Ableton™ Live™ Power!: The Comprehensive Guide Q Q Q John von Seggern © 2007 Thomson Course Technology, a division of Thomson Learning Inc All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from Thomson Course Technology PTR, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review The Thomson Course Technology PTR logo and related trade dress are trademarks of Thomson Course Technology, a division of Thomson Learning Inc., and may not be used without written permission Ableton, Ableton Live, Operator and Sampler are trademarks of Ableton AG All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners Important: Thomson Course Technology PTR cannot provide software support Please contact the appropriate software manufacturer’s technical support line or Web site for assistance Thomson Course Technology PTR and the author have attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following the capitalization style used by the manufacturer Information contained in this book has been obtained by Thomson Course Technology PTR from sources believed to be reliable However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, Thomson Course Technology PTR, or others, the Publisher does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from use of such information Readers should be particularly aware of the fact that the Internet is an ever-changing entity Some facts may have changed since this book went to press Educational facilities, companies, and organizations interested in multiple copies or licensing of this book should contact the Publisher for quantity discount information Training manuals, CD-ROMs, and portions of this book are also available individually or can be tailored for specific needs ISBN-10: 1-59863-325-2 ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-325-2 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2006906795 Printed in the United States of America 07 08 09 10 11 PH 10 Thomson Course Technology PTR, a division of Thomson Learning Inc 25 Thomson Place Boston, MA 02210 http://www.courseptr.com Publisher and General Manager, Thomson Course Technology PTR: Stacy L Hiquet Associate Director of Marketing: Sarah O’Donnell Manager of Editorial Services: Heather Talbot Marketing Manager: Mark Hughes Acquisitions Editor: Orren Merton Marketing Assistant: Adena Flitt Project Editor: Cathleen D Snyder Technical Reviewer: RD White PTR Editorial Services Coordinator: Erin Johnson Copy Editors: Anne Smith and Brad Crawford Interior Layout Tech: Digital Publishing Solutions Cover Designer: Mike Tanamachi Indexer: Sharon Hilgenberg This book is dedicated to Susan Mainzer (my constant inspiration), my family, my DJ partner Stephen Ives, and my friends in the California electronic music underground, constantly pushing the boundaries of music technology Acknowledgments I would first and foremost like to acknowledge the authors who worked on the earlier editions of this book: Dave Hill, Jr of Ableton and Chad Carrier of M-Audio Both Dave and Chad did a great job of explaining Live previously; hopefully I have come up to their standard in bringing the current edition up to date for Live I would also like to thank everyone I have learned from and studied with in recent years as I have pursued the strange path of a computer musician: Dr René T.A Lysloff at the University of California - Riverside, Dr Paul Attinello at the University of Hong Kong, and all my other teachers in the California music scene: Calvin Banks, Roland Weihmayer, Steve Nalepa, and many others Thanks to Steve Tavaglione for asking me so many questions about Live and challenging me to find the answers! Also special thanks to my editors at Thomson Course Technology PTR for their work in helping make this book a reality: Orren Merton and Cathleen Snyder Thanks especially to my technical editor, RD White, for finding my mistakes and correcting them! iv QQQ About the Author John von Seggern has worked in the international music