DJing at Ableton Live
Good day, dear habrapayazhey users! I hasten to share with you an excellent article written by Comrade Jackarus ( Trimingham DJ Trimingham). He himself unfortunately could not post it, so I had to do it. So if someone wants to thank the author of the article, remember that the author is Jackarus (I hope he will appear in the comments), but not me, remember whom to ply;)
PS At the same time, taking this opportunity, I want to apologize to the author of the article for the huge delay in publishing.
Originally, this text was intended for the participants of the music forum www.beatsfactory.net , where I work as an administrator, but then I decided that I had to share it with the habra people;)
I just want to make a reservation that this manual in no way pretends to be an exhaustive reference, and even more so in the last resort. I just made an attempt to summarize my own experience, advice and recommendations, which were kindly shared with my fellow DJs, as well as information gathered from various online and print sources. Any constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.
')
Since this guide can be read by people with very different levels of training, I will try to build it on a “from simple to complex” principle, but I assume that all readers are at least a little familiar with Ableton Live. If this is not the case, I recommend first reading the training video from GrooveBoxMusic or from AskVideo.
DJ Trimingham
jackarus (gav-gav) gmail dot com
Where to suvat when for the first time?
(From requests to Yandex)
Some special settings for DJing Ableton Live practically does not require, you can select only three points:
As you no doubt know, Ableton Live has 2 modes: Session View and Arrangement view. Usually, Session View is used for live operation, while in the Arrangement view step-by-step, offline recording of mixes is performed. Although there are live DJs in the Arrangement view, this is, in my opinion, a pleasure for an amateur.
For DJing, the Global Quantization parameter is responsible for when the playback of a running clip begins. If you set it equal to 1 measure, then playback will start from the beginning of the next measure. If you set it equal to 2 measures, then playback will start from the beginning of the next odd measure. If you set it equal to 4 bars, then the clip will start playing on the bar from the series 5, 9, 13 ... and so on.
The larger the GQ parameter, the more time DJ has to make a decision, but a small GQ value leaves more room for creativity. As a rule, GQ is set equal to one or two cycles, although, of course, there are no hard and fast rules here and can not be.
The principal difference of Ableton Live from the "traditional" DJ programs (Tracktor / Virtual DJ / Dekadance, etc.) is that all used tracks must be specially prepared; in other words, you cannot take the first available audio file and immediately use it in the mix (except for “atmospheric” samples that do not have a certain tempo). The need for preliminary preparation of the material scares many, but believe me - this process pays off handsomely.
Ableton live was the first DAW in which the concept of elastic audio was implemented (Elastic audio). Its essence lies in the fact that the audio file is divided into an arbitrary number of fragments, each of which can be stretched or compressed in time without changing the frequency (i.e., pitch) of the sound. In other words, we kind of forcefully indicate: "Such and such a musical event should happen then and that." Practically, this means that we can perfectly synchronize any musical material in terms of tempo - dance tracks, live recordings, drum loops and so on without spending a second on beatmatching - the basis of traditional DJing and the main stumbling block for beginners. To do this, use a process called Beatwarping.
The Beatwarping method described above with small variations wanders from article to article and from textbook to textbook. But let's think about it - what are we actually doing? And we do the following: we divide the track into a dozen of fragments and assign an independent tempo to each of them so that Ableton knows with what speed what fragment to play. This is absolutely necessary for compositions with a floating tempo — for example, live recordings or vinyl rips (as in the example above). But why do some DJs do this with stunning perseverance on tracks with a steady tempo — ripped off a CD or mp3-shka bought from Beatport? Do not know? So I do not know.
In fact, all that needs to be done in such cases is to indicate the first bit and accurately determine the tempo of the entire track. This is done very easily, the whole procedure takes 30-40 seconds.
Question: I did everything as written, but the track is at odds with the metronome!
Answer: Once again pay attention to the positioning accuracy of the first Warp marker, as a rule, the reason lies in this. Another common mistake is a Start-marker and / or loop shifted relative to the downbit.
In my opinion, Ableton, like a DJ program, has only two significant drawbacks - the inability to save multiple Start-markers (corresponding to the cue marks on the CD-deck) and the display of only one waveform in the Session View mode.
