The Ableton Q&A Thread

[symmetricalsounds]

hey guys i was wondering, im really new to ableton and i wanted to get my notes to rise up at the end of a long note in a kind of sweep, or sweep downward but when i program individual diagonal downs in the piano roll it plays each not so isnt constant or fast.

How do i go about doing it ?

Thanks !

one long note and automate pitch bend in there?

[Tiger Blood]

hey guys i was wondering, im really new to ableton and i wanted to get my notes to rise up at the end of a long note in a kind of sweep, or sweep downward but when i program individual diagonal downs in the piano roll it plays each not so isnt constant or fast.

How do i go about doing it ?

Thanks !

one long note and automate pitch bend in there?

ah ok is pitch bend something you apply just like reverb etc from that section of effects ? or is it a setting already on the midi track

[symmetricalsounds]

you can find the pitch bend parameter in the clip automation as shown here

[Tiger Blood]

you can find the pitch bend parameter in the clip automation as shown here

thanks ill give it a go later

[frankiegrimes]

Wondering if anyone can properly explain the settings in like 'grain size' etc in the different warp modes, and what each warp mode is for? I generally just use re-pitch, because it's the only one that doesn't wreck the sound quality, but it makes getting things in tune a bit of a ballache.

[symmetricalsounds]

noone here is going to explain those things better than the people who designed them, read the manual. it's written in a clear way and explains things very well.

[EDN]

^^ true dat.
However, depending on what you are using them for the different sorts of distortion you get from stretching samples can be used to your advantage. When I want something that sounds "stretchy" or "metallic" I use the complex setting, when I want it to sound "granular" or "grainy" I use texture and mess around with the grain size settings.
Play around with them because although they may not be perfectly distortion free, they can be pretty damn good as long as you use them properly.

[65L]

Is there a way to assign multiple parameter knobs to one knob utilizing a macro control of some sort in ableton?

In my case, i want to assign the reverb decay parameters from several instances of ableton's native reverb to a single knob. Is there a way to do this?

[mks]

Is there a way to assign multiple parameter knobs to one knob utilizing a macro control of some sort in ableton?

In my case, i want to assign the reverb decay parameters from several instances of ableton's native reverb to a single knob. Is there a way to do this?

Yes, just make an effects rack, right click on the parameters you want and assign to the macro you want. ( I think, I'm not in front of ableton right now).

[65L]

Is there a way to assign multiple parameter knobs to one knob utilizing a macro control of some sort in ableton?

In my case, i want to assign the reverb decay parameters from several instances of ableton's native reverb to a single knob. Is there a way to do this?

Yes, just make an effects rack, right click on the parameters you want and assign to the macro you want. ( I think, I'm not in front of ableton right now).

Cheers for the reply, i'm looking at it now and in order to assign the parameters to the macro knob, the reverb instances need to be contained within the effect rack. My reverbs in the project i'm working on are spread out over several channels, am i dead in the water?

[mks]

Is there a way to assign multiple parameter knobs to one knob utilizing a macro control of some sort in ableton?

In my case, i want to assign the reverb decay parameters from several instances of ableton's native reverb to a single knob. Is there a way to do this?

Yes, just make an effects rack, right click on the parameters you want and assign to the macro you want. ( I think, I'm not in front of ableton right now).

Cheers for the reply, i'm looking at it now and in order to assign the parameters to the macro knob, the reverb instances need to be contained within the effect rack. My reverbs in the project i'm working on are spread out over several channels, am i dead in the water?

I would just make the effect rack reverb with the assigned parameters that you want, save it, and replace all of different channel's reverbs.

(Unless that would completely change the sound that you have already, in that case I would leave it and just use this device in the future.)

If it was a send it would be easy. If it's an insert with different settings, that will be more difficult.

[jacobwbau]

I have used FL Studio 9 and Reason 5 to produce music, well mess around anyway. So basically I just bought Ableton Live 8 because I heard ProTools9 was for mastering. I am using a Dell Inspiron 15R. Please give me the pro's and con's of using a mac and pc with ableton live. Many music producers I'm interested in (Deadmau5, Skrillex, etc.) use a mac. Also I just bought an M-Audio Axiom 25 25-Key, 2nd Gen. USB MIDI Controller. Do I need an audio interface? I was thinking about the M-Audio Fast Track Pro 4x4 Mobile USB Audio/MIDI Interface with Preamps but I'm not sure what I'd use it for. Someone explain what the audio interface is used for? I have a clue but I'm still learning. What kind of soundcard do you recommend? I am serious about music production. I'm talking about electro/prog house/dubstep. Please let me know what equipment, in your opinion, is decent for making electro/prog house/dubstep.

Also are there any good books on music technology?
I am currently reading "music theory for computer musicians" but I also want to learn about synths, oscillators, low-pass filters, mixers, audio interfaces, etc.

[symmetricalsounds]

another way around it is if you have a midi controller you can map multiple things to one knob.

EDIT - actually not sure about this now..... and don't have a midi controller to check lol. can someone confirm/deny if that works?

[Disco Nutter]

another way around it is if you have a midi controller you can map multiple things to one knob.

EDIT - actually not sure about this now..... and don't have a midi controller to check lol. can someone confirm/deny if that works?

Yes you can.

[symmetricalsounds]

another way around it is if you have a midi controller you can map multiple things to one knob.

EDIT - actually not sure about this now..... and don't have a midi controller to check lol. can someone confirm/deny if that works?

Yes you can.

nice one confirming i'm not a retard

i really need a midi controller but no cash

i sold my tascam us-428 which was my interface and midi controller for a much better interface the tascam fw-1804 but better interface means no midi controller.

[EDN]

...Woah... that's a lot of text, I'll try and deal with that as best I can...

Basically, Pro tool's isn't necessarily for mastering, Mac's are supposedly more reliable while PC's are faster and cheaper (in my opinion, don't get a Mac they are over priced kids toys, however that is my opinion), it might be worth getting an audio interface but don't worry about that before you get a pair of monitors, audio interfaces allow you to get (generally) higher quality, low latency audio out of your computer and get audio signals in (from microphones plugged into the preamps), soundcards I would recommend are anything by e-mu/focusrite/m-audio or MOTU.
You don't really need any specific equipment for producing music, there are some amazing producers who just use a computer and a pair of headphones, however the general consensus is that if you are going to get anything get a pair of monitors then a decent soundcard.

There are many good books on music technology, however in terms of producing the kinda music you wanna produce, I recommend youtube tutorials and messing around. These will be more helpful and specific than books.

ALSO, all of these questions have been answered on the forum already, if you had used the search function you would have easily found the answers to these.

[jacobwbau]

Thanks EDN! Yea sorry I know I wrote a little too much. Do you think I should buy ProTools 9? I can get the student discount so it's not that much. I was debating between pro tools and ableton live and most people were saying get ableton because pro tools is mainly their mastering and mixing program.

[jyro]

I got a vocal acapella wav that I want to chop up into lots of tiny bits. If there anyway that I can do this automatically without having to drag and slice every little bit?

[symmetricalsounds]

I got a vocal acapella wav that I want to chop up into lots of tiny bits. If there anyway that I can do this automatically without having to drag and slice every little bit?

slice to midi function

[symmetricalsounds]

protools/ableton live/cubase/FL etc... are all DAWs and are all capable of the same things but just go about them in different ways. demo them all and work out which one works for you, one issue with protools however is that it has it's own plugin format RTAS i think it's called so there are a fair few plugins out there that are just vst format. i think you can get like a converter thing but not always reliable.