Newbie: DJing with Ableton 8.0.9 Lite and my new LaunchPad

[ChicNStu]

So I DJ Progressive House/Trance with CDJ 1000's and a mixer, and I got quite bored with it. Don't get me wrong, I love the music and I love DJing, but something about playing one track and then fading to another mixed track just wasn't doing enough for me. Plus, a half conscious dog can do that.

So, I went and got the new LaunchPad with Ableton in hopes that I could do something better. It is now sitting in front of me on my desk, Ableton running, and I have no clue what I'm doing. Well, that's not entirely true; I understand the logistics of the launchpad, and give me a sample set and I can monkey with the beats and it's sometimes nice.However, I'm nowhere to where I want to be. Clearly.
I've watched dozens of tutorials, but I still don't really understand where to begin.

Does anyone have any advice? My idea is this; I'd like to DJ a la Deadmau5 (obviously this isn't going to just happen, maybe it would never happen), and I have some ideas as to what I think I'll do. I honestly just don't know where to start; how to loop tracks live, how to set up cue points, how to warp (dear god), how to manipulate tracks live, etc.

Basically, I've watched countless videos, experimented with tons of tracks, downloaded loops and I just don't have any solid ground on which to start. Does anyone have any advice, whether it be videos to watch that I haven't yet, or demo projects to try out and get a feel for, or suggestions on what the hell I'm trying to do?

Thank you so much.

[supamonsta]

Sorry,

but I don't think that live+launchpad is a kind of DJ tool.

you've got to get rid of your dj "mentality", get rid of the habit to manipulate "tracks".

Ableton Live + launchpad: you trigger "clips" live, not tracks. (no need for a launchpad to DJ with live, a faderfox or a nocturn will do the job)

so you've got to compose clips before having fun live (or import pre-made loops)

drums clips, basslines, synth lines...

and put all your drums in one or 2 drums tracks, all bass in a "bass track", etc.

IMHO you should first try to compose your own tracks (no need to be over complex and pro quality), and then jam with the clips that compose your tracks.

my 2 cents

good luck!

[mrideas]

I DJ'd locally quite a lot for a few years and found it great fun, but also found myself less interested in the attention i was getting from people by playing other peoples music. So i too am now just producing at home, refining my skills and trying to arrive at a sound that is somewhat 'me'. I think that is nothing you can achieve overnight. It will take a year or so of locking yourself away in a studio, creating your own beats and loops. and then arriving back on stage with a sound set that you can then 'perform'. You need to move away from the 'dj' tag, and consider what you need to perform and arrange your selected sounds in a somewhat 'live' manner. Start with a more 'programmed' session and move through that in shorter sets, then gradually increase the size and complexity, and throw in the odd complete track as well of needed.

Personally I dont like hearing people make live mashups/mockerys of a known track, (clever acapella's and minor reworks excepted). I think from a punters perpective on the dancefloor, it's nice to hear complete and familiar original tunes and then appreciate something you have never heard before.

Hardware wise, i think you will miss your mixer. I know i couldn't live without some sort of midi equivalent. I have a launch pad too, it's perfect for working within the session grid.

[anachroschism]

welcome to the club!

I feel the same way even after messing with Ableton for almost a year now. I came from a DJ/turntablist background and wanted to transition into more performance/orginal productions type stuff and of course, Live is hands down the best for that.

RULE NO. 1: dont get discouraged. It will take time, LOTS of time and you will probably have to totally reinvent your sound and re-learn everything in the process but stick with it.

rule 2: you CAN "dj" with live, and youre off to a good start with the launchpad. Research using live and the LP with an external mixer; you can have a CDJ on ch. 1 and Live on ch. 2 and mix in and out in a way your comfortable with.

rule no. 3: dont try and "dj" live! I just told you the opposite, but seriously, once you get your hands dirty you will that the possibilites for improv remixing and performing with ableton are fukin ENDLESS. Go crazy, try different things, do whatever the hell you want and use every tool that ableton gives you; if you can dream it you can do it, and its probably easier than you thought.


Ok? Now heres what I want you do. Unplug from the internet, turn your TV off and get your hands dirty. You will learn by doing, so do stuff; put together a dj set, make some original tracks, do the included lessons, whatever. Just DONT stop; after a week or so you'll know more than you can imagine.

You cant screw up.

