Ableton as a DAW+MIDI: recording notes is a PITA!!!!

[eddu]

Hello,

Is it me or is sooooo time consuming to record MIDI on the arrange view?

Considering i am no good at playing keyboard i use to record phrases in several takes so, lets imagine, i make a 8 bar loop, hit record and input some notes.

Ok imangine i just played well the first 5 notes, so i crop the midi clip until that 5 notes. Well, i play the recording then...hear the first 5 correct notes, then hit record and conitnue the recording. I stop again and..surprise! A new clip has been created instead of continuing the previous one. Moreover, the notes are not quantize (even if i have set auto quantize in recording). Or should i say they are quantize but relative to the beginning of the clip which was not quantized (cause i hit record somewhere after the 5th note).

then i have to select both clips, join, select the last recorded notes and quantize manually.

How do you deal with this? Its making me lose so many time! Why cant we overdub on the same clip that was previously recroded? Isnt this overdubbing on a normal environment?

thanks in advance!


Ops i forgot...i have delayed notes when setting auto on monitoring and recording on a track with a VSTi on Live7, which basically means you cant hear your playing while recording. Has this already been fixed?

[3dot...]

recording MIDI in live is a piece of cake...
both in arrangement and session...
very very flexible...
tip:a clip's content is not always what is displayed in the arrange but what is in the clip view.
record quantize works fine here though I tend not to use it...
better off to quantize after recording plus you can choose the quantize %...
I suggest you use pre/post roll when recording in arrange
...to avoid messing about with the midi clip...
I also suggest you rtfm...

[eddu]

3diot: Its obvious that you didnt get anything about what i posted. Try to do what i said and you´ll see the problem.

Anybody has a workaround for overdubbing on the same clip?

[dejan]

Try with 2 tracks.One for play and one for rec.

3dot... gives you good suggestions.

[eddu]

Yes thats what i am using now -2 tracks-, but its quite sad for a piece of software like this having to use this kind of..solutions.

Overdubbing on the same clip..anyone?

[dejan]

[quote="eddu"]but its quite sad for a piece of software like this having to use this kind of..solutions.

+1

[eddu]

I just found this on overdubbing. o solution.

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic. ... highlight=

Another shoddy thing that makes you switch back to your old DAW. Sorry Abes.

[forge]

isn't the whole reason you come to Live for the session view? why record into arrange? you can do as many takes as you like easily in session view

and the easiest thing in the world is recording MIDI into session

what I do is:

1. double click a clip slot to create a blank clip
2. set the clip length to however long I want it to be, usually 4 bars (to write in 4 bar blocks)
3. set record quantise to 16ths
4. assign a key to the OVR button ( I use forward slash / ) - you can of course use a MIDI button
5. turn on the metronome or trigger a beat
6. record arm the track
7. press play on the clip and start rehearsing what I want to play
8. when I am ready press the / OVR key and record it in

that process is very easy

[udp]

^^^ +1 !! and you can bang out a ton of takes or phrases in no time. Then drop them into the arrange in any order. Why arrange and then re-arrange?
Hint: composition isn't alway linear.

[forge]

udp

Joined: 01 Feb 2004
Posts: 919

shit UDP - I seriously can't believe you have less than 1000 posts - you are one of the old timers here!!

[contakt321]

Forge nailed it. That's how I work too.

I am lazy as hell also and I option drag the clip into another clip, delete a few bits and overdub more in to create variations.

[robleighton22]

once you are used to the workflow in live, u dont turn back. i used to use logic, and i can even think about making a track without using the session screen. i think if u r using a sequence just to record you are bette off with cubase/logic, but for if like making a track by starting to build loops, ableton wins hands down for efficiency. i still find automation in ableton so much clearer and easier to use than any other program, and the layout just makes sense compared to anything else. i guess it just takes getting used to as the workflow is different to other daws.

[jimmynitcher]

I agree there shouldn't have to be workarounds for this and it is a major pain for those migrating that do a lot of midi in 'traditional' sequencers - yes one gets used to a different workflow eventually but that should only be necessary if the the Live way was better but I can't see what the usefulness of the way it works now over other sequencers, I think there is a good reason they all work the same way - its a good method, Ableton chose to make it different, why?
Live is a great sequencer but this is not a good part of it and I don't think it hurts to criticize it where it is warranted.

[3dot...]

isn't the whole reason you come to Live for the session view? why record into arrange? you can do as many takes as you like easily in session view

and the easiest thing in the world is recording MIDI into session

what I do is:

1. double click a clip slot to create a blank clip
2. set the clip length to however long I want it to be, usually 4 bars (to write in 4 bar blocks)
3. set record quantise to 16ths
4. assign a key to the OVR button ( I use forward slash / ) - you can of course use a MIDI button
5. turn on the metronome or trigger a beat
6. record arm the track
7. press play on the clip and start rehearsing what I want to play
8. when I am ready press the / OVR key and record it in

that process is very easy

Plus ... you can do this while your arrangement is playing ...

or...you can switch back to your old DAW... and get relief...dude...

RTFM!!!

[davidewen]

is it me or is sooooo time consuming to record MIDI on the arrange view?

Considering i am no good at playing keyboard i use to record phrases in several takes so, lets imagine, i make a 8 bar loop, hit record and input some notes.

Ok imangine i just played well the first 5 notes, so i crop the midi clip until that 5 notes. Well, i play the recording then...hear the first 5 correct notes, then hit record and conitnue the recording. I stop again and..surprise! A new clip has been created instead of continuing the previous one. Moreover, the notes are not quantize (even if i have set auto quantize in recording). Or should i say they are quantize but relative to the beginning of the clip which was not quantized (cause i hit record somewhere after the 5th note).

then i have to select both clips, join, select the last recorded notes and quantize manually.

How do you deal with this? Its making me lose so many time! Why cant we overdub on the same clip that was previously recroded? Isnt this overdubbing on a normal environment?

thanks in advance!

You are in arrange, not session view right? Then what you are trying to do is simple. You want to punch in and out on a specific section of the clip. DO NOT CROP THE CLIP. Press the punch in and out buttons on the control bar, and set the loop brace to cover only the part of the track you want to overdub on. Turn the overdub button OFF as with overdub ON it adds newly recorded notes to ones already there. Press play and record will come on automatically at the start of the loop brace, and off at the end. That should over-write all the notes you don't want with the new ones. Check the manual at page 81 for the full skinny.