25 Jan 2012
by madeleinein Ableton Live Tutorials Tags: Ableton, Ableton Live, ASIO, audio, audio interface, audio setup, buffer size, driver, input, output, sample rate, sound card, tutorial, Windows
Let’s dive right in, shall we?
- 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!
11 Jan 2012
by madeleinein Ableton Live Tutorials Tags: Ableton, Ableton Live, audio, audio interface, audio setup, buffer size, driver, input, mac, os x, output, sample rate, sound card, tutorial
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.
20 Mar 2008
by madeleinein accords, gigography, ramblings Tags: audio interface, gig, music
I’ve got a cold. On monday there was this woman sitting beside me and constantly coughing in my direction. And I thought to myself, it’s all good and well that she likes sharing, but does she have to be generous with her germs? It already started to show yesterday when I woke up with a sore throat. So I tried to fight it by taking medicine and drinking teas with honey and lemon right away. I didn’t manage to stop it, but it’s not as bad as it could have been. My nose isn’t constantly running and I had a good long sleep last night. That’s a big plus. I’m not fit, but neither am I so sick that I’m too weak to leave the bed. Actually I’m already bored with watching movies and series. Nevertheless I will be a good girl and plop myself onto the couch and do anything to get better. No use to keep working and drag the cold on and on. Hopefully I’ll be over it tomorrow. Might be my impatience talking though. One thing I’ll do today is backing up my music. It’s about time I did that anyway. Just imagining that I could lose all of it is inconceivable. And I can do it comfortably and conviently from my couch.
Yesterday I went to meet up with Bobby Starrr in his home studio equipped with lozenges. Step by step we went through the tracks we want to play live. It’s gonna be one solid set, no breaks for roughly an hour. Essentially it’s gonna be house music. But since I’m involved in this project there’s no way it’ll turn out as that in the end. There’s gonna be loads of vocal live looping, use of field recordings, my own odd beats etc. We have some nice surprises up our sleeves. When I agreed to do this gig I wasn’t sure how open Bobby would be to my suggestions and ideas. As it turns out wide open. He thinks that our mash up of musical styles is way better than just playing house live. That we might hopefully really blow people’s minds. Hear, hear! I can only nod like a bobblehead.
He also lent me his M-Audio Firewire 410 Audio-Interface. I’m genuinly itching to hook up all my gear to it. Tomorrow… Because of my cold I also have to postpone the recording of the piano part. Oh, well.
x
22 Feb 2008
by madeleinein In the Studio, ramblings Tags: audio interface, bass, drums, studio recording
Good news… I cracked the new song yesterday. I’ve got a bass line for the verse running over a pretty rudimentary drum loop I’ve made. I guess this one calls for some real live drums. So I’m gonna ask a friend who’s a drummer and percussionist and not spend much time making beats. I’d rather the drummer has a choice over what he wants to play so it’s fun for him. Also I have a melody for the verses now. I’ve decided I’m gonna finish the lyrics while working on the song. I realised while singing the first verse – that one’s done – that the lyrics have to be tight and well fitting for this one. It’s fast and I have very little time in between to draw a breath. I still keep changing the lyrics for the refrain, but I might tackle that tomorrow.
Today is my day off. Nevertheless I went to this big music shop in Prenzlauer Berg to check out the audio/MIDI-interfaces they have because I still need one for live gigs. The guy there really seemed to know what he was talking about and he himself also works on a Macbook with OS X. Unfortunately he said that Leopard (mac operating system – they sure like their cats of prey) still causes a lot of crashes with all interfaces. Damn! I feared as much. So I’ll have to stick to Tiger a while longer. He recommended the Echo Audiofire 4. Since I don’t need it right away I’m gonna sleep on it and rethink how many Ins/Outs I need to make sure I definitely get what I need. Had a quick look around in the shop… not too long though I don’t want to get any ideas. I simply don’t have the money for all the great geeky gadgets at the moment. Afterwards I went for a nice long walk. I so needed to get out of the house again. I already started feeling like climbing up the walls. Much better now. Got some nice clothes at a big thriftstore, been looking for something to complete my outfit on stage for a while now.
Off to bed now so I’m fit and ready for the next few days of writing and recording.
x
