Tag: Ableton Live

How I start beginners on Ableton Live with Apple Loops

Around Christmas 2013 I was starting to worry about GarageBand.  Since 2006 I had started my beginners on the software, which arguably ignited the entire movement of “older beginner” music composition courses.  2013’s GarageBand 10, however, made me question the direction the software was taking.  I would have to rework many of my lessons to work in the new version.  Since I was already using Ableton Live in my advanced course, I decided it might make more sense to have my beginners use that software instead.

The Experimental Group

Spring semester 2014 I decided to hedge my bets on this topic.  My course registrations for the second-year class are very healthy, and I did not want to jeopardize that by introducing an unpopular change in the beginner level.  I took one section of the beginner course, and pretended GarageBand did not exist, and we started on Ableton Live instead, doing the same exact projects as the five other sections using GarageBand.  Here’s what I learned:

  • Kids do not think either program is “harder” if they don’t know anything different
  • Exporting files is a tiny bit easier in GarageBand
  • GarageBand has a “global key” while Live does not – more on this later
  • Projects from both courses sounded about the same in quality

Really there were no big negatives with the switch, other than a slight intangible fun factor that was not present in the first few weeks.  Once we were off into my projects like the Radio Ad and sampling drum sounds from around the school they class felt exactly right, but there was a bit of magic missing from the first weeks.  After another semester, I determined it was due to the weak loop selection in Live compared to GarageBand.  Ableton loops are not for the faint of heart – many of the “Clips” are exclusive to a specific device or sample pack and do not gracefully drag anywhere as audio files do.  In addition, filenames are inconsistently named, so the search feature is not that helpful for the built-in loops, and there is no fancy metadata based filter system like there is in Logic or GarageBand.  There had to be a way to use those gigs and gigs of Apple Loops sitting on my hard drive already to solve this problem.

Using Apple Loops in Live

So how do we make the loop library friendly in Live?  First off, I just use the GarageBand loop library.  I mean – it’s already there on the computer, right?  Those new loops are especially great.  There are a few hurdles though:

  • New GarageBand loops are in the .caf format – basically a different wrapper for aiff audio that isn’t compatible with basically everything
  • Using Quicktime to convert .caf’s to .wav or .aiff results in a slight silent gap after the audio, making Live interpret the loops incorrectly (losing their ability to loop – it’s hard to say this wasn’t intentional)
  • Metadata in the Apple Loops for Key (and the other stuff – dark/happy/processed, etc.) is basically inaccessible to programs other than Logic and GarageBand

Here’s my step-by-step process to get Apple Loops usable in Live.

  1. Using Audacity’s chains, open a folder .caf files and trim 56 milliseconds from the end, and save as .wav.  I’m not sure if this is the exact amount of silence, but it resulted in a pretty usable loop.
  2. Take any loops containing words like “beat”, “drums”, or “topper” out of the folder – make sure they’re all tagged with an easy to remember word like “Beat” (I used Yosemite’s batch renaming feature to do this)
  3. Using Keyfinder or similar software, load remaining loops from the “cleaned” folder.  Have the software analyze and then write the key into the filenames.
  4. If you’re super picky, use the Apple Loops utility to verify that the keys from Keyfinder are correct.  I had to correct a bunch of them, and I also manually tagged ones with black key names to include both names (i.e. Sweet-Guitar-Loop.A#m.Gbm.wav).  Keyfinder had a lot of trouble with the newer “Layers” loops especially – lots of unclear pitches and 7th chords in there).
  5. Importantly, group any subfolders of loops into one big “Loops” folder.  Add this folder to Ableton Live’s Places in the Browser – I observed that Live’s performance drops significantly if the subfolders are added separately to the browser.
Notice the key tags at the end of the filenames. I had to do that semi-manually.
Notice the key tags at the end of the filenames. I had to do that semi-manually.
Put all your loops in one big folder for optimal performance. If you add all the subfolders to places, Live will spend a lot of time searching the disk instead of making sick beats.
Put all your loops in one big folder for optimal performance. If you add all the subfolders to places, Live will spend a lot of time searching the disk instead of making sick beats.

Now students have the entire GarageBand loop library (including the amazing Chillwave category), usably tagged and categorized, accessible in a much more loop friendly program.

Final Step: The Akai APC Key 25

Since the beginning my music lab has had 25-key MIDI keyboards at each station.  We started with the Korg K25’s and shortly after upgraded to the M-Audio Axiom 25’s we’ve had since 2008.  I’ve toyed around with the idea of adding an unconventional controller to my lab for years, but not a single device fit my needs entirely.  In fact, I’ve purchased several of these as single units intending to use them for the lab, but never felt confident enough to deploy them.

  • The original APC40 – too large, no note input
  • The Novation Launchpad – limited utility, hacky-feeling
  • Launchpad Mini – great size, no control labels – still hacky feeling
  • Ableton Push – gigantic, difficult to use (sorry)

With Akai’s latest crop of hybrid APC devices, I found the perfect tool for my lab.  The APC Key 25 is small (we have limited desk space), includes 100% pre-programmed controls for clip launching and volume adjustment with zero setup, and includes 25 “good enough” keys.  Since we don’t do piano technique as much as we just need a basic note input device, this board is the perfect complement to our Ableton-only curriculum.  It even comes with Live Like Akai edition, which is not far off from Live Intro feature-wise.

