how I use my Novation LAUNCH CONTROL XL (FREE TEMPLATE)

[@JeshFrederick]

Man, if you would ever make your Ableton template available, that would be a game changer for our church. This video is so helpful!

[@therealcalebrz]

Nick statleys template which is similar is available on production online.

[@therealcalebrz]

You can also check out Ian McIntosh. He’s one of the OG Ableton track guys. He has his templates available too.

[@thedavidfunk_]

Ian is the BEST. Got a ton of my inspiration from him and the way he does things when I was starting out. And use a bunch of stuff from Nick’s template as well!

[@JeshFrederick]

@@thedavidfunk_ Thank you! I'll definitely check them out!

[@stephenmestrada]

@@therealcalebrzthat template is 3 years old I’m sure it’s changed.

[@LucasLohanelProduction]

Would love to see you use this in a live/play-through setting!

[@thedavidfunk_]

Great idea!

[@denzell7]

Hey David, you should do a video doing a whole run through on how to use Ableton live step-by-step starting from zero. I use MainStage right now but I want to learn how to use Ableton, as I feel very limited on MainStage

[@jirehsieckert8919]

Bro I’m so happy you’re uploading more!!!

[@CalebTrinidad-d5f]

Bro your videos have been so helpful to me using ableton especially in a worship context. Seriously a blessing. Thank you! Keep doing these!

[@thedavidfunk_]

Glad to hear it! Thanks so much.

[@caelalexander7316]

Bro! Been waiting for this for years! 🔥

[@lucasj.9064]

Thank you for this video! It’s something that all people waited 🖤

[@JordanMcLeod]

This is awesome man. Keep more of these videos coming. They’re a blessing to the Church!

[@thedavidfunk_]

Thank you so much man!

[@henryzhang6512]

Thanks man, this is so helpful and inspiring! Please please please do a live keys cam video with your setup 🙏🙏

[@jackmansfield9707]

THANKS YOU David.Always admired and try to replicate my rig like yours.Now I can.All my pads are from Ian’s.Its funny he is actually living in my home town of Boerne Texas where I live and I get to see him either at a church here I play at or Oak hills here in San Antonio.Small world.

[@jimmyrigs]

Love this, was just looking at getting one of these notation XL’s for my keys rig.

[@xaviercarrion5966]

i just learned 10,000 things, this is awesome.

[@Okamiiee]

Also.. what are some good standard pads I can purchase or create? .. I’ve been struggling to get a solid pad that isn’t too wispy, but still bright enough for the mix and has good attack. Or maybe you can talk about what makes a good pad patch? That would be super helpful! Thanks for all you’re hard work man!

[@angelmarquez4388]

BRO Que increíble el contenido que estas sacando. Eres de bendición para nosotros 🙏

[@SApilot11123]

This amazing bro! more more more content like this!🥳

[@RK-hc2qe]

I'm totally ignorant, but this is very informative. Thanks, David!

[@SamKing-er7wx]

4:37 sounds like the intro to What A Beautiful Name haha

[@foboes4638]

Soo good🔥🔥🔥 it would be very interesting to see how you use all this stuff in real session. Something like key cam video)

[@RROCM77]

So good! 🔥 thanks bro!!!! Gonna look into setting up this rig!

[@tinychurchjams]

That third pad sounds huge!

[@thedavidfunk_]

thanks so much!

[@tinychurchjams]

@@thedavidfunk_Are you using Reason for that ‘Verby Lead’ pad? Ian doesn’t sell his patches anymore, so I’m trying to figure out how to build it.

[@itscoleperkins]

Brilliant!

[@tylerjames9626]

This. Is. Awesome. Love the all the productivity layouts. Would love to see the rest of your rig! I saw you use the maudio in the studio. What controller are you running live?

[@thedavidfunk_]

Usually a Nord! My preference from a feel standpoint is the Stage 2

[@CalebCaldwell-nm8ff]

You should do a video on setting up Ableton for keys!

[@JulianTabares]

Hey Dave I’ve been looking endlessly for arcade synth within reason but I can’t find it anywhere could you help me out?

[@Okamiiee]

Are you adding your patches to each line of the song? Like.. as the tracks move down, the patches also move down? Or are you just sticking to the one you have live?

[@catalinivascu]

Thanks for showing and for the inspiration u gave me ;)

[@joshuaheyes2098]

Would love to know where you got those texture sounds from? Is it a pack you can purchase somewhere? Great video!

[@thedavidfunk_]

They’re from my friend Nick Stailey - they’re included in his Ableton template! I told him he needs to put them on his website haha

[@nickhanson3036]

Hey Dave, great video! What are you doing in Ableton programming and with your controller so that when you select each of your patches it arms the patch, but doesn't fire a clip/start the click/etc?

[@nickhanson3036]

Totally forgot about macro variations haha. I got it sorted 👍🏻

[@nicolassanfelipe4765]

Hola David saludos desde Argentina Que plugins usas en todo tu set?

[@BrandonJosiahBenjamin]

First, great. Second, verby lead, how could I make that polyphonic like you have, epic. Third, how do you go about creating that fade in and fade out for the textures.

