Just how capable is Live 4?

HeyItsDoug · Post by **HeyItsDoug** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 9:06 pm

Happy and musical New Year to everyone....

I am a bass player by trade and have decided to get back into composing. I have built a project studio and have recently been delving into both Live 4 and Fruity Loops Producer Edition. I also just purchased a Triton Extreme workstation. I am not a keyboard player per se at all but the Triton has a lot of song building functions as well as a pretty decent sound set. So here's my question(s): I will not be composing House music or DJ'ing or the like. I will be composing jazz and R&B. Both Live 4 and Fruity Loops have complete songs as demos included but I need to know if people are actually composing this music beyond trance, dance etc. on Live 4 solely or are they importing/recording much of the music from external controllers (keyboards). It seems, with the soft synths included, that all I really need is a Midi Keyboard controller (instead of the Triton) so that I can work out chords and whatnot utilizing the Live 4/Fruity Loops synths. Of course audio recording is a lot different then MIDI I realize that (latency issues for instance). Can Live 4 utilize my Triton's sounds through MIDI? In other words, can I create loops on Live 4 with it using external sound generators? And finally, since I can transfer .WAV and .AIFF files I create on the Triton into my computer how much manipulation can one do with actual .WAV files from within Live 4?

Sorry for the long post. And I appreciate your patience with a newbie.

Doug

Komplex · Post by **Komplex** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 9:30 pm

fuck yeah

don't think in terms of style. most styles can be written using the same basic tools. don't think that you are limited to "trance" or "dance" music.

live 4 is now a midi sequencer too and this gives you a blank slate to do the sort of music you want.

you can use your triton as a midi controller and use it as a sound module/synth for use with live.

it's an open system, you aren't really limited. with live and midi you have access to vsti's and external sound sources. all you have to do is learn and use your imagination.

Machinate · Post by **Machinate** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:03 pm

Hey Doug!

With a Triton Extreme and Live4 you're pretty much set, my friend

I think you'll be happier using a soundcard to record the Triton directly into live, instead of transferring wavefiles, but there is a *lot* of manipulation to be done inside live. Too much to explain here, really.

best,
Andreas

Michael Hatsis · Post by **Michael Hatsis** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 2:06 am

doug,

i have found that with Live 4 i can do anything that i can do in Cubase, Logic, Sonar and all the other big sequencers, only faster. As far as styles of music goes, a lot of people do use Live for electronic based music, just due to the origins of the program. When live was first introduced it was hailed as a "Live sequencing Instrument". now its more of a complete DAW or "Real Time Audio Sequencer", useable in a variety of situations. i myself have recorded and produced a bunch of people in different genres ranging from rock type songs to blues guitar based songs, to Hip hop, house, and glitchy type stuff...so a Live set is basically a Blank Slate ready to mold into any song or set youd like. As for a MIDI controler and Sound generator, that triton of yours is more than adequate in both instances, and yes you can export the wav files into Live, or just record the tritons outut into Live.

...You asked about Live utilizing Triton sounds through MIDI, you can send MIDI out of Live to the Triton and record the output of the Triton in Live...

....also you asked about manipulation within Live. this is actually where Live goes way further than the average sequencer...through the use of Lives Clip Envelopes Warping, and Resampling capabilities you can morph your sounds into anything your artistic abilities will let you...
to get a better idea get the demo if you dont already have it, and mess around with it for a couple of hours just to get an idea of what Live has to offer....

mike

HeyItsDoug · Post by **HeyItsDoug** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 2:09 am

Thanks for your enthusiastic replies!

Andreas, so, one more question please. And i know it's been asked 100 times, but can you suggest a sound card that would do the trick? I am running Win XP PRO. Only need 2 channel in/out (and s/pdif) as I have a VS 2480 that I would be running the Triton, vocals etc. through. BTW, I have an MBOX that I no longer use, I think I read it could be used as a "sound card" as well.

Thanks
Doug

mike holiday · Post by **mike holiday** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 2:45 am

i think you are set with the mbox but you need midi in/out
u can get one in one out usb midi interface

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/M ... -main.html

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Sun Jan 02, 2005 1:09 pm

Set up some clips that are in different time signatures - I know they do that a lot in jazz. The bassist might play in 6/8 while the drummer plays in 5/4 and then you may have a keyboardist playing in 15/4.

This kind of stuff is really easy to do in Live.