Doing beats in session view (please critique my setup)

[abletony84]

hi

im trying to do some beats (hiphop, electronica, reggae, jazz+soul+funk) in session as oppose to the arrangement view so i can play back these beats live.. i also like the modular / structured nature of having my beats laid out like this

i really like this guys tutorials http://www.youtube.com/user/bboyspaz but his stuff is mainly for the arrangement view

so right now i got my drums in a midi clip using the drum rack; it ended up being 3 bars, 3 beats and 3 sixteenths long. so i put my sample in an audio clip which i also made 3 bars, 3 beats and 3 sixteenths long in order for things to loop properly. is this how it should be done? im a bit confused i feel im missing some basics..

thanks!

[vincentlepes]

If I understand what you mean, your MIDI clip isn't coming out to a full 4:4? You can double click the clip in session view to get to the MIDI data, and then adjust the markers in the clip view to extend it to the full 4 measures. Also be sure your global quantize at the top is set to 1 bar if you want triggered clips to come in on the downbeat, or 4 bars if you want it to wait until the next time around. I hope this helps .

Here's a screenshot of the clip view at the end of a 4-bar clip:

[abletony84]

interesting man thanks..

maybe you could take a look at http://tinyurl.com/abletony-needs-help and tell me if there's something i'm doing wrong / could be doing better?

(i'll deal with the quality of samples, eq, compression and that stuff later on.. also incase you're wondering i put the hihat in a seperate track so i could apply some offbeat groove values for a more human sound..)

personally im not so sure about the overall layout, how things should relate in terms of tempo, clip length.. and how to deal with (multiple) samples / cutting samples the same way bboyspaz did in the arrangement view.. (is this where "slice to midi" comes in?)

im sorta trying to come up with "the perfect setup" in which to base all my future beats on..

thanks again take care of yourself..

[SeeUNextTuesday]

Not sure if this is what vincentlepes meant, but 4:4 does not actually mean 4 bars at all. Just to clarify, 4:4 timing means there are 4 beats in every bar (the first number) and the beat is a quarter note/crotchet (2nd number).
I don't know a lot of music theory but I do think it's important to start off with the right ideas.
Although the screenshot does show 4 bars of 4:4 timing.
If you set your timing to 16:4, a default midi clip would be set to the same length as 4 bars of 4:4.

Your link is blocked in my work Tony but I'll check it out later.

[vincentlepes]

I was thinking 4:4 from a music theory perspective...meaning '4' notes, each not gets 1/4 of the beat...also known as common time. If you end your loop on the 5th beat (downbeat of the next measure) you'll get 4:4 - although perhaps in MIDI terminology this is expressed as 16:4. Sorry for the confusion

[abletony84]

anybody mind having a quick peek at my project and maybe suggest ways i can improve it?

i appreciate it, thanks..

[abletony84]

i take it im doing it the right way then, thanks guys