Push 3 Users Thread

Ah, I misunderstood the email I guess.

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It’s not supported.

When Push 2 was released I used Push 1 alongside it until I eventually needed the desk space, but it did work even though there some occasional glitches/hangs.

Not sure how this is with P2/P3 since I gave my the P2 to my brother.

Is Roar and Meld in that beta? That’s really the only thing I care about.

I might start using my Push 3 SA as a stupidly expensive effects pedal for my S2400. I really want Roar on it though lol.

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Yes, Meld and Roar are both in the beta.

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Anyone having problems with external instruments in live 12 controller mode?
I can’t send any midi to external devices, works fine with live 11.
Seems to be a problem with the push 3 external port.

Folks, I’m officially at a crossroads here. I’ve got 3 digi-boxes routed into my Push and am doing my best to retain the Elektron sequencer workflow on them. It’s not been easy. For context, my usecase for the Standalone is that I write in Controller mode but (ideally) ship the project to the Push for use in Live performance, sans-laptop.

Ideally you’d want to keep the firing of a midi or audio-clip in sync with pattern changes on the Push. Out of the box, Elektron’s notion of waiting for pattern changes until the completion of the current set of bars defined by your page settings keeps it out of alignment from Ableton’s global clip launch quantization.

I’ve been working with Airyck’s wonderful Elektron Pattern Clips M4L device but I’ve noticed that it’s not quite ready for standalone use.

And now the new Midi tools in 12 just dropped and I’m thinking, should I just be writing all my midi and automation in Ableton and sequencing the digis?

But then I’m thinking, if I’m not using the Elektron sequencers, do I even need the digis?

Anyone else in my predicament? Have you found a way to integrate Elektron sequencing with Ableton clip launches?

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Taking a day off to celebrate life and using my favorite instrument to express that joy:

just a sketch at the moment.

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Where I ended up with the track from this mornings exploration:

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It’s technically not supported, but I really quite enjoy using my old Push 1 alongside my push 3. You cannot have one device focused on one track and the other device focused on another, but what I end up doing is using the
push 1 in session/grid mode and with the mixer mode activated on the screen and knobs. This allows me to focus on the playing surface and track devices on Push 3. It even works this way in standalone.

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In a very similar situation right now. I have P3s and syntakt going to the octatrack. I have octatrack being the master clock, syntakt slave of the octa, push slave of the syntakt. Adjusting the latency in push I manage to have it synced, and without a lot of added overall latency.
Due to the problems you referred above I have push just sending one program change message in the beginning of a song. This basically means that I can only have one syntakt pattern per song, or I´ll have to do change patterns manually - you can right down on a clip in Push which Syntakt pattern should play on a certain scene, for example - or I just don’t know how I would make it work. Im using syntakt only for drums/ percussion and bass. Octatrack is a creative mixer/looper and it works perfectly, syntakt is the one that is giving more headaches and I still don’t know if it will fit my workflow

Advantages:

  • Having access to the Syntakt analog voices, plus some additional drums from push to be processed by the syntakt;
  • Elektron sequencer
  • Elektron workflow - how easy is to add variations to patterns , sounds and to revert back to a saved state, for example.
  • A more personalised setup - other than “just” using push 3 and Ableton devices

Disadvantages:

  • adds latency;
  • adds complexity;
  • Only one pattern per song for drums is a limitation
  • having to work with midi sync
  • don’t love all of the syntakts machines
  • Needs more headspace to perform.

Right now I am really trying to make this setup work. I am definitely a noob on the syntakt so there is a lot to explore in it, which will definitely make it more valuable.

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Good hack, but I’m operating too many boxes to manually switch patterns. I also couldn’t stand to be limited to a single pattern.

Last night I experimented with follow actions + negative track delay. So far, no luck.

I’m generally hesitant to request features to support my particular workflow, but I have a hunch about this. As Ableton adoption increases even further and the Push paradigm gets stronger, Ableton is moving into performance contexts that were previously the domain of Elektron. Dataline is the canary in the coal mine.

Elektron will have to figure out whether to work hard to play nice with their German neighbors, or ask us to choose.

Unfortunately, if I can’t get this hardware synchronized well for live performance, I’ll have to sell the Elektron boxes and double down on the Push.

Elektron really ought to pay @Airyck to focus on Pattern Clips full time.

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Hello Push 3 users. I didn’t want to make a new thread to ask this question, but lmk if that would be the better choice akshually.

I’m considering working in the daw for a change and am looking for opinions on controllers. I’ve been out of touch for a minute.
Is there any reason to consider hapax or oxi one over p3? Assume budget is 1k. Budget is -1k but a person can dream.

If your looking for a controller for Ableton then no better than Push3 simple as that.

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I am not sure, if I understand you correctly, but neither Hapax nor Oxi One are Controllers. Both are sequencers, that are built to send notes and modulation-values to sound-sources. Maybe you can use both to some kind of control you DAW, but thats not their main purpose.
I don’t know for sure, but it might be that you can use both as some kind of Launchpad to start and stop patterns in the session view, and maybe you can even use them as grid-layout keyboards, but if I remember correctly, both are not velocity sensitive.
A cheaper option just to press some buttons are definitively the Launchpads.

