VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE! (I fiddled around hours :D) You must have the setting "Start playback with record" on in order for it to work properly. Preferences -> Record/Warp/Launch
After spending an hour looking for answers on real time looping with instruments / vocals in Ableton this video gave me exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Taetro!
Gotta say, this is the best way to do this that I've seen demonstrated on youtube. Thank you. After watching looper tutorial after looper tutorial, this method is clearly dramatically better.
Well done. So many "loop pedal in Ableton Live" videos are much more complicated and use looper. Looper is great but looping via new clips gives you so much more control. Also, the idea of using the sustain pedal was pure brilliance. Well done.
Holy Crap it works!! I just had to assign the pedal and unassign it about 4 times for some reason. Thank u!! I have been trying to figure this out since Live 8.
Taetro, thank you so much for this video it was very helpful! I’m an advanced classical cellist and I am venturing out into the improvisation arena. I can’t seem to get the loop pedal to work in my audio track. It will record the loop and play it back but it will not overdub when I hold it down. Everything else works great including with my Midi. I use Ableton Live 10, Oxygen 64 Midi with an Apogee mic. Thank you!
Very very cool! I was looking for a way to integrate my looper pedal with Ableton... now I realize I don't need the looper pedal. Looking forward to setting this up and giving it a go. Thank you so much for posting!
I am now switching from live perf. looping w/ RC-300 to looping w/ Ableton only. I'm having difficulties converting. One issue with what Taetro presented (obvious to looper pedal users), is that at the end of recording, a looper pedal goes from record straight to overdub (i.e. laying down the second, third, etc. layers of a single loop). Here you have to manually arm, then record a second, third, fourth, etc. track to result in the same total overdub effect. As if that weren't enough, another issue: If on an overdub pass you miss the start of the loop even by one second: on a looper pedal that is no problem, the loop is already set and you can start adding overdubs at any time, it will be in perfect sync. But with Ableton, every "overdub" track must start at the beginning of the loop, and be exactly of the same length; all of them; or else significant unsync issues happen. So if you miss the start of an overdub loop, you must wait out the entire loop and try again at the start of the next one. Lastly Ableton has no easy (pedal controlled) delete and undo/redo. I'd appreciate any insight or help.
Good tutorial. Consider mapping a knob to the boxed number next to those scene select arrows. If you're short on buttons it's a good way to select scenes as you can roll through em.
Thanks so much, that was so clearly explained and much appreciated. One quick question: just with what you were doing in this video, is there any major advantage that the Push has over the APC40 (I have the latter but not the former, and am wondering how much it is worth it to have both). Cheers!
This is great. So you are able to keep the Push in regular Push mode while plugging in the loop pedal to it and mapping it? I thought the Push had to be in Midi mode in order to map the pedal while connected to the Push.
Hey can you show a version of this with adding FX automation to tracks? I'm trying to migrate from an RC505 to using ableton as a looper, but I want to make sure that I can get a hands on FX setup of some sort going, and I'd love to see some examples! I want real time FX manipulation, at least as good as the 505.. For instance, can I easily que on or multiple effects on a single track? Also.. is there any way you can share this project as a template for us to download to get started? Thanks so muuch!!
Hey! This is great! This is how are I do all my looping live. I was just wondering if you know how to have more control over the volume and tone of the guitar? Once it is being played over the live loops as its often too quite in comparison, even when I have my interface 50/50 on input and playback. Any thoughts would be mega helpful! Cheers Bro :)
Thanks for posting these videos. I had this idea a few days ago... I plugged a pedal into the sustain port of my Launchkey 49 and mapped it to Session record just like you... it works, but my question is this: Can I make the pedal act like the Pads on the Launchkey? Meaning, if I record something into slot 1 of the first scene, then move down to the next slot of the next scene, the pad on the Launchkey will turn red and hitting that pad will now start recording in that scene. However, if I try the same thing with the footpedal, it won't record in the newly selected blank scene, but only work as an overdub for the previously recorded clip. I'd like to record one scene (intro), have it play, then move down to the next scene (with the Scene up/down buttons), hit record on the footswitch, and have it start recording on the next clip slot. (Essentially acting the same way as the pads on the Launchkey) That way I can seamlessly go from one idea to the other. Kind of hard to explain, but does that make sense? Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
Appreciate the tutorial! this is the basis for what I'm trying to do and struggling with big time...Live looping using multiple instrument racks. For example, an instrument rack that contains 10-20 drum kits, another track containing 15+ bass sounds, another for keys, and so on. I've managed to load my favorite drum and bass sounds into their own instrument racks, but am struggling to route them properly and have the work flow be possible. I'm using push 2 and an apc40. I bought the fcb 1010 foot controller but haven't gotten as far as to apply it to this setup. Any advice is greatly appreciated! :)
thanks for the tutorial. in the video, you mapped abletons scene up/down buttons. when i tried the setup you described, i recorded an audio clip in scene 1 on chanel 1 and wanted to record a new clip in scene 2 on the same chanel. but my pedal just triggers the clip in scene 1 again, instead of recording in scene 2. did i miss something?
Thanks man. I am really struggling to understand how can I set a fixed for audio clips. In the video you record the guitar and then it automatically loops, as the length of the clip was previously set or something similar... Maybe this can be done only through the push? There's no way to automatically loop an audio clip after a certain amount of beats, so I am constrained to press record when I start and on the beat end which is kinda frustrating and sometimes even difficult depending on what I am playing.
I've been looking for a pedal to do looping with beats and guitar but now I know I can just use a sustain pedal for foot control!! This saved me a lot of money
Great setup! I've used this for a while until I needed to play with someone else. Then it became difficult to record things at the same time, so I think I'm going for the looper, even tough it's not my favorite. Would be great to be able to midi map the pedal to record/overdub only selected track(s).