industry for the past 15 years as a bassist, computer DJ, producer, remixer, researcher, and writer, living and working in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and now Los Angeles John has been performing music live with computers since 1999 and has performed techno electro jazz with his computer at numerous clubs and festivals in Asia and the U.S These days, John is closely involved with the underground electronic music scene in California, performing frequently at clubs, parties, and events with Live and other music software running on his Apple MacBook v QQQ This page intentionally left blank } TABLE OF CHAPTER Contents Live What Is Live? Why Was Live Developed? The World of Live How Does It Work? .5 What Sets Live Apart Possible Applications Goals of This Book 10 Web Downloads 11 CHAPTER Back to School 13 MIDI Primer 13 Why Was MIDI Developed? .13 Remote Control 14 What Is the Language of MIDI? 16 Binary Numbers 17 Putting It All Together 19 Benefits and Pitfalls of MIDI 21 Digital Audio Primer 22 What Is Sound? 22 How Is Sound Represented in the Computer? 24 Sampling Process .25 vii QQQ CONTENTS Sample Rate .27 Bit Depth .28 Benefits and Pitfalls of Digital Audio 30 CHAPTER Getting Live Up and Running 33 System Requirements 33 Ableton Live’s System Requirements for Macintosh .34 Ableton Live Power!’s Mac Recommendations 34 Ableton Live’s System Requirements for PC 34 Ableton Live Power!’s PC Recommendations 35 Installing, Running, and Updating Live .35 Live Installation Tips (Mac OS X 10.2.8 and Up) 36 Live Installation Tips (Windows 2000 and XP) 36 Updating Live .36 Copy Protection 37 Basic Computer Specifications 38 Audio Interface Specs 39 Selecting the Right Soundcard 40 What Do You Need to Know about ASIO Drivers? 44 Choosing a MIDI Interface 45 Setting Preferences in Live .47 The Look/Feel Tab .48 The Audio Tab 50 The MIDI/Sync Tab 54 The File/Folder Tab 55 The Record/Warp/Launch Tab 57 The CPU Tab .61 The Products Tab 61 The Live Packs Tab .62 viii QQQ CONTENTS CHAPTER Live Interface Basics 63 Session View 63 Clip Slot Grid 65 The Scene Launcher 66 The Session Mixer 66 Track Input and Output Routing .73 Arrangement View 74 Track Settings and Contents 77 Relation to the Session View .78 Overview 78 The Live Control Bar 79 Tempo, Time Signature, Groove, Metronome, and Sync .79 Follow, Play, Stop, Record, MIDI Overdub, Quantize, and Pencil 80 Punch In/Out and Loop .81 Computer Keyboard, Key and MIDI Assigns, System Performance, and MIDI I/O 82 Live’s Custom Views 83 The Browser 84 File Browsers 84 The Device Browser 89 The Plug-In Browser 89 The Hot-Swap Browser 92 Saving Your Work 92 Saving the Live Set .92 Collect All and Save 93 Finding Missing Samples 93 Working with Multiple Versions .94 Getting Help .94 The Info View .94 Getting Help Online 95 ix QQQ INDEX } Warp Markers, 188 Warp modes, 188 lossy compression, 31 low shelf, 288 low-frequency oscillator, 255 low-pass filters, 239–230, 248, 253, 265, 293 M Mac OS X, Audio Units instruments, 213 Core Audio, 35 Find File ( + F) command, 94 installation tips, 36 installing shortcut on dock, 36 preferences dialog box, 47 reusing presets, 218 soundcard buffer size, 52 updating Live 6, 36–37 version, 36 VST presets, 218 MacBook Pro, 61 Macintosh adjusting soundcard settings, 52 AIFF files, 147 audio capabilities, 39 centralizing plug-in folders, 36 drivers for audio interfaces, 50 Expos, 78 Live requirements, 34 plug-ins location, 89–90 power recommendations, 34 selecting soundcards, 50 WAV files, 147–148 Macintosh HD>Library>Audio>Plug-ins folder, 89–90 Macro Controls, 234, 236 Macro Mapping mode, 234–236 magnifying-glass icon, 78 Manage Sample File command, 170 Master Level Meters, 149 Master tracks, 70–71, 125 Master Volume, 140 M-Audio, 106 M-Audio 02, 242 M-Audio Delta series, 40–41 M-Audio Oxygen8, 97 M-Audio Trigger Finger, 45–46, 64, 97 M-Audio Web site, 35, 40 Max/MSP, 4, measure, 111 megabytes, 30 416 QQQ Mendes, Sergio, 401 