Ableton DJ Set.

author · Post by **author** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 10:47 pm

hey there,

I'm trying to put a DJ set together in Ableton 7.0.3

I'm currently warping the tracks I want so they are completely in time with the click. I then send them to the sequencer so i can see them horizontally. To do this I'm right clicking on the vertical column, on the track then copying and pasting it to the sequencer.

However, it won't play in the sequencer - it still plays in the vertical column version ignoring the placement of the track in the sequencer. It must be simple but i don't know how to get it to play on the fucking sequencer once i've warped it.

basically I want to have my hour set completely fixed and in time - no live mixing, while i use a midi controller for delays effects and eqing throughout the set.

Alternatively i could still use the vertical columns but i can't even get one to follow downwards into the next song ffs. I keep on pressing launch mode; follow action; next, but it doesn't play the song vertically below it, it just stops.

can anyone help? is there an online video tutorial which deals in quite alot of detail with djing or making a mix in ableton? would really appreciate it. I know these questions are utterly utterly basic but i need to get this shit sorted quickly.

any help much appreciated.

djake · Post by **djake** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:04 pm

theres a little button at the top u gotta press, by the play and stop ones.

not a very good discription

mr ads · Post by **mr ads** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:08 pm

The way I'd do it is to dump 5 versions of each tune into a track on session view each with a different start point / possible loop lengh and use the midi keyboard to launch each of them. +1 safe loop set so I can exit out of a tune whenever I want.

(c) Intro
(c#) First Drop
(d) First Breakdown
(d#) Safe Loop

etc...

edit...

sh't misread the question doh, yes what he said, click the red button at the top middle (it will be red if your playing tracks in session view).

author · Post by **author** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:21 pm

red button at the top. got it. thanks.

author · Post by **author** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:22 pm

any good online ableton guides you guys refer to?

yeager · Post by **yeager** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:24 pm

djake wrote:theres a little button at the top u gotta press, by the play and stop ones.

not a very good discription

yeaa what he said... but go to the ableton site. there is all kinds of good info as well as a great forum...

tokensunrise · Post by **tokensunrise** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:25 pm

http://www.ableton.com/pages/forum

yeager · Post by **yeager** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:30 pm

what you are wanting to do is not really a dj set though is it?

author · Post by **author** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:40 pm

that's right yeager, I am fucking vermin.

yeager · Post by **yeager** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:58 pm

no i did not mean it like that. but one of the most important aspects of djing is the ability to read the floor-that interaction. why not just burn it to a c.d and play that? you can still tweak the mixer.
the thing is,if you got warping down in ableton-that is the trickiest part
triggering the clips is easy just click on the clip and watch the wave form below so you can observe the time line also once you get more experienced
you will be able to loop and re-edit on the fly making your sets way more ill
than being an auto pilot dj......

author · Post by **author** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:20 am

I'm sorry man i was just trying to pre-empt attacks which I kind of expected.

I totally agree with you. Truth is I've been given this set totally out of the blue and am kind of terrified. Just want a full proof plan. got the warping down nicely and it's already really coming together since the initial help. It's my first week with ableton for djing - been using it previously for sample warping only.

loop and re-edit eh? can i find a video with how to do this in? just an example - I'll have a look. I'd love to be able to do it completely live as would all of us I'm sure and I will definitely be able to by next time - some bits and pieces are looking like they are going to be happening live anyway; I'm still going to be using the crossfader, three or 4 delays and some other FX i.e. there is still plenty of room for fuck ups.

If all else fails I'm just gonna throw excision's electronic explorations mix and numbernin6's formal introduction together and sit back for the ride. jokes.

brad rychard · Post by **brad rychard** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:25 am

If you haven't heard of it yet, also try going to http://www.abletonlivedj.com/ which is specifically geared towards the djing aspect of Live.

doomstep · Post by **doomstep** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:25 am

author wrote: basically I want to have my hour set completely fixed and in time - no live mixing, while i use a midi controller for delays effects and eqing throughout the set.

