Creating Default Sections Of A Performance By Collecting Clips Into Scenes

This is a section of my set containing three scenes. This particular piece is a transition from one instrumental to another with some vocal ad-libs.

• Scene 1- In the first row I have an instrumental ‘tell me’ playing and the last clip of ‘Miss Fat Booty’ acapella, which has been playing together (with variations) from the start. I have slowed and faded out Miss Fat Booty after one beat for this last clip and added some simple ad-libs from Mary J to start transitioning to another track.
• Scene 2- In the second row I have still got my tell me instrumental playing and I have done a variation on the Mary J ad-libs so it changes just slightly, The second column instrumental doesn’t come in yet.
• To make the transition I played the first instrumental clip and decided when I wanted that to fade out and when I want the second one to come in. I want them to overlap each other as they sound good playing together for a little while. As my 2nd clip is only 2 bars I have unlinked it and taken the end marker in the envelope mode to 4 bars so I can start to fade in this clip about half way through the first one (which is already 4 bars). I now played them both together altering the fade in for the 2nd clip, then altering the fade out for the first clip. Mary J is still singing her ad-libs all the while!
• The fade in for my 2nd instrumental increased to full by bar 2. The audio is not visible as it’s unlinked
• Scene 3- Now the first clip has faded out I’m left with just the 2nd clip playing for my next scene and Mary J ad-libs which variates again to sound more like the clip in scene one. It sounds familiar again like it did before the transition, but now with a different instrumental. This is how my default scenes helped me achieve my mix.

Adding Appropriate Processors In Insert Mode

In my project I have used 2 processors: The EQ eight and the Redux. Both of them have been inserted into the master channel as the I want to use them on a number of different scenes and thought it would be easier to put them on everything then trigger them live when I want to use them, and the types of processors I will be using will be appropriate to all types of audio, (unlike say the beat repeat effect which is too much for some complex music tracks but effective on acapella’s). The processors can be dragged to the top of individual tracks in the same way.

• I chose the processor, in this case the EQ eight in the audio effects section in the file browser
• I clicked and dragged this over to the top of the master channel then dropped it into the box at the bottom. The EQ is now loaded
• I now chose a preset I wanted to put into the EQ. I chose cheesy speaker after going through most of them, as I thought it was an appropriate sound to drop out and when you turn the processor back off it really gives it a kick
• To give it some final adjustments I changed the filter to high cuts, which cuts frequency above a specified level and adjusted the frequency till I liked the sound of it.
• I assigned a key to the on and off button of the processor so I could try it throughout the set easily and see where it would fit.

The EQ eight with the cheesy speaker preset, using five of the possible 8 parametric filters. The high cut filter selected and frequency increased.

Recording, Quantising and Editing Midi Clips

This is the midi arrangement I played through the simpler. It’s all on one key as it a was a sample and I don’t want it to variate in pitch.

• To record it I enabled the record button on my midi track and played the metronome so I could keep the timing right.
• I then played around until I decided on the sequence and when I was ready I pressed record on the clip slot I would be recording it to.
• I played in my 2 bars using short hits for the first 3 notes and a longer one for the 4th and stopped recording immediately by pressing the button again.
• I then pressed ctrl and U to bring up the quantise settings and set this to 1/16T to fit how I wanted it. I chose the triplet setting as it seemed to fit better, ‘riding’ the rhythm as opposed to sitting on it (not a technical term I know!!)
• I then altered the velocity for the last note to make it play louder to the very end of the sample. Rather then fade out quick as in the first few keys.

Creating Variations on Clips

This is my first variation of the clip. The clip is a piece of accapella with the start and end markers over one bar which I will trigger repeatedly to lead up to a four bar piece. In the clip view you can see it is set to tones with no grain, it’s not looped as I am going to be triggering it myself and want to have the freedom to launch it when I want. The tempo is set to normal. In the envelope view the volume also drops out at the end to take out one word I don’t want in there, the others have full volume throughout

This is my second variation. It has been looped as I will be turning on processors throughout the clip being played and don’t want to worry about launching it as well. The tempo has been set to half the speed to slow down the vocal using the :2 and *2 buttons. You can also see this as the loop ends at 3 showing the song has been stretched to 2 bars when it was originally 1 bar and ended at 2. The seg BPM also shows the tempo doubled. This slowing down breaks it up between the one bar piece which is like an intro and the four bar piece which is the start of a verse.

This is my 3rd variation the tempo has gone back to normal and it is looped but it is looped over 4 bars so the piece is longer. The grain size has been increased to add some texture to the acapella.

Identifying and Explaining Key Elements of Ableton

A clip from Ableton. This is a piece of audio I have cropped, warped and edited to how I want it. It is saved as a clip with all the changes I have made to it.

A scene from my project. This is a series of clips put together by me to play alongside each other. They can all be triggered at the same time using the start button in the master channel and so save me triggering them separately when I want them to play together.

