Full Tutorial - SONICWARE Liven Texture Lab

Full Disclosure: I occasionally take on freelance work at Sonicware on an hourly rate producing synth & sample sound design, beta testing, checking English text and video manuals like this. Any other shorter videos on my channel containing Sonicware products are not paid content.
SONICWARE have released a new Liven, the Texture Lab. It incorporates a granular synthesizer and granular effects processor with onboard sampling.
Please visit their websites for more information:
sonicware.jp
sonicware.eu
Addendum: So I managed to miss the per step trigger probability feature out of this tutorial completely due to the fact I often make these videos before the development is completely finished so I didn't actually know about it 😅. This is accessed by holding OK, pressing a step and turning the encoder. Thanks to ‪@Woochia‬ for including it in his tutorial which you can find here: • Liven Texture Lab: Com...
0:00 Teaser
0:39 Intro
2:25 Granular synthesis explained
3:02 Texture Lab layout
4:22 Getting started
Powering on, play and stop pattern, speaker mute, shift and func buttons, shift lock, headphone gain, what's in a pattern, playing the keys, octave buttons, loading patterns (PTN), pattern chaining, pattern BPM, global BPM, page buttons, knob latch
9:52 Building a pattern
Clearing a pattern, loading a blank pattern, selecting a sample (SRC), velocity, entering notes on steps, clearing steps, metronome on-off, metronome volume, pre-count, real-time recording, step recording, tied notes, auto step, swing, transpose, pattern length, pattern note setting, stutter playback, random playback, saving a pattern
17:48 Line in and reverb
Reverb mix, shimmer, reverb type, line in gain, stereo to mono, line in to reverb, line in to reverb
20:08 Sampling and resampling
Sampling settings, auto level, record source, sampling function, saving a sample, naming a sample, resampling a pattern,
23:22 Sample controls
EG controls, release & gate, attack, blend, pitch, position, length, speed vs sample playback, sample start, sample end, sample direction, position random lfo
Voice modes: poly, mono, mono glide, legato, legato glide, arpeggio, voice mode vs grains
29:31 Grain controls
Granular synthesis vs volume, grain capture direction, grain playback direction, size, density, timing, diffusion, jitter, shape, speed vs grain collection, granular synthesis example
36:22 Filters and modulation
Low pass filter, filter cutoff, resonance, high pass filter, band pass filter, mod assign, mod shape, mod rate, mod depth, using mod 1 as an envelope, fade in, mod sync,
40:27 Parameter locks
Parameter lock real-time recording, clearing parameter locks, parameter lock per step, parameter lock on-off
41:54 EFX mode
Using EFM mode, in level knob, changing pitch in EFX mode, sequencing notes, glide on-off, glide time, grain freeze
44:28 Misc settings
Pattern level, undo, redo, clock menu, midi menu, sample data menu, sample ptn menu, system menu
You'll find an accessibility quick guide that explains the controls here:
www.dropbox.com/s/k38igwsm2l9...
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#granularsynthesis #sonicware #texturelab

[@returnofthegoth2220]

This is a fantastic tutorial and really helps me decide how excited I am for this instrument. I am REALLY excited now!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ha that's good then, it's a great bit of kit 😁

[@jelig72]

Did you get it?

[@rudetee]

Thank you for taking the time for making these tutorials! It’s my fourth Sonicware machine and you are my goto !

[@edgeof60]

Very informative, thanks! All of the Liven series seem capable of producing various ambient soundscapes, but this one seems designed mainly for this purpose.

[@gabraelpaupmusic]

thank you for this pretty in depth video! I definitely learned a bit more about my new unit. Thanks for the video, cheers !

[@RANDOMLOOPGENERATOR]

Fantastic, absolutely love Sonicware! No fanfare, no unnecessary build up just whack, have this! Can't wait to see what's next!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes I like the way they launched this and the Lofi-12 like, 💥go!

[@Genshi]

Excellent video! I really need this Texture Lab in my life! (Granular Synthesis is one of my favorite forms of synthesis!)

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thanks very much. I hope you enjoy it if you decide to buy one

[@JeffMyers-ir3pn]

Watched a lot of videos on this unit. All have suggested this video. Thx.

