Ableton Forum

Hi.
I would like to duplicate a sample in the sound editor, but when I select a sample in the sound editor, I cannot duplicate it.
For instance, say I record a guitar part into a clip. I strum 4 G chords and and then 4 C chords, all on quarter notes. I decide I want to duplicate the 4 G chords, so there are then 8 G chords.
I can select the G chords, and crop them so the C chords are deleted. But I can't duplicate the sample. In fact, it seems I can't even select the sample.
Am I missing something?

There isn't a 'sound editor'.

But you can do that in Arrange mode and then highlight what you made and 'consolidate' to make a new clip. Then things get wild!

yur2die4 wrote:There isn't a 'sound editor'.

But you can do that in Arrange mode and then highlight what you made and 'consolidate' to make a new clip. Then things get wild!

Thanks- it just seems so counter-intuitive. I need to paste it to the arrangement mode, then copy and paste it back to the clip mode?

It just seems that the arrangement mode would be for just that- arranging a song. Is there another area where sound editing can occur in Ableton?Obviously, I'm new. With other programs, this was easy. You highlighted the portion of the sample you wanted, and you could copy, paste, duplicate etc.

Thanks

Live's strength lies in being a sequencer and time stretcher. The clip view is intended for setting your audio up for being utilized in its session or arrange view. It is intended for clips that are for the most part ready to be used. There is an 'edit' button intended for opening the source material in an audio editor for editing the actual audio. Otherwise the workaround is putting it in the Arrangement View, sequencing it appropriately via copy, paste, duplicate, and then consolidating (be careful, if you are stretching the audio and there are artifacts, they will become part of the clip when you consolidate).

yur2die4 wrote:Live's strength lies in being a sequencer and time stretcher. The clip view is intended for setting your audio up for being utilized in its session or arrange view. It is intended for clips that are for the most part ready to be used. There is an 'edit' button intended for opening the source material in an audio editor for editing the actual audio. Otherwise the workaround is putting it in the Arrangement View, sequencing it appropriately via copy, paste, duplicate, and then consolidating (be careful, if you are stretching the audio and there are artifacts, they will become part of the clip when you consolidate).

Thank you!!! I followed your suggestion and it worked out. I guess I just need to get used to this different process.

Thanks!!

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to do, but if you've got a clip with 4 G chords and then 4 C chords and you just want to play 8 G chords, why don't you just select the 4 G chords and have the shortened clip play twice?

You can also duplicate the clip in the same track and use the launch feature to control which clip plays when.

You can also duplicate the entire track if you want to process the first and second parts separately, or route the two tracks to a third track and record a composite clip if you have to have a single clip.

I'm sure there's a whole bunch of other ways to do what you need without even leaving the session view, Live is super powerful for sound design once you get your head wrapped around the basics, which are admittedly unlike any other DAW I've ever used.

southsounder wrote:Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to do, but if you've got a clip with 4 G chords and then 4 C chords and you just want to play 8 G chords, why don't you just select the 4 G chords and have the shortened clip play twice?

You can also duplicate the clip in the same track and use the launch feature to control which clip plays when.

You can also duplicate the entire track if you want to process the first and second parts separately, or route the two tracks to a third track and record a composite clip if you have to have a single clip.

I'm sure there's a whole bunch of other ways to do what you need without even leaving the session view, Live is super powerful for sound design once you get your head wrapped around the basics, which are admittedly unlike any other DAW I've ever used.

I used the "4 G chords" as an example- but here's another. Let's say I play a pattern twice. 2 takes- each take 4 bars, for a total of 8 bars, 2 measures. I'm recording into the session view. Lets say I like the first take- but I still want the whole thing to last 2 measures. So when I'm looking at it in the sample editor, I am accustomed to the idea of selecting the first measure, and duplicating it. So I have 2 measures, with the same take in each measure. I am realizing I can still do that, but apparently I have to do that in the arrangement view. It just seems odd, considering that Ableton can seemingly do anything, that in the sample editor, I can't select the audio and duplicate it. I can cut the sample to the 4 bars I want. And I can extend the length of the sample back to 8 bars (with the take I want in the first 4, and blank space in the last 4). But I can't duplicate the sample. Which just seems odd as it's a "sample editor". I realize there are probably several ways to accomplish the same goal, but none seems as simple as selecting the audio and duplicating it. Anyway I can get accustomed to the work arounds.

Thanks

what you call "sample editor" is not an editor, it's called "clip view". And yes, you're right, it would be great if we would be able to edit and paste audio within this area. But we can only do non-destructive operations in clip view.

This is a core-concept of Live. If you want to edit audio, you need to do it in arrange view. or in an audio-editor. Clip vie is not a sample-editor.



Actually it would be great if it was.

pepezabala wrote:what you call "sample editor" is not an editor, it's called "clip view". And yes, you're right, it would be great if we would be able to edit and paste audio within this area. But we can only do non-destructive operations in clip view.

This is a core-concept of Live. If you want to edit audio, you need to do it in arrange view. or in an audio-editor. Clip vie is not a sample-editor.



Actually it would be great if it was.

