Ableton Live 8 and Suite 8

Transcription

1 Ableton Live 8 and Suite 8

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3 Ableton Live 8 and Suite 8 Create, Produce, Perform Keith Robinson AMSTERDAM BOSTON HEIDELBERG LONDON NEW YORK OXFORD PARIS SAN DIEGO SAN FRANCISCO SINGAPORE SYDNEY TOKYO Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier

4 Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier 30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USA Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK Copyright 2010 Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about the Publisher s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein). Notices Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary. Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility. To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Application submitted British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: For information on all Focal Press publications visit our website at Typeset by: diacritech, India Printed in the United States of America

5 Contents About the Author Acknowledgments xi xiii Scene 1 Ableton Live 8: Create, Produce, Perform Introduction Approaching Live in three intuitive ways Immersing yourself in Live How to use this book! Taking advantage of Hot Tips 8 Scene 2 Overview: Live 8, Suite Introduction The concept Important preference tweaks! The Live Browser 19 Scene 3 The Quick Way to Start Making Music! Introduction Starting a project Audio in Live MIDI in Live Essential operations and tasks Performance to arrangement Finishing your work 55 Scene 4 Global Record: Capturing Arrangements on the Fly Introduction The Global Record concept Music on the fly User interfacing: two parallel worlds The linear approach The nonlinear approach 80 v

6 Contents Scene 5 Arrangement View Concepts Musical timeline Layout Navigating The Arrangement View Working with automation Arranging concepts 105 Scene 6 Session View Concepts Real-time launching base Layout Clips Tracks versus Scenes Track Status Display Working in Session View Sessions into Arrangements Musical concepts 133 Scene 7 Clips Musical building blocks Clip View Clip Box Launch Box Sample Box Notes Box MIDI Note Editor Envelope Box Envelope Editor Musical concepts 170 Scene 8 Groove Introduction to groove Grooves Groove Pool Commit groove 179 vi

7 Contents 8.5 Extract groove Musical concepts 182 Scene 9 Recording Recording MIDI clips MIDI overdub recording Freezing and converting MIDI clips into audio clips Recording audio clips Exporting and printing Musical concepts 211 Scene 10 Working with Scenes Musical foundation and structure Scene launch preferences Tempo and time Capture and Insert Scenes Musical concepts 222 Scene 11 Grouping Tracks Group Tracks Launching Group clips Mixing concepts Musical concepts 237 Scene 12 Controlling Your Universe Remote Control MIDI Mapping Key Mapping The Relative Session Mapping Strip Mapping Browser Musical control 251 Scene 13 Warping Your Mind! Elastic time Warp Modes Warping samples Musical concepts 276 vii

8 Contents Scene 14 Loops, Slicing, and More Looping Loops demystified REX loops Slice to new MIDI track Working with loops Looping in the Arrangement View Loops with Unlinked Clip Envelopes Looping concepts 292 Scene 15 Instruments and Effects Introduction to Live Devices Working with Live Devices Live 8 Instrument basics MIDI effects Audio effects Device chains Plug-in devices External (MIDI) Instruments Working with devices 338 Scene 16 Device Racks Introduction to Racks Rack interface and layout Drum Racks Creating Device Racks Racks in Session View Working with Racks 367 Scene 17 Suite Overview of Suite Scene 18 Video with Live The possibilities of video with Live Working with video Video clips 379 viii

9 Contents 18.4 Synchronizing music with video Aligning video clips on the track display 385 Index 389 On the Website Suite 8 ReWiring the Digital World Max for Live 101: The New Max User AKAI APC40: The Ableton Performance Controller Share: Collaborative Live Sets Essential Keyboard Shortcuts/Commands ix

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11 About the Author Keith Robinson is a composer, sound designer, and audio engineer living in New York City. He is also part of the adjunct faculty at The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music, New York University, where he specializes in the Fundamentals of Audio Workstations (Pro Tools, Digital Audio, MIDI) and Producing Music with Software & MIDI (Live, Logic, Reason). Keith s music has been used in numerous commercials and television shows and he has composed additional music and sound design for multiple feature films. Currently Keith serves as Vice President and co-developer of the sample library company Sample Logic LLC ( and music production company Sample Logic Studios ( His sample company s award winning products A.I.R., The Elements EXP, Synergy, WaterHarp, and Morphestra are heavily used throughout music for Film, TV, and gaming world. xi

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13 Acknowledgments I would like to thank Amy Baer for all her help, support, and encouragement, Jim Anderson, Joe Trupiano/Sample Logic LLC, Jeremy Serkin, Andres Levin, and Mom. Special thanks to Huston Singletary and Justin Hegburg for their contributions. I would like to thank Catherine Steers both for making this book a possibility and for seeing it through with me till the end. xiii