the demo of Ableton Live 5. I can lay MP3s and mix them. I can create basic 'loops' in the waveforms after successfully warping my tracks.
My problem lies in the fact I no do not know where to go from here. If anyone can help in any of the areas below please could you do so as it would greatly help me out:
1) How do I create a DJ Set? so I simply list all of my MP3s in a row on two audio channels?
2) I loop points on the fly, releasing the loop as I mix the track in - how can I create multiple loops per trck to make each tune different from the original in my mixes?
3) I can't find the option to set the pre-listener output to my second sound card, nor do I know how to monitor one channel while playing the master output - how is this done? I have read a tutorial online which shows pre-listening in Live 3, but the screens shown in live 3 don't appear to be in Live 5!
4) When I select an EQ for a channel, it appears, but after I then click on a track to play with the loop, how do I return to the EQ I've asigned to the track?
5) How do I automate the set (mixing, EQing etc? Can the entire set including mixes be automated for future playback and modification?)
6) I have a Korg Kaoss Pad - can this be used to control the crossfader if I assign it via midi? I don't yet have a midi controller.
Thank you for any constructive comments or help.
Mav 3000 |
Did you look through the live 5 manual and help menu?
1) To make a DJ Set, lay out your tracks in two channels with tracks alternating between each channel. Lay them out from top to bottom in the order you wish to mix them.
2) You can make more loops in your song by deselecting the loop button, putting the loop brackets where ever you want your next loop to go, and pressing the loop button.
3) Just one of life's mysteries...
4) Shift+Tab(PC, not sure about mac) Or look down on the very bottom of your screen, look in the status bar and click on the tab that says "Audio-2" or something like it. It's the tab that doesn't look like a miniturized version of the song's wavedisplay.
5) Help>Lesson Table of Contents>Recording and Editing Automation
6) Don't know.
I hope I helped you out a bit. |
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| Mav 3000 |
Thats a great help - finding the EQ once its assigned especially.
Number 1) and number 2) I was going in that fashion alreay - I just didn't know if that was the correct and best way to go about it! I'd like pre-set loop points ideally so I can loop say the intro for mixing and a bit of the breakdown to layer later on (in the mix out or something).
Is there no pre-listener then? I'm currently reading the manual in my lunch breaks at work! Its a biggie! I tend to dive in though and learn from experience. Experience is somewhat limited right now - but its coming on.
Surely a pre-listener can be assigned to a second sound card and the output monitored?
Thanks! |
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| Beatflux |
| Wow. So I just went through the automation evelop tutorial and I just realized you could mix without the crossfader. You would just use the volume envelope to mimmick crossfading. |
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| Beatflux |
| quote: | Originally posted by Mav 3000
Surely a pre-listener can be assigned to a second sound card and the output monitored?
Thanks! |
If you haven't made it here yet, try page 176. It's on Soloing and Cueing. You should be able to assign a second sound card and monitor the output.
I was wondering what you were planning on mixing/producing with Live 5? |
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| Mav 3000 |
When I mix I mix either Trance or House. I mainly make CDs for my car or MP3 files for when I'm working. I've never had enough determination to try and market myself as a DJ, but have DJ'd as favours in the past.
I love learning programs, have Fruity Loops and have just started looking at Ableton. I needed a new program to mix MP3s with as previously I used Carrot Virtual Turntables to do it with - which is very limiting compared.
I'll look into the secondary soundcard cueing - thanks for the pointer!
I'm still very much in the learning curve. Last night I successfully mixed B52's - Love Shack with Prodigy - Firestarter. Such is the versatility of Live! |
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| Beatflux |
Heh, cool. Traktor DJ Studio ver 3 has savable loops in case you were interested.
I figured out a little trick to make mapping out the beatgrids easier. If you turn on the metronome, which is in the same bar as the bpm indicator, it will click according to the beat which is defined by the beat grid. So what you can do to check to see if you beat grid is correct is to play the song and turn on the metronome at the same time. You'll hear the song and the metronome, and if they are in sync they with have a sync beat. |
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| Mav 3000 |
Thats a wicked tip - Looking back at the warps I did even yesterday I can see that the first marker is in place, however the beat doesn't match the tempo of the song.
I've already had a go with the effects - shift-tab is excellent, but its far too tricky to do realtime effects - maybe post production when I learn that :) |
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| Beatflux |
| Heh, yeah. I tried to fiddle with the 3 EQ while trying to crossfade and it was tough. :eyespop: But you can always automate the eq and volume levels before setting the songs into motion so mixing without the controller isn't all that bad.:toocool: |
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| Mav 3000 |
Just to let you all know, I've found a solution to using Ableton with two soundcards!
This solution allows me to use my SoundBlaster Live! as my master output, while using my motherboards on-board sound card to cue tracks on my headphones.
Taken from the forums at Ableton.com, the solution is a program called ASIO4ALL. Its a beta program which allows you to enable multiple sound cards. Ableton picks up all of the available outputs as if they were on one card, routing the two signals to two different sound cards.
This has saved me having to upgrade my sound card and means I'm not able to DJ live without having to reply on perfect cueing and mixing automation.
The link to the application is here (just over 300KB):
http://tippach.business.t-online.de...all/A4A27b1.exe |
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