A clip view. This shows me details of my clip settings. If it’s in warp mood, if it’s going to loop etc. It has been set to texture for an acapella with an increase in grain size. Its also been detuned to fit the pitch with the music.

The file browser in Ableton. This one is showing the live devices menus. Any place in your computer can be found in the file browser including external hard-drives and memory sticks.

The info view in Ableton gives you information on any part of the screen you hover the mouse over. This one is showing what the record button does. The window is located at the bottom of the page and can be hidden with the arrow you see in the bottom left hand corner.

The session view. This shows the overall set. It allows you to organise the clips and scenes to be played how you want, in the order you want. It includes the audio and midi channels, send and return channels and clips with their variations etc.

Using Ableton Instruments

In my project I have used the Simpler, Impulse and Operator.

I used the simpler for a piece of vocal. I decided to use this rather than trigger it as a clip or scene as i want to drop it in ‘freestyle’ throughout the set. I feel it’s appropriate as the sample says ‘its all about hunny b productions’ so I can use it throughout to remind people who they’re listening to!

To start I found the simpler in my file browser under Ableton instruments and dragged it to a midi channel, then to the bottom, the simpler appeared. I then took the clip I wanted to sample and dragged it into the simpler and played it by selecting the record button on the channel and pressing a key on the keyboard. I found where I wanted the sample to start and put the markers round it. Pressing the key C3 plays the sample at the normal rate. I have chose to play it at Db to lift it a bit, I think the pitch at this key fits in better with the music. I increased the release on the vocal to drag it out and increased the volume as it was a very quiet audio piece. I also took it to 6 voices for more of a chorus effect.

I then recorded a midi loop using this key to make it interesting. Which I will go into on recording midi clips.

I used the Impulse for a drum loop I wanted to play alongside a clip to give it more of a kick. I found the impulse in the instruments file in the file browser by selecting .

I dragged the vox box to the top of a midi channel then to the bottom and my impulse unit appeared with built in drums. I could also use separate drum hits and drop them in but I was happy with the vox box hits. I recorded a kick and tom hit alongside the metronome to ensure it was in time and placed it in the scene I wanted. It made the scene more interesting

I used the operator to record in a sequence to play alongside my intro. The intro consisted of mostly strings so I chose the eastern wind preset to compliment this and played the clip while I decided which melody I would record. After recording I only altered the frequency to balance it with the audio as I was happy with the sound otherwise. It made a very subtle change to the intro but was an improvement all the same.

Setting Up Control Surfaces

In order to control certain aspects of my set live I’ve set up my controller keyboard to be remote enabled with Ableton, this way I can launch clips and scenes, turn processors on and off, set effect and volume levels etc, using the keys, knobs and faders

The midi assignments to my master channel on scene play buttons

• I went to options — preferences. In the midi tab I entered my controller keyboard into inputs at the top to enable Ableton to receive midi signals from it and selected remote next to my controller to enable Ableton to assign launches to the different keys and knobs.

• I then went to midi in the session view and and selected it. Anything that is highlighted blue can now be controlled.

• I clicked on the part to be controlled and then moved/pressed the fader/key I wanted to assign to that part.

• De-selecting midi then returned the view to normal, where I checked it by pressing the keys and seeing if it effected the project.

Aspects such as the tempo or transpose can be set with a min-max.

I’m going to be speeding up my project so I have assigned a fader to the tempo control. When I assign it a list comes up in the file browser with a min and max box. I only want to change from 94 bpm to 145 bpm which are both appropriate for the music I’m playing so I put 94 for my min and 143 for my max. Now I don’t have to guess how far to put up my fader. The same can be done for transpose in the clip view if you only want to go up an octave or 2.

I’m going to be turning processors on and off during my performance so I have assigned 2 keys to 2 different processors as I want a quick on/off action. To do this I assigned a key to the on/off button of the EQ Eight unit and a key to the redux on and off button

Warping An Audio Clip

All clips in my project have been warped to bring them into time with each other. I found the hip-hop and rnb ones the most difficult due to the fact they are more complex and have sounds and instruments launching at different times compared to the 4 by 4 beats I use later in the set.

• First I chose an 8 bar loop I wanted to use for my intro, I cropped it, leaving a little audio either side in-case the start point needed to be changed to sync with the metronome.
• I selected warp in the clip view and set marker no.1 to the start of the first beat and marker no.9 to the end of the 8th beat ends as it is a 8 bar loop.
• I started the metronome and finely edited the start and end points and cropped it again to the piece I’ll be working with.
• I then went into the other markers through the loop. By double-clicking it selects them and makes them movable. I adjusted them to the beat until all hits were in time.
• I also changed the transient from beat to complex which made it sound smoother and clearer.
• - Notice the hits aren’t on the markers for this as the style of singing I have is slightly off beat.
  

