Hi,
I was given a lot of good info from everyone on my last post about a good host for guitarists. Thanks.
I have decided to try Ableton but can't figure something out. Can you input into a track audio from one soundcard and then output it to another? I know you can do this with Guitar Tracks Pro and Sonar but it seems that Ableton Live can only use one soundcard.
If you can can somebody please tell me how.
The reason I ask is that I need to re-amp using my PodXT.
Thanks
Ableton Live Users Help Needed!
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- KVRian
- 1107 posts since 31 Oct, 2002 from the high desert
Here's a trick-
ASIO4ALL lets you "wrap" multiple soundcards,then your app will load only one driver (ASIO4ALL),but all the inputs and outputs will be available.Unfortunately they are not labeled,only numbered,so you'll have to figure out which ones go to which device.
I've tried this to use my Echo Indigo and PodXT USB drivers in Live,and it worked pretty well.A bit of flakiness with the Pod,but I've had problems with that driver alone too.
ASIO4ALL lets you "wrap" multiple soundcards,then your app will load only one driver (ASIO4ALL),but all the inputs and outputs will be available.Unfortunately they are not labeled,only numbered,so you'll have to figure out which ones go to which device.
I've tried this to use my Echo Indigo and PodXT USB drivers in Live,and it worked pretty well.A bit of flakiness with the Pod,but I've had problems with that driver alone too.
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- KVRAF
- 4822 posts since 14 Mar, 2002 from Somewhere else, on principle
Wrong. The only way, currently, that you can use 2 soundcards with Live is with ASIO via ASIO4ALL.olafmol wrote:if you use ASIO you can only use one soundcard anyway... afaik Ableton Live only supports one soundcard at once
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- KVRist
- 187 posts since 13 Apr, 2004
Live is definitely not a good host for guitarists.It just does not yet have the audio editing capabilities needed unless you plan on using another program for editing.snootles wrote:Hi,
I was given a lot of good info from everyone on my last post about a good host for guitarists. Thanks.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 33 posts since 23 Jun, 2003
Fxe, what program do you suggest for a guitarist then that is easy to use and can take midi instruments as well?Live is definitely not a good host for guitarists.It just does not yet have the audio editing capabilities needed unless you plan on using another program for editing.
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- KVRist
- 123 posts since 8 Dec, 2003
i have a friend who combines live guitarplaying with live synths and a lot of midi programming, and he loves Live4 for this... who needs a lot of editting when you just can play it right? if it's wrong just play it again...
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- KVRAF
- 7489 posts since 6 Jul, 2004
One bit of audio editing that Live DOES do is the warp engine, which has become indespensible to me. Using warp markers is a great way to get the bass guitarist and kick drum spot on together, for example.
Regarding Live as a sequencer for a guitarist, theres a really interesting interview with the rhythm guitarist from the John Scofield Band in the "artists" section of the Ableton forum, where he describes Ableton Live as the 5th member of the John Scofield Band. He uses a MIDI foot controller to trigger clips and scenes within Live as part of their live performances. This basically enables him to choose when to return to the verse/chorus/solo/etc within a song depending on where the solo improvisations in the band go next.
Being a keyboard player myself, that's the kind of thing that had simply never occured to me, but I find it fascinating to hear about how top international performing artists from across genres (jazz in this case) are finding revolutionary ways of working by using Ableton's software.
Regarding Live as a sequencer for a guitarist, theres a really interesting interview with the rhythm guitarist from the John Scofield Band in the "artists" section of the Ableton forum, where he describes Ableton Live as the 5th member of the John Scofield Band. He uses a MIDI foot controller to trigger clips and scenes within Live as part of their live performances. This basically enables him to choose when to return to the verse/chorus/solo/etc within a song depending on where the solo improvisations in the band go next.
Being a keyboard player myself, that's the kind of thing that had simply never occured to me, but I find it fascinating to hear about how top international performing artists from across genres (jazz in this case) are finding revolutionary ways of working by using Ableton's software.
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- KVRian
- 1214 posts since 2 Jun, 2004 from Québec, CANADA
fxe wrote: Live is definitely not a good host for guitarists.It just does not yet have the audio editing capabilities needed unless you plan on using another program for editing.
Quite the opposite, live is the bomb for guitar players. It is not a question of editiong options, you can use it to loop stuff live (sample, then loop play) and there is nothing else that works that good.
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- KVRer
- 24 posts since 29 Sep, 2003
Yes, I saw this interview, but in this case the question is that Live is used to trigger samples in live, but it does not matter which is the role of the musician. It is said, this not aply to a specific task of the guitarist. As I said in a previous post, I think Live is very powerful for live performances and music loop based,. As guitarist, I think you have to go to the Arrengement screen in Live, which is like common host; time based tracks...and at them compare it with other host. I agree; Audio editing is a lack. If you are recording your songs at home, and finally you want to arrange the entire song, edit, master, and so on....you will miss some features.Anyway, I think Live is going to the right direction in this way, and maybe in the next upgrades...
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- KVRian
- 1302 posts since 9 Oct, 2003 from California
As a guitar player I find Live invaluable as a tool for composition and improv. The combination of warping and defining and launching non-linear clips in the session view open up a whole new world of possibilities.
