Ableton Forum

I'm just curious because I can easily have 110 tracks with vocals and all instruments+drums. And by the time I add plug ins, the RAM usage gets pretty high (3.5 - 3.9). To my understanding, live can't use more than 4 GBs of RAM and when I get to 3.5 GBs of RAM being used, I start getting bad cracks, pops and crashes.

hi there! i recorded and mixed an album completely in ableton live. my experience is: it is possible! it all depends on what you want to achieve. 110 tracks are a lot!!! my tip is to group these into logical and fitting stems and give yourself some restrictions. you have to fell some decisions which tracks you really want to use. ask yourself: do i really need all this stuff? which tracks are the essence the most important? it really helps me to have only 12-24 tracks for my mix projects. in general i mix it the british way- don´t fix it in the mix! fell a decision and live with it and record the stuff in the way you want to hear them in the mix. there some very interesting interviews in the net with top mixing guy chris lord alge where he tells that he only mixes up to 48 tracks in total because his ssl desk has only 48 channels! his assistants have to prepare the songs before and stem things in groups that fit and while doing this make the tracks "mix ready". they cut them edit them, clean them up, apply fades and eq and dynamics such as compressors/deessers,...
i adapted this for me with a limit of 24 tracks and find it the best way of getting the most power out of my computer and ableton live with all the plugins i have. in the mix process i only automate volumes and fx sends, that saves a lot of time but is also a lot of preparation! good luck and don´t loose your fun! cheers, alex

I track and mix in ableton.

mix and master!

jonathan harker wrote:chris lord alge where he tells that he only mixes up to 48 tracks in total because his ssl desk has only 48 channels! his assistants have to prepare the songs before and stem things in groups that fit and while doing this make the tracks "mix ready".

I like this idea, I'll have to consider this...but how does everyone else deal with the limited RAM. How much RAM usage can you get until ableton pops cracks and crashes?

We often do two mixes - there is the mix one of us does on the track when making it, then we do a stems bounce and mix again from the ground up, either in live or cubase, though might start using cubase more for this. Quite often in this second mix it allmost treated like a remix, so might replace some element of ryhthm parts etc, add some bits etc.

I find its easier to mix this way - less messing about, less inclination to go back and mess with things etc (when tends to just be a time pit).

Thats a good approach, saves tinkering time as you say. Stem it all out and mix it again elsewhere. gets your head in the right space for mixing rather than 'producing' or recording as such.

NO NO!

I stopped mixing in Ableton. I do it in Reaper.

Reaper is certainly popular at the moment.

I tejnd to like mixing in Live as the APC40 is integrated and makes it a non-mouse orientated flow, but of course you can use a different controller on a different programme.

not sure it makes a huge difference, but its whatever you're comfortable with.

I don't get near 110 tracks though...

mixing in ableton makes me crazy. i prefer logic / protools / reaper / more traditional DAWs. just faster (keystrokes) and more options for routing and automation.

but i have done it in a pinch for quick tracks or sfx.

I think he is referring to the DJing aspect. I could be wrong.

I mix in Live, but pretty much because it's the only DAW I have easy immediate access to. I'd definitely consider mixing in something like Reaper, mostly because I get the feeling that the change in environment would make me consider the mixing as a different stage in the process compared to the songwriting/recording stage in Live.

On the other hand, I've never found myself mixing in Live and thinking "This is inadequate for my needs." Perhaps if I was on a strict deadline it would be different though...

Rave wrote:I think he is referring to the DJing aspect. I could be wrong.

A DJ set with 110 tracks? I'm not fit enough to dance that long

Cezband wrote:I mix in Live, but pretty much because it's the only DAW I have easy immediate access to.

download reaper:

http://www.reaper.fm/

its basically free

Cezband wrote:I mix in Live, but pretty much because it's the only DAW I have easy immediate access to. I'd definitely consider mixing in something like Reaper, mostly because I get the feeling that the change in environment would make me consider the mixing as a different stage in the process compared to the songwriting/recording stage in Live.

On the other hand, I've never found myself mixing in Live and thinking "This is inadequate for my needs." Perhaps if I was on a strict deadline it would be different though...

Rave wrote:I think he is referring to the DJing aspect. I could be wrong.

A DJ set with 110 tracks? I'm not fit enough to dance that long

Call it a record box

Not only mixing but actually Mastering.
You can listen to the 128 Mbps MP3 results by following the links below.
I mix in live with a BCF2000. Love the moto-faders..
Then export @-3db the 24bit stereo WAV and reimport all songs in a new project and adjust.
Then export again the final result.

- Best
- Pasha