Phrygian Escape: Ableton Push 2 - Live Performance with the Phrygian Dominant Scale

[@pk3776]

Amazing 👍

[@neonvoid]

I am also playing with different scales recently, other than chromatic - great set & fantastic camera angles/colors.

[@markeemarcthediscoman8688]

Inspirational stuff Andri, thank you for continuing to create. Seeing this and rewatching your other live performances creates a desire for me to be better. Lots of practice still required but the Push Bible is my driver.

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you Marc! Thank you for continuing for your continued companionship on the musical journey. Every step, even when some might feel like a mistake or in the wrong direction, is a step forward. I look forward to keep taking more myself. Hope you’re doing very well

[@saadelgarrab7022]

Brilliant work. Love the build up of the beat. And the captions are just 👌🏼

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you Saad 😌🙏🏻 The captions are fun to write, and a way to be “naked” about what was going on while making the music.

[@snarlysausage4604]

wicked vibes! really enjoy these vids

[@AndriSoren]

Thanks Snarly :)

[@tablaninja]

These are great! I’m inspired.

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you, tablaninja! ☺️

[@clarkflavor]

Super awesome! Reminds me a bit of the kind of moods Daft Punk made on the TRON soundtrack.

[@olli_vollmer]

awesome

[@AlexFainDj]

Fantastico

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you, Alex 🙏🏻

[@MightyCraicDJ]

Bravo!

[@synthseeker]

Great performance!

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you!

[@michaelwalsh6913]

Andri - always so musical.

[@AndriSoren]

Michael - always generous :) Thank you!

[@BiologicalDataScientist]

Beautiful!

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you Sebastian!

[@synthseeker]

Somewhere full of sand and sharp edges.

[@phantazzor]

How would convince me to buy a push 2 these days? I never put my hands on it, I own a maschine mikro 3, which only starts to make sense now. The push seems a lot easier to jam but it's a lot of cash... I currently have a korg nano mixer and a mini lab 2

[@AndriSoren]

Hey Olivier, I wouldn’t myself try and convince you, as I’m a firm believer in there being no “one size fits all” solution to creativity. Ideally we try different workflows out and after some triangulation land upon what works for us. For me this was Push, precisely because it could do enough of what I wanted (make ideas very quickly, both melodic and percussive) and also that it doesn’t try and do too much - the limitations it has are healthy for my creativity and productivity. A friend once told me “make one thing your instrument”, and I chose Push. For you the choice might be completely different. When are you in flow? Why is that? What would help you be there more often? Finally, would adding something help, or perhaps taking something else away? These are the questions to ask first, I would humbly argue.

[@phantazzor]

@@AndriSoren I'm agree with the one instrument thingy, I'm mostly in the zone when I'm dealing with hardware. few of my friends are using it live with some other midi to be able to control more stuff but I never really had the chance yet, hard to find one where I'm at the moment in Thailand. but the visual of the steps is quiet usefull for me so you know where exactly you want something. Anyway thanks

[@beshinsky6464]

Love it, thanks for leading the way!!!

[@AndriSoren]

Ben 🙏🏻😌

[@MaxAntsiferov]

Great Performance! Quick question- are you recording the master audio outside of Ableton or on a separate track? If latter, how is it done, I can't really figure out a way to record it without ruining "live" takes

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you Max! I always record externally. As you’ve experienced it’s far too easy to lose a take when using Live to perform (particularly using session view) and also record. I send a copy of the master out my soundcard to a zoom recorder. If you’re soundcard only has one output sometimes you can use the soundcard software to create a mix on your headphone output (including cue, metronome etc - I go into how do to this particular aspect in the Push Bible on WRKSHP.eu) and a different mix for the balanced outputs. Ideal situation is to have more than one output however. On some zoom recorders you can also have it record a backup recording at -12dB which can avoid clipping.

[@MaxAntsiferov]

@@AndriSoren Thanks for the informative response, was scratching my head for a bit here. Great content!

[@Allan-et5ig]

Why the dark glasses? To make Push II even harder to see? Seriously, enjoyed the piece.

[@AndriSoren]

Hehe, well, luckily push’s pads are nice and bright (and adjustable) 🤓 And thank you, Allan, seriously 😌

[@hodd_me]

Lovely stuff indeed. Do you have the laptop out of sight/out of mind completely?

