Performing with Monome and Ableton Live

[profbarkingmad]

Still prefer Jon Bonham...

[delldroid]

Real good lovin it

[AgitoKun117]

where is the best place that i can buy a monome

[ahlstrominfo]

@AgitoKun117 monome dot org or ebay dot com, I think.

Sold mine a couple of months ago, now I use iPad and TouchOSC instead.

[kurokitsuneEU]

SIIIICK track dude. Great usage of the unit for sure.

[lordofgstrings]

is that an allman bros sample?

[SallarBeatz]

how much does they cost

[InyTinyDinosaur]

very nice!

[ryansondrugs]

thats dopeee. i want a monome but i have no idea how to use them ahha. do you have an mp3 of this?

[TibtheBear]

are you using sevenuplive, how is mlr connected to ableton

[ahlstrominfo]

@TibtheBear Hi. Im using an own app as a proxy between monome and ableton. Search for monogrid or monoableme at monome forum or wiki.

I used follow actions in ableton to create the mlr effect.

[youngguado]

I've been Trying to get one for the longest, but once i got a Maschine I Completely forgot about the Monome

[ahlstrominfo]

Yeah. I sold mine a few weeks ago. Waiting for the iPad to come. It's gonna be a cool replacement.

[superdrugs]

this is really cool

[ston3rsnail]

the most creative monome user on youtube.

[mertvak]

wtf is this

[A7XAvA]

really cool i wish i had a monome

[Detman101]

wow awesome!!!

True piece of artwork.

Dm

[MysticalMachineGun0]

do you have an mp3 of this?

[d1git]

Amazing.

[mpcbeatdown]

Amazing and well performed.

A master of your craft.

[roraroriki]

What app are you using here? I use my 40h with ableton but i have only found it good for short samples and live mixing. You've got some sort of mlr thing going on here uh? Sounds great by the way.

[ahlstrominfo]

Here I'm using a homemade app coded in ChucK. Nowadays there is a similar app called Pages.

The beat is just 1 sample divided over 8 clips, in ableton, that each has an "Follow Action" on it.

[kalmone]

very nice.

[rianmil04]

I like it!!!!!!

[j777777]

We just got a Monome and I'm having one heck of a time getting ableton Live to see it. :(

[darksideofdarkness]

Hey ahlstrominfo, that was a great job!

Please, could you briefly explain me what the way to use monome is? I mean, does the monome send fixed midi CC messages or notes, so you have you set Ableton to "learn" each key one? Or you are using a midi mapper or something alike (such as Max/MSP or Pure Data)? I saw couple videos of this gear and they seem to behave different each time, kinda different "applications", so I'm trying to figure out. Thanks!

[ahlstrominfo]

Monome is a pretty dumb device. It only sends serial data. But it got a strong community which builds applications in various programming languages.

The application I used was built in ChucK, but most of the monome-apps is built in Max/MSP.

[DjBleedsColors]

That was awesome!!!

[ahlstrominfo]

Thanks.

[youarelackluster]

wot latency you on?

[ahlstrominfo]

Probably around 11-12ms.

[lilbromarky1]

hehe my friend manufactures these. He has them laying around his house like its nothing. Apparently they are hard to come by

[antenamantis]

what??? how much are they? i want one :P

[CoolJack2]

they are really hard to get a hold of, they only make under a thousand of this model a year, you can make your own with supplied kits too but there are also only so many kits available (none at the moment), if your a millionaire you can get one in the weekly silent auction.

[antenamantis]

oh ok! well i hope some other manufacturer copies the idea and make more, and cheaper, since the "controller" hipe i was waiting for something like this, i don´t know why it´s so hard for people like m-audio to do something rigth... they´re dumb...

[CoolJack2]

yeah I'd really like to get one of these, one problem is at the moment that people are stock piling them as soon as they are released (buying more than one when a new batch comes along) and then selling them on ebay often for more than double the original price.

[NeatStar]

So sad that people do that.

I'd love one, but all things taken into account - The price of the pound, availability, stockpiling - it's just not going to happen.

What's the "Silent Auction".

[EyEmerge]

Damn! My top is blown clean off! You and your little gadget are the shit!!!!!!!!!

[Rane909]

its two loops and a bass drone . . .

[Myschly]

Yeah, but the question is... How many people have failed with those 3 ingredients?

[xXVacantHeartXx]

o_o Im not even going to try and begin to understand how this works

[spidernam]

how much is one of those?

[katanakaiser]

Very nice. Dammit I want a Monome..

[nakakinpira]

kool!!

[jeffthefishdotcom]

This is gorgeous. What's great about this is that you're only using 3 loops, yet you've made a wonderfully beautiful and interesting song.  That is quite wonderful. I am very impressed and inspired.

[rmhanzel]

Nicely done, sounds great.

How exactly does this shit work?!

My brain has been boggled.

[MachineGunBallad]

each button is assigned to an audio clip, or a fraction there of, in the program ableton live.

