Posts Tagged ‘music blog’
Midi Controllers
Midi Controllers
Up to this point I’ve avoided writing much about midi controllers with Ableton. Don’t get me wrong, they can add a whole new world for live performance as well as producing but I hadn’t personally felt I had enough to say on the subject. You see, I don’t want to just jump on a hype bandwagon if I don’t actually have something important to contribute. My goal isn’t to turn you on to a bunch of extra gadgets for your studio, I want to help you actually make more music or perform more efficiently.
For the most part, the things that initially excite me about new midi gear don’t turn out to be incredibly practical. Â Most of the neat midi controller templates lend themselves better to pre-prepared performance set ups and less of a spontaneous environment. On some youtube videos I’m really impressed with some of the chopping and remixing effects i see people do on the fly, but then realize that you wouldn’t be able to do most of that live to say, 100 song choices to mix and match. Instead you would pretty much have to have your whole setlist ready to go and just have the ability to tweak from within that template. This can be great if you are performing your own productions and remixes, but not as great for more of a DJ style set.
Lately, I often find myself asking “Is this piece of gear really serving me, or does it just look cooler”?
I haven’t forgot the beauty of simplicity in DJ performance. I still am blown away by DJ’s with no more than 3 CDJ’s and a mixer. Of course we all want to push things to the next level, but amazing things can still be done without a setup that would confused a rocket scientist. I am not attempting to make one setup wrong and another one right, I am simply trying to share what works for me.
Thusfar these are the midi controllers I have used:
You can probably guess from that list that I really love the concept of the flexibility a midi controller can give you. Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found that 1 piece of gear that works perfectly for my needs. Each piece of gear offers something special, but no single piece does it all. Most controllers are a bit too androgynous which can be a good thing when you want to re-invent it’s capabilities but not necessarily as straightforward as a DJ mixer. In many cases, I buy a piece of gear in order to do something a bit more outrageous and later realize it’s just not as practical in a live situation.
APC40
I was one of those guys who bought the APC40 the first day it came out and dove right into it. The plan was to be among the first to review how great it is on my blog but the longer I played with it, the more I felt hyping this controller wouldn’t have been authentic. I would simply have talked about how others use it when I hadn’t personally found an approach to using it that satisfied me. Everytime I used it in a live situation, I found the functions I wanted most were not at easy access. Â I guess I was hoping the APC40 would be as straightforward as Sasha’s Maven controller. I like that each channel has volume, EQ and 6 clip launching buttons.
I realize that I like one knob or button to have only 1 function. I don’t like having to scroll for the right menu before I can make a particular tweak or find that one song or loop in my set. In that same amount of time I often find I could have more easily just used my mouse or qwerty keyboard.
Another thing that bugs me is multiple clip grids on the APC40. It’s a fantastic concept and I still get a lot of use out of it, but when you are adding and removing songs and loops, it’s easy to get confused with what is what. Â I’m constantly checking to make sure I’m about to push the right clip.
With a standard DJ mixer you have less flexibility, but you always know where everything is. The faders will always be volume, the EQ’s will always be EQ. There is something comforting about that. Most controllers just aren’t sure exactly what they are. For example, the APC40 isn’t quite the perfect performance tool as it doesn’t have 3 EQ bands for each channel. It also isn’t quite the best studio controller as so much real estate is taken up with the clip pads which aren’t touch sensitive.
I know what you are thinking right now..”Well you can tweak it to do all sorts of things”! Of course you can if you want to learn a bit of programming and 3rd party software, but I’ve found, for myself, that the more software involved in a live situation, the more time it takes to set up and the more chances of your set not going smoothly.
iPhone/iPad as a controller
I love some of the aps for the iphone without a doubt. I particularly love Snatch, Mrmr, and Touch OSC . It feels very empowering to be able to control Ableton from your iPhone’s touchscreen however, after trying to work it into a live situation, I found it only satisfying as a gimmick. I can certainly see the iPad 
In a way, this realisation kinda bummed me out because I really liked the idea of the iPad replacing the need for physical gear. I also thought it looked cooler. I fought with this for a while and finally concluded that I got more enjoyment from physical gear that is set up in a simple fashion. Â It just took too long to set up all the software and have the time to test the wifi network and 3rd party software to be sure it would work perfect everytime. I will likely incorporate the iPad in the future, but not for my most important controls.
