Ableton Forum

Hey guys,

In order to start DJing live I just got my NI KA6 for cueing purposes. The next thing I wanna buy is a pair of controllers to control both Ableton and Traktor (I am not sure yet which one will I use but I find Traktor a bit boring compared to Ableton). Well the controllers I mean to get is Novation LAUNCHPAD MINI MK2 (or midiplus Smartpad) and
Novation Launch Control XL. I am on a very restricted budget, but I think this setup will allow me to control either Ableton or Traktor. Can you advise please if I'll be fine with the setup above and that I didn't miss anything?

delayed_flight wrote:I am on a very restricted budget, but I think this setup will allow me to control either Ableton or Traktor. Can you advise please if I'll be fine with the setup above and that I didn't miss anything?

Traktor is a real DJ app and not boring at all. As Live is, it's deep. I control Traktor with the original Push. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to switch once set, that I've found, so need to restart.

Checked here for ideas?:

• Isotonik Dj Collection (Max For Live devices)
• Novation Launch Control XL Thread (NI forums)
• Launch Control XL Mapping for Traktor

(Youtube)

OK so probably on early stages I will be convinced to use Traktor. Is the mentioned setup OK for my needs?

delayed_flight wrote:OK so probably on early stages I will be convinced to use Traktor. Is the mentioned setup OK for my needs?

I can't advice really, as I've never used those controllers. I'd assume so, but better to hear what actual users say.

I forgot to say that Live of course is great for remixing tracks, which can be done in a live performance. I've been meaning to look into syncing Traktor and Live with Link, but haven't found the time. In that case two controllers would be wonderful.

What kind of djing will it be?

The primary differences between Live and Traktor are that Traktor is more flexible at syncing two tracks together and also more flexible for determining when to play them out of sync or at completely half or double tempos in relation to one another. Traktor is better than Live for loading new tracks with a controller only and when you load a fresh track, Traktor is more likely to 'guess correctly' where it's timing is.

Live is really good for mash ups and for using vsts. It's good for if you have things sort of loaded in advance or if you are okay with dragging things in with the mouse. You'd probably want to warp and double-check all material in advance but this also means it is extremely unlikely that the material would fall out of sync. It is also a little easier to break things into pieces but, if say Traktor still has cue points and loop points which are somewhat similar except without requiring the clip/scene paradigm to take up space. (And cue points can be really flexible for triggering)

yur2die4 wrote:What kind of djing will it be?

It would be a DJing combined with live performance