menus, 48 messages, 48 metadata, searching, 57 metronome, 70, 80, 102 Micromodul LV2 and LX2, 45 MicroQ, 193, 194 MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) benefits and pitfalls, 21–22 birth of, 14 controllers, 204 controlling devices with, 227 development of, 13–14 experimenting with sounds, 21 file size, 22 hardware, 15 inputs and outputs, 54–55 not audio, 21 pitch, 21 plug-in parameters, 227–228 primer, 13–22 recording, 106 remote controls, 14–16 sequencers, 15–16 sounding different on devices, 21 velocity, 19 MIDI Assign mode, 227 MIDI Assignment (Ctrl/ + M) keyboard shortcut, 132 MIDI Beat Clock, MIDI channels, 20 MIDI clips, 105, 123, 191 adjusting timing grid, 200–201 behaviors, 106 categories of, 89 Clip Envelopes, 204–205 controlling sound, 192 doubling or halving playback speed, 117 editing, 199–204 editing notes and velocities, 201–204 enhanced, 206 Impulse, 238 lining up stray notes in, 110 Notes window, 157 Overdub Recording, 198–199 pitch, 192 playback speed, 116–117 power of, 191 properties, 192–193 quantizing, 196–198 recording, 194–195 Q INDEX set file, 106 stopping, 65 tempo, 117 virtual instruments, 205–206 MIDI command name, 19–20 MIDI controllers, 6, 45–46 assigning external, 228–230 assigning knobs and sliders, 133 changing mix settings, crossfader, 72, 372 EQ kills, 372 feedback messages, 55 Impulse, 238 keyboard transposed, 242 mapping, 3, 46 preset dump to, 228–229 tempo, 372 track volumes, 372 MIDI controls assigning, 227 Clip Grid, 227 constraining movement, 133–134 Impulse, 240, 242–243 parameters, 163 Session Mixer, 227 Simpler, 250 MIDI Ctrl Envelopes, 204 MIDI data, 105, 191 converting to audio, 124 creation, 213 filtering, 233 hiding lanes without, 202 manually editing, 203–204 Pencil tool editing, 202 playing back, 15 separating or mixing, 233 viewing, 201–202 MIDI devices banks, 192–193 controlling multiple, 20 input and output ports, 54 input to MIDI track, 55 memory location in sound bank, 192 playing back MIDI data, 15 preset dump to, 54 recalling sounds on, 192–193 recording MIDI clips, 194 as remote controls, 54–55 saving settings, 192–193 usable, 54 MIDI effects, 8, 123, 214–215 Arpeggiator, 335–340 Chord, 340 Note Length, 341–342 Pitch, 342–343 Random, 343–344 Scale, 344–346 Track View, 123 Velocity, 346–347 MIDI Effects folder, 89 MIDI files, 205–206 adding, 106 finding, 84 MIDI hardware, MIDI information outputting, 123 stored in set file, 106 MIDI input, 82 MIDI instructions, 18 MIDI instruments, 105 MIDI interfaces, 6, 45–47 MIDI keyboard changing mix settings, control, 132–134 range splits, 235–236 MIDI Map (Ctrl/ + M) keyboard shortcut, 110, 144, 372 MIDI Mapping mode, 234–236 MIDI Mappings window, 132, 227 MIDI messages, 15 altering, 214–215 bytes, 18–19 controls, 132 copying and pasting, 16 data bytes, 19–20 duration, 341–342 editing, 16 events, 18–19 numbers representing functions, 16–17 pitch and timing, 21–22 playing back, 16 recording, 16 status byte, 19–20 triggering clips, 379 MIDI Note Off message, 248 MIDI Note On message, 247 MIDI notes, adding, 202 editing, 201–204 Impulse assignments, 238 417 QQQ INDEX } mapping to another MIDI note, 344–346 moving, 203 piano roll, 201 pitch and time, 203 playback volume of clip, 113 previewing, 202 randomizing, 343–344 relative pitch intervals, 340 transposing, 342–343 velocity, 203 velocity lane, 203 MIDI overdub recording, MIDI parts, MIDI ports, 54 MIDI Remote Control, 242–243 MIDI Remote function, 83 MIDI routing, 243–244 MIDI sequencers, 104 MIDI sequences, 8, 104 MIDI sequencing, 45 MIDI synchronization, 80 MIDI Time Code, MIDI tracks, 123–124 Clip Slots, 243 controls, 68 MIDI clips, 123 MIDI effects, 123 Track View, 123, 204 triggering multiple instruments, 74 virtual instruments, 123–124, 205 Midrange mini song structures, 388 Minimoog, 14, 97, 253 Miquel, Luis, 401 Mirage preset, 325 Mission Impossible 2, 103 Mitchell, Brian, 331 mix changing settings, drying up, 72 final place to treat, 70 