[bitsyray]

talent is a good thing =+) looks fun

[Fant00mRecords]

very nice i'll put this on fant00m mag

cheers

[ahlstrominfo]

thanks

[fabioz91]

WOW

[ZenithPatrol]

Great shit, man.

[max1point8t]

really sick man, ive been looking everywhere for a monom to no avail :(

[ahlstrominfo]

thanks :D

[trimplay]

Nice

[ahlstrominfo]

Indeed, yes yes.

[trimplay]

Will this work with Windows or just Mac?

[RoboTronSonneuse]

works with windows and mac aswell.

[Mkichedlle]

damn, that's hella awesome

[bratn]

so Cool

[Ureallydontknow]

PC + MONOME = AKAI MPC with light up buttons. so just get an mpc. its everything you need right there. I think its funny how people get so overzealous about every new midi controller or software that comes out.

[julyzerg]

or how about just using whatever you feels right for you?

[Ureallydontknow]

I've been using software since 94 cause I'm poor. software just got trendy lately cause its alot better in someways if you don't travel and have tons of cash. for me, the less stuff I have to buy, hookup and learn the better. there are some great uses for the setup you have but I think you have to digg deeper.

[youprattle1]

Ditto.

[poorsod]

i really like what you've done with the follow-actions on the drum loop (up the right-hand column)

[LockHoodlum]

Cool sound, but I seriously don't get how that Mononome thingy works... :)

[dwightro57]

i like your video and your song.

nice job!

[CW2SCOGG]

No matter how 'neat' these lighted loop triggering devices are, the final product result always seems too minimalistic and stagnant..they are simply too limited to be used as a truly professional sequencer. Novelty stuff.

[FlamingNinja24]

Daedalus, kthx

[ahlstrominfo]

Thanks :D

[xnemesisx2k7]

that was sick dude. is that piano sample joe jackson?

[tanguirine]

i really have to buy one!!!!

[dilbthelame]

this might be a silly question.....

but is there a limit to the amount of assignable samples/tracks with it? most of the videos i've seen only have 2 or 3 of the buttons/rows of the monome going at any one time. i suppose remembering which is which can be an issue, but i've been wondering...

either way, this kicks ass, nice one :)

[ahlstrominfo]

I can't remember if there is a maximum amount of midi-mappings in ableton. That would be the only limit.

When I stressed the script I realised that If you use a button-grid and add 8x7 midiclips each with a "follow action" that happens every 0.0.1 beat. There will be a delay in response time.

[LostMuffin03]

Can you please explain to me in detail, exaclty how these work? And in layman's terms, because I'm really confused :|....

[ahlstrominfo]

The monome is a dumb keyboard with buttons and lights.

To use it with music-applications you need a application in your computer that works as an interpreter. In this case I've written one in the language called ChucK.

[MikeyRedux]

oh, that boy can play! great stuff.

[swarm69]

man loving the sound youve got going on there compleatly sick

is geting a monome worth it as a live controler and do you know if it can be set up to run with reason (if not i may start puting loops from reason into abaleton ive been toying with that idea for a while) it certainly looks inpresive :)

[ahlstrominfo]

worth as a live controller? hmm I don't really know.

The monome is a fun dumb somewhat expensive thing.

I love it a lot, but now-a-days I almost only use the computer when making music.

I would probably use the monome if I played live sometime, to make the act more visually stimulating.

[mackapro]

Daedelus uses this method live (and in the studio I think).

He makes some beautiful creations. Very cool video!

[Masheduk]

have a look at masheduk theres some good performance tools on there!

[XYtoTheDoubleG]

really loved the video

Is there much of a learning curve to one of them?

[ahlstrominfo]

Not really. But I got a big interest in coding and using Live in odd ways.

[XYtoTheDoubleG]

yeah

I just bought live 7 tonight

so pumped to get that piece of ass in the mail

haha

you using live 6?

[ahlstrominfo]

In this video I am. But now-a-days Im using Live 7. It's oo so gucking food.

[XYtoTheDoubleG]

Yeah

is it hard to program the monome along with ableton live?

Looks like an awesome controller.

They cost around 500 to build, dont they?

[ahlstrominfo]

You can code it yourself, but now-a-days there is alot of freebies on the monome site.

The app I'm using in this video I coded myself and is called MonoGrid 2.1

When I bought mine it cost 600 if I remember correctly. They've released some new version, which sell out in matter of hours.

[bw120205]

This track kinda reminds me of Four Tet. Really cool man keep up the good work and nice use of the Monome.

[ahlstrominfo]

thanks :)

[jeffthefishdotcom]

If I don't buy a monome soon, there is a good chance that I will DIE.

[ahlstrominfo]

OMG by it soon soon.

[t3ch4]

That is Freakin awesome. Where do you get it. I want one.

[zejools]

Thanks for the explanation! I was sure that there was a lot of work for this interaction, it was not plug and play. Very interesting. If you have a homepage, I will have a look. Congratulations.

