Oct 22, 2013 The Drum Rack is a hugely flexible and powerful tool for creating drum parts, making both sound generation and mixing straightforward. With so much power at your disposal, you may wonder, how do drum racks work in Ableton? Here’s a mini tour So, what exactly is it? The Drum Rack, put simply, is a bit like an Ableton session window, within.
Nov 27, 2018 This action adds the Drum Rack to your User Library and offers a prompt to rename it. Let’s call this one “Tech House Kit 1.” Furthermore, you can find any of your saved Drum Rack presets in the following folder directory in Live’s Browser: User LibraryPresetsInstrumentsDrum Rack.
Load up a Drum Rack in Ableton, then add a synthesizer plug-in to a second MIDI track. Select one of the synthesizer's pad presets. Drop a snare drum sample into a slot on the Drum Rack, then open the piano roll editor and put a snare on every other quarter note.
Using third-party Packs. Live Versions: 9-10 Operating System: All If you are installing official Live Packs downloaded from the Ableton website, check instead our article on How to Install Packs.
Seems that most everything about Ableton has been designed with it being extremely playable in some way. And that's also true of Drum Racks in Live 9. G. W. shares tips on how to optimize them.
Ableton did something that very few other drum module/device developers have done. They made their ‘Drum Rack’ an instrument that is truly intuitive. Seriously, if you spend time with it, you’ll find yourself instantly answering your own questions, along the lines of, “Does it do this...?”
But, with an Ableton instrument that is as expansive as the Drum Rack, it’s really easy to end up loading it up to become a monster of DSP, if you’re not careful.
Therefore, we thought it might be nice to give you a few tips for keeping your Drum Rack optimized! This goes not only for keeping your processing power low, but also for getting the best possible performance out of your budding Drum Rack in one song, and others. Let’s go over a few concepts.
Step 1 - Map Accordingly
While you can map drums to any particular key within your Drum Rack, it would be wise to follow some of the mapping strategies that have been implemented over the years. Almost all third-party drum modules are mapped along the lines of General MIDI, which is an antiquated standard, but is still relevant. The main reason would be that many other modules are still mapped that way. What does this mean for you? Well, if you’re using a drum module from a third party, and then decide that your Drum Rack is better, you want the keys that were programmed on the module before to match the mapping on your drum rack.
So, try getting in the habit of mapping your kick drum to C1, your snare drum to D1, and your hi-hat to F#1, and your open hi-hat to A#1. With just this simple mapping (not including your clap and rim shot), you’ll have a Drum Rack that will instantly be useable, no matter where you throw it in.
Step 2 - Create a Good Initial Scene in your Kit
It’s easy to forget that a drum set is just as much an environment, as it is an instrument, or set of instruments. The pieces of the kit are arranged in a way that’s plausible and ergonomic for the drummer to actually be able to play all the different parts of the kit. And, if you listen to a drummer play a kit, you’ll notice that the hi-hat is a little on the right, or left, the snare is almost in the middle, but not quite. The kick drum is dead center, and so on.
Therefore, if you get in to the habit of pre-panning your drum parts, before you save your drum rack preset, you’ll be doing yourself a favor. This means that when you use the kit again, you’ll have not only opened up a great set of drums. But, also a set that has clear boundaries and dimensions that you can easily incorporate into a mix.
Step 3 - Use Auxiliaries
The Ableton Live Drum Rack does not limit you in the amount of effects that you can incorporate into your kit. While this is great, it can cause you to build a kit that is hard on the processor. This is especially true if you’re a reverb junkie.
Try this:
Open your Returns, and Sends...
And, then drag a Reverb into the Drag Effect Here section that appears underneath the Chain List...
Now, add on reverb where it’s needed, off of one Reverb device!
How To Open A Downloaded Drum Rack In Ableton Version
With just this one reverb device, we now have reverb a plenty for every drum in your Drum Rack. This saves on processing power, and keeps you from having to set up a reverb every time you apply one to a drum.
And, remember, you can have more than one auxiliary effect!
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Drum Machines offers a choice selection of classic drum machines, meticulously sampled to faithfully reproduce the original sounds. Drum Machines is easily tweaked with cleverly mapped controls, allowing users to experiment with the inner workings of the instrument and adjust to taste.
Drum Machines: Refreshing the Classics
Drum Machines recreates the classic electronic drum computers of the past. Each machine was carefully sampled and programmed to replicate the nuances of the original. But Drum Machines doesn't stop there, it also gives you creative parameters not included on the originals. Using Drum Racks with cleverly mapped macro controls, you can endlessly tweak and customize Drum Machines. Each instrument includes a wide selection of presets with effects and accompanying MIDI patterns in a number of styles for instant gratification and inspiration.
Key Features
How To Open A Downloaded Drum Rack In Ableton Download
24-bit 96 kHz samples meticulously recorded and programmed by Ableton content developer Puremagnetik to faithfully reproduce the sounds of the originals.
Drum Racks with an inline Session View mixer allow versatile mixing of each drum. Each drum channel can have its own effects and routing.
Each drum machine includes expertly programmed presets that reproduce the originals and creative variations including effects.
Includes MIDI patterns in a variety of electronic music styles.
Easily tweaked via pre-assigned Drum Rack macro controls.
Many parameters can be modulated via key tracking and velocity.
Integrates perfectly into Live's workflow and intuitive user interface.