[@AlfonsoCorace]

very well done, thanx for sharing. this little thing is a beast

[@SeanKearney]

Excellent tutorial from someone who clearly uses the gear! 😊

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you 😁

[@debrixlive]

It‘s worth mentioning, that a WIDI Master works great with it and turns it into a wireless MIDI sequencer and controller. I‘ve been missing this nice little box for a long time without knowing and complementing my Virus TI with it. Thanks for this beautiful piece of art!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Sounds like an awesome idea 😁

[@petetk]

This is awesome! Thanks Chris! I ordered my unit yesterday!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Awesome, hope you have fun 😁

[@bryanscarboddi1210]

​@@ChrisLodyMusicI'm fighting with myself if I should bye this or the 8 bit warps🤔 I'm a beginner but I really want a sample feature👉🤑🙋‍♂️

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

@@bryanscarboddi1210 They're both good at different things, but yes the 8Bit Warps doesn't have sampling. The easiest to use of the samplers is the Lofi-12 though. You have 4 tracks to play with simultaneously on that where as the 8Bit Warps has audio looper tracks and Texture Lab just has one track only.

[@rorz999]

This is like Paulstretch in a synth, and I'm here for it

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ha yes that describes it pretty well 😄👌

[@mobiledaw1436]

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. I had a microgranny but sold it a few years ago, I’ve been looking for a replacement and this ticks all the boxes and more. Ordered one after watching this video. Cheers Chris.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh nice.one, I hope you have fun with it 😁

[@theEscapee1625]

This is unit is an anomaly. Super interested but reluctant at the same time. Absolutely a great tutorial considering thanks!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes I can understand, granular synthesis is an odd thing so it's not always a useful sound source. It's great for experimentation though

[@matuscheksstudio9739]

i ordered it yesterday. Sounds good your tutorial. Hopefully it will guide me through.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

That's great, I hope you have lots of fun with it. Be sure to check out Sonic Cartography's channel too, he's made lots of advanced tutorials for it youtube.com/@SonicCartography

[@larsdanielsson193]

Chris, you're a great teacher!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you 😁

[@dartmore10]

Hey Chris, thanks for the great tutorial. I’d love to see your take on creating great drone sounds and solid soundscapes. Cheers.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. I'm knee deep in sound design work at the moment so I don't have much time to make tutorials, but check out this channel: youtube.com/@SonicCartography There's is tons of Texture Lab related info there 👌

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Addendum, trigger probability: So I managed to miss the per step trigger probability feature out of this tutorial completely due to the fact I often make these videos before the development is completely finished so I didn't actually know about it 😅. This is accessed by holding OK, pressing a step and turning the encoder. Thanks to Woochia for including it in his tutorial which you can find here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hF7YhISCbt2rl5o

[@limbicbits]

Fantastic Tutorial of a great synth.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I panicked a bit then tbh as I thought this had gone public early somehow 😅 Glad you like it, it's been a great source of inspiration already 😁

[@limbicbits]

@@ChrisLodyMusic 😂sorry for the panic moment

[@MichaelBrown-ov8sh]

Dang it! Stop putting out these excellent videos. I'm going to have to refinance my apartment at some point just to keep up!!! :D

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ha yes I know the feeling. I built a new studio not long ago and it just keeps feeling like it's getting smaller 😄

[@GeorgeLocke]

I hope your bank knows you rent.

[@aubrey5495]

Thx for the tutorial!!! Can’t wait for this cute guy😍

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Hope you have fun with it 😁

[@dinogoldie9716]

Thanks for all the help.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Just wanted to let you know, Sonicware have been working to make the Texture Lab more accessible by making the web app not rely on drag & drop and they've produced a different version of the manual that replaces the images with text. You can access that below. Feel free to send them feedback via the tech support email www.sonicware.co.jp/DL/LIVEN_TextureLab/DOC/TextureLab_manual_en_r2_for_visual_disability.pdf

[@dinogoldie9716]

​@@ChrisLodyMusic Many thanks for this information. I've had a quick skim of this version of the Texturelab manual and it seems like an improvement but for two things: 1) When listing the controls, it appears to have lifted a page from the Liven Bass & Beats (it speaks of mixer, bass, snare, kick, fx etc). 2) It refers to everything that isn't a knob as a "button." I much prefer the convention of "Buttons" (the rubber oblongs), "steps" (the round ones) and "keys" (the bottom row of keys). But issue 1 is a more pressing matter as once the basic controls are spelt out, it doesn't matter so much whether they're referred to as "buttons" or "steps." I shall of course contact support about this once I hit "reply" here. Also, that's promising news about the sample app. Thanks.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

@@dinogoldie9716 Oh that's strange about the Bass & Beats section. Please make sure you send this feedback to Sonicware tech support though, it was produced by them at the Japan HQ so I won't be able to make any edits to it. Having said that I have made some additions to my accessibility guide for it. Another visually impaired user asked me to add the contents of the menus so they're listed on there now too. That's here if you need the link www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/38ssldlfh2g5741ie19ki/SONICWARE-Liven-Texture-Lab-Accessibility-Guide-Tips.docx?rlkey=wvg4sgqjr5wmnmepb2w0m0awy&dl=0

[@RuiGon1]

Thanks.

