Last week we took a look at how to create smoother transitions when using loops in Live. This week we will take it a step further and look at another technique to smooth out our transitions when using loops in Live. We will look at a few techniques to create a Master set list in Ableton Live. By using a master set list you will be able to host all your loops in one spot. This will make it easier to fire each loop and give you access to your entire loop and click repertoire at anytime.
1) Input Song Tempos
To create a Set list we will be working in Session View. Open up a new set and create a Midi Track to create “dummy clips” to use for our click. We need to input the tempos for all our songs in our “repertoire”. To do this we will treat each Scene in session view as a new song. Assign a tempo to each each scene to match that song. (For a “how to” on assigning scenes check out this previous article) As your inputting the tempos add each song in Alphabetical order. If you don’t already have each song in an excel document you may want to do that. Using the built in metronome in Live to tap out the tempo for each song and input that tempo into the sheet. Use the excel sheet to automatically put the songs in alphabetical order. Once you get all your songs plugged in you will find a time that you want to go back and add in a song while still keeping it in alphabetical order. To do that use the “Insert Scene” function. Go to the scene before the scene you want to input (i.e. If you want to add in a song between Song 4 & 5 then click on Scene 4). Right click on that scene and select “Insert Scene”. Live will add a new clip between what songs you are currently working on (In our case songs 4 & 5).
2) Input “Fully Programmed Sequences”
Now that you have a tempo assigned for all of your Songs (each clip represents a song) we need to drag in each loop for each song. In this case we will drag in all of our “Fully Programmed Sequences”, these are our songs that have loops perfectly created to a specific arrangement. To do that create a new audio track for each loop you will input. We need to have separate volume control over each loop we input so make sure each loop gets a separate track. In this case we will input a loop we have for “Oh Praise Him”. We have our tempo set “115 bpm” for that scene, and a new track that we have named “Oh Praise Him”. Now we will drag in the .wav that have rendered out for the song. Make sure that the warp function is turned on for the loop, and zoom into the beginning of the track to make sure that Live has properly analyzed the song from the beginning. In some cases you may need to realign the bar against the song. Once you have done that (if you need to) right click and select “warp (whatever tempo that scene is set to) From Here”. This will make sure the loop is analyzed correctly. Also make sure that when you play the loop it doesn’t play too fast or too slow. If it does you may have to adjust the “Halve/Double tempo button”. Also, make sure that the “loop” function is turned off on that clip (we don’t want it to loop, we want it to play once and then stop).
*If you want to have a click intro before the loop comes in then make the first two bars of any loop you create with silence. That way when you fire the loop for that song it will play just the click for two measures before the loop comes in*
3) Creating a planned Set list
Now that all your songs are plugged into one folder we need to create our set list for this Sunday. To do this all we are going to do is assign a key on our computer keyboard or a note on our midi controller to each individual song. To do this use “Key assign” or “Midi Assign”. Once you turn the appropriate mode on, click the scene that host the song you are looking for, then click the scene you want to fire. You can select any random song but put them in order for that Sunday by assigning by number in the set. So song one gets “1″ on the keyboard , song two gets “2″, and etc…
The power of using loops like this is that all your songs are hosted in one place but you can create plans by using key/midi assign. But if you want to use a song on the fly all you have to do is scroll to where that song is hosted, and fire that clip. There is no need to open a new file or search on your computer for that loop, it is already hosted and ready to be played at any time. If you typically do a song in different keys then have a clip for each of those keys already programmed in. That way you can have “Oh Praise Him” in “A” and “Oh Praise Him” in “B” and then if you end another song in “A” and you want to do “Oh Praise Him” on the fly, you can quickly and easily navigate to where it is in the set (since they are in alphabetical order) and fire that loop in the correct key and do the entire song in the correct key. Oh yeah and if you want to take your transitions to the next level then incorporate last weeks technique into a master set and your transitions will be flawless (check it out here). You will see your transitions and flexibility while using loops greatly increase.
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