Happy THXGVNG!

As promised James (Tobin) has placed Reason Template files on his site at http://www.dorjerecords.com/DAUG/ and I copied and mirrored the data here : http://abletondenver.com/press-kit/2009-11-meetup/follow-up/ – These are ready to go and will help out for the first leap or more.

James is super cool and if want to contact him feel free. Use his http://www.dorjerecords.com/ website.

Back to the Launchpad, no not really.  I have  an Akai MPD24 now and ultimately this unit is a much better performer for me.

I was reminded by David that the Launchpad IS cool. I agree.  I have some bad taste for now. So here is a video demonstrating some of the coolness. There are a lot of cool controllers coming on the market. I am interested in testing and talking about all of them and building a few also.

Mark  Mosher (http://modulatethis.com) has released his new album “Reboot“. If I know Mark, this is an all Ableton Project (with some injections of other technology here and there). This album is available at http://markmosher.bandcamp.com/ (free or donation) as well as on iTunes and other outlets.

Some thoughts on the meet up(s).

1. Spill 2 beers on Launchpad. That might make things go better for me next time.

2. Definitely want to have performers for the night. Thanks again to Chase for the soundtrack.  I plan on having him back for the next meet up (tentatively scheduled for 22Jan2010).  Anyone who is interested in providing the evening music please contact me. I would like to include collaborative and experimental stuff also.

3. Like any other tech meet up we I would like to grow the community involvement.  One area I consider critical is MIDI / Computer support.  So, I am interested in incorporating a meet up area for people to “test” or “help” with equipment after the meet up. So, bring laptops (there is wireless in the Walnut). This is inspired by the install fest that Ubuntu does “installfest”’s (Google search). So, there are a few of us Ableton and MIDI geeks. If we can help we will. We need both types of experts as well as some problems.

Next meet up topics – well, looking for a speaker on Max4Live.  I am not diving in too deep with max until my new studio project is rolling.  I am watching the topic closely, but I am working in another room for a while. Are you ready talk about it?

In the world of Ableton, there are a TON of sample packs getting released.  I can’t keep up (still recovering from vacation and marriage).

The Win7 footprint is not making any significant presence yet.  Not nearly as loud as Apple on the Snow Leopard release.

Love this, a via gearwire a mini tenori on think geek.

OMG So want to get? You too?(next link)

http://www.djtechtools.com/2009/11/19/diy-midifighter-kit_midi-fighter/#more-3435

Take a look at this demo. Do you agree on how the lines between Ableton (type) performance is melding with DJ Performance tools.

Some new people at the last Abelton Meet worth mentioning.

Chris from Spark Fun (Boulder) came down thanks again. Collaboration is in the future.  Anyone interested in Arduidno domination?

Also Doug from NIIO Analog stopped by with his Iotine Core. Analog filter with great control.  I look forward to hooking up with him again soon. People are building cool as all heck stuff in our area!!!

Again, I would like to remind everyone that the gap  between DJ tools and Ableton are closing.  I read some passing blurb about a formal announcement scheduled for Winter NAMM. So, I have been looking into Traktor / DJ Tool crossovers with Ableton.  There is a presentation in the making on this topic.

I am always looking for new ideas and speakers.  There are a few people who need to send me an email still who I met.

I am sorting through a back log of RSS feeds, I will pop stuff on line as I find it.

Any good shows happening? Send them through…

Thanks, warp hard.

–Marc

Well, thank you to everyone who came out Sunday night (22Nov2009) to our meet up.  There were a BUNCH of great new friends made. I will be presenting more links and information real soon.

Like I said in the beginning of my (attempt at a) presentation – my relationship with Novation has always been choppy [note 1].

Right now I want to talk about the Launchpad failure.  Over the night I talked with one Ableton user who had great success, I could be an isolated incident.

