Hope this is ok! I copied all the parts pertaining to Ableton Live.
DJ Times: What’s some of the software that you’re using on Involver?
Sasha: We’re using Ableton Live, and this project wouldn’t be possible without that software. Ableton allows us to audition stuff on the fly really quickly. You can just cut-and-paste so fast, and now it takes us seconds to do what, before, would have taken us several minutes.
DJ Times: How are you using Ableton Live, specifically?
Sasha: We’ve taken something and had it pitch-shifted, stretched, and we can throw mad ideas at a mix and get it to work. Maybe some sounds you made three years ago now you can draw upon, with Ableton. I definitely think that because you can audition stuff on-the-fly, [Ableton Live] allows me to more spontaneously throw a round of things in. Once you spend time on making a sound, you get attached to it and you’re trying to make it fit into a track because you invested so much time into it. Now with Ableton, it allows you to really think creatively.
DJ Times: How do you have Ableton Live wired?
Sasha: We’ve got [Ableton Live] re-wired into Logic [Audio]. Logic is still the writing tool, but that’s basically our set-up now. We’re running everything on a really powerful G5 Mac, like Panther Logic. It’s a pretty slick operation, to be honest. We have another studio set-up, which is basically our mix room, and it’s got speakers and a big, fat Apple monitor and stuff. It’s our really acoustically good-sounding room. Another room I have is with all of my old analog and outboard gear, PCs and a lot of software available for PC and stuff like that.
February 20 – Session #2
DJ Times: Ableton Live re-wired into Logic Audio is still your main setup?
Sasha: Yeah, and the thing is, this week, the guys from M-Audio sent me over a load of controllers to test with [Ableton] Live, and I hooked-up the controllers to Live on my laptop and I was DJing with it at home. It’s really amazing.
February 27 – Session #3
DJ Times: How has your progress been this past week?
Sasha: We’re cool. We’re really rockin’ it in the studio. Definitely making progress. We’re still making arrangements in [Ableton] Live, and then we’re sitting back and letting it sink-in for a couple of days. Then, we’ll go back and re-arrange things, as well as make the tracks sound unique on their own. I’m also aware of how each track fits on the album, but everything seems to be falling into place. I think the reality of having a studio in one’s house and constantly battling other distractions and staying focused can be a challenge. I’m still moving into my [new Miami area] home little by little.
DJ Times: How do you like it?
Sasha: I’m really excited about the fact that it just gives me so much freedom. You can pull records apart and re-edit a song while you’re in a club and actually mix together out of different tracks. Now that I’ve spent some time with the M-Audio controllers, I realize how amazing Live is, from a DJ’s point-of-view. What I can do in a club using Live is just amazing. It’s formed a bridge between the studio and the DJ world that’s never happened before. I’ll be working in the same [software] environment in both the studio and in the clubs, which will lead me to put both worlds together. I’ll be almost working on ideas in the studio while I’m DJing, and I can transfer tracks that work well from the club setting into the studio. It’s really blown my mind.
DJ Times: You said last week that Ableton Live 3 is having a huge impact on you as a DJ.
Sasha: I’m definitely using Live to re-invent my DJ sets. I really like Final Scratch software, which is revolutionary as a DJ tool. I was going down that route, but then I started playing with Live and it’s taken me into different directions. When I first start using Live, it’ll be like a third turntable, and then I’ll slowly incorporate it more. At the moment, I have parts of different tracks from different people, like Underworld, and I’m mixing records together in the studio. I’m actually talking to the M-Audio people now that I’ve got my head around what I want to accomplish. It’s only been the last couple of weeks that I’m seeing how to DJ with it. The algorithms created with Live are so simple and powerful. I think not many people have gotten onto it yet, but it’s definitely caused a revolution in my [DJ] set. In the studio, we’re running Live through Logic, Native Instruments stuff, and we’ve got Reaktor going.