I've done a couple posts in the past on Nick's Tutorials, his work is fantastic and certainly worth the coin. He has broken down Ableton and sound design using the DAW in a way that many of the other tutorial designers have yet to do. His work is interesting and most importantly, always informative.
Nick isn't a giant company like Lynda or MacProVideo, he is a guy with an incredible skillset who has taken the time to share his craft with all of us. If that doesn't deserve your dollar I don't know what does.
Nick has decided to begin offering Bitwig Studio tutorials alongside his already successful Ableton tutorials. When you consider that the Bigwig guys used to be the Ableton guys it makes quite a bit of sense that many Ableton users may be jumping ship for Bitwig. No word on when these tutorials will be ready but trust that they'll be worth the wait. If you're one of those people and you're looking to get a leg up on your fellow Bitwig fanatics be sure to check out the Nick's Tutorials website and Nick's YouTube Channel.
If you guys remember I did a post on Nick and his Ableton tutorial's site aptly named NicksTutorials.com back in March. His tutorials aren't your average run of the mill tutorials, all of them (even the free ones) do a fantastic job of digging deeply into Ableton Live and getting down to the nitty girtty, covering areas of the program other tutorial makers often neglect. All of his tutorials avoid useless info and when you hit play on any of Nick's videos you're off and learning within 10 seconds. This one isn't quite as in depth as some of the other videos he's made but it's still incredibly important. Automation has the ability to transform a lifeless track into a track with; varying dynamics, structure, and stereo spread if it's used correctly. In this quick tutorial from Nick on Ableton Automation, Nick goes over; Drawing, Recording, & Editing Automation. As with all of Nick's Tutorials this one gets right down to the "need to know" info right off the bat. This is certainly on the basic side of his tutorials but I'm willing to bet even you Ableton Savages might learn something new, he goes over lots of shortcuts that can save everyone a lot of time when working with automation. Check out the automation tutorial from Nick right here and be sure to visit his homepage at NicksTutorials.com to investigate everything else this Ableton Guru has to offer!
I still remember when I was properly taught how to wind cables. My instructor was acting as if it was the most important thing in the world. I remember thinking that it was no doubt important but certainly didn't think it was as crucial as he was making it out to be. I couldn't of been more wrong... Knowing how to properly wrap cables is one of the most important things you can know as an engineer, musician, DJ, producer whatever. Not only will it prolong the life and sustain the sound quality the cable is capable of delivering but you also won't look like an inexperienced idiot when a real professional has his eyes on you for whatever reason. You never know who's watching you setup and tear down your gigs. Act like an amateur and you'll be treated like one. Act like a pro and in turn you will be treated like a pro. In short, know how to properly wrap and store your cables. You'll save yourself some money and avoid potentially loosing an opportunity because you didn't take the time to learn a crucial part of the audio industry. (as crazy as this sound it is indeed true)
The two most common ways I see people wrapping up cables is either by wrapping them around their elbow (very bad) or by holding the cable in their hand and looping it around and around with their dominant hand. (less bad, but still no bueno) The problem with both of these methods is that they introduce continuous twists into the cable. Cables have a shielding that is usually a mesh screen to protect from interference. If you're constantly introducing twists you begin to wear down this shield that works to prevent electrical interference from entering your signal path. Once you've destroyed the shield it can't be fixed you need to replace the cable. If you have any cables that will no longer stretch out flat on their own these cables have been ruined by subjecting the wire to too many twists for too long of period. The metal shield is no permanently twisted, in turn causing the cable to be twisted. Not to mention wrapping the cables in either of these manners leads to a massive pain in the ass when you're un-winding them. If you're currently making this mistake correct it now, it's never too late to start doing something the right way.
Here is the correct way to wrap & store your cables, it's known as the over under method. Since I assume this will be hard to explain in words I'll include a video demonstrating this process as well. Start by holding one end of the cable in your submissive hand with the connector facing you. Use your dominant hand to grab a section of cable then make one normal loop back up to your submissive hand. Next, grab the same length of cable with your dominant hand again; This time though make a loop twisting the cable in an inverted direction while bringing it back to meet up with your submissive hand holding the loop. Follow this with a regular loop and then another inverted loop repeating this process until the cable is rolled up. Basically remember to twist one way and the other and you'll be ok. This way you introduce a twist followed by an inverted twist thereby making the net twists on the entire length of cable 0. Not only does this extend the life of your cable to almost forever, when you un-roll it, it will just spread out without any tangles or kinks on it's own. This saves time during setup which is always crucial. I know this sounds confusing but this video (as cheesy as it is) should help you to understand the concept. Just don't tie a knot in it like he did, buy cable ties. It seems hard and even awkward at first but after some practice it just becomes second nature. Once you get it you can use this method to wrap up just about anything!
