1. I've been toying with Ableton for about a year with no exterior hardware, never used MIDI and I'm still unclear as to just what MIDI is exactly. I've Wikipedia'd it, but maybe my brain is just too clouded to make any real sense of the description. Can anyone lay out what MIDI is in some layman's terms?
2. Anyone have some suggestions for good drum machines or drum machine software? Particularly for electro-house/funk beat creation, something that can produce some deep bass, thumps... and maybe breakbeats.
3. In Ableton, we've got the two different screen views, the timeline view (it's all I've ever used) and then we've got... the other, which essentially seems to just loop. Am I missing something? In what situations exactly would this screen view be useful? Can both be used simultaneously?
Thanks, I'm sure these seem like dumb questions, but... no better place to ask I guess.
Questions. (Drum Machines, Screens and MIDI)
Re: Questions. (Drum Machines, Screens and MIDI)
1. I've been toying with Ableton for about a year with no exterior hardware, never used MIDI and I'm still unclear as to just what MIDI is exactly. I've Wikipedia'd it, but maybe my brain is just too clouded to make any real sense of the description. Can anyone lay out what MIDI is in some layman's terms?
Midi is like channels on a pa. Each midi instrument can plug into a channel on a computer like a guitar or bass would on a pa system.
The notes from that midi instrument are sent to the computer like electrical signals are sent from guitar pickups to a pa channel.
A midi keyboard for instance, sends notes in the form of CC data to a computer's midi IN port. That port knows what channel the instrument is on and interprets it's notes as midi CC data. The computer then converts those "midi" notes into audible sounds using a synthesizer or drum machine.
I.E. Midi Keyboard is assigned to channel 1
All notes from that keyboard are given a numerical assignment between 1-127
The first note on that keyboard is 1(CC01)
The computer listens for that CC01 on Global Channel 01(The pa channel that keyboard is plugged in to)
Midi gets much more complicated than this when you want to do more advanced things but that's the basic idea.
2. Anyone have some suggestions for good drum machines or drum machine software? Particularly for electro-house/funk beat creation, something that can produce some deep bass, thumps... and maybe breakbeats.
Stylus
3. In Ableton, we've got the two different screen views, the timeline view (it's all I've ever used) and then we've got... the other, which essentially seems to just loop. Am I missing something? In what situations exactly would this screen view be useful? Can both be used simultaneously?
Clip(session) view was originally designed for DJs. They would activate sequences of music using clips in the clip view. The flexibility of these clips allowed instant on and off triggering for different clips. 10 different drumbeats(1 in each clip) would allow a dj to change the beat separately from the rhythm or bass. Now-a-days it can do alot more and people are starting to use it to audition different ideas as a scratch pad before rendering music to the arrangement.
Since it's inception, Ableton has improved on it and given the clip view more versatility to create scenes of clips and clips that can control other clips. The list goes on but that is the basic premise. The Timeline(arrangement screen) and The Clip(Session Screen) actually work in tandem with eachother. Each track in the Clip view is the same track in the Arrangement view. Audio can be recorded to a track in the arrangement view and dragged to a clip slot in the Session view. A good use of this would be recording for takes of a bass line in the arrangement view. Normally, you would arm the track and then record the bass. When you finished recording, you would listen back decide if it was usable. Now let's say you wanted to keep it. If you re-arm the track, you will overwrite the original bass and destroy it.
With clips, you can drag that first recording to a clip and save it for later auditioning. In this way you can record multiple takes of a bass line and then choose which one you would like. There is an even easier way to accomplish this: Record the bass to a new clip instead by arming the track in the clip view and then hitting any one of the grey record circles in that armed track. Live will start listening on that clip for input and record it. When you are done, you can hit stop.
Midi is like channels on a pa. Each midi instrument can plug into a channel on a computer like a guitar or bass would on a pa system.
The notes from that midi instrument are sent to the computer like electrical signals are sent from guitar pickups to a pa channel.
A midi keyboard for instance, sends notes in the form of CC data to a computer's midi IN port. That port knows what channel the instrument is on and interprets it's notes as midi CC data. The computer then converts those "midi" notes into audible sounds using a synthesizer or drum machine.
I.E. Midi Keyboard is assigned to channel 1
All notes from that keyboard are given a numerical assignment between 1-127
The first note on that keyboard is 1(CC01)
The computer listens for that CC01 on Global Channel 01(The pa channel that keyboard is plugged in to)
Midi gets much more complicated than this when you want to do more advanced things but that's the basic idea.
2. Anyone have some suggestions for good drum machines or drum machine software? Particularly for electro-house/funk beat creation, something that can produce some deep bass, thumps... and maybe breakbeats.
Stylus
3. In Ableton, we've got the two different screen views, the timeline view (it's all I've ever used) and then we've got... the other, which essentially seems to just loop. Am I missing something? In what situations exactly would this screen view be useful? Can both be used simultaneously?
