2 Years of Ableton Live Packs and Tutorials!

April marks the two year anniversary for my series of Free Ableton Live material.  It all began when I shared a little instrument I made with the feedback from my computer's internal microphone interacting with its speakers.  Free Weekly Ableton Live Rack #1- “Laptop Feedback”  was born, and at the time I had no idea how far it would go.  After a year of releasing a new Live pack every week, I began my Two Minute Ableton Live Tips series with the Remap Dangerous Controls video (a lesson I learned the hard way). For the last year I've alternated each week with a tip and free Live pack.  As of now, there have been 76 free Ableton Packs, 31 Two Minute Tips, and a bunch of Premium Live Packs.  It's been an amazing journey that has connected me with thousands of people across the world.  I've heard great new music, met and worked with a lot of people I look up to, gotten the chance to do some presentations, and been inspired by artists over and over again.  This is a truly marvelous community and I encourage everyone to get involved and participate in it!

I begin my 3rd year with some big goals and plans in mind; I am very excited to share these ideas with you.  So let’s jump right in!

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Live Ableton Pack

I'm sure it's pretty clear that video games have a large influence in my life.  One of my first and favorite Live packs was the Nintendo Rack.  Probably my favorite video game series of all time is the Legend of Zelda.  It has captured my imagination since I was about 5 or 6 years old, and I've purchased Nintendo systems exclusively to play Zelda games.

A good friend of mine, J-Rod, gave me a really nice ceramic Ocarina for Christmas a few years ago.  It's just like the one Link uses in many of the games.  It even comes with a little booklet that teaches you how to play songs from the games.  This week, I finally put this ocarina to good use.    I sampled a couple of notes into Ableton and created an instrument that works especially well with Push.  It has controls for the sample selection, filters, delay, etc.  It even makes use of Push's aftertouch to control subtle vibrato and the filter frequency.  You can adjust it to sound true to the Ocarina, with slow attacks reminiscent of your breath blowing in.  But it also can function like a weird electric keyboard, or under extreme manipulation, some kind of bizarre breathing organism.  Check out the video below, which features a few tunes some of you Zelda lovers may recognize.  Then download it for free to use with Ableton Live 9 (sorry you Live 9 holdouts!).

New Music Made with My Pack Sounds

To further the 2 year celebration, I've released a new track.  It's called "Mind Space" and I think it's a perfect chill out zone out ambient piece for the warmer weather that's approaching.  There's a floaty vibe to it, but I'm not sure if it feels like floating in water or outer-space.  I'll give you a more definitive answer after my next space voyage.

The track features the Charlie Brown X-Mas Tree Synths  for the main chords that play through most of the song, and the Ableton Live Armageddon Pack w/ Korg Poly800 MKII for the higher pitched melody that pops in and out periodically.  Check it out above, and if you dig it, give it a like or a share, and hook up with me on SoundCloud.

Thanks and Here's to Another Exciting Year!

I'd like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this, checking out the Live Packs, Tips, and music I create.  It really does mean the world to me and inspires me to push myself into new creative endeavors.  Thanks and until next time...!!!