You made my life so easy which was totally 'looping' around the wrong information before this video! Thanks so very much man! May you win Grammy someday :D cheers mate :)
Hello mate. Enjoyed the video. @3:56 you talk about arming tracks from the controller. Are you able to do this with the keys on the midi controller as well? Mine doesn't have the track select buttons but I'm wondering if you can just use the black keys or something?
Thanks for this Taetro - totally learned to use my launchkey from your video :P I have one question - do you have a solution for once your project exceeds 8 tracks? The problem with that is we run out of buttons on Launchkey to assign the "Arm Recording" function from track 9 onwards. Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks so much :)
Hi, nice video! I'm playing Midigitar program in my mac using a Abogee Duet as a sound card. I want to have a easy way of using a launchPAD Mini with Ableton Live Lite. Is it possible to connect the food pedal through another midi controller than the Launch Pad? I have a iRig Keys I could use. If I understood right it should be possible to create an Aggregate Device and this way direct the different controllers to different programs active in the Mac? I dont want to use looper with the gitar, but I want to set up steady drum loops that works to my music and an easy way of trigger them. I might also be able to us the iRig Keys as a controller, but think the LaunchPAD Mini will be easier to use. Do you have any thoughts on this? Greetings from Norway:-)
Awesome man, this is amazing info! I need to pick myself up a control with sustain input in it. I have been wanting to get a new MIDI keyboard so I will make sure I will get one with that input available. I came here looking for info on how to use my boss rc-300 in conjuction with Ableton, but it seems I won't necessarily need to, but I may be better off just using a footswitch and investing in the effect pedals I am needing to use in conjunction with the Boss-Rc300 seperately for performance. Thanks for the video, this has been helpful. There is so much to learn, it is crazy! It gets pretty technical at times!
I've tried but, say for instance that I want to start recording on track #3... As soon as I hit the pedal, an M-Audio sp2, it also immediately arms track #1... I've made sure the exclusive option is selected...
I have had this sustain pedal for my keyboard for a million years and I had no idea this was possible! This opens up a whole new world of possibilities! You've changed my entire workflow, thank you so much! Quick question though: I'm finding that when I press the pedal again, it's taking a few bars to stop again, so I'm not getting a clean loop. How do I make it stop the loop as soon as I hit the pedal like I would with a guitar loop pedal for example? or how many bars ahead of time do you have to hit the pedal to stop the loop and have it be clean?
solid video dude ;) Nice & simple, and getting the message across . Thanks! Have you tried a bigger pedal.. for..eg.. that would allow you to arm tracks and launch them , all from the pedal ? Or would you rather launch them via Push ?
Any other midi pedal solution I’ve researched is SUPER overpriced which is how I came up with this. You could use a controller with multiple pedal inputs.
I am an acoustic percussionist. I am on a mission and working on a solo show. I want to loop my instruments and mix them in Ableton and use it as a live show as a DJ set and an acoustic act. What would you suggest would be my best tools? It seems like it would be Ableton push, Bosch loop pedal and scarlet box for recording? Would appreciate your take on this.
I am in fact on the same mission. Am i crazy for thinking i should use my mixer for all my drums inidividually and just throw that mixer into abletons looper? idk it sounds like a simple enough solution but i feel like its too good to be true.
Great video, super helpful! Question though- In the video, when you hit the sustain pedal, it starts recording whatever you play at 120 tempo, in your session's example, and it records what you're playing for 1 bar only. That's fine if you have a hi-hat track in the background or something to guide you so that you are staying in time. However, how can I set the tempo or the number of bars to be dependent on whatever I play. For example, I want to play my own hi-hat from scratch live, so I don't want to be limited to a 120 tempo-ed 1 bar if my first hi-hat track ends up being slower or faster than that. I don't want to have to look at a little light or the session countdown either in order to stay within the limits of a 120 tempo-ed bar..I want to basically make my own initial track/tempo that everything after that is looped around...Hopefully you can help. Thanks in advance!!
Ableton Live's "Looper" allows you to set the project tempo when you create the first loop. You could map your pedal this way but then you lose the ability to map your pedal the way I demo here.
Thank you so much taetro after watching your videos you been wanting me to jump in to wanting to start producing! I have a question though on what does the focusrite 2i2 can do and it's full potential I know it is a interface with a lot of software and also that it could record live music I just want to know about what it could do with a midi controller such as the akai mkII? I'm really debating if I should get it or not...
There's a guy that uses the Ableton LOOPER. he sets up 2 of them. He sets up the control with a foot switch.... So one is set to Start and the Second Loop starts by hitting stop on the First LOOPER. I think from memory it is the Seed to Stage guy.
Hello teatro thank u for the video ...mi question is where do u connect the guitar when u have the controller connected to the push.... and mi other question is hoy to midi connect the ableton to mi rc300 boss looper ..thank u bro...good day
I love you ! This video rocks. Do you think this set up would be safe for live performance ? Like would it result in computer crashes ? (i'm running a 2016 Macbook Pro with 16g ram, 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7, 250gSSD. Also - do you think the Ableton Push is absolutely necessary ? Or would the Novation Launchkey 61 suffice ?
PS: I am wanting to build songs mostly from scratch, live using keys, electric guitar, drums - I'm thinking of getting a MIDI controller drum pad too.... I'm not so into the idea of playing beats with my fingers, but like the idea of using drum sticks. Cheers.
