SIMPLEST ABLETON QUESTION

[Kayshot]

I'm thoroughly pissed.
Why in the fuck doesn't ableton have output gain control on any of it's plugins?
I'm used to being able to simple open up a distortion unit, get the tonality I want, and then lower the volume via output gain with the distortion unit to level it back to its previous volume. Now whenever I process something in ableton there is a db gain but NO control over the output level. so question is, how the fuck do I control the volume coming out of an ableton plugin?

[joshisrad]

Utility plugin.

[Kayshot]

Thank you for keeping all urges to ridicule my level of ableton noobness at bay, and for giving the answer!

[ehbes]

you'll aslo want to talk to your DAW politely next time you want it to do something... trust me goes a long way

[Kayshot]

i WAS pretty vulgur with it. Didn't know it was so sensitive. Reason was more Logical about shit and didn't get butthurt. Logic was more Reasonable about shit and didn't get butthurt. Ableton needs some balls.

[ehbes]

thats why i like Reason it knows its my bitch Ableton gives to much lip

[dgibb]

noob question of my own: why do you have to use the utility instead of just lowering the track volume and using the distortion to balance it that way?

[joshisrad]

Because you might want to control the peaks with a Limiter. If the distortion is causing the bass to blast beyond the fader's threshold, but you want to use a Limiter, you'll get a shit ton of attenuation and artifacting from it (which you may or may not want).

It's easier to measure the peaks of your track when they are about level with that fader's peak threshold. So wherever the fader is set to, you will have a more accurate reading. So if you want your midrange bass to be peaking at like -20dB and it's currently blasting beyond 0dB, throw on a Utility and turn it down so that it hits close to 0dB. THEN turn the track's fader down. Using a Limiter is optional, but I prefer it. With the bass softly clipping the Limiter, I don't hear any bad artifacts, I can ensure loudness, and I can be certain where the bass will peak and thus can mix more effectively.

[JoshuaCasper]

Yeah,

Use the utility effect as the gain, but I am pretty sure most ableton plug-ins have a gain control. It just called volume control or velocity % control also works for the racks and samplers.

You might use a utility instead of the main volume slider, because you want the main slide for easy control during live sets, while the utility sets the general max level of output to the channel.

Also, it is always good to throw a limiter on the track to make sure no peaking happens during your set or recording.

[RandoRando]

Is there anyone from FL to ableton???? You know the stereo seperation knob on each mixer channel in FLs mixer, it was really nice, i know ableton has one on the utility plugin, but its like the FL one x1000. It completely seperates it, is there any other ableton plugs that can give wideness without completely separating it like that?

[societyloser1]

Is there anyone from FL to ableton???? You know the stereo seperation knob on each mixer channel in FLs mixer, it was really nice, i know ableton has one on the utility plugin, but its like the FL one x1000. It completely seperates it, is there any other ableton plugs that can give wideness without completely separating it like that?

Utility, lol! 0prcnt = mono, 200prcnt= only sides! And then you've got everything in between!

[RandoRando]

Is there anyone from FL to ableton???? You know the stereo seperation knob on each mixer channel in FLs mixer, it was really nice, i know ableton has one on the utility plugin, but its like the FL one x1000. It completely seperates it, is there any other ableton plugs that can give wideness without completely separating it like that?

Utility, lol! 0prcnt = mono, 200prcnt= only sides! And then you've got everything in between!

i know to use utility, but the 200% is too much!! i guess what im asking for is kind of too hard to explain, picky. But like picture it like this, in FL, if you had a mono sample to begin width and turn the stereo sep. knob, nothing would happen because the sample is mono, but if you had a stereo sample, FL would emphasize the sides but all the mono data in the middle, FL would push it to the sides along with the stereo part of the sample. In ableton, its like "what do you want to hear, the middle or the sides? i can only play one for you." when you put in on 200% the middle data completely disappears.

My situation that started this thinking was, i was using a "live" drum kit (through nexus) and the toms were kind of panned already, but i wanted them more spread out, in FL i would turn the knob and the toms would sound the same except spread out more through the stereo field, abletons utility tore apart the toms and only played what was slightly panned from my original tom samples....i dont think its possible to change how the utility works. And i hate using the phase settings cause it messes with other sounds and mucks up my mix...