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do not bind yourself

Yowzer I can't believe people don't use drumracks. I am head over heals for drumracks. I use audio too, mostly for breaks and shit but yeah drumracks. I don't have a set way of doing it. Sometimes I'll have a drum rack each for kicks, snares, hh then percussion then once I get it where I want it I'll group all these together and apply gluing type fx. Sometimes I just keep it simple and use one drumrack for the whole deal. With each tune I am experimenting. I don't even have a custom blank file, some people think thats odd but I think that is an easy way to put yourself in a rut. I start completely stock 120bpm. I never have custom kits either, again ruts. No wrong or right way to do it though, whatever works!

Generally speaking (and remembering there are no set rules) I put my kicks n snares on one instance of drum rack and hats/perc/cymbals on another... I would do it all in one rack, but I like to set up a return w/ compression for the kik n snare rack to keep the natural dynamics rather than just compressing the shit out of it... also: so i don't compress the hats and stuff

abZ wrote:Yowzer I can't believe people don't use drumracks. I am head over heals for drumracks. I use audio too, mostly for breaks and shit but yeah drumracks. I don't have a set way of doing it. Sometimes I'll have a drum rack each for kicks, snares, hh then percussion then once I get it where I want it I'll group all these together and apply gluing type fx. Sometimes I just keep it simple and use one drumrack for the whole deal. With each tune I am experimenting. I don't even have a custom blank file, some people think thats odd but I think that is an easy way to put yourself in a rut. I start completely stock 120bpm. I never have custom kits either, again ruts. No wrong or right way to do it though, whatever works!

Part of the reason I don't use just one drumrack is the midi editing window gets too cluttered for me, another reason is they use more CPU. Each hit uses the computing power of a single Simpler.

contakt321 wrote:

abZ wrote:Yowzer I can't believe people don't use drumracks. I am head over heals for drumracks. I use audio too, mostly for breaks and shit but yeah drumracks. I don't have a set way of doing it. Sometimes I'll have a drum rack each for kicks, snares, hh then percussion then once I get it where I want it I'll group all these together and apply gluing type fx. Sometimes I just keep it simple and use one drumrack for the whole deal. With each tune I am experimenting. I don't even have a custom blank file, some people think thats odd but I think that is an easy way to put yourself in a rut. I start completely stock 120bpm. I never have custom kits either, again ruts. No wrong or right way to do it though, whatever works!

Part of the reason I don't use just one drumrack is the midi editing window gets too cluttered for me, another reason is they use more CPU. Each hit uses the computing power of a single Simpler.

I would say get a new computer if you are worried about CPU. My computer is nothing to brag about but I never worry about how much CPU anything is using. I fill my project up with shit until I am done with the tune and I have never had the comp poop out on me.

What I have been doing lately is loading one drumrack up with a bunch of shit and program all in one window so I don't have to jump around the project then once I get things about where I want, I'll duplicate the whole track as many times as necessary and then delete notes from each one. Like make a kick one, delete all notes except the kick and then erase the kick in the main one. Seems to work nicely and the only reason I do this is so I can can trigger a compressor just from the kick or just from the snare. Sometimes you don't need to do that so I will just leave them all in one.

contakt321 wrote:

abZ wrote:Yowzer I can't believe people don't use drumracks. I am head over heals for drumracks. I use audio too, mostly for breaks and shit but yeah drumracks. I don't have a set way of doing it. Sometimes I'll have a drum rack each for kicks, snares, hh then percussion then once I get it where I want it I'll group all these together and apply gluing type fx. Sometimes I just keep it simple and use one drumrack for the whole deal. With each tune I am experimenting. I don't even have a custom blank file, some people think thats odd but I think that is an easy way to put yourself in a rut. I start completely stock 120bpm. I never have custom kits either, again ruts. No wrong or right way to do it though, whatever works!

Part of the reason I don't use just one drumrack is the midi editing window gets too cluttered for me, another reason is they use more CPU. Each hit uses the computing power of a single Simpler.

ive found that doing them manually in the arrangement takes up WAY more resources

abZ wrote: What I have been doing lately is loading one drumrack up with a bunch of shit and program all in one window so I don't have to jump around the project then once I get things about where I want, I'll duplicate the whole track as many times as necessary and then delete notes from each one. Like make a kick one, delete all notes except the kick and then erase the kick in the main one. Seems to work nicely and the only reason I do this is so I can can trigger a compressor just from the kick or just from the snare. Sometimes you don't need to do that so I will just leave them all in one.

theres an easier way to do that

select the names of the hits in the i/o drum rack window, right click----> extract chains. now those hats you selected are in a new drum rack with ALL the same midi info, including the samples you didn't extract

just saw this in another post the other day....wtf

abZ wrote: I would say get a new computer if you are worried about CPU. My computer is nothing to brag about but I never worry about how much CPU anything is using. I fill my project up with shit until I am done with the tune and I have never had the comp poop out on me.

