Free
Weekly Ableton Rack – Synth Workstation & FX Rack 19th August 2011
AfroDJMac continues his weekly
series of free Ableton Racks with Synth
Workstation & FX Rack, a set AfroDJMac uses
when playing with the Chris P Cauley Collective.
"Last fall, I got a call from my
friend Chris P Cauley asking if I could fill in on the
bass guitar for his band, The Chris P Cauley Collective,
at a gig at the Patchogue Theatre here on Long Island.
We managed to squeeze in a rehearsal
and the show went well. Later that night he asked
me if I wanted to set up my computer and play some
synthesizers in his band. It definitely took me by
surprise because I’ve never played synths in a band,
and to this day, don’t play the keyboard well enough
to ethically call myself a keyboard player! But, I
excepted the challenge and have been doing it since.
My set up has evolved like crazy, equipment has
been changed and added, settings have been tweaked
for weeks to only be thrown out in favor of some
other crazy idea. Even as recent as last night
things have been changing. But right now I have
figured something out that works well for me and the
role I am trying to fill in Chris’ music…
For this weeks Free Ableton Live
Rack, I am sharing my CPC set and going through the
details of how I use it. I am always amazed at how
many different ways people use Live, but I haven’t
really seen too much information online about how to
use Ableton simply as a synth workstation (trust me
I looked!). So, I guess this one is most
appropriately handled in a video walkthrough and
your own experimentation. In the video I discuss
routing inside Live, “Dummy” tracks, setting up midi
controllers, building effect racks, sending multiple
synths through the same effects, morphing synths,
using external synths (my beloved Teenage
Engineerings OP-1)… So, download the Live Set and
use it to play live, load your own sounds, or the
effects rack that is inside.
Let me know what you think and if
you make any music with this or any of my racks,
send it to my SoundCloud Drop Box and I will post it
next time. Enjoy and spread the word."
The Synth Workstation & FX Rack is available as a
free download (valid email address required).