But: There is no controller out there that provides the same feature-set and integration into a daw than the Push does with Ableton. You can access all the plugins with their settings in there, you can (with limitation) write full songs in Ableton on a Push without ever moving your fingers and eyes away from the push (thats why Push 3 Standalone works). So if you want to work in a daw, but want to do as much as possible without your mouse or touchpad, there is no way around the Push (in my opinion).
Dependent on how final your decision is and what you skills and needs are, you might be as happy with a second hand Push 2 as with a Push 3, because if you dont need Standalone and dont need MPE, Push 2 to should be a lot cheaper but as powerful as the P3 is.

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Lol yes I meant ‘sequencers’ not ‘controllers’… long week.
Thank you. I have considered push 2 just to test the features and workload first.

Let me start up with this: I currently do 99.9% of my music making with my Push 3 Standalone. I have to switch to my notebook once in a while for stuff that does not work in Standalone, but thats a few minutes every now and than.
Besides that: I hate the “sequencer” part of the Push 3. Other than drums, that work quite nicely on the grid, everything chord and melody (and even a lot of percussion) I do by recording me playing it on the grid. Using it like you might use an Elektron Box, by “programming” every step, it is a workflow I really don’t like and never really use.
Have not used Hapax but I have owned the Oxi One and a deluge (thats also a grid based sequencer), and both are superior if you want to create you music by programming steps. If I find myself wanting to create stuff I am not able to play, I either move over to the MacBook and place notes by mouse, or I connect my own DIY Sequencer to the push, program the parts there and than record it over to the push. As I want to get better in playing the grid-keyboard, thats a fine workflow for me now, but if I ever am going to want more sequencer-based workflows, Push 3 wont be the tool of my choice.
And btw.: In that case, Ableton wont be either. The only reason I am using Ableton, is the Push 3. If that falls away, BitWig (for me) is superior when working with external modulation sources and targets.

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Considering you say your budget is $1000 I’m assuming you mean you’d be getting the controller Push.

I do think at face value from the sequencer side of things, comparing the Hapax or Oxi to the Push 3, the first two are definitely stronger sequencers.

On Push you can sequence the notes, sort of do some parameter locking, type stuff, and there are MIDI effects which you can play with. But that’s about it. The Hapax blows the Push out of the water when it comes to sequencing directly from the hardware itself.

But once you pull up Ableton on the computer, especially with Live 12, the editing possibilities with midi notes is about on par, if not better in Ableton. And there’s hundreds of Max4Live sequencers out there as well that expand into the more esoteric realms of sequencing.

My workflow tends to be to live perform the foundation of a pattern with the push and maybe do the parameter locking style of automation, and then get into the nitty gritty on the computer.

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Does anyone know if the cv outputs of Push 3 SA are sample accurate (like the audio outputs)? Or do they have some jitter in terms of timing, like the midi outputs?

Let us know if you find a way to do it, or if you just give up. I limited to one electron box because I think it will be complex enough - octatrack is just live sampling.

I don’t think you are requesting anything that is very particular to your workflow. I guess that not being able to change pattern immediately is some sort of a technical challenge, but I can imagine that there might a few thousands of us that want immediate pattern change :).

Another hack that might also give you some live control is having the program change sent from Ableton and then <Stop+play> on the elektron master clock device - if you are using one :). This would restart the pattern from beginning so it should be the new one? You have to have your timing right but this might be doable?

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Sounds like I need to figure out what I really want.

I’ve had pretty much every hardware groovebox, and several multi-hardware setups. I briefly used a daw with a maschine, but was tethered to a desktop. Now I have a laptop and am curious again.

Thanks @Uija and @OldmanChompski
I do like hardware that will limit the amount of mixing and mastering needed, I have not developed those skills. I’ve convinced myself I don’t care about the details. I’m happy when I listen back to my tracks, but I can tell they are only good enough for my ears… which is fine, I know, but I might occasionally want other people to enjoy as well.

Soooo only using Ableton because of Push, you say. I do like bitwig. I used it also briefly with a Midicake ARP and that was tasty fun.

I’m drawn to P3 for expressive playing and mpe. Then again, I’ve had a Deluge paired with an mpe controller before, and did not like it enough to keep it. I thought the P3s single mpe membrane might be different, you know, sliding notes and stuff. But I suppose I could do that with legato and/or LFOs.

Currently my only gear is a Woovebox, which was a nice departure to just have something tiny to use on the couch. The headphone connector came unsoldered and the romance is over.

The Woovebox has a chord track that you can make other melodic Tracks follow. As a non-classically educated musician, this feature sparks joy. Oxi one has this feature.

On the other hand, Hapax (and polyend play +?) have midi effects.

OK, so, coming to terms that I definitely don’t need/won’t know how to use advanced (or even basic) features for sound engineering/mixing on any device, might just be best to go for an oxi and bitwig.

I will need to sit on this… at least until I forget about it and the gas dies down.