Another thing to consider is that I set up and tear down my studio every time I DJ. This means I am hooking and unhooking different controllers, sound cards, hardware and templates. This can confuse things quite a bit when both your live setup and studio setup are complex. This was never a problem when spinning vinyl or CD’s since there was no hardware/software setup process you had to dial in to get things working seamlessly. You simply plugged them into your DJ mixer and were ready to go. For this reason I don’t see myself abandoning my CDJ’s anytime soon. They have continued to be a lifesaver when my computer or controller glitches.
Don’t worry, I in no way plan to abandon Ableton or controller technology. I love technology! My goal is to use technology to have a balance between the most options possible and the most seamless performance experience.
Just because you can, does it mean you should?
For me, when I listen to my favorite DJ mixes, there isn’t a whole lot going on. Usually there are subtle hints of EQ, filters, chorus, delay, reverb and looping. A great mix doesn’t overuse any of these fx and doesn’t tend to scream “Hey look at me, I’m doing stuff”! I don’t know about you, but when I listen back to a Live DJ mix of mine at a small club, I give myself a headache with all the trickery I add to try to keep people interested. Â The real trick is to find the right audience who will appreciate what you do musically, then most of the overused gimmicks become unnecessary.
I wish you good luck in finding your own perfect balance for performing.
happy music making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
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For those interested in DJ’ing and Performing live with Ableton, I’ve released my full DJ collection I’m sure you’ll get a lot out of.
Here is the Video List below:
1. DJ’ing live in the session window part 1
2. DJ’ing live in the session window part 2
3. DJ’ing live in the session window part 3
4. DJ’ing live in the session window part 4
5. Make a DJ mix in the Arrange window
6. Warping with Autowarp (version 7)
7. Warping the hard way (version 7)
8. Warping in Ableton 8
9. Warping songs with live drummers (version 8 )
10. Warpless mixing
11. Organizing files for DJ’ing
12. Launching Clips without a mouse
13. Macro Controls
14. Setting up controller Knobs and keys
15. Preparing your productions for Live performance
16. Syncing Ableton on 2 computers
17. APC40 setup
Also included is my Ebook:
Mixing with your Mind – How to make your Best DJ Mix
(This Ebook goes where other DJ related books don’t. This concentrates on ways to use your brain for the fastest, most creative and most enjoyable results!)
Get it here now! http://tinyurl.com/24oqo6u
Are you a creative consumer or producer?
Are you a creative consumer or producer?
Let’s face it. We’ve all become information junkies. We constantly feed our faces with new tricks and new toys. We are constantly looking for the next thing. The new synth, that new effect, the new, well… anything.
Here’s the problem folks, it’s slowing you down from the real goal. If you aren’t finishing songs, soundtracks or projects, now you have your culprit.
In an attempt to become more productive you read blogs, watch videos and buy whatever seems to give you more power than you already have. The problem is that the appetite is never quenched. I’m of course referring to myself as well. I’ll use information gathering as an excuse to not create and then I’ll convince myself that without this new tool I can’t create. You end up in a constant cycle of upgrading instead of finding a consistant workflow.
Have you become an addicted consumer instead of a creative producer?
Now I am all about new technology, no doubt about it. I am also all about finding new information that I can put to use, but that is where the flaw is. We watch the videos, we read the blogs, we download the new plugin but we are pulling in more information than we can possibly put to use?
A change in thinking
If this behavior is going to stop we need to accept that too much information works against you. It gives you too many choices. It also takes away your sense of discovery when you are in a creative mode. By the time you have a situation that would benefit from a certain technique, you may already be bored by it or paranoid that this trick isn’t modern enough or is overused.
I think this behavior happens with a lot of musicians (something I’ve already stated that I am not). The reason for this is that many musicians learn how to play before they just start playing. They learn all the rules and they learn all the chords. By the time they actually start making music, they are trying to reach outside their current level of skill because they are bored to tears of all the things they have already learned. They restrict themselves from many of the basics in search of that magic, but rarely find it.
