Live for DJs

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 03, 2004 11:56 pm

Mag, thank you for the reply, I assume from the wink that this (mp3) is a feature that may be available soon. Are we going to see it in a future update of 3.0, or in the next new version?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 12:58 am

Two more questions, does the ESI gigaport USB Soundcard integrate well w/ Live for DJ performance. If so, this would give someone 4 outs to a traditional DJ mixer. Is a powerbook G4 800 w/ 512 RAM strong enough to handle this type of set up (i.e. 4 outs to a mixer, Live w/ songs dedicated to the 4 out seperately, and effects on those channels)?

EARLGREY · Post by **EARLGREY** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 11:33 am

GREX:

http://www.grexultra.com/

very promising indeed...

serotoninsteve · Post by **serotoninsteve** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 12:47 pm

Looks good this Grex! But why not built it as a DJ mixer with faders and some more knobs! I think it´s to expensive for the small amount of knobs!
I think my BitstreamPro is better to use, you can control 43 parameters directly without switching anything (important for tweaking parameters of fx`s in realtime), if the 43 are not enough you can switch between 3 banks that makes 127 controllers!
Well, the finish is not the same quality, but it´s build in an aluminium 19" rack mountable enclosure!
Greetings!

Purple · Post by **Purple** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:09 pm

Grex.. I used to own a Notron, I got one when I lived in London and so I got to know Gerard, the guy who makes them and the Grex. He's a really funny guy, very positive and spacey

He really loves Techno.

However, I've watched those MP4 videos in the Grex site, and to be honest, apart from it's beautiful appearance, I couldn't see what you can do with the MXF8 that can't be done with another controller, especially like the Bitstream Pro that serotoninsteve mentioned. He wrote it's got a "configuration software where you can assign ass many faders and knobs to interact together as you need!", which seems to me like exactly what MXF8 does..

serotoninsteve?

Purple · Post by **Purple** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:10 pm

serotoninsteve, I've posted my last post just as you posted yours, so I guess you've answered my question already..

serotoninsteve · Post by **serotoninsteve** » Wed Feb 04, 2004 1:45 pm

I don´t know if the configuration of the Grex is performant as the Bitstream`s?
With the bitstreams short faders I´ve never been missing a real crossfader, just fast pull up and down the channels you want to mix!
And you don`t have to assign the channels to be mixed by the crossfader with the mouse what is a serious plus for me in live performance!
I´m mixing with 3 tracks in LIVE, on my fx send I have 4 antares filter plugins with different presets for doing some easy breaks assigned to 4 of the 8 push buttons of the Bitstream. Just hold the button as long you want your break to be! Then I´ve 4 erosion plugins for different frequencies assigned to 8 knobs, 4 for the amount and 4 for the waveform (sine,....,...)
One channel is for the master out.
So I´ve 8 more knobs and 4 buttons free for use, I`m experimenting for the moment with 1 PSP42 and 1 PSP84 plugin!
This setup works very stable (never crashed or did any overload)!
Just for information"ass many faders and knobs to interact together as you need" meens that you can even build your own crossfader if you configure two faders to interact together but to take the opposite value!
Greetings!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:42 am

hey guys,
just to add to a really infrormative post...i have been djng for 16yrs...stil love it...have used ableton to do 4 DJ mixes so far this year...2 of which will be released to CD here in Australia and 2 are for radio mixes to be aired around the world....the program is a god send....i love it....editing tracks and added production to the mix is what i have been dreming about for years and now i can do it all....next step is to do it live...inspiration form you guys here already doin it and props to you all...

noticed all the talk about controllers...UC33 and bitstream sound great but it is 2004 and there has got to be many a nut case around who could build you a control surface to your requirements...for live i know what i would to use to control it but it seems as what i want is not on the market....anyone here know of any guys who build controllers

all the best
P king

Purple · Post by **Purple** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 5:05 am

Out of curiosity: what kind of controller would you like to have? And what kind of music do you play?

Purple · Post by **Purple** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 5:54 am

Another open question to you all:

The way I see it, Live is the next step in bridging the barrier between DJ and producer. What I envision is a new kind of musical creation which I believe will be more common in the near future, and which I've been dreaming about for years: A set of musical pieces intertwined together in a real kolage made from different materials from different places, a musical journey that can have complete tracks as building blocks, as well as loops, accapellas, riffs, sound effects, edits, etc. etc. When the options are really open, there's no end to how creative and complex (and magical) this kolage can be. IMO, this is the real meeting point between a DJ and a producer/composer. A musical symphony made from anything we have available, and there's no reason we should constrain ourselves to our own hand crafted beats and notes, when there's so much more available to us.

I think this is a natural progression, based on the ideas of sampled based music and post modern art.

The only problem I'm wondering about is how copyright laws will handle all this?

It will be a real shame if these will stand in the way of this new musical freedom.

Thoughts anyone?

al3x · Post by **al3x** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 6:21 am

I'm right there with you, Purple. I've got a show coming up and I want to do exactly what you describe, a kind of next-level DJing that's more than just mixing tracks. I've got it pretty well figured out on the Live end, and I'm excited about the possibilities of controllers like the Grex for really getting deep into the mix. It's gonna take a *lot* of prep work and sample editing beforehand (largely because Live doesn't have MP3 support), but it should be worth it!

Purple · Post by **Purple** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 7:30 am

Yes, it's pretty exciting. It does mean a lot of work.. much more work than the normal DJ is used to.. But maybe it's about time that we start working a little harder to justify all that DJ hype

I think that the experienced DJs will have a real edge in this type of creation, especially because of their work feeding back so directly from the crowd, even if it's a set for home listening (rather than dancing), which could be as (if not more) interesting as a club oriented set.

Hey, I just thought of a name for it aswell - Musikolage

What still worries me is the copyright laws.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 1:17 pm

Live also really needs an "on the fly" loop facility so that you can loop for 1 beat, 2 beats, 1 bar etc when playing full length files/tracks. Like Traktor has! This would add so much more flexibility. Please Ableton!!???

sluggo · Post by **sluggo** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 10:57 pm

Do you guys use the arrangement view or the session view when using Live as a dj tool?

Secondly, when it was mentioned that loops from other tracks are dropped into the mix, were these loops cut-up prior to the performance? Or are you loading another track but somehow arranging the markers/loop points such that a shorter (maybe 4 bars?) loop is being played?

thanks,
sluggo

Phat Kabuki · Post by **Phat Kabuki** » Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:21 pm

You can do that using the OFFSET function in the samples parameters... I personally haven't used it, tho... how far back can U "offset"...?

Live for DJs

ableton rox

RE: Looping for X bars