Controlling Ableton Live With Sonic Logic For Mac

Everybody reading this has – or will eventually have – a hardware synthesiser or drum machine that they want to hook into their Ableton Live rig. Martin Delaney explains how to link it with Live Live works brilliantly well as the hub of a studio or stage rig that features hardware as well as software instruments. And it goes beyond that, into effects, VJ equipment, lighting, even guitar amps. For the walkthrough steps here, I’ve used the Novation Bass Station, a classic 1990s rack synth (there’s a current v2 of the keyboard Bass Station). The Bass Station has MIDI in and out, and audio outputs, so it’s a good example of a typical keyboard setup. More modern instruments might connect with USB for audio or for MIDI, and include their own dedicated editor software, which affects how they integrate with your DAW. Our walkthrough focuses on Live’s External Instrument device, but don’t forget there’s the External Effect device as well, which configures in the same way, but is designed to feed audio from Live out to, and back from, hardware audio effect processors.

• Controlling Ableton Live With Sonic Logic For Mac Torrent
• Controlling Ableton Live With Sonic Logic For Mac Free
• Controlling Ableton Live With Sonic Logic For Mac Download

Hardware versus software You can adopt extreme positions if you like – only using hardware versus only using software. Both are valid, but the truth is combining the two will always be the best option. You’re always going to need a computer at some stage in the production and recording process, and your sound and working methods will benefit from adding some choice bits of hardware to your setup. You can do everything with a computer, sure, and that used to be a really exciting option. But these days, there’s so much great (and affordable) hardware around, it’s a waste not to use it! While you’re in Live’s MIDI Preferences, make sure you’ve configured the correct inputs and outputs, and disable any that you don’t need – this can solve problems with more elaborate hardware rigs. You can also choose to have Live sync from the hardware, if you think you’ll get better results that way.

It’s also possible to build a rig that includes MIDI clock travelling between hardware and software, as well as iOS devices responding to Ableton Link on a wi-fi network or ethernet. Instrument racks let you build complex setups that use sounds coming in ‘live’ from hardware instruments, as well as sounds from plug-in synths, even stacked and playing together. I have external instrument device presets that load with limiters and compressors in the chain; nice and easy to recall, and easy to move between different machines, if necessary. I love using hardware synths for their sonic character and distinctive workflows, but other than capturing the raw sounds, I prefer to do everything else with Live. Working on a computer display is faster and more controllable. You might disagree and have your own level of hardware/software preferences, but that’s the point – with Live you can set it up the way you want it. I mentioned arpeggiators for beats in the walkthrough, and that’s something I’ve been playing around with a lot lately, especially for triggering beats in real time from a keyboard.

Create an instrument rack with, say, four chains of arpeggiators, and set each one to trigger notes over a certain range – most likely just a single note, so each arpeggiator is triggering only one note on your drum machine. Try it – it’s very cool, even with software drum kits. Sync isn’t always about MIDI. If you’re using older gear, or some new modular components, you might find CV/Gate (control voltage) is required instead of MIDI.

Live can’t handle this directly, but you can buy a dedicated converter device – Kenton produces a range of these, including the Pro Solo MkII, or use something like the Arturia BeatStep, a very well spec’d hardware sequencer, which includes CV as well as MIDI output. Some devices use other means of communication, like the Teenage Engineering Pocket Operator range, which will sync to an audio signal sent from your DAW. It’s crude, but it works. When you’re sending MIDI from Live’s MIDI clips, it’s not just about notes and CCs; a MIDI clip can send Program and Bank changes, which are used by hardware to load different presets or different sequencer patterns. You never have to load the wrong sound by mistake – whatever order you play your clips in, the instruments are always going to load the right sound. Some MIDI hardware (the Elektron Machinedrum, for example) includes an additional MIDI Thru connection, facilitating the daisychaining of more hardware, effectively using the first device as a MIDI hub. This simplifies the addition of more bits of hardware without kludging around with hubs or MIDI mergers and splitters.

