The Ableton Q&A Thread

[Grime Syndicate]

Oh, and what is the purpose of collect all and save? And when should it be used. I often will "save as" a new project so i can retrieve my midi data later if I wanna change things, and then flatten or bounce everything. So, when and why would I "collect all and save" to assist in this? will it fuck up my little plan here? or help it in some way?

[symmetricalsounds]

Quick couple questions guys... How do I freeze and flatten, or resample/bounce a track that has a sidechain on it? For example, I have a sub bass that is slightly sidechain compressed with the kick bus as the sidechain input source. It won't let me freeze a track that's sidechained and if i resample, then I would normally solo the midi track, and hit record on the resample audio track. But this is gonna negate the sidechain as then its not receiving audio from the kicks to tell it to duck!!! Fuckin 'ell, I'm stumped.

you just need an audio track with the input from the sub channel and make sure it's post mixer and that should record the sidechained bass.

[symmetricalsounds]

Oh, and what is the purpose of collect all and save? And when should it be used. I often will "save as" a new project so i can retrieve my midi data later if I wanna change things, and then flatten or bounce everything. So, when and why would I "collect all and save" to assist in this? will it fuck up my little plan here? or help it in some way?

collect and save collects samples that are elsewhere and puts them inside the project folder. i'd use this before giving a project to someone else to work with, or if i was going to use it on another computer.

[Disco Nutter]

I ALWAYS do it. You never know when you'll start moving samples or deleting stuff you think you'll never be using. This will save your ass, trust me!

[mks]

I ALWAYS do it. You never know when you'll start moving samples or deleting stuff you think you'll never be using. This will save your ass, trust me!

I really should start doing this more. I am about to move some projects over to a new computer but the samples will be on a second drive with a different path. It will probably be a nightmare unless I go through each project and do a Collect All and Save.

[Grime Syndicate]

Quick couple questions guys... How do I freeze and flatten, or resample/bounce a track that has a sidechain on it? For example, I have a sub bass that is slightly sidechain compressed with the kick bus as the sidechain input source. It won't let me freeze a track that's sidechained and if i resample, then I would normally solo the midi track, and hit record on the resample audio track. But this is gonna negate the sidechain as then its not receiving audio from the kicks to tell it to duck!!! Fuckin 'ell, I'm stumped.

you just need an audio track with the input from the sub channel and make sure it's post mixer and that should record the sidechained bass.

DId ya mean a return track? cuz that's how i got it done...

[symmetricalsounds]

nope, just an audio track with the input from the sub line you wanted, nothing fancy.

[Grime Syndicate]

oh ok, i get you now... and that works as well, yes. Thanks!

[Demian]

Thanks for the help things are def gettin better ive tuned my preformance for audio in vista http://www.pc-music.com/content/tweakin ... ista-audio run asio4all and its runnin a good bit sweeter still not at the preformance level i am used to on my half the spec home pc tho. Ive run dpclat and its for the most part in the very low green but there are quite a few peaks of 1000us and the odd 2000us when ableton is not running and when it is the red peaks get much higher to like 16000us and a bit more frequent. So it obviously means that one of my drivers isnt running properly...should this be happening with a 10 day old lap top?? My ableton is legit 7.

Toshiba and most other laptop manufacturers make money on the side by loading your computer up with a bunch of useless programs that only manage to slow your computer down.

I'm a computer tech, and here's how I optimize my friends' computers:

Firstly, stop the useless programs from starting when your computer does. Start > Run > msconfig ...here you need to go to the startup tab and uncheck any program that you don't need on (leave your anti virus on obviously). Apply and restart.

Another thing you can do is turn off all the visual effects that nobody really notices anyway. Go to 'My Computer' where you can see all your drives. Right click in the white space, then select properties. Go to the 'Advanced' tab. In the performance section click the settings button ---> this will bring you to the 'Visual Effects' tab, with three options at the top, and all the individual settings at the bottom. Select 'Adjust for best performance'. You may want to keep visual styles enabled, or thumbnails, you can just check them both from the list at the bottom. Keep everything else unchecked, apply...and your computer should be much quicker.

Also, MOST anti-virus programs suck huge sweaty balls, especially the ones that you have to buy. They're slow and ineffective. It's a scam.

I recommend ditching pretty much any Anti-Virus program in favour of 'Microsoft Security Essentials'...it's free, it's super lightweight, and it stays out of your way.