[zejools]

Impressive! I would like to know how you've set up your monome and live. How did you manage to setup what is happening on your first right column (how do you call it? looping/slicing with light feedback). Very interesting video!

[ahlstrominfo]

I've coded an application in ChucK that sends midi to-and-from Live.

This slicing is done by copying the clip 8 times and then move start point 1/4 of a beat on every clip. Then useing follow actions to go to the next clip.

[seppesantens]

Hey, thanks for this video and ableton tips, very nice! Do you set the quantization for the clip to none? If so, you have a really tight drumming. If not, how do you trigger the clips so fast?

[standardDeluX]

You set the quantise value to be a small value like 1/16, 1/32 or something.

[bucketsoduckets]

fuck the haters. keep doing your thing man, sounds good!

[ronpedley]

Effing awesome! Is there any info on how to set this up? Or better yet, what's your fee and where do you live? :)

[ItalianKiller]

nice man dont listen to whom insult ur creation!

[ahlstrominfo]

Thanks :)

I don't really care about it anyway. Just think it's amazing that people have an urge to write negative posts.

[simonx49]

that really was shit

[ahlstrominfo]

Thanks you for those lovely words. My life feels much better now, does yours?

[tubotuyo]

geat beat you do there

[AxiomCrux]

is there any info on how to set this up? Im thinking of getting a monome but I would like to use live rather then maxmsp for now.

[forestcre]

is anybody else thinking "great, another piece of hardware with EIGHT steps to it, as opposed to %5, %3 or %7"?

[ahlstrominfo]

You can program the hardware/software anyway you want. I this case I took a sample in Ableton Live and divided it to 8 equal size pieces, with follow actions, and assigned them to buttons on the monome.

You could assign 1-56 pieces to any cliplength possible by live.

This means you can chop a sample up in 11 pieces and the eleven pieces could be any length you want.

[ahlstrominfo]

Look at my video "Distpedal plays with monome and ableton" where I divided the acapella "block rockin beats" over words instead of beats.

So great heres another equipment that lets you program how to use it :D

[forestcre]

sorry, what i meant (if i sounded a little sarcy or something, i apologise) -

what you have done is cool, and props to you. i was just noting that if somebody wanted to do something similar with compound(3), 5, 7 or 11 beat cycles, the physical design of the hardware would not help matters at all.

[Seguesound]

Interesting comment, but you should have no problem having to ignore 5 buttons if you want to work with 3, etc. You could have 7 buttons lit up, ignoring the unused. Monome excels in this regard! Keep in mind the use of 4, 8, 16 and 32 channel gear is as much due to our use of hexadecimal coding (including Midi!) as it is perhaps a response to early rock bands having 4 members (needing 4 channels to record onto). Learn to deal with multiples of 4 :P

[djdunic]

did you use locaters for the drums and assigned the 40h's top row to that?

[ahlstrominfo]

yes. copied the drum clip 7 times. Changed start locator on each. Then used follow action.

[tubotuyo]

cool nice tip :D

[phenord]

dude, this is great! really inspirational- i've set this up using my midi controller (novation61) using a midi clip + impulse... you can route the drums to separate audio tracks for different effects and volume control, which makes it pretty damn flexible.

you can also route the midi from that track to another and record your jams... WOOT!

any more vids?

[DougJ]

Damn..thats some slick shit. Where's that piano from?

[ahlstrominfo]

Probably from some sampling cd.

[KaptNemo]

Hell yeah man... added this to my StumbleUpon page!

[mightlife]

nice!

springy mattress ;)

[ahlstrominfo]

Thanks :D it was bought at IKEA. Now I got a Tempur.

[smoovebert]

nice wesc sweatshirt lol

[ahlstrominfo]

Bought it at a sale. 50% off :D

[buddner]

this looks really interesting. checked out the site but they are sold out. would love to get my hands on one! how much did it set you back? also, can it be used for any kind of synthesis rather than just break up bounced tracks?

[EddCunningham]

If only the Monome's weren't sold out ='(

[eshefer]

very cool! thanks, I was wondering about that myself.

[Tracksetters]

daaaaamn

[ophidite]

great idea

[ahlstrominfo]

In this video I copied the same sample/clip 8 times and for each I moved the starting point to the next beat.

Then I changed follow action for each to move to the next one after a beat. Then mapped the buttons to the clips.

[ophidite]

can you explain :

i think each pad of the first line is a part of a sample between two warp point

is it ??

[ahlstrominfo]

thanks :D

[depfwon]

sick

[ahlstrominfo]

thanks

[soundwidgets]

this vid made me buy my monome - it is so awesome and i haven't even tried it with live, yet - do i need live 6? I have 4.something came with ProTools..

[ahlstrominfo]

I think I use live 5 for this one. But I'm using Live 6 now.

[isnie]

cool

[fr35h23]

great drum performance!