How do you use your Axiom?

Beatport · Post by **Beatport** » Tue May 15, 2007 1:49 am

I was wondering how people use their Axiom in their workflow?

I have one, but I don't really use any of its features and I feel like I'm missing something. Can you create tracks and do normal mouse functions with it or something?

corntoegoblin · Post by **corntoegoblin** » Tue May 15, 2007 4:49 am

well i have an axiom 49 and you can pretty much make it do whatever you want it to, except for uh mouse actions haha. the way i use it is pretty straight forward the faders are used to control volume, the buttons beloew the faders are used to either mute a channel or launch a scene. the knobs are strictly for controlling effect macros. the drum pad are strictly for creating drum beats in the studio but when im out mixing with my friends i use it to usually launch samples using simpler. when im writing a track the drum pads are independant from the kay so i can play a synth line and create a beat at the same time. the axiom series is a very flexible keyboard just ask me how to do stuff on it i have all the controls figured out. kinda tricky at first but once you get it easy as pie

smutek · Post by **smutek** » Tue May 15, 2007 1:19 pm

I also have an Axiom 49. I set up a blank live set, created all of my mappings and saved it as my default set. Now I have a consistent setup to work with. I know the question wasn't about the entire work flow, but my boss is on a plane right now so what the hell. This is my work flow as it relates to my axiom 49 controller.

I always start out with preset 17, by entering 17 on the axioms number pads. The only thing this does for me is ensures that the drum pads are mapped to the impulse slots.

My default set is 8 tracks:

Track 1, Audio, for re-sampling or sample clips.
Track 2, Midi, Impulse with a basic acoustic kit
Track 3, Midi, Impulse with a basic acoustic kit
Track 4, Midi, Operator with basic bass sound
Track 5, Midi, Operator, with basic keys (melody)
Track 6, Midi, Crystal, with basic keys (lead)
Track 7, Midi, Crystal, basic pad
Track 8, Midi, Simpler, basic keys (usually switched out with vocal or other samples)

When I write basic I mean just kind of a vanilla, un-effected basic sound. I start with basic sounds, no effects, and nothing on the sends because it helps me to easier visualize what I am doing as I begin sketching out my initial concept.

Once I have something going I will start switching out drum kits, changing instrument patches, tweaking sounds, and adding effects till I get a sound that I like. Also, I will swap out instruments as I see fit.

My Axiom is set up like this,

Drum Pads are assigned to impulse slots, and used for drums only.
Faders 1-8 control track volume on corresponding tracks (1-8 left to right)
Fader 9 controls the master volume
Buttons below each fader arm the corresponding track for recording
Button 9, below master fader, turns the metronome on and off
The 8 knobs control track panning on tracks 1-8
On the transport controls, loop button starts playback
Fast forward and rewind buttons move the selected scene up and down
Stop button stops playback
Play button launches the selected scene
Record button isn't really used

This simple setup allows me to put together my basic concept with minimal mouse action. I very rarely have a pre-existing idea in my head so this setup works out really cool for me, as it allows me to sit down and just start playing and brain dumping with minimal mouse distractions.

A sample of a session would be something like, launch ableton, decide on a tempo, usually depends on my mood. Monitoring for all tracks is set to "auto". I prefer "auto" over "in" because auto allows me to hear what I am playing before recording, but I can still hear playback after recording, without having to switch monitoring options.

Anyway.... press button 2 to arm my first drum track and spaz out for a minute or two. Once that is out of my system I hit the loop button to start playback, hit the metronome on button to get the metronome going, and mess around with some drum parts.

As soon as I get something I like I hit the play button - which launches the selected scene. This also starts recording on the track I have armed. Recording starts on the one and I play out a few bars of kicks and snares. After I've finished I hit the play button again to come out of a clean loop. I changed my preferences so that the scene I have launched remains selected, instead of selecting the next scene which I believe is the default. This way, when I hit that play button the second time to stop recording my drum loop immediately starts playing back. Since the track is still armed, recording, and now looping, I begin laying in high hats, claps, etc.

I'll click right arrow on the transport to move down a scene, press the record button and build another drum track with variations the same way. Repeat till I am satisfied. Press button 2 to disarm drum track 1, press button 3 to arm drum track 2, and begin layering a second set of drum sounds. I use the arrows to move to whatever scene I want to start on and just keep jamming.

Moving across the tracks I lay down bass, keys, leads, well... not sure if you can call my anything I play a "lead" - but hey, I have a blast..... pads, samples from sampler... etc. All in the same manner as I described above. I can either duplicate tracks and overdub to make variations, or I can just make new ones.

