How many prefer to use Ableton over Traktor?

DJ Life & Community General Discussion
1

How many prefer to use Ableton over Traktor?

As the title says, how many use Ableton to DJ with rather than Traktor and why?

2

I would like to propose a 3rd category: people who use both.

I route audio from Traktor into Ableton to beef up my two song decks running through custom racks and use a smart mixing setup for decks C and D which I use for drum loops, fx loops, one shots and live drumming so I can fire all that off without needing the arms and dexterity of a ninja octopus.

3

i use ableton to warp older un-quantized analog recordings for mixing in traktor, so really couldn’t live without ableton for my eclectic mixes. with that said i much prefer traktor as a dj tool for too many reasons worth listing.

4

[quote=“, post:3, topic:16851”]
i use ableton to warp older un-quantized analog recordings for mixing in traktor, so really couldn’t live without ableton for my eclectic mixes. with that said i much prefer traktor as a dj tool for too many reasons worth listing.
[/quote][+1] && ^ Both are Ean Golden

5

This sounds interesting, can you expand on this?

6

Please look at our DJTT blog and search for ‘smartmixing’ articles.

7

I use Jack OS X and configure the JackRouter as a 8 in 8 out virtual sound interface and start routing.

Then I load Traktor and Ableton.

Set both to use the JackRouter as an audio interface.

Then configure the routing to send the Traktor Outputs to the Live Inputs and the Live Inputs to the System Audio.

You also need 4 audio channels for this, accepting external input from 4 stereo pairs (this is your audio coming in from Traktor), then ensure the output it set to ‘Sends Only’ and create 4 returns for your 4 audio channels.

Then set each channel to send the total signal to one send like:

Audio 1 full send to A
Audio 2 full send to B

and so forth…

Ensure that the returns route the audio to 4 external audio outputs, which in my case is the 4 outputs from my audio 8 going to 4 channels on my mixer.

This gives you a signal path as follows:

Traktor > Jack Router > Ableton Audio Channels 1-4 > Sends A-D > Returns A-D > Channels 1-4 on external mixer

I then midi sync Traktor to Ableton using Traktor’s virtual MIDI output and ensure they are playing in time using the metronomes and the delay in Ableton’s midi preferences.

Now you have Traktor running through Ableton, sync’d and down to your mixer. You can also now use the effects in Ableton to affect Traktor’s audio and it will all be sync’d.

I then put a rack on channels A and B to beef up the signal on the return. The smartmixer bit which I am adapting from Bentosan’s design and is sort of convoluted because I route both audio 1 and 2 (deck channels) to a dummy return which is what returns C and D listen for since I need a single audio source to use as key input for the smartmixer. What is perhaps odd on my setup is that I have return C duck to the dummy signal and not the other way around, I find I don’t want the loop to compress the songs playing, but rather I want the loop to duck itself into the songs. I feel like it sounds better this way and makes the loops I run over the songs pump and breathe with the rhythm of the tracks playing.

Live drums are provided by drum racks which go to return D and also duck themselves to the track decks. It’s mostly for claps, toms, the odd sound effect and some conga pad tapping over dubby stuff.

8

I thank you very much for taking the time to respond in such detail. Mucho Aprreciatedo :smiley:

9

Pure Ableton for the simple fact that I prefer to make music instead of being hamstrung with limited tools like in traktor. Nothing against traktor but 4 decks is not enough. I have a serato sl3 which I never even plugged in again after getting Ableton. At some point I will try the bridge … but the whole instrument/vst factor is where Traktor becomes a 1993 pro mma fighter vs a modern well rounded 2010 mma fighter like ableton

my opinion on traktor is based on very limited use and aversion to button mash dj styles

10

I’m a little lost with this analogy, so mma fighters aren’t the same through the years? Legitimately.

11

The mixed in the 1993 MMA was usually because you would have an overweight wrestler fighting a skinny black belt or something along those lines. Now each fighter will usually have two or three black belts in different styles and can wrestle on top of that. Or at least can defend against wrestlers.

12

Neat, now I have another analogy in my analogy file. Thanks!

13

I use ableton because im kind of anal and like to pre-plan everything for the most part. A lot of ppl hate that idea but i like the control that gives me in the long run.

14

Traktor & Ableton +1
My setup is similar to Dirkd’s, but I don’t use any smartmixing. 4 Traktor decks synced to 4 Ableton channels (I limit to 4 on purpose) and 2 return tracks. Typical usage maxes out at 3 decks from Traktor, 2-3 single instruments/drum loops and one shots from Live. It’s hard to keep track of more than that. One more channel is dedicated to recording the set. I use some effect chains to warm up the signals. The result is an output that sounds more like vinyl, but still has nice high-end clarity. Working well so far…

I also use Bomes MT to handle the complex interactions between the two programs.

EDIT: I’d just like to add that Traktor is the backbone to this setup. I much prefer the spontaneous workflow and ease of improvising in Traktor. I find Ableton to be too clunky for that.

15

Zac Kyoti: how did you set that up? I’ve been looking into doing something similar for dum loops and one-shots, but I haven’t figured it out

16

Nowadays i am just running Ableton Live + M4L with a customized ms pinky patch, everything else i use is a custom patch created in M4L with the exception of the mastering plugins i use on my master output ( theglue(compressor)-> voxengo elephant(limiter) )

17

Hey dude, sorry to take so long getting back to you. What I do is utilize Bomes MT to do a layer switch between my Traktor and Ableton layers on the APC. So the APC runs in regular Ableton handshake mode, with the default layout. I hit a button, and the surface changes to a Traktor control surface. The Traktor commands are mapped as usual in Traktor. One preset just shuts the other off and vice versa, so there are no conflicts. Things are synced using the same type of method as in the dubspot vid. You could use two controllers each only controlling one program, and wouldn’t even need something like Bomes.

The only drawback to the way I’ve set my system up is that I’m running the APC in native mode, so I lose the cool banks on the Track Select buttons. I’ve just re-created the banks via Bomes though - very handy program.

18

I use both but for very different gigs

traktor is great for on the fly stuff, dropping in a request etc and regular dj gigs where ableton would be over kill.

ableton get used more for production and the giging those productions and cheeky remixes

but i gig once a week with tracktor, about 6 times a year with ableton. and it needs about an hour of preparation to every minute of performance.

19

I use Ableton to produce and Traktor to DJ with. I’m the sort of DJ who just likes to play good tunes with the odd bit of FX for builds and blends. I don’t need to cut, glitch and mash everything to migraine inducing levels.

I’ve seen Ableton DJs do this. I’ve also seen Ableton DJs rip the roof off places too, so horses for courses and personal preferences and all that…

20

Same here. I dont produce and i HATE effects overkill so Traktor is my preferred option. Mainly use Ableton to play around with my Launchpad!!

Saying that i have seen some amazing Ableton performances.