Subject:Using a MIDI controller for playback - LIVE

Posted by: ian823

Date:6/14/2005 8:28:36 PM

I don't really know anything about MIDI and all of it's possibilites, but I have recently used ACID Pro 4.0 to record many samples to individual tracks (not MIDI tracks) using external instruments, i.e keyboards, samplers. I would like to playback these tracks live during shows. Is this possible if I had a MIDI controller (keyboard) to trigger each individual track? Please help.

Thanks.

Subject:RE: Using a MIDI controller for playback - LI

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:6/15/2005 7:46:36 AM

Not with ACID alone. You would need to add a VST Sampler (like Kontakt, HALion, etc.) to assign the waves to the keyboard and trigger them live. There would also be no guarantee that they would play in sync to the beat since (at that point) they would just be one shots in the sampler like any other sampler sound. You would also have to render the entire track as one wave if you wanted a whole track to play.

~jr

Subject:RE: Using a MIDI controller for playback - LI

Reply by: [r]Evolution

Date:6/15/2005 5:43:43 PM

Unless you Pre-Recorded your MIDI tracks and had them placed on your timeline where they should be.

Basically you'd construct a song as you'd have it play using your midi instruments. But if I were to do this... I would just render/master the song out to a .wav and at it to the timeline and only have the MIDI that I wanted to play live as an armed MIDI track. You would need less power to do it that way.

Good thing about Pre-Constructed music is it's always on tempo all the time.

Like JohnnyRoy said though...There would also be no guarantee that they would play in sync to the beat since (at that point) they would just be one shots in the sampler like any other sampler sound. <-- You'd be taking a big risk to do it live. Oh, the embarassment.

You'd be better to look into a StandAlone program that could just reckognize your MIDI keyboard/trigger. It would require far less power and you wouldn't need to worry about computer hickups all the time.

check out www.TheKolab.com. These are the guys I've been working with doing live electronic/MIDI music. Feel free to drop a line and ask how they do it. They'll gladly tell you how easy/hard it is. (but they use Cubase as VSTi's seem to run a bit smoother in that environment)

Subject:RE: Using a MIDI controller for playback - LI

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:6/16/2005 6:47:24 AM

I have used acid live, but never to trigger a soft synth. I used it to play percussion loops, and then played a Roland RD-700 along with it. In that context it worked without a problem.

I can see how introducing a soft synth could complicate things. Not all VSTi are created equal. Reason 3.0 claims to work well in live venues, but I like acidized files so much better... and you would need recycle to create new rex loops.

So my vote would be for using acid for loops and playing a hardware keyboard. 2 cents.

Subject:RE: Using a MIDI controller for playback - LI

Reply by: jumbuk

Date:6/16/2005 9:26:04 PM

I have taken several of my Acid projects live, using a humble Roland SP-505 sampler. Whilst it is basic, the beauty of the SP505 is that it is reliable, and can store heaps of samples on a Smart Card - enough for hours of music.

I have long ambient loops assigned to a pad to play back continually until I hit the pad again. These DON'T play in sync - which is what I want - they work like several tape loop machines, creating a shifting, ever-changing backdrop.

I usually have a bunch of beat loops assigned to several pads. I switch among them by triggering by ear - works fine.

I also have sound bites, vocals and FX assigned to pads as one-shots so I can trigger them as needed.

Works great - use Acid to find samples that sound good together, and create a song structure. Then export the samples to the SP505 and trigger live.

I should explain - I work live with a poet, so I need the flexibility to work without being tied to a fixed structure - the spoken word never conforms exactly to beats and bar lines.

Subject:RE: Using a MIDI controller for playback - LI

Reply by: ian823

Date:6/20/2005 10:15:47 AM

Thanks for all the replys, in regards to the SP-505 technigue of writing your samples to the sampler itself, that is what I've been doing, but with an SP-303 from Roland. It does work fine, but I thought there might be a better way to get that full sound that you get from the recorded tracks. I seem to lose a little when I sample them.