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I’ve played song phrases chromatically across the What I’ve been doing most recently
is mapping the clips on my keyboard, and playing and layering them, along with the
effects. I’ve been experimenting with
different 8 pack samples, which you can download weekly from Acid Planet.
I use samples from any 5 different packs that go nice and layer nice together, (that’s
relative, of course :) on 5 different tracks, and map them to 5 octaves, on the
white keys, from C to A, so I have 30 different sounds to layer and play.
I use the B in each octave to turn off the sample that’s playing in that
octave. It’s a “prepared piano” of sorts. If you layer them “right”
you can almost play them randomly. If I map bass samples, say, to the 1st
octave, and drums to the 2nd, sometimes I’ll hit different keys
in each octave at the same time, which gives me different D&B permutations.
It’s also fun to “play” the samples, by turning the quantization
off. I have yet to combine this with, say, mapping a sample chromatically
for an octave. I then insert effect(s) in each track. and
use the black keys in each octave to turn them on and off, say the C# key
I use the other 4 black keys in each octave to control some of the effects
while the samples are playing, but with mixed results. These I still
have to experiment with, since the keys usually just turn them on and off,
which is OK for some of the user interface elements. I have an Evolution UC-33e with knobs and
sliders that might do a better job on these, but I haven’t used it yet
with the midi keyboard, although Live can map both of them just fine.
Chopitch would be a great effect to start with. It has 14 sliders! I’ve
actually experimented a little with this one when I 1st downloaded
it. Way to go, Matthias! So, while all of that is cooking, it’s
time to get inside the samples with the mouse. You can’t just let
it sit there! This is the biggie that Ableton has been promoting for Live
3. The transpose knob is a fun place to start. And then there’s your computer
keyboard. Also, foot controllers that I haven’t started with yet. And
the Echoplex…? Of course, you can record all of this, so
it shows up in the Arranger View for you to later edit. I guess that’s about as far as I’ve
gotten. What about you? Where have you taken Live, or where has it
taken you? I know that Per uses it a lot, and shared some in the last few
days with the discussion thread that’s been going on. Cheers, Tom |