Your Push Experience

Discuss Push with other users.
sowhoso
Posts: 846
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:14 am

Your Push Experience

Post by sowhoso » Sat Jul 20, 2013 4:12 pm

here's mine...

after five days (and many hours) i'm finding it very much worth the money, time and effort. the one glaring glitch, pad colors, i fixed myself with forum help (thx y'all)

the Push replaces my Axiom 25, which i've had for a several years. it's a toy compared to Push, really

I wanted quick easy access to DAW and plugin parameters, Push gives me that. i wanted the same smooth knobs i have on my Micron, Push gives me that. i wanted quick easy access to VST and VSTi plugins without using a mouse, Push gives me that. i wanted more pads with greater sensitivity, Push gives me that. i wanted to get away from the piano paradigm...yes!

there's more, but that's the major stuff i was looking for

i've been re-discovering some plugins that i've kept cuz i knew they had potential. but, mousing around made them so tedious (Axiom knobs suck) that they just sat there on my PC. Push completely changes that. it really is an instrument, and that beyond playing notes...i can now play my effects as well (i had to stop the fun to come and write this)

as always there are some things i'd like to see added. here are a few...
  1. make TOUCH STRIP assignable to other parameters, at least MODWHEEL

    an open/close plugin GUI function. among other reasons, occasionally, what you see on Push is not the reality in a third party plugin. example: delay sync on a plugin has 2 indicators for sync, ON and SYNC. in Push it'll say OFF and SYNC will turn to milliseconds on the plugin but SYNC is still on until you turn some more and then the plugin says OFF too. Not Push's fault, just the way it is in some cases

    more functionality for audio and midi clips: add other settings, like follow action, groove, launch nodes etc

    a "fine" tune function for knobs (maybe hold shift). it's difficult or even impossible to get precise with some third party plugins

    one little niggle that can't be changed on the present Push... the IN and OUT buttons (next to MASTER button) should be swapped and called PREVIOUS and NEXT. left button to go back, right button to go deeper
i hope you're liking Push as much as I am
Last edited by sowhoso on Sun Jul 21, 2013 3:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

lyovino
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 3:29 am

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by lyovino » Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:28 pm

Well said sowhoso. I love working with it. The more you work with it the smoother your workflow becomes. In all do fairness Push is in it's embryo stage right now. Ableton is already make refinements with the updates. Like I said before, it can only get better.

For me, it makes Live an absolute funhouse and more of a joy to work in. Totally dope! 8)
Mac (Retina 5K, 27-inch,) Catalina
3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, 64 GB
Apollo/x6, PUSH 2

fnordboy
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:26 pm

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by fnordboy » Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:59 pm

I've literally spent about 20 mins with Push so far. It almost was worth the 4 month wait. Loving it so far.

deva
Posts: 1685
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:32 pm

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by deva » Sun Jul 21, 2013 12:59 am

I'm still figuring out the various controls and options having had it for one week or so.

Overall I like Push a lot. THere was lots of discussion about what it does and doesn't do over the past months. Some people want this function or that function and I could think that this or that request sounded good. Now that I am actually using it, I find the set of controls and the focus of Push very satisfying.

The thing that the feature list does not communicate is just how much fun it is! And it is surprising just how flowing and fast it is to get ideas down which is already a strength of Live.

I have a Korg Z1 which I use as my midi controller. It is capable and well built. I am really liking the pads on the Push and the experience of 64 pads and unique layout is very different from keys. The pads are faster and in some ways more expressive. I can play a wide range with one hand fluidly and with good control over velocity. Partly it is the newness factor, but at the moment I am liking the pads better than the keys.

Push feels well built, the controls are solid and sensitive.

Obviously the rather extreme pad color variation is a bummer. While it is mainly aesthetic, it can be distracting visually under some circumstances.

The main functional issue for me is that the AT needs to be a separate sensitivity control from note velocity. I find it hard to control AT without accidentally re-triggering the note. It is also hard to not activate AT when hitting notes with higher velocity.
I would also like for the undo to display on the screen what is undone.
Would like to reprogram the touch strip to modwheel and not just pitch.

I'll be getting PXT-Live, but I want to learn all of what is there out of the box before exploring user mode.