The second drawback today is, as far as I know, unavoidable (unless you write some tricky VST plugin, can any of the habra people take it?), But the first can and must be fought. This is done like this:
When this happens several events at once:
- A folder called Audio_Project_Name is created with the AL icon.
- The folder Samples is created in the folder Audio_Projects_Name.
- The Imported folder is created in the Samples folder where the source track is copied.
- In the folder Audio_Model_Project, the file Audio_Manage.als (Ableton Live set) is created.
This is what is visible from the Ableton browser. If we move to Windows Explorer, we will see three more objects created - the Ableton Project Info folder, and the Project.cfg and AProject.ico files in it.
File Name_audiodazhki.als renamed to Track_name.als; You also rename the Name_audio_roject_project folder - you can give it any clear name, for example, the name of the musical style or the name of the artist.
An unlimited number of tracks prepared in this way can be dropped into this renamed folder, the original tracks will be copied to the Imported folder, and new * .als files will appear in the root of the folder.
Now we can at any time drag any * .als file back onto the audio track (do not worry that Ableton will re-draw the waveforms of the clips again - this will happen only for the first time) and voila - our clips with Start markers placed in advance . Using several clips with Start-markers in different places, you can make recut-versions of tracks on the fly.
In addition to Start-markers in this way you can save loops, follow action and so on.
AL DJing templates can be extremely heaped - contain several audio tracks for tracks, MIDI tracks with VST instruments and automation clips, audio tracks with loops, samples, dummy clips, all kinds of audio and MIDI effects. and so on and so forth.
However, we will talk about all this ahead, and first, let's try to reproduce the classic DJ setup - two turntables and a mixer with a crossfader and three-band equalizers.
This option has its advantages - it is as simple as a boot and reliable as the AK-47. Ableton Live in this case is used only to start tracks, and cueing (pre-listening) and the actual mix is ​​done using a regular DJ mixer.
This option does not require an external mixer, but it will be difficult to do without a MIDI controller with rotary and sliders.
There is nothing more boring than watching a DJ who sits at a laptop and carries a mouse back and forth on the mat. As one journalist wrote, “It remains unclear what exactly the DJ was doing: either checking his mail or playing“ Sapper ”.
Creating a completely “mindless” AL template is a quite doable task, but it requires a separate conversation; I plan to devote the second part of the guide to this burning topic. At the moment, let's agree that we will load the tracks with the mouse, and launch them and other controls using the keyboard or MIDI controller.
In principle, you can go to the desired clip using the cursor keys, and launch using the Enter key, but this, in my opinion, is not very convenient. It is better to assign each of the slots of our template a separate key to run. Practice shows that rarely more than five Start-markers are used on a track, so for simplicity, let's assign 1-0 slots on the Deck 1 track, and 6-0 on the Deck 2 track. This is done like this:
By the way, a great controller option from the “cheap and angry” category is to buy an additional keyboard for $ 10, break all unnecessary buttons out of it, and paint the necessary ones for more informativeness in different colors.
Question: The Space key stops playback of all running clips, but when it is pressed again, playback does not start from the moment it stops, but again from Start-markers. How to avoid it?
Answer: In order for the reproduction to start from the same point where the stop was made, use the Shift-Space command.
Running clips using a MIDI controller is implemented in exactly the same way:
Not so long ago, the AKAI APC 40 MIDI controller was announced, which supports AL out of the box. The device looks very attractive, but how it will show itself in real work - we'll find out a little later, when the controller goes on sale.
Here, of course, we are talking only about the MIDI controller. On the computer keyboard, you can hang up except the equalizer kill buttons.
The compliance of these controls with the controls on the MIDI controller is done in the same way as in the previous case: turn on the MIDI map mode, select the control with a mouse click and move the desired knob on the MIDI controller:
There is one subtlety in using EQ3: the fact is that, as can be seen from the figure above, the 0 dB points in it are not made for 12 hours, as usual, but somewhere around 15.30. These points are not marked on MIDI controllers known to me and the knobs are not fixed on them. Catching 0 dB "by eye", especially in real work conditions, is a little pleasure. Exit the situation in two ways:
Well, in general, that's all. Have a nice mix! :)
PS At the same time, taking this opportunity, I want to apologize to the author of the article for the huge delay in publishing.
