Ableton Live Tutorial: Flying Lotus' 'Camel' - Beat Deconstruction pt 1

[jailbreakir]

where exactly is part 2? i havent seen it on dubspot, is it just staring me in the face?

[joel1445]

I understand how you make the drum beat . but how do you make the melody?

[MCkidKool]

Im dont get the point of this. my ears can do it 10 times faster

[bootr0s]

i cant beleive this technique has been staring me in the face for all this time!

[audiopilz]

This has to rate as one of My favorite On-Line tutorials to date. The implications of this technique are sooooooo far reaching. FOOKIN LOVE IT!!!

Only one small problem.........

I am HUNGRY as Hell for the next part!! Is there gonna be a part 2?

Keep up the GREAT work! :)

[JunkieSmurf]

dude, you kinda sound like jason segel. trippy.

[ssiegert12]

how do you change the note of a drum beat? when i click fold and change the note nothing plays

[hi5aif]

uhh isnt this a waste of time ?

[Everythingsleeps]

wish you would of at least played all the tracks without the original solo track..so we can hear a perspective of what the deconstruction would sound like

[lowerfifth]

I WANT PART TWO! THUMBS UP!

[ksantander]

What was the point of that ?!?!?

[koostapo]

@ksantander Hello! Beat Deconstruction is a concept we cover in one of our advanced Live courses at Dubspot. It's purpose is to show us what a producer was thinking when they made a drum beat so we can build better beats of our own. Basically, it's an analysis tool that builds musicianship. Check out our corresponding blog post to learn more about it (the link is in the info box above). Thanks for watching! -Pat Cupo

[Spoonman455]

@koostapo But you could just listen, and get the same information without relying on technology

[ncshuriken]

Love making dub with ableton, although I try not to copy other artists conventions (thats what makes every1 sound identical LOL). Ableton pisses me off sometimes though, it can be so sentimental. One day your making a deep tune, made all your own patches, saved the tune. You come back to it and half your patches have been messed up or changed, or the program decides when to, and when NOT to work. Damn, I love it, but at the same time, I hate it. Some of these glitches make you wanna go postal.

[ColdAsBalls]

is part 2 coming out any time soon? i cant find it...

[koostapo]

@sk8ordie778 Thanks for stopping by! Really good tip - I'll be sure to look out for that in the future. Be sure to check out the new weekly series of Ableton Live tips by Steve Nalepa on Dubspot's Youtube channel.

[RobertCella]

Super helpful for us beginners....thx guys :)

[DubSpot]

@RobertCella glad you found it helpful, be sure to check out our online ableton courses at dubspot.com which are taught by Pat Cupo who made this video.

[WileyHouseProject]

Looking forward to pt 2.

[DubSpot]

@WileyHouseProject it's coming soon, we're just in the middle of launching our new online Ableton course (check dubspot.com for more info). When Pat get's a free minute he'll finish Pt. 2 and we'll upload it, thanks for your patience! Be sure to subscribe to our channel so you can get notification as soon as it goes up.

[LIGHTRONIX]

wow this could have been explained in about a minute, this is so over explained.

[HumanC0nditi0n]

Still no part 2? I want to finish this one off. I'm using Leftfield - Inspection (Check One) song for my Beat Deconstruction and its looking nice already.

[daydreaminoncloud9]

do u know how he made they synth by any chance

[abletondummy10]

Still no part 2 two weeks later???

[koostapo]

@abletondummy10 Hello! Please excuse the delay of Part 2. We are launching Dubspot Online tomorrow! We appreciate your patience and, above all, thank you for watching our videos. -Pat Cupo

[glitchnoise]

could this work for example, if i want to use a snare or kick of a song for another live set?

