Routing: Creative Flexibility

Live 4s powerful new routing scheme allows you to take your mixes to the next level. Tapping
individual outputs of instruments, submixing, patching, flexible resampling, and much more, are
all possible with the new routing options available in Live 4.
Out to the In
The key to all of this power can be found in Live's patchbay, the !n"#ut $iew. The !n"#ut $iew
is accessed via the %ession $iew &ixer by clicking on the !n"#ut $iew show"hide button.
The !n"#ut $iew handles all routing and monitoring. 'ou will see ()udio *rom+, ()udio To+,
(&!,! *rom+ and (&!,! To+ choosers for determining how signals are patched between tracks or
external hardware. )lso, there are (#n+, ()uto+ and (#ff+ switches for controlling the behavior of
the tracks monitoring.
The combination of these simple controls can yield very useful and creative options to your music
productions.
Keep Them Separated
%o you have created a great drum pattern using !mpulse. -owever, something is not .uite as
exciting about it now that you have listened to it a few times. The groove is nice, but the kick
sounds a little weak, the snare is a little flat and the hi/hats are not si00ling as much as you had
originally thought. 1hat you need is some advanced mixing, which is easily achieved through
routing individual !mpulse sounds to separate tracks and adding some effects.
2reate four new audio tracks and name them (3ass,r+, (%nare+, (2losed+ and (#pen+, or
something similar, so that you can keep everything organi0ed.
4ow select the &!,! track that contains !mpulse, in this case 5/&!,!, in the ()udio *rom+ !nput
Type chooser on the (3ass,r+ track. !n the !nput 2hannel chooser, directly below, select the
individual slot containing your bass drum sample in !mpulse to isolate the particular sound on
this track. 6epeat this process for the other tracks to isolate the snare and hi/hats.
The last step is to switch monitoring (#n+ so that you can hear the input.
4ow try adding a compressor to the (3ass,r+ track and a delay to the (%nare+ track. 1e will also
add an 78 *our to the hi/hats, but instead of using two instances of 78 *our, one for each hi/hat
track, lets submix the (#pen+ and (2losed+ hi/hats to a single track. To do this, create another
audio track and name it ()ll -ats+ and on the (#pen+ and (2losed+ tracks' )udio To chooser,
select the ()ll -ats+ track.
#n the ()ll -ats+ track, drag in an 78 *our and ad9ust to taste.
)s you start to add other instruments, you may find that the drums need to be turned down in
the mix. This could prove difficult with so many tracks. To make this a simple task, create another
track and submix the entire drum kit. 4ame the track something like ()ll ,rums+. 4ow, in the
individual (3ass,r+, (%nare+ and ()ll -ats+ tracks, select the new ()ll ,rums+ track in the )udio
To chooser. 6emember to keep the (#pen+ and (2losed+ tracks routing set to ()ll -ats+ to keep
your 78 *our in the mix.
*inally, select the ()ll ,rums+ track in the )udio To chooser of the track that !mpulse is in so
that the remaining sounds in the kit are routed to the drum mix track as well.
4ow all of the drums are routed to this single track. This will allow you to easily control the
volume of the entire drum kit in the rest of the mix without needing to move all the tracks faders
individually. This is also useful if you want to process the entire drum mix through an effect such
as a reverb.
A Simpler Random
2reate a &!,! track and add %impler. 6ecord a pattern and drag in the 6andom effect to create
some variation to the pattern.
4ow, create another track and add a couple of additional notes to the pattern by choosing the
track containing %impler in the &!,! To chooser. This will send the additional pattern to %impler
and play it along with the first in the %impler track. *or this example we do not want the 6andom
effect to alter the new notes we are feeding to %impler, so select (%impler+ in the #utput 2hannel
chooser instead of (Track !n+.
This will route the notes of our additional pattern directly to %impler, bypassing the 6andom
effect. This means the pattern sitting in the track will be randomi0ed, but the pattern from the
other track will not be randomi0ed.
Take a Load O
#nce you have your drum mix the way you want it, you may decide to record the results as an
audio file to free up your 2:; or to tweak it with clip envelopes and warp markers. To achieve
this, create an audio track and select ()ll ,rums+ in the )udio *rom chooser and record the entire
drum mix, post/effects.
'ou can grab audio from anywhere, which allows you to sample virtually any source. 'ou can
create a lot of new sounds this way.
Tho!e Spe"ial #oment!
'ou can also record &!,! data between tracks 9ust as you would with audio. %uppose you have a
&!,! clip playing an instrument and you have used some of Live's &!,! effects to spice things up.

'ou like the results and would like this to be a new &!,! clip.
%imply set up another &!,! track to record the results as a new &!,! clip.
3y now ! am sure you are beginning to see how powerful the new routing possibilities are in Live
4. 'ou can streamline your setup and creatively enhance your mixes very easily with routing. %o
go ahead, experiment and find some new tricks of your own.