Ableton Live

[Dirtyacid]

Right People need some much needed advice.
Im thinking of buying ableton live to dj with & I wanted to know what it was like for a novice & also what else you needed besides the program i,ve seen on the website a midi controller with a crossfader & also alote of different keypad's controllers how easy is it to use & is their any course's / training centres you can go to & learn how to us it?? I've heard various dj sets using the program & the sets sound awsome plus im a sucker for technology PLEASE HELP CHEERS!!

[alsynthe]

its quality. ull need a decent sound card and a basic midi controller to trigger stuff. theres loads of tutorials otu there, teachign yourself is alot easier than doing a course i find. www.ableton.com think theres some tutorials on there or just google for tutorials

[Dirtyacid]

I,ve been looking at the ableton website for the program & they have a package with a controller its the uc33e bundle is that any good for dj'ing with or would i need 1 with a cross fader??

[alsynthe]

u dont need a crossfader, do u need a crossfader on a normal mixer?

i actually have mine setup with 3 stereo outputs going into my djm and use my djm to mix the tunes/loops. and a midi controller for some effects etc

[danielmarshall]

Good idea alsynthe. Allows you to do traditional mixer tricks with the extra flexibility of Ableton's looping/ sequencing tools. Great combo for DJing (albeit expensive). I used to do a similar thing with Traktor till I got the shits with DJing.

[oldbugger]

u dont need a crossfader, do u need a crossfader on a normal mixer?

i actually have mine setup with 3 stereo outputs going into my djm and use my djm to mix the tunes/loops. and a midi controller for some effects etc

how are you doing this mate?

if i could do this my life will be complete. how are you assigning 3 channels on live to your djm?
even if you have 6 outs on your sound card how do you assign a channel though it?


please let this be something really simple i have missed in live

[danielmarshall]

I use Ableton 4.1, though 5 is the same I think.

Go to Options/Preferences. Go to the Audio Tab. Click Output Config and enable the channels you want to use on your sound card. Click OK. On the very right most side of the screen towards the bottom half of the mixer section you'll see a little icon that looks like 4 little boxes stacked on top of each other in a circle. If you move your mouse over it it should read: Show/Hide Input/Output Section. Enable this and you'll see routing information pop up on top of your mixer. Select the relevant outputs under Audio To and you're done! If you need a screenshot let me know (but try first please!).

[Dirtyacid]

Is their any training courses you can go to get started with ableton because i prefer to be shown rather than read the manuals etc im only intrested in the dj,ing side of things doe's the technics dj academy or the midi school teach at all or have a starter course???

[dan the acid man]

Is their any training courses you can go to get started with ableton because i prefer to be shown rather than read the manuals etc im only intrested in the dj,ing side of things doe's the technics dj academy or the midi school teach at all or have a starter course???

no idea, but im sure somewhere will be doing courses now.

it's not too dificult to pick up on your own though

[Dirtyacid]

I've found out for anyone who wants to know the manchester midi school are doing a 1 day course for people their going to be showing me how to us it i would like to ask though what is it like to dj out with because im hoping to get a live set together then i can get some demo cd,s done & then i can pass them to promotors?

[dan the acid man]

it depends how much space you have available really, i've seen some people struggling trying to set everything up whilst a dj is on vinyl, having to wait for them to play their last record before they can balance the laptop on a record deck.

but using it is great, im loving it, only really started to get into it, but i can see how many more things it will enable me to do, i just need to practice so i can pull it all off.

[Dirtyacid]

cool i,ve sussed the laptop on deck thing bring a piece of foam with you Paul van dyk doe,s it everywhere he goe,s.When you buy ableton do you have to have any special cables with it I,ve got a copied disk of it off a freind.

[dan the acid man]

no, there's no special magical cables that you need, you just need a decent external soundcard for your laptop

[mattboyslim]

i wouldnt recommend the foam thing. you'll more than likely fry the laptop. needs to be on a flat surface to allow the heat to escape properly. you can get these plastic tray type things that sit nicely over a technics platter. not sure where and how much, but i have seen them being used by a few friends