[@wolfchan4389]

looking forward to it - I have so many thoughts of how the lofi-12 and this can be used in partnership to do some really fun glitchy stuff

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Excellent, sounds like a good plan!

[@izzzzzz6]

Hey Chris you have some great content. I think you could do with putting out some more videos as you don't have huge amounts of content. Looking forward to seeing more content and tunes.

[@midiwhale]

FANTASTIC TUTORIAL Chris! I know how much longer it took you to prepare and edit as well! Is sys-x over midi the only way to back up? or can it act like a USB drive in some way? It would be great to backup samples over usb on-masse. WDYT?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you, yes it does take quite a while to make these videos 😄 Unfortunately the Liven hardware doesn't have usb so the only way to transmit data in and out is to use midi sysex which is quite slow. To get the audio on initially you have to use the Line In which is far faster

[@mike_qbik]

Like it very much. Now only need to find a reason why this could to replace my LemonDrop . . . . a lot of shortcuts here, the graphic and touchscreen on LemonDrop is superb.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

From what I know about the Lemon drop it has more options in terms of synth routing and from what BoBeats said it has a smoother sound. But I'm going guess it's not as hands on as the Liven. So it depends if you prefer detailed routing or hands on immediacy I reckon

[@RJ_Eckie]

This looks like such a powerful device! The star of the show to me seems to be the external input and the efx mode. I was a bit disappointed to see the samples are mono. Does efx mode work in stereo? Specifically efx mode I couldn't quite follow. I can understand how grains are taken from a static sample, but it's not obvious to me how all these controls work on a stream of audio that's coming in. Going granular on literally any audio that you feed into it seems like it could be very cool. I'd really love to see a more in depth look at efx mode, and the kinds of effects you could make. Also: I've mostly heard really fast granular sounds. How long/slow could repeats realistically get? Think of sound fx in an ambient patch for example

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes the EFX mode is very powerful. I will return to it in a future video as I was very pushed for time making this ahead of schedule so other creators could get to grips with it. I'm not sure if the EFX mode is stereo, I'll have to check that. I'll try to explain how it works when I return to it but in EFX mode the Position control acts like a delay between grains being collected and played so at the lowest setting it can be a few milliseconds, so designing chorusing etc with it is possible. If the Speed control is used the lowest scan speed is 4x slower. But you can modulate the Position knob using an LFO so it can go much slower using that

[@acdnrg]

One more question (my machine will arrive on Tuesday): It seems sequences (also parameter sequences) are stored with the presets. Which can be changed via Program Change. Does this happen fast enough to be usable in a song context? Or are there any delays that would throw the box out of sync? I don´t have enough hands to control all boxes at the same time, so the ability to switch programs/sequences from a master sequencer would be very welcome.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I've not tested that in that scenario to be honest but it should be as swift as loading a new pattern. It will restart the grains though so the change could be quite abrupt. If you'd like to smooth that out onboard try turning off the Reverb Reset control and make sure your patterns use the same reverb settings

[@CKTDSTUDIO]

Hi Chris and thank you for existing, your work is excellent and detailed, thanks to you we Italians can also understand all the potential of this splendid machine that thanks to your tutorial I immediately purchased; thanks to you, I wanted to ask you if it is okay to sample the 6 seconds directly from a Tascam DR05 or is it necessary to always go through a mixer? Now that I discovered your channel I will never abandon you, thanks again for your time

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you, glad to help You're fine sampling directly from the Tascam DR05. Anything with a line out connection or headphone socket will work just fine 👍

[@CKTDSTUDIO]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Ok, thanx so much for your time, you are my HERO

[@CKTDSTUDIO]

@@ChrisLodyMusic I had a curiosity to ask you, don't you think it would be convenient if the HOLD button also worked after pressing a key on the pianoroll. Basically to hold a note you have to first press HOLD and then the note but if you wanted to do the opposite you can't? or it's not me who doesn't understand how to do it. Thanks so much for your time

[@dinogoldie9716]

What's the mature and appropriate period of time to hold off from uploading farts and burps to a sampler? Is there a shared vocabulary to explain the different types of granulizing? atm, I'm being led by the machine but it would help if I could describe/label what I want to achieve. Are there any good reference songs for specific granular techniques?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ha, I think the mature time to do it would be immediately and repeatedly 😂 I don't think there's any real established vocabulary. I know Arturia split it into cloud grains and hit grains on the MicroFreak update but I think that's mostly because they had to spread functionality across two different algorithms because there isn't enough control available on the 3 knobs present on the unit. While the Texture Lab was being developed the music of Flume was mentioned who uses a lot of granular synthesis, so try this mix kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYWwfZKDibaXnZY

[@joshuatamburrini]

Amazing tutorial, it has helped me get started! I have a question, I am running audio from another hardware synth into the texture to sample in audio however the audio output of my texture lab outputting audio from the LINE IN + the texture lab opposed to just getting audio from the texture lab and its very annoying! I am supposed to physically pull out the the cable after I have finished sampling to avoid this?? Thanks kindly

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. To solve that problem you can either pull the cable out like you say or lower the Gain setting in the Line In menu

[@kieranharvey348]

Thanks for the excellent video chris! Been readumg the manual ahead of delivery. One thing im not clear on is whether you can use the external in/efx mode at the same time as the sequencer (specifically using it to control an external synth whilst using the fx on the incoming audio) have you explored that capability?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Good question. I've not actually tried that so ill try to find time to try it tomorrow

[@kieranharvey348]

@@ChrisLodyMusic that would be amazing to find out! Sequencing something external whilst pushing it through the efx mode would be a killer feature. Also the manual says "When turned ON, the pitch changes to the pitch corresponding to the key pressed based on the low C key" which I don't understand but implies grain pitch might also follow too. Killer it does.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I tried this and the result are interesting, though I'm not sure it's what you're looking for 😄 The EFX will send midi over the Midi Out socket but is limited to the range of the keyboard without any octave switches. This is because the grain output is pitched up and down across the keyboard in EFX mode so it can pitch shift incoming audio by playing the keys or a sequence. This is where it gets a bit complex because if you use the internal sequencer to play notes externally and these also get pitch shifted by the granular engine the pitch playing back through the granular output will be incorrect. But exploring it so far it can be brilliantly wonky! In EFX internally it works monophonically but can send midi over the midi out polyphonically

[@kieranharvey348]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for testing this out. Sounds like it could be awesome chaos in the right context. Going to be fun to test when these ship! Thanks again

[@Dongleboob]

Hi Chris. Another great video and well thought out tutorial. Just a quick question, can the BPM go lower than 40 / higher than 250 as you've shown? I know the Volca Keys has a hidden menu option to open up the BPM range. Does this have something similar? I'm guessing if clocked via MID /DAW it will copy that BPM, but what about standalone? I want to get WAY lower than 40 BPM!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Technically no, but you can change the per step note value. It can go up to 1\32 nd which makes it twice as fast or down to as low as 1 bar per step which is 16x slower. It will still sync to other devices at the bpm but will play internally as much lower tempos that way

[@Dongleboob]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Thanks for the reply. That's interesting. Is it possible to set all the per step values at the same time? For example, if I have a 16 step pattern, can I set all 16 steps to a certain note value at once? Or do I have to edit each one of the 16 steps individually?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

It's a per pattern setting so it affects all steps at once. I show it at one point during the video if you'd like to see it in action

[@lorrenaelliott161]

And Arturia giving 2nd granular engines in 5.0 firmware update may 30th…. I don’t think I have ever been this happy. Using my iPad for sampling and granular synthesis (Borderlands & Koala)……. No hardware was really out there that I could gel with……BUT NOW? spoilt for choice …..THANKS SONICWARE TEAM 🙏

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes i't a strange coincidence that 😁 I'm excited about the MF v5 too because I have one. I may have to make a comparison video if no one beats me to it

[@jameshodson3450]

@@ChrisLodyMusic that I would be extremely interested to see... very interested in both but it seems like the filters (and all the other stuff) might be more interesting in the MF... not bothered with the MF so far as I have so much other stuff including a Hydrasynth but now it does samples & granular too I can hardly pass it up... they're both cheap as chips so very tempting... this is a great video, very informative.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. I'm not sure how quickly I can get that video made as I have a lot of work including a film score, but there's a good chance both will get used on that so at least I can find time to experiment with the MFs new modes

[@jameshodson3450]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Please take your time, the last thing I need is to buy yet more gear so anything that puts that off for a bit is a winner! Cheers

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ha good point 😄👌

[@axs203]

What on earth is this a new one! They will do well with this one. Go Sonicware! I wish these devices were USB powered or had a USB port on them. They are good value for money though.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ha yes, a new one already 🥳 Over on the Liven Facebook group people have been using battery banks and rip cord cables to power Livens as they use the same power cables as Volcas so it's doable if needed

[@axs203]

