Ableton Forum

Hi new to the fourm and i am looking for a dj template for apc40 and live
i tryed useing the search at the top but it keeps messing up and i know this has probs been asked 100 times so i am sorry

would be great if anyone has a good template and even better a video showing its workings thanks x

Hey there.

The cool thing about the APC is that you can make it fit your style exactly, and there are as many ways to use it, as there are users!

Do you want a two deck setup, make one. Four Decks with FX make it, a full live performance rig not assembling a traditional DJ setup, do it
It's not to ward you off from asking, but to inspire you to make your own, as you will benefit from it even on the short timespan it takes to get it sorted and twisting your head around the complexity of making it right.

I have various setups ranging from all the above to many illegitimate offsprings from those templates. Start with the two track one, MIDI map some channels (explained in the manual and also the lessons pane inside Live), learn to make it suit your mixing style and build on that. Include more Audio tracks mixed with maybe MIDI tracks if you feel like adding your own riffs and such then finish with FX tracks (Hint: Read up on the term "Dummy Clips" if you haven't already!)

The fun side is to Learn as you go, so start with the midi mapping part, it's not that complicated I guarantee you.

Regards,
Thomas

thanks very much for your reply
i have mapped controllers in the past for traktpr pro so midi is not a problem the apc just looks a beast to program
i bought mine 2nd hand so i did not get the apc live cd but i allready have live 8

so how can i go about getting that red grid and making the buttons all light up to show clip loaded,clip playing etc...?

Just saw you got me posting in two threads, so i'll stick with this one.

Check the midi sync pane, in Live's preferences, and make sure the APC is selected in all three options in the pull-down menus, then I can't remember the I/O sync settings as I haven't got my APC where I am now, but check the manual and I think there is something mentioned in the built in Live Lessons.

APC40 isn't a beast to program because you aren't really programming anything ON the APC its self, unless you're doing some custom mappings.

Here's the template I said I'd share in another thread - http://www.mediafire.com/?xllzcmd93yd7vgd

Just make a quick layout, throw effects on deck A and mess with that for a while, map them to macros - which is key because that's how you'll get those 8 device params to automap when you select that track...

Then throw that rack on deck B - and adapt one for your master channel and you should have a good amount of tweakability..

Zig Zag your MP3's from deck to deck - the reason I do this is because I name all of the scenes with the BPM of that track, so I can have 2 options when mixing - launch the scene, thus changing right to the desired tempo OR launch the clip - which would keep the same tempo as the previous song and I'll have to adjust it manually.

Track 3 is for white noise build ups - rack on that track just has a filter to sweep around - needs work

Track 4 is just for new tracks when we drag n drop them and start warping them..

Note the utility plug at -6db on every track because of how the APC40 instant maps to sliders it doesn't stop at 0db unless you hard map them and limit the min-max which you could always do if you aren't going to scroll around vertically.

- Dub delay and Reverb on the Sends

I left the samples out of the pack but included the white noise stuff incase anyone wants to mess with it - if you come up with something cool toss it back my way!

I think that's it, now that you've been spoon fed all this hopefully you can figure out your own setup - i figure if you just use this as is then you're missing out on all the fun of even doing this stuff in the first place, but i'm still down to share.

peace

right guys i am really stuck here

in the midi pannel i have put apc40 in the all 3 boxes but its still not coming up with the red box for clips or anything like that so i have no control over anything any help?

You need to highlight the I/O Track/Sync/Remote boxes underneath the Pull down menus, as they decide if the APC can communicate with Live. Again can't remember which exactly, so check the manual for Live.