Round Robin with Ableton Live's Sampler

When you program instruments using Live's Sampler you often have the problem that the groove or melody you have sounds too static. You can overcome this by using different velocities of a sample or using a technique called Round Robin, where there a different versions of the same sample which change every note.

Launching a program only if a specific USB-device is connected

With the growing park of MIDI controllers I often forget to turn them on before starting Ableton Live. And I have some additional software like LPC Live by nativeKontrol to interact with the Launchpad for instance.

So I was looking for a way to check if a certain USB-Device is connected and then (and only then) start a corresponding program or reminding me to turn on my keyboard followed by the start of Ableton Live.

Searching the web didn't show up a definite solution. So with a little research and putting the pieces together I came up with this.

Korg nanoPAD (First Incarnation)

The Korg nanoPAD in it's first version was a nice midi controller with twelve velocity sensitive drum pads, four scenes and as a unique item a X/Y-pad. For drumrolls and variations it had HOLD, FLAM and ROLL buttons.

It then was suberseded by the nanoPAD 2.

How to get multiple audio outputs in Live's drumracks

One drawback of Live's drumracks is that there is an option "Audio To" but it is greyed out and so can't be used. But I found a way to get individual outputs in drumracks. This can be handy if you want to use multiple hardware outs.

Set up Ableton Live 8 to perform live using just one button/footswitch

Imagine yourself as a solo performer or part of a band, where you use Ableton Live just like a workstation. Where you have a song consisting of different parts. Where you want to switch from a rhodes in the verse to a synth in the chorus -  both played with the same keyboard. And you don't have to have multiple tracks for this, so you are light on the CPU. But best of all you can do this with a single button or even better a footswitch.

How to chop a loop in Reason 6 or Record Duo and use it in Kong

Today I'll show how to chop up a loop in Propellerheads Reason 6 or Record Reason Duo and use it instantly in Kong.

Use the mousewheel to move knobs in Ableton Live

Another quick Autohotkey hack I did (sorry, again Windows only [There seems to exist a port of Autohotkey. I couldn't test it but look here]). If you are running attached script in the background you can move a knob in Ableton Live with the mousewheel. Select the knob with the left mouse button and press and turn the mousewheel to change the values.

I set the rate to 5 steps per wheelturn to make it react faster. You can adjust the rate in the ahk script. Just exchange the 5s to your desired value. You have to download and install Autohotkey for this to work.

Download a zip with the compiled as well as the uncompiled version of the script.

UPDATE:

Wrote a new version. Here you don't have to hold down the middle mouse button but Shift (for 5 steps) or Ctrl (for 1 step).


Download