Ableton Live DJing Techniques and Ideas?

[Dub_Fiend]

Hey there,

I'm an avid user of Ableton Live for my live DJ sets, but currently I seemed to have plateau'd in terms of the tricks and techniques I'm using...

I have a good grasp of how to use the program for what I want to do at the moment, and I've begun to add acapellas of other tracks to other dubstep tracks during the mix, cutting the acapella into sections and triggering them off the black keys on my M-Audio Oxygen 49 that I use. Similarly, I've started using build-up sound effects (long and short rises etc...) to help transition certain songs into others, but I don't really think this is enough...

Basically, I want to know what other kind of things there are available to me as a producer/DJ, and whether anyone else who DJs using Ableton Live has any particular tips and tricks they use which enhances their mixes...

I have a few ideas, but I'm not really that sure whether they'd sound good... For instance, I haven't really experimented that much with other effects bar the EQ Three for mixing between the two track channels, but I'm not really sure about the viability of most of the effects in a live setting (I'm using Live 6 just for reference ^.^), and similarly I've considered chopping up some beats or making some of my own to incorperate into the mixes, but they'd probably be used quite sparingly since I tend to keep a groove going throughout the whole thing, rendering extra beats sorta useless... And also, I can't make tracks in Live to save my life so that's outta the question too lol Anyone help?

Peace and Dubs,


Dub Fiend

p.s. For reference if anyone needs it, here's a link to a 30 minute mix I've done recently: http://soundcloud.com/dub-fiend/two-for ... ni-edition

[Sharmaji]

check out tom cosm's videos on youtube.

use dummy clips and follow actions!

D

[Dub_Fiend]

SICK!! Dummy clips are awesome, I'd been thinking for a while on how you could do that, and here we are

Anything else that's useful?


Dub Fiend

[knobgoblin]

if your midi controller has a good number knobs, I love setting up sends for delays. I set one knob to the send amount for all the channels and the others for feedback and delay time. Also filters and distortion units on the master or individual channels. the great thing about abelton is that you can use one knob to control multiple parameters. Like you can have a knob set to control the frequency of a filter but also be set to turn the effect on only when you reach the top of the knobs range. so that the filter only turns on when you start sweeping the filter down. I think thats the big advantage to using abelton to dj, is the degree to which you can "play" your mix and do creative processing while letting the machine deal with the syncing and tempo stuff that other kinds of dj's have to focus on.

[Dub_Fiend]

Yeah I completely understand you KG It just frees up the hassle of beat-matching your tracks and other more basic DJ techniques like that so the only real limitation is your creativity... and your CPU I guess

I didn't realise you could trigger filters when a knob reaches a certain point though, that's really awesome I shall have to try that for sure!


Dub Fiend

[bedroom beats]

Might not help, but have you been on ableton forums? There is some good stuff on there.

[glockcoma]

Hey I just Got into mixing with abelton and i have the basic idea of it, but i was wondering how I can Match the Beats up Better. i will get them timed out just right but they fall off beat easliy. I get frustrated with it every once in a while.

[badeshi]

If you havent heard of him already check out Moldover on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2McDeSKiOU

he does some crazy stuff.....

edited to say...

get a copy of reaktor and some of his custom instruments put on your master bass in ableton...

[jah know]

Cross sending delays and filter sweeps is a great mix method. Try the fade to grey filter in the audio performance and dj rack setup. You can beat match a filtered delay til the cows do your maw.

[Dub_Fiend]

Hey I just Got into mixing with abelton and i have the basic idea of it, but i was wondering how I can Match the Beats up Better. i will get them timed out just right but they fall off beat easliy. I get frustrated with it every once in a while.

GlockComa, it may be necessary if some of the tunes you have don't consistently match the beat to manually change the warp markers yourself... What I tend to do is change the warp markers every 32 bars or so (this tends to work well) and you just have to move the marker so it's on the kick (or basically the first beat of the bar, whatever it is).

Cross sending delays and filter sweeps is a great mix method. Try the fade to grey filter in the audio performance and dj rack setup. You can beat match a filtered delay til the cows do your maw.

That's interesting... where would you put the effect, on the master or on the individual tracks?


Dub Fiend

[djshiva]

check out tom cosm's videos on youtube.

use dummy clips and follow actions!

D

yesh! this!

also, for GlockComa, a concise guide to warping your tunes. If you are warping correctly, your beats should align with no problems. Check here for help (second post down):

http://www.dubstepforum.com/viewtopic.p ... ht=warping

Things may be a bit different if you are using Live 8 (I haven't upgraded yet), so be forewarned that I know shit about 8.