Any Ableton Drum Rack users on here?

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

I’ve been making the switch from the Digitakt to Ableton Drum Racks and have been loving the workflow and ability to use high resolution samples. Anybody using Drum Rack on here? and, if so, how do you setup your racks, i.e. lots of effects, minimal, etc…

#2

I use them, but I really miss the Elektron sequencer when I do.

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#3

I agree completely. Digitakt workflow is so damn fast. But so is tapping out a beat on your MIDI keyboard. I’m inevitably going to find a way to amalgamate both. In the meantime, my Digitakt is collecting dust…for the time being.

for me, the Macro Variations feature is the thing that sent me over the edge in making the switch.

#4

A tutorial on setting up the digitakt as an ableton drum rack controller. Was posted elsewhere on the forums recently, seems apropos.

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#5

drum rack is insanely good, not only for samples, you can load instruments there as well.
missing a good sequencer though, Stepic seems to solve that for me.
one thing that drove me crazy is being unable to send individual slots to the global return buses, and i’ve found that you actually can by routing the drum rack send to return bus, love drum racks…

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#6

I got a push 1 for cheap which is great for working with drum racks. Has a sequencer that can input steps and adjust step parameters. Not exactly the same as the digi but makes it more hands on

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#7

There’s also Launchpad95 which can be used with the cheapest Launchpads and works quite well, at least for not too complicated drum patterns.

#8

Not seeing the pro mk3 there but seems interesting

#9

Drum racks have so many uses, even beyond beats.

  • Make a soundboard with samples from movies, etc.
  • Do ‘multisamples’ by grouping a bunch of similar samples, then stick a ‘Random’ MIDI effect in front of it. You can use a ‘Shifter’ to change the pitch to play a tune, or also good for things like gong hits where it will sound corny if it is exactly the same every time.
  • Load up a bunch of different things and use ‘Note Echo’, ‘Random’ and ‘Velocity’ plus a bunch of delay and reverb to create weird shifting textures for drones. Or mute or leave some slots empty and generate random beats. Keep recording and listening and you might find a cool loop to use.
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#10

It might be supported by Launchpad Pro95 (which wasn’t updated in two years but worth a try).

#11

That’s right, it’s so versatile it shouldn’t even be called Drum Rack. I’m preparing a live set now and realized that drum racks are the answer for most problems. Want to use a track for random samples/fx/risers? Drum racks. Need a separate kick track? Send the kick from drum rack to an audio track. Need different drum sets for different parts of the live set? There’s 128 pads in one drum rack and each one can have its own effect chain, effect send etc. Want to layer sounds? Multiple chains can receive the same MIDI note. Drop some effects, map the macros and you can play a set with only one track with a drum rack in it :slight_smile:

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