Ableton Forum

hey everyone,

I guess im a total noob with this kind of stuff so maybe a few of you could help.

I am getting a 15 inch macbook and live intro (for now) because im very new to making music on computers.

first off, can someone tell me how much the upgrade CD to full blown live is?

With the MPD 24 what can i do besides making beats?

is it possible to play a clip without it looping over and over again? like triggering it sort of.

does intro have blank drum racks so i can load my samples into one? does intro have the looper? is it even worth getting intro?

and finally what should i get first for midi controllers? apc 40 and mpd 24 is what i had in mind but im sure everyone else on here knows better than i do.


and if it makes any difference at all ill be using Ableton mainly for creating house/techno/electronic music and playing live.


thanks in advance

jspec1594 wrote:With the MPD 24 what can i do besides making beats?

You can set the faders and rotary knobs to control various controls in Live through MIDI mapping

jspec1594 wrote:is it possible to play a clip without it looping over and over again? like triggering it sort of.

yes. its a setting/preference. I think by default the MPD will play a looped beat as long as you hold the pad down and then stop when you let go.

jspec1594 wrote:does intro have blank drum racks so i can load my samples into one? does intro have the looper? is it even worth getting intro?

dunno. I have Suite. I often pay extra for the benefit of not being told what I can't do later. I hate that. The timing is always wrong.

jspec1594 wrote:what should i get first for midi controllers? apc 40 and mpd 24 is what i had in mind but im sure everyone else on here knows better than i do.

if you want transport controls (play, stop, FF, RW, Loop) you should get the APC40 first. The transport on the MPD 24 only works via MIDI connection not USB. It was this and the inability of the knobs and faders to be able to switch commands from the front most/selected object in Live that caused me to purchase a Remote Zero SL. The APC40 wasn't released at the time.
If actually tapping out beats on the pads is your main concern then you want the MDP 24 first because even if you rig the APC40 to trigger drum notes, the pads are not velocity sensitive.

You might be able to expand your horizons by looking at the MPD32... I know it has more options than the 24... more price too


Hope this helps.
Peace

I missed this one...

jspec1594 wrote:first off, can someone tell me how much the upgrade CD to full blown live is?

If you go to the Help menu in Live and "Check for Updates" you will get pricing and options based on what you have installed.

H20nly wrote:

jspec1594 wrote:With the MPD 24 what can i do besides making beats?

You can set the faders and rotary knobs to control various controls in Live through MIDI mapping

jspec1594 wrote:is it possible to play a clip without it looping over and over again? like triggering it sort of.

yes. its a setting/preference. I think by default the MPD will play a looped beat as long as you hold the pad down and then stop when you let go.

jspec1594 wrote:does intro have blank drum racks so i can load my samples into one? does intro have the looper? is it even worth getting intro?

dunno. I have Suite. I often pay extra for the benefit of not being told what I can't do later. I hate that. The timing is always wrong.

jspec1594 wrote:what should i get first for midi controllers? apc 40 and mpd 24 is what i had in mind but im sure everyone else on here knows better than i do.

if you want transport controls (play, stop, FF, RW, Loop) you should get the APC40 first. The transport on the MPD 24 only works via MIDI connection not USB. It was this and the inability of the knobs and faders to be able to switch commands from the front most/selected object in Live that caused me to purchase a Remote Zero SL. The APC40 wasn't released at the time.
If actually tapping out beats on the pads is your main concern then you want the MDP 24 first because even if you rig the APC40 to trigger drum notes, the pads are not velocity sensitive.

You might be able to expand your horizons by looking at the MPD32... I know it has more options than the 24... more price too


Hope this helps.
Peace

thanks man this helped a lot.

one last question though: isnt there a cd for live that comes with the APC 40?

I don't have an APC40. So without looking in the box... I'm not a gambling man, but I'd be willing to bet there is.

H20nly wrote:I don't have an APC40. So without looking in the box... I'm not a gambling man, but I'd be willing to bet there is.

just looked at akai website. it comes with something like Live LE but it works with intro and 8. im just going to get that first because of its more capabilities. also the upgrade is 330 so ill just do that eventually.


knowing that you have more experience with this more than me, would you say thats a good plan?

