Ableton Forum

I'm trying to get started on learning the software better and have gotten somewhat acquainted with it by editing tracks for music videos I've animated. Now I want to learn how to make mash-ups as well as remixes but I keep running into the same issue--the acapellas that I use keep "bleeding", or not playing right. They always seem to drag as if they're not strong enough to handle the instrumental track I'm using. Sometimes I adjust the speed because they don't match up but still the same issue. I try finding tuts but they keep telling me HOW to make acapellas instead of what to do when you have on, like how to adjust the sound level so the instrumental track won't drown it out or how to stop it from dragging. Any advice would be most helpful.

What do you mean by "bleed" and "drag"?

As for adjusting them so they can be heard over the music - use compression. If you don't know what compression is, use Google.

warping acapellas can be difficult, which might lead to timing issues. If you can track down the original instrumental to use as a reference for bpm, that might help you.

102455 wrote:If you don't know what compression is, use Google.

Google does compression now, too?

102455 wrote:What do you mean by "bleed" and "drag"?

As for adjusting them so they can be heard over the music - use compression. If you don't know what compression is, use Google.

What I mean by "bleeding/dragging" is the sound--"dragging" is like when your cassette tape gets caught in the player for some reason or another or the battery's dying on it, where the sound "drags" and slows down until it stops or speeds up and your cassette walkman gobbles the sucka up. "Bleeding" is like.........I guess you'll have to hear it to see what I'm saying about a tracking "bleeding", it's hard to describe. Let's just say it's not a pleasant sound.

I was kinda thinking of this tutorial yesterday on Dubspot about vocal tweaking, one such technique was some side compression done by Nosaj Thing and his music. Funny you mentioned that, I think I'll explore that more. I also saw another tut saying that the guy uses complex pro for his acapellas but I can't find that anywhere let alone know what it is. Can anybody explain where it's located or link me to what it is, I've had a difficult time trying to find it on-line myself let alone the software.

Oh and for the record I have Live 8.2.8
Sorry if I'm asking alot of questions here, just trying to learn as much as I can when I can.

well the dragging you describe sounds as if maybe some of the warp markers are in the wrong place.

If you've just imported the acapella and relied on the auto warp, it may have pulled/pushed some of the vocal to the wrong location (timing wise) in the bar.

You shouldn't need to use side chained compression on the acapella. Complex pro is designed to be used for whole tracks, not vocals.

To sum up, it sounds as if you need to have a good read of the manual and go through the Live tutorials to learn how things work.

why dont you just get the full track, work out the BPM, then apply the BPM to the acepella?

jtdj wrote:why dont you just get the full track, work out the BPM, then apply the BPM to the acepella?

Thats' what I was trying to figure out but without the full track. Since it's hip-hop I assume the tempo would be around 92-94 or so, the instrumental was coming in at 120 but for some reason all tracks default to that tempo when imported.

102455 wrote:well the dragging you describe sounds as if maybe some of the warp markers are in the wrong place.

If you've just imported the acapella and relied on the auto warp, it may have pulled/pushed some of the vocal to the wrong location (timing wise) in the bar.

You shouldn't need to use side chained compression on the acapella. Complex pro is designed to be used for whole tracks, not vocals.

To sum up, it sounds as if you need to have a good read of the manual and go through the Live tutorials to learn how things work.

Exactly. I was reading/viewing tutorials but was wondering what else I could be doing wrong. Like I said this is my 1st time since last year working on an actual track so I guess I'll be learning alot in between teaching myself animating. Where do you think I should start though? I glanced at some compression tuts but haven't studied them yet, I was working on something else but will take a closer look at them now.

if the acapella is from a digital source, just warp it by warping the original track while having the acapella selected too, it will put warp markers on both files

if it's coming from an LP or analog tape, you will need to match without warping to align the vocals to the original (tape and lp are not that stable) then consolidate to have the same lenght as the original and then warp

you'll know when it's perfect, the vocal will start phasing
I just did that yesterday with a really warped tempo song from a really warped tape (and the acapella was not extracted at the same time the mix was done so lots of adjustement had to be made before warping it to a fixed tempo
http://k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/i0rc0g0bkk/lotta_test.mp3

UPDATE:

Well I've been taking it back to basics learning the basics in between my busy schedule and I'm hitting yet another bump--for some reason I can't access some of my vst plugins. What I'm trying to do is add some bass to the song but I don't own Operator, Corpus, or Sampler and the 3 tuts I saw about adding subbass to your tracks include these 3, so I opted for some subbass drum synth plugins. So I dl'ed a few, one of which is AfroDJMac's Subbass plugin. Now I can't even run them on Live, even after I managed to open the files as well as put them in the library--NOTHING.

Whatever the reason is I can't access certain plugins but others show up in the software, why is that and how can I access something like AfroDJMac's Subbass plugin or arcdev's Dubb Box or Subatomic, 2 other drum synths I can't open on Live.

in Live's preferences there is a place to rescan the VST folder. you could try that.

*note - if the plug you downloaded is 32 bit and you're using a 64 bit operating system and version of Live, that could be your issue. the reverse is true as well. if you downloaded a 64 bit plug and are using 32 bit OS and 32 bit Live then you'll find nothing useable that way either.

H20nly wrote:in Live's preferences there is a place to rescan the VST folder. you could try that.

*note - if the plug you downloaded is 32 bit and you're using a 64 bit operating system and version of Live, that could be your issue. the reverse is true as well. if you downloaded a 64 bit plug and are using 32 bit OS and 32 bit Live then you'll find nothing useable that way either.

Re-scan the VST folder? How does that work?

And I didn't think about the 32- vs 64-bit scenario, most of these plugins don't specify at all. I went to my laptop to test this theory out and sure enuff one folder of plugins were visible on my laptop, not the desktop. I still can't access them as far as opening them in the software. Do I need a synth bassline ready in order to use one of those plugins or do I need a present instrument from the rack, like an Impulse or Simpler rack? I'm not sure if that's what I need to open the AfroDJMac Subbass Live Pack, which also won't show on the laptop either. Everytime I drag it onto the MIDI stack it says something about only big enough for 8 objects and won't load on session view.

Like I said I'm trying to learn but getting frustrated with the dead ends and brick walls I constantly keep running into.

Look I'm desperate and frustrated, I'll go on TeamViewer with anyone that is willing to help me with this issue PLEASE. I'm ready to just give up this is so irritating..........

UPDATE: After more irritation and setbacks I was able to complete this to the best of my ability. Let me know if you hear something or notice something off or odd.

https://soundcloud.com/dwayne-middleton ... -ghostface