If you have an audio interface check the manufacturer’s website for the latest ASIO driver (some offer none though) and possibly a control software. Download and install if available.
If there’s no driver available or you want to use the built-in sound card of your computer, you need to install the ASIO4ALL driver from: http://asio4all.com/
Connect your audio interface to your PC (via USB or Firewire most likely) and to a power source if needed (most do). Then switch it on. Check the manual if there are any other setup steps necessary.
Start Live and go to the Preferences > Audio. The shortcut for it is Ctrl + ,.
Choose ASIO as the Driver Type. MME/DirectX is not suited for audio software and would give you high latencies.
Choose either the ASIO4ALL v2 as the Audio Device or the one of your audio interface.
If there’s Hardware Setup button, click on it. It will open the control panel of the driver. There you should be able to set your active input and output.
Click on the wrench icon on the bottom left to enable making changes. If the Sample Rate is greyed out in the Live Preferences, then you need to set it up in the control panel as well.
Back in the Live Preferences you can activate the needed mono and/or stereo in- and outputs under Input and Output Config respectively.
Choose the Sample Rate as needed. It’s not saved with the Live Set, but is set universally so beware if you tend to switch, e.g. between live and studio. You can set the Bit Depth in Preferences > Record/Warp/Launch.
A Buffer Size of 512 seems to work for most. Or you can try to find a setting that gives you low latency without audio drop outs.
Now you should be all set. If you’re using an audio interface, don’t forget to plug in headphones or connect it to speakers. If your audio interface is off, Live will show Audio Engine as off. You need to change it back manually in the Preferences after turning it back on. Happy noise making!
If you simply want to use the built-in sound card, the process is pretty straight forward and you can skip the first two steps. If you have an audio interface, read on as there’s a little more to take care of.
Check the manufacturer’s website for the latest driver (some offer none though) and possibly a control software. Download and install if available.
Connect your audio interface to the Mac (via USB or Firewire most likely) and to a power source if needed (most do). Then switch it on. Check the manual if there are any other setup steps necessary.
Start Live and go to the Preferences > Audio. The shortcut for it is Cmd + ,.
Make sure Core Audio is chosen as the Driver Type.
Choose either the built-in input or the one of your audio interface as Audio Input Device. You can also choose the built-in microphone, but then do yourself the favour and use headphones. Otherwise arming a track will greet you with some nasty feedback.
Choose the built-in output or the one of your audio interface as Audio Output Device.
You can activate the needed mono and/or stereo in- and outputs under Input and Output Config respectively.
Choose the Sample Rate as needed. It’s not saved with the Live Set, but is set universally so beware if you tend to switch, e.g. between live and studio. You can set the Bit Depth in Preferences > Record/Warp/Launch.
A Buffer Size of 512 seems to work for most. Or you can try to find a setting that gives you low latency without audio drop outs.
Now you should be all set. If you’re using an audio interface, don’t forget to plug in headphones or connect it to speakers.
One last tip: If your audio interface is off, Live will default to No Device as Audio Input Device and Built-In Output as Output Device. You need to change it back manually in the Preferences.
I’m on the train back home to Berlin. It’s still dark outside as I’m writing this on my iPad. I’m not a fan of new year’s resolutions because most of the time you end up giving up trying after a couple of weeks. Yet, this time I’ve got one. One I’m intending to stick with because it’s nothing to do with the new year, but with a necessity.
I’ve actually sat down and made a yearly plan. I want to release an EP and an album. Considering that I already work part time in tech support at Ableton and how many things an independent musician has to do these days… I dearly need a plan or I’ll forget stuff or don’t manage deadlines. And I want to do it right.
I’ve been looking into different project management softwares, but they all seem to lack one thing or another. I tried iProcrastinate, but it gets cluttered too fast and lacks an overview. Projector looked the most promising, but there’s no recurring tasks available. So Wunderlist will have to be my guide in keeping all the small pieces of the puzzle held firmly together.
I must admit that seeing all the work laid out in front of me was pretty daunting at first. Yet I know not planning ahead doesn’t work too well. The toughest part is keeping the rule of scheduling things in a way that you only plan out 50% of the time as there’s always unexpected extra things to take care of or things simply take longer. I always have so many ideas I want to get done as much as possible and end up overwhelmed or overworked.