This really isn't DJing at all, you will get proper bored tweaking delay & eq for an hour! For your own sake & for the sake of your audience; drop tunes live.

aaahhh, if you are pressed for time I can totally see why you'd wanna do it this way, this time. It takes time to tame ableton & get it bent to your will. I would say forget the 'remix' your tunes thing... its long anyway.

abletonlivedj is cool, but kinda nerdy & 'beatportish'

Use the clip view, assign clip launch to yr midi controller or keyboard & check the mixes in my sig for what can be done 100% live in Ableton.

I trigger clips with the 1 - 0 keys on the lappy & control tempo, levels & filters with a small controller.

With regards to your problem with follow actions, next to where you select 'play next' etc. there are 2 small boxes you put numbers in. 1st one sets how many bars of the clip will play before the follow action kicks in, 2nd box sets how likely it will be that this will happen, so 50 here means there is a 50% chance the follow action will occur & so on.

yeager · Post by **yeager** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:53 am

yeaa if this is your 1st gig then good luck with it, i am sure you will learn and there is no better way than diving in head first. ableton live is not nerdy in the least bit it is forward and is without a doubt the most powerful/flexible gear available. get to know it and it will love you back....

author · Post by **author** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 1:54 pm

dubstepforum providing the results as always. many thanks for your comments guys- all useful. Doomstep thanks for follow action advice, really clear. cheers.

I might reply to this thread a bit later having trouble with getting the midi controller connected - i think it's the driver not ableton though. I'm using a Behringer bcr2000.

lewisr · Post by **lewisr** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:09 pm

author wrote:any good online ableton guides you guys refer to?

Go to whsmiths, look for music tech focus on ableton, loads of toturials in the mag and a disk full of them too, half price, £3.

easy

Mad_EP · Post by **Mad_EP** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:42 pm

I understand your nerves about doing a first set... but there are still ways of doing a proper dj set that is fail proof (well- 95%).

I agree about being determined to drop tracks live... however, that doesn't mean you can't already have a plan going into the set. Plan out your whole set if you are nervous, but you can still drop the tracks live (meaning you are actually triggering them rather than watching the whole set scroll in front of you).

But you say "I'm still nervous about not hitting the triggers rhythmically enough to have perfect beatmatching". Still no problem. You don't have to have the quantize menu set to 'free' or 1/16th... set it to 1/4 or even 1 bar if you are truly nervous. That could mean that no matter where you hit the trigger the measure before, it will come in perfectly in time.

As I said- I understand the nerves- my first show was with no notice and I had nothing prepared. Thing is- one of the best bits is knowing that something *could* go wrong. That is where the adrenaline rush comes in... and believe me, once you get a taste of it, you will want it as much as you can get after that.

mandark · Post by **mandark** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:18 pm

My first live set ever was done in Ableton, "DJing" as I called it at the time. I did at least trigger the clips through session view and rearranged tracks live, improvising the order.

I think if you are playing out with Ableton this is the least you could do. Not because I'm hell-bent on a certain definition of "DJing", but because you owe it to your crowd to throw down an improvised and truly live set, mistakes and all. Some of the best sets I've seen have had huge fuckups. Focus more on feeling the crowd and being dynamic than getting everything perfect, that will ensure a much better show and not keep you bored as well!

collective · Post by **collective** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:04 pm

why not spend some time creating a live pa instead. You'll probably learn more and be much more satisfied in the end!

ELLFIVEDEE · Post by **ELLFIVEDEE** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:07 pm

dude honestly, it doesn't take too long to learn to mix in ableton cueing tracks as you go, especially if you have a midi controller because you can then put an EQ3 on each channel and assign low, mid and hi to your controller!

Hella fun, and then route your laptop out to a third channel on a DJ mixer and mix ableton and two turntables at the same time as well, get's a little confusing and best not to do it if you've had too much to drink, but the results can get hectic!!!!

amazingly versitle program once you start really exploring the elements of it!

Ableton DJ Set.

Ableton DJ Set.

Re: Ableton DJ Set.

Who is online