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Our first week this semester felt magical again.  It was like the old days when GarageBand was novel and people still thought the Secret Agent Guitar loop still sounded cool.  Kids were able to create key-matched tracks and scenes with relative ease in a non-linear way using cutting edge tools and great sounds.  Everyone used the keyboards, and it made life easier instead of harder!  It was easy, fun and ultimately successful.  Just because the tools don’t come perfect out of the box doesn’t mean you can’t bend them to your will.  Setting up a great music tech class is about engineering the environment on the student workstations for optimal success, and that means sweating the details when it comes to things like searching the library or choosing which controller to buy.  Good luck trying this on your own!

From One Clip, Many (Beginner-level House Music in Session View)

In my beginner Music Tech class we’re currently working on House music in Ableton’s Session View.  A key component of the project is generating tons of descendent clips from one original clip.  The idea was originally to use an old technique as inspiration – the TB-303 bass machine.

In the 1990’s, a lot of electronic music was very repetitive, and changed timbre more than it did notes or rhythmic material.  This is because those patterns were tougher to change and generate than the timbre changes one could accomplish by turning a knob.

This is also the first project we make in Session mode.  I want this strange-looking view to feel accessible and uniquely useful, so clip duplication is a pretty good starting point.

In our song, we start with a very simple bass pattern.  I like to use the opportunity to show what a monophonic instrument is and how the notes interrupt each other rather than playing chords.  In our example, the students generate the part by locating two octaves of a note with our left index finger and right index finger.  When we press the circle to record a clip, we “park” our left hand on the lower note, leaving it unchanged while simultaneously “interrupting” it with the higher note.  To create more interest, we allow the higher note to drift a bit to nearby keys.  After a quick quantize (cmd-U) the result is a cool alternating bass pattern.

Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 11.29.06 AM

I then have students add more instrument tracks to the set – one of each synth category (Pad, Keys, Lead, Rhythmics, etc).  We then copy the initial bass recording onto the other tracks.  Each time we will adjust the octave (in the Notes box, simply type “+12” until it’s in a good sounding octave for that instrument).  After a few other steps involving form sections the Session view ends up looking like this.  Notice – the red clips are all the same exact clip, possibly octave shifted.  There are also drum clips and sound effects to help with transitions between scenes.

Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 11.29.10 AM

When the song sections start coming together, we record the song scene-by-scene into the Arrangement view as a linear, finished song.

This long tone bass part translates to a big variety of sounds when placed on other instrument tracks.  Some things the students learn all in one shot with this project:

  • How MIDI clips are portable between instrument tracks
  • How Instrument timbre affects the sounds of notes, even if the notes are exactly the same
  • How to economically write a full song without needing to generate lots of original music beyond the original keyboard recording

Those are just the technical skills though – the real fun of this project is learning about House music and how to build up and drop and all that fun stuff.  Here’s what the finished project sounds like.

Keep in mind this is a project for beginners who have only been making music for about 8 weeks, and it totally works.  Let me know what you think!

DJ’ing Using Ableton Live Arrangement View

I had a great time last week DJ’ing a dance party for our school marching band camp.  It was an hour long set, and I didn’t take requests but I totally could have.

First, the tools.  I DJ’ed exclusively using Ableton – in Arrangement View.  Huh?  Arrangement View?

“But Session View is for stuff like live prefromants rite?”  Yes, my poor-spelling friend.  However, there are some distinct advantages to DJ’ing in Arrangement View.  Here’s an unordered list of my reasons:

  • I like knowing how long my set is, especially for a short 1-hour set
  • I like to craft nice transitions between songs
  • I like to incorporate pieces of the previous song in the current mix, something that’s hard to do without a timeline visualization
  • It gives me less to think about

Now.  Some people may criticize those who simply press play and let the DJ set go as planned, rather than beat juggling on the fly and such.  There’s some merit to the argument, especially if people just lie down after pressing play and take a nap.  However, preplanning the main song material gives me more freedom to play around with effects during the performance, which you’ll see in a bit.

First, how I organize my set.

Organizing the set

This is what the overall set looks like:

Screen Shot 2014-08-06 at 12.06.22 PM

Two main tracks alternating playing a song.  No crossfader, just automated volume adjustments.

The blank track is part of a drum kit I’ll get to later.

Notice the automation line at the bottom – this is the master tempo.  By pre-setting this, all my transitions are taken care of and I don’t have to worry about any party fouls.  I can also visually see how much I’m working the crowd.  I don’t want too much fast or slow all at once.

The overall picture of the night I’m going for looks like this:

  • Act I: Hip Hop / 80-100 BPM Pop
  • Act II: Dance tracks / 120-130 BPM Pop
  • Act III: Line dance / cheese / big tracks people go crazy for

You can see in the tempo line how everything calms down around the start of Act II – I need some runway to build up to the bigger tracks.  Some of the big jumps are actually quarter time to half time transitions as well; I’m not a masochist after all.

Another thing I like to use in Arrangement View are the Locators.  These are position marks on the timeline that act like clip triggers do in Session View.  In DJ’ing, they’re perfect for marking the big hits/drops/choruses of the song – if the song is going really well I can trigger back to that hit to keep the party going for a bit longer.  Even though this effects my overall set length it gives the ability to be somewhat reactive to the crowd response.

Screen Shot 2014-08-06 at 12.12.00 PM

 

These can be added by simply right-clicking the strip below the timeline and selecting “Add Locator”

Mashups

Mashups are awesome and easy to do in Ableton Live.  Basically, I’ll take an instrumental (or an instrumental loop from a song) and play another song (or acapella version of a song) over it, creating something new and fresh that a) sounds unique and b) makes me sound like I’m working the decks really hard or whatever they call it.

To see if  two songs will mash I just need to:

  1. Make the tempo of the two songs the same
  2. Make the key of the two songs the same
  3. Evaluate if the mashup works or not

Mashing up is like an extension of transitions.  Ableton will attempt to make any song you drag in the same tempo, but will often get the warping wrong.  To make a track warp correctly,

  1. Turn on the metronome
  2. Double click the track header (the colored stripe)
  3. Find a known beat 1 on the track
  4. Double click the grey transient mark above that spike to add a warp marker
  5. On the warp marker, right click and select “Warp from here (Straight)” – this will recalculate the warping at a constant tempo, something most songs are notable for having.
  6. If this doesn’t work, the song requires some TLC such as adding more warp markers.  Remember, any sound can occur on whatever beat you want in Ableton – you just have to add a warp marker and move the beat to the right timeline mark.

Screen Shot 2014-08-06 at 12.22.12 PM

 

So now that the two songs are sync’ed to the metronome click, we need them to be in the same key.  Generally we don’t want to move the key of vocals too much as it will distort the singing and make the song less recognizable.  Most of the time we can adjust the “Transpose” of the instrumental to match the singing.  Even if you know nothing about music theory, it is possible to tell if it sounds like the singer is singing wrong notes or not – if it sounds wrong, move it a step up or down and see if it starts to match.

Protip: If you can’t find a match in +6 or -6 steps the two songs may not be matchable.  12 keys represents every possible key the song could be in, and a mismatch might mean they are in different modes (major trying to play with minor, etc.)

This is where warp modes can come in handy too.  The different methods for warping a clip can impact how they sound.  For anything with vocals, I’d recommend “Complex Pro” mode.  It preserves more of the timbre of the vocalist than the other modes.

 

Effects/Instruments

I use an Akai MPD24 for effects.  It’s not a LaunchPad or an Ableton controller like the Push, but it suits my needs better for my set.  It’s dead simple.  Here’s the MIDI map:

mpd24_top_lg_700x438

 

(click to enlarge)

With Beat Repeat and the other two FX plugins I can do a lot to skip and juggle and mess with transitions even more “on the fly” without compromising the stability of my set.

I had a lot of fun with the drum pads too.  I want anything I add to not sound like I’m just farting around on a drum machine, so I put an Arpeggiator set to “Chord Trigger” on my Drum Rack.  This way I can play 16th notes on multiple pads just by holding down the pad and they won’t just be close to the right tempo, they’ll be EXACTLY the right tempo.  I think I also mapped a couple of the blank knobs to the pitch for individual hits so I could freshen up the sound.

Screen Shot 2014-08-06 at 12.35.31 PM

I used this feature to:

  • Add trap “machine gun” Hi Hats to everything
  • Add extra craziness to buildups
  • Reinforce weak Kick patterns
  • Look super busy during the set

It’s important to have lots of knobs to turn.

And with that I’m done for the day – have fun DJ’ing in Ableton Live and feel free to send me your set questions!

 

 

 

The Best Ableton Push Review

Courtesy of DJ Tech Tools:

“The buttons are a lot more playable than I thought they’d be”

The video makes it look less like a rubber pad and more like some sort of kevlar-headed piano key.  The triple finger gesture he does with the drum pads is pretty convincing – I haven’t tried one of these for myself yet, but those pads look like a decidedly higher-end product than the older APC and LaunchPad offerings.

Audio to MIDI in Ableton Live 9 vs. Melodyne

Oliver Chesler has an interesting look at the Audio to MIDI feature in Live 9.  He compares it to Melodyne, actually:

Whatever you think of the results as much as I love Melodyne and use it it’s not a feature built into Live therefor one step away from instant. I also don’t think you can Audio to Drums like you can in Live. The real killer feature for Audio to Midi is my own whistling or humming to create parts and ideas.

Of course, it can’t affect the audio signal with the MIDI analysis like Melodyne can, so it seems more of a songwriting tool to me.  Either way, he made a cool video demonstrating the difference between the two:

Via Wire to the Ear.

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