Reference Manual

474 Pages·2008·11.41 MB·English

Reference Manual
Ableton Live 7
Sampler - Operator - Analog - Tension - Electric
Session Drums - Drum Machines
Orchestral Strings - Orchestral Brass
Orchestral Percussion - Orchestral Woodwinds
Essential Instrument Collection
LiveVersion7.0.9forWindowsandMacOS
July,2008
CreatedbyBerndRoggendorf,GerhardBehles,RobertHenke,Awi,ReinerRudolph,StefanHaller,StefanFranke,
FrankHoffmann,AndreasZapf,RalfSuckow,GregorKlinke,MatthiasMayrock,FriedemannSchautz,IngoKoehne,
JakobRang,PabloSara,NicholasAllen,HenrikLafrenz,JanBuchholz,KevinHaywood,DominikWilms,Christian
Kleine,AmauryGroc,DanielB(cid:252)ttner,AlexKoch,HenrikHahn,SimonFrontzek,TorstenWendland,TorstenSlama,
EduardM(cid:252)ller,JeremyBernstein,BernardChavonnet,CarlSeleborg,ClaesJohanson,BernhardBockelbrink,Nico
Starke,J(cid:246)rgKlu(cid:255)mann.
Reference Manual by Dennis DeSantis, Kevin Haywood, Rose Knudsen, Gerhard Behles, Jakob Rang, Robert
Henke,TorstenSlama.
Contentprovidedby:
SONiVOX(cid:21)www.sonivoxrocks.com
BigFishAudio(cid:21)www.big(cid:28)shaudio.com
ChocolateAudio(cid:21)www.chocolateaudio.com
Puremagnetik(cid:21)www.puremagnetik.com
PhysicalModelingtechnologyprovidedby:
AppliedAcousticsSystems(cid:21)www.applied-acoustics.com
Copyright2008AbletonAG.Allrightsreserved.
Thismanual,aswellasthesoftwaredescribedinit,isfurnishedunderlicenseandmaybeusedorcopiedonlyinaccordancewith
thetermsofsuchlicense. Thecontentofthismanualisfurnishedforinformationaluseonly,issubjecttochangewithoutnotice,
andshouldnotbeconstruedasacommitmentbyAbleton. Everyefforthasbeenmadetoensurethattheinformationinthis
manualisaccurate.Abletonassumesnoresponsibilityorliabilityforanyerrorsorinaccuraciesthatmayappearinthisbook.
Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, edited, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,recordingorotherwise,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionof
Ableton.
Ableton, Live and Live Pack are trademarks of Ableton AG. Apple, the Apple Logo, Mac, the Universal Logo, Mac OS, the
AudioUnitsLogo,theQuickTimeLogoandQuickTimearetrademarksofApple,Inc. Windows,WindowsXPandWindowsVista
areregisteredtrademarksofMicrosoftCorporationintheUnitedStatesandothercountries. Intelisaregisteredtrademarkof
IntelCorporationoritssubsidiariesintheUnitedStatesandothercountries. SONiVOXisthebrandnametrademarkofSonic
Network,Inc. VSTandASIOaretrademarksandsoftwareofSteinbergMediaTechnologiesGmbH.ReWire,ReCycle,REXand
REX2aretrademarksofPropellerheadSoftwareAB.AASisatrademarkofAppliedAcousticsSystemsDVMInc.MackieControlis
atrademarkofLOUDTechnologies,Inc.OggVorbisandFLACaretrademarksofXiphOrg.Allotherproductandcompanynames
aretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksoftheirrespectiveholders.
1
Chapter 1
Welcome to Live
1.1 The Ableton Team Says: Thank You
Live is the result of musicians wanting a better way to create, produce and perform music
using a computer. A great deal of effort has been put into making Live easy and fun to
use, yet at the same time capable of helping you create music with unlimited depth and
sophistication. Thiseffortcontinuesevenasyoureadtheselines... infact,anew,improved
Live version might already be available for download! Please check on our website now1,
orchoosetheCheckforUpdatescommandfromtheHelpmenu.