Clip(session) view was originally designed for DJs. They would activate sequences of music using clips in the clip view. The flexibility of these clips allowed instant on and off triggering for different clips. 10 different drumbeats(1 in each clip) would allow a dj to change the beat separately from the rhythm or bass. Now-a-days it can do alot more and people are starting to use it to audition different ideas as a scratch pad before rendering music to the arrangement.
Since it's inception, Ableton has improved on it and given the clip view more versatility to create scenes of clips and clips that can control other clips. The list goes on but that is the basic premise. The Timeline(arrangement screen) and The Clip(Session Screen) actually work in tandem with eachother. Each track in the Clip view is the same track in the Arrangement view. Audio can be recorded to a track in the arrangement view and dragged to a clip slot in the Session view. A good use of this would be recording for takes of a bass line in the arrangement view. Normally, you would arm the track and then record the bass. When you finished recording, you would listen back decide if it was usable. Now let's say you wanted to keep it. If you re-arm the track, you will overwrite the original bass and destroy it.
With clips, you can drag that first recording to a clip and save it for later auditioning. In this way you can record multiple takes of a bass line and then choose which one you would like. There is an even easier way to accomplish this: Record the bass to a new clip instead by arming the track in the clip view and then hitting any one of the grey record circles in that armed track. Live will start listening on that clip for input and record it. When you are done, you can hit stop.
Re: Questions. (Drum Machines, Screens and MIDI)
False...it was originally designed for musicians and let them mangle the audio in a "not linear" way like the rest of programs, but the Dj's were not in the Ableton group's head the first time they designed the program.ziland wrote:Clip(session) view was originally designed for DJs.
Re: Questions. (Drum Machines, Screens and MIDI)
1. MIDI is used to send instructions down a cable to synths and other musical devices - as opposed to sending audio itself down the cable.
Example instructions include:
"Play a G sharp at maximum volume"
"Stop playing a G sharp"
"Bend the pitch of the sound playing on Channel One"
In the same way that a musical score can be given to different musicians with different results (a score played on a trombone will sound different when being played on a flute), MIDI information can be sent to different synths or electronic instruments to achieve the desired sound.
MIDI can be used to change the settings or 'parameters' of synths on the fly while a song is playing - or to control the starting and stopping of a sequencer. There are other, even more powerful uses - but these are the basic ones that are used most often.
2. +1 for Stylus
3. Session View is a way of 'trying out' sets of sounds, loops and sections of songs together before they are committed to the arrangement. It's a very quick and intuitive (once you are familiar with the basics) way to get a track started.
Hope that helps.
Example instructions include:
"Play a G sharp at maximum volume"
"Stop playing a G sharp"
"Bend the pitch of the sound playing on Channel One"
In the same way that a musical score can be given to different musicians with different results (a score played on a trombone will sound different when being played on a flute), MIDI information can be sent to different synths or electronic instruments to achieve the desired sound.
MIDI can be used to change the settings or 'parameters' of synths on the fly while a song is playing - or to control the starting and stopping of a sequencer. There are other, even more powerful uses - but these are the basic ones that are used most often.
2. +1 for Stylus
3. Session View is a way of 'trying out' sets of sounds, loops and sections of songs together before they are committed to the arrangement. It's a very quick and intuitive (once you are familiar with the basics) way to get a track started.
Hope that helps.
Win 7 64bit, Live9.6, M-Audio Delta1010, padKontrol x 2, Elektron OT, MD-UW, MNM
http://soundcloud.com/scatterbattery
http://soundcloud.com/scatterbattery
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twisted-space
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Re: Questions. (Drum Machines, Screens and MIDI)
Check out the midi basics tutorials here
http://www.soundonsound.com/search?url= ... esults=yes
Watch the movies here
http://www.ableton.com/movies
Check out the tips and tricks here
http://www.ableton.com/pages/tips/home
Stylus RMX is very nice, but also check out the D16 stuff
http://www.d16.pl/index.php?menu=2
AudioRealism ADM
http://www.audiorealism.se/adm/adm_announcement.htm
or even Abletons own drum machines pack.
http://www.ableton.com/drum-machines
Don't forget to do the built in lessons, and...............
RTFM
http://www.soundonsound.com/search?url= ... esults=yes
Watch the movies here
http://www.ableton.com/movies
Check out the tips and tricks here
http://www.ableton.com/pages/tips/home
Stylus RMX is very nice, but also check out the D16 stuff
http://www.d16.pl/index.php?menu=2
AudioRealism ADM
http://www.audiorealism.se/adm/adm_announcement.htm
or even Abletons own drum machines pack.
http://www.ableton.com/drum-machines
Don't forget to do the built in lessons, and...............
RTFM
Re: Questions. (Drum Machines, Screens and MIDI)
Thanks for all the information, very appreciated, you guys are the shit!