Any tips on transitioning from one kit to another without it sounding abrupt, specifically with kick drums and even hi hats?
Im having a hard time finding the most seamless way when playing live to transition from song to song when the kick is playing so that it sounds like a nice mix or just more flowy… and not just switching patterns.
Same with hi hats, unless theyre muted, switching from pattern to pattern with the hi hats playing sometimes sounds abrupt since the hi hat sound can vary from kit to kit.
I wish there was a way to keep some sounds from one kit playing while I bring in another kit, so it’s not like all the sounds just stop and new sounds come in… how do people do this when playing live on AR?
What are some transition tips when playing live and switching from kick drum to another without just simply muting it and moving on to the next pattern/kit?
Problem with Elektron machines is that you only can flip pattern, but not single channels of it.
I hope Elektron will come up with a clip based workflow like akai force, mc-707, etc.
Options are: designing 2 pattern, and in the middle of that another that acts as a transitioning one.
Or you could just get an Octatrack as addition to your setup for example (live sampling 4 bars, fade bitween recording and live input)
If you’re ok with having a fixed setlist, you have your solution right there: transition patterns.
You create a pattern between the two you are trying to transition between where you keep elements from the old one and change some for elements from the new one.
I did it with a Digitone, and by playing with volume you can have pretty seamless transition. I usually left the kick and bass from the finishing song on the transition pattern, and the elements from the new one have their volumes lowered. Change to your transition pattern, lower your kick and bass, introduce your new elements, lower the old ones, change to the new pattern and bam! You get a drop to your new kick and bass!
Question, when you live sample 4 bars for example on the Octatrack, how does that recording stay in sync with the entire track? I mean, you pressing record wont always hit perfectly synced on the grid, so how does it work?
…let’s keep in mind, if ur performing live with gear, ur NOT a dj…ur a LIVE act…
if u wanna transition in smooth/classic dj fashion, u’d need a battle mixer and some second instrument…
if u are a live performer, it’s totally ok to think in individual chapters/tracks…no one is expecting smooth transitions…that’s a dj job…and the whole point is, u are not…
The Octatrack has tools and settings for making correctly timed loops on the fly. For example, you can time the start of a recording using a “recorder trig”, or a “one-shot recorder trig”. You can fix the length of a sample in a couple of different ways. There’s other options too.
I understand. I simply meant the idea of fading things in and out like a dj, which you can easily do with individual elements and with the advice of some peers here, transition patterns.
You can configure the Octatrack so, that it does quantized records, that means you hit that button (you configured…) and then it waits for the start of the four bars, and records exactly as long as you (again) configured it.
But: If you want to go this route you really need to dig it. If you can’t stand the fact you will need time and trial & error let it be.
A while back I was pondering how to achieve this as well. Theoretically I was thinking about sampling a bar of pattern B loading that into one of the sample slots of a track in pattern A. Now you can easily mix in the sampled loop of pattern B an mute some tracks of pattern A and then switch over to pattern B. There are a few downsides to this though. You have to sacrifice one track for the sampled loops plus your liveset will be very linear and planned out. That’s the reason why I abandoned this idea, but it should work.
Octatrack or any other live looper sure helps.
A mixer with two or more machines can helps.
Another classic is to finish your track in something not too distinctive Sonic wise (like a wash of endless reverb or infinite feedback delay). Keep the wall of sound in the background while switching patterns/kit and then bring back kicks hats etc as needed