Regardless, I will document my travel through the Launchpad and provide my feedback and analysis of the situation. This is only my personal experience from an editorial point of view. This is, in no way, a formal endorsement or otherwise on this equipment. Just an audio geek (junkie) not having a good time…

My Equipment (as pertaining to the situation):

• White Mac Book running Ableton and not much of anything else. This particular laptop is 100% music only. And of that music, 99.9% is Ableton.
• TC Electronics Konnekt 24D Firewire Interface
• Ableton
• I am not on Snow Leopard yet.

Other Applications I am suspicious of:

• Automap

Back story:

I put a Launchpad on hold on the release day (I am one of those geeks, I was at Guitar Center on May 30 10am to get my APC on release day – it was also my birthday). Like most any purchase I read the instruction manual a few times, and there really is NOT very much at all on that topic.  All you get is a quick start and this support:

• Launchpad support page (HTML)
• Getting started PDF
• Programming guide (zip with a PDF inside)

Before 22Nov2009 I watched about 20 YouTube videos on the unit (where I think I learned the most). YouTube is a great resource. Two of  the best tricks I learned in Ableton came from others tutorials.

I freely admit that my experience with Automap was, well, none. But I don’t think this should be a major hurdle for someone who had been deep in MIDI for over a decade and is a programmer by profession.

Automap, during my experimental week changed version quickly.I do not know if this is the norm? Version  3.3 is out as I write, I was originally bleeding edge on 3.2, and I think I started on 3.0.  This does not really matter because Automap is NOT compatible with the Launchpad (my bad – am I wrong?). See the image below.

Notice a lack of Launch pad support in this Novation marketing image (pulled form Novation site 23Nov2009)

So, there is not a heck of a lot of information included or available with the Launchpad.  I am damn good on the APC, seriously and that unit is not a major mind-melter out of the box.

So I upgraded Ableton and my Mac (non-Snow Leopard) before starting with a week available to fix problems [note 2].  Typical wise move.  I installed the drivers. I then went through about 7 hardcore lock-ups on my Mac – one after another.  When I am running on a Mac I play “dumb” and generally let things install as they want unless I see something flaming wrong.  I feel Mac’s are safer to play stupid with, unlike PC where you should read every dialog box.

So the install was default.  I downloaded Automap, tried to get it working for quite a while before a combination of giving up and learning that Automap does not support the Launchpad.

So I dropped that line of thought.

All in all I spent just over a week on the Launchpad.  A few full days and a little bit every night (check the tweets). All in all I considered the unit “normal”, or more specifically “flawed like everything else”.

Then I get brave. I installed the Ableton version on my Windows box.  That is a 64bit running a current 32bit install.  Everything runs great on that box (much better than Mac in my opinion).  That unit is my “work” box where I program, edit, video, Ableton, you name it (this was the first Ableton Install on the unit, my Windows 7 install is fresh).

On Windows 7

Windows was running just fine for a while. Then, with no error messages or similar, the Launch pad failed to fire up at all. A few reboots, a quick uninstall and reinstall changed nothing.  The Launchpad was not powering up any more (the USB bus is strong) with no changes to configuration.  I figured Win7 in combination with my 32/64bit mismatch was the problem. So I moved back to the Mac.

Back on the Mac

Having concluded that Win7 was not happy on the first day I knew I was Mac only.  I chugged along for about 7 more days.  No problems at all. Once I got over the hump everything ran smooth.  I took my notes, pushed the unit in practice performances, etcetera. I even did a little programming in Ableton and generally had good success.

I left my Mac on over night once to make sure everything was still okay the next day, that passed just fine.

Moving on I built MIDI demos, learned how to do what the promo video outlined (watch the video).  I was able to get all of this done over the course of a few nights.

The Saturday before the Meet Up I had a good 5+ hour session refining my set and trimming out fat so I could fast load a new set while holding the crowd. Smart huh?

The Sunday (before the Meetup) I spent the afternoon practicing and refining my notes. I went over my presentation practicing. All was running fine.  Having performed live for well over a decade I always go over my gear carefully before a gig.  Event when I was playing out several times every week.  I am very much a boyscout (be prepared) at gigs.  I usually have 2+ levels of redundancy allowing gear to fail (not with laptops though).  Additionally, as my band mates know, I usually have extra cables and plugs as well as other goodies to help out.

