Hello there!
I've been using Live 8 with my live band for a while and I have three simple questions:
1. Is there a more efficient way to change tracks in a show other than choosing "recent sets" in the file menu? This is taking precious time on stage. How are you guys working? I'd love the next song to open almost instantly when the previous one is over.
2. Is there also a way to change which sound a specific midi controller is playing in the middle of a song? I am using two Midi Controllers when I want to play two different sounds in a song but there must be a another way to do this!
3. Is there a way, when I assign a knob, to determine values it can set and others it won't? For example I set a knob on my midi controller to control the "coarse" level on a oscillator in operator. When I play with the band I would like the knob to automatically only select certain levels when I'm turning it (for example 2, 4, 8 and 12 but never anything in between). Is that possible?
Thanks a lot for your help!
Three questions from a novice user
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infernal.machine
- Posts: 1051
- Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:34 am
Re: Three questions from a novice user
Hi!
1. Switching from track to track can be done in many ways, and the method will differ depending on what you have contained in your sets. If your sets are just audio, for example, loading all your tracks into one set won't be a problem. However if your sets contain a lot of MIDI devices and plugins, you may want to open only one or two sets at a time (to save CPU). Either way, I think you will benefit from the knowledge that you can drag in any .als file into Live from the browser or your computer's finder/explorer. Try organizing your sets so you can just drag them in this way, without closing the previous set. After you're finished with a channel, just delete it.
2. On every MIDI channel, you will see a dropdown menu for 'MIDI from'. By default it will be set to 'All Ins', meaning it will take midi input from all your devices. If you select a specific controller from the menu, only that device will send input to that specific track. Alternatively you can set up an instrument rack with a chain selector so that you can quickly switch between instruments on a single track (by mapping the chain selector to a knob or fader on your controller).
3. You can set the min and max in the MIDI Mappings Menu, but I'm not sure about quantizing it to certain values. It depends on your controllers. On my Launchpad, for example, a knob will be mapped to a row of buttons, so by default it will be quantized. Using the Automap server allows me to set any button to be any value, which sounds like exactly what you want. So I guess I suggest try mapping to buttons if your controller has them, and if not, you may just have to develop some dexterity to find the right value
Hope this helps!
1. Switching from track to track can be done in many ways, and the method will differ depending on what you have contained in your sets. If your sets are just audio, for example, loading all your tracks into one set won't be a problem. However if your sets contain a lot of MIDI devices and plugins, you may want to open only one or two sets at a time (to save CPU). Either way, I think you will benefit from the knowledge that you can drag in any .als file into Live from the browser or your computer's finder/explorer. Try organizing your sets so you can just drag them in this way, without closing the previous set. After you're finished with a channel, just delete it.
2. On every MIDI channel, you will see a dropdown menu for 'MIDI from'. By default it will be set to 'All Ins', meaning it will take midi input from all your devices. If you select a specific controller from the menu, only that device will send input to that specific track. Alternatively you can set up an instrument rack with a chain selector so that you can quickly switch between instruments on a single track (by mapping the chain selector to a knob or fader on your controller).
3. You can set the min and max in the MIDI Mappings Menu, but I'm not sure about quantizing it to certain values. It depends on your controllers. On my Launchpad, for example, a knob will be mapped to a row of buttons, so by default it will be quantized. Using the Automap server allows me to set any button to be any value, which sounds like exactly what you want. So I guess I suggest try mapping to buttons if your controller has them, and if not, you may just have to develop some dexterity to find the right value
Hope this helps!
Re: Three questions from a novice user
1. Changing sets during live performance is bad practice IMHO. Put everything in one set. Do as much freezing/flattening as you can, and optimization to keep your CPU use low. This is a good guide of how to do this, though it may not be exactly what you want to do:
Moving From The Studio to Live Performance For The First Time
2. One idea that comes to mind is to use an instrument rack in a MIDI track. Put both MIDI instruments in the instrument rack. Map the On/Off or Solo controls on each midi instrument to a button on your midi controller. Then you just push the button to switch instruments.
3. I'm almost certain this can be done with a MIDI effect rack, and the Chain setting. Basically you'd manually set the range of your controllers to certain values: 0-63 to 1/8 and 64-127 to 1/16 for example. I've never done this before though. I know there are tutorials from Tom Cosm that show how to do similar things. Google some Tom Cosm tutorials is the best advice I can give.
Moving From The Studio to Live Performance For The First Time
2. One idea that comes to mind is to use an instrument rack in a MIDI track. Put both MIDI instruments in the instrument rack. Map the On/Off or Solo controls on each midi instrument to a button on your midi controller. Then you just push the button to switch instruments.