subtle changes, 329–331 tracks, 71 Mix magazine, 43 mixdown, 285 mixer channels, 5–7 Mixer Envelopes, 205 mixers directing ReWire-compatible software, routings, 73 view-dependent setting, 76 418 QQQ mixing controls and frozen tracks, 125 MME/DirectX drivers, 50 mod wheel, 19 modulation, 280, 294 Modulation Envelope, 204 modulators, 255, 261–262 mono files, 167 mono loops/samples, 148 mono-capable channels, 69 Monolake, 1, monophonic synthesizers, 335 morphing between straight and swing feels, 108 morphing patches with Macro Controls, 236 MOTU, mouse, 112–113 mov files, 151–152 movie cues, Movie Import feature, movies, 24 Moving Scenes Tip, 129 MP3 compression, 359 MP3 files, 56 MPEG-1, Layer-3 (MP3) compression, 31 multi-channel output function, 101 multiple clips and Warp Markers, 172–173 multiple processors, 61 multiple tracks, 195–196 multi-sampled instruments, 247, 281–282 multi-sampling, 273–274 multi-track studio applications, 102 Murphy, David, 96 music, 5–6, effects, 209 remixing, 102 varying loudness, 19 Music Tech magazine, 43 musical building blocks, 103–122 musical elements, 2–3, musical parts, 5, 99 musical scales, 345 musicians, 102 muting tracks, 68 My Documents/Ableton/Library/Presets (or VstPresets) folder, 218 N Native Instruments, 3–4, 35, 106, 218, 274 Native Instruments Web site, 43 natively-supported control surfaces, 54 Newman, Thomas, 402 Next Follow Action, 115 Q INDEX Nine Inch Nails, No Action Follow Action, 114 No Sustain Loop mode, 277 nodes, 180 non-MIDI instruments, 22 notch filters, 239, 248, 253, 265 Note Length effect, 341–342 Note Off message, 19 Note On message, 18 Note Quantization, 110 notes, 16, 19 Notes window, 157 Novation X-Station, 97 Now Line, 48 Nuendo, Nyquist Theorem, 264 O Octave Sine Waves clip, 251 odd-numbered harmonics, 252 Ogg Vorbis compression, 31 Old Sampler preset, 325 online help, 95–96 Operator, 213 algorithms, 258–259 display, 257 envelopes, 262–263 Filter section, 264–265 FM synthesis, 257 Glide parameters, 266 Global section, 258–259 Global Settings section, 266–268 hidden modulator, 262 Hi-Q parameter, 267 IAPDSR (Initial Level, Attack Time, Peak Level, Decay Time, Sustain Level, Release Time) Envelope, 262 interface overview, 256–257 LFO section, 264 maximum number of notes played at once, 267–268 modulating filter cutoff or volume, 264 Operator A, 258–259 Operator B, 258–259 Operator C, 258–259 Operator D, 258–259 operators, 256, 258–260 pan position of output, 267 PB Range parameter, 266 Pitch section, 265–266 quality of interpolation, 267 repetitive automations, 264 RTG button, 267 shaping sounds, 257–268 shell sections, 257 Sin option, 259 sound creation, 257–268 subtractive synthesis, 257 synthesis examples, 268–273 Time control, 266 TimeDelay Compensation command, 71 Options>Preferences command, 47 orchestral samples, 167 Orion Pro, Osborne, Joan, 331 oscillators, 253, 261 OscPlug-in>VST Plug-in Folder command, 91 Pre-Listen Bus, 68 pre-listening, 71, 84 421 QQQ INDEX } preset banks, 217 presets, 84, 192, 250 Audio Units plug-ins, 219–221 Chorus effect, 220 copying, 218 devices, 219–221 hot-swapping, 220–221 Impulse, 240 listing stored, 217 loading, 235 managing, 216–221 naming, 218 racks, 234–235 reusing, 218 saving, 234 Simpler, 247 VST plug-ins, 216–219 previewing audio loops, clips, 87 MIDI notes, 202 Previous Follow Action, 115 Pro Session Mixer view, 66 Pro Tools, 6, 9–10, 39, 102 processors, 38, 61 producers and Live 6, 102 professional-grade audio tools, Program Change MIDI message, 192–193 Program Files folder, 36 Program Files>Steinberg>Vstplugins command, 36 programs, 3–4, 6, 192, 349 Project5, projects, saving files, 92–93 Propellerhead, 6–7 Prophet 5, 14 prOteus, 189 Pro Tools, 75 punching? in, 145 punching out, 145 Q quantization, 81 Quantize dialog box, 197–198 quantize grid, 142–143 Quantize (Ctrl/ + U) keyboard shortcut, 197 quantizing Follow Actions and, 116 lining up stray notes in MIDI clip, 110 MIDI clips, 196–198 when