By using hardware sound sources in your Live projects, you’re compromising the mobility of your project. You can’t simply close your laptop, go to another location, pop it open, and have all your sounds in place – the hardware isn’t there! There’s a workround, though: you can freeze the tracks, which will require Live to scan through the project in real time to create an audio file ‘preview’ version of each external instrument track. Now you can open the project on another computer with the audio from your synths or whatever intact – you just won’t be able to edit or interact with it. If you want to create permanent undo-able audio versions of the tracks, use Flatten after freezing, to embed those parts into an audio track and discard the original MIDI material and hardware routings. Because Live’s scanned through the project for the freeze process, flattening is a fast final step. When I’ve done this, I’ve either created a new version of the project, containing the frozen and flattened material, or I’ve duplicated the external MIDI instrument tracks before freezing and flattening them, so I have every option for going back to them later.

There can be bumps along the way, but if you have the will and the gear to make the connections, you can get Live talking to almost anything Step-by-step: Control your hardware 1. For this tutorial, you’ll need some kind of external hardware synthesiser module or keyboard or a drum machine, an audio/MIDI interface and, of course, Ableton Live running on a Mac or PC. Our aim here is to use Live MIDI clips and effects to trigger notes and control messages to our hardware and to receive, process, and record the resulting audio coming back in. Modern synths use USB as well as standard MIDI/audio, but let’s work with the more generic/classic options. Connect your hardware’s audio outputs and MIDI inputs to your interface. Open a new Live set, go to Session View and add the External Instrument Device MIDI effect into a MIDI track.

This device will send MIDI, but also receive audio within one track. Open Live’s Link MIDI Preferences and make sure your interface is configured correctly, receiving MIDI Track, Sync, and Remote, messages from Live. Close Preferences after you’re done.

If you don't own a MAC then here are 5 best alternatives for Logic Pro on Windows 10. Logic Pro X is one of the best recording studio programs on the market. If you don't own a MAC then here are 5 best alternatives for Logic Pro on Windows 10. Ableton Live is next on the list. This digital audio workstation can create, produce and even. Another good reason to choose Logic is that you record audio, if you live in the acoustic world then it’s pretty obvious you need Logic Pro, or Logic Audio as it was once known. The ability to record, track, comp and edit audio is non-existent in Ableton Live.

As we’re using the External Instrument device, set up the routings there, instead of in the In/Out View. Choose the MIDI channel required by your hardware (you might have to look in its manual).

Among all the digital audio workstations (DAWs) that I have tried in my long years of exploring music technology, of them has proven useful for live performance and improvisation: the aptly named Ableton Live. Many musicians, composers, and producers from all over the world attest to Live’s flexibility and ease of use. Having seen the success of many users of Live, I decided to take the latest version, Ableton Live 9 Suite, for a spin and see for myself why many people love it. I have been using this software for a few months now, on and off, and so by no means that I proclaim myself to be an expert.

In this piece, I will talk about some of Ableton Live 9 Suite’s unique features along with my insights and comments. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE THE SESSION VIEW One feature that separates Live 9 from all other DAWs is “Session View”. The Session View is very similar to the console view of other DAWs like Cakewalk Sonar or Logic Pro with a number of exceptions. The most notable of these is how one audio or MIDI track is divided into a number of cells called “scenes”. In every scene, a user can import or record a loop. By default, Live 9 has a total of 8 scenes per track but users can add more as needed.

Each track has its own dedicated stop track button and each scene has its own play button. In Live 9, a user can play one scene per track at a time. Having such complete playback control over each track and each scene means that users can call up and play whatever tracks or scenes they want on the fly, enabling them to create unique performances every time with a set of assigned or recorded loops. Paired with a MIDI controller such as or, Ableton Live 9 can effectively use pre-recorded loops as well as loops recorded live in performance to create music in a huge variety of ways.