Hey, I'll have a question for you. I created a melody on ableton via the looper on the piano, and then I added drum (on the same looper). And I wanted to know if it was possible to go back, just to keep the piano. Thanks for your answer, Marie.
Question: Was the focusrite plugged directly into the computer or was it plugged into the abelton push? I would use a microsoft surface as my computer and it only has one USB port
This video is finally out! Thanks Taetro, appreciated! Getting a pedal tomorrow! About the video, this is so professional. Nice job! So the push works that way straight out of the box?
Thank you Francesco! One of Push's pedal ports is literally for the session record button, and then you don't have to map a way to arm tracks because it is built in nor do you have to map scene up/down because there's arrow keys.
Thanks for the helpful video! Could you tell me if this would operate the same way if I was using a software looper like Mobius or anything else? How would you map this sustain pedal to a certain function inside of a VST plugin if there are no options on the VST plugin itself to change them? Subbed! Looking forward to more videos from you!
How do you find control over the tempo with this setup? To me it seems as though you would have to use earplugs to keep track with the metronome. Am I right here? I love playing with a looper but in ableton you're always bound to the exact length of the loop. Is there a way around this problem?
thanks for the video, i hadn't thought of this set up. this will save some money for now (don't have to buy a foot controller) while I get used to ableton looping. Quick question though, while recording audio with no set length, will tapping the sustain pedal a second time stop the recording and start the loop from the beginning?
Hey Taetro. First of all I have been a big fan since I found your stuff on the Ableton subreddit, and thanks a lot for making so many helpful videos. But I do have a problem that I think you can help with. When I am trying to produce I have a few problems. One of them being the lack of effects etc. because I can't afford any VSTs (I am using Lite w/ a Launchkey 49). I just use the ones that come with Lite. The other is workflow. I am still not used to all of the hotkeys and I am having a lot of trouble manipulating sounds. Do you have any tips for a new comer? Thanks in advance!
hey Jazzling, very glad you are enjoying the channel! While Live Lite is limited, you've got access to awesome effects. I put compressor, eq, and reverb on every track (basically) to tailor sounds to my liking. Also use delay a lot, and you've got simple delay which can do the trick. Redux, beat repeat and autofilter also get a lot of use with me. I don't use any VSTs aside from a couple Waves plugins I only use on certain occasions. Don't think of what you don't have, think of what you've got. Force yourself to use keyboard shortcuts - top ones for me are UNDO - cmnd -z, SPLIT - cmnd -E, DUPLICATE - cmnd -D. Every time you are reaching for the long way, stop yourself and use the key command, eventually you'll get faster :)
How would you loop in a live setting. Playing live and recording guitar loops and drum loops. Do you just connect it to the amp?? And would the laptop be necessary??
What version of ableton do you have? There is an Amp & cab audio effect that are great. For now you should look into EQ, compression, overdrive, and reverb.
because I saw your video I might be buying the akai pro mk2 mini. can u make a video how to use it ? for begginers.. never really had any midi controllers or any expirence with them. but I wanna learn! so could you make a vid how to setup it and how to use it to make music? I wanna make edm music :3. and how do I loop without a loop pedal? SO MANY QUESTIONS. plz answer or make a vid ? :3
Taetro as I said. I'm going to buy. I never used abelton. I saw ur video about which midi controller to buy. And I'm going to buy it cuz I wanna learn. I'm asking you to tell me things like if to use ableton and how 😁
If you don't like the fact that you have to keep the pedal depressed while you're looping, you can use a guitar amp on-off channel footswitch instead of a sustain pedal. That type of pedal only sends a signal when pressed but not when released, so it works even better for looping.
Been trying to do something like this for years with an FCB1010 with zero success. I am going to try this as I own all the bits needed so it's a zero out of pocket option. As I understand it I would need to use the arrows to navigate and launch clips. Is this right? Also I am assuming I can run as many clips as I want with total control over what is playing at any one time. If this is so then this is absolutely awesome. I play guitar and sing but could set the 'Push' on a music stand close enough to reach. Thank you Taetro.
Thanks David. I did get it working with a Novation SL25 (which has lots of mappable buttons and sliders. Tried unsuccessfully with Push(1) and an old Keyrig. Think it has something to do with needing the 2 connections in Live. I would manually programming the FCB1010 but I don't think it will like the part where I try to knock the information into it with a hammer. The big issue for me is just the start/stop in recording guitar loops, which obviously is not going to work using buttons(fingers) I can tweak anything once the loop is playing back so this has been a huge win for me.
I have Live9 and an APC40, wanting to do live loop/track recording with footswitch (or several). my problem with (smaller) looper pedals is that all loops must be of equal length, its how they work. I want to do things like record an 8 bar guitar-chord riff, and while that loop plays back record a lead part that is 32 bars, playing over the 8 bar loop that has kept looping. is this doable (ie something you do?) Im sure everything is doable with enough time in Ableton lol
Yes this is 100% do-able, think of Ableton Live's session view as the most advanced looper. Every track is independent - loops can be different lengths.
Hey! I'm really new to Ableton so this was a great help, but I've run into some problems. First, I have to hold the pedal down to keep recording, Did I get the wrong pedal? Also, how do I get it to start looping? It just seems to keep playing instead of looping. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for this Taetro! Do you have a way to loop the first track in time without hearing the metronome count-in (for live performance setups)? I noticed in this video you always already had a track to follow. What if it's the first track you're looping?
yes! This can be achieved by using Looper for your first track - it will act as your traditional looping pedal (tap once for start record, tap again for loop) and it will set live's tempo accordingly.
@@Taetro hi, thanks so much for the video. Are you saying that using Looper will automatically set the global tempo based on the loop length of what you play? Because if so…. I am excited.
