While Live 2 will be forever cherished for its loop performance prowess, Live 3's new sample animation function gives producers a fantastic sound design tool, sample re-synthesizer, and dare I say, drum machine? This month we show you how to transform Live into a rhythm-sequencing groovebox (or drum machine). First, we'll zero in on a single drum hit (within a loop). Then we'll "sequence" a new beat with that sound. Once you have a working sequence, we'll discover how to audition new sounds played by the new sequence. Best yet, all of this work will be done non-destructively in clip view, so the original sample remains intact.

Zero in on the beat

Open Live 3 and load the bass drum loop named "BD" into a clip slot in session view. ("BD" is located in your Live 3.0/Content folder. PC users should look in Program Files/Ableton/Live 3.0/Content, while Apple users will find the same files in Applications/Ableton/Live 3.0/Content.) If for some reason you do not have these files, you may use any one-measure drum loop with a drum hit on the very first beat.

Fig. 1 - The raw loop

Click "play" to hear what the loop sounds like. Zero in on the first bass drum rhythm to "grab" a one-shot (constrain the right side of the loop's Clip/Loop Region to 1.1.2 so that it looks like Fig. 2). Also make sure to activate the Loop Switch in the Sample Settings.

Fig. 2 - Constrained loop length and right marker setting

Let's make a beat

Now it's time to create the sequence. Press "play" to hear your loop-a thudding bass drum on each sixteenth note. If you find this sound annoying or distracting to work with, turn the volume of the loop all the way down in the envelope window. To do this, click on the box that says "Envelope." This will bring up the envelope editor window. Then make sure your Device Chooser reads, "Clip" and the Modulated Control Chooser reads, "Volume" (as seen in the top section of Fig. 3). Now drag the red line at the top of the sample display all the way to the bottom of the display (like the bottom half of Fig. 3). You should hear the repeating bass drum fade out, though the silenced loop will continue playing.

Fig. 3 (top) - Clicking on Envelope brings up envelope editing

Fig. 3 (bottom) - Drag red volume envelope to zero

Next, activate the Envelope Draw tool by pressing Ctrl (Apple) + B (or clicking on the Draw Mode Switch in Live's Control Bar at the top of your screen). Then set the global Quantization Menu to 1/16 (as we are going to sequence a 1/16^th note pattern). See Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 - Activating the Envelope Draw tool

Since the loop we are working with is only 1/16^th note long, we need to create a longer phrase. To do this, click on the Link/Unlink Envelope box in clip view-it should now read "Unlinked." Now focus your attention on the box titled "Length," which is just to the right of the Unlinked box. Specify a one-measure pattern by placing a "1" in the first box and a zero in the second and third boxes (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 5 - Setting the Volume Envelope to "Unlinked" and the Length to 1, 0, 0

Our clip now contains 16 repeating 1/16^th notes, which we will sequence by determining the volume of each repeated note. To do so, use the Draw Tool to create a pattern similar to Fig. 6. This is where your creativity comes into play, so feel free to experiment here.

Hint: By keeping the volume level similar for each 1/16^th note, you will create a more machine-like consistency (Fig.6). But if you want to infuse feeling and expression into your drum parts, you can vary the level just a bit (like Fig.7).

Fig. 6 - An automated clip

Fig. 7 - Adding dynamic variety creates musical expression.

Congratulations! You have just sequenced a one-bar drum loop using Live 3's sample animation (in this case, a volume envelope). Should you want to create a 2- or 4-bar loop (or a loop of even greater length), simply type the desired length into the loop length box we saw back in Fig.5, and then animate away.

Multiplying your efforts

The key to great sequencing is to be creative, and then multiply your efforts. In Live 3, you can cut, copy, paste, and duplicate clip envelopes just as you would Arrangement View automation envelopes. But before you do this, you will need to deactivate the Draw tool by pressing Ctrl (Apple) + B, and then drag over the part of the envelope you would like to put onto your clipboard. To double your efforts, take advantage of Live's duplicate function by pressing Ctrl (Apple) + D (see Fig.8). You have now created a two-bar loop (where bars one and two are the same). Try varying the sequence in the first or second bar by changing the volume envelopes as we did earlier.

Hint: Make sure you type "2" in the clip's first loop length box to hear the two-bar loop.

You've now created a two-measure loop from a single sixteenth note in less than 3 minutes!

Fig. 8 - A duplicated envelope

Groovebox power tips

For more creative fun, you can also cut, copy, and paste clip envelopes to other parameters such as Panning or Transpose. Simply select the envelopes that you would like to copy, change the Modulated Control Chooser Box from Volume to another parameter, and then paste your automation into that parameter. You can even copy and paste automation envelopes from completely different clips.

But perhaps Live 3's most exciting groovebox trick is to superimpose a clip's automation onto a fresh sample. Just as you might reroute a MIDI sequence to drive a sound other than the originally intended one, Live 3 enables you to swap sounds into an existing sequence with one move of the mouse. To do this, simply drag the loop called "electro" from Live's Browser onto the Clip view settings for BD (as shown in Fig.9).

Fig. 9 - Dragging loops from Live's Browser to automated clips

The new (electro) loop will assume the old loop's settings (our modified BD in this instance). In other words, the old sequence will now be applied to the new loop. Like a groovebox or MIDI-sequencer, you can audition new sounds with your same sequenced part. You can make multiple copies of your sequence to drive two complimentary bass drums, or create multiple sequences for each instrument you would like to hear. The possibilities are endless.

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