[koostapo]

@glitchnoise Yes, it can work. Copy the MIDI info and paste it in the MIDI Note Editor of Impulse or a Drum Rack. Then you can use any sample you want to be triggered by those MIDI notes. A creative tip for you: Use something other than drum samples to be triggered by the MIDI info. Grab some interesting sounds from other sources and see if they work together. Remember that you can adjust the length and velocity of the MIDI notes to taste. That way you can create your own groove. -Pat Cupo

[aaaaaarif]

i was like yeah ok i know this - up until the last moment where u resized the midi notes. simple but great trick to get a good overview! thanks a lot!

[koostapo]

@aaaaaarif @distracteddispatches Glad you liked it! Check out Part 2 when it comes out. I'll break it down even further and show you how clever this beat really is. Thanks for watching - Pat Cupo

[distracteddispatches]

Interesting technique. I can definitely see how this could be useful.

[puppydoganal]

I just slice to new midi. extract groove. put midi groove into drum rack and adjust accordingly.

[koostapo]

@puppydoganal I do the exact same thing - good call. Are you using it for recreating drum beats or coming up with new beats? And do you only use that technique on drums? I like to use it on acapella samples and found sound / field recordings. Thanks for the tip! -Pat Cupo

[djdozoz]

I think you forgot to unsolo the audio track ;)

[koostapo]

@djdozoz Actually it's soloed on purpose. This is really an analysis tool and not a sampling tool, though you can use it that way :) For those people who are used to reading standard western music notion and not reading waveforms, this helps them see the audio as MIDI information (notation). In the continuation of this video, you will hear the audio in many different forms. Make sure to read the full article on our blog which explains this technique more fully (see info above) Thanks! - Pat Cupo

[FreshnessStudio1]

great thanks -)

[FlyingLotus]

YOU.. YES you can sound just like flying lotus.. Awesome..

[koostapo]

@FlyingLotus First off, thank you for watching. This video was made out of respect and I'm personally a big fan. This technique is used to show people how music in general works so they can one day create their own. At Dubspot we believe that anyone can make music and we want to give them the tools to do so. We encourage people to find what they like in other's music, combine it all, and find their own style. We all copy from each other - it's how we do it that makes us original. -Pat Cupo

[lightfootharry]

didnt really get the point......

[koostapo]

@lightfootharry Beat Deconstruction is an analysis tool. It's a way for us to see, both visually and conceptually, how a beat was constructed. There are ways to steal grooves in Live, i.e. Slice to New MIDI and Extract Groove. For me though, I think it's more respectable to deconstruct someones beat to learn from it, then construct our own. FlyLo, Dilla, etc. already exist in the world; let's see something new. And to do that, we study what the greats have done and progress from there - Pat Cupo

[JetboyOZ]

I always wondered how to copy midi from the session view to the arrangement view lol.

[berbesso]

Great tipp!!! Thx a lot for that!! But where is Pt. 2??? ......can't find it, I suppose it is not online yet, is it??

[DubSpot]

@berbesso it will be online in the next few days, if you subscribe you'll get a notification when it goes up.

[berbesso]

@DubSpot

Great!!! Thank you guys for the quick response!

Respect!

[Joduh87]

U Soloed the Main Audio clip only, no sound changed . I understand where your going with this tho cheers!

[koostapo]

@Joduh87 Exactly, and that was on purpose. This technique is strictly for analysis and we're trying to see the audio loop as MIDI. In Pt. 2, the solo button will be taken off and you'll hear many different versions of the audio. Thanks for watching! -Pat Cupo

[koostapo]

@DrRegoras I have that book and it was really good! "The Everything" series is a good resource for those starting out, and they get pretty in depth at times. The guy who wrote "The Everything Music Theory Book" and I went to the same music school where I was a Music Theory major. So, yes, I agree: all musicians need some practical theory and ear training, which is the aim of this tutorial. Good call - Pat Cupo

[koDiacc]

everytime you play the loop, nothing changes because everytime the 1st track is solo?! im really confused but shoudnt you un-solo the first track and then play the other tracks?! for me nothing changed in this video

[koostapo]