How do you manage latency? When I connect my guitar it has too much latency like 0.5s and can't monitor or record what I'm playing well.. Thanks a lot for this tutorial!
You can turn down your buffer size in the preferences which should help - this is where having a good processor + sound card comes in handy. Thanks for watching!
I've been looking for ways on how to do this for a while now, and your video popped up randomly. Thank you so much! I'll be setting up a live rig in the near future, and will be using this! :)
Yes! This is extremely useful when jamming midi with live instruments in a live setting which is something I've been trying to implement more in my live performances. This method is proper for doing just that as long as all of the latency setting are set correctly. The sustain pedal is Ideal for my guitar looping simply because I mostly play one rhythm guitar part and use my other guitar channels to accent each other in sequence. I'm using the Novation Lauchkey mini MK3, and to assign the sustain pedal would make things more seamless when playing all the way through the end of the loop.
Anyway to set an automatic quantization for the midi loops you record? Only way I've been able to do it, as far as I know, is to open the piano roll with the midi notes and hit command U manually. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Hey man, great video! :) I'm wondering if it's possible to do this at the same time as using the MIDI controller i.e. my keyboard has 3 foot pedal ports so could I use one for a loop pedal and the other for sustain, as usual? Or would that not work because it would require the keys to be audio output and the switch to be MIDI? (hope that makes sense)
Yes! You can test it as long as the pedal ports send midi (sustain usually does) You can test this by plugging in the pedal while the keyboard is connected to your computer, open live and in the top right you will see a little box light up yellow if it receives midi info
Thank you so much for your response, super helpful :) I do not actually have Live yet - am just doing some research into how I will navigate my live set before buying new equipment. Have just asked you another question on Twitter! Have a fab day x
where did you learn to use ableton? sound stupid but I'm newbie on that kind of stuff, I'd like to learn to usi it to recording guitar and voice. if you suggest me a guide or book or course, thank you
Someone tell me what soft soft means
VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE! (I fiddled around hours :D)
You must have the setting "Start playback with record" on in order for it to work properly. Preferences -> Record/Warp/Launch
After spending an hour looking for answers on real time looping with instruments / vocals in Ableton this video gave me exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Taetro!
Gotta say, this is the best way to do this that I've seen demonstrated on youtube. Thank you. After watching looper tutorial after looper tutorial, this method is clearly dramatically better.
thanks dapht! One of the reasons I made this was because this seemed like the simplest way...but I couldn't find it anywhere. Glad you agree!
Well done. So many "loop pedal in Ableton Live" videos are much more complicated and use looper. Looper is great but looping via new clips gives you so much more control. Also, the idea of using the sustain pedal was pure brilliance. Well done.
Thank you Alex! Glad you enjoyed the vid. I 100% agree with your take on other videos out there which is why I've wanted to do this for a long time.
Absolutely
First video I've seen in which somebody actually plugs a guitar in and records. This is all new to me and I needed this to happen. Thanks!
FINALLY!!! I've been searching on how to do this for months!!! Thank you so much!
Trust me I've been wanting to make a video like this for a while because no one seems to do it this way!! Glad it's helpful Luis!
If you have a push you can set it to fixed length that way it loops back automatically after how ever many bars you set it to.
Great review! It was very helpful. Can you make a video using the Nektar Pacer Footswitch Controller with a Keyboard? Thank you for sharing this!
Holy Crap it works!! I just had to assign the pedal and unassign it about 4 times for some reason. Thank u!! I have been trying to figure this out since Live 8.
Thank god I've been looking for this for ages. You saved me from buying an expensive loop station or something like that !
happy to help Noel!
Taetro, thank you so much for this video it was very helpful! I’m an advanced classical cellist and I am venturing out into the improvisation arena. I can’t seem to get the loop pedal to work in my audio track. It will record the loop and play it back but it will not overdub when I hold it down. Everything else works great including with my Midi. I use Ableton Live 10, Oxygen 64 Midi with an Apogee mic. Thank you!
Excellent, a concise to the point and logical description of how to loop in ableton live. I’ll be trying this soon since you made it easy
Woo! It IS easy for sure
Is there any way to select a clip within a track in a different scene to record without clicking it with a mouse? Maybe a button on push?
check out selected_track_control remote scripts. if u wanna map everything..:)
I second this question 🙏
Hi, thanks for the tutorial! The overdubbing doesn't work when i try it. At least with audio recordings. Do you have any suggestions?
Very very cool! I was looking for a way to integrate my looper pedal with Ableton... now I realize I don't need the looper pedal. Looking forward to setting this up and giving it a go. Thank you so much for posting!
glad I could help!
I am now switching from live perf. looping w/ RC-300 to looping w/ Ableton only. I'm having difficulties converting. One issue with what Taetro presented (obvious to looper pedal users), is that at the end of recording, a looper pedal goes from record straight to overdub (i.e. laying down the second, third, etc. layers of a single loop). Here you have to manually arm, then record a second, third, fourth, etc. track to result in the same total overdub effect. As if that weren't enough, another issue: If on an overdub pass you miss the start of the loop even by one second: on a looper pedal that is no problem, the loop is already set and you can start adding overdubs at any time, it will be in perfect sync. But with Ableton, every "overdub" track must start at the beginning of the loop, and be exactly of the same length; all of them; or else significant unsync issues happen. So if you miss the start of an overdub loop, you must wait out the entire loop and try again at the start of the next one. Lastly Ableton has no easy (pedal controlled) delete and undo/redo. I'd appreciate any insight or help.
thanx for this, it changed my life. I'm developing my Ableton set up for looping and this was so helpful.