I think you'll have lots of fun with it. Its map-able and Live is easy to map so if you don't like what a control is... you can just change it. If you figure out how you want Live and the APC laid out, what you want Live to behave like and what instruments/settings to have ready to go when you start up, you can save that as your 'default template'. Then, you can always start ready to kick ass!

If I didn't already have the MPD 24 and a Remote Zero SL when the APC40 came out, I probably would have got one of those first... I like beat pads, but there are lots of cheap solutions for that. As it stands the APC won't fit on my desk and I'd have to do something with the ReMote Zero since it would be redundant... I've spent the money buying things I don't have at all rather than reconfigurations of things I do...

Anyway... I'm rambling. I think you know what you want to do and you want some affirmation... You won't be sad. I've had a chance to use the APC a bit at a friend's house. He loves it. I liked it a ton and there are A LOT of fans of that thing on this forum.

H20nly wrote:I think you'll have lots of fun with it. Its map-able and Live is easy to map so if you don't like what a control is... you can just change it. If you figure out how you want Live and the APC laid out, what you want Live to behave like and what instruments/settings to have ready to go when you start up, you can save that as your 'default template'. Then, you can always start ready to kick ass!

If I didn't already have the MPD 24 and a Remote Zero SL when the APC40 came out, I probably would have got one of those first... I like beat pads, but there are lots of cheap solutions for that. As it stands the APC won't fit on my desk and I'd have to do something with the ReMote Zero since it would be redundant... I've spent the money buying things I don't have at all rather than reconfigurations of things I do...

Anyway... I'm rambling. I think you know what you want to do and you want some affirmation... You won't be sad. I've had a chance to use the APC a bit at a friend's house. He loves it. I liked it a ton and there are A LOT of fans of that thing on this forum.

Thanks a ton! Ill be ordering my Macbook tonight. I also figured out a really cheap solution to the MPD. Although I love the MPC type controller, I figured I can get one of the timy laptop controllers from Akai. It has 8 MPC style pads and 8 knobs. i have a gift card to Guitar Center so its basically free. Ill use that for triggering clips I don't want to loop and Ill do the rest on the APC.


Once again thanks very much!!

LPD 8!!! good choice. I have one. Well built and will sure enough do the trick!

Enjoy...




edit: you might want to look into a Korg Nano Kontrol for later if you plan on being portable. I do not recommend the Pad Kontrol over the Akai LPD 8 so don't go there, but I have the Nano Kontrol for my laptop. Its nice. I've used it on airplanes, hotel rooms and at a friend's house. It can't touch the APC40 in function but like I said, its a nice portable option - and cheap.

One more thing... you can chain LPD8's together so you can add more pads later if you need em.

H20nly wrote: The transport on the MPD 24 only works via MIDI connection not USB.

Are you serious?

^
I was serious when I posted it.

Do you know a way to make it work/mapable with Live w/o a MIDI cable?
I'd really like to be corrected on this one...

^ I wish you were right and I was wrong...
I would love to have transport control on my MPD.

I do use the Live preset. The MPD 24 was my first MIDI device. I was trying to use it for mapping and got frustrated about both the lack of transport controls and the fact that once I assigned a control (say a knob to an EQ setting) that the control/knob was all used up... Thats when I bought my Remote Zero SL. Its cool but if I had it all to go back and do again I would be an APC owner... of course they didn't exist then so time travel is out of the question...

**kicks Delorean and punches Doc Brown**

I don't know what firmware I'm using...can't remember. I haven't updated it for at least 2, but probably more like 3 years... I'll mess with it when I get home. I'd love to have those transport controls... If you saw the layout of my work area you would know why it would be so helpful to me.

yup, just found this... http://www.akaipro.com/content5420 will be updating. Its still in the announcements on the homepage

what are you doin with that Inspector Gadget riff??? If you're using it in a track I gotta hear it

just reading the release notes... I'm on version 1.07... for now

Thanks!