Post
by danwade » Thu Jun 13, 2019 12:00 am
Hello Nokatus,
Here's the scenario I'm trying to replicate in Ableton, I want to tune a note within a pattern for an instrument in my Drum Rack. This currently works in Native Instruments using both a Maschine MK3 and a Komplete A25 MIDI keyboard. It also works with just the MK3 due to the NI native functionality for chromatic scale/selected sound when in Keyboard mode (described below).
When you have both MK3 and the MIDI keyboard (A25), you can tune your kit sounds VERY EASILY. Let's use the kick as an example. The physical way to this is to load your kit in Maschine, activate your kick by pressing on pad 1 on the MK3, then go to the MIDI keyboard (A25) and play the kick sound on whatever key you want to generate the note you want.
As an example with Maschine and their use of Patterns - I create a pattern w/in a group that has a kit assigned to it, Pad 1 is assigned to a kick instrument, I press Pad 1 on the MK3, move over to the A25, hit record on it, play middle C for my default kick sound for the first beat, and then E for the 3rd beat. And wala - I have two sounds for my kick within 1 pattern and it shows up visually in both MIDI pattern and piano roll in Maschine.
In a more simpler context with Maschine - it's the same context as using the Keyboard button on the MK3. I.E. "Press KEYBOARD to switch the pads to Keyboard mode. In Keyboard mode the pads represent 16 pitches of the chromatic scale for the selected Sound, ascending from the selected Root Note; this way you can play the selected Sound like a melodic instrument." - And you can change octaves too for the instrument assigned to the pad. You would then press Keyboard again to return to drum mode. If Ableton had this seamless functionality for a drum rack instrument, this would be a game changer.
In Ableton, I gave this a try with my push 2, and while I can tune any instrument in a drum rack with various methods (tried many different ways for just 1 note in a clip pattern), no dice from a "seamless" type experience. It can be accomplished, but it it's a cloogy as hell, and adds unnecessary complexity IMO. So for what I'm trying to accomplish, I'm stuck with using Maschine as a VST and calling it a day. Would be cool if Ableton offered a Push functionality to add a "note mode" for a drum rack instrument pad, where you could open a chromatic scale for a particular beat and just slide up/down to get the pitch you want (OR select a note straight from the push itself). There's already a Note button, and there's also a chromatic feature in the app, so perhaps this is an option down the road for an enhancement.
I hope this makes sense, but if you still need more info, let me know.
Thanks!
|danwade/