clips start playing, 110–111 Quantizing Grid, 108 422 QQQ QuickTime movies, importing, 102–103 QuickTime Pro, 151 QuickTime video, scoring to, 151–153 R Rack window, 232–234 racks Audio effects, 233 basics, 232–235 breaking into component devices, 231 Chain List, 231 creation of, 231–232 creative possibilities, 235–236 devices, 233–234 Devices view, 231 Effects Racks, 231 Instrument Racks, 231 layering sounds, 235 Macro Controls, 234, 236 managing presets, 234–235 MIDI keyboard range splits, 235–236 saving effect chains, 235 Show/Hide Chain List icon, 232 RAM, 39, 160–161 ramps, 180 Random effect, 343–344 RateExamples>Chapter 09 folder, 274 Resources>Library>Presets>Operator>(AL6P Presets) folder, 268 retractable rectangle views, 64 Return tracks, 124 controls, 69 level of signal sent to, 178 Track View, 223–225 reverb, 147, 317–320 Reverb effect, 317–320 ReWire applications, 73 Live and, 350–354 power of, 355–356 ReWire Master, 349–350 ReWire Slaves, 350 running multiple applications, 349–356 software-studio synchronization, ReWire-compatible software, Rezzy Hat preset, 272 rhythm, 185 rhythmic loops, 165 ring modulation, 324 ripping and DJs, 359–363 RME Hammerfall Web site, 42 RMP, 38 Road to Perdition, 401 Roland HandSonic, 97 Roland TB-303, 253 roll off, 287 round numbers, 21 routing, 6, 73–74 ReWire application, 73 S Sam Ash, 35 sample editors, 395 sample libraries, 106 Sample Offset Envelope, 177–178, 188 Sample Pitch Envelope, 247–249 sample rate, 27–28 higher, 51 increasing, 30 423 QQQ INDEX } input and output, 51 rendering, 148 Sample window, 157–161, 174–175, 185 Sampler, 92, 213, 247, 273–283 algorithms, 278 changing parameters, 280 creative ideas for, 282–283 extended drum kits, 283 extended palette for composing, 283 Filter/Global tab, 279–280 importing third-party instruments, 281–282 Interpol control, 278 layers, 274–275 LFOs, 280 live sampled instruments, 282 live theater music and effects, 283 MIDI modulation routings, 281 MIDI tab, 281 Modulation Envelope, 280 Modulation Oscillator, 278–279 Modulations tab, 280 Morphing filter, 279–280 multi-sampled instruments, 281–282 multi-sampling, 273–274 patches, 274 Pitch Envelope, 279 Pitch/Osc tab, 278–279 RAM mode switch, 278 Sustain and Release modes, 276–278 user-created sounds, 283 Volume Envelope, 280 Zone Editor, 274–275, 283 Zone tab, 274–275 samples, 26, 35 16-bit, 30 adding digits to, 29 advancing start position, 239 altering pitch, 168 automatically arranging, 126 categories of, 89 changing sound, 238–239 cropping, 170 dividing into sections, fade at beginning, 238 fade-out, 240 filter mode, 239 filtering, 239–240, 248 finding, 84, 93–94 increasing accuracy, 28–29 looping, 275 424 QQQ mapping, 274–275 naming scheme, 88–89 pitch, 238 playing back, 275 shaping tail end, 240 short fade-in, 239 Simpler, 246–249 sound design, 239–240 stretching sound, 238 swapping, 92 triggering, velocity, 239 Samples/Processed/Freeze folder, 126 sampling, process of, 25–27 Sandler, Adam, 331 Sasha, 9, 100 SATA hard drives, 38 Saturator effect, 321–322 The Saturday Night Live Band, Save (Ctrl/ + S) keyboard shortcut, 92 Save Live Set As (Ctrl/ + Shift key + S) keyboard shortcut, 92 Saw Bass preset, 269 sawtooth waves, 23, 252, 259 Scale effect, 344–346 scanners, 25 scanning, 25–26, 28 Scene Launchers, 64, 66, 70 scene selector, 60 scenes, 2, 5, 65–66, 99, 128–132 automatically advancing, 131 automatically arranging samples, 126 capturing, 131 changing highlighted, 131 Clip Stop buttons, 126, 128 clips, 66 DJs, 128 duplicating, 128 inserting, 129 instrument tracks, 130 launching, 60 moving, 129 naming, 129, 131 programming tempos, 132 recording clips when launched, 61 triggering, 131 scoring video, 102–103, 151–153 SCSI hard drives, 38 searching, 57, 62, 86, 88, 90 second harmonic, 251 Q INDEX sections building from multiple loops, 183 creation, 99 dividing samples into, locating, 134 marking, 143–144 repeating, 138 submixing, 150–151 seek time, 38 Seg BPM window, 