When I started playing guitar I tried learning from a chord book but tossed it after only a few days. I had learned a few basic bar chords and I was off and running. I had confidence in simplicity and wasn’t afraid to do something just because it’s easy. Luckily for me, I was drawn to bands that used simplicity to their favor. If I had something in my head that I couldn’t play, then and only then would I hunt for a new skill, technique or expand my chord knowledge. This gave me the ability to feel the magic of every new discovery and tool. I didn’t feel forced to grow any more than my natural pace. I rarely heard a song and had to rush home to learn how it was played. I was just doing my own thing and developing my own sound.
Now I find myself getting into the trap of information gathering. I’m constantly working on skills that I’ll never put to use. another downside is that I rarely have the exciting feeling of discovery when I finally use a new trick. Being a blogger and a producer (and a DJ), it’s easy for me to get caught up with what is new, but I feel it would be more beneficial to myself and my readers if I put to use each new thing I learn or each new tool I access before hunting for the next thing. I also think it’s going to be important to wait for a problem before I go hunting for a solution.
Ask yourself, is this a tool I am going to use today? Does the project I am currently working on require this tool or information to complete it? Does filling my head with this new information make me more productive now or less productive? What information and tools do you have right now that you still haven’t put to use? Might it be more beneficial to implement some of those one at a time? Maybe you would benefit by removing several tools to open up some space to new ones.
Just because a tool is great for someone else and has them super excited doesn’t mean it’s going to work that way for you. Realize your addiction might be to someone’s excitement and  not necessarily the information being presented. Another trap is trying to fit this new tool or idea into your work. This can be frustrating and slow you down because in your head you may be thinking “this is supposed to be amazing, what am I doing wrong”?, when the real issue is that it’s not a match for your way of creating.
A challenge
Make a deal with yourself. If you spend 30 minutes learning a new trick, you’ve got to spend at least 30 minutes putting it to use. If the skill requires more time, decide whether you will dump the new trick or take the time to perfect it. Don’t make the mistake of putting this on the backburner while hunting for new information or tools.
I hope this brings you closer to a very productive 2010.
To your continued joy and productivity in your creative works!
happy music making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
A Minimalist approach to songwriting
A minimalist approach to songwriting
A common situation many people fall victim to is that the more tools that you use for your songwriting, the more that can potentially go wrong. This is not to say that tools can not be incredible time savers, but they can also be huge time wasters as well. What I want to share with you is a new way of thinking when it comes to writing and completing songs.
Preparation
How long does it take you to “prepare” to make a track?
Do you plan this out beforehand or do you just fumble around for the right sample, plugin in, effect, synth, or synth preset during the songwriting process?
Besides all the sounds and effects, how many controllers are you setting up (or attempting to set up)?
Are you struggling with getting hardware up and running in order to simplify your songwriting process?
Are you working with a midi controller or 2? How often does it speed up your songwriting process rather than just giving you a prettier button to push to do pretty much the same thing?
I’m not trying to talk you out of using hardware or software tools, but rather warning you against trying to make everything “look” pretty and “professional” before you get started. This is a mistake myself and many other producers have run up against. Hopefully it will start to break this cycle for those who read and share this blog.
Remember: This is your songwriting time, this isn’t your “sound design, muck around with effects you’ve never used, try to get this damn controller working because everyone says how badass it is” time.
All that stuff needs to be set aside for another time, a time that isn’t devoted to writing and completing songs.
A DJ’ing Analogy
Think in terms of a DJ on stage, with a crowd ready for a great show…
Does a DJ get on stage and then start trying to learn new tools?
Does he think “wow, I think i’m going to read the manual on this new effects unit I just bought”.
Does a DJ think “wow, this is a perfect time to listen to all those tracks I bought on beatport to see what is worth playing”?
Does s/he decide that now is the best time to warp those songs in Ableton?
Of course not!
A proper DJ presents a set using the tools and the songs already familiar to him/her. Even though there are 1000′s of great tools available for DJ’s, common sense tells us that regardless of how amazing some tool might be, it will only take away from the performance to use tools that are unfamiliar to you and probably get you some strange “what the hell is this guy doing?” kind of looks.
This is exactly the way you should look at songwriting….
Only look to tools you are familiar with
Although there are a TON of choices out there (and probably on your hard drive), your best results are dependant on using the tools that are tried and trusted to you. This is not the time to learn a new skill. This is a time to put the skills you have already learned to use.
This one habit will help to build your production vocabulary and also force you to put to use what you know instead of filling your head with more techniques that you aren’t likely to use.
