Here's my DJ racks:
http://tarekith.com/assets/TarekithDJEfx01.zip
This is the first of what will be an ongoing collection of DJ Effects Racks for Ableton Live. Included in this zip file, you will find 4 Live FX Racks specially created for use in a live setting. Drag the following files:
Chop Shop.adg
Dirty Rack.adg
Super Luper.adg
Tabble Tennis.adg
into your Ableton Live Library, or wherever you keep your Ableton presets. The location of your library can be found by opening Live, and in the Preferences checking the File-Folder tab:
I created these racks to simplify the use of effects in a DJ setting. Each rack will open showing only the 8 macro knobs, and ideally this is all you will ever need to see. The racks have been set up to use in two ways, simply toggling them on and off, and tweaking the macro's via Live's automapping functions.
If you only use the QWERTY keys in your DJing, or your controller has buttons you can assign, your best bet is to map buttons or keys to toggle the racks' on/off button. I have set up the racks so that the volume of the effected audio is as close as possible to the uneffect signal. This way you can turn the effect on and off without any jumps in volume.
If your controller is in the list of supported control surfaces in the MIDI Preferences, you can control the macro knobs of each selected rack as well. Again, I've tried assigning the most appropriate controls to all macro knobs, so you should rarely need to open the Device Chains views.
http://tarekith.com/assets/TarekithDJEfx02.zip
Here's two more DJ oriented effects, this time set up a bit differently. As before, the only thing you really need to have shown on the racks is the Macro Knob view. On both racks, the first Macro knob is the primary control, and should ideally be mapped to knob on your controller.
At the knob's lowest 3 values (0-3), the effect is completely off. As you raise the knob, the effect slowly fades in, until at 127 all you hear is the effect. I made the lowest 3 values turn the effect completely off to give you some 'wiggle room', in case for some reason you can't always get your controller to transmit it's lowest value.
Philter Phuker is a pretty simple hi-pass and lo-pass filter, the first knob turn it on and increases the amount of fitlering. The second Macro Knob is the low pass filter, raising this knob clockwise will take more and more of the bass away until only the treble sounds remain. Macro Knob 3 is a lo-pass filter which does the opposite, lowering it counter-clockwise removes more and more of the high end, making the sound muddy and deep. Be careful of knob 4, it distorts the signal more, but can also make the signal very loud.
Washed Out is a smearing delay based effect, good for turning things into ambient drops and breakdowns Smile Macro Knob 1 turns the effect on or off, and increases the depth of the smearing. The rest of the knobs add subtle changes to the tone of the smearing. Good for chill moments, might be too much for full on dance tunes (but go for it anyway).
http://tarekith.com/assets/TarekithDJEfx03.zip
Here's the latest round of my DJ oriented effects racks for Ableton Live (version 6 or newer required). This time I used the racks some what differently, creating them so that a single knob per rack would not only bypass the rack, but also allow you to select the depth of two different effects. I created these racks to be used in a specific order in my DJ template, as this way they all interact better, and you can use multiple racks to shape your audio with a great deal of control. Therefore it's recommend to installed these 4 Racks on each track in the following order:
1. Twister Filter
2. Module Later
3. Slice Or Dice
4. Delayed Reaction
In each Rack, you'll want to map the first Macro Knob to a midi knob on your controller, and set each Knob so that it is pointing at 12 o'clock, straight up. Midi controller range 60-68 on all Macro 1 Knobs is a completely dry zone, your audio won't be affected by the racks at all. This is where you want to leave the knob when you aren't using the effects, the default off position.
As you turn the knob to the left (59-0, counter-clockwise), you will slowly fade in the first effect. At the knobs far left position, the first effect will be heard 100% wet. As you turn the the Knob to the right of 12 o'clock (69-127, clockwise) you will fade in the second effect until it is heard 100% wet. The audio level should stay pretty consistent throughout the knob range, so feel free to tweak away without worrying about overdriving the channel levels. However, tweaking Macro Knobs 2-8 in these Racks CAN overload the channel, depending on the audio you are playing and the position of the Knob. Use these Knobs with care.
Here's a description of all 4 effects Racks in this pack:
Twister Filter
This is a dual High-pass and Low-pass filter. Turning Macro Knob 1 to the left will low-pass filter the audio, removing the highs and mids. Turning this Knob to the right will high-pass filter the audio, removing the lows and bass. Macro Knobs 2 and 3 control how sharp both filters act if you want additional control or wish to fine tune it differently.
Module Later
This rack is a Phasor and Chorus unit. Turning the knob to the left slowly adds the Phasor aspect, turning the knob to the right does the same for the Chorus effect. There's also a little bit of random autopan on each effect to help it gel more smoothly, turning the audio all smooth and transient free.
Slice Or Dice
This one is a gating plug in which chops the audio up into divisions in time with the song you're using it on. The left side of the knob uses a sine wave to gate the audio, and the phase is offset somewhat. This makes it a very smooth effect, at moderate settings the audio seems to pulse gently in time with the music. Turning the knob to the right gates the audio with a square wave for a very abrupt on and off effect. The default gate time is 1/8th notes in both cases, though you can change this with the other Macro Knobs if you want. Both sides also use a very short delay to help make the effect more trippy and easier to mix in. Remember, left is soft gating, right is hard gating.
Delayed Reaction
Another delay based rack, as you can tell I like these. It can be overkill if done too much, but done subtly, it really adds a lot of control to your mixing IMO. In this rack, a left turn of the Macro 1 Knob adds a very short delay to the signal, around 1/16th note long. This is a good subtle effect when you just barely make the delays audible. Turning the knob to the right does the same thing but with delays that are much longer. Good for really drawing out soft endings to tunes, or tearing apart a breakdown.
I'm really digging the whole one knob control concept, so these will follow in that vein.