@@ChrisLodyMusic I said somewhere else - this was the standout of Superbooth for me....this and the little Roly. If you ask me someone should bring out a 3rd party base unit that has a rechargable battery and usb port and is the the same physical shape as the Liven....it could be doer. I can imagine some folk wanting to use this on their sofa​. I wonder what will be next from them?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

That's an interesting idea. I use them a lot on the sofa actually. That's what I love about all battery powered gear, getting out of the studio is inspiring. For the future I really hope they make a "Liven 2.0" hardware platform at some point with a screen, the velocity sensitive pads from the SmplTrek as keys and usb. Some a bit more like the ELZ_1 but slightly more budget would be very cool indeed. Don't take that as a hint, I have no idea really 😄

[@marcbrasse747]

Excellent. So comprehensive for such a compact unit. Questions: Polyphony voicecount? Does it process poly afterthought or MPE? Can one “draw” a complete envelope shape with the key function in real time? No sample file import but only via MIDI sample dump?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thanks. The poly count is 4. It doesn't support aftertouch or MPE. There is only an AR envelope for volume or fade in or out for the filter using modulators. You sampling options are either recording audio directly into the texture lab or importing midi sysex created on the Liven or through the dedicated web page

[@marcbrasse747]

@@ChrisLodyMusic thanks for the answer. I could live with the poly count etc but not being able to use afterthouch / MPE to modulate parameters in real time is a showstopper for me.

[@renevanderkraats224]

Quick question: the effects applied to the line in (like the demo'd reverb), does that also include shimmer?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes the Line In will run through the reverb which will include the shimmer if it's turned up. To give a little more detail, in normal mode the Line In can pass through the reverb only, but in EFX mode the Line In replaces the sample so it will pass through the whole signal chain. So you can mangle it with granular synthesis or leave it untouched, modulate, filter it and then run it through the reverb. So it's very flexible as a programmable FX unit

[@renevanderkraats224]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Good info, thanks Chris!

[@nb6351]

Great video! Really helpful for new users, thank you. I got my Texture Lab this week and I'm really enjoying it but I'm struggling to get the most of it. Some of the patterns, such as 'Sing' (bank1, pattern 14) sound so complex and nuanced, any tips on how to recreate that sound? In particular there seem to be at least 3voices at different pitches but playing at the same speed, I can't figure out how to achieve that. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Hi glad you're enjoying the Texture Lab. Thank you, that pattern is actually one of mine made with my voice 😁 It was a bit of an exercise is making something a bit different so it uses the parameter locks to move the Position setting over time (I tried using an LFO for this but it doesn't work unfortunately). Luckily I've already made a tutorial for the Lofi-12 which can be programmed with the same technique to move it's Start parameter, so you can follow that tutorial swapping Start for Position. This essentially sets up old school time stretching. It's a bit time consuming to program in but once you've done that you can save the pattern down and reuse it with different sample. You can program the parameter locks without any notes in the sequencer, or you can erase notes with the Rec button lit which will retain the parameter lock data. The tutorial is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqeqcqCZgM6ketk

[@nb6351]

Thanks a lot! That's really helpful, I'll check out the tutorial 👍

[@Sulzart]

Thank you for this great introduction to the Liven. I have already ordered the new Liven. It is now my fifth Liven. Besides an ELZ_1, I also have a SmplTrek. Would it be possible to make a video where some Liven are controlled by the SmplTrek ? That's where I actually wanted to go once. To have the SmplTrek as a control for my Liven.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Glad you like it, sounds like you've bought everything they've had to offer so far then 😁 Yes it would be well worth at least having a jam like that. With the new v2.0 SmplTrek firmware it's possible to send program change messages alongside notes so that can be used to change patterns on the Livens if you'd like to work that way

[@dinogoldie9716]

Currently reading (pdf-to-text rip of) the manual....How do I convert WAV files on my Win10 PC into sysex for them to be imported into the Texture Lab via MIDI Ox? Page 35 of the manual omits that vital step in the process. Also, how come it only has 32 sample slots?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh I think that must be an error on page 35, I'll let them know and they can correct it. There will be a web page where you can convert wavs to sysex for import for the texture lab but the last I heard it's not finished yet, I presume it will be ready when they ship. The connection procedure is the same as when performing firmware updates as below but just start the Liven as normal and go to the Sample - Data menu and select S.IMP to set it up to receive : kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHnbqolmptx5pNU As for the limited number of slots, you'd have to as Sonicware that question. I know the samples are 6 seconds at 32khz which is higher quality than the Lofi-12 so I think that's why. Plus 32 is selectable on one knob without too much trouble

[@Jay.Ramone]

Mine arrived yesterday. Is there a way to save a modified sample (position, length, envelope, filter, modulations etc.) independent of sequencer patterns. If I create a lovely pad sound, can I recall it afterwards?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Without copying it to another pattern, no. Just think of the patterns as a combination pattern and patch memory. Hope you're having fun with it 😁

[@Jay.Ramone]

@@ChrisLodyMusic I am. Getting some wonderful sounds out of it.

