After the mixing better bass episode I had a few people ask how to get a good sub, so this week I will show you how easy it can be. If you combine this tutorial with the aforementioned episode you will be shaking windows in no time. Although I also touch on the idea that its not always just pure SPL we should be considering when designing the bottom end, just because you might not hear it doesn’t mean you cant FEEL a more interesting texture.

I have very few “rules” that I follow on every track in fact I can only think of two: Dont clip (but even I will break this on occasion for certain creative purposes) and the tip that I am going to share with you this week. It is easy to do but can have a HUGE impact on the power and clarity of your mixes.

Automating volume in Live is easy. Mixing down a project afterward is not as easy. In this video I will show you the right way to add volume automation and if you have already recorded automation onto the channel faders how to keep that automation and free up the faders for mixing duties. Another important note about this method is the device must be at the end of your fx chain.

Part 2 of Mike Hillier showing us how he approaches mixing down a real drum kit. While he is using Pro Tools most of the mixing techniques can be used in any DAW.

Mike Hillier is a professional mix engineer and journalist, if you want to know more about Mike check out :

The DSP Project interview with Mike Hillier

Mike on Twitter

Mike’s site

Mike Hillier is THE Pro Tools guy for MusicTech magazine so I was thrilled when he agreed to show us how he approaches mixing down a real drum kit. While he is using Pro Tools most of the mixing techniques can be used in any DAW. Part 2 next week.

Mike Hillier is a professional mix engineer and journalist, if you want to know more about Mike check out :

The DSP Project interview with Mike Hillier

Mike on Twitter

Mike’s site

Kraag Wainstein asks “how do i get led feedback for parameters eg. wet/dry ?????” Getting LED feedback for a parameter range i.e. mapping a row of pads to a knob or crossfader is not something the Launchpad is designed to do… But that doesn’t mean you cant do it! While the solution I present this week is a bit of a hack and limited in some respects it is an answer to get that precious feedback that can help us get away from the dreaded laptop screen while performing.

Enjoy.

This week I share my top 12 tips for studio monitor positioning. You might be surprised by the improvement in sound that can be gained by a little bit of adjustment and testing to find the best placement. The best part about all these tips is they are all free and you can try them out right now. Even if you have had your monitors a long time proper setup is a must!

@djpetermorgan asks “In your monitor series, will you be talking about the foam pads you can buy to put under your monitors and what they do?” First a bit of theory on the problems that come from not decoupling your studio monitors from your desk. Then we will be talking about a few of the different things you can stick under your monitors including foam acoustic isolation pads, speaker spikes or cones, speaker stands and finally the Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizer. Weighing in at double the price of a standard foam isolation pad what makes it so special?

Also I forgot to mention in the video that speakers stands vibrate and cause noise too (even when spiked) but as they aren’t a large flat surface its less disruptive. But still worth decoupling your monitors from your stands.

It is with great excitment I bring you the first episode in our series on studio monitors. During this series we are going to talk about buying monitors, are expensive cables really worth the cost? How to get the most out the speakers you have and more, infact we even have a prize to give away. This week I’m going to cover some basic monitor related terms, theory and give you some ideas on creating a good test CD.

After many emails asking for a run down I am going to walk you through setting up the LED feedback on the Launchpad. Including drum racks, metronome, LED mute and how to specify which colour you want.

This week I cover the basic concept of MIDI and Controllers as I sometimes get asked questions like “Will this controller sound good for bass lines” or “Will this (USB) MIDI controller work with X interface”.  So instead of repeating the same basic info I thought I would do an episode on it (so I never need to explain it again!)

In part 2 we get to the last 3 examples showing how I use the effect rack for A B testing a mastering chain, saving on cpu cycles and multiband processing.

Note on the second useage: You can get the same effect with Freeze but I like having the wave form shown by via the Flatten command. This way you achieve that with the ability to go back later.

See you next week to find out who has won the APC20!

You asked for examples so thats what your getting, 6 of them infact. The first 3 of 6 effect rack examples this week include:

1. Parallell compression / Wet dry control

2. Pseudo stereo trick

3. Multi FX blending knob

Part 3 of looking at effect racks brings us to possibly the most interesting feature the Chain Selector. Find out what its all about with an explanation and practical example.

In the second episode on Live’s effect rack we take a look at the macro controls.

This is a first in a series of tutorials explaining the effects rack in deail, this week focusing on the chain list + we have an awesome new give away!

I am going to show you my top 3 reasons why Freeze and flatten are tools you need to be using. Plus we have another little give away this week.