Live + Push is an impressive combo.

sowhoso
Posts: 846
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:14 am

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by sowhoso » Sun Jul 21, 2013 2:09 am

deva wrote:The main functional issue for me is that the AT needs to be a separate sensitivity control from note velocity. I find it hard to control AT without accidentally re-triggering the note. It is also hard to not activate AT when hitting notes with higher velocity.
which synth?

i was just playing 2 patches from the same bank in ZebraHZ, both have AT. on one patch it's difficult to control AT without retriggering. with the other i can play a note very softly, hold it there and then control AT without ever re-triggering the note, even 4 note chords! also, i can hit that patch hard and then follow with some more AT vibrato. my PAD THRESHOLD is set to -14, LOG = 4

so it seems to me controlling AT is very much a matter of the synth programming

deva
Posts: 1685
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:32 pm

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by deva » Sun Jul 21, 2013 6:14 am

sowhoso wrote:
deva wrote:The main functional issue for me is that the AT needs to be a separate sensitivity control from note velocity. I find it hard to control AT without accidentally re-triggering the note. It is also hard to not activate AT when hitting notes with higher velocity.
which synth?

i was just playing 2 patches from the same bank in ZebraHZ, both have AT. on one patch it's difficult to control AT without retriggering. with the other i can play a note very softly, hold it there and then control AT without ever re-triggering the note, even 4 note chords! also, i can hit that patch hard and then follow with some more AT vibrato. my PAD THRESHOLD is set to -14, LOG = 4

so it seems to me controlling AT is very much a matter of the synth programming
Interesting you mention that... I spent some time playing with pad sensitivity and I now have it set closer to yours and AT seems a little better.

I am also getting used to the pads and learning how to keep enough pressure. On my keyboard I can let go of all pressure and there is no risk of a key release until I physically let the key up. My fingers are so used to the keys that it has taken some retraining. The pads require considerably more precision.

ps - I've been testing with Diva and ZebraHZ :wink:

fnordboy
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:26 pm

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by fnordboy » Mon Jul 22, 2013 3:38 pm

deva wrote:I'm still figuring out the various controls and options having had it for one week or so.

<snip>

The thing that the feature list does not communicate is just how much fun it is! And it is surprising just how flowing and fast it is to get ideas down which is already a strength of Live.
I wanted to agree with these two statements. I've only had Push since Saturday afternoon, but I can see that it will take me a while to get all that can be done out of Push with regards to the various controls and options. With that said, it was also extremely easy to start a song going and build out multiple parts just using the basics of Push. The one glaring issue is the omission of recording to arrangement button from Push.

It is a lot of fun to play with, so it definitely promotes creativity and experimentation.

I need to spend more time with it.

sowhoso
Posts: 846
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:14 am

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by sowhoso » Mon Jul 22, 2013 3:45 pm

fnordboy wrote:The one glaring issue is the omission of recording to arrangement button from Push.
i cud be wrong, but i believe the thinking is that once you're ready to create an arrangement you are going back to the computer screen anyway so just click it there

it's not glaring to me but i guess it would be nice to have

lyovino
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 3:29 am

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by lyovino » Mon Jul 22, 2013 4:13 pm

sowhoso wrote:
fnordboy wrote:The one glaring issue is the omission of recording to arrangement button from Push.
i cud be wrong, but i believe the thinking is that once you're ready to create an arrangement you are going back to the computer screen anyway so just click it there

it's not glaring to me but i guess it would be nice to have
I've been missing this feature also a lot lately. It would be nice when switching to Session there would be a shortcut to switch Live to Arrangement so that you can just start firing scenes/clips to it. Perhaps in a future update.
Mac (Retina 5K, 27-inch,) Catalina
3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, 64 GB
Apollo/x6, PUSH 2

fnordboy
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:26 pm

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by fnordboy » Mon Jul 22, 2013 4:51 pm

sowhoso wrote:
fnordboy wrote:The one glaring issue is the omission of recording to arrangement button from Push.
i cud be wrong, but i believe the thinking is that once you're ready to create an arrangement you are going back to the computer screen anyway so just click it there

it's not glaring to me but i guess it would be nice to have
Believe me, I don't think we should never have to look at the computer again. But I was defintiely missing the ability to just hit a button (or combo) to begin recording everything that I just created into an actual song from Push. It's actually a weird break in the work flow of using Push. It's fine if you don't want to use it, but the option should be there. A SHIFT+REC combo makes sense to use, its one of those weird items that Ableton seemed to leave out.

lyovino
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu May 27, 2010 3:29 am