I've got a really great track I had the pleasure of working on for you guys today. When I first heard it I was beyond stoked to get cracking on it because it possessed quite a unique and diverse sonic character. Unfortunately it took me a bit to get it as I was swamped with other ongoing projects. When I finally sat down to work and gave the song a few listens I immediately thought and focused on three things. First and foremost make that kick as mau5 like as possible. Say what you want about the mau5 his kick is perfect! (Thanks in part to the SSL Stereo Bus Compressor) Secondly, I knew I had to push the low to mid range pretty hard to bring out the grit that was such a prevalent sound in the track. Finally I had to sculpt and bump the highs up just enough to bring out all the grimy noise whilst still keeping the epic progressive synth leads in check. I also added quite a bit of character and extra noise with the URS Saturation plug-in and Digidesign's Reel Tape Saturation plug-in @ 15ips. Long story short I made the adjustments I saw fitting; EQ, Compression, M/S Processing and preapred the track for limiting. I knew this had to be loud to sound good, it's just one of those songs that without a lot of amplitude would loose a lot of it's meaning and purpose. I pushed the L316 hard to the paint and made some final release time adjustments to keep the harmonics relatively in tact. The result is what you're about to hear, all in all it came out great and still has a lot of the original dynamics despite it's loudness. The kick is beautiful, the low-mid range grit grabs your soul and the highs are perfectly balanced keeping the progressive synths bright and comfortable while showcasing just enough of the added noise to bring the whole track together. Give it a listen, it's beyond a sonic experience! knøx - mummy (original mix) by knøx
It's no secret I kind of love Traktor Pro. Maybe it's just my unhealthy obsession with the gate effect. Whatever it is, it doesn't really matter, Traktor Pro is the best computer DJ software out there. Eat your heart out Serato (Pitch n' Time is real cool though) It's also no secret I have a thing for Livid Instruments and what they've created over in Texas. Livid designed a custom .tks file for Traktor Pro that's specifically designed to work with their beautifully designed and built Ohm64. Livid's midi map has control over all 4 decks and parameters inside of Traktor Pro. While this is still just a beta release of the .tks, the video below makes it pretty clear that the Ohm64 tears up Traktor Pro with ease. If you own Traktor and were looking for a unique and rugged way to get hands on with it check out Livid's Ohm64! Below is a video showing in detail this marriage of madness between NI's Traktor & the Ohm64 from the guys over at Livid.
First and foremost I'd like to apologize for the stagnation of posts as of late. There was way too much on my plate and I was simultaneously hit with some personal issues I had to figure out. I had to do some major prioritizing with a very important new job as well as new mixing & mastering clients. Ze Sound Suite is in its infancy so unfortunately it got pushed to the back burner while I got all these other responsibilities under control. I really love teaching and love sound even more, creating this blog is a dream that has manifested itself into reality no matter how small it is. Hopefully one day with your help Ze Sound Suite will become my one and only priority, for now though, I have to balance my work with my hobbies, Now... lets get to why you're all here. To get some geek flowing!
No... Not me, another person sharing this amazing name with me has created quite the resource for all of you Ableton geeks. Nick's Tutorials is the online world of Nick Maxwell's Ableton tutorials. Nick set out to fill the gap left by most popular tutorial videos. He saw that everything available to consumers was relatively similar and decided to start creating Ableton tutorial videos that focus on much more than just the standard basics. Nick works as a sound designer and composer who's here to help all of you to create that sound your looking for in your productions.
I discovered Nick's Tutorials while randomly geeking out and doing some searching for new things to learn. I sent him an email requesting a little bit of information about himself and his website. He was more than helpful and I really appreciate it. So in recognition of him taking the time to chat with me, show him some love by reading this post and then giving Mr. Maxwell a visit at his website dedicated to enhancing the Ableton experience for thousands of users around the world!
At Nick's Tutorials there is a wealth of video tutorials on Ableton. Most of them are free but a few subjects are available for purchase. These dive deeply into the hidden potentials of Ableton and what it truly has to offer. Take a minute and check all 4 of these tutorial videos out. You might learn something new and that my friends, is the point of it all. Below is a breakdown of what Nick's tutorials has to offer you. Nick provides video clips from the series so you can see what you're getting yourself into before you drop the cheese. Keep in mind that this series of tutorials will surely demystify Ableton but, they also give you the basic knowledge you need to take your skills onto other programs and instruments.