CONTROL OPTIONS To take advantage of Live 9’s capabilities, it is important to use a MIDI controller with it. Preferred MIDI controllers for Live 9 are those that take advantage of the Session View. I mentioned a while ago two controllers namely. These controllers usually look like an Akai MPC on steroids given the fact that they have a large matrix of pads that can be easily assigned to tracks and scenes in Live 9. Conventional keyboard-style MIDI controllers can also be used with Live such as the Akai MPK series, Samson Graphite, Korg Taktile, etc. As a personal preference, my ideal controller setup will involve a MIDI keyboard coupled with a pad controller like.

If you don’t have any of those pad-style MIDI controllers, you can use an iPad instead with an app called Conductr to control Live 9 over a WiFi connection. Assigning MIDI controls over different parameters is easy in Live 9. It only takes switching on its MIDI assign or learn function found at the top right screen, clicking the desired parameter, and then turning the desired knob, button, or slider on your MIDI controller. After turning off the MIDI assign button, you will notice that assigned parameters will be controllable using any MIDI controller. ADDITIONAL FEATURES There are three versions of Live 9: Intro, Standard, and Suite. Ableton Live 9 Suite (as its name would suggest) comes packaged with a huge array of software instruments, Live Packs (sample libraries), one-shot samples, and loops to get you making music right out of the box.

Examples of Live Packs in Live 9 Suite are Puremagnetik’s Retro Synths, Orchestral Strings, and experimental sound from The Forge by Hecq. Another important addition that many experimental musicians will love in Live 9 Suite is, a music-programming software that provides extra synths and more customization options such as the ability to create one’s own synths. As far as audio processing goes, Live 9 Suite comes with an assortment of all necessary effects such as compressors, modulation effects, and EQs as well as extras that can beef up the sound such as guitar amplifier emulation. OVERALL OPINION Ableton Live 9 Suite is clearly usable for both studio and live use. In double display computer systems, it’s even possible to use both the session and arrangement views simultaneously for better visual feedback. Although it can be very easy to start making music right away with Live 9, the depth of features in the Suite version will requires a considerable amount of time to learn how to use effectively, especially. My only gripe about Ableton Live 9 Suite is that it lacks a score editor.

Note-reading musicians find it easier to edit MIDI notes using a score view rather than a piano roll view. Given that Live 9 Suite comes with Orchestral Live Packs, orchestrators and film music composers will find great value in a score view, a thing that I think Ableton should consider adding in later versions. Other than that, I have no complaints. PROS - Session view and arrangement view can be utilized simultaneously in dual display computers. Learning curve is low. Easy MIDI control assignment.

Automatic assignment for many controllers. Over 50GB of additional content including Live Packs, instruments, effects, etc. CONS - No score view. Ableton 9 is an extremely beautiful, unique, and versatile piece of music software.

I have been producing music for over 5 years and have used many digital audio workstations, but none of them even compare with Ableton. It is compatible with just about all operating systems, very easy to install, and it comes with some great examples to help teach new users the basics of the software. One of the main reasons I believe Ableton is superior to other music software out there is the layout. The layout of Ableton is so straightforward and easy to understand. The minimalistic layout allows for a much better and faster workflow. Not to mention, it's more organized and easy to look at. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE This version of Ableton is pretty much flawless.

When you purchase Ableton you are given a lifetime of free updates so there are very little to no bugs. I only know of one bug regarding pitch enveloping clips, but it is a very minor issue and easy to work around. It should be fixed very soon in one of the updates. The software is reliable and you won't need to worry about random crashes. I have been using this version of Ableton for around 9 months, and have had little to no problems or crashes. The only times my software has crashed was due to a faulty VST plugin I own, not the software itself.

OVERALL OPINION Over all, Ableton is absolutely wonderful. I have never used any piece of software that is this well made and functional. Ableton absolutely crushes it's competition when it comes to organization and user-interface. There are so many hot keys and small tricks that no other software has, but Ableton does. For example, Ableton's audio warping features are absolutely flawless, resampling and cutting audio clips has never been easier. Ableton also has incredible MIDI processing effects, such as Chords, Scales, Arpeggiators, etc.