Also, make sure you don't have two or more Anti Virus programs installed/active....you wouldn't believe how many people have Windows Defender running alongside their main Anti Virus program, and the two just slow the computer down, disable each other, and leave your computer wide open for malware.

Hope that helps a bit.

One Love,

[Grime Syndicate]

^all sound advice. I'm curious how you feel about avast tho.

[symmetricalsounds]

****ignore****

[pesky]

simple question for you lot!
just started messing about with ableton, so im pretty new to it all after only using reason before hand.
ive made a drum loop and a quick pattern in the session view channels so i click and drag the clips into the arrangement view and this shows them as blocks with midi notes inside yeah?
but when i goto play these in the arrangement view, its just playing the sound from the session view back still?
where am i going wrong?

:corntard

[staticcast]

simple question for you lot!
just started messing about with ableton, so im pretty new to it all after only using reason before hand.
ive made a drum loop and a quick pattern in the session view channels so i click and drag the clips into the arrangement view and this shows them as blocks with midi notes inside yeah?
but when i goto play these in the arrangement view, its just playing the sound from the session view back still?
where am i going wrong?

:corntard

Click the red button at the top of the screen; it resets everything to the state described by the Arrangement (including any automation).

[pesky]

Click the red button at the top of the screen; it resets everything to the state described by the Arrangement (including any automation).

thanks for the reply.
so basically, i can build loops in the session view and transfer them to the arrangement view, abit like FL's pattern and song button?

[symmetricalsounds]

usually i find working on 1 view at a time simplifies things and avoids confusions like having to press the red button.

start building things in the session view than record it to the arrange page. if you're just starting out this should make it a bit easier for you, when you're more used to things you can start using both in conjunction although even after 2-3 years i still find it easier to just work on one or the other because using both at the same time just doesn't work well for me.

[pesky]

usually i find working on 1 view at a time simplifies things and avoids confusions like having to press the red button.

start building things in the session view than record it to the arrange page. if you're just starting out this should make it a bit easier for you, when you're more used to things you can start using both in conjunction although even after 2-3 years i still find it easier to just work on one or the other because using both at the same time just doesn't work well for me.

thanks for the advice buddy
yeah, i was following a tutorial yesterday which he did it all in the session view. before when i had messed about with ableton, i had drawn everything in the arrangement view so it was new to me.
when you say record to the arrange page, is this just the same as dragging from session view, pressing tab and dropping it on the relevant channel.
also, what benefits come from using the session view in conjunction with arrangement view?

cheers peeps!

[contakt321]

usually i find working on 1 view at a time simplifies things

I agree.

I used to start songs and Session then drag them into Arrange when I got a good groove going, now I just start and finish in Arrange. Simpler, faster, and helps me think it terms of a "song" as opposed to "some cool loops that go together"

[symmetricalsounds]

when you say record to the arrange page, is this just the same as dragging from session view, pressing tab and dropping it on the relevant channel.

not quite. you can do it the way you've said, but personally what i would do is hit record and then create an arrangement by launching clips, maybe recording some automation if you've mapped things out. it's much quicker than dragging elements over and much more fun.

also, what benefits come from using the session view in conjunction with arrangement view?

it seems to be that you can have a live set mapped out and then on the session view switch up what you're doing on the fly but then be able to just hit the red button and return to the state of things in the arrange page. probably works well as a get out of jail free card if your live noodling is going a bit past the point of being productive.

usually i find working on 1 view at a time simplifies things

I agree.

I used to start songs and Session then drag them into Arrange when I got a good groove going, now I just start and finish in Arrange. Simpler, faster, and helps me think it terms of a "song" as opposed to "some cool loops that go together"

see i've started working exclusively on the arrange page but it's been the opposite of being simpler and faster but because of the way i've changed how i do my drums it would be impossible to do on session view.

[contakt321]

see i've started working exclusively on the arrange page but it's been the opposite of being simpler and faster but because of the way i've changed how i do my drums it would be impossible to do on session view.

That's another part of it for me too. I am generally dragging audio samples around on the timeline, drums, recordings from my outboard synths, etc - for me moving audio around is faster (and less strain on my cpu)

[symmetricalsounds]

yeah i'm draggin audio hits onto the track and then doing stupid amounts of microedits on them to get the the way i want. also arranging them at precisely the right timing is easier in arrange view.

also for anyone that doesn't know, + and - on the numpad zooms in and out respectively on arrange view.