So Janunary is the test month where I’ll see how good I’m planning things timewise. It will serve as the blueprint for the other months. The most important thing with it is to be honest. To admit that if I tried to achieve too much in too little time I need to make adjustments.
Happy New Year to you! May 2012 turn out to be an amazing year all around!
New Year is the time where you look back at what you’ve achieved and when you make plans. I’ve been doing quite some thinking… about some of it now…
Today my boyfriend asked me why I do the making of the next album as a series of webcasts. I was completely stumped for an answer. I’ve been so caught up in doing it that way I didn’t think about it anymore. It was supposed to be quick and dirty. Just going online with only a little preparation. Yet the setup is not working for me. I can’t hear the music while it’s playing which makes the whole thing stiff and unspontaneous.
So why don’t I do it as youtube videos instead? I could do it whenever it suits me and have it online by Sunday at 9 pm just as the webcasts. As one take with a better setup where I can react to the music. And I could film myself in the recording process and add bits of it. I’m planning on making more videos anyway. Making it a habit to involve the camera would be a wise move, methinks.
Before you can start having fun with your MIDI controller, it needs to be configured in Live – this goes for MIDI keyboards and all sorts of other controllers sending MIDI data. If you bought a MIDI controller that is supposed to be plug and play… well, you still need to set it up in Live. Plug and play only means that you don’t need to install any drivers for it.
So here’s how to set it up:
Check if there are any drivers available at the manufacturer’s website of your MIDI controller. If so, download and install them first. If it said plug and play on the packaging, you shouldn’t have to.
Connect the controller to your computer. Most controllers use USB connections these days, so plug in the cable on both ends. Don’t connect it through an unpowered USB hub (this might really mess up the MIDI data stream), but either a self-powered hub or directly to the USB port of your computer. Some controllers need to be connected to a power source and turned on.
Older controllers only use MIDI ports, some offer both options. If you want to send MIDI to and fro, make sure you connect MIDI input and output of your device to the MIDI output and input of either a MIDI interface or an audio interface with those connections available.
Now open Live and go to the Live Preferences > MIDI/Sync (Cmd + , on a Mac; Ctrl + , on Windows computers).
Control Surfaces are available for the most commonly used MIDI controllers. If this is the case for your controller (List of all available Control Surfaces in Live 8 ), choose the Control Surface for it as well its Input and Output. This will enable instant mapping. If it’s a keyboard, also turn on Track for its Input under MIDI Ports. If Input and Output are shown in reddish, Live cannot detect the device (unplugged, off, broken driver).
Control Surfaces
If there’s no Control Surface available for your controller, ignore the upper part in the MIDI/Sync tab. You’ll have to set it up under MIDI Ports instead. Don’t despair though, it’s not rocket science!
MIDI Ports
To use your controller to play notes (i.e. keyboard, drum pads), enable the Track button for the device’s input.
To use your controller to adjust device parameters, enable its input’s Remote button.
If it sends visual or physical feedback, the Remote button of its output needs to be turned on as well.
Controllers without a Control Surface for which you’ve enabled the Remote button, need manual mappings to be used.
Turn on MIDI mapping by clicking on the MIDI button in the upper right hand corner of Live or choose Cmd + M (Mac) or Ctrl + M (Windows).
Everything that’s mappable will now be displayed in blue.
MIDI Mapping Mode
Click on the parameter you want to control, then move the knob/fader or hit the key/pad on your device you want to control it with.
MIDI mapped parameter
Repeat the steps with whatever else you want to map. In the Browser (left) you will see the MIDI mappings you made. You can set the Min and Max for the parameter if available.
MIDI Mapping Browser
Once finished, click on the MIDI button again.
You can also manually map controllers that do offer a Control Surface. Then simply set them up as if there was no Control Surface available and map the controls as desired.
Quick tip:
Quite a few nifty users have written their own MIDI remote scripts (a.k.a. Control Surface) for various MIDI controllers. Do a Google search for: *name of the MIDI controller* MIDI remote script. This might save you a lot of time doing manual mappings. Of course, if you know Python or are willing to learn it, you could write your own scripts. The following blog is dedicated to this subject: http://remotescripts.blogspot.com/
Happy MIDI controlling in Live! And of course, if you have feedback or questions, leave me a comment further down.
