Activate different midi tracks during playback arrangement.

EddyTheEagle · Post by **EddyTheEagle** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 9:58 am

First of all: I can't wait to upgrade to Live 6!

I really would love this feature:

During the playback of an arrangement there's only one midi-track activated to play with my midi-controller. Untill now I have to choose which track I want to play live during playback of the arrangement. Usually I choose one SoftSynth VST to play. But, in general, I use more softsynths in a song.

Let's say that I use the Juno softsynt on track 1 and the V-Station on track 2.
The verse of the song is played with the Juno (track 1), but the chorus of the song is played with the V-Station (track 2). I'd like to have a feature where live automatically switches the midi-trigger to the right track when the verse or the chorus begins. In other words, Live switches the RED midi icon from track 1 to track 2 when the chorus starts. And switches back from track 2 to track 1 when the verse starts.

This would help me a lot, because untill now I have to choose what I play live, the chorus OR the verse, whilst I'd like to play both lines LIVE.

(Or, did I miss something and can this allready be done)

Another extra feature would be to trigger more than one track with different channels and use more than one midi-controller to play more than one track (VST synth) at a time live. But this one is not necessary for me.

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 12:09 pm

Hmmm...

If you approach it the other way around. Creat two tracks (VStation and Juno) which recieve midi on different channels. One and two for example. Make two presets on your midi controller one which sends on channel one, and which sends on channel two. When chorus approaches - switch to preset two... and then back. Of course you'll have to remember to set both tracks in live to monitor in. And no automatic switching...

Another extra feature would be to trigger more than one track with different channels and use more than one midi-controller to play more than one track (VST synth) at a time live. But this one is not necessary for me.

Multiple controllers? Allready possible.

Layering instruments. Allready possible. Make one track your playing track - set this to recieve from your midi controller. Monitor in. Make two (or more) tracks with your softsynths and make these recieve from your first track. Set both of these to monitor in as well. Now when playing - both synths will sound. Assign the to crossfader A and B for some nice blending action.

Even more advanced layering will be possible in Live 6, if I get it right.

Regards,
Mikael (edit: I can't even spell my name right. Corrected now, though)

EddyTheEagle · Post by **EddyTheEagle** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 12:22 pm

Wow Mike,
You've just helped me with getting a parallel brainwave to the max man!

Multiple controllers? Allready possible.

I just understood that you can switch on more tracks by holding the ctrl key. Right?

Layering instruments. Allready possible. Make one track your playing track - set this to recieve from your midi controller. Monitor in. Make two (or more) tracks with your softsynths and make these recieve from your first track. Set both of these to monitor in as well. Now when playing - both synths will sound. Assign the to crossfader A and B for some nice blending action.

So I can switch on and off the instrument using automation on the different tracks to get switching from one instrument to another automatically. For example, I can switch on the instrument on track 1 during the verse and switch it off during the chorus.
In the same way I can switch on the instrument on track 2 during the chorus and switch it off during the verse. This way I can do what I initially wanted! Am I right? I am not near my studio right now, so I cannot test it right away unfortunately.

Man, you've helped me sooo much with this. THANK YOU! Live is just the best friggin' tool in the world. I love it!

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 12:32 pm

I just understood that you can switch on more tracks by holding the ctrl key. Right?

In the midi in box - choose different controllers from the drop down menu. In my case: "Triggerfinger" on one track and "Oxygen" on one track. That way I can play the Triggerfinger and my friend can play the Oxygen.

So I can switch on and off the instrument using automation on the different tracks to get switching from one instrument to another automatically. For example, I can switch on the instrument on track 1 during the verse and switch it off during the chorus.
In the same way I can switch on the instrument on track 2 during the chorus and switch it off during the verse. This way I can do what I initially wanted! Am I right? I am not near my studio right now, so I cannot test it right away unfortunately.

Depending on what type of controller you have. You could either assign a knob/slider to the crossfader, or you could assign buttons to handle mutes on diffrent tracks. The are plenty of possibilities.

Man, you've helped me sooo much with this. THANK YOU!

You're welcome - I'm counting on you to help me out next time!

/Mikael

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 3:26 pm

it does seem possible to me to create an automatic switch in the monitoring, if it were done with midi loopback and dummy clips

a midi clip could contain notes which switched the monitor settings on the two vsti tracks

EddyTheEagle · Post by **EddyTheEagle** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 3:40 pm

I generally switch VST instruments on and off using automation in an arrangement.
I also use two notebooks that are connected to only one midi-controller. So with this setup I can switch very fast between two songs. While one notebook plays, the other one is loading the next song and vise versa.

At the beginning of a song all midi controller enabled instruments are switched off. As soon as the song starts, the instruments get switched on first. At the end of the song, the instruments are getting switched off again. This is because I don't want my controller to trigger instruments on both notebooks at the same time

I know Live is perfect for improvising using the scenes, but in our band I generally use the arrangement view during a gig.