Another huge benefit is that when you hit a roadblock, you have just been shown exactly what it is you need to learn next!
Don’t bother reading manuals or watching videos that you don’t plan on putting to use right now. Why fill your head with information that is likely to be useless to you in this moment? Doesn’t it make more sense to only gather new information when you have run into a problem that needs solving?
This is powerful for 2 reasons:
1. Your focus stays on your music and it’s completion
2. When you learn a new technique that you put to use right away, you get this great feeling of discovery. For you, this is a new world you have opened up. You haven’t let it sit in your head and get stale.
How to get started…
Have a direction
This might seem obvious, but I can’t even count how many times I’ve convinced myself to just “go with the flow”. This, although it can create some magical moments and happy accidents, it’s usually a bad idea when you are in “song completion” mode. Going with the flow is much more of a sound design type mentality. A practice of open minded improvisation. Believe me when I say that this is a powerful way to get inspiring nuggets that can become songs, but a mind in that mode tends to want to continue on that path instead of actually finishing anything. If you do this type of thing during your songwriting time, make sure to set a time limit (i’d say 15 minutes at a time), and make sure you are using a tool you are familiar with. You don’t want to get caught up trying to teach yourself a new skill when you should be using the skills you have to finish songs.
Repeat after me:
“I know enough right now to finish a song”.
Now believe it..
Your “to learn” list
You may not be perfect, and it’s possible your song can suffer on a technical level because of it, but those are technical things that can always be revisited. A song can always be revised, but there is nothing quite like listening back to something you’ve done from start to finish and thinking ” I made this”. When you find limitations in your song, take note and put it on the list of “things to learn”. Keep this list to 3 things tops and make sure to tackle those and put them to use before you add anything new to your list. This should become a sacred practice. Use what you learn as soon as possible. If you don’t plan on putting a new technique to use, take it off your list. “This is really cool” is a completely different list, so don’t get hung up on that. It only stands to overwhelm you with choices and lower your confidence in the tried and true techniques you already know.
Take inventory
What works right now?
I’m talking about things that don’t need to come out of the box and be set up. Once again, What is working right now? What tools are you already comfortable with? If you are an ace at using Ableton’s Impulse, don’t jump onto Drum Racks or Sampler. Yes, those tools are amazing, but they aren’t going to be amazing for you until you’ve learned them. Put it on your “to learn” list and use those new skills on your next project.
During my last remix project, I bypassed all my controllers because they weren’t making my life any easier with completing the track. I even bypassed my studio monitors because my sound card was acting up on me. This just left me, my laptop and a pair of good headphones. I wasn’t even using an asio driver (low latency driver for pc). Although this wasn’t the idea situation, it was liberating to solve technical issues by simply not using what wasn’t working. I worked at using my limitations to my advantage by cutting myself off from too many choices and forcing myself to get to the business of completing my remix.
What do you have that works right now? Use what you’ve got and keep working until you simply have no more workarounds. Only at that point should you take a break from writing and teach yourself the 1 new technique or tool you need to move beyond your roadblock. I guarantee that this new tool or technique will become part of your vocabulary of production resources instead of just idly sitting inside your head filling up space.
Visualize
I can’t stress this enough. Give yourself the time to get a rough idea of what you are attempting to accomplish. Find some songs that you’ll want to use as references for the mood and arrangement you are looking for. Even if you have a 16 bar loop that you are happy with, being able to reference a completed song will serve to keep you on track and get you past several roadblocks.
If you don’t have any direction, then you are simply sound designing and experimenting. You aren’t songwriting. I am not denying the incredibly importance of experimentation, but rather attempting to keep you from losing focus and ending up with another unfinished idea that will never be heard or enjoyed by others.
Minimize your choices
Once you have a direction and know the basic sound and mood you are going for, it’s time to prepare the tools for the job.
Ask yourself “what is the fastest and easiest way to get the results I want”. Limit yourself to a couple reverbs and delays. Also have your drumkits, swells, reverse cymbals and “go to” fx sounds all ready to go (I personally lose a lot of time by not preparing this stuff ahead of time.. trust me on this one). Layout and name your tracks ahead of time with words that will give you direction (drums, bass, strings, melody, percussion etc..). Only use the tools you are already familiar with. Want to learn a new synth or plugin? Put it on your “to learn” list and take the time to learn it after your current songwriting session.. For now, only use what you know. You can bring your new skills into your next session.
