EQ Magazine - March 2008 - (Page 66)

Soft Machines ABLETON LIVE 7 The Boys from Berlin Serve Up Lucky Number 7 by Craig Anderton Live is a difficult program to describe, because it can be different things to different people—DAW, DJ tool, musical instrument, and even signal processor. It has two personalities living in one program: the pattern/loop-oriented Session view, which is a matrix of “cells” optimized for loading, playing back, and arranging loop-based material on-the-fly; and the Arrangement view, whose linear recording paradigm more closely resembles a traditional DAW. While basically just two facets of the same program, the ability to switch between them at any time—for example, create a rhythmic bed with loops and then overdub on top—helps differentiate Live from other programs. To experience what Live’s all about, download the fully-functional (except you can’t save/export) demo from the Ableton web site. (This is actually great for pros as well as those testing out the program: If your laptop blows up on tour, as long as you have your data you can download the demo, load your set, and carry on with a live performance.) THE DAW DIFFERENT I use Live’s Session View for live performance (and press “record” before each set, so what I do gets recorded in the Arrangement View—cool!), so I’ve always appreciated that aspect of the program. Over the past few revs, though, Live has added more “DAW-like” features (such as a video window and the ability to add external hardware effects), and now version 7 displays individual lanes for automated parameters that you can “fold” and “unfold.” Furthermore, you can treat Session View almost like a console view, as the mixer became far more configurable in version 6. However, these changes do not really alter the program’s core workflow. An analogy is that it’s like seeing the program from different perspectives: It’s still the same program, but useable in more ways. WHAT’S NEW IN VERSION 7 You can now do multiple time signatures in Live, and it also performs 64-bit computations on its mix bus for better Live’s Session View, where a live performance based on a remix of Pink Floyd’s “Interstellar Overdrive” is being developed. Note the sliced audio file toward the bottom, and the new instruments in the browser. resolution. There are tempo-nudging controls that are very helpful if you’re trying to hand-sync Live to something else. And remember the video import feature added in version 6? Now you can export the movie with the soundtrack you create. My favorite “fun” feature is the slicing (and REX file) support. You can open REX files inside Live, and better yet, take any piece of audio and slice it up REX-style with different slices triggered by different MIDI notes. This allows for a lot of re-combining different elements of loops, extracting portions of loops for dropping into instruments, and the like. Live 7 also incorporates a feature called “SmartPriming” that de-allocates RAM from samples that aren’t being used. This is not a new concept, but it’s particularly important with a program like Live, where lots of sounds may be going on at the same time. At least for laptop performances, you often want these stored in RAM so there’s not endless accessing of a 5400 RPM hard disk. You’ll also find sidechaining for the Gate, Auto Filter, and the new Compressor that replaces the older Compressor I and II models. I’m particularly glad to see sidechaining on the Auto Filter, so you can control filtering on one instrument with a different instrument. Speaking of signal processors, EQ Eight has been updated as well, including an optional 64-bit high-res mode. Ableton has also introduced several optional-at-extra-cost instruments, developed in association with Applied Analog Systems: Analog, Tension, and Electric, which resemble AAS’s Ultra Analog VA-1, String Studio VS-1, and Lounge Lizard, respectively. These work only with Live, not other hosts. Of them, my faves are Electric—great electric piano sounds—and Tension, which provides modeled, plucked/hammered/bowed string effects. Another “instrument” (actually it’s more of a sample library, but comes in the form of presets that take advantage of Live’s new Drum Racks feature), consists of excellent samples of vintage drum machines. You can also buy Session Drums, a collection of drum samples à la Reason Drum Kits. Finally, there’s the Essential Instrument Collection 2 (done in conjunction with Sonivox), which comes with the boxed version and Suite, but is otherwise available for purchase if you bought the downloadable version. The bottom line is that Live lets you take an à la carte approach to adding instruments, but if you need instruments, consider the Ableton Suite: Getting all the above instruments, plus Sampler and the FMbased Operator synth (introduced in previous versions) adds about $500 to the Live 7 download price—very cost-effective. Q&A People ask me three main questions about Live: 1. I can’t decide between Live and [pick a DAW]. Which do you recommend? 2. I’m currently using [pick a DAW]. Will Live do everything it does? 3. I just can’t wrap my head around Live. What am I missing? As to (1), I need both. Various DAWs have some features that Live simply doesn’t have—for example, being able 66 EQ MARCH 2008 www.eqmag.com http://www.eqmag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EQ Magazine - March 2008

EQ Magazine - March 2008 Contents Talk Box Sounding Board Punch In Tool Box Dream Theater Nick Drake LO-FI Recording Tricks Guitar Trax Bass Managment Key Issues Drum Heads Vocal Cords Mix Bus Cheat Sheet Tascam Gigastudio 4 Cakewalk Sonar 7 Crane Song Avocet Cad Signature Series Mic Packs Waves GTR3 Kjaerhus MPL-1 Pro SE Ableton Live 7 Centrance Micport Pro, Tapco LINK.midi 4x4, Multi-Gigabyte USB 2.0 Memory Sticks Digital Redux Electrotech, Nine Volt Audio Action Drums, Big Fish Audio Hadeeth 2 Room with a VU

EQ Magazine - March 2008

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