[MrH]

Chucking my two pence in, but I think you CAN DJ in Live. The difference is - you have the opportunity to take that to another level.

As already mentioned, you don't have to just mix from one song to another - you have the ability to do so much more. Echoing what's already been said - if you can think of it, chances are you can do it. I'll admit it can all be daunting. Especially as Live is something you can completely tailor to yourself - there are endless ways to use it.

The difficulty I think you're having is one of being overwhelmed. Which I get too. It's very easy to get excited about what's possible and then before you know it you're stuck trying to do too much. I would say start small and simple - then add some new things. There is plenty of resource here on the basics and on youtube/vimeo etc if you are prepared to do a little searching. I'll start you off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCqX9veJSKY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-mU26qWq7k

[Rhadiem]

From what I can tell, lots of DJ's are moving to Live. You might miss not having knobs and more accurate faders by using the launchpad but I don't doubt it could be used in a cool way. Toss in a $50 Korg nanoKontrol for the knobs/faders if you really need to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF3yR-Dww1s

I highly recommend checking out Tom Cosm's video "Moving from the studio to live performance using Ableton Live" http://www.vimeo.com/1701545

It's AMAZINGLY useful in getting an idea on how to take a song (or even a pre-planned DJ set, if you like, and make it so you can perform it. Even if you're like me and haven't made a single song/anything in Ableton, it's GREAT to know ahead of time to get an idea of how to build things. And yes, it was REALLY helpful for me. Check it out. He also has a ton of other good videos too.

http://www.vimeo.com/1701545

[guyinyoureye]

I've been using the full version of Live for about 1 week now, having no production experience..Dj exp. only. It was slow to get started but I have committed to making 1 track a night labeling them Alpha, Bravo etc..these are not actual songs ofcourse but just drum loops and/or sounds that I played around with until I was content (or tired) and I save them. I can already see the progression and it helps to keep me positive and not get overwhelmed. Maybe a few months I will have enough to make something interesting. I think the most important thing is to keep at it.

[skulpture]

I am in this club too. I have not watched al the videos that people have linked too above so apologies if this has been covered.

My approach is to have 3 or 4 main tracks. 2 tracks set up like Deck One and Deck Two. Once you warp tracks you can then trigger them and play around with effects etc...

The other two tracks I have a mixture of beats, efxs, bass lines, some accepellas etc. I use these when needed basically. I also use these tracks on the fly, ie: drag a full audio track in, set a loop point and fade it in (almost like having a third decks running)

I will sometime chop up a song and put different section, like 8 bars, 4 bars, 1 bar, 1/16 stutter in a line and re-create the CDJ-loop point feature.

You will find you spend more time creating effects and mashing up tracks (not remixing - all though that is possible) but re-creating build ups using effects and looping. Start assigning a row of faders to filter sweeps and other efx parameters and you will be away.

[transology]

Tom Cosm is making really great tutorials. Get his template for Djing too. To dense for me but a clever way to mix. I'm using an DDM4000 (for midi maping) + an Xone 1D. Everything you can imagine is possible with those two things.

It take times to make it yours, but that's how art with a big "A" grows.

Have fun !

From what I can tell, lots of DJ's are moving to Live. You might miss not having knobs and more accurate faders by using the launchpad but I don't doubt it could be used in a cool way. Toss in a $50 Korg nanoKontrol for the knobs/faders if you really need to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF3yR-Dww1s

I highly recommend checking out Tom Cosm's video "Moving from the studio to live performance using Ableton Live" http://www.vimeo.com/1701545

It's AMAZINGLY useful in getting an idea on how to take a song (or even a pre-planned DJ set, if you like, and make it so you can perform it. Even if you're like me and haven't made a single song/anything in Ableton, it's GREAT to know ahead of time to get an idea of how to build things. And yes, it was REALLY helpful for me. Check it out. He also has a ton of other good videos too.

http://www.vimeo.com/1701545

[drifta303]

I hate to draw attention away from ableton here, but a good half-way-step between cdjs and ableton might be traktor pro.. traktor has the familiar DJ 'feel' but lets you do extra stuff (not quite as much as ableton) but you can sync it with ableton eventually and run them both..

and you can use the launchpad to control traktor too..


ive been thinking about ableton a lot for djing and have come to the conclusion its not good for an on-the-fly dj set.. it requires much more preparation to get songs ready for a mix and you can't really do it creatively 'on the fly' like you can with cdjs or traktor