08Sep 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo
Ableton’s Arpeggiator Device

Ableton’s Arpeggiator Device

1Sound Design, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Midi, Program Features
Ableton's arpeggiator device is awesome in every way. At first, I found some of these controls to be a little cryptic, so today I am going to break them all down so you have a clear Idea of what they all do. Understanding puts the creative power in your hands. Let's begin! https://youtu.be/x0Quzf8nEew Style Style determines how Ableton will break up the chords that you play. There are 18 different options. The following shows what the arpeggiator would produce when given the input, C-E-G-C   Groove Groove determines if your notes should be played straight, or if they should be swung. You can choose swung 8ths or 16th. Hold Hold will repeat the notes you've played until you play new ones. If you physically hold any notes down with hold…
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04Sep 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo
3 Tips To Keep Ableton Running Smooth

3 Tips To Keep Ableton Running Smooth

1Creating A Keyboard Set Up, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Midi, Program Features
When I hear people talking about keeping Ableton running smooth, I constantly hear the buzzword, CPU. First of all, what is CPU anyway? Is it different than ram? How does it affect my computer? Ram is storage that your computer uses to hold files that need to be immediately used by a program. It’s sort of a short-term memory. Now, if a program closes and things to no longer need to be held in your RAM, your computer will remove them. CPU is the part of your computer that is responsible for completing actions. They could be simple like knowing when you are using your mouse, or complex like transposing audio in Ableton. CPU also is the part of your computer responsible for moving things to and from your RAM. Simply,…
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28Aug 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo
Why You Need To Start Deactivating Unused Clips And Notes

Why You Need To Start Deactivating Unused Clips And Notes

1UsingAbleton, Blog, Midi, Program Features
How many times have you made a drum part that is just a little bit too busy for verse 1? How many times have you copied a piano part to a string section and wanted to mute the piano notes, without muting the whole track? It's hard for me to count. This is why it can be so helpful to deactivate clips and notes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecpP1_aNyb0&feature=youtu.be Your Fancy Drum Part Now, you've spent roughly the last 48 hours working on a 4 bar drum loop. You are trying to keep it tame and tasteful, so you've only used a kick, snare, 4 toms, vocal shouting FX, guitar slices, crash cymbal, Chinese cymbal, guiro, and shaker, maraca, bell tree, hi-hat, tambourine, and rain stick. You can tell you've finally arrived at musical perfection.…
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13Jun 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo
Setting up your IAC driver

Setting up your IAC driver

1Creating A Keyboard Set Up, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Midi
Using the IAC driver is a great way to store "presets" if you will. For example, perhaps you have a piano sound you really like, but for one song you want it super dry, and for another you want it to have an 8th note delay and some reverb. You could create two dummy clips, one that sets the piano to the driest setting, and another that sets it to the delay/reverb setting. The possibilities don't stop here. As a matter of fact, you can use the IAC driver to control programs outside of Ableton Live. Sometimes you may want to send midi to a stand-alone synth that lives outside Ableton live. Or perhaps you are using the IAC to control pro presenter while you are playing. The number one benefit of…
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