164 segments, 164 Select All (Ctrl/ + A) keyboard shortcut, 172, 364 self-contained studio, send effects, 69, 223–225 Send Envelope, 178, 205 sequencers, 15 jazz musicians, 101 keyboards, 15 live performers, 101 synchronizing, 349 synthesizers, 16 sequences, triggering, sequencing instrument, 101 pattern-style, 104 serial number, 36–37 Session Mixer, 64, 66–72 Arm button, 194 Arrangement View, 77 audio controls, 124 Audio Output routing, 69 Audio tracks and controls, 67–68 automation, 140 channel-mute shortcut keys, 70 controlling, 45 crossfader, 71–72 imitating analog mixers, 130 I/O Routing section, 213 Master Settings, 77 Master track and controls, 70–71 MIDI controls, 227 MIDI tracks and controls, 68 Pan knob, 176 Peak Level/Overload button, 66 playing in-coming recording, 184 Post button, 224 Pre button, 224 Pre-Listen Bus, 68 Record Arm button, 68 red markings, 75 resizing, 66 Return tracks and controls, 69 Send knob, 69, 224 sharing, 78 Solo/Cue knob, 68, 70–71 Track Activator button, 68 Track Delay, 71 Transpose knob, 176 Session View, 2, 63 activating Global recording, 75 adding multiple samples, 126 adding plug-ins to tracks, 210–211 Arrangement View, 78, 136–137 Audio clips, 181–183 Audio From option, 73 Audio To option, 73 automatic track creation, 127 automation, 113–116 Back to Arrangement button, 136–137 Browser window, 84 clip creation, 127 clip name, 107 Clip Slot Grid, 64–65 Clip Slots, 86, 126 Clip Stop buttons, 126, 194 clips, 81, 104 dragging and dropping, 86, 127 editing commands, 127–128 Fire buttons, 128, 131 Global Quantize setting, 194 hideable windows, 83 hiding sections, 72 Input/Output Channel Routing, 73–74 Input/Output Routing Strip, 64 Input/Output Routing strip, 194 inserting row, 129 Launch Quantizing, 196 launching clips, 76, 136–137 Live sets, 86 MIDI clips, 194 MIDI data creation, 213 mov files, 152 moving between scenes, 131 multiple takes, 183 overdubbing, 75 recording actions, 100 renaming clips, 108 Render to Disk menu, 145–148 rendering, 145–148 retractable rectangle views, 64 Scene Launch strip, 128, 131 Scene Launcher, 64, 66, 128, 131 425 QQQ INDEX } scenes, 128 Session Mixer, 64, 66–72 solo/cue volume knob, 85 stopping all clips, 76 stopping recording, 181 switching between files, 160 switching to, 75, 77 tracks, 75 triggering scenes, 131 warped drum loop, 242 sessions, 126 adding clips, 126–127 effects, 209–221 Set 1.1.1 Here command, 170 Set As Root command, 88 sets active MIDI mappings, 132 backing up, 219 default or template, 55 dragging portions into project, 86 key and MIDI assignments, 134 Master track, 125 reloading crashing, 219 replacing clips, 170 Return tracks, 124 saving, 92 tempo master, 117–118 Tempo Master clip, 164 time signature different from, 111–112 viewing tracks, 86 setup, 36 S&H (Sample & Hold), 294 side bands, 268 signal path, 221–226 effects as insert, 221–223 send effects, 223–225 Simple beat, 243–244 Simple CHH preset, 271 Simple Delay, 306–308 Simple OHH preset, 271 Simpler, 92, 213, 246–250 Simpler>Sampler command, 247 Sine Bass preset, 260 sine wave oscillators, 255 sine waves, 23, 259 adding harmonics, 252–253 altering frequency, 255 basses, 268–269 building waveforms from, 255 FM synthesis, 259 variations, 259–260 426 QQQ sketches, 64 skins, 49 slices, slides, 176 Sly and the Family Stone, 401 snare drums and synthesis, 271 Snare tracks, 244 soft synths, software compliance, software mixer, 66 software piracy, 37 SONAR, 6, 75, 84 songs backups, 92 Beats mode, 165 building in layers, continuous readout of, 81 exporting completed, 151 finalizing, 100 full real-time control over, gradual transitions, multi-tracking, 102 organizing clips into, 65 pertinent information, 78 renaming, 92 section creation, 99 tempo, 80 transposing, 161 songwriters, 102 Sonic Syndicate, SONiVOX, 35 SONiVOX Essential Instrument Collection (EIC), 247 SONiVox Essential Instrument Collection (EIC), 282 sound, 192 action taken when pressed, 112–113 amplitude, 