Questions on Push 3 Drum Rack features

[jeanvoyage]

Hey everyone,

I think that the idea of getting a Push 3 standalone is manifesting within me

I have checked loads of videos (and the manual) already on the subject to figure out whether it would fit me needs and found out that sampling directly into it is a thing and that there is no (MPC/Maschine style) 16 level tuning for drum rack cells (only velocity).

Four things I am a bit uncertain about are:

1. Is there a way to convert simpler chops directly to drum rack cells on the Push?

2. Is there a way to duplicate/copy-paste drum rack cells directly on the Push (which would make the missing 16 level tuning easier to work around)?

3. Is there a way to extract individual simpler devices from the drum rack onto new tracks directly on the Push so I can play them chromatically (which would also make the missing 16 level tuning easier to work around)?

4. Is there a way to set up Drum Rack mute groups directly on the Push?

Thank you so much for your help and info!

[writetomichael]

1 and 2, yes very easy in both cases. Works great.
I love converting simpler chops to drum racks. Just press the convert button and it gives you a few “convert to” options, one of which is “drum rack”.

3 I think it’s yes (need to try myself)

4 not sure

[braduro]

for 3, I wonder if you hadn't already arrived at this with your first question: namely that a loop can be sliced to separate pad hits, which is then playable chromatically, as that is how slice to midi allocates new sample instances. You can even default this process to the new beat sampler currently in beta. Then each pad is more like an iso in a drum rack group. You can insert their own effects, change their own mix, even route them to different outputs, if that is the flexibility in multitracking that you were looking for.

As for 4, I'm not sure either. Someone will try and answer that for you, I'm sure.

[jeanvoyage]

1 and 2, yes very easy in both cases. Works great.
I love converting simpler chops to drum racks. Just press the convert button and it gives you a few “convert to” options, one of which is “drum rack”.

3 I think it’s yes (need to try myself)

4 not sure

Thanks, that already helps me a bunch…

Really curious about mute groups. It’s really straightforward on most groove boxes but already in Ableton it’s already hidden away in the drum rack settings…

[jeanvoyage]

for 3, I wonder if you hadn't already arrived at this with your first question: namely that a loop can be sliced to separate pad hits, which is then playable chromatically, as that is how slice to midi allocates new sample instances. You can even default this process to the new beat sampler currently in beta. Then each pad is more like an iso in a drum rack group.

Thanks. I may have phrased my question wrong.
I know that Drum Rack uses Simpler instances. But they cannot be played chromatically as long as they are contained in the Drum Rack, if I didn’t miss anything in these past couple of years I have been using Ableton. If I want to play a Simpler instance chromatically, I have to drag (or alt drag to duplicate, or copy/paste) the Simpler (not the cell) to a new track.
I want to know if this operation (copy Simpler instance from Drum Rack to new track) is available in standalone mode on the Push 3.

[[jur]]

4 = yes

and 3 too, btw.

[writetomichael]

4 = yes

and 3 too, btw.

Nice!

[jeblo05]

I know that Drum Rack uses Simpler instances. But they cannot be played chromatically as long as they are contained in the Drum Rack, if I didn’t miss anything in these past couple of years I have been using Ableton. If I want to play a Simpler instance chromatically, I have to drag (or alt drag to duplicate, or copy/paste) the Simpler (not the cell) to a new track.
I want to know if this operation (copy Simpler instance from Drum Rack to new track) is available in standalone mode on the Push 3.

There is no need to drag a pad from Drum Rack into a new track to play it chromatically.
Just add a new MIDI track and route its output to TRACK („your Drum Rack“) > CHANNEL („pad to be played chromatically“).
This is totally possible from Push Standalone.

[jeanvoyage]

I know that Drum Rack uses Simpler instances. But they cannot be played chromatically as long as they are contained in the Drum Rack, if I didn’t miss anything in these past couple of years I have been using Ableton. If I want to play a Simpler instance chromatically, I have to drag (or alt drag to duplicate, or copy/paste) the Simpler (not the cell) to a new track.
I want to know if this operation (copy Simpler instance from Drum Rack to new track) is available in standalone mode on the Push 3.

There is no need to drag a pad from Drum Rack into a new track to play it chromatically.
Just add a new MIDI track and route its output to TRACK („your Drum Rack“) > CHANNEL („pad to be played chromatically“).
This is totally possible from Push Standalone.

Thanks that's a fantastic tip, I really hadn't thought about it, mainly because I just got used to dragging the samples out...

I have just tried it and unfortunately, it doesn't work with the choke settings in drum rack, so that with this method as well, cells that are triggered from a separate midi track will play over other sounds...

[braduro]

cells that are triggered from a separate midi track will play over other sounds...

by it's very definition, midi pass through, that would have to be the case. Now other pads in that choke group, my instincts tell me, would have to abide by the choke group. So my null hypothesis is that "other sounds will not play over the separate midi track" But, no, you'd have to send some gate back to the playing track, which sounds like a m4l thing, also potentially doable and compatible with push standalone. Sounds like a good case for one.
"Choke Router" something like that.

Or put the pattern of the choke group in a clip on the midi input track (auto), and have it interrupted by the input (in) playing version?

the homemade version: don't play when the other drum rack hits are playing. ("doc, it hurts when I do this." doc replies, "so don't do this")

[jeanvoyage]

cells that are triggered from a separate midi track will play over other sounds...

by it's very definition, midi pass through, that would have to be the case. Now other pads in that choke group, my instincts tell me, would have to abide by the choke group. So my null hypothesis is that "other sounds will not play over the separate midi track" But, no, you'd have to send some gate back to the playing track, which sounds like a m4l thing, also potentially doable and compatible with push standalone. Sounds like a good case for one.
"Choke Router" something like that.

Or put the pattern of the choke group in a clip on the midi input track (auto), and have it interrupted by the input (in) playing version?

the homemade version: don't play when the other drum rack hits are playing. ("doc, it hurts when I do this." doc replies, "so don't do this")

Thanks for your input, we're getting into workaround territory now.
I think that these are good options but probably a bit impractical when playing with sample chops in drum rack. I wish Ableton would just bake something into the Push script so we could use the 16 levels function for chromatic playing as well (in fact, with 16 pads we could probably have both active at the same time and use them together). I guess that's what I wanna see eventually.

Anyway, thank you all for your help, I guess I am giving the Push 3 a try now once the next 20% off sale comes around (or maybe someone can shoot me a code for that).

[jeanvoyage]

Ok, so now I have a follow up question:

With the Move now having this convenient “16 Pitches Layout” feature, do you think this is going to come to the Push (and Live)?

I wonder how it's going to be represented in Live... probably automation on sample pitches?