I just got a question regarding how ILL.GATES used sample selection (pretty slick stuff) to “scan” through his 128’s.

It is not too obvious unless you really know your stuff in this area of Ableton.

So here is a walk through to allow you to get a “magic knob” to select samples inside the Sampler instrument/effect.

1. Drop in a MIDI track.

2. Drop an Instrument Rack on the MIDI track (this provides macros)

3. Drop a “Sampler” in the instrument rack. So everything should look like this:

4. Place your samples in the sampler. You can drag groups into the “Drop Samples Here” area. (ILL.GATES used 128 samples and the “128 term” because there are 128 “slots” as MIDI is 2×2x2×2x2×2x2 = 128.For the example I will use 4 samples and by the end you will understand how to use 2,4,20, 0r 128 samples.

4b. Open up the “Zone” tab and you should have something that looks like this:

Note : MIDI starts at zero!!! So 0 to 127 is the range! This is called “offsetting” or “zero offset” and is common in anything digital.

5a. Click on the “Sel” button / square to the left of the piano roll (“Key” is selected in my shot where “Key”, “Vel”, and “Sel” are grouped together).

5b. Initiate “Map Mode” and assign the area in green where the piano roll was to your macro. It should look like this:

5c. Close Map Mode.

6. Adjust the “Zones” (blue horizontal lines under the piano roll / sample selector area to be 1 (one) note and not all notes. It should look like this:

Helpful tip: Adding samples and adjusting the zones can be a pain. You can duplicate or alt/option drag to copy. This will copy the zones.  Then you can hot swap samples.  One of may approaches available.

7. Wrap it up! This step is IMPORTANT anytime you are NOT USING 128 samples.  This is also why macros help so much. Here are the sub-steps broken down:

A. MIDI Map your controller to the Sample Selector macro. You can use CC’s or a series of note values (make sure your series of notes are the same quantity as the number of samples you are intending to use).  Here is a shot of the MIDI Mapping on the Sample Selector macro:

B. Edit the range of your mapping to match the number of samples. Remember that MIDI starts at 0 (zero).  Or did I already mention that? Here is what is would look like mapping 4 samples starting at position 0 (zero):

Complete!

No, really, your done.  Now can scan through samples like ILL.GATES was showing in our recent workshop. (this is just handy stuff!)

I hope that helps! There are a number of features in the Sampler that are bitchin’ but this should get you over the hump real fast.  You will also need to have a MIDI clip running to hear your results, but that is another story all together.

–Marc
Electronic Music Missionary

[EDIT] Here is a great fast moving video that is the root of this post and discussion:

ESKAMON: “Fine Objects” – Ableton Tutorial by ill.Gates from ESKMO on Vimeo.

This article has been long overdue. The subject of MIDI sync is generally misrepresented. Use of wireless is pushed as a solution and not a liability to the masses. This is wrong.

Of all the questions I get MIDI sync “how-to” is by far the one common thread.  Ableton offers a standard solution that relies on technology that is over 25 years old. The protocol is NOT perfect and you need to think before you incorporate MIDI synch in your live set. (note the lower case “l”)

First the APC and other controllers

The APC is a USB class compliant MIDI device. There is a proprietary handshake that “syncs” – NOT the same as MMC/MTC/SMTPE by a long shot.

The APC sync is orientated mostly towards the “handshake” where there is a “sync” with the GUI in Ableton and the hardware (what and why LEDS light up).

If you want to MIDI sync generally you use a MIDI cable or SMPTE type of clocks (often BNC connection)

Now for the bad news

Professionally MIDI sync does not work well. When you DO see this live understand that there is a ton of work invested in making this work reliably.

Using MIDI to sync 2 laptops is flaky at best.  The success depends on  where your tolerance stands. Personally my set is disrupted at 10ms or greater lag/error.

This problem is, in short, because Ableton and most MIDI apps  operate in master/slave mode.n other words there is  a leader and follower of time. The follower will “resync” (re-orientate) at every defined interval (sync 2 machines and watch the BPM – it is in constant flux. I have seen +/- 5bpm).

It gets worse –

To sync 2 boxes you will need an audio or MIDI break out box.  If you go cheap you will have even more issues. (crappy timing crystals and bad electronics are par for the course)

Sometimes this stuff works well or well enough for certain apps.  I have jammed with people via and it is okay for me at times.  I usually lead because my sh!t is so tight (insert bad  joke here).

