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Laptop Jams set-up

  • 27-05-2010 4:11pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,791 ✭✭✭


    Has anyone messed around with jamming with DAWs between a few people? Had a go last night with a few mates, it was great. Just wondering how people have set up before. We just had three separate laptops and were syncing by ear, with no master controller. What's the best way to hook up that kind of set-up?


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,350 ✭✭✭hans aus dtschl


    Seems you've alluded to it yourself already in the last post, no?

    Set one as the MIDI master tempo controller, and let the others sync off that? Maybe my concepts of what you're looking to do are too simplistic?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,791 ✭✭✭electrogrimey


    Seems you've alluded to it yourself already in the last post, no?

    Set one as the MIDI master tempo controller, and let the others sync off that? Maybe my concepts of what you're looking to do are too simplistic?

    So run one laptop via MIDI into the soundcard, and then have the audio from that laptop running as a channel in the main laptop's Ableton?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,002 ✭✭✭jimi_t2


    Fun story.

    The M-Audio Xponent is actually a fully compatible ReWire slave. Found that one out last night when trying to figure out the exact difference between the CDJ and ''hybrid'' mode in the manual.

    Who even needs two laptops. Just the one (albeit well powerful) one will do :D

    But yeah, I think more than one DAW really ends up with a too many cooks scenario. The best way to do it (imo) is to have a DAW doing leads and bass, another person routing/mixing the stuff in some fashion - including sidechain compression - and whoever else doing stuff off separate hardware MIDI using the MIDI clock off the first laptop as sync.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,373 ✭✭✭Executive Steve


    jimi_t2 wrote: »
    Fun story.

    The M-Audio Xponent is actually a fully compatible ReWire slave. Found that one out last night when trying to figure out the exact difference between the CDJ and ''hybrid'' mode in the manual.

    Who even needs two laptops. Just the one (albeit well powerful) one will do :D

    But yeah, I think more than one DAW really ends up with a too many cooks scenario. The best way to do it (imo) is to have a DAW doing leads and bass, another person routing/mixing the stuff in some fashion - including sidechain compression - and whoever else doing stuff off separate hardware MIDI using the MIDI clock off the first laptop as sync.



    They can work brilliantly if people share out common groove templates across the network and treat it like a jazz band would go about it; four guys play in the background while one guy stands up and does his thing, and they take it in turns.

    Laptop jams where you have heads who think they're in a pub trad band and everyone pummels away at once while lashing into the pints and the whiskeys, well, they're not quite as pleasant to listen to!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 216 ✭✭Diego Smartly


    Laptop jams where you have heads who think they're in a pub trad band and everyone pummels away at once while lashing into the pints and the whiskeys, well, they're not quite as pleasant to listen to!

    Reminds me of this:

    What do you call 4 geniuses soloing on 4 different instruments?
    Jazz!


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,002 ✭✭✭jimi_t2


    They can work brilliantly if people share out common groove templates across the network and treat it like a jazz band would go about it; four guys play in the background while one guy stands up and does his thing, and they take it in turns.

    Laptop jams where you have heads who think they're in a pub trad band and everyone pummels away at once while lashing into the pints and the whiskeys, well, they're not quite as pleasant to listen to!

    QFT

    One unbelievable bit of software if you're planning to sync hardware from Ableton is MidiQuest 10.

    Basically it allows you to act as if your hardware is a drop-in plug-in with a fully accessible GUI, even for the 2 line LCD, four knob rack synths of yore. Couldn't be more suitable for macro/arrangement control when you've a few people belting out **** and allows you to use Ableton in lieu of a proper mixer.

    It's got fully designed GUI's and implementation for 650 instruments including all the usual suspects. $250

    535704jpg.jpg

    http://www.squest.com/


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 380 ✭✭c_o_ck p_i_ss chillage


    this thread =

    minus-makes-contakt.jpg

    :D:D:;);)


  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 3,793 Mod ✭✭✭✭eeloe


    You need a cube!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,791 ✭✭✭electrogrimey


    eeloe wrote: »
    You need a cube!

    That's what we were missing!

    Although it's a good bit harder, I quite like doing it without sync, and making it more like a live band set-up, except using digital version of instruments. More possibilities IMO.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,002 ✭✭✭jimi_t2


    More possibilities IMO.

    More headaches IMO.

    But fair juice for having the integrity to do it ''live'' like that as antithesis of some of the stuff I see out there; I'll never forget the video (which seems to be removed) of Peter Hook, the New Order bassist, DJ'ing @ Exit a couple years back.

    Basically it was him dancing behind the decks and fumbling with the EQs to make it look like he was doing something better. Problem was he had only one CD deck and that one was playing the entire 'pete tong's future classics' mixmag cd verbatim for his ''set''. Even including the ''This is a Mixmag CD'' jingle. I **** you not.

    The videos have obviously been removed at this stage as he's a 4k a night DJ who's been touring for about 5 years. Pity he can't DJ though!

    http://www.erolalkan.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7718


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,791 ✭✭✭electrogrimey


    jimi_t2 wrote: »
    More headaches IMO.

    But fair juice for having the integrity to do it ''live'' like that as antithesis of some of the stuff I see out there; I'll never forget the video (which seems to be removed) of Peter Hook, the New Order bassist, DJ'ing @ Exit a couple years back.

    Basically it was him dancing behind the decks and fumbling with the EQs to make it look like he was doing something better. Problem was he had only one CD deck and that one was playing the entire 'pete tong's future classics' mixmag cd verbatim for his ''set''. Even including the ''This is a Mixmag CD'' jingle. I **** you not.

    The videos have obviously been removed at this stage as he's a 4k a night DJ who's been touring for about 5 years. Pity he can't DJ though!

    http://www.erolalkan.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7718

    I've heard that story alright. That really infuriates me - and you get it a lot with indie bands - when people in bands are automatically headline DJs, for no reason. ____ (DJ set), when the bloke in the band probably has never DJ'd before in his life.


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