23 cycles, 22 deconstructing, 324 defining, 22–23 experimenting with, 21 expressiveness, 263 frequency, 22–23 importing into Impulse, 240–242 jam situation, latency, 44 layering, 235 mangling, 312 pitch, 23 playing with, representing in computer, 24–25 syncing with video, 153 Q INDEX timber, 23 triggering, trying different combinations of, 92 waveforms, 23 Sound Forge, 56, 147, 395, 399–400 sound generators, 4, 15 sound modules, 15 sound pressure level (SPL), 23 Sound Tribe Sector 9, 96–97 sound waves, 27 soundcards, 6, 44, 51–52 ASIO- or WDM-compatible, 35 direct monitoring, 53 FireWire interfaces, 42 Indigo series soundcards, 42 Layla series soundcards, 41–42 M-Audio Delta series, 40–41 outputs, 40 selecting, 40–44, 50 SoundFont, 274, 281 Spacebar, 65 S/PDIF (Sony/Phillips Digital Interface) digital format, 40 Spears, Britney, 189 Spice Girls, 331 Split Clip (Ctrl/ + E) keyboard shortcut, 139, 386 Split function, 139 splitting clips, 139 Springsteen, Bruce, 331 square waves, 23, 252, 259 stage and Live 6, standard CD format, 30 Standard MIDI Files (SMFs), 205–206 Start and Stop (Spacebar) keyboard shortcut, 80 static loops, 244 status byte, 19–20 Steinberg, Steinberg Web site, 44 Step Editor, 142 step-style modulation, 180 stereo channels, 69 Stewart, Rod, 331 Stop Follow Action, 114 Storm, streamlining loops, 399–400 studios and Live 6, 9–10 submixing sections, 150–151 subtractive synthesis, 253, 257, 259, 261 subtractive synthesizers, 253, 264 super-spacey echo, 310 support files, 56 Sustain Envelope, 204 Sustain Loop mode, 276–278 Sustain-Loop Detune mode, 278 Sw3 waveform, 259 Sw64 waveform, 259 swing, 80 Switch Screen (Tab) keyboard shortcut, 78 synching to another program’s MIDI clock, synchronization audio and video, 103 computers, 349 to external device, 80 external MIDI devices, 71 live band recording with Tempo Grid, 173 loops, 71 sequencers, 349 sources for, 54–55 synthesis examples, 268–273 synthesizers, LFO, 264 MIDI and, 14 monophonic, 335 sequencers, 16 system requirements, 33–35 T tail, 317 Tap Tempo, 101, 169, 375 Tavaglione, Steve, 1, 401–402 Techno Bass preset, 262 television cues, templates, 55, 394–395 tempo, 80, 116–117, 132, 164 Tempo Grid, 173 tempo master, 117–118 Tempo Master clip, 164 temporarily storing files, 56 test-tone sine wave, 53–54 Texture mode, 59, 167 theater, 378–380 Theremin, 13–14 thick keyboard pads, 167 The Thin Red Line, 103 third harmonic, 252 third-party instruments, importing, 281–282 third-party plug-ins, 89–90, 215, 218 third-party software effects, 89–90 threshold of pain, 23 timber, 23 Time control, 266 time lag, 44 427 QQQ INDEX } time signature, 80, 111–112 time stretching, time-correcting warp feature, time-stretching and compressing, 163–164 Time Freeze Track command, 168 Track Delay, 71 Track Freeze function, 125–126 Track View, 70, 211 Audio tracks, 123 chain of devices, 231 effects, 209, 223–225 Master track, 125 MIDI effects, 123 MIDI tracks, 123, 204 Operator, 256 Return tracks, 223–225 Track Width feature, 245 tracks, 65, 122 adding plug-ins, 210–211 aligning, 71 Arrangement View, 75, 77 Audio Clips, 67 Audio Effects, 67 Audio tracks, 122–123 channels as input for, 244 Clip Stop buttons, 112 cloning, 74 comparing, 216 effects, 69 enabling, 68 freezing, 125–126 grouping, 69, 74 halting clip playback, 129 428 QQQ importing QuickTime movies, 102–103 Input menus, 181 Live sets, 86 Master track, 125 maximizing, 77 MIDI tracks, 123–124 mixing, 71 monitoring, 68 muting, 68 nudging ahead or behind, 71 panning, 175–176 record-enabled, 58 recording, 68 rendering clips, 125 Return track, 124 routing input and output, 73–74 routing to Pre-Listen Bus, 68 Sends Only output, 225–226 Session View, 75 soloing, 58 stopping clips on, 65, 126 submixing, 150–151 Track View, 211 unable to hold clips, 69 unfreezing, 125 virtual instruments, 68 Trans Europe Express, Transient settings, 165–166 transport, 135 transport bars, 78, 230 Transpose control, 161 Transpose