How does "He/She" Do it? (A few questions from a beginner)

[NuBS McGee]

Hello Everyone,

I recently got an APC40 Controller and Ableton Live. Now I find myself digging and sloshing through the net trying to figure everything out.

I came across this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj3kF6dt ... r_embedded

and it brought up a few questions for me and I was hoping some of you could help me out.

1) First thing is the volume faders. I often times see DJ's running their faders at full volume, with no clipping. How do you do that?

2) Secondly, As he's triggering loops on different tracks, his effects controls (Bottom right of the APC40) don't jump around to the various tracks controls. How do you do that?

3) at 1:16 he triggers the first loop in track one, It then triggers the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th loops automatically at the end of each loop and jumps back to the first. How do you do that?

Any and all tips and advice are welcome!

[nbinder]

1) I don't have an APC, but either you can reassign the range to reach a maximum of 0 instead of +6 or you can simply put a utility plugin on each channel to decrease the volume.

3) See section "follow actions" in the manual. Can't explain it better than the manual does.

[Hermanus]

the answer would be Max4Live

[oddstep]

Hello Everyone,

3) at 1:16 he triggers the first loop in track one, It then triggers the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th loops automatically at the end of each loop and jumps back to the first. How do you do that?

In the comments box beneath it says that the dj is using follow actions to step through slices of a drum loop... allowing them to retrigger/mash at will.

2) Secondly, As he's triggering loops on different tracks, his effects controls (Bottom right of the APC40) don't jump around to the various tracks controls. How do you do that?

I think the dj might have locked the apc's macro rotaries to a single device - I don't think the automap blue hand has to follow clip selection - I know it doesn't for me - there must be an option in preferences that stops automapping from following the track selection.

[NuBS McGee]

Thanks for all the great advice! I have #2 and #3 all hammered out, and I'm pretty sure I can figure out #1.

[gabrielsaint]

Thanks for all the great advice! I have #2 and #3 all hammered out, and I'm pretty sure I can figure out #1.

You can remap your faders back to the tracks that they go to. Then in your Midi window (the one that pops up in place of your folders when midi is press) you can edit the faders to not be full volume when turned up.

[jrab227]

"1) First thing is the volume faders. I often times see DJ's running their faders at full volume, with no clipping. How do you do that?"

Limiter (audio effect) in each channel. Details in the manual.

"2) Secondly, As he's triggering loops on different tracks, his effects controls (Bottom right of the APC40) don't jump around to the various tracks controls. How do you do that?"

He probably remapped over the bank 1 knobs (midi mapping). The APC by default jumps to bank one after switching to any new track (haven't figured out how to change this yet). Just turn on "select on launch" in the preference and at least it wont automatically jump to a new track on launch.

"3) at 1:16 he triggers the first loop in track one, It then triggers the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th loops automatically at the end of each loop and jumps back to the first. How do you do that?"

Follow Actions in the manual wherever clip devices or clip information are.

[zalo]

"1) First thing is the volume faders. I often times see DJ's running their faders at full volume, with no clipping. How do you do that?"

Limiter (audio effect) in each channel. Details in the manual.

"2) Secondly, As he's triggering loops on different tracks, his effects controls (Bottom right of the APC40) don't jump around to the various tracks controls. How do you do that?"

He probably remapped over the bank 1 knobs (midi mapping). The APC by default jumps to bank one after switching to any new track (haven't figured out how to change this yet). Just turn on "select on launch" in the preference and at least it wont automatically jump to a new track on launch.

"3) at 1:16 he triggers the first loop in track one, It then triggers the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th loops automatically at the end of each loop and jumps back to the first. How do you do that?"

Follow Actions in the manual wherever clip devices or clip information are.

he isnt using a limiter, even if he is the tracks arent being squashed, if you look at the video all of the faders are all the way up in ableton, that means that he didnt change the mappings, he did the legwork with inside the clip view, all of his clips are just the correct volume

[gabrielsaint]

"1) First thing is the volume faders. I often times see DJ's running their faders at full volume, with no clipping. How do you do that?"

Limiter (audio effect) in each channel. Details in the manual.

"2) Secondly, As he's triggering loops on different tracks, his effects controls (Bottom right of the APC40) don't jump around to the various tracks controls. How do you do that?"

He probably remapped over the bank 1 knobs (midi mapping). The APC by default jumps to bank one after switching to any new track (haven't figured out how to change this yet). Just turn on "select on launch" in the preference and at least it wont automatically jump to a new track on launch.

"3) at 1:16 he triggers the first loop in track one, It then triggers the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th loops automatically at the end of each loop and jumps back to the first. How do you do that?"

Follow Actions in the manual wherever clip devices or clip information are.

he isnt using a limiter, even if he is the tracks arent being squashed, if you look at the video all of the faders are all the way up in ableton, that means that he didnt change the mappings, he did the legwork with inside the clip view, all of his clips are just the correct volume

You can custom map the faders to be turned all the way up yet still be at -3. Or whatever your choice may be.

[Zygi]

I'd rather map the faders max to 0db and adjust clips' volume to be identical, than use limiter in such case

[zalo]

"1) First thing is the volume faders. I often times see DJ's running their faders at full volume, with no clipping. How do you do that?"

Limiter (audio effect) in each channel. Details in the manual.

"2) Secondly, As he's triggering loops on different tracks, his effects controls (Bottom right of the APC40) don't jump around to the various tracks controls. How do you do that?"

He probably remapped over the bank 1 knobs (midi mapping). The APC by default jumps to bank one after switching to any new track (haven't figured out how to change this yet). Just turn on "select on launch" in the preference and at least it wont automatically jump to a new track on launch.

"3) at 1:16 he triggers the first loop in track one, It then triggers the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th loops automatically at the end of each loop and jumps back to the first. How do you do that?"

Follow Actions in the manual wherever clip devices or clip information are.

he isnt using a limiter, even if he is the tracks arent being squashed, if you look at the video all of the faders are all the way up in ableton, that means that he didnt change the mappings, he did the legwork with inside the clip view, all of his clips are just the correct volume

You can custom map the faders to be turned all the way up yet still be at -3. Or whatever your choice may be.

well yeah, it seems like the least amount of work in the long run, but the question was how was it done in the video, all the volumes were figured out ahead of time for the individual clips

[NuBS McGee]

The question wasn't asking for a single answer , As with most challenges, There is rarely just one solution!

All of these tips have been great guys, Thanks Again!

[Donnie]

I'd rather map the faders max to 0db and adjust clips' volume to be identical, than use limiter in such case

Of course you still may want to have a limiter on the channels to trim the fat. Sometimes you just need to run a track or two a little hot to get the percieved loudness you are looking for

I personally limit every channel with a soft analog clip saturator, all while trying to keep volumes steady around 0db, then I bump the master volume down a few db for mixing headroom (the loss from it is negligible imo.) I also add an additional limiter to the master (which rarely gets used) just in case a mix or some effects get a little hot here and there. This seems to work well for a live mixing setup, although I do often deviate from the master channel setup if im going to do a recording.