[@terrybrown106]

I have been considering getting the Hologram Microcosm. However, for what you get,it's a bit pricey. Does this do everything that the Microcosm does? It looks like this has way more features. I'm mostly considering using this to sample external synthesizers. Which of these 2 do you think is a better investment?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Well they're quite different from what I can tell about the Microcosm. It's set up for live looping which the Texture Lab doesn't do. The Texture Lab offers a way to record a sound, affect it with granular synthesis and make patterns from it. They both offer granular as an effect but I'd say go for the Microcosm your focus is live work and the Texture Lab if you're more studio\production based

[@terrybrown106]

@@ChrisLodyMusic ok. Thank you. But I actually think I want both aspects. I'm thinking about also getting a Roland RC 500 looper. I'm just carefully and strategically planning my purchases. But I want to be as live as possible with as little prerecording as possible.

[@dinogoldie9716]

Q: How do I tie a note across pages? What if I have a note/sample that I want to hold for more than 16 steps? What if I have a note I want to play from step 12 of page 1 to step 4 of page 2? I've never thought about this before with previous Livens until the Lofi-12 and the Texture Lab.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I'll double check this tomorrow when I'm in the studio (plus list the controls for you) but I'm pretty sure it works like this; make sure tie is on, press record, select a step, hold a note, select a new page, select a new step then release the note. That should enable to to creat ties that span pages on all Livens

[@dinogoldie9716]

Do Sonicware have any plans to bring out a Liven mixcer/audio interface?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I don't think there are plans for that and it's certainly not possible within the Liven hardware platform. The SmplTrek can do that but it's not very accessible for the visually impaired unfortunately

[@MidiFister]

Can you parameter lock sample selection so per step you could have a different sample? That would rule

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Sadly not on this Liven which is a shame. But if you move the sample selection knob by hand all grains etc have to be reset which is an abrupt stop in audio before the reverb so I can see why it wasn't included

[@hellowhirled]

Excited to run a guitar into this.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ooh yes good idea. I'll have to try that tonight at band practice

[@jonathanmichielsen952]

Will the input be able to take a guitar signal? Or do you recommend using a amp with a line out in between?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

No it won't take a guitar directly in so yes you'll need an amp or pedal that will output a line level signal and the appropriate adapters fit the 3.5mm line in socket

[@JonGrimson]

Can the FX mode be connected to an Aux in and out on a mixer like Tascam 12? Would the levels be correct?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes I just took a look at the mixer. You'll need the right cables and adapters to make the connections. You'll be able to connect the Aux Out to the Line In on the Texture Lab to use Aux like an effects send. From what I can tell though you'll need to run the Line Out on the Texture Lab into one of the stereo inputs, there doesn't seem to be an Aux Input or a return connection

[@DickTracy420]

Think this gonna be my next purchase

[@darenager630]

I’m not much into the typical granular epic pads, but this video pipped my interest in the TLab as an fx/mangler - any chance of hearing it mangling up some acid and some beats both as samples and live input, also some dialog/voice stuff, you touched on this a little in this video but it would be nice to hear some other examples if you feel like doing it. Thanks as always 🙏

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes I've been planning something around that since I released this video but I've been unforgivingly busy just recently with all sorts of things so I've been struggling to find time. The EFX mode is unlike anything else I've ever used tbh!

[@darenager630]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Well, I look forward to seeing what you do next, great channel mate 👊

[@darenager630]

Got mine today, really cool - another great Liven! Looking forward to using the EFX mode too. You covered everything really well in the video and it helped me get up and running in no time, so massive thanks 🙏 A couple of wishes for future updates - more sample slots, a delay in reverb slot and maybe a couple of other fx choices would be nice too.

[@stefanweber8762]

In my opinion the workflow of this machine is absolutely pain in the ass!! To have fun is another thing. I will return it and switch intour teenage engineering KO 2. But by the way.. very good Tutorial

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Well I think given how complex granular synthesis is they did a pretty good job squeezing it into this, but yeah they have been working on better workflows on upcoming machines it has to be said. Sometimes a layout just doesn't gel with the user I think. I was really excited to get a Waldorf Blofeld when they came out and they are really well regarded but I just couldn't get into it for some reason so I sold it on. Be careful with the KO 2 purchase though. I was interested until I heard about the slider and speaker issues a lot of users have had so look into the build quality first.