3. I'm almost certain this can be done with a MIDI effect rack, and the Chain setting. Basically you'd manually set the range of your controllers to certain values: 0-63 to 1/8 and 64-127 to 1/16 for example. I've never done this before though. I know there are tutorials from Tom Cosm that show how to do similar things. Google some Tom Cosm tutorials is the best advice I can give.
Re: Three questions from a novice user
for loading tracks: i don't rise up the live window complete so there's a bit desktop on the left. i put a folder there which shows the needed tracks as a list. so i can double-click on the next song (and enter for replace the current song) plus loading time: about 5 seconds.
if you are in a band, make little interludes that the other band mates can play to overlap time instead of all waiting and looking to the guy at the laptop.
if you are in a band, make little interludes that the other band mates can play to overlap time instead of all waiting and looking to the guy at the laptop.
Re: Three questions from a novice user
I agree with Vios. Using the File menu and doing "Open Recent Set" is not going to help you.
You have to put every song you would perform into the same folder named something like: "stuff I perform".
Put it all into one folder and open that folder in Live's browser, and every song will be right there.
There are many ways...
You could make a rack that has every BASS you'll use all night.
and another rack that has every drum kit,
another rack with the different pianos, or whatever, etc..
Then you won't have to load anything, you can just Solo the instrument in the Rack.
You have to put every song you would perform into the same folder named something like: "stuff I perform".
Put it all into one folder and open that folder in Live's browser, and every song will be right there.
There are many ways...
You could make a rack that has every BASS you'll use all night.
and another rack that has every drum kit,
another rack with the different pianos, or whatever, etc..
Then you won't have to load anything, you can just Solo the instrument in the Rack.
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the_muffin_man
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Wed Mar 27, 2013 3:24 pm
- Location: USA
Re: Three questions from a novice user
Hello!
I have a few suggestions:
1. You could just put all songs in the same Live set; this would eliminate loading time and allow you to flow better.
2. In each track, there is a "MIDI From" menu (if you are not seeing this, make sure that your "I/O" section is showing). By default, each track recieves MIDI from all devices, which can cause problems. Just select whatever controller you need to use for each track.
3. I am not sure that I understand your question. Please explain.
I have a few suggestions:
1. You could just put all songs in the same Live set; this would eliminate loading time and allow you to flow better.
2. In each track, there is a "MIDI From" menu (if you are not seeing this, make sure that your "I/O" section is showing). By default, each track recieves MIDI from all devices, which can cause problems. Just select whatever controller you need to use for each track.
3. I am not sure that I understand your question. Please explain.
Re: Three questions from a novice user
one very nice thing when working with only one big liveset:
Name scenes with their Tempo! like "104 BPM scenename"
As soon as you launch that scene, it changes the tempo to whatever value is in the scenename.
For quick Changes of Midi Instruments: Put them in one instrument Rack. Use the Chain selector to choose the one you need.
You can write the chainselector value directly into a Clip. -> making shure you have the right instrument selectet.
Combine this with the Scenename tempo thing, and you end up going from one song to the next by just launching one scene.
Tempo will be correct, The right Midi Instruments will be activated automaticly.
that's how i did it back in the days
Name scenes with their Tempo! like "104 BPM scenename"
As soon as you launch that scene, it changes the tempo to whatever value is in the scenename.
For quick Changes of Midi Instruments: Put them in one instrument Rack. Use the Chain selector to choose the one you need.
You can write the chainselector value directly into a Clip. -> making shure you have the right instrument selectet.
Combine this with the Scenename tempo thing, and you end up going from one song to the next by just launching one scene.
Tempo will be correct, The right Midi Instruments will be activated automaticly.
that's how i did it back in the days
Re: Three questions from a novice user
Oh, and changing pitch by certain interwalls: you could do that with max.
or have a look at this thing:
http://4live.me/post/29141938802/jazz-me#.UVMdfBnJD5c
or have a look at this thing:
http://4live.me/post/29141938802/jazz-me#.UVMdfBnJD5c
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the_muffin_man
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Wed Mar 27, 2013 3:24 pm
- Location: USA
Re: Three questions from a novice user
I just thought of a answer to your third question. There is a great device called Mapulator that you can download (I'll find the link later today) that allows you to map multiple paramaters to a single knob, which I know is not what you are asking, but it also allows you to set how your paramaters react to MIDI input. I think this is what you are looking for.