Three quick questions!

[pschankmusic]

Hey everyone, i'm new to this board and brand spankin new to ableton but i'm already loving it. Anyway, i've got three questions i'm having a hard time getting answered.

1. Is it possible to map ableton to a midi controller so that the keys are able to play synthesizers/other instruments while the mpc or drum pads only trigger drum samples from impulse or drum rack?

2. What controller would you recommend? I'm looking at the novation SL Mk II 61 and the MPK 61.

3. I've got ableton on a macbook pro and i'm having a hard time figuring out the best way to amplify it. How do you guys do this? I've tried different adapters and things going from the headphone jack but it all sounds like crap even though i ran it through a QSC K10 PA.

Thanks in advance for helping me and sorry if i'm retreading a lot of territory covered on the board already.

Cheers!
Peter

[pschankmusic]

OH YEAH. One other thing i was wondering about had to do with how to use it in performance. I'm a keyboardist that plays in a huge variety of groups but I don't plan to be doing any DJ-ing work (not spending too much time in session view). I'm mostly interested in the sound libraries and how amazing the effects are. Anyway, if i have a bunch of different synthesizers that I want to use over the course of the night with no looping or clips, is it easier just to switch between them in one live set (record enabling them as necessary) or is it easier to make several sets for each song? I'd love to be able to assign knobs to macros with one sound and then switch to another and have the same knobs control macros on the new sound. Is this possible?

[Da hand]

1. yes - read the manual chapter 26 (with 26.2 on MIDI mapping)
2. whatever responds to your needs
3. external sound card

part 2

You will probably still want stay in the session view for your gigs.

- read chapter 17 on Racks

[pschankmusic]

1. yes - read the manual chapter 26 (with 26.2 on MIDI mapping)
2. whatever responds to your needs
3. external sound card

part 2

You will probably still want stay in the session view for your gigs.

- read chapter 17 on Racks

thanks man, will do.

[pschankmusic]

although i do have another question, while i fully understand the basics of mapping anything in ableton to a controler, here's what i don't get. Let's say i have one live set that I'm going to use in concert. I'll have multiple instruments ready to cue up and play, some pads, leads, keyboards, etc. Each one has a set of macros that i'd like to map to my controller. However, my oxygen only has 8 knobs which can't get the job done. Is there a way to get it that the knobs are assigned to each instrument's macros yet they only effect the "record" enabled instrument and don't mess with the others' macros?

I've read the chapters in the manual and done the lessons in the program but can't find ANYTHING on this... it looked like the MPK does this automatically. Any help?

Thanks.

[pschankmusic]

anybody?

[Z3NO]

although i do have another question, while i fully understand the basics of mapping anything in ableton to a controler, here's what i don't get. Let's say i have one live set that I'm going to use in concert. I'll have multiple instruments ready to cue up and play, some pads, leads, keyboards, etc. Each one has a set of macros that i'd like to map to my controller. However, my oxygen only has 8 knobs which can't get the job done. Is there a way to get it that the knobs are assigned to each instrument's macros yet they only effect the "record" enabled instrument and don't mess with the others' macros?

I've read the chapters in the manual and done the lessons in the program but can't find ANYTHING on this... it looked like the MPK does this automatically. Any help?

Thanks.

Yes it can be done. Look into "Instant Mapping" or "Automap". Your 8 macros will automatically be assigned to the currently selected track or device. Many controllers do this out of the box (I'm fairly sure the Oxygen 8 too) by selecting them as native controllers in Live's preferences, but you can achieve the same results on ANY controller using the "Midi Remote Scripts"...

[pschankmusic]

although i do have another question, while i fully understand the basics of mapping anything in ableton to a controler, here's what i don't get. Let's say i have one live set that I'm going to use in concert. I'll have multiple instruments ready to cue up and play, some pads, leads, keyboards, etc. Each one has a set of macros that i'd like to map to my controller. However, my oxygen only has 8 knobs which can't get the job done. Is there a way to get it that the knobs are assigned to each instrument's macros yet they only effect the "record" enabled instrument and don't mess with the others' macros?

I've read the chapters in the manual and done the lessons in the program but can't find ANYTHING on this... it looked like the MPK does this automatically. Any help?

Thanks.

Yes it can be done. Look into "Instant Mapping" or "Automap". Your 8 macros will automatically be assigned to the currently selected track or device. Many controllers do this out of the box (I'm fairly sure the Oxygen 8 too) by selecting them as native controllers in Live's preferences, but you can achieve the same results on ANY controller using the "Midi Remote Scripts"...

Thanks z3no, will do.

[3dot...]

yeah... oxygen8 has a 'control map'

[pschankmusic]

i don't have the oxygen 8. I've got one of the silver 49 key models from a couple years ago... piece of crap. I've got a novation SL MKii on the way and i'm pretty sure that coupled with automap will solve all my problems... Now i just have to get good at ableton and figuring out what the hell to do with effects.

[albotnz]

There's a text file within the Live folder that you can edit. You tell it what to expect (i.e. the eight midi cc signals from your 49 key dealio) and it will enable the automap for that controller, even if it doesn't ship with that functionality. Then you will have control over whatever macros are selected (you'll see the little blue hand on the rack's title bar, which means you're in business).

here's a tutorial on it, with the korgNANO as an example, but should be equally relevant to you:

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2009/07/2 ... s-control/

have fun