by djnarrative | 8 Mar, 2011 | Reckorder Tutorials
I really like the launchpad as both a performance and compositional tool, and its proved really useful in djing and music workshops. However there are restrictions with it, so below are some of the useful links and solutions i've found along the way. In its normal form there is a great deal you can do with Launchpad. Basically the session page controls triggering of clips in session view. The user 1 page controls drum rack & is mappable, user 2 page is max for live plugs ins and whatever you want to map, and the mixer page is for ableton mixer. All the basic info is on the novation video tutorials so start with them if you havent already http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEhsEu3NnLM&feature=related In user mode we can learn any parameter to the launchpad, (Remember to turn on the remote button on the input and output of the launchpad in ableton preferences) and here's an example of mapping the ableton cross fader. The Launchpad outputs notes at maximum velocity which is a real shame, so here's a workaround for limiting note velocity on a launchpad -http://www.novationmusic.com/answerbase/en/article.php?id=540 The launchpad also doesn't light up in user mode 1, but it is possible by following this tutorial. You can get a lot more functionality out of the launchpad, by getting a 3rd party software. I've tried (and would recommend) two in particular. The first was midi katapult, which was about a tenner, and allows you to customise the launchpad in really useful ways. The main thing i found useful was being able to colour the pads, and once i'd got my head around the programming...
by djnarrative | 5 Nov, 2010 | Reckorder Tutorials
Once you've got a killer track how do you get it heard. The game is constantly changing in the social media world and i'm going to write a specific post on the topic, but i just wanted to share this email that i recently received from a local up and coming singer. She's just had a track remixed by a local dubstep producer and got in touch to ask if i had any advice on how to get some gigs. Im no expert but i offered a few ideas she may not have tried and thought it might be worth sharing on here. ------------ I just wondered if you could give me some advice on where to start really please. My dubstep remix is nearly finished and my aim is to see if any djs will play it in the local clubs and if I can get any performances. Do you know any links to djs promoters etc?------- Hey Sarah If you want it played by djs then id say a good place to start to find all the dubstep events and radio shows in brum. Scour the flyers, search on facebook and google for any contact nights and contact info you can find. Then get in touch with the djs, send them a copy and see if they'd be interested in dropping it at a gig or on their show. On rhubarb radio obviously boogie and ross have a purely dubstep show, and you could also try skeleton and dolhasz who do the beat suite as they play dubstep, and also possibly brumcast as he only plays brum...
by djnarrative | 5 Nov, 2010 | Reckorder Tutorials
Sidechaining was something that used to confuse me but then i saw an early video by Tom Cosm who simplified the process nicely. Basically sidechaining is using one audio source to trigger a compressor on another audio source or in more simple terms, it is normally used for making room for the kick to punch through as the kick and the bass occupy similar frequencies. This can be done by manually drawing in volume changes so each time the kick hits the bass is lowered, or more easily this can be done using a compressor with a side chain function. Abletons compressor has a side chain built in or if you use another sequencer here's a nice free one. He's since posted a more specific video which evolves the process further so to keep things nice and simple here it is. An earlier video i had bookmarked is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tv7gAi2OKY and when using cubase Sx i had this youtube video bookmarked which have been useful in the past. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHfN9yeuoew&feature=related Hope thats useful and any comments or tips please let us know in the comments below...
by djnarrative | 10 Oct, 2010 | Reckorder Tutorials
The FCB 1010 is a 10 pedal midi foot controller from Behringer. Its fully programmable so you can use it with any software. Took me a while to get my head around it, so here's the useful links which helped me. As i mentioned in the guitar rig post there were two great video tutorials which showed you how to program the fcb1010. For some reason they've been taken down by the creator, but this pretty much gives the same information - http://createdigitalnoise.com/viewtopic.php?t=1782 This is also useful for programming the fcb 1010 - http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?t=55557&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15 as is this - http://waysidedrive.com/blog2/2009/05/15/how-to-program-a-behringer-midi-foot-controller-fcb1010-for-ableton-live/#content There's also a free graphical pc editor here - https://secure.mtnsys.com/faq-fcb/PCEditorBeta.htm or a paid mac editor here -...
by djnarrative | 8 Oct, 2010 | Reckorder Tutorials
The first portable controller keyboard i bought was remote 25 sl. I was particularly drawn the the automap features and the fact it had all the controls you could want. In reality the drum pads arent that useful and there are some things that have been improved in the newer version. Overall though its pretty cool as a controller. I dont have that much useful info on this as its pretty much just does what it says. Providing the preferences in ableton are setup like this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0abuwG63DFg it offers two main 2 options, automap mode for controlling vst plugins and ableton mode / track control (template 40), where things like faders are assigned to mixer parameters and the encoders are assignable more intituitively to plug ins with blue hand. (i.e 1st 8 parameters on top row and bottom row is assignable) There were tutorial videos when i first bought it, but they seem to have been replaced, but if i find any useful tutorials i'll post them...
by djnarrative | 8 Oct, 2010 | Reckorder Tutorials
The nocturn is a really useful and affordable little midi controller. It can be used for basic dj functions, but i find it most useful in the studio. Using the automap software which comes with it, setup is pretty straightforward. Basically you open the automap version of the instruments and automap will automatically map the nocturn to some of the controls. You can then map the rest by clicking learn button, moving the control on screen, and then moving the nocturn, or you can assign parameters by manually selecting the control from the parameter menu. You can rename the automap controls as you like and then save as to save the control map. NOTE for most vsti's and plug in this works fine, but for spectrasonics you must do it differently and setup control maps manually by right clickin on the parameter in e.g trilian and select “enable host automation”. This also tells you the cc number of the parameter which you then assign/select in automap. The best place to start is the novation tutorials, which are pretty comprehensive. I found this one particular useful after i'd worked out the basics And i also picked up a few useful tips from this dj mag review And you can also setup the nocturn to control ableton functions (and the 1st 8 parameters of any focused device) There was one issue with the above video, which was the focus up & down, which was sorted manually mapping the buttons to alt-up and alt-down. To focus on browser u need alt-left as well. To do this using the nocturn control map just...
by djnarrative | 5 Sep, 2010 | Reckorder Tutorials
This is a very old tip i wrote down and is probably outdated now. Nevertheless i'll post it just in case anyone is using an older version of cubase. You never know. 🙂 One of the things i used to have trouble with was wanting to get my midi controllers controlling the virtual instruments on my computer. The ones in question were the cme uf6 keyboard (knobs and sliders), and a uc-16 controller (knobs) I'd heard about remote control, but my previous tests had no luck..This time though i stuck with it and worked it all out, so here's what i did. First open cubase sx 3. Go to device manager, remote devices. generic remote, and delete everything (just to tidy it up). Then add a controller in the top panel of the two. NOW click Learn whilst moving the first controller (on the cme). I found it took a bit of wiggling before cubase picked it up, but once it did, it displayed the controller number. THen i went to the uf editor for my cme keyboard, and clicked on send. This bought up the rotarys and faders for when the light is on (on the keyboard for the rotary's) And for the faders when the 2nd / bottom led is on. NOTE When the light is not on the rotarys and the first light is lit for the faders these appear to be the default settings so therefore not need to be changed, as they are mapped to 74, 71, 73, 72, 10, 91, 93 (and whatever midi message tempo is). The faders are all set to...
