Going live with Live !

IzreaL · Post by **IzreaL** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 11:49 am

After watching countless acts using Live this year at Sonar as well as in my local music scene, i've finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and give this app a try. I had used v3, but now with v5 i definitely see what all the fuss is about!!

Anyways, I'd like to do 2 things with Live:

1 - DJ set mixing & remixing mp3's on the fly

from what i understand i need to analyze all my mp3's, and then place markers and warp markers (not really sure what that is exactly).

my question is then, do i just drag and drop the mp3's one at a time in session view? how do you get creative with looping?

also, very very important, how do you monitor mp3's in advance with the headphones?

2 - 45mn live set of my own songs (using audio, midi & vsti's)

lets say i've got 10 diffrent songs/livesets made in Live (each song contains around 8-12 tracks of midi,audio & vsti's).

How do i link them? i'd like a seemless crossfade in between each liveset, is this possible?

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 1:31 pm

Welcome!

Everything you want to do is well-documented in the free downloadable manual. Download the demo, too.

There is a ton of info already on this forum and others, too, that you can search for.

Have fun!

IzreaL · Post by **IzreaL** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 2:39 pm

Thanks for the quick reply...but i already own the software, and have read the manual. I know and understand the features in Live, but i'm more concerned with the "method of use" approaches towards what i wanna do.

I understand these are very basic questions, but would appreciate any direct answer! I've (obviously) been searching this forum for a good 2 hours, i've found some really good info relating to what i'm trying to do, but not the specific answers to my concerns..

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 2:54 pm

In a nutshell, once you've warp-markered all of your tracks, you can drag them into one big set and launch and cross-fade as much as you want. No need to open another set all night.

Use two columns in session view: A & B, with songs alternating in each column. As a column A track nears the end, launch a column B track and drag the cross-fader across.

That's how to use Live in its most basic form. From there, you can get as intricate as you want.

As far as monitoring, you'll need a sound card with multiple audio outs. You can easily pre-listen to a track before launching it. You don't need do this or even need headphones, because by warp markering the tracks, they'll be launched in sync without you have to check it. Unless you want to look deejay dope/sick/word with headphones hanging around your neck and making it look harder than it really is...

That's pretty basic, but I hope it helps you to get started.

IzreaL · Post by **IzreaL** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:28 pm

Thanks for the headsup.... i see how you can use just 2 columns for a dj set.

but what about for an original song set? like i mentioned above i'd like to seamlessly mix several livesets, each of them including audio, midi & vsti's and arrangement sequencing.

btw, your last comment had me lmao...but seriously, prelistening with headphones isnt just usefull to beatmatch, its also a good way to pretest a mix, eq, fx settings, unkown trax etc... to me, mixing without headphones is actually harder and not the other way around lol

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:40 pm

I'm not too sure what you mean by mixing several livesets. Your one set can include all of your VSTs, softsynths, FX, MIDI & audio loops, etc... everything you need.

I tend to just launch a scene that includes audio tracks and MIDI files that play the lighting and video to accompany the audio, and trigger some loops and one-shots to make it look like I'm actually doing something!

There are others here that are far more talented and creative regarding remixing on the fly.

vandeloow · Post by **vandeloow** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:47 pm

IzreaL wrote:.....but seriously, prelistening with headphones isnt just usefull to beatmatch, its also a good way to pretest a mix, eq, fx settings, unkown trax etc... to me, mixing without headphones is actually harder and not the other way around lol

i use the prelisten function like in a "normal" dj set. route one track to output 1-2, one to 3-4...now, use the prelisten on dj dj-mix.

IzreaL · Post by **IzreaL** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 3:51 pm

OK, I have 10 original songs composed in Live. Each song = 1 liveset. Each liveset contains specific arrangements with vsti's, audio,midi, fx etc.... follow me?

now i'd like to seamlessly mix these 10 songs / livesets. how is this possible? cuz having all the vsti's, fx..etc of all 10 songs in one liveset would mean bigtime cpu overload not to mention the screen clutter!

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 4:01 pm

Hmmm.. you're probably going to have to consolidate your 10 songs into one Live set. You can probably pre-render a lot of your audio and MIDI tracks that don't need performing live to minimize CPU power needed.

Otherwise, I guess you could cross-fade to CD or vinyl, load your new Live set, then cross-fade back in.

IzreaL · Post by **IzreaL** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 4:03 pm

vandeloow wrote:
IzreaL wrote:.....but seriously, prelistening with headphones isnt just usefull to beatmatch, its also a good way to pretest a mix, eq, fx settings, unkown trax etc... to me, mixing without headphones is actually harder and not the other way around lol
i use the prelisten function like in a "normal" dj set. route one track to output 1-2, one to 3-4...now, use the prelisten on dj dj-mix.

that's cool, but i was wondering if it was possible to prelisten within Live, before going into the mixer. the reason i ask is cuz we are 2 DJ's with one mixer: One guy is on the mixer (mixing turntables + Live input), while the other is mixing on Live (laptop + midi controller). That is why it would be nice to have independent prelistening within live.

also while im at it, here is a kwikie: can the crossfader curve in Live be adjusted?

hambone1 · Post by **hambone1** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 4:15 pm

You can adjust the crossfader curve in Plogue Bidule or another utility, but not directly in Live.

BASIC · Post by **BASIC** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 10:30 pm

IzreaL wrote:OK, I have 10 original songs composed in Live. Each song = 1 liveset. Each liveset contains specific arrangements with vsti's, audio,midi, fx etc.... follow me?

now i'd like to seamlessly mix these 10 songs / livesets. how is this possible? cuz having all the vsti's, fx..etc of all 10 songs in one liveset would mean bigtime cpu overload not to mention the screen clutter!

You could also drag sets from the filebrowser into your current live set. So, when on stage, you could delete the audiofiles from a few tracks of the current set, while dragging&dropping in some tracks from your next set [effects are also loaded as long as the track you drop your files in have no FX yet], thus slowly building or merging them into eachother

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Mon Aug 15, 2005 5:07 pm

IzreaL wrote:
that's cool, but i was wondering if it was possible to prelisten within Live, before going into the mixer. the reason i ask is cuz we are 2 DJ's with one mixer: One guy is on the mixer (mixing turntables + Live input), while the other is mixing on Live (laptop + midi controller). That is why it would be nice to have independent prelistening within live.

With an audio interface with two or more stereo pairs out, you just assign one pair to the cue function (check the manual) and then plug your headphones into that stereo pair with out sending it to the mixer. You main out goes to another stereo pair that you send to the mixer.

The you can just press the cue button on a track and listen to it on your headphones.

Most multi out interfaces (at least those deigned for laptops) has a dedicated headphone jack.