@koDiacc Beat Deconstruction is a concept we cover in one of our advanced Live courses at Dubspot. It's purpose is to show us what the producer was thinking when they made the beat so we can build better beats of our own. Yes, nothing changes and the "Camel" track stays soloed. Notice that all of the MIDI information lines up perfectly with the audio clip when it is all laid out in the arrangement view. In Pt. 2 you see how this all breaks down to find the initial concept for the beat. -Pat Cupo

[iAmFractalSky]

if you're sampling u can use this to extract diff sounds and focus in in diff frequency ranges of the sample youre working with.... (:P

[iAmFractalSky]

this is pretty cool.. plenty of ways u could use this in the art of sampling!!

[withaspoon94]

this is a very long process that you wouldn't have to go through because if you have basic music knowledge then you can re-create drum loops very easily

[BeauSun572]

@withaspoon94  Said Perfectly

[koostapo]

@withaspoon94 I agree with @BeauSun572 - Well put. If we have a good foundation in music theory, then we could easily re-create any drum loop, or even an entire song. However, re-creating drum loops is not the goal here, and those who stop there would unfortunately miss the point. The goal of this exercise is to help those with a minimal amount of theory knowledge to be able to learn what the great producers are doing and, like you mentioned, eventually not have to go through this process.

[MarksSax]

@withaspoon94 being someone that has a pretty extensive musical background but a pretty limited ableton / electronic music background, I find that this is something that can really help bring me into this world. Pat hits it right on the head with his comparison to how a jazz musician would transcribe an solo. It may be a different way of doing things than some people would, but as a teacher, it is all about knowing several avenues to reach the same point to connect with different students.

[withaspoon94]

@MarksSax but generally you would be able to re create this quite easily wouldnt you? electronic/ ableton is no different its just using different tools if you know music you know music its just the tools you use to express an idea

[FinalFragment]

Great video, very usefull for an issue I've been dealing with, on a drum loop I was trying to decifer. Makes it very easy and fast to change and rearrange stuff!

[BeauSun572]

Pat.... Stop teaching how to bite !!! For real tho, dubspot is a dope school.... u should help keep it that way.... since there are alot of people who want ya job..... stay on ya game teach !!!!!!!!!!

[KalokoTube]

you can use then your own sounds!!!nice technique i will use it on house music !!!

[koostapo]

@KalokoTube Very good point! It's just MIDI information so you can copy and paste it in any MIDI Note Editor using any sample you want. Endless possibilites. Have fun! -Pat Cupo

[yann27]

cool thats how i do it also this days :p

[colbertvp]

great tutorial but I do not understand the use of beat deconstruction

[Vincentgriezelig]

@colbertvp It's to learn the patterns. this way you can see all the drum hits and stuff.

this is a strange way of doing it though.

[koostapo]

@Vincentgriezelig Hey there - Pat Cupo here. You're absolutely right, and good explanation. If you have another way of coming up with the same result, I'd be really interested in hearing what you have to say. This is part 1 so you're only seeing half of the technique. In part 2 you'll see what I had in mind as a finished product.

[koostapo]

@colbertvp Thanks for watching! Pat Cupo here. This technique was originally an ear training exercise for my beginner production students. By going through the process, they found themselves listening to the music more closely and started thinking like producers. It's fun for me to analyze my favorite beats - I try and figure out what the producer was thinking when they made the track. Check out the full article where I explain the use of Beat Deconstruction (Link in the info above)

[SyncrisisVideos]

@colbertvp you can then flatten all of the midi information created (so the kick notes only occur on one midi channel) and then combine all of your separate midi note lanes into one midi clip on a channel that has a custom drum rack that you have built. essentially, use your own samples but with the same groove extracted from the flying lotus beat.

[UnisonResonance]

Great tutorial!

[TheSpambomber]

a great tutorial i had no idea it could be done like this but its kinda messed up when you have overlaying souds, thanx

[SuperInuits]

I love Flying Lotus! Camel is one of my favorite songs by him :D

Interesting video!