Push 3 Users Thread

The Lounge Other Gear
#2841

Watch Marcello’s video:

note: You don’t need to the do the Flatten/Freeze Operation he shows after capturing the ReSample. You just need to press the hardware Convert button to convert it to a Simpler in the options panel.

He’s a big time MPC One user, and I think in the video he had the Push 3 for a few days before recording the video before having to send it back.

FWIW, my workflow is as follows:

. Load up various Instrument tracks in Stand Alone
. Build my multitrack groove
. Resample
. Slice it up and play it back
. Add Drums
. Add additional instrumentation atop my Resampled foundation
. Rinse and Repeat

It’s so fast, fluid and a joy to use. I was never this proficient on the MPC One because of all the menu diving and instrument set up process…I always dreaded resampling on the MPC One because of it. It felt like work to me.

I freaking love this instrument…it reminds me of how i felt once i understand the power in Drambo on iPadOS…i’m just flying around on this device now…making music and flowing with my mind…it’s how it should be…The Push 3 just disappears when I’m in the zone.

8 Likes
#2842

Since sampling is a current topic, I’ll just mention again the excellent Push 3 standalone compatible device called Catch. If you have relatively simplistic but live and fun sampling needs and want something with a very fast workflow, this is a great option:

7 Likes
#2843

Does anyone have any interesting ways of using the push for MPE performance/expression outside of the intended methods?

I’m really interested in being able to use the pads as an expressive XY pad. I’m away from my computer and push atm but I think that these variations of the Expression Control m4l device with keytracking could get me most of the way there:

https://maxforlive.com/library/device/7168/midi-hub

https://maxforlive.com/library/device/6947/exp-plus-plus

I don’t think this will really work in the way that I’d like it to in my head but it could be fun

Edit: it does not. Keytracking is stepped as expected and the range is truncated to the octaves available on the push pads.

1 Like
#2844

I’ve arrived at a bad place with my Push 3 / Elektron setup. After hours and hours spent trying to unify sequencing across them, I basically gave up. But somehow the reduced workflow that I’ve ended up with (Elektron sequences in Song Mode + using the Push like an 8 channel mixer) has deflated my inspiration and I haven’t fired my rig up for weeks.

Has anyone else figured out an elegant way to send Program Changes from the Push to your Elektron devices? I want to be able to execute Elektron pattern changes from Push clips / scenes in a way that will allow me to use Ableton instruments, rather than just use audio effects on the Elektron boxes.

#2845

Can a standalone user please tell me what the round-trip latency is like at 32 samples buffer size and 48 kHz sample rate?

I’m wondering if it‘s possible to monitor my guitar directly through it (would need around 5-6ms rtl for that)…

#2846

Have you seen this?

Would require set up in controller mode if you’re using P3 standalone

#2847

Would require set up in controller mode if you’re using P3 standalone

Yeah, I’m trying to stay in standalone. I’ve considered diving into M4L to solve the problem (I have a background in Pure Data) but that’s exactly the kind of rabbit hole I’m trying to stay out of with a dawless setup.

#2848

Yeah fair. Could you create dummy clips to send PCM?

Short clips with looping off so it just triggers once, quantized to 1/16th or something so it’s almost instant and you’re not waiting until the end of the bar. If you needed to send different PCM to multiple instruments you could have each one set up on its own track, make sure the relevant clips are aligned on each scene, then group and collapse so you can trigger them all with one button.

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#2849

This would work but you can only configure the clip to send program change on desktop, not on standalone. So it’s not an ideal workflow.

I’m sure someone’s made an M4L device that makes this ergonomic but I haven’t seen it yet.

#2850

Yes that’s true, but it’s also maybe ten minutes of time spent with it connected to a computer to potentially resolve the issue that has you falling out of love with a very expensive piece of music equipment. And once you’ve made one clip you can easily duplicate, change the PCM automation, repeat, until you have as many clips as you need, store them all at the bottom of your set or in a track that’s completely deactivated and you have them there ready to go for standalone. Renaming clips would also take very little time and make it easier to arrange after the fact.

1 Like
#2851

That’s the solution. Set it up as a project once on your computer (ie. create a clip for each pattern, with the right launch quantization). Then move to push standalone and use it as a template, copy/duplicate clips from standalone as you wish, etc.

Push 3 Standalone is especially powerful when you take a bit of time to set up your project’s deeper technical structure in controller mode first.

3 Likes
#2852

So, anyone here who got a Push 3 Standalone as their first ever Ableton encounter? If so, what have been your experiences so far?

#2853

There is a program changer m4l device with controls mapped to Push, so maybe that works?

https://maxforlive.com/library/device/9212/program-changer-for-push

#2854

I would think that most everyone on the Push3 are on it because of their daily use of Ableton Live.

And a majority of those users are Push 2 users who upgraded.

That’s just my assumption of course.

1 Like
#2855

Not wrong. Current “in consideration” user here. Have enjoyed my first year with Ableton, now considering hardware upgrades and the Push is an obvious choice. Currently considering whether or not that would allow me to slim back on some of the VST purchases I had, and lean more on the stock devices. Oh, and I should say, I wouldn’t be upgrading as I don’t have a 2, but I wanted to see how Ableton worked for me before going all in on it, as the Push would suggest.

#2856

Those seem like very fair assumptions, but that’s why I’m asking to see if there are any others like me with no previous experience with Ableton who’s still considering the Push 3 Standalone (and ultimately switching DAW on the computer side of things) for its groovebox-on-steroids capabilites.

1 Like
#2857

how’s the workflow with regards to importing user samples into the drum rack? pretty certain I watched a video that made it look like a pain. Not sure if the demo I watched made it seemed harder than it was, but the navigation shown in the video made it look like the Push reverts back to the main directory after loading a user sample, meaning you have to scroll through previous folders before landing back to the user directory each time after sample loading. is that really the case?

#2858

but it’s also maybe ten minutes of time spent with it connected to a computer to potentially resolve the issue

I’d need much more than 10 minutes to configure a controller mode version of this setup. I’m using a Scarlett 18i20 to run 8 channels of ADAT into the Push and it all has very specific routings that are present when the device boots without a computer.

When you connect the Scarlett to Ableton, it nukes the standalone configuration, so I’d have to setup a whole new template with the proper routings.

I’m just not passionate about this idea. If I wanted a laptop involved, even superficially, I wouldn’t have bought the Elektron gear. It’s about the workflow, I don’t want to be tied to a mouse and keyboard while I’m making music.

1 Like
#2859

So much fun playing the MPE pads in controller mode today.

Because GForce OB-X came out and although I didnt notice them shouting about this side of things, poly aftertouch works with it, and there is also a setting to enable poly pitch bend - if you switch that on and then enable MPE mode for that plugin instance in Ableton, that side of the Push 3 pads work with OB-X too, joy! To use it properly you then set the bend range to 48 in a patch, then press the lock button next to it so that this pitch bend range doesnt change when you change presets. I’m not sure as MPE Y (CC74) works at all but I really dont care, sacrificing that dimension for a soft synth of this quality is still a total joy to me.

#2860

The suggestion is just that you connect the Push to a computer to create a midi clip with a PGM change message and once that’s done you save and return to standalone. You don’t need anything else connected. You can set the MIDI routings on your Push manually in standalone later if you really want to continue to waste your own time

I googled it now and there’s a page in the Ableton knowledge base called “Sending Program Change messages from Live” that will show you how to do it

1 Like