1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton

30Jun 2020 by Brett Pontecorvo

3 Ways To Transform Audio to Midi in Ableton Live

1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Transition Essentials

In today's post, I am going to show you three ways you can transform Midi into audio in Ableton live. Method 1: Resampling In Ableton, you can capture audio from any track you would like, and record it. Making use of that ability, we can record the output of a single track to a new track. Then if it is too our liking, we can delete the original. Step 1: Create A New Audio Track This can be done quickly by pressing Command-T Step 2: Set the Audio from, to receive audio from the track you wish to bounce in place ( Transform Audio to Midi). Step 3: Record the audio into your newly created track by record enabling that track, and pressing record. If the audio is to your liking,…

19Jan 2019 by Brett Pontecorvo

Create Smooth Patch Changes In Ableton Just Like In Mainstage

1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, Blog, Featured, Live Playback

The number one challenge I hear from members of the Mainstage to Ableton community is that they have a hard time creating smooth and easy patch changes in Ableton. They remember how simple Mainstage makes it to have one patch die out naturally as you move to another patch in your set. This is because Mainstage does one thing, and Ableton does many things. Mainstage is designed almost entirely for quickly and easily switching patches. Although it does that very well, it's been my experience that it does not hold its stability under high pressure. Ableton is more akin to Logic Pro then it is to Mainstage in that it is a fully functioning DAW, so it needs to make space for other situations where you may not want a…

15Dec 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Almost Auto Sampler For Ableton Live

1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Program Features

If you're like me, you are constantly making synth sounds. You may also be like me and want to play all of your synth sounds during a live set. Using samples of synths is a great way to lighten the load on the computer, while still scratching the itch to have all your awesome synths loaded and ready to go. I have come to find that running too many instances of soft-synths live can be a lot for my computer to handle. In my mainstage days I used to use auto-sampler, and so once I transition to Ableton, I really felt the weight of not having that ability. Which is why I started using this method. Its saved me a ton of time and allows me to use as many…

20Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Use Ableton Like Mainstage

1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, Blog, Featured, Transition Essentials

I need to start out by saying, Ableton is not MainStage. It does, however, have the ability to do all of the same things, and way more. MainStage is created to play patches. Ableton is created partially to play patches, and partially as a program for music production. You can think of Ableton as Logic Pro, but with integrated features that allow for playing and switching patches in real-time. I'm going to walk you through how to get Ableton Set up like mainstage here, but if you're ready for a deep dive into all the ways you can use Mainstage just like Ableton, Click here and buy a copy of my complete transition course The Six Stages Of A Patch List Phase One: Get Familiar with the song Pay special…

30Jun 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Monitor, In, And Off

1Creating A Keyboard Set Up, 1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Transition Essentials

https://youtu.be/b_OhIDyURmk In, Auto, And Off. The three monitoring modes in Ableton. What do they do? What is it for? Why is it important? If I just ignore it, will it go away? Here is a simple break down of what they do, and how to make use of them. Monitor Status Let's start off by saying, these status effect signal entering Ableton from another device only. For example, monitoring status will affect when and how you hear the signal from a guitar plugged into Ableton, but will not affect when and how you hear the audio you recorded from the said guitar. Similarly, monitoring status will affect whether or not you can hear what you are playing on your midi keyboard, but not what you recorded from your midi keyboard, even…

26May 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Track, Sync, Remote: Ableton Midi Preferences Simplified

1Creating A Keyboard Set Up, 1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Transition Essentials

The first time I tried to use Ableton with multiple sounds on a live gig was a nightmare. I was working with the Arturia Keylab 88 and mapped a few on the onboard pads to a dummy clip to change my sounds. After setting everything up, and getting it to work a few times, I thought I was done and ready to play. What I had failed to check was if my MIDI mapping’s worked correctly. This was a glaring oversight for sure. Anyway, I got my stuff all set up for the top of the set and I was doing just fine playing my piano sound. As the set started to progress and get more intense I thought it would be the perfect time to start up my Hammond…

18May 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

5 Things I Wish I Could Have Found When I Started Using Ableton

1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Transition Essentials

When switching to Ableton, especially from Mainstage or Logic, I've seen people really struggle with locating the tools they need to accomplish simple tasks. Of course, these are three different programs, all with different strengths. Ableton on a purely geographic level is not set up quite the same way Logic and Mainstage are, and that is exactly what we are going to tackle today. Make sure you grab a copy of the "Fast Track Patch List Guide" as well so that you can start making great live sets in Ableton even faster. WHERE IS EVERYTHING!?! Years ago with my first serious music project, we recorded an album in logic and started performing live using mainstage. The trouble was, with the number of sounds we were using, and the full backing…

15May 2018 by Brent

Ableton Chord Memorizer Without Max for Live

1Creating A Keyboard Set Up, 1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, Blog, Transition Essentials

Playing keyboards live, or honestly, performing anything where you are trying to fill the sound out often requires that you play more notes then you have fingers to play. That is why the chord trigger in mainstage is so useful. You are able to use one hand to play pads or chords that you choose and play a melody with your other. Setting up an Ableton chord memorizer is ABSOLUTELY DOABLE. Here is what you will need to get the job done. Midi Effect Rack Chord Plug-In Instrument Rack Luckily, these are all included with Intro, Standard, and Suite versions of Live, so no matter where you are at, we are in business. If you need just a standard keyboard split with no chord triggers, you can check out my…

06Apr 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Scrolling Through A Patch List In Ableton Live

1Creating A Keyboard Set Up, 1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, Blog, Transition Essentials

Let's get right to the point. You know exactly what you are going to play, exactly the sounds you are going to use, and all you need to be able to do is select each sound in order. Mainstage made this super easy for you in the past, but now because you are using backing tracks, or looking for a program that runs with a little more stability, or perhaps because you wanted to incorporate some live looping, Mainstage is no longer the platform you are using. Unfortunately, your basic needs have still stayed the same. What do you do? Well, you've stumbled upon the right place. Today we are going to talk through exactly how to set up a scrolling patch list in Ableton live exactly the way you…

06Apr 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Patch Changes That “Just Work”- The “Jump To” Feature

1Creating A Keyboard Set Up, 1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, Blog, Transition Essentials

One of the features I love about Mainstage is the ability to "jump to" a specific sound no matter where you are in your patch list. Today we are going to look at how to create that same functionality inside Ableton. But first... A story A few years back I was working on a production of Guys and Dolls with a very hip group of 5th-8th-graders, who did a wonderful job overall. No matter how hard we rehearsed it, Luck Be A Lady was always just a little bit off, and to add insult to injury we had a full band backing them up. Anyone who has spent any amount of time accompanying children singing knows sometimes you need to jump to the spot they somehow ended up at, even if it…

Category: 1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton