Tag Archives: free MIDI effects

Push 3 User Mode Template Updated

by in Tempfates and tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Actually Using Push 3’s “User Mode”

 The free Push 3 User Mode template has been updated for Live Suite 12.4.1+ and is available once more!
 (Grab the .alp directly here).

 Push Controllers have an underused feature called User Mode. The problem is that you have to manually set mappings. So i did the work, planned out and made a template of mappings for the Push 3 that make the utmost of the controller’s hidden capabilities.

 The live set comes pre-loaded with the Push 3’s physical controls mapped to Ableton Live functions for use in User Mode, adding to the total capabilities of the controller. It’s totally dope as a creativity launching pad. I spent hours getting lost in jamming while vetting the update!

Feel free to save / print this handy Push 3 User Mode reference image.

Template Features:
 ☞ 8 Audio Tracks, selectable with buttons.
  Use these for general audio work, mixing, audio in, routing, etc.

 ☞ 8 Synth Instrument Tracks, selectable with buttons.
  Pre-loaded with sandbox starting points for Ableton’s native synths. Just start using them! Tweak, hotswap, etc.
   Electric and Operator have been enhanced with Expression Control for added pad expression.

  ~ Analog.
  ~ Collision.
  ~ Drift.
  ~ Electric.
  ~ Meld.
  ~ Operator.
  ~ Tension.
  ~ Wavetable.

 ☞ 6 Sample / Percussion Tracks {ɴᴇᴡ}.
  Use these to drop samples in for sound design and to play drums / percussion.
   Drum Rack is pre-loaded with a Session Drums kit.
   DS Rack is pre-loaded with one of each Drum Synth.
   8x Impulse is set up with 8×8=64 drop slots available.

  ~ Simpler.
  ~ Sampler.
  ~ Drum Sampler.
  ~ Drum Rack.
  ~ DS Rack.
  ~ 8x Impulse.

 ☞ FX Aux Return Track with Return OctoFX.
  Whoah, an FX rack with eight distinct effect chains you can trigger and use on anything whenever? Cool!
  Pre-loaded with eight parallel effects you feed whatever you want into and use individually or combined.
  There are eight buttons, each for one effect, and eight control knobs that alter them all in symbiotic ways.
  Push and hold buttons to trigger effects; twist the knobs to alter them.

   ~ FX 1: Repeat (feat. Beat Repeat).
   ~ FX 2: Reverse (feat. Convolute).
   ~ FX 3: Offset (feat. Delay).
   ~ FX 4: Wobble (feat. Echo & Chorus).
   ~ FX 5: Filter (feat. Filter Delay).
   ~ FX 6: Stretch (feat. Hybrid Reverb & Grain Delay).
   ~ FX 7: Space (feat. Reverb).
   ~ FX 8: Resound (feat. Resonators).

 ☞ Looper Aux Return Track.
  Built-in organic jam Looper with Push controls and foot pedal multi-button.
  Send audio to the looper and manipulate it without ever having to use your mouse. It’s fun.

 ☞ Analysis Aux Return Track.
  Two spectrum analyzers and two glue compressors repurposed as rough VU/peak meters.
  You can choose which audio to send through analysis (all is, by default).

 ☞ Keyboard Mappings Included!
  The template set comes pre-mapped with the Key Map Template for Live 12, for even more instant functions.
  Both midi and keyboard key mappings work together alongside each other.

Modding As You Go:
 Feel free to modify the sets built from the template, deleting tracks you don’t need, duplicating and modifying others, etc!

Conflict & Harmony with Other Controllers:
 The midi messages sent by Push’s User Mode are unfortunately hard-coded and non-adjustable. The easiest way to avoid potential conflicts with other controllers is to make sure that none of them use MIDI Channel 1. When you want other controllers to double the same functions as Push User Mode, however, you can simply program them to output the same value.
 For example, to map Tap Tempo to an additional controller, you would set the desired control to CC 3 of Midi Channel 1, and then both controllers will have that function.

Changelog:
 New Sample & Percussion MIDI Tracks:
  _Blank Simpler, Sampler, and Sampler racks ready to drop samples in.
  _64-pad Drum Rack combining the Session Drums kits SessionDry & DirectNatural.
  _64-pad DS Rack pre-loaded with Drum Synth slots as well as 505, DMX, and LinnDrum kits.
  _64-pad Impulse because we can’t forget about Impulse.

 The Effect Encoders now also control Warp Mode parameters, depending on mode.
  _Stretch affects Transient Envelope & Grain Size, Wobble affects Flux, and Filter affects Formant.

 _Main Track button now focuses on the main track, similar to with User Mode Off (instead of Limiter Mode Cycle).

 _The Plus Button, while held, now temporarily enables MIDI Arrangement Overdub (instead of Select FX Track).

 _The Foot Pedals are now mapped: Pedal 1 to the Looper Multi-Purpose Button &
  Pedal 2 to Solo FX Return Channel.

 _The Page Left and Page Right buttons can now be used for MIDI step input (as well as for Clip Scrub).

 _Runaway feedback possibility in FX Return prevented.

 _The MIDI Tracks are grouped and folded by default to reduce clutter.

In other news, i’ll be mastering songs live using the new Finalization template & effects at Brian Funk’s Music Production Club live meeting on Saturday the 19th at 12 noon EST. I hope to see you there!

Super Awesome Sounds

by in Nifty Instruments and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We’ve got a new pack for you, Super Awesome Sounds, featuring samples of the Casio SA-20 Keyboard. This was my first instrument as a kid and thus has a very nostalgic place in my heart, so i recently re-acquired one and went nuts sampling its 100 patches and making instrument and drum racks for ableton live out of them (plus audio effect racks inspired by them), using the amalgamation of my accumulated knowledge over the years to create the most refined PerforModule instrument pack to date.

The SA-20

Since it seemed to fit nicely with his existing collection which includes quite a lot of 80s- and 90s-esque sensibilities, i’ve teamed up with Brian Funk to release the pack. We talked about it as well as various other random topics on his show, the Music Production Podcast. Many thanks to Mr. Funk for having me on, always an interesting and insightful time.

There is a free version of the pack as well as the full version linked below, which can be currently had for just $6 by joining Brian’s Music Production Club this month (along with a bunch of other cool stuff). That’s a sweet deal! The MPC is a great way to acquire a constant influx of goodies into your inbox every month for a very accessible sum, so that even poor, cheap bastards like me can afford it. It’s rad! The price for Super Awesome Sounds is otherwise $15, itself a tubular deal considering the vast assortment of wonderful gadgetry it contains within.



Click to check it out at Brian Funk’s site.


Read ON FOR NERDY TECH DETAILS…

“Drum MIDI FX” Free Pack

by in Linx and tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Grab Drum MIDI FX for FREE here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MZEMt6VdYTbOSjlict3ylL29YqGY3WaG/view?usp=sharing

It includes a handful of midi racks which are specifically designed for use before drum racks in Ableton Live.
Especially fun stuff for live performance if you like to play drum racks with a midi pad controller.
Also very useful for hastening studio production workflow.
Click the image below to learn all the details of the specific devices and to grab the pack.
Many thanks to Subdivizion for originally hosting. Enjoy!

Drum MIDI FX - Copy

p.s. don’t forget to subscribe to this blog to receive email updates when new items come out. We try to keep posts to Ableton pack related stuff & very special news only. Also don’t forget to subscribe to the isotonik studios newsletter to get even more exclusive free performodule packs.

Free Ableton Live Pack: Midi Dynamics

by in Midi FX and tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Midi Dynamics BrowserPresenting “Midi Dynamics“, the latest PerforModule free pack.

It includes 4 simple yet useful devices specifically for controlling midi dynamics, and one silly device with various fun-ctions. Click image to grab!

Midi Dynamics

Included Devices:

Midi Compressor
Smooth out too-loud midi instrumentation.
Use this like you would an audio compressor, to attenuate midi notes which exceed a certain velocity. All notes exceeding the threshold will be attenuated. The further past the threshold it is and the higher the amount is set, the more a note will be attenuated. Notes below the threshold velocity will not be affected at all.
Example usage: Playing a synth instrument melody in which notes above a certain velocity become too harsh-sounding due to a filter resonance tied to the velocity. Use the midi compressor to soften only those too-harsh notes. 

Midi Expander
Smooth out too-quiet midi instrumention.
Use this like you would an audio expander, to boost midi notes which are below a certain velocity. All notes under the threshold will be boosted. The further below the threshold it is and the higher the amount is set, the more a note will be boosted. Notes above the threshold velocity will not be affected at all.
Example Usage: Trying out a melody with a different synth instrument, and the quietest notes are now much quieter than they were previously due to the new instrument’s velocity mappings. Changing the mappings or note velocities would take too much time so you just use the midi expander to lift up the quietest notes.  

[Midi Compressor and Expander Special Notes: You can use Live’s “Velocity” device by itself to attenuate or boost overall note velocity; however these devices are useful for more precise and careful dynamics control, by using the threshold to set a cutoff point. Notes nearby other notes do not affect each other’s response the way an audio compressor’s transients do, so imagine them as if they have perfectly fast & noiseless attack and release.]

VelociRaptor
Set the velocity to a specific value.
Use this when you want rigid control of the velocity of an instrument, to be able to use a knob or automation to set the level at any moment to an exact setting. This overrides input velocity and all velocity effects prior to it in the chain.

Velocity RNG
Add in a bit of random fluctuation to an instrument’s velocity.
At small amounts, this will add in a bit of “humanization” and make the playback of instruments less robotic sounding. At higher settings it will vary more sporadically, until at maximum, a note of any input velocity may result in an output of any possible velocity. Tip: record a midi track with little or no dynamic variation into another midi track, routed through this device at a low setting. The new midi track will now have random difference applied to each note.

Rad-omizer
This is a rack with various tools to quickly alter a midi instrument’s input. Macros include:
Mutant DNA: adds in a random chance that played notes will instead “improvise” and play a different note. The higher the control is set, the more chance of a mutant note, and the further away from its original value it might stray.
Force Scale? Key Major … Minor?: optionally implement a scale selector to force all notes to conform to a chosen major or minor key. Niftily see the choices in the macro control’s numerical box.
High Octave+ … Low Octave+: Blend in added octave notes (Make sure the instrument you are using has enough voices enabled to cover the added notes).
Random Velocity: adds in velocity flux just like the “Velocity RNG” device.
Dynamics: the default position for this is in the middle (63.5). Turn this up to drive overall note velocity; turn it down to soften overall note velocity.

CLICK HERE to grab the stuff!