Exploring Device Racks in Live 11

In the previous chapter, we were learning about some of the brand-new and updated audio effects in Live 11.

We also looked at sidechaining techniques, and we discussed the differences between using effects as “insert effects” (effect inserted directly onto the tracks) and “send effects” (effect inserted onto a return track and then sending tracks to this return track).

We explored the benefits of using parallel processing with the return tracks.

In this chapter, we will further explore parallel processing but, instead, on a track basis via device racks.

We will be looking at Instrument, Effect, and Drum Racks, and take a look at the Rack improvements that were made with the Live 11 software update.

In this chapter, we are going to cover the following topics:

• An introduction to Device Racks in Live
• Instrument Racks
• Effect Racks
• Drum Racks

Technical requirements

In order to follow along with this chapter, you will need the following:

• A computer with at least 8 GB of RAM and an Intel Core i5 processor
• A pair of headphones
• A copy of Live 11 Suite
• The Chapter 8 Ableton Live project

Let’s start off by gaining a deeper understanding of the use of Device Racks in Live.

An introduction to Device Racks in Live

By creating Device Racks, you can build your own complex devices that contain effects and instruments.

You can create multilayered instruments, apply signal splitting and parallel processing, to name just a few of the uses of Device Racks.

If you think about it, when you have, for example, a MIDI track, you insert a MIDI effect on it, an instrument, and stack up some audio effects to follow the instrument. You are creating one chain of devices, just like how you would in other DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations).

However, if you are, for example, working on an Instrument Rack, you are able to create multiple device chains playing in parallel, meaning you can have several instruments stacked up on the same track. All these instrument chains can also have their own effect processing, and then the output of all these chains gets summarized as the output of the Instrument Rack.

Drum Racks work a little differently, but we will be having...

Exploring Instrument Racks

In this section, we will build a few Instrument Racks for different scenarios and uses!

First up, let’s design a multi-layered instrument! Follow these steps with me:

1. Head to the browser, navigate to Instruments, and drag and drop Instrument Rack onto an empty MIDI track (Figure 8.2).
2. Now, you will see the Rack in the device area at the bottom.

Figure 8.2 – The empty Instrument Rack dropped onto an empty MIDI track

3. The Instrument Rack at the bottom of the screen in the device area is already instructing you to Drop an Instrument or Sample Here.

You can go back into the browser and pick a pad sound from Sounds, under Categories in the browser. Drag and drop it onto the Instrument Rack.

4. Now, make sure you display the chain list by pressing the Show/Hide button:

Figure 8.3 – Using the chain list Show/Hide button to display the chain list

...

Creating Audio Effect Racks

Loads of things will feel similar in this section; after completing the previous section with me, you should feel more comfortable with Device Racks.

As mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, one of the points of Audio Effect Racks is to group effects into a Rack to be able to save the effect chain as a preset, or to bypass all the effects inside the Rack at once by bypassing the Rack itself, which contains the effects.

We can also carry out parallel processing by having multiple device (in this case, effect) chains on the same track.

Audio Effect Racks work much like Instrument Racks. However, they don’t have the Key and Velocity Zone Editors; they only have the Chain Select Editor.

In this section, we are going to create an Audio Effect Rack for vocal processing.

There is a track in the provided project called VOCALS that we are going to use to create our Rack.

Follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the browser and choose...

Exploring Drum Racks

You may have found a lot of similarities in the functions, purposes, and looks of Instrument and Effect Racks, but Drum Racks work a little differently. Let’s see how Drum Racks operate by building one from scratch!

Follow these steps:

1. Create a new MIDI track.
2. Head to the browser, choose Drums under Categories, and insert an empty Drum Rack on the new MIDI track (Figure 8.33).

Figure 8.33 – An empty Drum Rack inserted onto the new empty MIDI track

3. Go ahead and display all the other areas and functions on the Drum Rack by using the small buttons on the left side of the Rack, as we did before with the other Device Racks we looked at. Now, you will see what the Drum Rack looks like when all the control areas are fully open (Figure 8.34).

Figure 8.34 – Fully displaying the Drum Rack

4. You can already see that there are familiar areas, such as the Macro Variations...

Summary

We have finally reached the end of Chapter 8! Device Racks truly provide an unlimited amount of fun and creative possibilities once you understand how they function.

In this chapter, we looked at what Device Racks are generally useful for and how we can build an Instrument Rack, an Audio Effect Rack, and a Drum Rack. In the process of building these Racks, we gained a practical understanding of the layouts of Device Racks and how they work.

As I mentioned, there are endless possibilities for how Racks can be used, so my best advice after you are done with this chapter is to dive into the already existing presets, to further your knowledge and get inspired to build more of your own!

In the next chapter, you are in for some fun, as we will be looking at one of my favorite Ableton Live features – audio to MIDI conversion and the Simpler device!