The Maven - Sasha's New Ableton Controller

[Antinoise]

Sasha has developed a controller that mimics a traditional DJ mixer, but it is in fact a 100% Ableton Live controller.

http://www.nye74.com/maven2.jpg
http://www.nye74.com/maven1.jpg
http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/03/sashas-new-ableton-controller.html

I think it’s brilliant. I know people will be bitching about "Well, if everyone uses Ableton Live , then you don't even have to beat match anymore.. Now anyone can be a DJ!". Well my answer to that is "Get a Life!" With one with one skillset not needed, another higher level skill will become more in demand. The new skill will be about creating your own music. Heaven forbid the DJ actually get some musical skill and have to produce his or her own tracks to stand out. PFfff... HAHA

Soon the traditional DJ will be equal to a cover band and the real artists will be the ones that always create their own music.

[Antinoise]

Since the Maven is not out yet (and who knows when it will be) .... Check this modular controller surface

http://www.mawzer.com/index.htm

Let's stop looking over our shoulders and start looking into the future...

[dirty_bass]

Wow again, nice posts mate.

[FILTERZ]

http://www.faderfox.de/



faderfox do some lovely ones that are reasonably priced in my opinion

[dirty_bass]

yeah, they look good, but the maven thing looks the biz

[FILTERZ]

yeah, they look good, but the maven thing looks the biz


Agreed its ten times nicer looking , but it looks very expensive , maybe i will be surprised but i dont reckon i can afford one, these ones i posted are cheap and cheerful (hopefully not just cheap) ;)

[dirty_bass]

yep, those faderfox things are da biz. X5 is thinking about getting one, so he might be able to reprt about it when he gets it.

[TechMouse]

Sack off any controler interface you have ever seen...
this (http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php) one will be the daddy.

http://www.jazzmutant.com/images/lemur3d.jpg
Clicky clicky! (http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php)

Proper Star-Trek-style, the touch screen interface can show any display you like, with whichever controls you feel relevant. They've also got it working so the touch screen can register multiple touches at once (a drawback to traditional touch screens) - and sensitivity, i.e. press harder and that's another parameter.

Check the above link for some videos...

[dan the acid man]

i cant work out whether thats a tiny mouse in that picture, or the controller is huge :doh:

looks really nice though

[The Divide]

Sack off any controler interface you have ever seen...
this (http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php) one will be the daddy.

http://www.jazzmutant.com/images/lemur3d.jpg
Clicky clicky! (http://www.jazzmutant.com/lemur_overview.php)

Proper Star-Trek-style, the touch screen interface can show any display you like, with whichever controls you feel relevant. They've also got it working so the touch screen can register multiple touches at once (a drawback to traditional touch screens) - and sensitivity, i.e. press harder and that's another parameter.

Check the above link for some videos...

Take a look at that buet!!!
:lol:
Wonder if she drives as good as she looks tho

[Adverse]

sack off! LOL

antionoise is the man. half man half geek :P

[Joseph Isaac]

That Mawzer looks sick!

[g]

how is the Maven news to anyone?

wait, we don't follow sasha here. ok.... dumb question.

it's not going to be a production unit so you don't have to worry about being able to afford it. at least not yet.

there's absolutely nothing you can do with that overblown batman utility belt marketing hype bullsh*t thing that you can't do with a UC33e and a few keyboard shortcuts/keystrokes.

...sorry. this thing has been discussed ad nauseam on the ableton board. :)

[MARKEG]

i want that controller :love:

[The Divide]

i want that controller :love:

Shh get back in that dungeon :P

[Martin Dust]

http://www.faderfox.de/



faderfox do some lovely ones that are reasonably priced in my opinion

You need the hands of a five year old to use one of these ****ers...no shit

[Apex Beat]

Suppose you gotta roll with the times, but am I the only one who buzzes of seeing people use 1210's?

[gumpy green]

Suppose you gotta roll with the times, but am I the only one who buzzes of seeing people use 1210's?

depends on how they use em....used well yes i really do.

[gumpy green]

also buzz of seeing folks using hardware/pc/anything techno really....

again only if it gets used well tho

[Joseph Isaac]

there's absolutely nothing you can do with that overblown batman utility belt marketing hype bullsh*t thing that you can't do with a UC33e and a few keyboard shortcuts/keystrokes.



I have a UC33 and its faders are not nearly as responsive as say, a crossfader on dj mixer. So yeah, I would disagree that you can do everything on a UC33(e) and the keyboard. Sure you can assign "A" to a key and "B" to a key to flip back and forth or assign a fader, but its not nearly as useful as a standard x-fader. That's why I'm looking at getting the Mawzer...

[g]

I have a UC33 and its faders are not nearly as responsive as say, a crossfader on dj mixer
then how about the Behringer BCF2000? 100mm faders, very precise.

[BRADLEE]

Wow, yeah the Maven is definitely the new hotness right there...Damn...

When do the rest of us poor bastards get a shot @ buying one of those things???

[andy james]

the maven :love: and jazzmutant :shock: are my 2 favorites!!!

i'll give some sasha credit (even though his music sucks) for coming up with that AMAZING piece of gear :clap:

[Joseph Isaac]

I have a UC33 and its faders are not nearly as responsive as say, a crossfader on dj mixer
then how about the Behringer BCF2000? 100mm faders, very precise.

for sure. ;)

[Komplex]

the maven :love: and jazzmutant :shock: are my 2 favorites!!!

i'll give some sasha credit (even though his music sucks) for coming up with that AMAZING piece of gear :clap:

I wouldn't go as far as saying he came up with the idea...

It's been done by techy musos for years and years. Custom controllers are nothing new. All Sasha did was hire a few guys and say, "I want these sliders to do this and these buttons to do that... and it must look like a DJ mixer. Now build it for me or you don't get paid ;)

If ur interested in building your own go to www.ucapps.de

[Will]

I think it’s brilliant. I know people will be bitching about "Well, if everyone uses Ableton Live , then you don't even have to beat match anymore.. Now anyone can be a DJ!". Well my answer to that is "Get a Life!" With one with one skillset not needed, another higher level skill will become more in demand. The new skill will be about creating your own music. Heaven forbid the DJ actually get some musical skill and have to produce his or her own tracks to stand out. PFfff... HAHA

Soon the traditional DJ will be equal to a cover band and the real artists will be the ones that always create their own music.

There's more to DJing than mixing though, I remember seeing a producer 'DJ' and quite apart from the fact he couldn't mix (or place a mix, he tacked one tune onto the end of another letting all the energy the last tune built up dissipate for example), although he played some good tunes the order he played them in made no sense. A good DJ set isn't so much about the individual tunes, but the rich tapestry he weaves from them, as well as reacting to what the crowd wants...

I'd be much more interested in a DJ that could do that than someone who made some of the tunes themself, when someone could just as easily play them.

[FILTERZ]

http://www.faderfox.de/



faderfox do some lovely ones that are reasonably priced in my opinion

You need the hands of a five year old to use one of these ****ers...no shit


they are a bit miniscule eh :lol:

[fresh_an_funky_design]

i've never used ableton so i don't really know if you could do this. but could you not use it with something like a mackie 1604 desk, cos then you have so much control over your music in a live situation. 16 channels with the 4 bus's and aux's i think it would be much better

[g]

you're confusing the need for midi control with the control of audio. you could route audio out of ableton channels into X-number of mackie channels provided you have enough I/O on your soundcard but you would not be able to control the numerous midi parameters available/necessary within ableton. you would actually be GREATLY limiting what you can do.

[ampassasinbirmingham]

http://www.faderfox.de/



faderfox do some lovely ones that are reasonably priced in my opinion

You need the hands of a five year old to use one of these ****ers...no shit

you got the hands of a sheffield miner anyway :lol: ;)

[Stella Boy]

I remember reading an interview with Sasha about this and the only reason he helped to design it ( which he claimed he did :neutral: ) was because he thought the idea of Ableton was great but the lifeless approach when using it didn't give the crowd much to look at ( Sasha slagging not required :lol: )

[Sunil]

You need the hands of a five year old to use one of these ****ers...no shit

That's what put me off getting one, too small and fidgety. Some of the features on them are cool though, like the one that has the little joystick on it.

[g]

I remember reading an interview with Sasha about this and the only reason he helped to design it ( which he claimed he did :neutral: ) was because he thought the idea of Ableton was great but the lifeless approach when using it didn't give the crowd much to look at ( Sasha slagging not required :lol: )
so manipulating the Maven looks markedly different than manipulating some other midi controller huh? esp on stage, behind a computer and god knows what else. bullhonky.

i'm not really slaggin him. more power to him for finding a way to futher market and promote what he's doing. he's taking lessons from hawtin. and i'm glad he can be the poster boy for pushing the acceptance of this stuff. but this notion that he's done something groundbreaking with that controller.. pfft. i guess the point is that Unwashed clubbing masses don't realize that. not like they need to either.

[Stella Boy]

totally agree, just thought i'd post about it ;)

[TechMouse]

http://www.faderfox.de/



faderfox do some lovely ones that are reasonably priced in my opinion

You need the hands of a five year old to use one of these ****ers...no shit

Right, where's my saw and my five year old...

[TechMouse]

I remember reading an interview with Sasha about this and the only reason he helped to design it ( which he claimed he did :neutral: ) was because he thought the idea of Ableton was great but the lifeless approach when using it didn't give the crowd much to look at ( Sasha slagging not required :lol: )
Surely it's that with real hand-on control you can do a better job of it, no?

Mice are good for general purpose interfaces, but they leave a lot to be diesired compared to faders & knobs.

[davethedrummer]

i'm surprised no ones mentioned the latency issue yet.
its pretty bad......
i use a uc 33 and the latency is just nowhere near fast enough to do what i normally would do on a dj mixer.
as there are only 2 major device connection types available ( usb and firewire ) i'd like to know which one each of these gizmos use and what the latency is.
it's all very well having a real cross fader etc etc but if it's half a second behind you all the time it's a waste of money.
no , not yet........still not yet........the technology STILL has not quite got me convinced.
there are some great ideas floating around BUT BUT BUT.... it's a very big "but"

[xfive]

Right... but I'm willing to bet that's a problem with the uc33 specifically.... I've heard many a people complain about their latency.

I doubt the Maven's latency is as high.... would be nice to know tho :)

[Komplex]

i'm surprised no ones mentioned the latency issue yet.
its pretty bad......
i use a uc 33 and the latency is just nowhere near fast enough to do what i normally would do on a dj mixer.
as there are only 2 major device connection types available ( usb and firewire ) i'd like to know which one each of these gizmos use and what the latency is.
it's all very well having a real cross fader etc etc but if it's half a second behind you all the time it's a waste of money.
no , not yet........still not yet........the technology STILL has not quite got me convinced.
there are some great ideas floating around BUT BUT BUT.... it's a very big "but"

I dunno chief, no latency issues here at all. Guess it depends on your computer hardware setup.

But theres a very good point right there. All this fancy sh!t is useless if the person using it isn't technically or computer literate. It all needs to be dumbed down to suit every guy and his dog and it doesn't really become a standard till that happens. So there are always tradeoffs. This could be a good thing too depending on what angle you look at it from.

[MARKEG]

i had a major latency issue on the oxygen 8 and ableton via the usb for ages. doesnt matter what your computer is, it seems there will always be latency via usb. i thought 'what's the point'. and then suddenly i looked on the back and wow, there's a midi port. so out came the midisport 2x2 and BOOM, zero latency. cant use it any other way now ;)

[davethedrummer]

nah i tried the midi sport thing too
it was just as bad , i mean it's not terrible but its nowhere near as fast as analogue ...... :roll:

[MARKEG]

well then i reckon you need to get the oxygen 8.. ahhhh ok not the same control ok, but hey, i've heard nothing but bad reports about that uc33 tbh :study:

[tioneb]

analog mlxers and vinyls have no latency

if you correctly beatmatch records i dont see the purpose of using ableton .... whatever the way to control it !!!

if its a weigh probelm well im sure sooner or later CDJs like turntables will be able to control your latop or your ipod, no need to carry a final scratch or a midi controller

[Komplex]

analog mlxers and vinyls have no latency

if you correctly beatmatch records i dont see the purpose of using ableton .... whatever the way to control it !!!

if its a weigh probelm well im sure sooner or later CDJs like turntables will be able to control your latop or your ipod, no need to carry a final scratch or a midi controller

You can't do what you can with Ableton on 2 or even 3 turntables unless you have 6 hands, 1 brain and 3 copies of the same records.

Think outside the nicely packaged, easy to comprehend watered down square...

[Antinoise]

if you correctly beatmatch records i dont see the purpose of using ableton .... whatever the way to control it !!!
Not trying to downplay vinyl... but if you have LIVE set up right there is so much more you can do with it than Vinyl. You have a magnitude of control. Dropping samples, bringing in and out sounds.. efx on tracks or the whole mix, breakdowns as long as you want...... etc. No 2 performances will ever sound the same.

[Antinoise]

speaking about layers of control.. this new Urei sampleing mixer liikes nice..

Here is a video.. Real player needed
http://deft.dreamhosters.com/Urei.rm

[detfella]

well he didnt really design it himself....more like $a$ha

http://69.56.171.55/~midibox/forum/index.php?topic=4260.0

[Apex Beat]

Think I'll start using one 1210, a laptop and a CD come september!

[holotropik]

The thing about all this stuff coming out is that it opens up new avenues for creativity.

A very long overdue turn of the tide....

[Apex Beat]

Yeah the arguments been done to death, wont make any difference though. Personally I'll be depressed to see vinyl go, but its got a good twenty years left in it yet. But I've seen people like surgeon use ableton and its quite impressive. Still, love seeing people rip it up on a pair of 1210's, watching someone on a laptop is kinda like well, watching someone on a laptop. Still I guess its the sound they are producing which counts!

Anyone know how much those ableton controllers go for?

[g]

which controllers, sasha's? it's not a commercial product.

get a UC33e. with that and the computer keyboard there's really nothing more you need.

[Joseph Isaac]

well he didnt really design it himself....more like $a$ha

http://69.56.171.55/~midibox/forum/index.php?topic=4260.0

One more reason to remove Sasha from the gene pool...

[xfive]

well he didnt really design it himself....more like $a$ha

http://69.56.171.55/~midibox/forum/index.php?topic=4260.0

One more reason to remove Sasha from the gene pool...

Gene pool?

I coulda sworn Sidious created him with the rest of those damned droids.... I could be wrong.