Envelope, 176, 181, 188 transposing songs, 161 tremolo effect, 249 Trigger Finger, 189, 242 Trigger Launch mode, 112 tuning operators, 260 tweaking effects, U Undo (Ctrl/ + Z) keyboard shortcut, 198 Unfreeze Track command, 125 Ungroup command, 231 unlinking Clip Envelopes, 179–180 updating Live 6, 36–37 USB, 39–40 User>Library>Application Support>Ableton>Library>Presets folder, 218 Utility effect, 329–331 Q INDEX V W variable bit rate (VBR) compression, 359–360 Variable mode, 260 Velmer, Zach, 97 velocity, 19, 346–347 Velocity effect, 346–347 Velocity Zones, 233 vibrato, 249 video, 151–153 Video Window, 152 View menu, 72 View>Crossfader command, 71 View>Info command, 94 views retractable rectangle views, 64 switching, 75 View>Track Delay command, 71 Vinyl Distortion effect, 326–327 VirSyn, 218 virtual instruments, 68 effects, 205 Impulse, 237–246 MIDI tracks, 123–124, 205 Operator, 250–273 Sampler, 273–283 saving, 250 saving MIDI clips with, 206 Simpler, 246–250 virtual mixer channels, vocal compression, 304 vocal part, voice stealing, 267 volume, 19, 23 adjusting, 162–163 loops, 85 maximizing, 397–398 normalizing, 397 operators, 260 plug-ins, 219 rising, 173–175 Volume Envelope, 173–175, 174–175, 204–205, 262, 385 VST effects, 57 VST plug-in folder, 36, 57 VST plug-ins, 4, 90, 91–93, 215–219 VST virtual instruments, VST/Audio Unit window, 220–221 VTS folder, 89 Wainwright, Loudon, 331 warnings, 48 Warp, 30 Warp as X-Bar Loop command, 169–170 Warp Engine, Warp from Here command, 169 Warp from Here (Start at tempo) command, 169 Warp from Here (Straight) command, 169 Warp functions settings, 59–60 Warp Markers, 7, 59, 116–117, 163–166, 168 adding while recording, 364 adjusting timing, 169–170 ahead and behind beat, 384 Auto-Warping algorithm, 364 compensating for beats, 187 DJs, 364–368 duplicating songs, 367–368 erasing, 170–171 feel, 383–384 manual creation, 170–171 manually adding, 365–367 moving, 171–172 multiple clips, 122, 172–173 old songs, 367 resetting, 120, 170 rhythm creation, 172 selecting all, 172 setting to project tempo, 169 shifting for loops, 188 staying where put, 171 tempo master, 118 timing, 185 video clips, 153 viewing, 170 Warp modes Beats mode, 165–167 Clip Envelopes, 181 Complex mode, 168 experimenting on loops, 188 Re-Pitch mode, 168 Texture mode, 167 Tones mode, 167 Warp Tempo from Here command, 169 warping, 163–164 beat, 165–167 multiple clips, 122 phase-vocoding algorithm for, 60 429 QQQ INDEX } purpose of, 168 turning off all, 60 Warp modes, 165–168 Waters, Roger, 401 WAV files, 7, 31, 56–57 wave editors, 56, 395–396 de-clicking, 398–399 enhancing loops, 396 maximizing volume, 397–398 normalizing, 397 tips, 396–399 waveforms, 23, 26–27 additive synthesis, 255 building from sine waves, 255 changing sound of, 253 complex, 252 FM synthesis, 255–256 harmonics, 251 more accurate, 29 more refined, 27 oscillator generating, 253 overtones, 251 pitch, 256 removing audio peak data, 179 saving graphical display, 56 sine wave, 250–252 subtractive synthesis, 253 Wavelab, 56, 147, 395 Waves, 218 430 QQQ Web sites, 35 Weckl, Dave, 401 wide stereo field, 266 Williams, Vanessa, 331 Windows See also PCs centralizing plug-in folders, 36 reusing presets, 218 selecting soundcards, 50 Start>Search>For Files or Folders command, 94 WAV files, 147 Windows 2000, 6, 36 Windows XP, 6, 36, 148 WMA compression, 31 working methods, 100 Workspace, 87 workstations, 15 X XLR input channels, 40 Y Yamaha DX7 operators, 256 Z Zero-G, 35 zero-latency performance, 52 Zones, 233 ... .61 The Products Tab 61 The Live Packs Tab .62 viii QQQ CONTENTS CHAPTER Live Interface Basics 63 Session View 63 Clip Slot Grid 65 The... Getting Live Up and Running 33 System Requirements 33 Ableton Live? ??s System Requirements for Macintosh .34 Ableton Live Power!’s Mac Recommendations 34 Ableton Live? ??s System... 161 Gain 162 Warp Control 163 xi QQQ CONTENTS Warp Modes 165 Warp Markers . 168 Purpose of Warping 168 Auto-Warping 169 Manually