Having dj for years on vinyls and being hardly hit by the...

[inakiesarte]

Having djed for years on vinyls and being hardly hit by the credit crunch I am
seriously thinking in moving, at least for some time, to digital. Having a carefully
look at different digital vinyl systems as Serato or Traktor, I do not think at all
any of them offers more than Ableton, performance wise. Having said that, I am really
looking into use Ableton just for djing as you can get much more creative that with any
of the softwares previously named.

The only thing Ableton will need in order to be PERFECT for that porpose will be having the
possibility of previewing more than a waveform for a track at the same time. As sample,
lets say I am thinking on mixing three tracks at the same time I will need to preview the waveforms
of every track.

What do you guys think?

Inaki Arte

[Sage]

Ableton allows you to have a seperate out (called Cue out) and you can preview as many tracks as you want, just make sure you mute them from the main output though.

[inakiesarte]

Ableton allows you to have a seperate out (called Cue out) and you can preview as many tracks as you want, just make sure you mute them from the main output though.

What I am talking about is having in front of you, on screen, the waveform of the song is playing,
and also the waveform of the songs that will came later on in the mix. I am not talking about cuing at all.

[Sage]

Ableton allows you to have a seperate out (called Cue out) and you can preview as many tracks as you want, just make sure you mute them from the main output though.

What I am talking about is having in front of you, on screen, the waveform of the song is playing,
and also the waveform of the songs that will came later on in the mix. I am not talking about cuing at all.

Sorry, got confused by what you meant. I don't think there's any way of looking at them at the same time, if there is, it's probably complicated and pointless. How are you working and why do you need to see them at the same time?

[Sales Dude McBoob]

Just start DJ'ing with Live now and figure out a little bit different of a workflow than the one you're imagining. Then later on when the Serato/Ableton collaboration hits, you will likely have some new functionality that may make some of that preview stuff possible.

[inakiesarte]

Ableton allows you to have a seperate out (called Cue out) and you can preview as many tracks as you want, just make sure you mute them from the main output though.

What I am talking about is having in front of you, on screen, the waveform of the song is playing,
and also the waveform of the songs that will came later on in the mix. I am not talking about cuing at all.

Sorry, got confused by what you meant. I don't think there's any way of looking at them at the same time, if there is, it's probably complicated and pointless. How are you working and why do you need to see them at the same time?

Well... I do not think it could be that difficult if every single digital vinyl software can visualise even 4 tracks at the same time
as Traktor Scratch does. About you saying it is pointless... I bet you do not dj.


Thanks!

[ChiDJ]

Bro,

If you're a traditional DJ, I would recommend Traktor or Serato as your main DJ tool. LIVE is good for additional effects, loops and tricks, but definitely not a traditional set-up.

I haven't checked LIVE 8 yet, but in 7 and below, LIVe is an unreliable slave when synced. If they ever get that small bit of vital live performance working it would be the shizzle as an add on for traditional DJ's.

[inakiesarte]

Bro,

If you're a traditional DJ, I would recommend Traktor or Serato as your main DJ tool. LIVE is good for additional effects, loops and tricks, but definitely not a traditional set-up.

I haven't checked LIVE 8 yet, but in 7 and below, LIVe is an unreliable slave when synced. If they ever get that small bit of vital live performance working it would be the shizzle as an add on for traditional DJ's.

Well I think the only bit left is getting the preview for several songs. If you compare Ableton with any of Serato or Traktor, Ableton blows
up on creativity in comper with the others, and if your songs are properly warp you wont need to make it a slave as all mp3 will be played from it and you may not even need headphones... so what is your point in making it a slave?

[bosonHavoc]

my neighbor and one of my best friend is a vinyl DJ
sometimes we run his decks through ableton for some good fun
anyway have you looked into deckandance and miss pinky?

http://deckadance.image-line.com/

http://www.mspinky.com/WreckedSystem_Pluggo.html

i dont really know anything about them other then they exist, they can use time code vinyl and they can work as vst pluggins.

i'd love more info about it too.. mainly for DJ friend

[inakiesarte]

my neighbor and one of my best friend is a vinyl DJ
sometimes we run his decks through ableton for some good fun
anyway have you looked into deckandance and miss pinky?

http://deckadance.image-line.com/

http://www.mspinky.com/WreckedSystem_Pluggo.html

i dont really know anything about them other then they exist, they can use time code vinyl and they can work as vst pluggins.

i'd love more info about it too.. mainly for DJ friend

I have had a look already at most of them as Serato live, Traktor Scratch, M Audio Torq, Miss pinky... I have also
played around with most of them and the only use I will give to it will be just playing music on mp3... this obviously can be done in
Ableton as stays now but I will like to get some more tools in order to push Ableton forwards and use it as a more professional tool
for regular mixing.