So I pack up and go to the meet up.  All was fine with the pre 7pm check.  This remained the truth until I did the presentation.

When I picked up the Launchpad to show the kind audience (like I was doing in my preparation work) I *think* the USB cable moved a little.  From there all hell broke loose.

My TC Electronics was getting kicked offline (outside of Ableton) at first. Something that NEVER happens.  It was a first.  Then the Launchpad was either not powering up via USB or working for one button push, or in other words it booted and once a button was pushed it seizes (with LEDS on).

I also lost MIDI out on my TC Electronics as well as 2/4 audio outputs.  I reviewed my set up and all is normal.  No changes, with Automap off I am recovering form the damage.

Mike (thank you) then took the unit and downloaded the drivers and could not get the unit to work.

So, at this time, through public embarrassment, I deem the Launchpad a NO GO. The data bleeds on note data,the several admissions from Novation-Land of tricky areas (no, plain old broken items), and a long laundry list of things that were almost working I formally have to declare my experience BAD. Very bad.

The unit no longer powers up. Nothing, dead, 1 week, probably 30 hours of use.  OUCH!

So, for those of you looking to get a Launchpad I advise against it. Save up twice the chedder and get an APC40 or a OHM controller, or similar.

I was going to outline all the funkiness that I have in my notes, but that is not going to happen.  My list was long. I was looking forward to putting a smile on a new product that has a few bugs and welcoming another controller to the world of Ableton. Those notes, photos, and other information will now rot on my drive. I wish to spend NO MORE time on this unit. Period.

Now what? Looking at getting an Akai MPD24 for my second / Max4Live controller.

[note 1] – The build quality has steadily been declining in my opinion since my first Novation products in the late 1990’s. Most recently was a XIOSynth where they keys were built incorrect and would stick “down”. 100%, beyond any reasonable doubt, bad engineering.  But I did love the Bass Station back in the day.

[note 2] – My rule of thumb is to have a week available on your computer for any major upgrades and / or changes.  Do not upgrade right before the gig.

This should be seeing some updates, but I already have one important link for the Novation Launchpad – a PDF matrix of the launchpad to help when you are assigning MIDI.  This is part of my presentation for the Launchpad.

http://abletondenver.com/press-kit/2009-11-meetup/LPMatrix_sheet.pdf

I put this together real fast because I was loosing track of what I was doing on the launch pad.

Here is a preview I picked up on the twitter environ (2 minutes). The release is scheduled for November 23, 2009. (http://audionewsroom.blogspot.com/2009/11/max-for-live-release-date-and-public.html) – the day after our meet up (phew!).

So, if anyone is ambitious enought to learn like crazy and present their findings for our next Ableton Denver meet up – PLEASE talk to me.

I will be digging in – but there is so much on my list (just my sample editing list is 5 pages long, then they need to be placed in Ableton).  Plus I am crash coursing on the Launchpad – SO MUCH NEW TECHNOLOGY!

Bleh – watch the video…

Abletoin Denver is proud to announce that c.db.sn will be providing the evening sound track for us.  You can preview his work at the Three Kings Tavern with Munimula, PH-10 and I-45 on Saturday 21November2009.

c.db.sn’s blog is located at http://cdbsn.wordpress.com/

Listen to a few tracks at http://soundcloud.com/c-db-sn/tracks or below…

data:transmit by c.db.sn

10.27.09 algorythmic composition fun by c.db.sn

mykomputor by c.db.sn

Ableton Denver invites you to join us on November 22, 2009 at the Walnut Room in NoDo (Denver) to go to a special place where Reason flows like wine from the Lake of Ableton.  We will make a quick stop in the land of Rewire and focus on cross program collaboration with a focus on Reason under the control of Ableton.

MEET UP RSVP NOW! Free to all and very helpful resource!!!