Originally, this text was intended for the participants of the music forum www.beatsfactory.net , where I work as an administrator, but then I decided that I had to share it with the habra people;)
I just want to make a reservation that this manual in no way pretends to be an exhaustive reference, and even more so in the last resort. I just made an attempt to summarize my own experience, advice and recommendations, which were kindly shared with my fellow DJs, as well as information gathered from various online and print sources. Any constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.
')
Since this guide can be read by people with very different levels of training, I will try to build it on a “from simple to complex” principle, but I assume that all readers are at least a little familiar with Ableton Live. If this is not the case, I recommend first reading the training video from GrooveBoxMusic or from AskVideo.
DJ Trimingham
jackarus (gav-gav) gmail dot com
Part 1. Quick start.
Where to suvat when for the first time?
(From requests to Yandex)
General settings.
Some special settings for DJing Ableton Live practically does not require, you can select only three points:
- Go to Options - Preferences - Record Warp Launch and disable Auto-warp Long Samples. Beatwarping is an operation that, in my opinion, cannot be trusted to anyone.
- In the same place, we put the Default warp mode in the Complex mode - although this mode is approximately 10 times more resource-intensive than all the others, it gives the best result in the case of complex musical material. Let me remind you that if necessary, you can change the Beatwarping mode for any clip in the Sample Box.
- In Options - Preferences - Look Feel - Colors, we change the default skin to some more contrasting one. The fact is that in the Session view there are 3 main focus areas - Browser, Clip view / Track view and Mixer drop area. The same keyboard command, depending on the current focus, can trigger different actions, or not trigger any; therefore, the default skin, which, in my opinion, is not sufficiently informative, is better to replace. Personally, I prefer the Nautic skin, but this is naturally a matter of taste.
Session View and Arrangement view.
As you no doubt know, Ableton Live has 2 modes: Session View and Arrangement view. Usually, Session View is used for live operation, while in the Arrangement view step-by-step, offline recording of mixes is performed. Although there are live DJs in the Arrangement view, this is, in my opinion, a pleasure for an amateur.
Global Quantization.
For DJing, the Global Quantization parameter is responsible for when the playback of a running clip begins. If you set it equal to 1 measure, then playback will start from the beginning of the next measure. If you set it equal to 2 measures, then playback will start from the beginning of the next odd measure. If you set it equal to 4 bars, then the clip will start playing on the bar from the series 5, 9, 13 ... and so on.
The larger the GQ parameter, the more time DJ has to make a decision, but a small GQ value leaves more room for creativity. As a rule, GQ is set equal to one or two cycles, although, of course, there are no hard and fast rules here and can not be.
1. Preparation of the Material.
The principal difference of Ableton Live from the "traditional" DJ programs (Tracktor / Virtual DJ / Dekadance, etc.) is that all used tracks must be specially prepared; in other words, you cannot take the first available audio file and immediately use it in the mix (except for “atmospheric” samples that do not have a certain tempo). The need for preliminary preparation of the material scares many, but believe me - this process pays off handsomely.
1.1 Beatwarping.
Ableton live was the first DAW in which the concept of elastic audio was implemented (Elastic audio). Its essence lies in the fact that the audio file is divided into an arbitrary number of fragments, each of which can be stretched or compressed in time without changing the frequency (i.e., pitch) of the sound. In other words, we kind of forcefully indicate: "Such and such a musical event should happen then and that." Practically, this means that we can perfectly synchronize any musical material in terms of tempo - dance tracks, live recordings, drum loops and so on without spending a second on beatmatching - the basis of traditional DJing and the main stumbling block for beginners. To do this, use a process called Beatwarping.
1.1.1 Beatwarping - the “classic” way.
- Load the desired track in any slot and set the tempo of the set approximately equal to the tempo of the track that we want to process.
- We set the Global Quantization parameter to two cycles - this will help us quickly move around the track using the Nudge buttons. It is convenient to assign hot keys to these buttons; How to do this is described in the “Management” section.
- Click the Warp button in the Sample Box window, and a yellow Warp marker appears on the waveform with the number 1.