Okay, now it gets even worse –

If you want to do it right start saving your lunch money.  To sync live for a large gig using a Master / Slave can be suicide (not enough interest in going through the why). So the way you should do it is via a central time code generator and slave all machines. This practice is the agreed standard.   The least expensive unit is over $1.5k and that still needs more hardware to generate MIDI time.   (Big Ben)

And then it gets worse again –

Wireless MIDI = suicide live.

Midi over Wireless (any format) = suicide live .

Why ?

Simple – any script kitty can crush you with a smart-phone in a few minutes (so bad you will not be able to reconnect for the rest of the evening).

You will never find out who.

I am a programmer by day, I HAVE to be aware of how networking operates.  Any use of wireless LIVE is suicide – I may sound alarmist but there is no joke here.

Opening the door a little :

I can crack the  best wireless encryption in under 5 minutes period. From there you are destroyed (that is an understatement).

DoS (denial of service) type blasts will shut your set down.

Despite today’s 802.11i robust security network (RSN) advances, WLANs remain very vulnerable to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. While you may not be able to prevent DoS attacks, a wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPSWIPS) can help you detect when DoS attacks occur and where they come from… source and other stuff here

Packet sniffing will allow me to take control of Ableton remotely with a little work (injection – not my specialty – but give me a few hours…). A malicious script kitty will do something like drop 10hz blast to blow the sound system or 17k @ +20 db and make everyone deaf. You are not getting any gigs after that issue…

One solution lies in OSC via MIDI over ethernet (not wireless).  But Ableton does not natively support OSC and the middle ware leaves lag. I have not bench marked this protocol, but I hear good stuff.

Sorry to kill any ideas but I am a firm advocate of professionalism and any wireless connection is a HUGE liability. (There is a sub-conversation on whitespace/4g and the dynamic mapping for interference that is slowing down the release of this awesome spectrum for data communication and how this can crush your sync ideas)

Apparently Moldover was hacked in a show via similar methods.  If you leave wireless on during your set you are opening up to problems (Apple remote script is something I saw on the radar – I don’t care because I kill wireless when performing).

Many people may disagree with me, and I accept this fact.  When they get crushed by this type of method they will not know how, what, or why this happened. So my argument is usually going to fall on deaf ears.

How much of a risk is this?

Not sure, but there is more than enough risk out there to NOT do it.  As your show scales your rick increases – more people leaves a greater chance of someone messing with you.  Wireless can have a 1/4 mile + range. In any city that puts a few thousand people minimum in range of messing with you.  Using a Pringles can I have pulled in wireless connections over a mile away up in the mountains.

There are a few wireless methods you can use that are more secure, I have a friend who IS all IT security and knows this stuff inside and out – he agrees with me 100% and the safe ways to do wireless in a performance are out of my scope (and I work on this stuff all day everyday).

So who the hell am I?

I have been doing this ’stuff’ for well over a decade. I was teaching MIDI and synthesis professionally in the 1990’s.  I started programming in the 1980’s (I am old). MIDI sync is fine in the studio, risky live, and a bad idea as the central part of your set.  If you must use it live you need to refactor your set and hardware for reliability and use only high end equipment.

I have not mentioned EM blasts, interference, or jamming. Each is pretty easy and will shut you down.

There is a long list of DO-NOTs – too many to even begin discussing.

For the record – MIDI sync has GREAT results when you are syncing 2 hardware units. As soon as software comes into play you increase your potential problems. There is a huge spectrum  of possibilities between success and failure with a billion variables. There is no “one” answer, only best practices.

I  advocate the tightest rig, best security, and absolute professionalism when playing live.

All you people using hacked copied of software stand to hurt the whole community.

However in the basement – do what ever you want!

Why the alarmist view?

Working in the programming and development environment for many years now I HAVE to know how to hack. I am a “white hat” hacker and this is part of the job description.  White hat is all about hacking your applications looking for problems.  I am NOT an “black hat” hacker – I do not hack out of malicious intent or to hurt people.  Please be clear on this item!

Again, back to my professional experience – buy me some good scotch (not single malt please) and I will indulge you on things I know and stuff I have seen that will scare the mortal crap out of a anyone. From Facebook exploits, XSS craziness, how to sniff wireless, and a long list of weird stuff I would only talk about in person and leave out of print period.

Please allow this article to be a reference form the conservative side of technology.

A few things happening this weekend, there is no excuse to not listen to some kick ass electronic music or learn!

First we have Steve Nalepa (nah lay pa) hosting a Master Class. Here is a post with the full details.