+Ola Szmidt glad I could help!!
I was searching this tutorial for so long... THANK YOU!!!
Really good lesson, clear and to the point. Could you make a video about adding effects to the differents channels? that would be great!
Good tutorial. Consider mapping a knob to the boxed number next to those scene select arrows. If you're short on buttons it's a good way to select scenes as you can roll through em.
+Alf Sanford good tip! Thanks for watching Alf!
Thanks so much, that was so clearly explained and much appreciated. One quick question: just with what you were doing in this video, is there any major advantage that the Push has over the APC40 (I have the latter but not the former, and am wondering how much it is worth it to have both). Cheers!
This is great. So you are able to keep the Push in regular Push mode while plugging in the loop pedal to it and mapping it? I thought the Push had to be in Midi mode in order to map the pedal while connected to the Push.
Hey can you show a version of this with adding FX automation to tracks? I'm trying to migrate from an RC505 to using ableton as a looper, but I want to make sure that I can get a hands on FX setup of some sort going, and I'd love to see some examples! I want real time FX manipulation, at least as good as the 505.. For instance, can I easily que on or multiple effects on a single track? Also.. is there any way you can share this project as a template for us to download to get started? Thanks so muuch!!
I agree with this! Would be so helpful :)
Hey! This is great! This is how are I do all my looping live. I was just wondering if you know how to have more control over the volume and tone of the guitar? Once it is being played over the live loops as its often too quite in comparison, even when I have my interface 50/50 on input and playback. Any thoughts would be mega helpful! Cheers Bro :)
Finally easy understandable video for how to set the looping session, Taetro
Thanks for posting these videos.
I had this idea a few days ago... I plugged a pedal into the sustain port of my Launchkey 49 and mapped it to Session record just like you... it works, but my question is this:
Can I make the pedal act like the Pads on the Launchkey? Meaning, if I record something into slot 1 of the first scene, then move down to the next slot of the next scene, the pad on the Launchkey will turn red and hitting that pad will now start recording in that scene. However, if I try the same thing with the footpedal, it won't record in the newly selected blank scene, but only work as an overdub for the previously recorded clip. I'd like to record one scene (intro), have it play, then move down to the next scene (with the Scene up/down buttons), hit record on the footswitch, and have it start recording on the next clip slot. (Essentially acting the same way as the pads on the Launchkey) That way I can seamlessly go from one idea to the other. Kind of hard to explain, but does that make sense? Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
Does this work for generic 2 or 3 way pedals? So like could I program 1 start stop 2 undo 3 reverse or something like that?
Awesome! I was searching long time for a tutorial like this one! Straight foward and complete
Great video! I am running Live Lite 8 and don't have a Session Record button along the top of the window like you. Is there one in 8?
Thanks! Just what I was looking for. Couple of little things I would have spent ages trying to work out!
Appreciate the tutorial! this is the basis for what I'm trying to do and struggling with big time...Live looping using multiple instrument racks. For example, an instrument rack that contains 10-20 drum kits, another track containing 15+ bass sounds, another for keys, and so on. I've managed to load my favorite drum and bass sounds into their own instrument racks, but am struggling to route them properly and have the work flow be possible. I'm using push 2 and an apc40. I bought the fcb 1010 foot controller but haven't gotten as far as to apply it to this setup. Any advice is greatly appreciated! :)
thanks for the tutorial.
in the video, you mapped abletons scene up/down buttons.
when i tried the setup you described, i recorded an audio clip in scene 1 on chanel 1 and wanted to record a new clip in scene 2 on the same chanel. but my pedal just triggers the clip in scene 1 again, instead of recording in scene 2.
did i miss something?
I second this question 🙏
Thanks man.
I am really struggling to understand how can I set a fixed for audio clips. In the video you record the guitar and then it automatically loops, as the length of the clip was previously set or something similar... Maybe this can be done only through the push? There's no way to automatically loop an audio clip after a certain amount of beats, so I am constrained to press record when I start and on the beat end which is kinda frustrating and sometimes even difficult depending on what I am playing.
I've been looking for a pedal to do looping with beats and guitar but now I know I can just use a sustain pedal for foot control!! This saved me a lot of money
I explain it using my akai mpk mini as well in this video: ruclips.net/video/5i8YwcYt-mc/видео.html
Taetro that's the keyboard I have sweet! Thank you
Great vid. Thanks! Is there any ‘undo’ functionality that you have in case you mess up? Or is that ‘ctrl z’ on the laptop?
with push there is an undo function, but ctrl z may be the best option otherwise
Do you ever use the looper effect on Ableton. Or just clips in session view?
Great setup! I've used this for a while until I needed to play with someone else. Then it became difficult to record things at the same time, so I think I'm going for the looper, even tough it's not my favorite. Would be great to be able to midi map the pedal to record/overdub only selected track(s).
you should try using Ableton Link!
I’m just starting doing this and I have no clue what I am doing. I just bought a TR-08 how do I use this? Also do I need a launchpad?
lol.
Great video. To the point, helpful, and clearly communicated.
haha so happy to see years later this video is still helping!
You made my life so easy which was totally 'looping' around the wrong information before this video! Thanks so very much man! May you win Grammy someday :D cheers mate :)
Hello mate. Enjoyed the video. @3:56 you talk about arming tracks from the controller. Are you able to do this with the keys on the midi controller as well? Mine doesn't have the track select buttons but I'm wondering if you can just use the black keys or something?