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by lyovino » Mon Jul 22, 2013 5:18 pm

fnordboy wrote:
sowhoso wrote:
fnordboy wrote:The one glaring issue is the omission of recording to arrangement button from Push.
i cud be wrong, but i believe the thinking is that once you're ready to create an arrangement you are going back to the computer screen anyway so just click it there

it's not glaring to me but i guess it would be nice to have
Believe me, I don't think we should never have to look at the computer again. But I was defintiely missing the ability to just hit a button (or combo) to begin recording everything that I just created into an actual song from Push. It's actually a weird break in the work flow of using Push. It's fine if you don't want to use it, but the option should be there. A SHIFT+REC combo makes sense to use, its one of those weird items that Ableton seemed to leave out.
I agree and at that point is when you may want to switch to the computer. It's one step short. There is always room for improvement. I'm just hoping that the obvious gets preference when doing updates.
Mac (Retina 5K, 27-inch,) Catalina
3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, 64 GB
Apollo/x6, PUSH 2

deva
Posts: 1685
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:32 pm

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by deva » Mon Jul 22, 2013 6:16 pm

sowhoso wrote:
fnordboy wrote:The one glaring issue is the omission of recording to arrangement button from Push.
i cud be wrong, but i believe the thinking is that once you're ready to create an arrangement you are going back to the computer screen anyway so just click it there

it's not glaring to me but i guess it would be nice to have
Seems an obvious thing to do to record what one is playing in session mode. I really wonder how that could have been left out.

Anyway, I set the 'r' key on my computer keyboard to start record to arrangement so that is easy enough, but it should be on Push by default.

fnordboy
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:26 pm

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by fnordboy » Mon Jul 22, 2013 9:21 pm

deva wrote:
sowhoso wrote:
fnordboy wrote:The one glaring issue is the omission of recording to arrangement button from Push.
i cud be wrong, but i believe the thinking is that once you're ready to create an arrangement you are going back to the computer screen anyway so just click it there

it's not glaring to me but i guess it would be nice to have
Seems an obvious thing to do to record what one is playing in session mode. I really wonder how that could have been left out.

Anyway, I set the 'r' key on my computer keyboard to start record to arrangement so that is easy enough, but it should be on Push by default.
Yeah I read that in the other thread about it, definitely going to do that on mine as well.

It's weird. I wish Ableton would comment on why it was omitted. They must have a reason. It makes sense in a workflow perspective to keep it, and it makes sense from an advertising perspective as well. They could easily market Push as being able to create and record a song start to finish all without looking at the computer on the Push with the inclusion of that one button. Is that the ideal way? No, but it would then be doable.

deva
Posts: 1685
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 4:32 pm

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by deva » Mon Jul 22, 2013 10:48 pm

fnordboy wrote:
deva wrote:
Seems an obvious thing to do to record what one is playing in session mode. I really wonder how that could have been left out.

Anyway, I set the 'r' key on my computer keyboard to start record to arrangement so that is easy enough, but it should be on Push by default.
Yeah I read that in the other thread about it, definitely going to do that on mine as well.

It's weird. I wish Ableton would comment on why it was omitted. They must have a reason. It makes sense in a workflow perspective to keep it, and it makes sense from an advertising perspective as well. They could easily market Push as being able to create and record a song start to finish all without looking at the computer on the Push with the inclusion of that one button. Is that the ideal way? No, but it would then be doable.
Once I have recorded to arrangement, then I want to go back to the computer... not before... I mean, who doesn't want to record their session playing on Push back into arrangement? It seems like everything Push is for leads up to that final act, then it is omitted.

Buleriachk
Posts: 1262
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2002 3:52 am
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Contact:

Re: Your Push Experience

Post by Buleriachk » Tue Jul 23, 2013 3:35 pm

Well, I finally got around to acquiring Launchpad S some time ago, and installed Launchpad 95 which has a Note Mode to see what all the fuss was about. (I already have Maschine MK2, which I consider an extraordinary combination of hardware and software, and I had upgraded from Live 8 to Live Suite 9 Suite, more or less on general principles to keep up with Ableton software and to check out M4L).

The upgrade to Live 9 was sort of meh for my particular thing; worth it, but some features (like audio to midi) were much less than I anticipated, since most of my life I have scraped my music (Flamenco) off of records (yes, I'm that old), so don't have problems with hearing pitch and melody....

Push looked like a great control surface, but with Maschine, Launchpad (and an APC40 with two faders not working), and an nanoKontrol with ME_nanoKONTROL, I (was) am pretty well covered as far as control surfaces are concerned. The only question was whether to get another APC40 for device control for a couple hundred bucks, or Push for (gulp) $599.

So last night I played with Note Mode on the Launchpad95 for a couple of hours.....

A Push is now on its way from Pro Audio Star....
Last edited by Buleriachk on Tue Jul 23, 2013 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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