Tarekith’s guide to playing live.

I’ve been a big fan of Tarekith for a couple of years, not only does he give a lot of time to the the ALDJ forums as well as free effects plugins for Ableton, but he’s just posted what is possibly the best possible online guide to “playing live”. Read the rest of this entry »

  • Share/Bookmark

Novation Launchpad Ableton Controller

Launchpad

Can’t afford an APC? Want an awesome pad style controller for triggering clips in the same way? Novation has you covered with the new Launchpad.

Featuring 64 multicolored pads, with color feedback depending on the status of the device or clip you’re controlling, dedicated transport controls and an additional column of scene play buttons, it’s a great option for people who don’t need the rotary controls on the APC.

Pair this up with Novation’s automap, and you can assign any of the pads to a combination of key presses, making this a seriously versatile controller.

I’m already thinking about how I’m going to incorporate this into my Ableton setup!

They will be on sale from the start of November, for RRP or AU$299.

Check out the full details at http://www.ableton.com/launchpad

  • Share/Bookmark

Ableton Live Skins – High contrast, Low light.

One of the things I’ve been trying to do recently is change Live so that the light from the screen isn’t super bright. The last thing i want is to have my face lit up like a lighthouse in the dark night club. It just looks silly.

So, I could either try and move the laptop further away, or to the side, which isn’t always an option considering just fitting a laptop in the booth is usually an effort or dim the screen which only has limited effect and makes it harder to actually see what you’re doing. Not good.

After a quick search around the internet, Sonic Transfer has a great selection of Live skins, some are super bright and the exact opposite of what i wanted, there’s a couple of headache inducing fluoro pink horrors, but after a sift through and some downloading, there’s three which really stand out.

Now where looking fresh!  It’s worth noting that they aren’t great for using in full light or for warping tracks as the default skin, so I’d recommend alternating as required, that way you can see clearly at home, and look cool in the DJ booth.

They are available from Sonic Transfer, or on the links below.  I’d highly recommend checking out Sonic Transfer, as they have much more than just skins.  There’s plenty of tutorials, techniques and guides that are well worth reading. I think I just found what I’ll be looking at for the next few days.

Dark Grape
Battle Sauce
Halloween

  • Share/Bookmark