Thanks for this Taetro - totally learned to use my launchkey from your video :P I have one question - do you have a solution for once your project exceeds 8 tracks? The problem with that is we run out of buttons on Launchkey to assign the "Arm Recording" function from track 9 onwards. Would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks so much :)
Hi, nice video! I'm playing Midigitar program in my mac using a Abogee Duet as a sound card. I want to have a easy way of using a launchPAD Mini with Ableton Live Lite. Is it possible to connect the food pedal through another midi controller than the Launch Pad? I have a iRig Keys I could use. If I understood right it should be possible to create an Aggregate Device and this way direct the different controllers to different programs active in the Mac? I dont want to use looper with the gitar, but I want to set up steady drum loops that works to my music and an easy way of trigger them. I might also be able to us the iRig Keys as a controller, but think the LaunchPAD Mini will be easier to use. Do you have any thoughts on this? Greetings from Norway:-)
Can you overdub with the APC 40? Why did you use the push instead for live looping when you have both?
Awesome man, this is amazing info! I need to pick myself up a control with sustain input in it. I have been wanting to get a new MIDI keyboard so I will make sure I will get one with that input available.
I came here looking for info on how to use my boss rc-300 in conjuction with Ableton, but it seems I won't necessarily need to, but I may be better off just using a footswitch and investing in the effect pedals I am needing to use in conjunction with the Boss-Rc300 seperately for performance.
Thanks for the video, this has been helpful.
There is so much to learn, it is crazy! It gets pretty technical at times!
Hi Shane, out of interest did you replace your RC-300 with ableton?
Wow! I've been trying to figure out how to use looper for weeks but this method is just what I needed. Thanks so much for this great video 👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it Vernon - let me know how it goes using this way of looping!
What plugin / amp do you use for the guitar? Sounds pretty sweet
You're great man. I always watch your videos. I have a question, do you know if I could do sort of the same with a Yamaha P115? Thanks in advance.
most keyboards have a USB port, check yours, usually they work as MIDI controllers
Thank you from France man, your videos are always very useful !
cheers from the US to France! Glad you're enjoying the vids :)
I've tried but, say for instance that I want to start recording on track #3... As soon as I hit the pedal, an M-Audio sp2, it also immediately arms track #1... I've made sure the exclusive option is selected...
Can I use the Moog Expression pedal to do this? Figured I’d ask before I go buy a sustain pedal. Thanks!
I have had this sustain pedal for my keyboard for a million years and I had no idea this was possible! This opens up a whole new world of possibilities! You've changed my entire workflow, thank you so much! Quick question though: I'm finding that when I press the pedal again, it's taking a few bars to stop again, so I'm not getting a clean loop. How do I make it stop the loop as soon as I hit the pedal like I would with a guitar loop pedal for example? or how many bars ahead of time do you have to hit the pedal to stop the loop and have it be clean?
Ableton has record quantization, always punches in/out on the down beat.
Thanks man! That makes a lot of sense
solid video dude ;)
Nice & simple, and getting the message across . Thanks!
Have you tried a bigger pedal.. for..eg.. that would allow you to arm tracks and launch them , all from the pedal ? Or would you rather launch them via Push ?
Any other midi pedal solution I’ve researched is SUPER overpriced which is how I came up with this. You could use a controller with multiple pedal inputs.
Awesome vid, thanks! I’m just playing around with an FCB1010 in Live 10 figuring out some different setups for multi instrumental looping, any tips?
I am an acoustic percussionist. I am on a mission and working on a solo show. I want to loop my instruments and mix them in Ableton and use it as a live show as a DJ set and an acoustic act. What would you suggest would be my best tools? It seems like it would be Ableton push, Bosch loop pedal and scarlet box for recording? Would appreciate your take on this.
I am in fact on the same mission. Am i crazy for thinking i should use my mixer for all my drums inidividually and just throw that mixer into abletons looper? idk it sounds like a simple enough solution but i feel like its too good to be true.
Great video, super helpful! Question though- In the video, when you hit the sustain pedal, it starts recording whatever you play at 120 tempo, in your session's example, and it records what you're playing for 1 bar only. That's fine if you have a hi-hat track in the background or something to guide you so that you are staying in time. However, how can I set the tempo or the number of bars to be dependent on whatever I play. For example, I want to play my own hi-hat from scratch live, so I don't want to be limited to a 120 tempo-ed 1 bar if my first hi-hat track ends up being slower or faster than that. I don't want to have to look at a little light or the session countdown either in order to stay within the limits of a 120 tempo-ed bar..I want to basically make my own initial track/tempo that everything after that is looped around...Hopefully you can help. Thanks in advance!!
Ableton Live's "Looper" allows you to set the project tempo when you create the first loop. You could map your pedal this way but then you lose the ability to map your pedal the way I demo here.
Thank you so much taetro after watching your videos you been wanting me to jump in to wanting to start producing! I have a question though on what does the focusrite 2i2 can do and it's full potential I know it is a interface with a lot of software and also that it could record live music I just want to know about what it could do with a midi controller such as the akai mkII? I'm really debating if I should get it or not...
get it! You'll want an interface as well to record live acoustic instruments.
Thanks! Note Push 2 users the pedal goes into slot 2 ! This had me stumped for hours :-/
Thanks taetro for responsing to my comment in the last video. i've been waitin for this.
any time andy! hope you enjoy the video!
Woah... two responsings? What???
THANK YOU TAETRO! So clear and easy to follow!
There's a guy that uses the Ableton
LOOPER.
he sets up 2 of them.
He sets up the control with a foot switch....
So one is set to Start and the Second Loop starts by hitting stop on the First LOOPER.
I think from memory it is the Seed to Stage guy.
Do I need a footswitch or can I just like put my midi controller on the floor and press the C-key or something?