Thanks!

[Superchibisan]

Live currently cannot do this. serato though, will probably have something to bring to the table wen the serato/ableton partnership gets off the ground. its very frustrating not being able to see all the waveforms... but this partnership will make up for it im sure.

[beats me]

Bro,

If you're a traditional DJ, I would recommend Traktor or Serato as your main DJ tool. LIVE is good for additional effects, loops and tricks, but definitely not a traditional set-up.

I haven't checked LIVE 8 yet, but in 7 and below, LIVe is an unreliable slave when synced. If they ever get that small bit of vital live performance working it would be the shizzle as an add on for traditional DJ's.

Well I think the only bit left is getting the preview for several songs. If you compare Ableton with any of Serato or Traktor, Ableton blows
up on creativity in comper with the others, and if your songs are properly warp you wont need to make it a slave as all mp3 will be played from it and you may not even need headphones... so what is your point in making it a slave?

I agree with Chi here. I think if you come from a traditional DJ background you are going to be disappointed in the way Live operates in regards to DJing and all the prepping you have to do in order to do anything more than playing multiple tracks in sync. There may be more effects possibilities but nobody on the dance floor likes a lot of effects wankery from the DJ.

Beyond your desire to see multiple waveforms at once, with Traktor you can set multiple cue points and loop points within a track to jump to instantly in sync. You can also start loops of varying lengths on the fly and also change that length in sync on the fly. Things like this in Live take prepping of multiple clips in advance or some fancy work around which most likely doesn't make sense with the workflow.

I could probably think of more, but I think Live is fairly weak in the DJ department for performance.

[djwack]

I would not recommend Ableton Live for a vinyl DJ. Firstly, do you know how long it takes for ableton to load up an MP3 before you can start playing it? The MP3 is deconverted to linear audio before playback can begin, depending on your song it can take quite a while.. and gridding it on the fly to get the beatsync accurate enough for long mixes with multiple tracks? Doesn't work, for me at least.

I've started playing some gigs with ableton, but have had to switch playing with Traktor in the middle of the set just because I needed to be able to play more spontaneously. Live playing can be most rewarding, but it's not really for spontaneously getting a record spinning in under 10 seconds if you didn't prepare the audio in advance.

If you know exactly which tracks you are going to be playing at a set, this is not a problem of course. And if you really take time to prepare your live session beforehand, you can make the most eclectic sets with Live, where you can bring any part of any tune into the mix just when and how you want it, and the most diverse FX processing is possible.

Someone said "no-one likes to hear DJ effect wankery on the dancefloor"? I disagree. But "no-one likes to hear cliched Pioneer DJ mixer FX wankery on the floor"? This I can agree on Using FX in DJing is an art in itself..

I'd recommend Traktor or serato for starting digital DJing. Why not give Deckadance a try while you'r at it too? they're much more comfortable from a vinyl background (I used to play strictly vinyl before Traktor 1.0 existed)

[beats me]

Someone said "no-one likes to hear DJ effect wankery on the dancefloor"? I disagree. But "no-one likes to hear cliched Pioneer DJ mixer FX wankery on the floor"? This I can agree on Using FX in DJing is an art in itself..

I said that, and seriously nobody on the dance floor beyond other DJs that can't dance wants to hear a DJ spreading effects all over the set constantly. I agree it's an artform when done well but most DJs who use effects a lot aren't using it with the dance floor in mind but more to impress themselves with some odd ball sound they produced.

That aside, Traktor has a ton of effects that are great and exceed the token half dozen pioneer effects that get over used and abused.

[djwack]

...but most DJs who use effects a lot aren't using it with the dance floor in mind but more to impress themselves with some odd ball sound they produced.

Yeah, that was my first reaction to using FX as well! I think this is a natural learning curve to using FX: You always use way too much FX with way too OTT settings in the beginning. The problem with a DJ doing it is that he/she's not the only person who hears it