Saturday May 1, 2010 from 1pm-6pm at The Lucid Gallery (719 W 8th Ave Denver, CO 80204). The cost is $100. I will be helping out for the day.(Facebook Event). Steve is also part of RE:UNIFIED FIELD (below)

Denver Noise Festival
Friday: Doors at 6:00pm Noise at 7:00pm
Saturday: Doors at 3:00pm Noise at 4:00pm

RE:UNIFIED FIELD Presented by SONIC BLOOM and EC [FBook]
Friday, April 30, 2010 at 8:00pm
Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom & Cervantes’ Other Side

You knew this was coming, I try not to drop too much iPad stuff, hoping the absolute best will trickle back. But this is a start, file under “we saw this coming and I am excited to see where we can take this…”. (thanks to DHenderson for helping find this Synthopia article.

midiPad in action from kai on Vimeo.

Also – Ableton announces compatibility with the Novation’s SL Mk II series . See the SL products and more at this very red novation page.

Finally – this is super fun from Laura Escude.

“Pororoca” music video from Laura Escudé on Vimeo.

Ableton Denver in conjunction with Basslab Music are proud to announce that ILL.GATES will be conducting a master class from 6 to 10pm on 23May2010 at the Walnut Room.

Second Date added!! 24May2010 – details here.

You can RSVP here via the meet up group and pre-registration is available via email transfer or paypal to : thephatconductor@gmail.com

Cost $50 / person or “Bring 2 and get in for free” (pre-registration required for this offer) or a special discount for our members. Details at the end of this post.

Ill.Gates : THE ILL.METHODOLOGY

“I went from finishing a tune every six months, to finishing one or more a day, and I can teach you to do the same” – Ill Gates

Ill Gates is the new moniker of Canadian breaks producer The Phat Conductor.

He’s been producing music with the likes of Bassnectar, Si-Begg and a ton of others and has put together a brilliant lecture/workshop which can increase your skills and productivity massively in all sorts of areas by making you more efficient and teaching you how to not only write tunes, but to complete them and make them high quality.

Like many of the emerging US/Canadian glitch-hop scene, Gates favours Ableton live for performance and production, and he will show you how to set up racks (combinations of instruments and effects presets), “Sampler 128’s” (pre-loaded banks of samples which massively speed up sound selection for your tunes while at the same time giving you much greater control in sound design), use of Ableton for live performance/DJ sets, and techniques to get your creative parts of the brain to the forefront, so that you get to finish songs quickly without sacrificing quality, while keeping your music fresh.

WORKSHOP LAYOUT:

1. Learning to Live Every Day as a Musician
2. Concepts of Songwriting
3. Workflow
4. Sound Design
5. Library and Organization
6. Tips, Tricks, Techniques
7. Promotion
8. DJing with Ableton Live
9. Q+A period

On top of all this, he’ll give you a pile of his DJ Templates, racks, custom effects, remix parts and course notes.

This 4 hour workshop has been getting incredibly positive reviews and feedback from producers in north america wherever it’s touched down – it’s pretty fair at only $50, and if you’d like to attend but can’t afford to, just find 2 friends who can, and you’ll fly for free (applies to pre-registration only).

This is a rare chance to learn techniques and tips from a world class producer who’s not only putting out wicked records, but has been smashing audiences around the world with killer sets played to big crowds at such festivals as Canada’s legendary Shambhala, and the US Burning Man festival more recently.

Feedback so far from Aussie attendees has been 100% positive, with a couple so far even paying extra AFTER the workshop finished – I kid you not.

ABLETON LIVE WORKSHOP: TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES
FOR COMPOSITION, PRODUCTION AND LIVE PERFORMANCE

Five Hour Intensive Ableton Live Workshop in Denver, CO taught by Steve Nalepa.

Saturday May 1, 2010 from 1pm-6pm at The Lucid Gallery (719 W 8th Ave Denver, CO 80204). The cost is $100.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:

Ableton Live is a dynamic and empowering tool for every stage of the musical process, from composition to production to live performance. Whether you are a producer or dj, sound designer or composer, the versatility of Ableton Live makes it the ideal tool for both beginners and experts alike. This workshop is an opportunity to learn from a veteran Ableton Live expert who has been teaching this software to the biggest artists in electronic music for years. Please bring a pair of headphones and your laptop loaded up with Ableton Live, as there will be a series of exercises. You can download a free 30 day working demo from www.ableton.com

The workshop begins with a brief overview of the capabilities of Ableton Live, followed by a series of composition and production techniques. There will be Live demonstrations and practice exercises with step by step instructions that cover the entire songwriting process, exploring a variety of different approaches. Topics covered include crafting beats, getting the fattest drum sounds, writing
melodies, creating basslines, using EQ and effects, experimenting with sound design, sidechain compression, arranging, mixing and mastering.

