How would YOU do this?

[SlowX]

OK, I just came across a project that I'm not sure how to tackle. I've read the manual, and have even been using Live in a basic way for a while, but this is new and I'm curious how YOU'D tackle such a project.

I just got an opportunity to remix a song. The format is every instrument/track is a separate audio file the length of the song. So some parts are silent until they enter, etc. While there are parts of the songs that do indeed loop, what I have is NOT loops.

Would you edit the sounds outside of Live into separate loops, or create the loops within Live (v.5, if that matters)? Or is there a way that makes more sense?

Thanks for sharing "you way"!

[MrYellow]

Just use the same wav over and over with different start points and loop
markers..... 1 WAV file..... heaps of different loops and sections.....

-Ben

[hambone1]

Agreed.

No need to chop it up in an audio editor. Just change the loop start/stop points. Live only references the original audio clip, so you can have literally hundreds of loops with different start/stop points with each one just referencing the original AIFF/WAV.

[Pitch Black]

I would open the audio files, (or "stems" as they are sometimes called in the trade) in the ARRANGE page. ie drag them from the Browser to the Arrange and lay them up all starting at bar 1.

2. Set Live's project tempo to the original tempo of the song. Now you should have a nice, clear layout of all your material. You should be able to see where the actual audio material is by unfolding the tracks to show the waveform view. You should be able to see all the parts and beats line up with Live's grid. (Go ahead and name Live's tracks with the audio file names for clarity, while you're at it)

3. Decide which sections of the files you want as loops. To do this (and make them into separate, smaller audio files at the same time) just highlight the section of any track (or tracks) and hit Control-J/Apple-J. Live will consolidate the selected sections into perfectly cut loops.
These files won't be very big compared to the total amount of data you have received, and I find it handy to have "actual" audio copies of the loops in case I want do do any destructive edits to them later on.

4. What I would do at this stage is drag these loops to the Session view and start trying out various beats / loops / sounds etc against them.

You might choose to work in a combination of both the Arrange and Session views, or just in either view. Its up to you.

hope this helps!

[SlowX]

Thanks SO much!
Both your posts helps a lot.

I guess it was just something new, and I didn't even know where to start.

Thanks again!


--Ted