Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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mlbex
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Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by mlbex » Fri Sep 23, 2022 10:37 pm

How do i assign tracks to partially or totally left or right? How do I eq them with Ableton Live Lite (no EQ 8 available Eq 3 isn't cutting it). Do I really need to find a different DAW, or do I just need to learn more about this one, and if so, where do I find out?

Is a graphic EQ plugin a reasonable possibility.

Hint "parametric EQ", "graphic EQ", "Stereo Mix" do not show up in the knowledge base. "Stereo Mix" shows up in the manual with this:

"Width adjusts the stereo mix between the left and right resonators" I think it requires Corpus.

mlbex

pottering
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by pottering » Sat Sep 24, 2022 1:45 am

If you right-click the Track Pan knob it has a Split Stereo Pan option.

Each band in a EQ is a filter, an EQ is just a bunch of filters added together, Lite has Channel EQ, Auto Filter and EQ3, more than enough for EQing.
♥♥♥

mlbex
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by mlbex » Sat Sep 24, 2022 2:48 am

Unless the Q on those parametric-type filters is adjustable, the filters are far too broad for my voice. A slight boost at 1.6k that extends from 1k to 2.2k doesn't do what my vocal coach had in mind.

Workaround: Export track to .wav. Import .wav to Audacity. Eq as required (nice tight Q on their graphic EQ). Export back to .wav. Import .wav to Ableton... tedious but it works around the lack of a high-Q EQ.

C changes the dual level meters on the right side of the display but not what I hear in my headphones. On the other hand the 0 (playback volume next to it) changes the headphones exactly as you would expect.

This program is far too complicated for the simple, straightforward acoustic multitracking I'm trying to do. It's like learning to fly a multi-engine jet when all I want to do is fly a kite.

Anyway thanks for your help.

mlbex

Chancery
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by Chancery » Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:55 am

At the risk of burning at the stake for heresy, and as a 99% Ableton Live user, I don't think you're using the right tool for acoustic mixing. There are other DAWs out there more focused on that kind of work, such as Studio One, Cubase or Logic.

[jur]
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by [jur] » Mon Sep 26, 2022 1:24 pm

Chancery wrote:
Mon Sep 26, 2022 9:55 am
At the risk of burning at the stake for heresy, and as a 99% Ableton Live user, I don't think you're using the right tool for acoustic mixing. There are other DAWs out there more focused on that kind of work, such as Studio One, Cubase or Logic.
I seriously doubt they would find any of these other DAW easier to understand than Live...
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mlbex
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by mlbex » Wed Sep 28, 2022 2:40 am

I seriously doubt they would find any of these other DAW easier to understand than Live...
I've tried several. They all have seem to be designed for people who process the $%#! out of their music. I just want to do what I used to do with an analog 4-track reel-to-reel machine and a DAT to master to. Ableton Live Light comes with the Focusrite 4i4 that I bought to do this with. I tried Audacity but it is limited to only two tracks, and I need two in and two out to avoid latency.

I'm making grudging progress though. Thanks for the advice everyone.

mlbex

[jur]
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by [jur] » Wed Sep 28, 2022 12:12 pm

In all objectivity, Live's the most straightforward DAW.
You should check the Learn Live video series.
Also, I highly recommend you to follow Live's built-in tutorials, which are found in the Help menu > help view. Here you'll find many topics, illustrated with live sets that you can interact with. Imo it's the best and quicker way (an hour or two) to understand Live's basics.
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yur2die4
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by yur2die4 » Wed Sep 28, 2022 11:58 pm

My suggestion is to tackle and conquer one aspect that challenges you at a time.

And the big one from reading your questions sounds like using audio clips in Live.

You’re definitely right that the clips are doing things that would be considered unpredictable from the perspective of one who isn’t fully informed.

It’s a little bit of work, but the main things I would learn are the Clip Start and End parts of Clip Properties, and turning off Warp.

If you get that part down, you can at least have predictable results when arranging clips in the timeline and layering them.

mlbex
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by mlbex » Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:32 am

You’re definitely right that the clips are doing things that would be considered unpredictable from the perspective of one who isn’t fully informed.
That seems backwards to me. I believe that the default should be "change nothing until I configure it to do so". And that seems to be the way Ableton operates. Unless I'm mistaken, Ableton leaves clips intact and modifies the output in real time during playback, based on the plugins and effects dragged into the clip view.

The modifications to the imported WAV file are something else altogether. Remember, I can't change Clip Properties until after the clip (WAV file) is imported and the changes have already taken place.

The good news is that I don't have to export/modify/reimport WAV files anymore because I found a graphic EQ plugin. I can worry about this problem later :=)

Thanks, mlbex

yur2die4
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Re: Do I need a different DAW. How do you do acoustic post production and remix?

Post by yur2die4 » Thu Sep 29, 2022 10:55 am

This is where the problem is that Live started as a ‘concept’, and then exploded into being a multifaceted tool.

The initial idea of Live was a pretty novel idea. Quickly force audio clips to sync, and stay in sync while changing tempo, without changing pitch (unless desired) in real time. With a ‘clip launching’ option for looping and triggering, which can all be recorded into an arrangement.

Because of this initial concept, Live usually tries at first to put clips through the process in order to best accommodate that initial premise. Beyond doing that, requires basically undoing or turning off a few functions.

I do think that where Live is how, it should DEFINITELY support a means for standard use in the way that you’re trying to use it, as it really confuses a Lot of ppl first introduced, and it Does result in degradation of audio quality for those who are unaware of what is happening. Like, the things Live tries to do, should be a specific form of import.

Still, I do understand that there are a lot of people who quickly want to move ideas around, and have everything be synchronized before even Touching the file, and just throw it into their set.

So yeah. This should explain your frustrations with audio clips at least. You CAN use Live just as well as any other daw….. but it intuitively knocks you off your bike the first few tries.

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