Ok I guess I just need to not think of the "clip view" as a "sample editor". Don't know where I got that. You just get used to what you know. The problem with editing in an external audio editor is that it's not locked to the time grid that you have in Live. In other words, for example, you can't easily select a bar of an audio sample. But you can in the arrangement view, so I guess I just need to get used to that!

I have been relearning a lot things with Live, but all for the better. I can definitely see that it's capable of a lot more than other programs I've used.

quick way of moving clips into arrange is to click on the clip, and while you hold the mousebutton down use tab to switch to arrange-vew, just drop the clip on a channel there.

then do your edits, consolidate all parts (ctrl-j) into a new clip and bring it back same way to session.

Once you get used to it it's a really fast process.

pepezabala wrote:quick way of moving clips into arrange is to click on the clip, and while you hold the mousebutton down use tab to switch to arrange-vew, just drop the clip on a channel there.

then do your edits, consolidate all parts (ctrl-j) into a new clip and bring it back same way to session.

Once you get used to it it's a really fast process.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll get used to it.

andrew.scandal wrote:I used the "4 G chords" as an example- but here's another. Let's say I play a pattern twice. 2 takes- each take 4 bars, for a total of 8 bars, 2 measures. I'm recording into the session view. Lets say I like the first take- but I still want the whole thing to last 2 measures. So when I'm looking at it in the sample editor, I am accustomed to the idea of selecting the first measure, and duplicating it. So I have 2 measures, with the same take in each measure. I am realizing I can still do that, but apparently I have to do that in the arrangement view. It just seems odd, considering that Ableton can seemingly do anything, that in the sample editor, I can't select the audio and duplicate it. I can cut the sample to the 4 bars I want. And I can extend the length of the sample back to 8 bars (with the take I want in the first 4, and blank space in the last 4). But I can't duplicate the sample. Which just seems odd as it's a "sample editor". I realize there are probably several ways to accomplish the same goal, but none seems as simple as selecting the audio and duplicating it. Anyway I can get accustomed to the work arounds.

That's the beauty of session view, it's even easier than that. Just shorten the length of the clip to cover the first 4 bars and let it play twice.

I think the issue is that you're still trying to think about the session view linearly. In the example you describe there is no need to make an 8 bar file if all you really want to do is play the same 4 bars twice.

southsounder wrote:

andrew.scandal wrote:I used the "4 G chords" as an example- but here's another. Let's say I play a pattern twice. 2 takes- each take 4 bars, for a total of 8 bars, 2 measures. I'm recording into the session view. Lets say I like the first take- but I still want the whole thing to last 2 measures. So when I'm looking at it in the sample editor, I am accustomed to the idea of selecting the first measure, and duplicating it. So I have 2 measures, with the same take in each measure. I am realizing I can still do that, but apparently I have to do that in the arrangement view. It just seems odd, considering that Ableton can seemingly do anything, that in the sample editor, I can't select the audio and duplicate it. I can cut the sample to the 4 bars I want. And I can extend the length of the sample back to 8 bars (with the take I want in the first 4, and blank space in the last 4). But I can't duplicate the sample. Which just seems odd as it's a "sample editor". I realize there are probably several ways to accomplish the same goal, but none seems as simple as selecting the audio and duplicating it. Anyway I can get accustomed to the work arounds.

That's the beauty of session view, it's even easier than that. Just shorten the length of the clip to cover the first 4 bars and let it play twice.

I think the issue is that you're still trying to think about the session view linearly. In the example you describe there is no need to make an 8 bar file if all you really want to do is play the same 4 bars twice.

How do you tell it to play twice?

andrew.scandal wrote:Ok I guess I just need to not think of the "clip view" as a "sample editor". Don't know where I got that.

You probably got that from Ableton calling it the sample editor a little confusing no doubt. Good tips here.

andrew.scandal wrote:

southsounder wrote:

andrew.scandal wrote:I used the "4 G chords" as an example- but here's another. Let's say I play a pattern twice. 2 takes- each take 4 bars, for a total of 8 bars, 2 measures. I'm recording into the session view. Lets say I like the first take- but I still want the whole thing to last 2 measures. So when I'm looking at it in the sample editor, I am accustomed to the idea of selecting the first measure, and duplicating it. So I have 2 measures, with the same take in each measure. I am realizing I can still do that, but apparently I have to do that in the arrangement view. It just seems odd, considering that Ableton can seemingly do anything, that in the sample editor, I can't select the audio and duplicate it. I can cut the sample to the 4 bars I want. And I can extend the length of the sample back to 8 bars (with the take I want in the first 4, and blank space in the last 4). But I can't duplicate the sample. Which just seems odd as it's a "sample editor". I realize there are probably several ways to accomplish the same goal, but none seems as simple as selecting the audio and duplicating it. Anyway I can get accustomed to the work arounds.

That's the beauty of session view, it's even easier than that. Just shorten the length of the clip to cover the first 4 bars and let it play twice.

I think the issue is that you're still trying to think about the session view linearly. In the example you describe there is no need to make an 8 bar file if all you really want to do is play the same 4 bars twice.

How do you tell it to play twice?

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