23Jun 2020 by Brett Pontecorvo
5 Ways To Work Faster In Ableton Live

5 Ways To Work Faster In Ableton Live

1UsingAbleton, Blog, Uncategorized
Eliminate Distractions How many times do we sit down to start doing something only to pause to check a text, scroll facebook, or answer an e-mail. If you're like me, way too much. One easy way to speed up your workflow in Ableton live is to simply eliminate distractions. Turn off your phone, disconnect from WiFi, and get to work. There's a great article called The “Myth” of Media Multitasking: Reciprocal Dynamics of Media Multitasking, Personal Needs, and Gratifications, 2012 that gives us some science-backed evidence that distractions are one of the biggest ways we are slowed down. The increasing popularity of media multitasking is frequently reported in national surveys while laboratory research consistently confirms that multitasking impairs task performance.Zheng Wang Start From A Template You can quickly create a…
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09Jun 2020 by Brett Pontecorvo
How To Create Multiple Default Sets In Ableton Live

How To Create Multiple Default Sets In Ableton Live

1UsingAbleton, Blog, Uncategorized
There are two types of default sets in Ableton live; today's post will show you how to create both types. Template sets in Ableton allow you to start a project already having all your sounds and settings loaded in automatically, with the added benefit of displaying the name "untitled" allowing you to easily save the set as anything you want, and in any location. How to save your current set to automatically open each time Ableton is Launched Open Ableton Preferences, Choose the File/Folder tab, and then click "save current Set as Default" Creating Multiple Template Files Create a folder titled "Templates" in your user library. (This can be done quickly by right mouse clicking in your user library and choosing "new folder".) Save as many Ableton live sets to…
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22Oct 2019 by Brett Pontecorvo

Using Kontakt As An External Instrument

1Sound Design, Blog, Uncategorized
Many thanks to Glenn, a loyal member of the live keyboardist community for inspiring this post on using Kontakt as an external instrument. Creating patch lists in Kontakt can be a wonderfully powerful way to set up patches. To get the most out of this type of set up though, it is essential to take the audio from Kontakt and route it back into Ableton. This allows you to: Make use of Ableton devices on Kontakt sounds Send MIDI effects to any instrument loaded in Kontakt Allows patch level editing within the Kontakt rack, and live set level editing from within Ableton. This is really best demonstrated in video form, so for the purposes of this post, it's best to dive into the video here. If you want slower more…
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27Aug 2019 by Brett Pontecorvo
Easy Piano Worship Chord Voicing

Easy Piano Worship Chord Voicing

1Tips For Being The Best Keyboardist, Blog, Uncategorized
Not only is this easy piano worship chord voicing super simple, but it also is the one that I use more than any other voicing when I am playing at a church. This one worship chord voicing could get you through 90% of worship songs being written right now. If you are thinking, "Most of the songs I play have more than one chord" to that I would reply, even still this chord voicing will most likely get you through it. (And it also sounds great too, so even if you aren't 100% sure what you are doing, no one else will know it). The Reveal There it is! If you are wondering why there are question marks in the bottom staff, then you are asking the right question Chameleon…
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15Jan 2019 by Brett Pontecorvo
The Remedy For Muddy Piano Pad Patches

The Remedy For Muddy Piano Pad Patches

1Sound Design, Blog, Essential Audio Effects For Keyboard Players, Live Playback, Sound Design, Uncategorized
When playing piano/pad simultaneously, something things start to sound a little muddy. In my experience there are three things that generally cause this issue. The volume of one of the patches is too loudPatches are competing for dominance in the same frequency rangeThe initial attack of each patch happens at the same time For any of the above reasons, there are simple solutions. Before we jump in, pause and make sure you Join the Mainstage To Ableton Community. Every Tuesday and Saturday I release helpful information just like this to help optimize your live set-up, and I don't want you to miss out on solutions to your Ableton challenges, or information that will level up your Ableton game. Adjusting Volume Make sure that you piano patch has only slightly more…
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12Jan 2019 by Brett Pontecorvo
Cleaner, More Interesting Chord Triggers

Cleaner, More Interesting Chord Triggers

1Sound Design, Blog, Midi, Program Features, Uncategorized
Chord Triggers are a great tool. As a Keyboard player who is constantly playing the parts of several people with just ten fingers, they can be quite indespensible. It's always better to think in terms of artistic value though, as opposed to a necessary aid for covering more ground then physically possible. So the question then has always been, how to I keep more chord triggers sounding, natural, clean, and transparent. Here are three tricks I've come up with over the years that have helped me to use chord triggers in an effective way. I have also built a diatonic chord trigger that works in all 12 keys for you. You can download a free copy of that by clicking here. It's touch sensitive so high velocities produce bass notes,…
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