Questions about DJing with Ableton Live

[paulmartin]

So I just picked up Ableton Live for my new Macbook Pro. Fantastic program...so much can be done with it...but I'm still trying to figure out how to DJ with it.

What I want to ultimately be able to do is have my laptop hooked up to my decks & mixer so that I can seamlessly blend vinyl, CD, and digital audio (from the laptop using Live).

Has anybody used the program in a live (no pun intended!) setting? Does anybody know how this might be done? Or does anybody have any practical tips about using Ableton Live to DJ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated...thanks!

-Paul

[Reece Duncan]

I have used ableton "Live" for a while. Presuming you know about warping tracks etc. i'll move onto setting up. What you would need is a "midi clock". Some of the more expensive mixers come with this, it sends out a signal to the laptop, if you dont have a mixer with this facility, you want something like the Red Sound Voyager 1 which your mixer plugs into, a midi clock signal is created then sent out to anything connected. Ableton would then be setup to listen to this signal (see manual or net). Thats way no. 1. The 2nd way is to just manually change the tempo in live to beatmatch with cd decks, turntables etc. Thats about the easiest way i could describe it for ya buddy, best thing to do now is to read the manula and look around on the net, theres loads of good tips & tutorials out there.

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[paulmartin]

Yeah,

I've been reading the manual and doing the tutorials, so i know about the time-warping and all that. But I'll look into it further. Thanks for the help!

[Reece Duncan]

No problem buddy, any time

[paulmartin]

OK...so i'm getting the hang of implementing LIVE in my normal DJ mixing routine....

HOWEVER...my laptop only has one audio output, so if i'm trying to mix 2 (or more) songs together live in Ableton LIVE, i have no way of cueing the next track up. I basically have to warp in and hope for the best when that next song starts up.

MY next question is: Is there any way to cue up tracks on my laptop even though I only have ONE audio output? (Is there some kind of splitter I can get or something?) I just bought a $2000 (US) MacBook Pro, and I REALLY don't want to have to get another laptop with 2 outputs.

Help, please!!!

[tOM]

Originally Posted by paulmartin

OK...so i'm getting the hang of implementing LIVE in my normal DJ mixing routine....

HOWEVER...my laptop only has one audio output, so if i'm trying to mix 2 (or more) songs together live in Ableton LIVE, i have no way of cueing the next track up. I basically have to warp in and hope for the best when that next song starts up.

MY next question is: Is there any way to cue up tracks on my laptop even though I only have ONE audio output? (Is there some kind of splitter I can get or something?) I just bought a $2000 (US) MacBook Pro, and I REALLY don't want to have to get another laptop with 2 outputs.

Help, please!!!

you don't need a new laptop you need a usb or firewire audio interface - to be honest the soundcard in you macbook won't be up to much anyway.

if you're just djing out of ableton try an m-audio audiophile or something along those lines

check some of these out

Firewire 400 Sound Cards / Audio Interfaces @ Dolphin Music

[Reece Duncan]

Originally Posted by tOM

you don't need a new laptop you need a usb or firewire audio interface - to be honest the soundcard in you macbook won't be up to much anyway.

if you're just djing out of ableton try an m-audio audiophile or something along those lines

check some of these out

Firewire 400 Sound Cards / Audio Interfaces @ Dolphin Music

Couldn't have said it better myself, you need to get yourself an interface / soundcard.

[paulmartin]

thanks again for the responses

[Reece Duncan]

No worries buddy, anytime

[Ian_k]

haha isnt ableton theoretically cheating and taking the fun out of djing,?? :-)