Perform live vocals through ableton

Share your favorite Ableton Live tips, tricks, and techniques.
Post Reply
JDemonie
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 3:42 pm

Perform live vocals through ableton

Post by JDemonie » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:50 am

I have a Tascam us-122 audio interface, which I use to output my USB-keyboard
to a mixer through Ableton. The interface only has one output, I know it isn't
how it's supposed to be done, but recently I added a mic, that runs through Autotune
in Ableton and also runs to the mixer through the same output. I'm

Two questions:

1) I get pops and crack with the vocals on the lowest latency setting (256 samples).
And even that lowest latency is still a bit too high. Now I can already guess that
the interface isn't meant to be performed with live. Anyway,
how can I solve the issue in a short period of time?

2) What equipment should I buy in the future to have a differen output for the USB-keyboard
and the vocal mic, with a decent latency, and without pops?

I can already guess some information is missing to get a straightforward answer, so just
tell me what other information is needed.

Thanks

blitit
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 2:05 pm

Re: Perform live vocals through ableton

Post by blitit » Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:29 pm

First, what are your computer specs? (OS, RAM, HD, Is it running other programs at the same time = Antivirus, etc.)

7G
Posts: 138
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 6:20 pm
Location: Veroia,Hellas
Contact:

Re: Perform live vocals through ableton

Post by 7G » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:56 pm

If you're on windows disable your graphics card accelaration...
I could play down 64 buffers without a single click with this tricky :wink:

squelcht
Posts: 1897
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:38 am

Re: Perform live vocals through ableton

Post by squelcht » Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:48 pm

I used a Tascam-122 years ago...I learned quickly it was snap-crackle-pop machine. No matter how much I adjusted the sample/latency ratio, it still would be a pain...I switched to a firewire MOTU Ultralite afterwards & never looked backed at USB interfaces...I'm sure there might be some pretty stable USB interfaces out there, but the Tascam-122 was dreadful..Think about purchasing a newer interface, firewire if you can. Trust me--you'll see the results... The Motu Ultralite has 8 in's/outs (2 being XLR with phantom power which works great with vocals/guitars) & MIDI IN/OUT. Hands down one of the most stable/low latency interfaces I've had the pleasure to use. Worth every penny of the investment :wink:

JDemonie
Posts: 44
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2007 3:42 pm

Re: Perform live vocals through ableton

Post by JDemonie » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:50 am

I can't post the laptop specs right now cause I don't have it with me,
I'll post them later.
If you're on windows disable your graphics card accelaration...
I could play down 64 buffers without a single click with this tricky
How do I do this? And 64 buffers... I can only choose between 256, 512, 1024, and so on.
However, in the ASIO4ALL panel, I thought I could lower the tascam latency, but
when I tried that last time my laptop bluescreened.

7G
Posts: 138
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 6:20 pm
Location: Veroia,Hellas
Contact:

Re: Perform live vocals through ableton

Post by 7G » Wed Apr 15, 2009 11:55 am

JDemonie wrote:How do I do this? And 64 buffers... I can only choose between 256, 512, 1024, and so on.
However, in the ASIO4ALL panel, I thought I could lower the tascam latency, but
when I tried that last time my laptop bluescreened.
I used ASIO4ALL on my shitty Pentium III at my work without any probs
Anyway, you need definetly ASIO drivers to lower the latency...

As for disabling graphic card accellaration:

right click on desktop-}properties-}settings-}advanced-}troubleshoot-}move that slider all the way to none

That's it!

Cheers

Post Reply