I been thinking on expanding my djsets using ableton and traktor.
However I’ve been having troubles thinking on ideas on how to use Ableton.
I have a launchpad with a script that makes it work kind of like push. Allowing me step sequencing drum racks, scales etc.
I m thinking on 2 traktor track decks + ableton all feeding a 4ch mixer with audio 8. The syncing part is no problem. However I dont know what to put in the ableton session hahah
I’ve tried with some drum racks etc but did not enjoy it so much.
Does anyone do something similar that could give me up some pointers?
I’m working on something similar, with the audio outputs from Cross DJ routed into Soundflower in external mixer mode, which are then routed back into Ableton in to my A and B bus tracks, then I use Ableton as the mixer.
At the moment it kinda works, although latency could be better, and all my controllers are picking fights with each other. It’s a work in progress.
[QUOTE]I m thinking on 2 traktor track decks + ableton all feeding a 4ch mixer with audio 8. The syncing part is no problem. However I dont know what to put in the ableton session hahah
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In all honesty if you are not at the point where you know what you want to achieve with an ableton/traktor mash, then leave it alone. Theres very little that cannot be done in Traktor that you can do in Ableton unless you are using live instruments, sequencing or utilizing specific VST’s or Effects that Traktor does not have.
If you want to experiment, try laying down a set inside Ableton alone and then decide what elements Traktor could add to your mix rather than the other way around.
I’ve been adding/refining Ableton into my Traktor workflow. Some notes on my setup:
I run doubled decks in Traktor for EQ isolation. So A/C and B/D will play the same track, with EQ kills opposite of each other to target effects to certain frequencies. This eats decks C and D, but I only ever mix two tracks anyway.
Ableton handles all mixing now: Track levels, EQ, headphone cueing, etc.
You’ll need to MIDI sync between the two to get any kind of beat-based Ableton effects in time. Make sure you “send sync” from Traktor to indicate where the start of a measure is initially.
My Traktor effects are all beat-related on a MidiFighter 3D (Instat Grat stuff–beat repeat, juggles, etc).
Ableton effects are mostly washes and echo-y types effects on a MidiFighter Twister. I’m only using a few effects so far–still have about half of the Twister open for more effects mappings.
There are a lot of DJ-style effects racks out there for starting ideas, like Tarekith and eightKNOBS.
I’m still figuring out the possibilities here, but so far it’s really fun to target a frequency with Traktor beat juggles, turn on a knob that fills an Ableton buffer, and then stop the Traktor effect to let the Ableton effect continue.
I route Ableton into “Deck A”, “Deck C”, and “Combined A/C”. Some of my effects target Deck A, which is my isolated frequency, some target the combined deck, and some target the whole mix/master out.
I was never able to get reliable software routing between the two packages. I tried SoundFlower and Jack OSX both, but always ended up with very occasional audio crackling (19:10 into this older test recording is an example).
Recently I gave up on software and now hardware route audio between applications via ADAT (8 channels over a normal optical cable). I’m using an RME Babyface, a fantastic audio interface. Traktor and Ableton are both running at 64 samples, and I’m able to set the main out as loopback to record my mixes totally in software. The downside is that the Babyface is really expensive at $800!
If you’re bumping into this post after the fact, I’ll probably have more mixes linked somewhere if you search for other posts by me. In the meantime, all I really have to show for the new Babyface setup is this super-short test recording doing a simple reverb-y juggle on The Flashbulb - Beebs track to look for crackle.
It will give you an idea of how I work with Traktor and ableton (The nimber of Traktor deck you will use will be detrminated by:
Number of channel on your mixer
Number of channel of your soundcard
Creativity and ability to manage a multiple number of channel.