What I have been doing lately is loading one drumrack up with a bunch of shit and program all in one window so I don't have to jump around the project then once I get things about where I want, I'll duplicate the whole track as many times as necessary and then delete notes from each one. Like make a kick one, delete all notes except the kick and then erase the kick in the main one. Seems to work nicely and the only reason I do this is so I can can trigger a compressor just from the kick or just from the snare. Sometimes you don't need to do that so I will just leave them all in one.

I am running a MacBook from last year, it's not like my computer is crap. In the past I was running 4 drum racks (one for Kicks, one for Snares, one for Hats, one for Perc) and I was getting slowdown.

Doing it all in one drumrack I found having all that midi data too cluttered and bothersome looking, for some reason (maybe my MPC background - having everything on 1 track) I like having things separated.

@ Hurling - I agree. I don't do it all in Session view, generally for some instruments, I lay out 4 bars in arrange as audio, consolidate, then make into a 4 bar audio loop and bring back to Session view.

My last track for example I did the following for drums:
Kick sample, laid out in Arrange, made into a 4 bar audio loop, then back in session.
Percussion Loop, chopped, re-arranged in Arrange, made into two 4 bar loops, then back in session.
Conga Loop, chopped, re-arranged in Arrange, made into a 4 bar loop, then back in session. Then modulating pitch and filter with clip envelopes.
Snare sample, laid out in Arrange, made into a 4 bar audio loop, then back in session. Then modulating pitch and filter with clip envelopes.
Open HiHat, played in Impulse, two 4 bar midi loops. One modulating pitch with clip envelopes.
Crash, played in Impulse, two different 8 bar midi loops.
Reverse Crash, just laid directly onto Arrange timeline

Admittedly, this is still using a lot of CPU - well, that and two instances of Kore + Massive are enough to slowdown my MacBook, but for my writing process works the best so far. That said, I like the extract chain option, it might help me.

I usually use the drum rack. I like how I'm able to apply individual eqs/comp/etc to each channel, and I have a shit ton of channels available for it. You can obviously do whatever is more fluid for you, but I have a preference for the racks myself.

Really the only times i use arrangement view for drums is if i'm chopping breaks. I find it just takes to much time laying everything out in arrangement view when I can just load up the drum racks, get my samples sorted and start banging the beats out on my midi controllers, then just adjusting everything else manually to taste. Sometimes I have 1-2 racks, sometimes 5-6 - just depends on the tune and what I want. The possibilities are almost endless.

hurlingdervish wrote:

abZ wrote: What I have been doing lately is loading one drumrack up with a bunch of shit and program all in one window so I don't have to jump around the project then once I get things about where I want, I'll duplicate the whole track as many times as necessary and then delete notes from each one. Like make a kick one, delete all notes except the kick and then erase the kick in the main one. Seems to work nicely and the only reason I do this is so I can can trigger a compressor just from the kick or just from the snare. Sometimes you don't need to do that so I will just leave them all in one.

theres an easier way to do that

select the names of the hits in the i/o drum rack window, right click----> extract chains. now those hats you selected are in a new drum rack with ALL the same midi info, including the samples you didn't extract

just saw this in another post the other day....wtf

Nice, yeah that sounds a lot more efficient. I have only been on Ableton for a year or so. Still learning things all the time that makes things better and quicker.

contakt321 wrote:

abZ wrote: I would say get a new computer if you are worried about CPU. My computer is nothing to brag about but I never worry about how much CPU anything is using. I fill my project up with shit until I am done with the tune and I have never had the comp poop out on me.

What I have been doing lately is loading one drumrack up with a bunch of shit and program all in one window so I don't have to jump around the project then once I get things about where I want, I'll duplicate the whole track as many times as necessary and then delete notes from each one. Like make a kick one, delete all notes except the kick and then erase the kick in the main one. Seems to work nicely and the only reason I do this is so I can can trigger a compressor just from the kick or just from the snare. Sometimes you don't need to do that so I will just leave them all in one.

I am running a MacBook from last year, it's not like my computer is crap. In the past I was running 4 drum racks (one for Kicks, one for Snares, one for Hats, one for Perc) and I was getting slowdown.

Doing it all in one drumrack I found having all that midi data too cluttered and bothersome looking, for some reason (maybe my MPC background - having everything on 1 track) I like having things separated.

@ Hurling - I agree. I don't do it all in Session view, generally for some instruments, I lay out 4 bars in arrange as audio, consolidate, then make into a 4 bar audio loop and bring back to Session view.

