Are there any ableton sites for complete muppets?

[alsynthe]

im not clued up on the markers thing, thats just the way i was shown to do it.

[AcidTrash]

Drag your clips into the session view and make sure quanitizisation is on

How?

[TechMouse]

http://www.drum-aberdeen.co.uk/Ablet...p_a_Track.html

[alsynthe]

i just use autobpm analyze to find the exact bpm of the track first. its alot easier that that way then use the warp button at bottom in sample section and input the original bpm there.

cheers for the advice on markers though thatll save me alot of pissing around!!!!!!

[AcidTrash]

how does one find the auto BPM? That tutorial doesn't make much sense to me as my ableton doesn't behave like that one.

[alsynthe]

i use a program called auto bpm anaylazer. it scans ur harddrive or a select file/folder and gives u the bpm to a hundredth of a bpm, search for it on google. its a godsend!!! saves lining up tracks with metronomes!!!!

[TechMouse]

i use a program called auto bpm anaylazer. it scans ur harddrive or a select file/folder and gives u the bpm to a hundredth of a bpm, search for it on google. its a godsend!!! saves lining up tracks with metronomes!!!!

Ummm... once you've put warp markers on the track, it doesn't really matter, surely?

[Mirsha]

for every track u use in ableton u need to warp it. this is done using the sample box that pops up at the bottom. all u do is click warp button and input exact bpm of the track ur inserting. do this with both tracks then set the master bpm to what u want in the top left corner and ur away!!!!

Tried that. doesn't work.

Sticking in the exact BPM is bad. Because in general you don't know what the BPm is. If you set the warp markers it'll calcuate an average of the bpm and it deals a lot better with stuff in which there could be changes in the bpm in a track. It takes a bit of fiddling about with but once you have it snorted it's the best technique for mashing stuff up quickly.

Anyway a properly warped loop should look something like this



Note as I said before you don't have to trim your sample, in fact it's better if you don't as it's better to have a bit extra that you aren't using than have too little and have an unseable sample. Notice the [1] aligned on the first beat after the breakdown which preceeds it and the |> play marker is set to here as well as thats where we want it to start playing when the sample is triggered.

Global Quantizisation?


Second from the right, the BAR selector.


If I were you I'd really consider reading through the tutorial included in the Ableton program, since all this stuff is covered quite thourghly. Belive it or not reading manuals can be a lot better than just diving in and getting yourself a bit snowed under.

[alsynthe]

just cuts out that first bit so u can paste the track straight in and use the first marker like uve said. add me to msn and ill send it over if u want, makes things a little easier

[AcidTrash]

I'm amazed Ableton doesn't do this sort of thing without having to do all this f*cking around.

[Mirsha]

how does one find the auto BPM? That tutorial doesn't make much sense to me as my ableton doesn't behave like that one.

Ableton calculates the bpm by workig out how many Beats Per Minute are played.

The length of a sample is known. With the warp grid on top of that it knows how many beats there are then it's a simple case of math

[TechMouse]

I'm amazed Ableton doesn't do this sort of thing without having to do all this f*cking around.

The power is that once you've warped all of your tracks, you can drop 'em in and out and they're always beatmatched to perfection - which frees you up to do other stuff, e.g. add FX, loops of your own.

[Mirsha]

Auto bpm detections are just wrong. Every one I've seen hasn't been terribly great and regulalrly get it wrongs, out with the usual factor of two problem. Autobpm calculators are definately better with some audio over others, downright dirty stuff with a lot going on it can give terrible answers which are nowhere near correct.

Plus if you are sampling stuff from vinyl, if it's been recorded from a bad turntable the pitch of the track can be constantly and subtly shifting, an autobpm counter might get the bpm correct but if you try to beatmatch it anything else it becomes obvious you are getting galloping beats from somewhere.

The manual method is bay far the best and gives you the most power in Ableton, after all your BPM counter can hardly chipmunk a 4 bar section on purpose can it?

[alsynthe]

this auto bpm program works by scanning each track not listening to the audio using maths methods and its never been wrong upto now *touch wood

obviously manual is gona be better but why go through the process when theres a program that does the job?

[Mirsha]

It works by maths, very simple math in fact but the problem lies in peak detection over an audio sample. Yes if the bass is clean and regular it works fine, try throwing in breaksy tracks and you start to run into problems and god help you if you throw something in with enough low end to mask the kick. Stuff with a weak kick can also fall prone to this and even breakdowns in tracks can throw it off, especially if the start of a track is a bit lacking in regular low end stabs as quite often these processes work by interatively improving on a guess from the begining of a file and tracks like this throw it completely off at the start which leads to a biased result.

There is another way you can bpm yuor track. Make sure that warping on your sample is OFF, then play it and use the TAP button at the top right. Ableton will change the BPM to match your tapping so you can get rough estimate of the BPM then when you switch on warp for the sample it'll copy the bpm from the global variable and then you can clean it up a bit.

[AcidTrash]

I haven't the slightest clue what any of you are talking about. *shuffles off back to Acid music*

[alsynthe]

It works by maths, very simple math in fact but the problem lies in peak detection over an audio sample. Yes if the bass is clean and regular it works fine, try throwing in breaksy tracks and you start to run into problems and god help you if you throw something in with enough low end to mask the kick. Stuff with a weak kick can also fall prone to this and even breakdowns in tracks can throw it off, especially if the start of a track is a bit lacking in regular low end stabs as quite often these processes work by interatively improving on a guess from the begining of a file and tracks like this throw it completely off at the start which leads to a biased result.

There is another way you can bpm yuor track. Make sure that warping on your sample is OFF, then play it and use the TAP button at the top right. Ableton will change the BPM to match your tapping so you can get rough estimate of the BPM then when you switch on warp for the sample it'll copy the bpm from the global variable and then you can clean it up a bit.

ive inputted venetian snares, aphex twin, sickboy, shitmatt tracks and it can bpm them

[AcidTrash]

If any of you would like to come to bradford and show me how to use it I'll pay a reasonable fee. I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to getting started with software. Once I'm shown the basics I'm away but just can't get ableton to work for me.

[RDR]

If any of you would like to come to bradford and show me how to use it I'll pay a reasonable fee. I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to getting started with software. Once I'm shown the basics I'm away but just can't get ableton to work for me.

PM me, i teach it.

[Mirsha]

As I said earlier. There is actually an idiots guide to using Ableton contained in Ableton, if you go to the help menu there are several tutorials there that show you the basics of everything you need.