If you read my previous article on the Chain Select Ruler, you are probably hungry for some more tips and tricks concerning this feature. This trick will show you how you can lower the Audio track count in your Live sets.
We all construct our Live Sets in different ways.
Wether we use external instruments, plugins or 3rd party applications to achieve this, on some occasions we just want to use an audio track to play a sample.
As our sets progress, we could run into the need to add an audio effect to a sample or a loop.
In this case we would either add another audio track to play a sample with an effect. Or we start playing with the automation of the clips in the track we already have.
The following trick is a method to simplify our actions in the above scenario.
You will not need to create a second track unless you want to play a second sample at the same time.
This trick allows us to add clips to an audio track, without having to automate each clip because you have an effect on the track.
For the sake of clarity, I will start this example in a fresh set.
It is a very simple but powerful technique that can be used in other scenarios then the one I detailed earlier.
- Start with 1 Audio Track
- Drag 3 different loops to slot 1,2 and 3
- Drag a default Audio Effect Rack to that track
We are going to add effects to clip 2 and 3. Clip 1 will be dry and so will every clip that you add to the track later.
- Drag a Simple Delay to the Audio Effect Rack to create the first Chain
- Rename "Chain 1" to "Dry"
- Drag a Simple Delay to the Audio Effect Rack to create a second Chain
- Rename "Chain 2" to "Simple Delay"
- Delete the Simple Delay on the "Dry" Chain (You can only create a new chain by adding / copying an effect. But we don't need an effect in this specific Chain)
- Click on the Chain button to reveal the Chain Zones
- Move the Chain Zone of the "Simple Delay" Chain to position 1-1
At the moment, all the clips are without an effect when played back. To add the Simple Delay to the second clip, we only need to automate the Chain Select Ruler
- Click on the second clip and reveal the envelope automation section
- Select the envelope for the "Chain Selector"
- Move the automation line up 1 level, so the automation is at "+1 st"
If you trigger the second clip, you will hear the delay in action. Clip 1 and 3 will still be dry. For good measure, we'll add a reverb to the 3rd clip. This is just to illustrate how quickly you can add an audio effect to an effect and how simple it is.
- Drag a Reverb to the Audio Effect Rack to create a third Chain
- Rename "Chain 3" to "Reverb" - Move the Chain Zone of the Reverb Chain to position 2-2
- Click on the third clip and reveal the envelope automation section
- Select the envelope for the "Chain Selector" - Move the automation line up 2 levels, so the automation is at "+2 st"
This trick allows you to get more out of a single Audio Track. You can adjust the volume of clips within the clip or within a Chain, so there is no need to worry about being able to adjust track volumes. Since we are working with an Audio Effect Rack, you could use Macros to make a little mixer for your Chain volumes. You can also use this technique to alter loops by adding an effect to a selected slice. The first part of the loop could be delayed and the second part distorted. Its up to you to decide how you use this trick.
This works on Audio / MIDI clips and Dummy Clips, so this trick goes a long way. The article I wrote today was about minimizing track count, but it might as well have been "How to quickly add effects to slices of real-time audio" or anything else you could apply this method to. As always, I hope this inspired you to explore Live a bit deeper.
And if you discover any cool techniques that you would like to share or if you wish to ask a question regarding this topic, feel free to leave a comment.
Enjoy!