- The success of the entire beatwarping largely depends on the positioning accuracy of the first Warp marker, so this marker must be placed as accurately as possible on the desired bit, for which the zoom is used. Hot keys are gray “+” (zoom in) and gray “-” (zoom out).
Question: Where better to put the first Warp marker?
Answer: Trying to find the right place on the "atmospheric" introduction is practically hopeless occupation; Put a Warp marker on the first percussion downbeat (ideally on the first barrel) - you can't go wrong. If you want to use such an introduction in the mix, then after conducting the beatwarping of the entire track, the Start-marker should be put on the “negative” Grid-marker corresponding to the downbit. - In the Sample Box window, press the Loop button and combine the beginning of the loop with the first Warp marker. There we put a Start-marker. If necessary, use the zoom.
- Set the loop length to 4 bars.
- Turn on the metronome and start playback. Most likely, by the end of the loop, you will hear a small “beat” - the loop will diverge in tempo with the metronome. By the way, many DJs prefer to use not a metronome, but a drum loop (usually just a barrel), launched on a nearby audio track.
- “Grab” the Grid marker corresponding to the beginning of the 5th bar with the mouse and, moving it left or right, we achieve perfect synchronization of the loop and the metronome. If necessary, use the zoom and control the synchronization visually.
- Click on Loop brace (bar above the waveform) to select a loop and press Ctrl-Up. The length of the loop doubles (Ctrl-Down produces the opposite effect).
- Repeat point 8 for the Grid marker corresponding to the beginning of the 9th bar (for fast navigation within the loop, use the Nudge buttons). If the loop cannot be synchronized with the metronome, it means that the tempo on the track “floats” very much and the length of the loop needs to be reduced to 4 measures, and then go to step 12.
- Repeat steps 9-10 until the loop length corresponds to 32 bars.
- By double-clicking we turn the Grid marker, corresponding to the beginning of 33 bars (or 5/9/17 - depending on the fluctuations of the tempo on the track), into a yellow Warp marker. Now it will remain in place, even if we move other markers.
- Click on the Loop brace and click Up. In this case, the loop shifts from position 1-33 to position 33-65.
- Adjusting the position of the Grid-marker of the 65th cycle, we achieve the synchronization of the loop and the metronome (using the zoom). If this cannot be done, then the length of the loop must be reduced to 16 or less cycles.
- Double-click to turn the grid marker of the 65th cycle into a Warp marker.
- Repeat steps 13-15 until we reach the end of the track (the last loop may be less than 32 cycles and its length will need to be reduced).
- We set the Global quantization equal to 8 clocks and, using the Nudge buttons, “flip through” the track under the metronome from beginning to end for the final check.
- If everything is in order, click Save.
1.1.2 Beatwarping is a practical way.
The Beatwarping method described above with small variations wanders from article to article and from textbook to textbook. But let's think about it - what are we actually doing? And we do the following: we divide the track into a dozen of fragments and assign an independent tempo to each of them so that Ableton knows with what speed what fragment to play. This is absolutely necessary for compositions with a floating tempo — for example, live recordings or vinyl rips (as in the example above). But why do some DJs do this with stunning perseverance on tracks with a steady tempo — ripped off a CD or mp3-shka bought from Beatport? Do not know? So I do not know.
In fact, all that needs to be done in such cases is to indicate the first bit and accurately determine the tempo of the entire track. This is done very easily, the whole procedure takes 30-40 seconds.
- Load the desired track in any slot and set the tempo of the set approximately equal to the tempo of the track.
- Press the Warp button in the Sample Box, while the Warp marker appears on the track.
- Find a suitable downbeat and combine a Warp marker with it. This is the only Warp marker to be set! I remind you that the success of the entire beatwarping depends on the positioning accuracy of the first Warp marker. At the same place put the Start-marker.
- We turn on the metronome, start the playback and, grabbing the grid marker of, say, the ninth bar, synchronize the track with the metronome. I emphasize once again - you don’t need to turn this Grid marker into a Warp marker! In other words - do not make it yellow!
- Using the Scrub area, we move somewhere closer to the last third of the track (for example, the first downbit after hanging), grab any of the Grid markers (without making it yellow!) And again level the tempo relative to the metronome.