You can really unleash your creativity by cheating music theory with the Scales effect, not many people know about this! And last but not least, the absolute BEST thing about purchasing Ableton, is the amount of free sounds and packs that you receive with it! When I purchased Ableton, I received over 25 massive packs of sound and real instruments.

That alone was worth the money in my opinion. All of the packs that come with ableton are excellent quality, and sound gorgeous. Ableton 9 is pretty much the best piece of software I have ever used, hands down. Their customer support is excellent too, if you ever have questions regarding the software you can contact them at their help section: But BEFORE you decide to purchase, DO RESEARCH. Not everybody works the same, it's all about personal preference. If you're not sure about it, download the trial version of Ableton and some other music software, and just try them out to see which one you like best. Sonic Academy's Ableton 9 is compatible with different working platforms like Windows Xp, Vista, 7 and of course MAC.

The manual that is incorporated with the software is well detailed covering a lot of musical ground. The general setup of the program is extremely straight forward, it's easy and fast to get it done. Basically, this DAW provides a lot of complexity, the typical functions have of lot of insides and outsides, so once you get to know the program better, you understand the principles.

Controlling Ableton Live With Sonic Logic For Mac Torrent

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE This version of Ableton works beyond decent, however I have found some bugs which I suppose will be fixed as soon as possible, apart from that, the software works very good, the gear is stable, rarely you get some bugs while working on your musical projects. I'm getting decent results while using this program. I've been using this version of Ableton for about 1 month. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about Ableton, especially this version, are the endless possibilities with audio to midi data, which can be extracted as a harmony or a melody. Another powerful tool that Ableton now has, are the automation curves which were pretty static in the past, now you can curve them at any angle.

What I also like, is the browser that comes extremely handy with an instant search and fast preview of the sounds. The Library included sounds very good and has a lot of orchestral elements in it. Of course I must mention Ableton's new toys, like the convulsion reverb, the glue compressor and other cool tools and effects. This program full pack included costs 599 euro, which is great, getting such a powerful audio editing tool for just 600 euro is a blessing.

Precision and quality of the sound is better than on previous versions, the library sounds are more realistic and the freq range response is better. Knowing what I know, I would buy this program as soon as possible. Mac installation is very simple as usual On Pc since version 8 is a bit more problematic because part of the installation program is located in the Data directory or a directory is hidden by default, so to find this directory it should first display hidden folders, which is a little restrictive.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE With a typical configuration: / Windows PC 8/I7 3 Ghz / 32 Giga RAM Live turns necessarily perfectly. Moreover it turns on smaller configuration without major problems.

Controlling Ableton Live With Sonic Logic For Mac Free

A simple laptop with its integrated basic and driver card and you can use it, of course in this case we can not either rotate 300 plug-ins, 50 audio clips and 70 instruments simultaneously, however that little bit more and the less with a single drum rack can already compose a headline electro. OVERALL OPINION I use Live since its first release, I also use Reason, Pro-tools, Cubase, Logic. Among all these software Live is the most intuitive and ergonomic software in many areas - The MIDI composition - The Sampling - The Slicing - The creation of modular instruments (notably with the addition of elements ) - Creating Virtual Rack - The use of Plug-ins - The outbreak of MIDI and audio - MIDI control of all types of controllers - Adaptation of audio loops at any tempo Whatever happens Live is now the most suitable to play on stage software.

Controlling Ableton Live With Sonic Logic For Mac Download

At the moment the main drawback is the size options displays Instruments, Live Effects Rack and which are sometimes too small compared to the monstrous possibilities they have, nevertheless Ableton has advanced its soft steadily and opportunities today are 100 X more important than it was ten years. In terms of value for price Live 9.1 Partner controller is an ideal investment for all persons wishing to begin or continue in the field of computer music composition, whether to record Audio, Audio loops arrangement, MIDI composition, synthesis and many other tools.