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producer/dj-strut: Using Ableton Live For DJing

pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts
edited December 2006 in Strut Central
Aight ive read many articles and heard about people using ableton live for dj work. Ive seen different templates of how people setup there "set" in ableton for dj applications. Anyone do this and have any insight to share? I would love to have that shit setup into my dj mixer and have my computers 4 outs have a stereo pair on each mixer channel along with Microwave. Or would it help to have Microwave go right into the computer first, then routed back out to the dj mixer along with ableton? School me o wise ones. Thanks. Any links or ideas are greatly appreciated.

  Comments

  • bozakbozak 334 Posts
    I would think that if you routed Microwave through ableton then you could do sampling on the fly (I think atrak does this with a footpetal). although I am not sure if that will work or not.

    I too am interested in using Live to dj although everything I have read has described it in a way in which I would have to preplan my set...which is a no-no
  • pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts

    I too am interested in using Live to dj although everything I have read has described it in a way in which I would have to preplan my set...which is a no-no
    ah see thats exactly my beef with it also. It would require lots and lots of preplanning. Which im not saying is a bad thing, but its traditionally not how i operate. So i would have to rethink a lot of concepts. i saw this

    Which scratches the surface a little bit, but i wanted to hear from the soulstrut massive how real headz utilize it. Also would it be smart to run it along with Microwave on the same computer? Or bring two laptops? I was thinking of having seratos out come into a studio mixer then get routed out to the pc then routed back into the line ins on the dj mixer. ANd have a trigger finger triggering loops, accapellas, drums etc...so you could use it just like any sound source coming in. Im just trying to brainstorm some ideas or uses that could be done like that.
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    I'll be a second unhelpful yet interested person for this. I haven't seen anyone pull it off real gracefully yet...Ableton is very powerful but you have to spend a lot of time conceputalizing how you want it to work. I've heard its possible to run it with Microwave, but it probably affects stability. Definately like the idea of running microwave through it (which is why heads have been calling for rewire support for a long time).
  • BrianBrian 7,618 Posts


    djing with ableton seems way too complicated without a proper controller in my mind. i dont really see the point in it for just playing a regular set but i think it's pretty cool for a well-known producer to do live remixes of their own tracks
  • pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts
    I was messing around with some ideas the last hour and a half and here is how i set it up. I have a tascam us224 interface for my laptop which is a piece of garbage. It has 2 ins and a stereo pair of outs. What i did was use a Y cable a rcas to 1 1/4' cable to put both the outputs of Microwave into the pc. Made two audio tracks, two sampled loop tracks in ableton. so 4 tracks. Hard panned each track to the left or right depending on what channel i wanted it to come back into the mixer. I had the tracks go into the sends A for left channel B for right channel and had those going to the master outs. With this i could do alot of pretty cool shit. I would have a mp3 coming thru searto and while i was cuing it in the headphones i could record pieces of it and loop them, and i also took breakbeats and used the tap tempo button to get them ready to drop into the mix. It actually was pretty sick, just making remixes on the fly. And you could if you made more tracks hard panned add things like accapellas and other elements like loops or whatever. Shit is pretty sick. My only problem is the soundcard im using. I think it would run alot smoother to have 2 dedicated stereo outs come back into the dj mixer, instead of having to sum it to mono and hard pan the rca outs to get my channels. There was also a terrible electronic hum that came in when i plugged the soudcard in. I have to figure out why this is. I will be buying this though with the quickness.


    with this you can get some Y trs cables and have the 2 stereo sets of rcas to feedback into the mixer. Also i would think then you could also setup a monitoring situation from the soundcard too which i might be helpful, but if you are running through the mixer, i wouldnt think you would need them, cause you can do it in your cuemix on there. I gotta run to radio shack now though and get some shit to help this go a little smoother.
  • bthavbthav 1,538 Posts
    havent done this live (WAKA WAKA WAKA), but heres the setup:

    -microwave hooked up regularly to mixer (mixer has three input CHs)
    -live output from my built-in line out to the extra mixer CH
    -booth record out of the mixer to the built-in line input of my mac

    i tap out tempos in ableton (or use the built-in dildometer to synced the tempo), then use the loop record function in live for quick loops.

    OF COURSE you run the danger of a feedback loop if you have your ableton CH up when you are recording, but its not fun if its all fucking



    ive never done this intensely, so whos what a cpu piggy this bitch actually is. but its very fun to play with, and beats the shit outta dildo's loop function.

    hope that helps

    -arjun
  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts


    djing with ableton seems way too complicated without a proper controller in my mind. i dont really see the point in it for just playing a regular set but i think it's pretty cool for a well-known producer to do live remixes of their own tracks

    If I had the money I'd buy one, pop a pro x fade in the middle and be good to go. Shit is PERFECT for this application, the only thing you can't do is scratch on the upfaders but unless you're doing crazy euros and shit it ain't no thing.

    Lowend, I like the idea of the setup.
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