- Go to the end of the track and repeat the previous operation if necessary, finally determining the tempo. It is clear that the closer we are to the end of the track, the more precise tempo changes we make, for which the zoom is used.
- Do not forget to click Save.
Question: I did everything as written, but the track is at odds with the metronome!
Answer: Once again pay attention to the positioning accuracy of the first Warp marker, as a rule, the reason lies in this. Another common mistake is a Start-marker and / or loop shifted relative to the downbit.
1.2. Tagging
In my opinion, Ableton, like a DJ program, has only two significant drawbacks - the inability to save multiple Start-markers (corresponding to the cue marks on the CD-deck) and the display of only one waveform in the Session View mode.
The second drawback today is, as far as I know, unavoidable (unless you write some tricky VST plugin, can any of the habra people take it?), But the first can and must be fought. This is done like this:
- In the Session View mode, we create an audio track and drag the desired track from the browser to the first slot (we assume that we have already done beatwarping on it).
- Press Ctrl-D several times (by the number of tags you need). In this case, the created clip is duplicated the corresponding number of times.
- Successively moving from the first clip to the last, we set the Start-markers in the places we need.
- We give to the created clips names that are clear to you. I usually do not rename the first clip that corresponds to the beginning of the track, so that it is clear what is playing now.
- And now the most important thing: select all the created clips and drag them back to the browser, to a folder specially prepared for this:
When this happens several events at once:
- A folder called Audio_Project_Name is created with the AL icon.
- The folder Samples is created in the folder Audio_Projects_Name.
- The Imported folder is created in the Samples folder where the source track is copied.
- In the folder Audio_Model_Project, the file Audio_Manage.als (Ableton Live set) is created.
This is what is visible from the Ableton browser. If we move to Windows Explorer, we will see three more objects created - the Ableton Project Info folder, and the Project.cfg and AProject.ico files in it.
File Name_audiodazhki.als renamed to Track_name.als; You also rename the Name_audio_roject_project folder - you can give it any clear name, for example, the name of the musical style or the name of the artist.
An unlimited number of tracks prepared in this way can be dropped into this renamed folder, the original tracks will be copied to the Imported folder, and new * .als files will appear in the root of the folder.
Now we can at any time drag any * .als file back onto the audio track (do not worry that Ableton will re-draw the waveforms of the clips again - this will happen only for the first time) and voila - our clips with Start markers placed in advance . Using several clips with Start-markers in different places, you can make recut-versions of tracks on the fly.
In addition to Start-markers in this way you can save loops, follow action and so on.
Part 2. Creating a DJ template.
AL DJing templates can be extremely heaped - contain several audio tracks for tracks, MIDI tracks with VST instruments and automation clips, audio tracks with loops, samples, dummy clips, all kinds of audio and MIDI effects. and so on and so forth.
However, we will talk about all this ahead, and first, let's try to reproduce the classic DJ setup - two turntables and a mixer with a crossfader and three-band equalizers.
Option one. Using an external (iron) mixer.
This option has its advantages - it is as simple as a boot and reliable as the AK-47. Ableton Live in this case is used only to start tracks, and cueing (pre-listening) and the actual mix is ​​done using a regular DJ mixer.
- Create two audio tracks, for authenticity, we call one Deck 1 and the other Deck 2.
- In order for audio tracks not to be renamed whenever we drag a * .als file onto them, we load each track in the Track view and then disable any audio plugin (you can find them in the Live Devices browser section). Instead of an audio plugin, you can load the Audio Effects rack; you can of course not turn it off.
- We direct the Deck 1 to one output of the audio card, and the Deck 2 to the other (this may require activating the In / Out item in the View menu).
- Save the template under any suitable name and produce the appropriate physical switching of the mixer and the audio card.
Option Two: Using an internal (software) mixer.
This option does not require an external mixer, but it will be difficult to do without a MIDI controller with rotary and sliders.
- We start the same way - with the creation of two audio tracks, both are left directed to the Master.
- In the browser in the Live Devices section, select EQ Three and drag it to the Track view of both audio tracks. Both EQs are renamed (use the context menu on the device header for this) - one, for example, in Deck 1 EQ Three, the other, respectively - in Deck 2 EQ Three; it helps to quickly understand which mixer channel is currently focusing.
