newbie: thoughts on performing with Ableton Live and APC40?

[ghostofme]

hey guys,

i haven't begun to perform yet, nor have i spent very much time looking into it. so far i've put all my time into creation and production.

i watched a video course on lynda.com called Performing live with Ableton Live and they instructor was using an APC40 for most of it- that really caught my interest.

awhile ago, one of my friends gave me a couple DJing lessons on his CDJs but i didn't enjoy the experience or the workflow. it didn't motivate me to want to do it. these ones in particular, there was no screen showing the waveform.. and all the techniques he was showing me didn't appeal to my interests the same way a creative production session does. maybe it was the teacher more so than the technology..

anyway, APC40: turning the live experience into somewhat of a production session (aka the same digital work environment as in my bedroom).

anybody out there who has experience with both APC40 and Traktor S2/4? those are the one's i've considered buying.. APC i still want to buy for studio use with ableton.

alright guys.. thanks!

[deevey]

If you weren't into the workflow with CDJ's I doubt you will get any benefit from the S2/S4 as its very much like DJ'ing on CDJ's.

I use the APC40 + Ableton for DJing and its a solid setup, lil bit of preparation and you are sorted but IMHO does lack the benefit of a track browser, lacks tons of necessary midi controls for DJ use (real pain in the ass!) - however it sounds like you are siding more to the live producer rather than DJ aspects anyhow and will probably have your stuff setup and semi pre-planned.

If I had the choice Now I'd probably go with Dual A&H K2's or possibly a VCM600 or Livid Cntrl-R, but thats coming from a DJ standpoint where I really would like all my channels' EQ's and Gains accessible and visible at all times without switching layers.

Also perhaps look at Ableton "Push".

[botstein]

I used an APC40 with live for a long time - I used it alongside turntables for a while after I started scratching, but never S2/S4.

If you are playing only (or mostly) your own stuff, it's a very solid choice. It's essentially analogous to session view in live, so if clip launching and fades are your bread and butter, this is where it's at. If you would like to make the APC40 play more like a traditional DJ setup like DV mentioned, there's always the Will Marshall / ill Gates remote scripts.

Also, I have an APC40 for sale! pm me!

[SlvrDragon50]

They're complete opposites.

I can't DJ to save my life with Ableton and APC40, but I completely understand how Traktor works. That said, I don't use the S4 (I did have one though, it wasn't bad), I use an X1500 mixer with a Reloop Contour controller.