Hi Taetro,
Great information ☝️👍 Can I replace the push for the MK3? And do the same thing?
Does it matter which pedal you use? I have a Boss loop station that I would like to hook up with Ableton Live (via a Push).
just what i was looking for with setting up a piano pedal to record! thanks dude
+Just a Piece of the Puzzle gotchu covered!
Hello teatro thank u for the video ...mi question is where do u connect the guitar when u have the controller connected to the push.... and mi other question is hoy to midi connect the ableton to mi rc300 boss looper ..thank u bro...good day
the guitar is connected through my scarlett 2i2 interface and is run through ableton.
When you recorded the guitar, did you plug the sustain pedal into the Push device? Or can you just leave it in the other one?
Thanks a lot!
I love you ! This video rocks. Do you think this set up would be safe for live performance ? Like would it result in computer crashes ? (i'm running a 2016 Macbook Pro with 16g ram, 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7, 250gSSD.
Also - do you think the Ableton Push is absolutely necessary ? Or would the Novation Launchkey 61 suffice ?
PS: I am wanting to build songs mostly from scratch, live using keys, electric guitar, drums - I'm thinking of getting a MIDI controller drum pad too.... I'm not so into the idea of playing beats with my fingers, but like the idea of using drum sticks. Cheers.
Does anyone know why my clip stops recording after 1 bar?
Also, holding the pedal to overdub doesn't work
Push 1 doesnt have option of custom mapping for exp pedals? I need to map pedal for controlling feedback in psp42 plugin
Hey,
I'll have a question for you. I created a melody on ableton via the looper on the piano, and then I added drum (on the same looper). And I wanted to know if it was possible to go back, just to keep the piano.
Thanks for your answer,
Marie.
You might be able to undo the last loop BUT this is why I recommend doing it across multiple tracks because you have control over everything
Question: Was the focusrite plugged directly into the computer or was it plugged into the abelton push? I would use a microsoft surface as my computer and it only has one USB port
it plugs into the computer - i'd suggest a hub! amzn.to/2wPBXbB
This video is finally out! Thanks Taetro, appreciated! Getting a pedal tomorrow!
About the video, this is so professional. Nice job! So the push works that way straight out of the box?
Thank you Francesco! One of Push's pedal ports is literally for the session record button, and then you don't have to map a way to arm tracks because it is built in nor do you have to map scene up/down because there's arrow keys.
My wallet is already crying
Thanks for the helpful video! Could you tell me if this would operate the same way if I was using a software looper like Mobius or anything else? How would you map this sustain pedal to a certain function inside of a VST plugin if there are no options on the VST plugin itself to change them? Subbed! Looking forward to more videos from you!
How do you find control over the tempo with this setup? To me it seems as though you would have to use earplugs to keep track with the metronome. Am I right here? I love playing with a looper but in ableton you're always bound to the exact length of the loop. Is there a way around this problem?
thanks for the video, i hadn't thought of this set up. this will save some money for now (don't have to buy a foot controller) while I get used to ableton looping.
Quick question though, while recording audio with no set length, will tapping the sustain pedal a second time stop the recording and start the loop from the beginning?
+SoulJourn Music yes but in time with abletons clock - it will loop again on the next down beat, not immediately like traditional loopers
Hey Taetro. First of all I have been a big fan since I found your stuff on the Ableton subreddit, and thanks a lot for making so many helpful videos. But I do have a problem that I think you can help with. When I am trying to produce I have a few problems. One of them being the lack of effects etc. because I can't afford any VSTs (I am using Lite w/ a Launchkey 49). I just use the ones that come with Lite. The other is workflow. I am still not used to all of the hotkeys and I am having a lot of trouble manipulating sounds. Do you have any tips for a new comer? Thanks in advance!
hey Jazzling, very glad you are enjoying the channel!
While Live Lite is limited, you've got access to awesome effects. I put compressor, eq, and reverb on every track (basically) to tailor sounds to my liking.
Also use delay a lot, and you've got simple delay which can do the trick.
Redux, beat repeat and autofilter also get a lot of use with me. I don't use any VSTs aside from a couple Waves plugins I only use on certain occasions. Don't think of what you don't have, think of what you've got.
Force yourself to use keyboard shortcuts - top ones for me are UNDO - cmnd -z, SPLIT - cmnd -E, DUPLICATE - cmnd -D. Every time you are reaching for the long way, stop yourself and use the key command, eventually you'll get faster :)
Okay great, thanks a lot :)
How would you loop in a live setting. Playing live and recording guitar loops and drum loops. Do you just connect it to the amp?? And would the laptop be necessary??
Hi Taetro! I'm from Argentina. it's possible with windows? i bought ableton live and a akai mpk mini too. greetings "che"!
it is 100% possible with windows! greetings from the USA!
what would you suggest using for guitar fx into ableton,preferably free until I get better with ableton?thx,great tuitoral keep em coming!!!
What version of ableton do you have? There is an Amp & cab audio effect that are great. For now you should look into EQ, compression, overdrive, and reverb.
because I saw your video I might be buying the akai pro mk2 mini. can u make a video how to use it ? for begginers.. never really had any midi controllers or any expirence with them. but I wanna learn! so could you make a vid how to setup it and how to use it to make music? I wanna make edm music :3. and how do I loop without a loop pedal? SO MANY QUESTIONS. plz answer or make a vid ? :3
and should I buy the novation maybe? :3
+Kasnova LP do you use Ableton?
