I've realised - ideally speaking - it seems I would like a 3-dimensional session view, in which as well as going down vertically through scenes, I can also roll 'through', or 'backwards' ( in terms of depth) to select sets of clips to combine..
Live is currently X - Y, so I'm talking about adding a Z dimension.. Much like a vending machine, with up, down and depth backwards..
Quite how you'd control it is another thing.. Perhaps with mind control or it's projected with lasers in 3D?
This is because, essentially, I have two variables - both of which should operate independently of each other for me:
- Different scenes: You could call them 'songs' or themes, that naturally go down row by row.. Ableton does this fine already.
- Beats to slice in: Now I also run these down vertically alongside instruments and beats, but it means that each different slice is effectively assigned to each scene launch butten. I don't want that. They should be independent.
Here's an (admittedly poorly organised and simple) example. I only have a couple of scenes, but you can see my long row of slices to access, which I want to be independent of the rest.
I would like my songs to operate on their own and then have an arsenal of beats I can easily tap into at any point..
Currently, I paste them down a column, knowing that I often have to move out of the five rows of scenes my APC40 has in one go to access other slices.. If I start getting to 20 rows, I may even have to copy in slices again so they're near enough to use..
Alternatively (and more realistically) a set of columns that operate independently would be great.
Imagine an APC40 with your entire set in rows, launched by corresponding scene select buttons.. And then an APC20 loaded with nothing but sliced beats to play with.
On the screen they'd be clearly separated by a line.
I'm just thinking aloud, what do you guys think? Do you get frustrated with an X-Y configuration? Have you got any solutions?