My Window To The World…

I have received several reports from customers having problems with their Ableton Live music production software.

Without exception, their complaints were related to “Hard Disk Overload” error messages and/or the “CPU Load” exceeding 100 %, accompanied by that beautiful (not) distorted sound. (Make sure this will not happen to you at a live show.)

Let me explain

- how well Ableton Live works (1),

- how the CPU / harddrive issues are caused (2), and

- how you can work around those difficulties without investing money into a more powerful computer, more RAM, or a higher-capacity harddrive (3).

(1) Ableton Live was designed as a MIDI controller. Audio capabilities were added only in later versions, as far as I know.

On my Apple iBook G4 (1.33 GHz, with only 512 MB RAM), Ableton Live will work beautifully with up to twenty MIDI tracks (as long as they are not too complex), plus three short (ca. 3 minutes each) audio tracks.

(2) Problems do not start until MIDI and/or audio effects are added. Most built-in effects (especially the presets that are made up of several separate effects) will hit the computer’s CPU hard. Use one too many, and you will see 100 % in the “CPU Load” window.

Ableton Live loads Audio tracks into its virtual memory (for which it uses your harddrive), so the longer your audio tracks and the higher the number of them, the more likely you will run into harddrive space issues. (This is very important for those of you DJing with the software.)

(3) With a bit of imagination and common sense, however, it is still possible to produce music on your “outdated” computer.

This is how I do it:

Using Ableton Live’s internal MIDI sound bank, I create a rough version of my song. No effects on any of the tracks.

After I have finalized one (or all) of the instruments and the arrangement, I re-record each instrument (directly into Ableton Live) using Propellerheads’ Reason, which has a far superior soundbank anyway. (It will instantly make your track sound a lot better!)

What difference does this make, you ask? During playback, audio tracks (preferrably with all the effects you want on them recorded directly into them) use far less CPU power than (complex) MIDI tracks.

Do run some tests yourself and compare MIDI vs. audio - the difference is huge.

In future articles I will go further into Ableton Live, computer music production, and DJing with Ableton Live.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

Technorati Tags: Ableton Live, Propellerheads Reason, Music Production, Computer Music Production, Ableton Live CPU Load, Ableton Live Hard Disk Overload, Hard Disk Overload

I have been into computers for a long time. My whole working life has pretty much been dominated by Apple Computers and the Macintosh Operating System (I started out on system 6).

Since I went freelance and became my own boss, life without my laptop seems like an impossibility.

On one level, however, taking my laptop everywhere I go, is a strange thing.

Whether I am in Zurich (Switzerland), Bangkok or Chiang Mai or Ubon Rachathani or Koh Samui or Koh Samed (Thailand), or Penang or Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), or Vienna (Austria): I pretty much visit exactly the same websites, and listen to the same music on my beloved Sennheiser HD25 headphones.

While it is cool that I am able to do this, it is also weird… I travel half-way around the world, and am still confronted with tons of familiar stuff. When I sit in a cafe, listen to music, then take the headphones off, it is like stepping out of a dreamscape.

After saying that… today I recommend you check out Placebo. Fantastic band. Their latest album, “Meds”, is a must-have.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

Technorati Tags: iPod, iBook, Laptop, Computer, Travels, Food For Thought