My last track for example I did the following for drums:
Kick sample, laid out in Arrange, made into a 4 bar audio loop, then back in session.
Percussion Loop, chopped, re-arranged in Arrange, made into two 4 bar loops, then back in session.
Conga Loop, chopped, re-arranged in Arrange, made into a 4 bar loop, then back in session. Then modulating pitch and filter with clip envelopes.
Snare sample, laid out in Arrange, made into a 4 bar audio loop, then back in session. Then modulating pitch and filter with clip envelopes.
Open HiHat, played in Impulse, two 4 bar midi loops. One modulating pitch with clip envelopes.
Crash, played in Impulse, two different 8 bar midi loops.
Reverse Crash, just laid directly onto Arrange timeline

Admittedly, this is still using a lot of CPU - well, that and two instances of Kore + Massive are enough to slowdown my MacBook, but for my writing process works the best so far. That said, I like the extract chain option, it might help me.

I am not trying to be a dick but what exactly are you saving the CPU for? You can't take it with you when you die I just seriously have never run out of CPU or memory. You running 6 instances of Massive or something? I am just curious.

I lay everything out as audio.
Just effect each channel.

I lay everything out as audio.

abZ wrote: I am not trying to be a dick but what exactly are you saving the CPU for? You can't take it with you when you die I just seriously have never run out of CPU or memory. You running 6 instances of Massive or something? I am just curious.

HAHA. "You can't take it with you when you die"

I have been really into Kore lately, the problem is that it really eats up my CPU. My last track had I think two instances of Massive and two of Kore and I get drop outs when they all play at once.

In the past running 4 drum racks plus an instance or two of Massive and a few other instruments and I would get the same.

(please note this is before I start adding effects - which is what I save processing power for)

I just try to keep my CPU as low as possible when writing so I can get ideas down fluidly (w/o changing the settings on my soundcard).

contakt321 wrote:

abZ wrote: I am not trying to be a dick but what exactly are you saving the CPU for? You can't take it with you when you die I just seriously have never run out of CPU or memory. You running 6 instances of Massive or something? I am just curious.

HAHA. "You can't take it with you when you die"

I have been really into Kore lately, the problem is that it really eats up my CPU. My last track had I think two instances of Massive and two of Kore and I get drop outs when they all play at once.

In the past running 4 drum racks plus an instance or two of Massive and a few other instruments and I would get the same.

(please note this is before I start adding effects - which is what I save processing power for)

I just try to keep my CPU as low as possible when writing so I can get ideas down fluidly (w/o changing the settings on my soundcard).

I got ya, I guess I don't use anything that is really all that taxing plus I use a desktop pc.

abZ wrote:

contakt321 wrote:

abZ wrote:Yowzer I can't believe people don't use drumracks. I am head over heals for drumracks. I use audio too, mostly for breaks and shit but yeah drumracks. I don't have a set way of doing it. Sometimes I'll have a drum rack each for kicks, snares, hh then percussion then once I get it where I want it I'll group all these together and apply gluing type fx. Sometimes I just keep it simple and use one drumrack for the whole deal. With each tune I am experimenting. I don't even have a custom blank file, some people think thats odd but I think that is an easy way to put yourself in a rut. I start completely stock 120bpm. I never have custom kits either, again ruts. No wrong or right way to do it though, whatever works!

Part of the reason I don't use just one drumrack is the midi editing window gets too cluttered for me, another reason is they use more CPU. Each hit uses the computing power of a single Simpler.

I would say get a new computer if you are worried about CPU. My computer is nothing to brag about but I never worry about how much CPU anything is using. I fill my project up with shit until I am done with the tune and I have never had the comp poop out on me.

lucky...!!

my computer is from like 05... play more than 2 instances of operator at the same time and it starts to have trouble...

narcissus wrote:

abZ wrote:

contakt321 wrote:

abZ wrote:Yowzer I can't believe people don't use drumracks. I am head over heals for drumracks. I use audio too, mostly for breaks and shit but yeah drumracks. I don't have a set way of doing it. Sometimes I'll have a drum rack each for kicks, snares, hh then percussion then once I get it where I want it I'll group all these together and apply gluing type fx. Sometimes I just keep it simple and use one drumrack for the whole deal. With each tune I am experimenting. I don't even have a custom blank file, some people think thats odd but I think that is an easy way to put yourself in a rut. I start completely stock 120bpm. I never have custom kits either, again ruts. No wrong or right way to do it though, whatever works!

Part of the reason I don't use just one drumrack is the midi editing window gets too cluttered for me, another reason is they use more CPU. Each hit uses the computing power of a single Simpler.

I would say get a new computer if you are worried about CPU. My computer is nothing to brag about but I never worry about how much CPU anything is using. I fill my project up with shit until I am done with the tune and I have never had the comp poop out on me.

lucky...!!





my computer is from like 05... play more than 2 instances of operator at the same time and it starts to have trouble...

Not lucky I just build myself a new kit every 3/4 years. Didn't put more than like 700usd into it. It is time folks. My computer 2 years ago would only run Reason safely fuck that.

narcissus wrote: lucky...!!

my computer is from like 05... play more than 2 instances of operator at the same time and it starts to have trouble...

Wow. So, how do you do your drums in Ableton? Now I am interested.