Lampton Worm asks “Any idea how you can use the launchpad to trigger a curve down value in Ableton?” after having a think on it I came up with the following solution using dummy clips that could be used for on any controller. Also we are announcing the winner of the Loopmasters KJ Sawka sample pack give away AND a new give away starting today.

Both n4Sphere & Algorhythmik wanted to know about how I setup last weeks APC20 demo set so thats exactly what im going to do. An explanation of my fx rack, midi mappings and suggestions to improve this setup to take it further.

I forgot to mention in this video I had a HP filter on the master channel mapped to the 4th fader for the demo too.

Also note that entrys to win the KJ Sawka sample pack have been few so you still a good chance to win it, check out the samples page for details.

Continuing on the APC20 theme I have thrown together a little set as a more practical demo.
Also I am excited to bring you the first give away on the show, thanks to the good people at Loopmasters you have the chance to win “Live Drum And Bass Drums by K J Sawka” sample pack. If you want it all you have to do is use the twitter or facebook buttons below. A winner will be picked at random at the end of October.

When using a single absolute physical control and switching between multiple software values you can get an unpleasant jump when the hardware does not match the new value. Ableton Live has a solution found in its takeover mode options. This week we find out what they do and why you want them.

What can an APC20 do when you first plug it in? In this episode I cover all the basic functionality of what all those nice buttons do out of the box (No crazy tricks this week just a straight forward run down).

After last weeks snare layering video John asked “I’m assuming you can follow the same procedure for kicks?” and Torm3nt had questions about phase. So in this follow up I show you what Phase Cancellation is and how to deal with it and my approach to layering snares.

This is also an experiment with the first screen cast in HD woop!

One of the secrets to getting a powerful snare is to layer multiple snares together. Here I will show you one technique, however this is not the only way, I have met people with varying opinions on the best approach. Layering doesn’t just have to be for creating loud heavy snares though. Its a great way to make something unique and your own from generic sample packs.
I forgot to mention to be aware of the pitch of each snare as they can clash and try layering in other sounds (non snares) for something truly different.

I had to put a limiter on the audio of the tutorial as it was quite loud when I got to the master bus fx so what your hearing is not the 100% original signal but close.

As usual I will be working in Ableton Live but this can be done in any DAW

This week I show you how I have setup my Launchpad fx section. To me cutting audio out can be just as expressive as adding more in, so I have put together a few tools for doing just that. There are many different ways to set this up, having just recorded this I can already see ways to improve it but it should at lease give you some ideas.

Back again renowned session drummer Alvaro Lopez is back to answer your questions on Syncopation & Tension and Release.

(Sorry for delay in getting this episode out, currently facing multiple IT problems, possible delays ahead)

Cern are a leading kiwi DNB outfit so we were stoked to get a chance to remix Satellites. This isn’t a “how to remix” video I just wanted to share some of the ideas and techniques and give you a window into how we work on a real project.

Here is the finished track:

Cern – Satellites [Kilotone remix] by Kilotone

Update:

This track is now up for free download: http://ow.ly/2J3AT

How to get fine control of your faders and effects on the launchpad. No more chunky steps just good old 127 increment midi adjustment. Also how to setup a reset for any parameter the same way the native mixer mode resets the pans and sends etc.

I know you could get hold down control using a 3rd party app like Bome’s Midi Translator (which would be a nice touch) but I wanted to use only Live and Launchpad with out another program people would need to pay for.

This week I show you one of the best ways to cut up drumloops during a live performance. This setup can be done on other controllers however the Launchpad layout works really well with it. One of the great things about this is you can set it to your own percussion competency level, from seasoned pro drummer to first timer. And I think it would be just as much fun for either.

Also I want to mention the release of Throwing Hammers Vol 3 from Kilotone which my main musical outlet, If you like a bit of darkness check it out.

As I start digging into the launchpad I am trying to create a fun setup for playing with drum loops live. To achieve this I really needed momentary CC control values on some pads, as oppose to the default toggle behavior.
In order to set this up we need to use Novation’s Automap software. All the reading I could find pointed to me having to choose either the native Launchpad configuration (with session mode etc.) OR the Automap configuration to get my momentary controls. However this is not the case! There is a way to switch between the two different setups on the fly. If you have a Launchpad and dont know how to do this I highly recommend you check out this episode!

UPDATE: Big thanks to Lamptonworm for pointing out “User 2 + DOWN flips modes, one less finger than User 1 + User 2 + DOWN.”