The workshop also addresses a variety of ways to utilize Ableton Live for Live Performance, providing you with an overview of the various strategies while delivering a plethora of tips and tricks culled from the instructor’s many years of working with and performing alongside the most innovative performers in the world. Learn how artists like Nosaj Thing, Adam Freeland, Flying Lotus, [a]pendics.shuffle, Bassnectar and The Glitch Mob set up their live performance documents. Some artists use Live to DJ complete songs while adding real time dub and glitch effects, others prefer to break their songs out into stems, building up their compositions on the fly so their performances have more room for improvisation. Live is great for loop recording, and it even features video now so you can rock audiovisual sets.

There are an almost endless amount of possibilities with Ableton Live, even more so now that it integrates seamlessly with Serato and MAX/MSP. This workshop will fill your head with ideas and leave you truly inspired. This is a complete overview course aimed at bringing new users and experts alike to a new level of understanding of this incredibly powerful piece of music software.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:

Steve Nalepa (Chapman University Conservatory of Music, 1320 Records)

LA-based electronic musician, multimedia artist and mad scientist collector Steve Nalepa is one of the world’s foremost experts on Ableton Live. Working for years with M-Audio/Ableton, Nalepa provided VIP support and software training for a multitude of high-profile  artists and producers. Nalepa has produced tracks with such legends as Bill Laswell and Pharoah Sanders, performed with the LA Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and shared the stage with some of the
most revered electronic musicians and video artists in the world. 1320 Records released his triple album Flatlands in May, the original compositions accompanied by a collection of music videos and remixes by an all-star cast of luminaries including The Glitch Mob, Deru and Nosaj Thing. Nalepa is one of 100 artists featured in Visionaire 53: Sound, his song Flatlands joining original pieces from David Byrne, U2, Lalo Schifrin, Danger Mouse, Yoko Ono and more on five 12” vinyl record picture discs packaged with a portable record player inside a specially produced domed case. When he’s not in the lab, rocking international dancefloors or hosting Ableton Live workshops, Nalepa can be found teaching Ableton Live, Logic, ProTools and Reason to the students in his Principles of Music Technology classes at Chapman University Conservatory of Music.

Just putting up an official press release for anyone who wants to forward this along.

August 19, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!

Denver Ableton User Group has begun!

We have turned the site  LIVE at http://abletondenver.com.

This new website facilitates file sharing, learning, and loop / sample exchange thought the custom file system programmed especially for this site.

Registration is open to anyone and file uploads are beginning.

This site represents a huge step forward in community allowing people to trade data and samples to grow musically. Check out the demo: http://abletondenver.com/file-upload/

Ableton Denver is the result of much programming and  planning.  The site acts as the central point of contact for Live performances, remixing, sample / loop / set trading, and education for Ableton and other forms of electronic music.

Site features include:

-News feeds from Gear Junkies, Create Digital Music, and Home Studio Connection
-File browsing open to the public!
-Loop, sample, and project trading to registered members (registration is free)
-News for Ableton and electronic music in Colorado
-Teacher and student connections
-Musicians for hire
-Services for hire
-Any thing to expand the Denver Ableton scene

The site is currently administered by Marc W. (DJ Not So Much) and Chris Lawhead (Lawhead Music) but our administration panel is growing!

Both Marc and Chris have been performing live in the Denver / Boulder area for over a decade each and turned to Ableton in the past few years to create more music.  Marc has a long history of synthesis and programming spanning over 20 years while Chris is a classically trained musician with a focus on live performance and live looping. Both use Ableton very actively and keep personal studios and other resources available.

The Ableton Denver User Group website is already populating with information and news!  The first meet up is scheduled for later in September.  There are many events planned for the near future including:

-Tutorials
-Demonstrations
-Guest speakers
-Live Performances
-Social Gatherings

To stay up to date visit the Ableton Denver Website! http://abletondenver.com

http://abletondenver.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106696377587
http://www.myspace.com/abletondenver
http://www.meetup.com/Ableton-Denver
http://twitter.com/abletondenver

Thank you!

contact : info[at]abletondenver[dot]com

Welcome! To kick things off here is a little video showing you around!

Ableton Denver is proud to Launch! Here are some of the features we have to offer and other nuggets of goodness!

• On site file sharing (the legal kind).
• Trade samples, loops, and Ableton Projects
• Find other users in the Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Front Range, and Rocky Mountain Region
• Lean more about Ableton and the scene
• Multiple news feeds including:

Create Digital Music News, technique, ideas, events, and more!

