Ableton Forum

Hey guys,

I've got a 10 second ambient sample which I would like to extract from a longer audio section and use it in samples/simpler with the following behavior:

Note-on triggers the sample.
I hold the note down for longer than the duration of the sample.
The sample automatically fades out (let's say 2 seconds from the end).


I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do this in Ableton. Do I need to bring the sample outside Ableton and apply my own fade? Seems so unnecessary!

On the ADSR volume envelope, the release only triggers once a "note-off" message is received. I would like to set a fixed point in the sample where the release is triggered. Is this possible?

Thanks for reading.

Clip envelopes.

You can do this in Sampler. Make sure the Global Envelope is set appropriately. Then enable one of the loop options for Sustain and Release Modes in the Sample Tab and move the braces to the desired locations.

(edit: ah, it's a bit more complicated than I thought)

doghouse wrote:Clip envelopes.

doghouse means:

" 1.drag your sample into a session view slot.
2.apply a volume clip envelope in your desired fashion to the clip
3.now record that clip into a newly created audio track
4.drag the recorded result (aka the new clip with your recorded volume automation) into sampler."

Thanks, invol and grunzlaut. For the (destructive) editing via bounce, I'd (personally) just assume edit externally, it's about the same clicks/elegance/efficiency for workflow and more control, that way.

The Sustain and Release modes in Sampler get close to what I'm looking for, but it seems you have to hold the note for the exact duration you want, and you have to set up a loop. I was hoping to find a solution which uses a one-shot hit, or which fades out while the note hasn't yet been released.

Also, the release mode only works if an actual loop is selected in the sustain mode, for which you might as well just program your global release envelope, and release the note at the right moment.

I think I found the answer for the "hold the note down and release will be automated" scenerio:
In the Global envelope tab, if you set Initial and Peak values as 0db, and then assign an attack time which corresponds to the "sustain" value you want, then assign the decay as your release, with the Sustain value as -inf, then it will work. But since you're repurposing the Attack and Decay, you lose ability to modify your attack!


This solves my problem, but for learning's sake, any other ideas to get one-shot behavior, and/or maintain control over attack/decay?