Ableton Forum

I'm afraid I'm new to all this and I'm trying to use my Fast Track Pro to write songs from my keyboard, (Yamaha PSR730), playing my Accoustic 12 String Guitar and singing through it all.

Right now, I can't get nothing from anything.

I can't read the lessons as clicking on them does nothing.
I can't get a sound from my keyboard, or get my guitar to record or even hear it.

Is there anyone who can tell me what basic settings must be to play this.
I've got Ableton Lite Unlocked.

I'm getting really frustrated as I paid £100 for nothing in the last two weeks. Suport from Ableton and MAudio doesn't seem to exist apart from during the day when I'm at work where I could ring a UK No.

I've got Windows Vista and the latest vista driver installed without any other problems.

Thanks..in hope!

do you have sound at all from the ableton sounds at least? playing an mp3?

Here's a good guide that'll probably be helpful to you
http://www.tweakheadz.com/setting_up_yo ... o_card.htm

The Guide is certainly good and I've bookmarked it for future reference.
To answer the other question re sound or MP3's, I don't know how to do that from the Ableton System, but it may help if I tell you what I have setup:

1. Mic is plugged into left front socket.
2. Guitar is wired into Insert 1 at the back.
3. Power switched on with Blue light on and a Red Light Below it.
4. No other switches pressed in on the front.
5. Midi in light is green, midi out light is off.
6. Keyboard switched on and plugged into to midi in and out ports respectively and connected respectively at the back.
7. Usb Cable connected and identified with Vista as working.

Preferences:
Audio:
Driver Type: MME/Direct X
Audio Input Device No Input
Audio Output Device Speakers High Def Audio Wave
Channel Config: Input Greyed Out and OUTPUT Config is Yellow on Both Selections underneath it.
The other settings I think are not too relevant but I can hear a tone when I cllick on the Test Tone.

Midi Sync
Control Surface: None on all 6 settings
Input: None on all 6 Settings
Output: Setting 1 is on Microsoft GS Wave
Takeover Mode: None
Midi Ports: Track and Remote are on Yellow, Sync is Grey

Products
Live Lite 6 MAudio Enhanced Edition: Status Unlocked
Everything else is Hidden

Live Packs
Live 6 Basics and Live 6 Lessons are Installed.

If there is anything else needed setting please let me know.

Right Now for this exercise, I'm looking to get my Guitar to play through the speakers which are plugged into my On Board Sound card which plays media files clearly through Media Player without any problems.

So I hope this is something to give a basis as to what I need to do. I'm not sure how to play an MP3 File on here, but if I open one of Abletrons File Browsers and go to a Folder where I have MP3's, I only see the folder. Clicking on the Folder does nothing, so I can't drag a file or anything.

Thanks

For one thing you will not be able to see mp3's with the Lite version

Which therefore leaves me back where I started looking for help on this forum I guess.

Anyone else got any ideas pleeeeeease.?

toprobroy wrote:
I've got Windows Vista and the latest vista driver installed without any other problems.

Afaik, there is no drivers avaible for the fast track pro by m audio for vista so what do you exactly mean by « the latest »

best

Well this there was an update for Ableton which is 6.0.10.
I installed this and my system work, but there was questions about Vista which Iooked up before buying FastTrack Pro box, so I think what I meant is that I had an update for that, and not Ableton. Sorry, its all kind of new to me.

I have today got my Guitar recording through FT which is great now. At least its MY first success. I've ordered a couple of books to try and work through this. My next problem AND is current, is that I'm trying to get an some music onto a Midi Track in Ablton and I can't get zilch right now. There is some music backing track on the keyboard, which I'm trying to record into Ableton, but I can't even record single figure playing. The bit I want has drums and guitars playing together on my keyboard, so I'm hoping that I can now record that to Ableton. Can you or anyone point me in the right direction for that at all.

Installing windows xp pro sp2 instead of vista is a path to success and pain ass free music making.

toprobroy wrote:Preferences:
Audio:
Driver Type: MME/Direct X
Audio Input Device No Input
Audio Output Device Speakers High Def Audio Wave
Channel Config: Input Greyed Out and OUTPUT Config is Yellow on Both Selections underneath it.
The other settings I think are not too relevant but I can hear a tone when I cllick on the Test Tone.

I know your info is over a day old (and you've had some success since then) but your settings certainly don't seem too healthy above. Do you have any other option for Driver Type than MME/DirectX - I get this option for my onboard sound card, and I get ASIO for my external sound card - you may have ASIO or some other option available.

If you do have another option, you might want to select it, and see what you have available for Audio Input Device and Audio Output Device. I note above you had "No Input" selected which would definitely have made it hard to record anything! The "Device Speakers High Def Audio Wave" sounds a lot like your onboard sound card to me, but I could be wrong. If you had selected onboard sound, it would explain why you heard a test-tone as it could have been coming from your normal speaks rather than anything hooked up to the Fast-Track Pro.

Have a play with the Driver Type, and the Audio Input and Audio Output settings and see what all options you have available.

Cheers,

mkelly

Hi and thanks.
I do have the ASIO option. Should I be choosing that.
As you say I'm now having some success where I've recorded my guitar, some vocal and even found out how to put some stuff from the Library into my project. Two things still stump me now and I'm not sure whether its because of not using the ASIO Driver, though I'll try.