Presets
For many, the word preset is a bad word. I don’t see this as the case. Presets are your friends, not your enemy. There are literally thousands of presets available to you and your own tastes dictate which ones you will gravitate towards.
There is an unlimited amount variations in classical music composers even though they are building their pieces from the same template f sounds. Don’t get caught up on the idea of every sound having to be home brewed. Think of all the great original music constructed from sampling other people’s music exclusively. Or think of how a great DJ takes the works of other producers and combines it together in a way that creates a new experience. In essence, the artist is working with already made presets. Of course you are free to make your own effects and synth presets on your off time, and I highly encourage that, but you want to have some “go to” sounds at your disposal for quick access. You shouldn’t have to mess around with a sound for too long before it sounds “right” to you for your project. You can always come back later to modify your work or introduce a new technique that you previously didn’t have available to you but whenever you are in songwriting mode, use what you know. Ableton makes some fantastic instrument and effects racks that give you a wide variety of results that you can make your own with some simple knob twisting. Don’t overlook those resources for sounds and effects. Take some time to explore these during your off time and you may discover they have solved some of your challenges for you.
As you build your own custom sounds, make sure to save these to your presets for quick access in other projects. A great way to build up some custom presets is to simply name and save all the sounds you use in your other finished and unfinished song ideas. You already know that these sounds are attractive to you, otherwise you wouldn’t have used them in the first place. This can really come in handy and start you building your own “sound”.
It’s completely ok to have your own formula for songwriting. You will always expand and evolve but you’ll be building from your past knowledge. Don’t abandon your current skill sets just because you saw somebody do something really cool on You Tube, instead pick up a couple of tricks that you can incorporate into what you are already doing. By holding to your own identity, you won’t run the risk of becoming a copycat artist that is always jumping on bandwagons but never developing your own personality.
The path of least resistance
Songwriting itself is already a path of a lot of resistance. It takes quite a bit of determination to complete something you started. Completing a song forces you to own your creative decisions and the best decisions you can make are educated ones. Let your past experience guide your current creative flow and let your current roadblocks drive you to new solutions, tools and techniques. Always aim for the solution that doesn’t slow you down. Completing songs is a skill above and beyond all others. You will likely find that many of the guys with the coolest and craziest techniques lack the ability to actually finish something. Don’t get caught up in thinking there is anything more you need to know in order to finish a song right now. Like with any skill, you will improve with consistent repetition and fine adjustments.
Happy Music Making,
Jason
P.S. – Don’t forget to comment & tweet (down below) & “like” (up above).
All your feedback & support is appreciated!
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Follow me:Â http://twitter.com/AbletonVids
Website:Â http://www.musicsoftwaretraining.com
Control Ableton with this cool Iphone ap!
*This post will likely only interest Ableton users who have an Iphone and work on a PC (or Bootcamp/Parallels).
Here is a custom controller I have made to control many of Ableton’s features with my Iphone. Although it isn’t an “end all” solution, it definitely makes things go faster and much more conveniently whether you are producing at home or DJ’ing. As long as you have a wi-fi signal to connect to, you’re golden.
Here is what you will want to do to get started.
1. Go to your Iphone AP store, purchase and install Snatch Remote (don’t worry, it’s only $4 and if you don’t like my custom controller, you cn pretty easily make your own).
2. Download and install snatchtrackpad & remote onto your computer at this link http://www.hoofien.com/Snatch/
3. Open up Snatch on your computer, and then your Iphone
4. enter the server/password info into the setting on Snatch inside your Iphone
5. Download and unrar my Snatch remote files at this link http://www.musicsoftwaretraining.com/share/snatch.rar
6. In Snatch on your Iphone, hit “Keys” tab, then “Edit” then “load screen”
7. a window will pop up on your computer, choose the first Snatch file, confirm on your Iphone and hit “done”
8. On your Iphone, swipe from right to left to get another blank screen and repeat steps 6 and 7.
9. Watch the video below and make sure to assign your 1,2,3,8,9 & 0 keys to the correct locations.
Enjoy!
I look forward to our community sharing further tweaks and custom controls.
Happy Music Making,
Jason
Follow me: http://twitter.com/AbletonVids
Website: http://www.musicsoftwaretraining.com
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