I now had my first warped clip, only another 50 or so to go!!

Editing a full track

I had a 3 minute acapella I wanted to use in my set that needed warping into time. When I loaded it, Ableton auto- warped it, changing it to the approx. BPM to match the instrumental it would be playing alongside. Otherwise I would of set my end marker to 97 as I know the piece is 96 bars as it is exported from cubase and I could see this, or I would of had to count the bars. Although it was near enough the right speed the beat was way off so I deleted every warp marker within the piece except for the start and end markers. I found this easier visually to watch the time line going over the clear audio at normal speed, to see where it needed adjusting.

Moving the marker to the right makes the piece go faster, you can see the logic of this as when you move it to the right more audio is fitted in that bar and so will have to speed up to fit it all in, and moving it left will leave less audio in there meaning it has to stretch out and slow down to fill the bar and as I just mentioned, the time-line will slow or speed to roll in time so a bar made smaller will make the line slow to take a full bar to reach to the end. Another visual aid is the beginning of each beat or word is seen in the waveforms and you can zoom in and place the markers appropriately.

A tip I found when warping a long piece of music is after setting your end marker, take the bar marker near the end of a verse/chorus and set that to end right, now I know this is correct I can concentrate on smaller beat markers throughout the verse/chorus knowing it will end right so shouldn’t need too much adjusting. It also breaks up the work a bit and ensures you don’t adjust all of the markers till the end which can take the continuing audio all out of sync as some of the auto warped stuff will be almost correct in the first place.

So that is what I did for the full track, set some main bar markers then went through the beats playing alongside the metronome and bringing the warp markers into time looking at the audio wave thinking what beat that word went on and placing it there. Some parts had to be sped up, some slowed down, and some needed less adjusting as you can see in the picture. As the acapella was recorded for a different style of music altogether it doesn’t stay in time once set. When this happens the only way to fix it is to go right into the beat markers, even adjusting one word to make it fit. Moving the markers from left to right means you can lengthen or shorten any silence, word or beat of music and you can always make it fit if you have the patience, but warping an old blues style vocal over a 4 by 4 beat is gonna be trickier than a dance vocal would due to the similarities in sequencing.

A full length acappella warped into time. The loop marks show where I want it to repeat a loop within the track before jumping to the next bars.

Every clip in my project is warped but this isn’t always necessary, audio such as sound fx, samples with no rhythmic structure or spoken word may not need to be warped as you may not want these to fit perfect to a beat but two beats you want to fit together will.

To further ensure the audio sounds correct there are a no. of settings for warping.

• Your auto-warped sample could be warped to the beat perfect but be doubled or halved in tempo in which case you can select the *2 or :2 which will tell ableton it’s guessed the tempo wrong by half. :2 will tell it to double up the tempo and *2 will half it.
• There are also different warp modes which time stretch the audio differently to be suitable for the type of audio:

1. Beats – For simple beats such as drum beats without too many other instruments
2. Tones – Works well with vocals or mono sounds like a bassline which has a smaller range in pitch. It includes a grain size control which works with the signal it receives of the audio, usually the less erratic the pitch, the smaller the grain size should be selected
3. Texture - This works well with a bigger range of pitches such as polyphonic, orchestras and atmospheric pads.The grain size on this will again adjust the size used but this will be irrespective of the pitch contours and will increase the same for any textured warped sample.
4. Re-pitch – In this mode the sample is transposed to speed up or slow down rather than time-stretched or compressed. Its a bit like when you assign a sample to a keyboard and hit the keys further up, as its transposed up it speeds and transposed down will slow it down. Another way to look at it is the DJ stretching method of altering the pitch to sync a record.This will probably work better with music or a beat rather than say a rap vocal if you wanted a ‘clean warping’ but you could have fun
5. Complex - This mode is used to cover all aspects of the others, useful for full tracks where you will have beats, tones and textures but is very CPU intensive, using ten times the resources of other warp modes

Setting Up An Effect In Send And Return Mode

I have chosen Reverb because I want to add some ambience to my vocals.

Reverb is an effect. It works in insert and send and return mode – you can see this because it has a dry/wet control. This controls the amount of original sound (dry) and effected sound (wet) that is heard.

To set up an effect in send and return mode:

1- Create a new return track.
2 -Select the chosen effect from the Ableton audio effects list in the menu
3 -Drag to the new return track and then to the space along the bottom for audio effect
4 -Set the dry/wet channel fully to wet (as you will hear the original sound from the audio track the clip is on.)
5 -Play some of the clips to be effected altering the relevant send control on that track to see how much of the effect is appropriate.
6 -You could also alter the settings of the reverb if you were not happy with the presets.

I have increased the chorus and altered the eq to obtain the sound I wanted. The reverb has been put onto my return A channel and has been assigned to a fader so I can control it live. I have assigned the same fader to all accapella tracks as I know it will be suitable to them.