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you Stephen 🙏🏻 For 80% of the time I do indeed keep the laptop / screen out of sight, and in any case 99.9% out of mind. I can see enough information on Push to stay in the flow, and as a rule I want to never have to touch my laptop while in that flow (at home or in public). It has helped so much, has made everything more enjoyable and brought a lot of focus. Of course I might for some videos first design the setup with a mouse and keyboard (there is no faster way) but once the countdown sequence begins, it’s just me and Push.

[@englishiowa]

Love your videos so much. The fact that you're creating these fantastic pieces without some several hundred dollar third party "something" is just incredible. So refreshing to see someone just using the program and the instrument and making stuff that ambiently slaps :-) Do you by chance have your racks or presets (like Screamy) available for purchase or download? Apologies if I've overlooked this somewhere.

[@AndriSoren]

Thank you so much Chris! What epic feedback - really. I myself am still surprised at what can be squeezed out of the built in instruments and effects, with now and then a little M4L thrown in. I used to look more often at other synths and soft synths but for now it happy to keep “mining” Live and polishing the gems I find. Which brings me to your very good question! I would like to do so - I simply haven’t made the time, in part because I want to do it really really well, and try and “join the dots” with what I’m doing on WRKSHP.eu I did recently give away my first rack to my students (I call them WRKSHPers!) there. It was built using the technique I show on the Super Instrument Rack video here on my channel. I’m pondering sharing it with the wiser community, just didn’t make up my mind yet. I make slow progress with these things, turtle-like progress! Thanks again for the wonderful comment and warm feedback. Drop me a line at [e-mail] if you’d like to discuss further.

[@englishiowa]

@@AndriSoren Well, here are some more compliments because I have plenty! :-) Ableton should send you commission because it was Pressure that tipped me over the line to upgrade to 11 Suite. I'm so amped for next week. As for the template and whatnot - I'll keep my eyes peeled for whenever that might arrive for purchase. I totally get what you mean about wanting it to connect with everything you're doing. Cheers!

[@AndriSoren]

@@englishiowa How cool is that! :) Don’t hesitate to shoot ableton an email or a tweet if you’re so inclined - every message out there helps - but nooo pressure. To this day I’m grateful to them since my discovery of live in 2009 and all that had some since that moment. A very interesting company and a great, slowly but surely evolving product (or two). Do consider joining the mailing list on WRKSHP.eu as that’s where I can reach everyone best. Thanks again for the wonderful feedback Chris! Let us know how the Suite exploration goes! Be sure to explore Wavetable + Polyphonic Aftertouch on Push.

[@FoxRiverTaxiGraveYard]

How do you preprogram your kicks to come in? During the sequencer or without? This is possible? I am a fairly new user this could be triggered by a pad ? Maybe i go to your workshop soon :)

[@AndriSoren]

Hello Ryan, I programmed them in on the sequencer, as I’m playing, knowing approximately what result they would give, and then brought up the volume of the kick drum sound on that pad. I try to play everything live in these videos. It’s a challenge but one that helps me stay sharp, think fast, and get into a “flow”. Don’t hesitate to write to me at [e-mail] if you have any other questions about the Push Bible course 🙃

[@FoxRiverTaxiGraveYard]

@@AndriSoren thank you most excellent teacher

[@bongopro4401]

Push looks dope in the dark , I see that u said the scale took u some time to get used to it and I’m having a hard time trying to come up with more pop melodies, do u think is better to come up with chords and leave the melody for last ?

[@AndriSoren]

That's a great question Frankie, one I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer, given how rarely I manage to sculpt pop-like music - and I mean with clear structures and memorable melodies and chorusses, etc. I have just one album (on my bandcamp) and only a couple of tracks got even close. But - I do reckon it's easier to build a melody first, and then add a supporting layer of elements around that, such as a baseline and chord changes. If the melody is very complex this might make that hard. On Push what can work nicely is "scale surfing" - playing certain shapes, chords and also melodies, and then changing the root note of the scale shown on Push and finding what works. It can generate quite nice ideas, and can be a great start. That all said, great pop melodies are elusive creatures, no matter what :)

[@bongopro4401]

@@AndriSoren I appreciate the response and btw ur performance was nice too

[@marcusplaysmusic8628]

more like FRIGyian because this track is so cool...................okay Ill see my way to my flat, 2.

[@AndriSoren]

Hehe I like it Marcus! Let’s lobby for a spelling change of the scale 🤓

[@JuVdmtv]

Looks like you had lots of fun making this, Andri

[@AndriSoren]

Julie, I truly did 😌

[@ArtardiDebernuro]

😴

[@AndriSoren]

Sleep well! 😅