How to use the new shuffle and swing parameters in Ableton Live 8

Ableton Live 8 has a new and better way to add groove or swing to your tracks, and it allows you to extract grooves from other tracks or loops and store them for use in Live's new Groove pool.

This great tutorial video made by Nick, shows how to use this new feature as well as what new options you have for controlling the groove in different ways.

How to make custom skins for Ableton Live

Here is a link to the custom skin I made if you would like to use it.
http://www.zshare.net/download/83663573747c55bc/

And here is a link to the Custom Skin editor app, if you would like to make your own skins:
http://sonictransfer.com/ableton-live-skin-editor.shtml

Adding the skin is easy:
Right click on Live, click contents/App-Resources/Skin

Then drop the .ask file in there. Then launch Live go to preferences and choose the new skin, Easy on the eyes.

Soulster - Live Vibration Mix

Live Vibration Mix by Soulster on Mixcloud

Advanced technique for creating a deep kick drum in Ableton Live

Power cord for your kick. A simple method to play a perfect 5th or power chord in a kick drum demonstrated with Operator in Ableton Live 7.

How to deep clean your vinyl record collection.

I stumbled onto this tip a while back and quickly realized how awesome this is, so I thought I would share it with you guys. Using simple PVA craft glue aka wood glue to create a mud-mask of sorts to harden and pull out all the dirt, grime and dust a record collects over its lifetime. (It's important that you use wood glue as it will not bond to the vinyl).

Instructions:

1) Place you vinyl on a turntable, preferably a cheap one. No one wants to risk a nice Vestax or Technics turntable or lay underneath your record a big sheet of wax paper to protect against spillage.
2) Start the turntable and begin to apply a steady, even stream of wood glue. Make sure you use enough glue to create a nice thick layer, if you make it too thin, you're gonna be spending hours picking off little crumbs of glue.
3) Smooth out the lines of glue as the record spins and allow the glue to dry completely, roughly 20 hours.
4) Use an Post-it or similar adhesive tab to peel the dried glue from the record. Celebrate and brag to your DJ friends about your accomplishment.

3 Decks in Serato 2.0!! You've got to love advancements!

This week I want to give some love to SSL. Well, if you're like me and have been using Serato for awhile you know that over the years they have been consistantly improving the software and hardware. Since 2.0 came out not too long ago, we gained the ability to run 3 decks if you have a SL3 box and 4 decks if you have the new amazing looking 4 channel mixer Rane just released, which btw is the first 12" 4 channel mixer Rane has ever made, this thing looks to be a beast so look for a review coming from us soon! But for now check out this sweet 3 deck demo "SeratoSL3" made for us!!

Max for Live Tutorial: Spectral Mixer

If you're an avid Ableton user then chances are you've heard of "Max for Live" which is new to Ableton Live 8. Basically "Max for live" puts the power of Cycling 74's Max/MSP in your hands. What this allows you to do is make your own instruments, effects, or plug-ins.

So to show you a perfect example of what some users have accomplished check this cool little tutorial made by the great guys over at Dubspot and Puremagnetik. Also! Below is the link to where you can purchase and download the files, so you can try the Spectral Mixer out yourself if you have Ableton 8 and Max for live installed.



Grab the Spectral Mixer here!

How to add Rhythmic Gating in Ableton Live

This month Brian Trifon of Trifonic demonstrates how to use dummy clips in Ableton Live to create automated gated patterns and add interesting, complex rhythms to your pads or lead sounds.




If you would like to see more of what Brian Trifon does and his music check out the links below:
http://www.trifonic.com
http://nextstepaudio.com

MPC Style, Pad Cycling with Ableton Live

If you're a fan of the MPC, undoubtedly THE game changer for hip hop producers as well as many other genre's of electronic music. Well check this out, Ableton takes MPC possibilities to a whole other level. The problem that hardware based pieces of gear like the Akai MPC have always had is their limited amount of sounds they come with, as well as little or no capability to "create" new sounds. But if you get one of the MPC-like midi controllers, Midi Yoke, and Ableton on a laptop or desktop, the sky's the limit.

In the video below by Stray411, you will see some of the potential this combo has. Enjoy and remember to eat your beetz!

Guy Gerber

This week I've discovered a new artist that really has impressed me. And I'd like to think I'm hard to impress. So far I've listened to a couple of releases, and you can tell right away the distinction in quality compared to a lot of other producers. Check out Timing (Original Mix) below.

Guy Gerber -Timing (Original Mix)

Found at: EDMHeaven - EDMHeaven search

Here is a mix I did 03/09/2010 hope you enjoy.

Last Night A Crowd Saved My Life 03/09/2010 by Soulster on Mixcloud