Before flogging my OT and OP-Z I came to the realisation that I was grossly under using Push 2 and Ableton. So, now that I’m down to Live, Push and a Komplete Kontrol keyboard I want to change that and do something more with what I have at my disposal.
The problem? I loved sampling all sorts of random shit on my OT and creating lead/bass/drum kits out of it and I don’t really know where to start in Live/Push. I think I can largely get my head around creating kits in Live (slicing and dicing) but I’m a complete Live novice when it comes to taking a piece of audio and making it something else - what I refer to as “creative sampling”.
I’ve tried searching online for some suggestions/help but when your search criteria includes “Ableton”, “Push” and “sampling” the volume of hip hop or crate digging videos that pop up is staggering! I found one really interesting video of a guy who used a snare sound only to create a kit, bass, lead, chords and then a full song. 99% using Push 2 only. That’s what I’m looking to replicate.
So rather than trawl Youtube in the hope of hitting something - do any of you guys know of or have go to sites or videos for this sort of thing for inspiration? Appreciate that’s quite a wide canvas and maybe I need to pivot my thinking here and work through traditional tutorials and use those techniques but surely there is something out there to help guide on this sort of thing?!
This guy made a whole track using just a Redbull can and a mic in Ableton. Not the best example of a song but you can see him get pretty creative with his sampling to make all sorts of sounds. Most of this is applicable with Push as well.
He probably takes things in the direction I should in that he uses actual synth sounds to fill things out. I actually quite like losing myself trying to make a sound into something totally unique and different.
99% of the time it’s more hassle than it’s worth and I should just go with Omnisphere or something out of Komplete but sometimes that change of pace is what I’m needing to keep the juices flowing.
Do you have Live Suite? If so there is loads of Max for live stuff that you can use to treat audio.
Some of the sequencers are well good at messing sound around.
Granulator is good . . And the Wavetable synth can use any bits of audio as an oscillator.
Always loads of resampling to a separate audio track using the above stuff, and lob it into Simpler to play it ‘normally’
Not sure if all or some of the Max for Live stuff is pre-mapped to the Push controller though.
Yeah I’m interested in using Sampler in Live to make rhythmic hooks. I really like what the filter and pitch envelopes bring to the table.
An example of the sound I’m looking for is the phrase that is repeated throughout LTJ Bukem Cosmic Interlude. It gives it a great groove.
Hell yeah. That’s my approach. If you have a fast computer this can be so much fun. Just keep chucking devices on there until you get something you like. Sample, resample, and resample again. Chop it up. Pitch it up, pitch it down. Endless fun. Use Redux, Pedal, Erosion, and TAL DAC, Vinyl distortion for old school fx.
Well you can drag and drop SNES .sfz sound fonts into ableton a sampler ( or is it simpler ) one of those two and it loads up all the soundfonts as samples in your library.
This is the video I was talking about with using 1 snare sample. Really enjoyed this one and loads of examples of using Push to do things I didn’t even know was possible! Like certain pad combos.
Nice topic, I have the same problem. How do I work creatively with samples?
For me it is an art form and you need a certain basis in sound design to create interesting sounds.
A few years ago, in 2015, we had a SienceLab competition here. Take a sample and make a track.
I loved that. In addition to the many remarkable entries, there was also a particularly remarkable one that also won afterwards.
Although this has nothing to do with Ableton Live, it shows the basic principles that are necessary for creative sampling. But this can be wonderfully transferred to other tools.
Dragging this a bit off topic but getting the same outcome I’ve found my recently acquired XDJ700 one of the best loopers for pulling out phrases to either let loop or resample into my DJS1000 or into Ableton to build new tracks
I think that hits the nail in the head. For years I had been a presets guy. But using samples always seemed really cool and interesting. I like that I could sample something an be the only person on the planet with that specific sample and then turn it into something else. OT/DT took me in lots of directions and I got more proficient at what I was doing too. The OT Mk2 really took me off on adventures.
I guess I just need to find that sort of flow ITB now that I’ve had to sell things. Def checking out that science challenge. Forgot about that one actually - what a great challenge though!
I am also a preset guy. Sometimes I don’t want more than a few good presets and just start jamming.
But I also find it quite interesting to let myself go and explore the sound design options of my tools.
I found the following workflow that works best for me.
I separate sound design phases from composition phases.
So at times I have enough possibilities to design sounds that I can then use in composition phases.
In Ableton Live you can also separate it wonderfully, because you can save racks and tracks separately. A win-win situation for me.
The problem with worklows is also, in my view, that there is not one workflow, there is nothing right or wrong.
What always helps me to come up with new ideas is definitely this forum
And this link, which everyone probably knows, but for me it is a real treasure trove.