James Tobin puts Reason into Ableton.

The evening demonstration and discussion will highlight the power of the Ableton sequencer and the sound engine of Reason working in perfect harmony.

Who is James Tobin? Besides sharing his name with a great American economist he is a premier Ableton guru, Reason ninja, electronic musician, and audio artist.

With old school roots in warehouse parties in and around Chicago James is a consummate vinyl connoisseur (with time spent at Wax Trax here in Denver), established DJ, recording technician for film and audio, and currently enjoying work with Alien Logic providing sound design for game development.

James is weeks away from completion of a masters with Berkley Music after already gaining a specialist certificate in Composition and Production in New Media.

Musically James Tobin is 1/2 of Sound Logic Sound Logic, also known as DJ Radioactive, and the man steering Dorje Records since 2003.

Reason (wiki link) is a powerful product for music production produced by Propellerhead that accepts control from external devices as well as other DAW and similar programs.  Ableton, as many agree, has taken sequencing to a new level with one of the most amazing MIDI sequencers and editors on the market.  With these 2 programs combined you go somewhere special. (enter James)

We have included time for questions and answers from James and a demonstration of the new Novation Launchpad.

Novation formally launched the Launchpad November 4 2009.  That very morning, at  10:05am local time I put one on hold.  As of this writing I still need to pick it up and learn the sucker.  No complaints here! I will do my best to get a grip on the device and provide time for everyone to mess around on this great new device.

There should be quite a bit of shop time after our hour + of talk and demos, so we would love to get everyone trading tips and and cards.

Background information on Reason (wiki link):

Reason 1.0 was released in November 2000.

These modules can be controlled from Reason’s built-in MIDI sequencer or from other sequencing applications such as Ableton

Some Reason contents (wikipedia links):

• Subtractor: a subtractive synthesizer
• Malström: a graintable synthesizer
• Dr Rex: a loop playback device, which slices prerecorded samples into manageable, bitesize units (parallel variant for Ableton warp markers)
• NN-19: a simple sampler, which loads pre-recorded instrumental and vocal sounds
• NN-XT: an advanced sampler, which features the option of tweaking the various modulation, oscillation and filter parameters of a preloaded sample or patch

ReWire is a software protocol, jointly developed by Propellerhead and Steinberg, allowing remote control and data transfer among digital audio editing and related software.

Originally appearing in the ReBirth software synthesizer in 1998, the protocol has since evolved into an industry standard.

MEET UP RSVP NOW!

Media files and press information is located here: http://abletondenver.com/press-kit/2009-11-meetup/

Now with more c.db.sn click http://abletondenver.com/meet-up-this-sunday-now-with-soundtrack/

Well, I have returned form my wonderful international travel and other assorted excitement and I am proud to take credit for all 10 of the free Live packs available now at http://www.ableton.com/able10-artist-packs.  Like is hinted, I have had nothing to do with these free live packs, but I will take credit.

Regardless of my (temporarily displaced) ethos click on over and get your free packs.

As for meet up #2 – James Tobin will be presenting us with information on using Ableton as a sequencer / controller with reason (via rewire). Reason is NOT my forte, but I will be dropping a formal release on James (who has a great resume and experience and is super knowledgeable) and details.

Also – I will be presenting the Novation Launchpad for all to geek out on.  If there is anyone out there who has mastered this unit please contact me, I just got mine on hold yesterday (the day of release) and have a big hill to climb.

I have been in contact with various people who want to collaborate and fin help, so be sure to socialize!

We will also talk about Colorado Music Lab’s (pre) birth – where Ableton Denver will find an official home (OMFG we have an office with a studio, lab, and stage).

Get excited and stand by for more…

And, I am summing up all the week+ news (holy crap I got a lot of feeds to eat up).

Next Meet up 22nov2009 – Walnut Room – 6:30 social, 7p start. http://www.meetup.com/Ableton-Denver/calendar/11691445/ sign up now, great stuff!