Using Push to change patches/presets

Discuss Push with other users.
Post Reply
rmedek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:14 pm

Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by rmedek » Tue Oct 09, 2018 6:01 pm

Hello,

My Live sets are usually set up to work like so: a keyboard track loaded with an instrument rack to play sounds; additional tracks with loops that play in sequence via scenes and IAC; and a track with clips that control the patch changes. A button on the controller "initiates" a song, and the controller's presets change which song the button is mapped to. The song is defined via scenes. So, a preset for Song A will launch the scene that starts the loops for Song A and change the keyboard sound to Song A's keyboard, a preset for Song B will launch Song B's loops and keyboard sounds, etc.

I've been looking into Push's capabilities for my set controller and as full-featured as it is can't see that it jives with this workflow, which otherwise works really, really well on my keyboard and pad controllers. Any Push users out there have suggestions for managing song presets and sets?

Mark Williams
Posts: 898
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:43 pm
Location: Kent

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by Mark Williams » Wed Oct 10, 2018 6:32 am

rmedek wrote:Hello,

My Live sets are usually set up to work like so: a keyboard track loaded with an instrument rack to play sounds; additional tracks with loops that play in sequence via scenes and IAC; and a track with clips that control the patch changes. A button on the controller "initiates" a song, and the controller's presets change which song the button is mapped to. The song is defined via scenes. So, a preset for Song A will launch the scene that starts the loops for Song A and change the keyboard sound to Song A's keyboard, a preset for Song B will launch Song B's loops and keyboard sounds, etc.

I've been looking into Push's capabilities for my set controller and as full-featured as it is can't see that it jives with this workflow, which otherwise works really, really well on my keyboard and pad controllers. Any Push users out there have suggestions for managing song presets and sets?
Is this what your trying to achieve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27vb9d4xajo
Live 11, M1 Mac Mini, Push 2, Scarlett 18i20 & ADA8200, Softube Console 1 Mk2, Deepmind12, Hydrasynth, Cobalt 8M, Moog Subsequent 25, IK Uno Synth Pro, Plethora X3, Nord Drum 3P

rmedek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:14 pm

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by rmedek » Wed Oct 10, 2018 4:05 pm

Mark Williams wrote:Is this what your trying to achieve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27vb9d4xajo
This is what I’m already doing with keyboard and pad controllers. Those clips are lined up with loops in specific scenes for each song. I can’t see an elegant way to navigate to different scenes with Push so I was wondering if anyone has any solutions or alternate approaches.

blof_eld
Posts: 73
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by blof_eld » Thu Oct 11, 2018 4:53 am

rmedek wrote:
Mark Williams wrote:Is this what your trying to achieve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27vb9d4xajo
This is what I’m already doing with keyboard and pad controllers. Those clips are lined up with loops in specific scenes for each song. I can’t see an elegant way to navigate to different scenes with Push so I was wondering if anyone has any solutions or alternate approaches.
Why don't you think you can switch scenes?

Go to session mode then the repeat buttons along the right-hand sides launch scenes. I think it's shift-session to "zoom out" so you can navigate large sets via the pads.

What am I missing?

rmedek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:14 pm

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by rmedek » Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:08 pm

blof_eld wrote:Why don't you think you can switch scenes?
I didn't say Push couldn't switch scenes. I did say that—as far as I know—there's no way for Push to fit with my workflow or elegantly switch to specific scenes.

For example, let's say the laptop is far away and I need to switch to the song "Burger Buns." On, say, my MPK225 I switch to the preset "Burger Buns" and hit my song start button. Which button on this Push launches Burger Buns? Image

I'm not married to this workflow, btw…I'm just wondering what other Push users do to manage song presets or patch changes. I don't have the luxury of memorizing the grid so for me that's not an option.

rmedek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:14 pm

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by rmedek » Thu Jan 17, 2019 6:51 pm

Just a bump in case any Push users have tips or advice on how they navigate presets. So far my only solution is to use another controller which has presets built-in, or a lot of glancing between laptop and the Push's session view.

Thanks!

S4racen
Posts: 5822
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:08 pm
Location: Dunstable
Contact:

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by S4racen » Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:54 pm

ClyphX Pro = exactly what it was designed to do....

Cheers
D

rmedek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:14 pm

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by rmedek » Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:21 pm

I get ClyphX, but how do you know what clip/song is what by looking at the Push?

S4racen
Posts: 5822
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2007 4:08 pm
Location: Dunstable
Contact:

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by S4racen » Thu Jan 17, 2019 9:35 pm

You mean you want to have session view on the Push Screen?

Cheers
D

rmedek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:14 pm

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by rmedek » Thu Jan 17, 2019 11:07 pm

Sorry, I'm doing a bad job of explaining. Currently, I use clips to select a scene, set up patch changes, etc. I could do it with ClyphX or something but I roll my own using MIDI and clip envelopes. I fire off those specific clips using my controller's presets. So my "Song One" preset is set up to fire a clip which sets up song one.

The Push has labels for tracks but none for session navigation. I don't have the luxury of memorizing the grid and my laptop is usually far away. I am mostly wondering if anyone using the Push has tips for loading presets or changing patches. So far my ideas are color-coding the scenes or creating a new track for each preset but nothing is really a smooth way to navigate.


rmedek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:14 pm

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by rmedek » Fri Jan 18, 2019 6:23 pm

Thanks, I had taken a look at P2D, and although it looks amazing it's a little overkill for my needs. For those doing more in session view it's probably a game-changer.

For anyone interested, I do have a technique that's working pretty well for now:

- MIDI track titled "Song Select" loaded with a drum rack
- Each cell of the drum rack is set to play the same MIDI note it receives
- Each cell of the drum rack has an external instrument loaded which sends MIDI to the IAC bus
- Cells are titled with the song title and MIDI mapped to the scene I want to fire
- Scene has loop clips/IAC clips/clip envelopes which cue patch changes

So to switch to a different song, I click "Song Select" in Push, then the song I want to fire via a pad on the drum rack. If I forget which song is which, I can expand the track in Push, and pressing the song title will light up the corresponding drum pad.

It's not perfect but can all be done with one hand without needing to switch from note to session view.

Would love any other ideas!

rmedek
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2012 11:14 pm

Re: Using Push to change patches/presets

Post by rmedek » Fri Jan 18, 2019 7:33 pm

rmedek wrote:- Each cell of the drum rack is set to play the same MIDI note it receives
- Each cell of the drum rack has an external instrument loaded which sends MIDI to the IAC bus
Just dawned on me that this technique (Cell -> External Instrument -> IAC bus) could theoretically let you control clips, drum racks, and other synth tracks in Live by setting any other tracks' input to the IAC bus. So with one drum rack track displayed on Push, you could fire clips, play synths, and loop drums in any arrangement you wanted to! The CPU load would be super-high, though…don't know how feasible it is in real life. But fun to consider.

Post Reply