WehopeyouenjoyusingLiveandthatitenhancesyourcreativeprocess. Shouldyouhave
suggestionsabouthowwecanimproveLive,pleaseletusknow2.
YourAbletonTeam.
1http://www.ableton.com/downloads
[email protected]
CHAPTER1. WELCOMETOLIVE 2
1.2 What’s New in Live 7?
1.2.1 Multiple Time Signatures
(cid:136) WorkwithmultipletimesignaturesinbothArrangementandSessionview
1.2.2 Movie Export
(cid:136) Exportvideotoanew(cid:28)le
1.2.3 Slicing and REX Support
(cid:136) REX(cid:28)lescanbeloadedandplayedinsyncwithotheraudio(cid:28)les
(cid:136) Audio(cid:28)lescanbeslicedtoanewMIDItrack
1.2.4 Multiple Automation Editor Lanes
(cid:136) View and edit multiple automation envelopes for a track simultaneously in the Ar-
rangementView
1.2.5 Better Tempo Control
(cid:136) Temporarily change playback speed to match the tempo of unsynchronized sources
likeDJsorlivemusicians.
(cid:136) Mapsongtempotomultiplecontrollersforcoarseand(cid:28)neadjustments
CHAPTER1. WELCOMETOLIVE 3
1.2.6 Ableton Effects and Instruments
(cid:136) DrumRacksexpandtheRackfamilywithintegratedreturnchains,chokegroups,and
otherfunctionsoptimizedforbuildingdrumkits
(cid:136) Tensionoptionaladd-oninstrument
(cid:136) Electricoptionaladd-oninstrument
(cid:136) Analogoptionaladd-oninstrument
(cid:136) Compressor replaces the former Compressor I andII deviceswith threecompression
models,feedback,sidechainingandmore.
(cid:136) Spectrumperformsrealtimefrequencyanalysisofincomingaudiosignals.
(cid:136) EasierintegrationofexternalhardwareeffectsandsynthesizerswiththeExternalAudio
EffectandExternalInstrumentdevices
1.2.7 Device Improvements
(cid:136) SidechainingisavailableinthenewCompressoreffect, aswellastheGateandAuto
Filter
(cid:136) EQEightisupdatedwithalargerdisplay, anewnotch(cid:28)lter, largerparameterranges
andanoptional64-bithi-qualitymode
(cid:136) Hi-Quality modes have also been added to the Operator instrument and Dynamic
TubeandSaturatoreffects
4
Chapter 2
First Steps
WhenyouinstallLiveandrunitforthe(cid:28)rsttime,youwillbepresentedwithadialogasking
for your Live serial number. Please see the chapter on unlocking Live should you have
questionsorconcernsduringtheauthorizationprocess.
Ifyoudonot(yet)ownLive,youcanstilltryoutallofLive’sfeatures,butyouwillnotbeable
tosaveorexportyourwork.
2.1 Learn About Live
Livecomeswithasetofinteractivelessonstotakeyoustepbystepthroughthekeyfeatures
of the program. The lessons are organized in a table of contents, which can be opened
directly in the program via the Help menu. We highly recommend following the lessons.
Many users have told us that the lessons helped them become familiar with the program
veryquickly.
We also recommend that you read the Live Concepts chapter, which encapsulates every-
thing that Live is and can do, and is therefore a worthwhile read for both beginners and
CHAPTER2. FIRSTSTEPS 5
experienced users. The remaining chapters of this manual serve as in-depth reference for
thematerialintroducedinLiveConcepts.
2.1.1 Using the Info View and Index
Live’sInfoViewtellsyouthenameandfunctionofwhateveryouplacethemouseover. For
certainitems,youcancreateyourowntextanditwillappearinthiswindow.
TheInfoViewandits
Show/HideButton.