Craig’s List Denver Musical Instruments for Sale

Gear Junkies Gear, News, updates form the conventions live from Europe!

Home Studio Connection Tips and professional thoughts form the studio.

More feeds coming! Let us know of any news feeds.
We are actively looking for a new FTP server.Right as we were kicking this live our server screwed us big time. I will not go into the details, but they lost all my business and caused many breaks in the site.  Amazon / AWS is one consideration.

ZIP files also called “compressed files” or “compressed folder” is a method and technique for file handling. There are several types of file compression available. Ableton Denver uses *.zip (zip) format. For more information on zip files visit this link on wikipedia.

Normally zip formats are used for file size reduction.  File size reduction is really not our goal here (although it does help a tiny bit).

ZIP files are important because it allows users to exchange full and complete projects and collections as a single file.  Let’s talk about this idea more.

Most audio projects contain a wide assortment of different file types.  These include MP3’s, wave files, setting files, Ableton specific files, and possibly even text or PDF documents explaining what the heck is going on.  In these “project” instances a ZIP’ed file is the easiest way to handle all of the information as one solid unit. By zipping a project folder you create a single file that is easy to move.

Inside that file is ALL of your information including the file structure (file inside a folder inside a folder is all preserved). When a user un-ZIPs your file everything is in the right place. That is provided you did the zip correctly.

What you need to ZIP:

Windows:  Zip capability is inherent to Windows operating system.  Simply right click on the master (main) folder of your project and choose “send to” then “compressed (zipped) folder”.

Mac OS : IN Mac OS control click the zip file add select “compress”

When you ZIP or unZIP files, it may take some time.  As the file size gets bigger or your processor speed gets slower this could be a while.  Generally you should not see the process take more than a few minutes for large files.

Tips

Be absolutely sure that you have all the files contained inside a master folder.  You should only zip ONE ITEM (the folder).  Although it is possible to zip many files into one zip folder this is BAD practice. When the next user un-zips the files “puke everywhere” instead of being contained in a single folder. This can become a serious problem if you zip 100 samples that are not contained in a folder.

Externally linked files are a problem with zipping. If a project uses files outside of the zipped master folder other users will encounter errors.  This is why there is the “collect and save” function for Ableton.  Almost every audio program has some form of external file collection or warning system in the software.  It is a good thing to know.

In case you did not get the point made in the above paragraph – always “collect and save” your project in Ableton before zipping.

If you have multiple *.als files in a project this can make your zip (file) larger than it needs to be.  Each *.als file may reference files you are not using anymore.  These references will interfere with actions to remove unused media from your project.  An easy method to use operates like this:

1. Close the project in Ableton
2. Copy the project (master) folder to a new location.
3. Open the new (copied) in Ableton (if you have file breaks you will be informed in Ableton).
4. Remove ALL not used and unnecessary *.als files.
5. Purge all unused media
6. Close the project out in Ableton
7. ZIP the folder

Check your zip! Seriously – that the zip file and unzip it and test it out.  Hard drive space is so cheap now a days you should make sure everything is okay for the next user. (Everyone messes this up once in a while – ever send the email without attachment?)

Programs:

WinZIP works well:

http://www.winzip.com/

WINRAR is also great:

http://www.rarlab.com

Sample Collections should also be zipped.  Unless you want to upload 200 individual files.

If you are presenting a sample collection please take the time to record a “final” MP3 that sows off your audio skills and highlight a few samples from the work.

If you have any questions or comments please use the comments section (you need to be a registered user).

To unzip in Mac OS – double click to preview.

To unzip in wonws you can right-click and “unzip” (dialog will vary slightly).

File Types :

The accepted file types are:

• *.mp3 – MPEG 3 encoded ending with “.mp3″
• *.wav – wave format ending with “.wav”
• *.aiff – Audio Interchange File Format ending with “.aiff” or “.aif”
• *.zip – compressed / zipped file ending with “.zip”

The file extension is important, please do not change the extension.  This is normally not a concern but modifying the file extension will cause files to be deleted or go invisible and throw errors on user account.

Modern Windows and Mac operating systems make it difficult to change this aspect of your files.  Although not impossible to change, these types are important for proper file handling on the Ableton Denver site and on your local environment.

If you have a fiel encoded in the wave vormat (file.wave for example) and you change the extension to file.mp3 the file is broken.  The .**** that trails the file name helps the operating system determine what programs to use and how to handle the file.  Other checks include encoding types (such as MIME), for information search Google.