Archive for June, 2007

Optimize Your Computer For Ableton and Running Audio Out

In advance, I’m strictly a mac guy so this is mainly for people running on a mac. I assume though these apply to PC somehow…

1. Turn off time sensitive functions such as screen savers, sleep mode, changing desktop backgrounds automatically ever 30 minutes (or what ever you have yours set to), software update, etc. As I am typing it hit me you could program a automator script or apple script to disable these features and also re-enable them when your not doing audio stuff… mmmm, anyone good at programing those?

2. Turn off airpor when running albeton

3. Disable/turn off dashboard. big one here. (here is a good article on how to do this )

4. Run your sets off an external hard drive… needs to have 8MB Buffer, and 7200 RPM - this is a BIG one!

5. Minimize the use of other programs while running abelton

And there you go… couple get ya started tips on optimizing your mac for ableton/audio.

Sampling From Existing Drum Loops In Ableton

This is gem in disguise… it digs deeper that you might think.

Lets say you really dig the drum sounds on a specific drum loop (ie the kick or snare sounds, etc)… for example on David Crowders “All Creatures of Our God and King” (version 2), you can sample the beat yea… but what if you could also create your own beats with that same kit? This makes it possible and easy!

Check out the video and just think the possibilities… all those hits and sounds you wish you could have in your sample library.

Ableton Live and Reason

In the begining… well… I really wasnt a fan of Reason… mainly cause of its price tag. I saw no reason to shell out the cash when ableton could do everything reason could (if you know how to use ableton that is) and a whole heck of a lot more.

But in recent days (thanks to a friend who hooked me up with Reason for a stupid price), I have been experimenting with how the two programs interface. Rather than me ramble on about this, Ableton has a great article with some of the high points… feel free to check it out.

CLICK HERE TO READ

I Love My iBook All Over Again… AMAZING!

Ok… so this has nothing to do with Ableton, BUT it does have to do with Worship and how we present lyrics. For the last year I have been using my old iBook (which is great) 1.33Ghz to run Keynote for all our slide. I cant justify spending 3-400 on that crazy worship software. Anyway… one huge problem is that iBooks dont have the ability to extend the monitor, only mirror - which means that what the people see is what the person running the program sees… which kinda sucks. If by change Im not using my MacBook they usually jack it and use that just for that feature. This weekend we had a nightmare experiance with running on the iBook and I finally was thinking I’ve gotta find a solution, or buy a new Macbook to solve this. So a little searching on the net and some genius has developed a hack that allows some iMacs and iBooks to run with extended desktops. I downloaded it and it works perfectly. The best part is its FREE!!! Saving me at least $1000!

If you by chance have run into this check our the MacWorld article on it.

HERE

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!

digitalworship.net alive and more to come

hello hello… digitalworship.net is now the permanent home for this little thing we call digital worship.

ive been brewing up some ideas lately on how to take this to the next level… everything from personal video tutorials, to my own sample/impulse kits, and oh so much more (depending on the legal crap).

if you have been blessed by this little site… help me promote and spread the love around. In order for this all to work traffic is essential. so help a brother out and tell everyone you know.

if you all have any ideas or requests… please, please, please let me know.

Using a Trigger Finger with Ableton Live

I’ve been hit up a couple times and it seems I notice on the back end of this blog people who land her are looking for how to set up M-Audio’s Trigger Finger in Ableton Live.

Here are a couple quick tips…

1. The trigger finger ships with its preset of Ableton Live as P10. Access this by pressing Memory/Recall and then p10.

2. Use the Midi map function to map specific pads and faders to ableton clips, effects, etc.

3. The Ctrl/Note Mute Button changes the message sent… if you need it to be note on/off or just controller message… this applies to the rotary and faders mostly.

Once you get it hooked up and your sure that your computer (hopefully a mac, haha) is receiving messages then load up preset P10 and map away.

Happy Triggering.

Homemade Dirty Loops - Shawn Pelton Style

Killer little (well… actually big… 34mb) but worth the download. check it and if you have had any success with this sort of thing post a comment back with the lowdown.

The Video

Control Ableton With Foot Controller (Behringer FC1010 video)

Ok.. huge video file… 50mb… but interesting to see it used live. Still thinking and searching the set on what to use for a foot controller.
WATCH VIDEO


right click and save as to download.

Sample Library Organization

*From Sound On Sound Website… basically how I have mine organized.

SAMPLE LIBRARY CATEGORIES

PERCUSSION
• Drums
• Cymbals
• Latin Percussion
• Hand Drums
• Metal Percussion
• Misc. Percussion
• Tuned Percussion
• Orchestral Percussion
• Assembled Percussion

INSTRUMENTS (I)
• Bass
• Guitar (Acoustic)
• Guitar (Electric)
• Misc. Stringed
• Piano
• Organ
• Misc. Keyboards

INSTRUMENTS (II)
• Brass
• Strings
• Wind
• Bowed/Stroked/Wind-like
• Orchestral Ensembles

INSTRUMENTS (III)
• Synths

LOOPS, SOUNDTRACKS & VOCALS
• Loops (percussion)
• Loops (Musical)
• Loops with Vocals
• Soundtracks
• Lead Vocals
• Backing Vocals
• Voices (Choral)
• Speech

SOUND EFFECTS
• Human Noises (Vocal)
• Human Noises (Physical)
• Human Activities
• Crowds
• Animals & Insects
• Natural World
• Atmos
• General Noises
• Crashes, Explosions, Impacts
• Electrical
• Industrial/Mechanical
• Transport
• Clocks & Bells
• Telephones
• Tools & Appliances
• Comedy Instruments

My Set Template

In reponse to a question I got I was thinking about saving time each week when I develop our sets… And one of the main time savers is creating a good set template so that when you open Live you have the basic elements you typically have in your set already loaded.

So this is my main set template. I replaced some of the 3rd party plug ins I use (Wave Arts Power Suite) and replaced them with built in ableton effects (which are plenty good for live use). I also swaped out the samples in my electric drum kit with a kit you can download for free on the net (I just forget where I got it). So other than that this is where I start every week.

Check out the manual on how to save your template (as the master template) once you have it to your liking.

Set Template File

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