I like the axiom because I can get all of this going with barely touching the mouse. When I am at this point I will start to switch out my drum kits, change instrument sounds, add effects, etc. I also set track panning and track levels here.

None of it is set in stone, there are a lot of times when I choose sounds I like as I go along, as opposed to playing out a jam with my vanilla sounds. But the important thing for me is I am able to sit down with my axiom and ableton and just rock out. It's like playing an instrument, or actually 8 instruments....

All of this is done in session view. If I have something I am digging I save it and begin structuring/sequencing my track. At this point I may change some assignments that better help with automation, etc., but this is usually more mouse intensive. Even if I don't like what I have I still save it.

Eventually I am going to start using seperate midi channels to control other devices I use a lot and other aspects of my "post jam" workflow. For example, I like to mess up vocal samples using simpler and sample offset. I can set midi channel 2 to control a couple of simplers and whatever effects I may lay behind them. Any controls that I use a lot in sequencing will be mapped on a separate midi channel.

I will eventually be adding my evolution UC-16 to the work flow for an additional 16 knobs, but the goal I have with the axiom 49 being to have a fluid set of controls memorized for phase 1 of my work flow, a fluid set of controls for phase 2, phase 3, and so on....... all setup on one controller using multiple midi channels.

So.... get comfortable with a basic setup, expand on it just a little, get comfortable with that, and expand. I am flexible, but I am trying to work with a default, limited set of instruments in order to develop an efficient, and most importantly fun work flow. So far it is working out pretty well for me and I am really digging my axiom 49!

Sorry for such a long post, like I said in the beginning the boss is out of town, office mate is off today and I am in the office by myself. The axiom is a slick tool IMO, I hear a lot of people having problems with it, so I hope that helps somehow.

peace!

mohler · Post by **mohler** » Wed May 16, 2007 4:34 am

smutek, sweet work,

Like your style. I've not long moved from the MicroKontrol to the axiom so i like your suggestion. I'm going to try and get away from the mouse, in production mode.

i've been working on that when I'm playing live but quite why I haven't transfered that to the studio I'm not sure!!!

Thanks for the tips, I'll set about making a axiom specific default track this afternoon.

have a good one ya'll

corntoegoblin · Post by **corntoegoblin** » Wed May 16, 2007 5:54 am

the setup he uses is the defauult loaded onto preset 17 when you dump the memory through the ableton preferences. i myself dont like it so i programmed the keyboard to my own liking.

mkelly · Post by **mkelly** » Wed May 16, 2007 9:26 am

smutek wrote:The axiom is a slick tool IMO, I hear a lot of people having problems with it, so I hope that helps somehow.

The Axiom 25's don't seem the most reliable in the world - I've seen a lot of complaints about them failing. Mine failed 1 day after I started using it though the replacement has been fine. I don't see too many complaints about the 49 or 61s, so maybe they're made differently.

smutek · Post by **smutek** » Wed May 16, 2007 12:40 pm

Hey everyone, I posted my long response above in tips and tricks and got this tip from Rogue Scrunt.

Rogue Scrunt wrote:go to the live pack portion of ableton website.

download axiom live pack.

the alp will tell you what is up, and it loads presets 18, 19 , and 20

biggest feature for me
banks of 8 faders by pressing +/- keys switching midi channels

check it out
http://www.ableton.com/livepacks

It's kind of embarrassing to say, but I had no clue this was even here. I didn;t even have to download it, it's included in the Live install. Just run through the axiom control surface setup tutorial and it will show you how to dump ableton presets into preset 18, 19 and 20.

corntoegoblin, I actually did hand program my setup on 17, but seriously the Ableton preset dumps are exactly what I hoped to build over time!

Preset 18 is almost exactly what I described in my post above, with a few minor exceptions. It's actually more efficient because it allows you to use the buttons to either mute/unmute tracks or arm/disarm. It's set to mute tracks by default, but you switch to arm for record by holding down the 9th button.

It's also setup so you can switch between the exact set of controls for tracks 9-16, 17-24 etc. by using the + and - keys to switch midi tracks. This is cool for building large live sets for performance.

The only omission is metronome control, which isn't a big deal for me since I only use the metronome when laying down my first drum track.

Preset 18 is also setup to switch between session view and arrange view.