Ifyourequiremoreinformationonaspeci(cid:28)cuserinterfaceelementortopic,pleaseconsult
thisreferencemanual. Theindex,foundattheendofthemanual,containsthenamesofall
userinterfaceelementsandwillleadyoutotherelevantsection.
2.2 Setting up Preferences
Live’s Preferences window is where you can (cid:28)nd various settings that determine how Live
looks, behaves and interfaces with the outside world. This window is accessed from the
Preferences command, which in Windows is available in the Options menu and in OS X
CHAPTER2. FIRSTSTEPS 6
is available in the Live menu. Preferences can also be accessed with the Ctrl , (PC) /
, (Mac)shortcut.
Live’sPreferencesaredistributedoverseveraltabs:
(cid:136) IntheLook/Feeltab, youcanmakevarioussettings, includingthelanguageusedfor
textdisplayandthecolorscheme,or(cid:16)skin,(cid:17)fortheLiveuserinterface.
(cid:136) The Audio Preferences are used to set up Live’s audio connections with the outside
world via an audio interface. Please take the time to follow the program’s built-in
(cid:16)Setting up Audio I/O(cid:17) lesson, which will walk you through all the steps required to
set up and optimize the settings for any given system. To access the lesson, use the
LessonsTableofContentscommandfromtheHelpmenu.
(cid:136) The MIDI/Sync Preferences are used to help Live recognize MIDI devices for three
separateanddistinctpurposes:
(cid:21) Playing MIDI notes. To learn how to route an external device into Live for MIDI
input,orhowtosendMIDItoanexternaldevice,pleaseseetheRoutingandI/O
chapter.
(cid:21) Controllingpartsoftheinterfaceremotely. Thissubjectiscoveredindetailinthe
MIDIandKeyRemoteControlchapter.
(cid:21) Syncing the program with an external sequencer or drum machine, either as a
masteroraslave. PleaseseetheSynchronizingviaMIDIchapterfordetails.
(cid:136) The File/Folder Preferences pertain to Live’s (cid:28)le management and the location of
plug-indevices.
(cid:136) TheRecord/Warp/LaunchPreferencesallowcustomizingthedefaultstatefornewLive
Setsandtheircomponents,aswellasselectingoptionsfornewrecordings.
(cid:136) The CPU Preferences include options for managing the processing load, including
multicore/multiprocessorsupport.
(cid:136) The Authorizations/Trial Preferences are used to manage licensing and installation of
theLiveplatform,andadd-oncomponentsliketheOperatorinstrument.
CHAPTER2. FIRSTSTEPS 7
2.3 The Main Live Screen
MostofyourworkinLivehappensinthemainLivescreen. Thisscreenconsistsofanumber
of views, and each view manages a speci(cid:28)c aspect of your Live Set, which is the type of
document that you create and work on in Live. Since screen space is usually limited, the
Liveviewscan’tallbedisplayedatthesametime.
Eachoneoftheselectorbuttonsatthescreenborderscallsupaspeci(cid:28)cview;clickingthis
one,forinstance,opensLive’sDeviceBrowser:
TheDeviceBrowser
Selector.
To hide one of Live’s views and free up screen space, click on the triangle-shaped button
nexttoit. Torestoretheview,clickthebuttonagain.
AViewShow/Hide
Button.
YoucanrunLiveinFullScreenModebyselectingtheFullScreencommandfromtheView
menu. ToleaveFullScreenMode,clickthebuttonthatappearsinthelowerrightcornerof
thescreen. FullScreenModecanalsobetoggledbypressing F11 . (Note: OnMacOS
X, this key is assigned by default to ExposØ, and will not toggle Full Screen Mode unless
ExposØhasbeendeactivatedorassignedtoadifferentkeyinOSX’sSystemPreferences.)
If one of the browser views is open, you can adjust the main window’s horizontal split by
dragging.
CHAPTER2. FIRSTSTEPS 8
AdjustingtheMain
WindowSplit.