Push Tutorial (Part 1)

We are starting another series of video tutorials related to Ableton's new features, this time focusing on the PUSH control surface. PUSH is a musical instrument and control surface for Ableton LIVE 9 that incorporates a set of features very common in music production. As a studio musical instrument, it is useful for composition, whether to create drum rhythmic patterns, melodies such as bass lines, or harmonizations using chords. For live performance, it can be used as a tool for launching audio and MIDI clips, mixing channels, and adjusting device parameters such as effect units. When it is connected for the first time, you will see a box appear in LIVE in the Session view that will cover an 8-track and 8-scene clip matrix, similar to how it appears on other control surfaces. This matrix corresponds to the central pad matrix of PUSH. By default, PUSH starts as an instrument, so if we want to view the clips to launch them, we must access the Session view with the SESSION switch. If we want to return to the instrument view, we will select NOTE. To start working with PUSH, it is interesting to see how you can navigate through LIVE's native instruments and create instrument tracks without ever having to use the mouse, as illustrated in the following video [video:http://vimeo.com/76129960 align:center] The NOTE mode allows us to work as a musical instrument so that the PUSH pads behave like the pads of similar instruments, such as AKAI's MPC stations, and also like drum machines. This latter application is the one explored in the first of the videos included in this installment: the selection of a Drum Rack type instrument, the creation of a track and a clip. By doing so, the PUSH pad matrix transforms into a step sequencer [video:http://vimeo.com/76131483 align:center] The next action is the introduction of note events to create a rhythmic pattern using the step sequencer. Again, all this can be done with the control surface, without the need to use the mouse. [video:http://vimeo.com/76132742 align:center] When composing a drum rhythm track, it is common to create various patterns, variations of one that we call the base pattern, a technique that is explained in the following video [video:http://vimeo.com/74089989 align:center]

By Ramir Martínez (microFusa teacher)