Electribe Newby (Writing a song) !!!?

[Gavin R]

Hey all !! I've just got my hands on an emx. Really enjoying it. I have one question though !!!
When in song mode you select pattern and choose the one you want with the scroll wheel thing, then press >. It says pattern end and the pattern is loaded into the song in the position of your choice. Then to load the next pattern you have to go through the same process again passing all the factory paterns to get to the one you want. Is there an easier way to do this or has everyone deleted the factory presets ??? Thanks in advance Gavin

[11hz]

what i do is use insert pattern. So say the song consists of patterns B01-B05. Use the scroll knob to select pattern B01 in song possition 1. Then use insert pattern and insert however many patterns your song is going to be. then go back and change all the B01 to make your song structure. This way you are only scrolling up 4 patterns rather that having to go through 120 of them.

insert pattern is Shift + step button 8.

[Gavin R]

Thanks for that !!! Thought there would be an easier way of doing it. Takes bit of getting used to ey ?? Gavin

[Gavin R]

When you put in the initial parts u have to scroll through all the presets though ey ?? Think this will be annoying in time ???

[11hz]

you should only have to scroll through all the presets once: when selecting the first pattern of the song. Then after that you should only be scrolling up a couple of patterns. Also if you hold down the shift button while scrolling it makes it alot faster. You can get from pattern A01 to D64 in 3 flicks of the scroll knob.

It is not that big of a deal to me.

annoying to me are audio clicks.

[reddone]

Simlpy make a main groove in pattern mode ( main bit of the song , the best bit really ) or an intro that your sure how to roll from , and duplicate every time you make something that u think is decent . Then jump around making variations that can work together in a song .

Then .. go into song mode and set your first pattern to the one that suits an intro most and then hold shift then press insert pattern twice to .. insert the pattern .

Do that around 16-32 times depending on length of your starting pattern , and you have a basis for a song that you can build on .

Now you know how simple that is , all you need to to is get your patterns in there . I shouldve mentioned that around 10-15 patterns should be enough to give your tune variation and movement .. and in turn your tunes unfold easier .

You can start motion sequencing in stages or long play it doesnt really matter that much , but i think it best to keep going till u feel your running out of good ideas , then rest and listen back to what youve done ... then start more recording if needed .

One thing you REALLY need to do tho is make sure the ends of your pattern wont cause problems when changing to other patterns .
if there is problems you need to really "work tha damn thing" in pattren mode and then go back into songmode and check its all working .

Finaly , just dont be put of songmode because once you use it as " big pattern mode" it starts to show it true potential and your gonna start going crazy thinkin of possibilities . Get into it my friend

[11hz]

yeah, what he said. You've just described my process exactly.

[Gavin R]

Thanks for the tips guys !! Have been using ableton for a while so this is all new to me. Really liking the habds on of hardware tho. Thanks again Gavin