For example - I can record a 24 bar improv into Live, "cut it up" into numerous bar patterns (both on and off the original beat) and audtion and rearrange into something completely new. It would be 10x more difficult in a more linear host like Cubase (just for example.)
Dan
For example - I can record a 24 bar improv into Live, "cut it up" into numerous bar patterns (both on and off the original beat) and audtion and rearrange into something completely new. It would be 10x more difficult in a more linear host like Cubase (just for example.)
Dan
Those that can, do. Those that can't, argue about it on k-v-r
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- KVRAF
- 7489 posts since 6 Jul, 2004
Regarding the points being made about audio/sample editing, it will be interesting to see if this functionality is extended in Live 5 (expected within the next few months) but my gut feeling is that is unlikely, because destructive sample editing is not something that one tends to do "on the fly" (while adding on a much requested arpeggiator, for example, would extend Live's core functionality).
I would argue, though, that an external audio editor is an essential tool for any computer-based musician to have, WHATEVER sequencer they choose to use. CUbase, Sonar, Tracktion, Live, etc all have the option to open up an audio clip in an external editor for just this reason.
If you cannot afford a fully-featured "pro" level audio editor such as Soundforge or Audition, the freeware Audacity seems to be highly recommended and may be worth a look.
So long as you tell the "Options" box in Live where to find your audio editor, you can simply select a clip and hit the "Edit" button to import the clip straight into your chosen editor. The way that this is implemented in Ableton Live is surely the most easy and intuitive of all the sequencers I have tried.
I would argue, though, that an external audio editor is an essential tool for any computer-based musician to have, WHATEVER sequencer they choose to use. CUbase, Sonar, Tracktion, Live, etc all have the option to open up an audio clip in an external editor for just this reason.
If you cannot afford a fully-featured "pro" level audio editor such as Soundforge or Audition, the freeware Audacity seems to be highly recommended and may be worth a look.
So long as you tell the "Options" box in Live where to find your audio editor, you can simply select a clip and hit the "Edit" button to import the clip straight into your chosen editor. The way that this is implemented in Ableton Live is surely the most easy and intuitive of all the sequencers I have tried.
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- KVRer
- 17 posts since 13 Mar, 2005
what kind of editing are you looking for?. i've chopped, cut and offset clips in the arrange view down to the 32nd note. not to mention the creative possibilties of warp markers and clip evenlopes for any parameter. anything edits you make can be sampled and consolidted easily.
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- KVRist
- 194 posts since 1 Jun, 2004 from uk
You can use Live4 for editing audio, in fact its probably more intuitive and less risky than any other method. Once you've either trimmed or compiled your audio parts, you just have to hit 'cntrl j' and it consolidates your edits to a new audio clip. What could be easier? You now have your edited audio AND your original, then, when you go to close the set at the end of your session, you get the choice of whether you want to delete all your unused recordings or keep them.
Personally, I think it's quicker than going out to another audio editor, but if you do need to do this, you have an option in the clip property box to open the selected audio in your favourite sample editor, Goldwave or Audacity are both free and perfectly adequate for most editing.
Ableton Live is perfect for guitar players, don't let the 'loop & DJ tool' labelling trend fool you, LIVE recording and fast editing is what this app does best.
Personally, I think it's quicker than going out to another audio editor, but if you do need to do this, you have an option in the clip property box to open the selected audio in your favourite sample editor, Goldwave or Audacity are both free and perfectly adequate for most editing.
Ableton Live is perfect for guitar players, don't let the 'loop & DJ tool' labelling trend fool you, LIVE recording and fast editing is what this app does best.
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- KVRAF
- 7489 posts since 6 Jul, 2004
The sort of stuff I export to Audition from Live includes:
- sample level cuts/snapping to zero crossings
- removing clicks/pops, noise reduction (e.g. getting rid of unwanted background noise when recordings vocal with a mic)
- applying certain effects destructively (to save on CPU)
- applying effects to certain frequencies only, while leaving other frequencies uneffected
- batch normalisation
- mastering
I agree with the excellent points made about the audio editing that can be done in Ableton Live, which is easy and powerful. The more detailed audio editing I am talking about cannot generally be done in any host, nor am I interested in doing this stuff within a host. As I said, I see an external audio editor is an essential tool for the computer musician, whatever your host. And I see Ableton Live as a fantastic host - now my main host, in fact.
- sample level cuts/snapping to zero crossings
- removing clicks/pops, noise reduction (e.g. getting rid of unwanted background noise when recordings vocal with a mic)
- applying certain effects destructively (to save on CPU)
- applying effects to certain frequencies only, while leaving other frequencies uneffected
- batch normalisation
- mastering
I agree with the excellent points made about the audio editing that can be done in Ableton Live, which is easy and powerful. The more detailed audio editing I am talking about cannot generally be done in any host, nor am I interested in doing this stuff within a host. As I said, I see an external audio editor is an essential tool for the computer musician, whatever your host. And I see Ableton Live as a fantastic host - now my main host, in fact.