- In the View menu, turn on the Crossfader (or press Ctrl-Alt-F), while the corresponding control appears in the master section.
- In the bottom of the mixer we find the Crossfader assign section. Click on the track Deck 1 button A, and on Deck 2 - B.
- In the master section, switch the Solo / Cue button to Cue mode.
- In the same place, in the master section, we direct Cue Out to one output of the audio card, and Master Out to the other.
- Save the template. Output ½ is used for pre-listening through headphones (with the volume fader turned off and the Cue button pressed on the corresponding channel), and output ¾ for outputting audio to the air.
Part 3. Management.
There is nothing more boring than watching a DJ who sits at a laptop and carries a mouse back and forth on the mat. As one journalist wrote, “It remains unclear what exactly the DJ was doing: either checking his mail or playing“ Sapper ”.
Creating a completely “mindless” AL template is a quite doable task, but it requires a separate conversation; I plan to devote the second part of the guide to this burning topic. At the moment, let's agree that we will load the tracks with the mouse, and launch them and other controls using the keyboard or MIDI controller.
1. Running clips. Option 1 - Use the keyboard.
In principle, you can go to the desired clip using the cursor keys, and launch using the Enter key, but this, in my opinion, is not very convenient. It is better to assign each of the slots of our template a separate key to run. Practice shows that rarely more than five Start-markers are used on a track, so for simplicity, let's assign 1-0 slots on the Deck 1 track, and 6-0 on the Deck 2 track. This is done like this:
- By pressing the “KEY” button in the upper right corner (keyboard shortcut - Ctrl-K) we turn on the Key map mode, and the controls to which hot keys can be assigned are highlighted in red.
- Click to select the desired slot:
- Press the desired key on the keyboard, while its designation appears on the highlighted slot:
- We repeat paragraphs 2 and 3 until complete satisfaction:
- Turn off the Key map mode by pressing the KEY button again and save the template.
By the way, a great controller option from the “cheap and angry” category is to buy an additional keyboard for $ 10, break all unnecessary buttons out of it, and paint the necessary ones for more informativeness in different colors.
Question: The Space key stops playback of all running clips, but when it is pressed again, playback does not start from the moment it stops, but again from Start-markers. How to avoid it?
Answer: In order for the reproduction to start from the same point where the stop was made, use the Shift-Space command.
Option 2. Use MIDI controller.
Running clips using a MIDI controller is implemented in exactly the same way:
- Turn on MIDI Map mode by pressing the MIDI button in the upper right corner (keyboard shortcut - Ctrl-M), while the controls to which you can assign MIDI commands are highlighted in blue.
- Click to select the desired slot:
- Press the desired button (key) on the MIDI controller, while the designation of a MIDI command appears on a dedicated slot:
- Repeat points 2 and 3 to the bitter end:
- Turning off the MIDI Map mode by pressing the MIDI button again and saving the template.
Not so long ago, the AKAI APC 40 MIDI controller was announced, which supports AL out of the box. The device looks very attractive, but how it will show itself in real work - we'll find out a little later, when the controller goes on sale.
3.2 Crossfader, channel faders and equalizer.
Here, of course, we are talking only about the MIDI controller. On the computer keyboard, you can hang up except the equalizer kill buttons.
The compliance of these controls with the controls on the MIDI controller is done in the same way as in the previous case: turn on the MIDI map mode, select the control with a mouse click and move the desired knob on the MIDI controller:
There is one subtlety in using EQ3: the fact is that, as can be seen from the figure above, the 0 dB points in it are not made for 12 hours, as usual, but somewhere around 15.30. These points are not marked on MIDI controllers known to me and the knobs are not fixed on them. Catching 0 dB "by eye", especially in real work conditions, is a little pleasure. Exit the situation in two ways:
- When working, turn the equalizer knobs all the way to the right (which corresponds to 6 dB), and set the limit for the channel fader to -6 dB (in the MIDI map mode, in the corresponding table, in the “Max” column, enter “-6”) gives 0 dB.
- Again, we twist the equalizer knob all the way to the right, but set the zero limit for the equalizer bands themselves, i.e. the far right will be 0 dB.
Well, in general, that's all. Have a nice mix! :)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/56826/
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