[@hellf.o]

What an intriguing device.. Please pair this to 8bit Warps in order to get a dope grain data storm

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ooh yeah that sounds like a cool idea 😁👌

[@hellf.o]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Can't wait..!

[@va941]

JUST PASSING GAS.😤💭

[@Justanothersnippet]

😂

[@WaveRiderMusic]

I am not able to hold notes of the keyboard like described in the manual... can you?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

It will hold but the order the Hold button and a key is pressed is important and perhaps counterintuitive. You need to first hold the Hold button then press a key or keys in order for it to work. You can just press a key again to remove it from the stack of notes or repair the procedure to add more.

[@matthiasstock9620]

Considering getting this instrument but why does it only have 3,5mm audio connections? 😢 They are generally not very reliable.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Honestly that's not true at all. I've been making music since about 1998 and the only problem I've ever had is the one in my phone getting lint stuck in it which is easy to fix. I've been through my fair share of cables but that's true of 1/4" cables too

[@lennielen30]

Dear Chris. My filter knob is stuck on "off". How do I unstick it please?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

There's a section that starts at 36:22 that talks about the filter. It will display OFF by default because there is no filter selected on a blank patch so you have to choose a filter type

[@lennielen30]

Thanks Chris

[@dinogoldie9716]

Q: Which are the knobs for the modulation rate and depth? (there's "Rate" and "Depth" controls in both rows of knobs). What's the difference?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

So there are two modulation sources called Mod 1 & Mod 2 accessed from step buttons 5-8 and 9-11. The rate and depth for Mod 1 are on Shift+ knob 3 and 4 on the top row, the rate and depth for Mod 2 are on Shift+ knob 1 and 2 on the bottom row. I'll make a full quick reference guide for the functions in a bit and share it here

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Here's a description of all the controls for you: www.dropbox.com/s/k38igwsm2l9knk8/SONICWARE%20Liven%20Texture%20Lab%20-%20Accessibility%20Guide%20%26%20Tips.docx?dl=0

[@dinogoldie9716]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Many thanks.

[@dinogoldie9716]

​@@ChrisLodyMusic Thank you ever so much. This was enormously helpful. I had somebody (non muso/techy) read me the controls so I had most of it figured out but those couple buttons confused me. The pictorial manual was no help.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

You're quite welcome. I'm just sorry it took me a little while longer than I was hoping to find time to write the guide. I was planning on having it ready before they shipped 😄

[@boriscat1999]

came back here to decide if I should get a Texture Lab or wait for the Ambient Ø

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes I can see how they could both be appealing for the same type of music. The biggest difference is perhaps that the Ambient 0 has for layers (tracks) while the Texture Lab has a single track. The Texture Lab can create some incredibly complex and unpredictable sounds so perhaps has a bit more range in terms of variety of output. The Texture Lab has a 4 voice polyphony while the Ambient 0 has 10 voices.

[@ps7365]

Great tutorial. Really helped me as a complete nOOb. One thing I can't figure out is once I've sampled and saved and then make changes to the parameter knobs, how do I write those changes back to the save slot? When I turn the unit off and back on it defaults to the original sample even though the knobs are in the same positions.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thank you. So samples you record into the Texture Lab are saved in one of the 32 sample slots you select with the sample source knob on the far left and are just a recording of the audio, while all the other granular synthesis settings are saved within the pattern memories. So once you've created something you like make sure you save the pattern even if you haven't used that to record any notes, then when you load that pattern back up the knob positions etc will be recalled

[@ps7365]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Excellent! Thank you so much for the response. I knew I could save patterns but didn't connect that to savings edited samples. I appreciate it.

[@mantistobbogan6728]

How are you getting on with it? I'm a complete noob as well and thinking about buying one

[@ChrisSheridan295]

Hey man, any way to retune existing samples/sources? Thanks

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes, on the non grain side there's the Pitch knob and on the grain side there's the Speed knob. They both work in slightly different ways

[@ChrisSheridan295]

@ChrisLodyMusic thank you, though I should have specified sorry, I mean to permanently edit/ repitch them so when I return to them, they are pitched correctly

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh I see. No I don't think there is now you mention it. The only way to do that would be to re-record the sample in played at a different pitch

[@acdnrg]

Can you keep a parameter recording and swap out the sample?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

You can yes. Actually unlike the Lofi-12 this Liven doesn't allow the sample selection knob to be parameter locked but it can be altered manually

[@acdnrg]

@@ChrisLodyMusic That wasn´t nice, now I can´t wait for delivery even more 😁Thanks man!

