Ableton 7, CDJ 1000 and a DJM 800

steloide

Hi, I'd just like to throw this out there and see if i could get any answers. So i was doing a DJ set lats night and for fun we thought it would b good to do a few tune bk2bk with cdj 1000's. The laptop (ableton7) was pluged into channel 1 and the cdj's in channels 2 and 3. It was so hard to beat match with ableton that we gave it up in the end.
Is there anyone out there that could give me a diagram as to how ableton is configered or if an extra bit of equiment is needed. i was also using an AKAI LPD8 as a midi controler.
Thanks for the time.

seannash

Theres a few ways to do it.

First set up a fader to adjust the master tempo in ableton.
set the region for a 10 bpm increse(meaning set it up so that you can only speed it up 5bpm or slow it down 5bpm)
This will be your pitch slider.there is a bpm readout on the cdj so that should get you close.

the other and easier way is to set the bpm of ableton to the same as the cdj using the readout on the cdj and match the cdj to the ableton deck adjusting the cdj even though its playing the dominant track at that time.

It takes practice but its possible

steloide

We set the bpm to 123 on ableton and the same on the decks but they were still running off and the nudge on ableton was good for about 4 beats. Alot of work and not very smooth. There is also the higher/lower side of 123bpm on the cdj's.
Is there such thing as a sync button like in traktor to sync the cdj's with ableton and the other way around.

seannash

yep thats why i suggested setting up the slider so you can increse in smaller increments and also ride the pitch to catchup or slow down.

there is no sync,but there are external devices that might help but the techniques above should work.

try beatmathing the cdj not ableton,noone will notice you slightly slowing down or speeding up on a cdj as long as its in cd mode

steloide

Cool thanks for that i'll check it out.
Just to recap from what u said it basicly pitch control for all machines?? And how do u set the master tempo to exceed 2bpm's

seannash

steloide wrote: »

Cool thanks for that i'll check it out.
Just to recap from what u said it basicly pitch control for all machines?? And how do u set the master tempo to exceed 2bpm's

Yeah when you map the fader to the master pitch at the bottom of the screen itll let you set the range so just set it to 120-130(or whatever tempo suits)

Im a bit rusty on ableton but thats how it works from what i remember

Like i said it should help you keep things in sync.its not ideal but its definetly doable

steloide

Thanks for your help will toy around with it. By the way nice stuff on soundcloud. http://soundcloud.com/stefan-carroll c what u think.

electrogrimey

Here's another way of doing it.

Have the person using CDJs to use Serato/Traktor Scratch. Then you will be able to sync Serato/Traktor and Ableton via MIDI, and have them always locked together. MIDI, or Ethernet, is how acts like Aether work, with 5/6 DJs all working together, from a master laptop. There's a video of Richie Hawtin talking about it on Youtube.

seannash

electrogrimey wrote: »

Here's another way of doing it.

Have the person using CDJs to use Serato/Traktor Scratch. Then you will be able to sync Serato/Traktor and Ableton via MIDI, and have them always locked together.

Yeah thats a better option alright but it involves alot more equipment.

was.deevey

Think this would do the trick for you ...

http://www.redsound.com/products/soundbitemicro

Takes and audio feed and outputs the midi clock sync:) - its even got its own sampler