DJ / Performance – Creating A Unique Setup (Dorian Concept)
New Ableton Live tutorial uploaded by DubSpot. In this tutorial, we’ll explore some techniques inspired by two incredible conversations I had this past week. We will look at the creative possibilities of using the Simpler, some portamento, LFO, and delays, and we’ll also explore a great technique for crafting 8 bar drum patterns.
First up, I had the great pleasure of catching Dorian Concept’s insanely inspiring set at Low End Theory last week. Dorian Concept is a Vienna-based producer who has developed his own completely original style of keyboard playing. He’s been tearing it up at Festivals around the world since bursting on to everyone’s radar with the massive tune “Vertical Output” a few years back. His latest release on Ninja Tune is called Her Tears Taste Like Pears, full of funky, synth driven club heaters. He often sits in live improv style with his friend Flying Lotus when they cross paths internationally, and his series of YouTube videos ‘Fooling Around With The MicroKorg, Alesis Micron, etc’ are straight jaw droppers.
So I had the honor of chatting with him at length at Low End, and I thought I’d share some tidbits from our inspiring conversation. He shared some serious wisdom that would be helpful for any aspiring producer. Turns out he is not classically trained, and he’s actually completely self-taught. The great thing about what he has done, is that he has kept it simple and really mastered his instrument, developing his own unique style. With all the tools we have available in our toolbox these days, it is easy to get overwhelmed and the reality is that sometimes it is better to simplify and limit yourself. That is what he has done, truly mastering his Microkorg and Micron and developing his own very distinct style of playing these instruments. We talked about our shared admiration of Squarepusher, as he had a very similar approach, mainly he used one particular sampler for all of his pre-year 2000 productions. He also developed his own very recognizable style of bass playing.
Applying these concepts to working in Ableton Live, I strongly recommend finding a compositional process that works best for you. These tutorial videos are about sharing various production techniques, find the ones that give you the best results and develop them further. Put a few of these techniques together into your bag of tricks, and then work at becoming the master of them. Identify a few elements that will become your signature sound, and then create a body of work with them. Develop your meat grinder, and then crank out the jams.
Stay tuned for the next tutorial, in which Professor Nalepa shares some great tips and techniques for drum programming and sequencing he picked up from Dutty Artz co-founder and Dubspot Instructor Matt Shadetek. The track used at the end of this video is “Wonton Garden” from Matt Shadetek’s Dutty House EP, out now on Dutty Artz.
Ableton Live Tutorials: Audio Interface
This tutorial walks the brand new Live user through the necessary & basic steps of setting up and connecting your Audio Interface to use with Ableton Live.
Part 1 of a new series featuring Ableton’s lead clinician Huston Singletary
Ableton Live instrument rack created with the sound card of a Nintendo Entertainment System
Chip Tune aficionados and video game lovers rejoice; this weeks Ableton Live instrument rack was created with the sound card of a Nintendo Entertainment System, accessed via WayFar’s MidiNES. (awesome piece of gear… http://www.wayfar.net ) It contains a pulse wave channel and a triangle wave channel. True to the original NES with some extra features. Very warm, familiar, gritty, dirty, and nostalgic.
Dirty, lo-fi, 8-bit, nostalgic. This weeks Ableton Live Rack was created with the sound card of a Nintendo Entertainment System. Maybe it’s just because I grew up spending more time playing video games than I’d ever admit, but the bleeps and blips that come from this magical machine have a warmth and familiarity that hits home. The samples that make up the virtual instrument were made by connecting a MidiNES cartridge to a Nintendo and sampling certain notes.First, allow me to explain how the Nintendo’s sound engine works… There are five channels in total: 2 pulse wave channels, 1 triangle wave channel, a noise channel, and a sample channel. They are all monophonic, but each can play simultaneously, for a total of five sounds at once. Considering the limitations of the NES, listen back to the music from some games (like Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda for example) and I think you’ll agree, it’s quite a show of the composer’s creativity and songwriting skills.
So, what I am giving you are the Pulse wave channel and the Triangle wave channel. The triangle wave channel does not offer much in the way of expression (not even volume control), but the pulse wave has four different duty cycles. I have sampled all four. I should also mention that there’s a lot of buzz that comes out of the Nintendo, so I applied a De-noiser to clean things up a bit. I personally don’t think that the integrity of the sounds is affected; this synth is still pretty gritty.
Here is the download link for the rack.
New sound library for Ableton Live
Harshness for Ableton Live by Audiority
Audiority has introduced Harshness, a new sound library for Ableton Live.
According to Auidiority, “Harshness is a tiny library dedicated to those who want to add some real destruction to their tracks or to artists who are not afraid of heavy distorted, degraded, clipped, short-circuited sounds.”
Features:
- 61 Ableton Live devices divided in:
- 12 Instruments
- 42 Drum Racks (within five families)
- 5 advanced Audio Effect Racks
- 2 advanced MIDI Effect Racks
- 20 sample Live clips
You can preview Harshness above.
Harshness for Ableton Live is available now for €14.90. Ableton Live 8.2 is required. Ableton Suite 8 is suggested for best performance.
Free Weekly Ableton Live Rack #5: “Space China Synth”
Ableton Live instrument rack created by hitting dinner china with a wooden spoon. This instrument sounds a lot like wind chimes or steel drums. Layered underneath is another synth created from Operator. Together they have both an ambient, spacey sound, as well as a clear and distinct melodic side.
Every week I post a new Ableton Live Rack, please check http://www.afrodjmac.com for synths from the last few weeks and for next weeks.
Kenny Larkin & Novation Launchpad
Kenny Larkin talks to Novation about how Launchpad forms the heart of his Ableton Live setup on stage and in the studio.
Free Weekly Ableton Live Rack #4 – “AfroDJMac Michael Jackson Synth”
This weeks Ableton Live Rack was created by sampling tiny vocal phrases from the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson. The sound ranges anywhere from string section/choir synth to a super-distorted shoegazing electric guitar sound. This video will show you how it works and how to manipulate it into something new.
Also, there is an effect rack included, as a little bonus. Enjoy!
Download the rack here: http://bitly.com/hGvTND
Every week I put out a free Ableton Rack, so subscribe and Social Network me.
http://www.afrodjmac.com
http://www.facebook.com/afrodjmac
http://www.twitter.com/afrodjmac
Power Warping Secret in Ableton Live 8 – tutorial
Join my free newsletter: http://www.vespers.ca http://www.vespers.ca/facebook http://www.twitter.com/djvespers http://djvespers.blogspot.com/
The 5 Secrets to Writing BETTER Music Faster
Ableton Live Certified Trainer HD tutorial: Learn the secrets to the music production process. http://www.vespers.ca http://www.soundcloud.com/vespers http://www.twitter.com/djvespers http://www.facebook.com/vesperspage
External Instrument Tutorial – Using Ableton Live and Reason Together
This video demonstrates how to use Ableton’s External Instrument device to achieve a seamless workflow with Propellerhead’s Reason 5.
DATAMASKIN