Taetro as I said. I'm going to buy. I never used abelton. I saw ur video about which midi controller to buy. And I'm going to buy it cuz I wanna learn. I'm asking you to tell me things like if to use ableton and how 😁
If you don't like the fact that you have to keep the pedal depressed while you're looping, you can use a guitar amp on-off channel footswitch instead of a sustain pedal. That type of pedal only sends a signal when pressed but not when released, so it works even better for looping.
How do you record the audio of this video in ableton live? How can i record my loop performance in ableton?
Been trying to do something like this for years with an FCB1010 with zero success. I am going to try this as I own all the bits needed so it's a zero out of pocket option. As I understand it I would need to use the arrows to navigate and launch clips. Is this right? Also I am assuming I can run as many clips as I want with total control over what is playing at any one time. If this is so then this is absolutely awesome. I play guitar and sing but could set the 'Push' on a music stand close enough to reach.
Thank you Taetro.
The key for using the FCB1010 is changing the buttons send midi notes instead of CC values. This has to be done manually on the FCB.
Thanks David. I did get it working with a Novation SL25 (which has lots of mappable buttons and sliders. Tried unsuccessfully with Push(1) and an old Keyrig. Think it has something to do with needing the 2 connections in Live. I would manually programming the FCB1010 but I don't think it will like the part where I try to knock the information into it with a hammer.
The big issue for me is just the start/stop in recording guitar loops, which obviously is not going to work using buttons(fingers) I can tweak anything once the loop is playing back so this has been a huge win for me.
thanks so much for helping out David, and thanks so much for watching Stephen!
Nice video what are u using to make those beats with your guitar I got a akai mpk mini what else do I need to make loops with a guitar
Thank you for this great and simple to understand video !
What are the specs on your MBP Im looking to buy one that can loop just like that with 0 latency, already have the 2i2.
So young, so useful still! I just got a pedal to use with Push 2!
I have Live9 and an APC40, wanting to do live loop/track recording with footswitch (or several). my problem with (smaller) looper pedals is that all loops must be of equal length, its how they work. I want to do things like record an 8 bar guitar-chord riff, and while that loop plays back record a lead part that is 32 bars, playing over the 8 bar loop that has kept looping. is this doable (ie something you do?) Im sure everything is doable with enough time in Ableton lol
Yes this is 100% do-able, think of Ableton Live's session view as the most advanced looper. Every track is independent - loops can be different lengths.
Hey! I'm really new to Ableton so this was a great help, but I've run into some problems. First, I have to hold the pedal down to keep recording, Did I get the wrong pedal?
Also, how do I get it to start looping? It just seems to keep playing instead of looping. Thanks again!
never mind, I was mapping it to 'Arrangement Record' instead of 'Session Record'
@@tapecknows hey, how did you fix the problem of needing to hold the pedal? i am stuck with it...
Does the push have a loop button ( option ) to loop one track in a certain pre mapped area ? Like a loop of a 4 bars to take a solo over ?
Thank you so much for this Taetro! Do you have a way to loop the first track in time without hearing the metronome count-in (for live performance setups)? I noticed in this video you always already had a track to follow. What if it's the first track you're looping?
yes! This can be achieved by using Looper for your first track - it will act as your traditional looping pedal (tap once for start record, tap again for loop) and it will set live's tempo accordingly.
I thought so. I thought I was missing on something. Thank you very much! This was very helpful as always. Keep up the good work :-)
@@Taetro hi, thanks so much for the video. Are you saying that using Looper will automatically set the global tempo based on the loop length of what you play? Because if so…. I am excited.
How do you manage latency? When I connect my guitar it has too much latency like 0.5s and can't monitor or record what I'm playing well.. Thanks a lot for this tutorial!
You can turn down your buffer size in the preferences which should help - this is where having a good processor + sound card comes in handy. Thanks for watching!
I've been looking for ways on how to do this for a while now, and your video popped up randomly. Thank you so much! I'll be setting up a live rig in the near future, and will be using this! :)
glad I could help Gentle Giant!
Yes! This is extremely useful when jamming midi with live instruments in a live setting which is something I've been trying to implement more in my live performances. This method is proper for doing just that as long as all of the latency setting are set correctly. The sustain pedal is Ideal for my guitar looping simply because I mostly play one rhythm guitar part and use my other guitar channels to accent each other in sequence. I'm using the Novation Lauchkey mini MK3, and to assign the sustain pedal would make things more seamless when playing all the way through the end of the loop.
Anyway to set an automatic quantization for the midi loops you record? Only way I've been able to do it, as far as I know, is to open the piano roll with the midi notes and hit command U manually. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
This is called ‘record quantization’ in Live. Under EDIT you can select the record quantization.
Taetro Great! Thank you very much, man!
Anytime!
Could you talk about looping and stopping in ableton using the IAC midi driver?
unfortunately I don't know much about it!
@@Taetro thanks bro¡ i learn a lot from your videos
Cool approach, nice sounds! Thanks for sharing.
Hey man, great video! :)
I'm wondering if it's possible to do this at the same time as using the MIDI controller i.e. my keyboard has 3 foot pedal ports so could I use one for a loop pedal and the other for sustain, as usual? Or would that not work because it would require the keys to be audio output and the switch to be MIDI? (hope that makes sense)
Yes! You can test it as long as the pedal ports send midi (sustain usually does) You can test this by plugging in the pedal while the keyboard is connected to your computer, open live and in the top right you will see a little box light up yellow if it receives midi info
Thank you so much for your response, super helpful :) I do not actually have Live yet - am just doing some research into how I will navigate my live set before buying new equipment. Have just asked you another question on Twitter! Have a fab day x
where did you learn to use ableton? sound stupid but I'm newbie on that kind of stuff, I'd like to learn to usi it to recording guitar and voice. if you suggest me a guide or book or course, thank you