[@alessandrogolinelli3185]

🙏 Scusa come hai fatto sequenza inizio video ? Grazie

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

The full version of that is shown in the section that talks about the grain controls which starts at 29:31 Hope that helps

[@EverettVinzant]

Based on what you have shown this seem like it could drone. Is that a reasonable statement?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Oh yeah it could drone for days I'm sure. I was just telling someone else, if you adjust the per step note value you can get some super low tempos too which would be good for drone music

[@EverettVinzant]

@@ChrisLodyMusic That’s kinda what I thought, but wanted to verify. I appreciate you getting back to me.

[@pdw2309]

Can you sync this with a drum machine?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes as long as the drum machine can sync via midi or an analog sync socket at 2 pulses per quarter note like the Volcas. There are options for the Liven to be in control of the clock or follow the clock from another device too

[@Cutflower]

Is this battery powered?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes it is, it run off 6x AA batteries which can be dry cells or rechargeable

[@Wagoo]

ラブリージャブリー :D

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes 😁👌

[@Jack-um3yf]

Cheers Chris dogs asleep now 👍

[@RaveTracks]

Andertons Synth, Keys and Tech KZbin channel has just given you a big shout out for this video Chris 😀

[@RaveTracks]

They also invite you down to their shop in Guilford. That would be a great collab to see!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Thanks yes I did see that. Meeting up with them would be quite an exciting thing to do 😁

[@cockur]

Stereo sampling ? Or mono :(

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

The samples it records are mono but the output can be stereo as the grains can be randomly panned across the stereo field

[@cockur]

@@ChrisLodyMusic Cool. Bit of a missed opportunity I feel

[@dinogoldie9716]

My Liven Texture Lab arrived during Sunday dinner. Currently rtm and re-rewatching this video. I envisage using the LTL as a chop/screw/stretch hook machine (anybody got a good resource for free acapellas or political speeches?).

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Nice one. As it happens I know a site that's got loads of historical content that's free to use that's from the library of congress. There's a section called American English Dialect Recordings that has some speeches in it citizen-dj.labs.loc.gov/

[@iqnill]

A texture lab could do with a midi clock divider...

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes that's a fair point. I don't have any say over the design of these devices though. There is an official Sonicware Liven Facebook group though where users often make requests that get used in updates if you'd like to try that

[@JordanService]

This GASd me hard, very cool......... UGH!

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Sorry 😅

[@devondetroit2529]

NEED WANT

[@henrytheworst]

Please add some much needed info on how to sample into this thing. They really missed the boat by making a battery operated sampler unable to do something that every casio from the 80s could do with ease - sample direct with no mic or computer or op1 or line mixer. I like what it does but having to use an array of other more sophisticated devices to get my own sounds into it makes me want to throw it out the window

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

The Texture Lab (and the Lofi-12) will do just that, sampling directly from the Line In audio socket. If you need a direct microphone input you can use something like a Zoom h1n. It's explained in this video in the sections from 17:48 and 20:08

[@henrytheworst]

Thanks - this is a great tutorial - but after much testing of cables and different gear it seems as if the only answer is malfunction. The line-in gets a signal until I switch to mono - then no audio,. Then when I hit function/sampling I lose all signal. I've gone over everything I can think of.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

I'll add the page for Sonicware tech support below. I might be wrong but it sounds like you might be feeding a signal on the right channel which will be muted when switching to mono as it's not a downmix of both channels but rather just listens to the left channel only. You can also get help on the official Sonicware Liven Facebook page, but try this too: sonicware.jp/pages/support

[@henrytheworst]

@@ChrisLodyMusic I finally figured out the problem I was having and hope I'm the only one who ever has this problem - the Clock setting has to be set to Line In. It doesn't really makes sense to me but that's fine - it works now. It is a little too easy to accidentally start button-mashing the important master settings when you're menu diving and playing at the same time - but that's pretty nit-picky. Thanks again for giving me some ideas

[@synthmalicious7541]

Could you play, let’s say a guitar, a through it and mess with the sound in real time?

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes but you'll need to convert the guitar output to Line Out level somehow through an amp or FX pedal for example

[@synthmalicious7541]

@@ChrisLodyMusic that’s not too hard actually… thanks

[@MidiFister]

Damn, I legit have too much and don’t need anything else, BUT….

[@BoopPOPO]

No pan is criminal

[@briannhinton]

haha "longer more disturbing version of it"

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Ha yes, I spent a lot of time on this doing just that 😄

[@briannhinton]

I look forward to your sound demos.

[@briannhinton]

Ok I preordered. I can see it meshing well with other gear.