1. Not all the loops from the library work, which you can generally tell as it doesn't show the little Icon for Live 6 beside it. It may be a restriction, it may be Vista...not sure really and I wonder if they can be downloaded from somewhere and put into where ever the correct folder is.
2. I can't get Midi to record. I can get some notes played via my keyboard but when I Arm the Track it shows as recording, but then nothing is actually recorded. I can hear them via my speakers. I would actually like to find a way of recording a whole track from my keyboard as it plays all the parts, drums, bass etc as a whole. I find it easy to get the Accompaniment generated on my keyboard, but no so easy to get it into Live.

Thanks for helping somewhat here, to you and others. I'm getting some faith that the community here is good. I guess with someone as "green" as me, its not so easy to take up the mantle. I do realise folks are busy and if my books arrive this week, I'll learn a little more.

Thanks
Robert

toprobroy wrote:Hi and thanks.
I do have the ASIO option. Should I be choosing that.

I imagine you should definitely be choosing that. For me (I have an Audio Kontrol 1) it's only by choosing the ASIO driver that I can actually select my Audio Kontrol inputs and outputs.

toprobroy wrote: 1. Not all the loops from the library work, which you can generally tell as it doesn't show the little Icon for Live 6 beside it. It may be a restriction, it may be Vista...not sure really and I wonder if they can be downloaded from somewhere and put into where ever the correct folder is.

Any clues as to which loops you can't play - give the full path to them if possible.

toprobroy wrote: 2. I can't get Midi to record. I can get some notes played via my keyboard but when I Arm the Track it shows as recording, but then nothing is actually recorded. I can hear them via my speakers. I would actually like to find a way of recording a whole track from my keyboard as it plays all the parts, drums, bass etc as a whole. I find it easy to get the Accompaniment generated on my keyboard, but no so easy to get it into Live.

At the very top right of your Live screen, you should see the MIDI input/output indicates (two little squares, one above the other, and to the right of them is a larger square with a D in it.) When your keyboard is playing, you should see some sort of activity from the top MIDI input indicator to say that it is receiving data - if you see no little yellow clashing light, nothing is being received. Are there MIDI activity lights on your Fast Track Pro. Is it possible that your keyboard is not outputting the MIDI information - and which speakers do you say you hear sound from.

I'm away from my setup at the minute, but reply to the above, and I'll try to have a look at my own MIDI setup later on this evening.

Hi

You're right. I've changed to the ASIO Driver and things are happening.
Still can't get a preset Backing out of my keyboard to be able to play the same stuff in Ableton. However its a major breakthrough and all does seem to work. Its just a case of learning and playing with stuff and getting my books coming this week. I'll have to get stuck in this weekend again.

I've only just had a quick look tonight, but thanks to you and others for helping me eliminate stuff, I can make some progress now I hope, and feel safe that my unit does work.

Thanks again.
Robert

toprobroy wrote:Still can't get a preset Backing out of my keyboard to be able to play the same stuff in Ableton.

There's no guarantee that your keyboard is outputting the backing track as a MIDI stream. When you play notes on the keyboard is there anything happening with the MIDI activity lights in Ableton? Maybe your MIDI setup isn't right yet.

toprobroy wrote:The Guide is certainly good and I've bookmarked it for future reference.
To answer the other question re sound or MP3's, I don't know how to do that from the Ableton System, but it may help if I tell you what I have setup:

1. Mic is plugged into left front socket.
2. Guitar is wired into Insert 1 at the back.
3. Power switched on with Blue light on and a Red Light Below it.
4. No other switches pressed in on the front.
5. Midi in light is green, midi out light is off.
6. Keyboard switched on and plugged into to midi in and out ports respectively and connected respectively at the back.
7. Usb Cable connected and identified with Vista as working.

Preferences:
Audio:
Driver Type: MME/Direct X
Audio Input Device No Input
Audio Output Device Speakers High Def Audio Wave
Channel Config: Input Greyed Out and OUTPUT Config is Yellow on Both Selections underneath it.
The other settings I think are not too relevant but I can hear a tone when I cllick on the Test Tone.

Midi Sync
Control Surface: None on all 6 settings
Input: None on all 6 Settings
Output: Setting 1 is on Microsoft GS Wave
Takeover Mode: None
Midi Ports: Track and Remote are on Yellow, Sync is Grey

Products
Live Lite 6 MAudio Enhanced Edition: Status Unlocked
Everything else is Hidden

Live Packs
Live 6 Basics and Live 6 Lessons are Installed.

If there is anything else needed setting please let me know.

Right Now for this exercise, I'm looking to get my Guitar to play through the speakers which are plugged into my On Board Sound card which plays media files clearly through Media Player without any problems.

So I hope this is something to give a basis as to what I need to do. I'm not sure how to play an MP3 File on here, but if I open one of Abletrons File Browsers and go to a Folder where I have MP3's, I only see the folder. Clicking on the Folder does nothing, so I can't drag a file or anything.

Thanks

I think your main problem is you have to set up Ableton to receive audio input from your fast track pro.