The really cool thing is that preset 19 controls whichever instrument or effect is in focus. None of the buttons or sliders are used, so they are all open to be mapped. The way they have it setup uses just the 8 knobs, and since most devices have more than 8 knobs you use the drum pads to switch between banks of controls as needed. So, by simply entering 19 on the keypad you have control over whatever Live device you have focus on. When you've done what you need to do you simply switch back to preset 18 to get back to the original set of controls.

My guess is that you'll have to map 3rd party stuff yourself. This could be a good use of channel 17?

I can't believe this was right under my nose, but I'm stoked that someone turned me on to it. Seriously, it's pretty much exactly what I was hoping to build on my own. I thought it would be impossible to have a comprehensive, pre-built, "factory supplied" preset, but Ableton did a REALLY good job with this in my opinion. And for anything that may be lacking, the faders and buttons are still open for instrument control, and channel 17 is wide open to do with as you please.

Beatport and mohler, I strongly suggest checking it out. I spent quite a few hours with it last night. If anything it may serve as a good starting point and save you some work.

Now, if only there were a way to select tracks and change focus between devices without using the mouse..... lol. I've got more playing to do, but it seems the Ableton presets are working out well for me.

mohler · Post by **mohler** » Wed May 16, 2007 2:44 pm

thanks,

Actually I do have the ALP installed on my 49 and i like it! I keep getting confused about whi preset does what and the other day I was playing live and evert D stopped playing! (Shame I was playing in the Key od D at the time! )

I do miss the native control in Logic, but hey what can you do. I'm pretty happy with the setup.

I just need to spend more time getting used to it I guess & trying to figure out how to incorporate how to use my Faderfox along side it!

superacidjax · Post by **superacidjax** » Thu May 17, 2007 5:47 am

I don't do anything too fancy with the Axiom 25, but I use it as a controller during my Live-based DJ sets. I map the rotaries to master and send effects, have the drum pads mapped to some standard beats that I can use with multiple songs and I also have the mod wheel mapped to the crossfader. It works really well, although I'm sure there are some more efficient ways, this system is extremely fast to set up.. just plug my interface into the club mixer, plug in my Axiom USB and I'm good to go.. This is a fairly good system until I can get the A&H 2D..

Perhaps some of you guys have some better ideas on using the 25 in the booth?

jesso · Post by **jesso** » Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:38 pm

I dont use mine at all.
How in the name of sweet jesus can I get this black chunk of plastic to do what I want it to? As ive said many times before, when it comes to midi, I have a blank spot in my brain. Its way past my bedtime, and im posting in final desperation.

Ive done the midi dumping thing. Channel 18 controls the fader volumes and the buttons mute/unmute as they should. The pads do their job too, triggering impulse.

Channel 19 still controls the fader volumes, and dosnt control impulse any more (its not supposed to)
I cant seem to make the encoders control any of the devices perameters. It says in the tutorial, that it will control any device which is "in focus", I assume this means for instance a beat repeat that I have open on a midi track, or an instance of simpler.
I cant get em to do nada.

The other thing thats annoying me is that I cant get the axiom to midi learn.
If I want to make my own settings for each encoder or slider, which chanel should I be on? Ive tried em all, but im obviously barking up the wrong tree. What I mean to say is that I cant get midi map to work with the Axiom.

Any help will be richly rewarded in the next life, when ill bake you a small cake with smarties in it.

Jesso

dootdoot · Post by **dootdoot** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:20 pm

first... great thread and some awesome replies (smutek, this means you). I have an Axiom 25 and have been able to get it to do some basic stuff, but this will help me get a better workflow going.

jesso, to get the Axiom (or anything else, AFAIK) to MIDI map you need to enable "Remote" for the Axiom MIDI Input in the MIDI/Audio setup tab in preferences.

In general a controller sends either note messages (note on, note off), or it sends controller messages (CCxx), and all messages are ties to a MIDI channel (potentially, multiple channels). MIDI devices can be set to listen to MIDI data on one channel, or listen on the global channel (listen to all MIDI messages).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_In ... _Interface

Check that out.

jesso · Post by **jesso** » Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:47 pm

Thanks dootdoot,
These things allways have a simple answer!
Youve saved my sanity.

mrzosonp · Post by **mrzosonp** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:15 am

I use my 25 in a bunch of ways. I usually use the pads as on/off's (I'm a guitar player and I like stomp boxes) I also use one pad to toggle between my two main softsynths. I have the Loop button set to tap tempo, I have the fwd rev keys set to go to the next point in session view. Right now though I'm Really wishing I had bought the 49.