Nick's Ableton Live Tutorials
Sound Design in Ableton Live: Analog: This 3 hour and 40 minute tutorial video aims to answer all of your sound synthesis questions as well as serve as an in depth guide into Ableton's most powerful instrument; Analog. In addition to being introduced to the world of subtractive synthesis and Analog the video also comes with ready made instrument rack presets. Now you've got all the sounds you will learn to create before you even start the video. From nicktutorials.com; "Unlike a lot of other tutorials, these videos explain each decision in the sound design process rather than simply moving forward and assuming that you know exactly what's going on. This is not a "paint by numbers" tutorial series but rather an attempt to empower you to do this stuff on your own. I invite you to join me for a few hours and learn the amazing sonic potential of Analog!"
Sound Design in Ableton Live: Operator: This tutorial covers the world of FM synthesis and Ableton's own Operator FM Synthesizer. Nick's aiming to change the game of FM synthesis instruction, offering a practical and simple approach to exploring the world of FM Synthesis while giving you the knowledge you need to master Ableton's Operator. Nick's goal in this tutorial isn't to show you how to create specific sounds. Instead, he offers an application based approach that instructs from basic to advanced to get you on the path of creating your own sounds. The information in this tutorial will be applicable for your entire life of production and you will find yourself using the knowledge from it in multiple scenarios far beyond the world of Ableton and Operator.
Sound Design in Ableton Live: Sampling Tools: Anyone can download a sample library full of hard hitting loops and catchy leads. If you're looking to take someone's work and use it as the bulk of "your own" productions, stop reading right now. However, if you're looking to create your own sonic space and unique sound for your listener then you might want to take a look at this tutorial series. This tutorial delves deep into the realm of taking normal sounds and turning them into something quite unique and your own. Here's a breakdown from nickstutorials.com highlighting just a few of the things you will learn in this series of tutorials.
-FIND out how to transform tiny, insignificant sounds into powerful drum hits through strategic uses of layering, tuning, filtering, and envelope modulation.
-CREATE a pseudo-wavetable synthesizer out of a few tiny chunks of audio. You’ll also learn how to create rich melodic pads and lead sounds.
-DRAMATICALLY alter and improve melodic sounds through slicing and reprocessing.
-UNDERSTAND how to utilize a combination of modulating sampler and effects parameters to create evolving textures and sound beds.
-DEVELOP a clear way of dividing a large number of parameters into small, manageable groups of related sound-shaping tools.
As you can see these tutorials aren't your average beast. With these you defenitly get what you pay for. You could spend years and years combing over live as well as countless books and material on various sound design methods or you could shell out a few ducketts and have a professional who's been working in the industry be your guide to the massive world of Ableton Live. And.... Guess what??? We're not even done yet, there's still one more for me to show you guys!
Sampling & Slicing in Ableton Live: This tutorial explores the world of sampling and editing within Live. Ableton can be used in so many ways and is so massive it's easy to get lost and furthermore, quite overwhelmed. Have no fear though. Once again Nick is going to make this a lot easier on your brains and stress levels. This series explores the side of Ableton needed to create sample based productions (DJ's looking to use live, this is your new beezy) Below is a video clip from the tutorial series as well as a breakdown from Nick's website giving you a little taste of what you will be learning in this set of tutorials!
-HOW to sample audio into Ableton Live for further processing.
-HOW to interface your turntable and other audio hardware with Ableton Live.
-ESSENTIAL techniques for layering samples to create massive, custom-tailored percussive sounds, including the effective use of filter enveloping and compression to thicken your sounds.
-HOW to utilize audio clips in preparation for slicing them up.
-THE controls and feature set of Ableton's included sampling device, Simpler.
-POWERFUL methods for creating a rich, evolving chord from simple melodic stabs.
-THE controls and features of the Drum Rack device, including how to create your own Drum Rack custom presets.
-HOW to create exciting new arrangements from simple loop-playback adjustments.
-EFFICIENT methods for rearranging, modifying, and resampling your work for further processing.
As you can clearly see Nick has created quite the resource for all of you Ableton geeks. This isn't some tutorial series for those wanting to sound the same as everyone else. It's a tutorial series designed to give you the power to create your own sounds. Everyone that uses Ableton is using the same tools, it's how you use them sets you apart from the masses. These tutorials will demystify Ableton for a lot of you and in no time you too will be creating quite the musical expiernce for anyone that listens to your tracks! I also took the time to ask Nick for some information about the future of his website and tutorial ventures. If you think what he has now is great just wait, he let me in on some ideas of his for the future, I'll now pass those onto all of you! "The future definitely holds exciting things in terms of expanding out into other software and instruments. Native Instruments Absynth and Massive have both been in heavy rotation, and Renoise has been inspiring quite a bit as of late, too. I'm also planning an electronic music workflow series where I go through the production of a simple track using sound design techniques from my other series along with teaching people basic mixing and composition." For more information on Nick Maxwell and his Tutorials please visit his website at www.nickstutorials.com