[@thedavidfunk_]

Great questions! Verby Lead I'm *pretty* sure is a Thor patch in reason. Which has a "Voices" toggle where you can select how many. Just moved from 1 to like 8 or 10 or something I think And then the textures are setup as MIDI notes that are looping -- using Simpler in Ableton. So you can drop in a sample, then set the loop section as well as the Fade In / Fade Out time

[@lincolntbryant]

I noticed that your sustain pedal/pedal noise is playing audio to some of your piano patches that aren't chain selected (3:12). Is that something you just have to accept when you run your patches this way?

[@thedavidfunk_]

unfortunately yes - but i prefer the trade off bc since the sustain info is still going, it allows me to “disarm” a patch with the sustain pedal held down, and then make smooth patch changes. if that makes sense. so i usually just turn down the pedal noise in patches when it gets excessive, because they will start to stack up unfortunately. You could also have one dedicated “pedal sound” channel; turn the pedal sound of all your other patches off, so it’s consistent all the time.

[@naanthony1454]

Can I know where did you get the drone from?

[@guiillescas]

That's real nice! I love the texture drone, what are you using?

[@thedavidfunk_]

It's one of Nick Stailey's I believe! I looked for the specific one to link in the description but wasn't seeing it on his website. He does have a really cool "Texture" pack that uses Omnisphere thought.

[@whittykid101]

this is SWEET! any possibility of you selling an ableton patch setup like this on your website?

[@thedavidfunk_]

I’ve thought about it! A lot of my go to patches have been adapted from other people and I feel weird about selling them if they’re not fully mine. So I’m fleshing that out!

[@JHJOwen]

Amazing video, giving me lots of ideas! Would love to know what’s your go to EP? And also do you use an EPwoth. Reverse delay/verb? I’ve heard some beautiful EP Ethreal moments during ministry on the steam before. Wondered how you created it ❤

[@davidmatamoros4499]

Hey man! I downloaded your template, everything works great except for when I toggle on/off the click. The "record arm" button on my controller does not light up. Any work around to that you may know of?

[@thedavidfunk_]

yes! there’s a very specific workaround to get this to work that i totally forgot to include 🤦🏻‍♂️ For whatever reason; the metronome will not send MIDI output to get any button to light up, but you can trick it by creating a blank Audio or MIDI track and mapping the same button to the “Speaker On/Off” button *as well* as the metronome and that could work!

[@davidmatamoros4499]

@@thedavidfunk_ Yup this did the trick. Thank you! Where did you place your sub drop in your session? I placed mine in the bass track of an empty scene, but it doesn't trigger as smoothly as yours does.

[@kevindavis2332]

This was super valuable!! You running reason for the Ian patches?

[@thedavidfunk_]

Yessir! And thank you!

[@eldarkxd8868]

No te entendi ni madres pero te doy like (Haz el tuturial de como tocas Give me jesus te amo❤)

[@florianstruik]

Great video! I’m using this machine too and it’s perfect. Only thing is that I have to press all my buttoms twice to respond after I launch my session. Did you experience the same?

[@thedavidfunk_]

Do you mean just once after you launch your session? Or everytime you use a button you have to press it twice? I find that I sometimes have to "reset" some of my controls once by doing that, but then they're fine.

[@florianstruik]

It only happens the first time after I launch my session indeed. After I press them twice, they act fine. Must be a setting somewhere I guess.

[@florianstruik]

Found the isue! My buttons were set to send misi CC. I changed it to notes and it works flawless again!

[@brettfenstermaker1564]

How do you toggle your piano sounds on the Novation? In the video, when using a piano, the light turns yellow and then you’re able to use multiple sounds at once. I have mine set up with chain selector but I can’t get mine to toggle multiple at the same time. So I’m left with 3 piano tones that aren’t hitting at the same time

[@andresvima]

I have the same question, @David what MIDI mapping are you using for the toggle buttons? Thanks in advance 👍🏻

[@thedavidfunk_]

yes great question - i map each button not to the Clip Launch but to individual chain selectors for each sound. so each chain selector goes from 0-1 controlled by a button.

[@brettfenstermaker1564]

@@thedavidfunk_ i know this is going to sound stupid.... how do you do that? lol

[@jordandickerson7208]

Hi David, thanks for the video! I love seeing how you set your template up. How do you have the sounds running even though your chain selector isn’t selecting the certain patches. I have an issue with the lights on my korg nanokontrol 2 lights not following the instruments I choose as I’m going through the different scenes for my song. In other words what do you map the instrument on/off button to?

[@thedavidfunk_]

I should make a video on this, but basically I have a chain selector for each instrument for this very reason: so I can stack patches with my individual buttons. Using buttons to Launch the Clips doesn't work very well for me and my workflow!

[@jordandickerson7208]

@@thedavidfunk_ Okay gotcha that makes more sense! Thank you, and I’d love to see a video on it if you have time!!!

[@loganboland]

I can’t figure out for the life of me how you got the same pad to play and stop the current clip for the textures

[@thedavidfunk_]

dude great question - should’ve addressed this and just spaced!! it’s a Clip Specific setting. So select all the clips that you want to affect, then open the clip inspector, and in the bottom left, (where like warp and all that stuff is) you should see a drop-down that’s labeled “launch mode”. Set that to Toggle!

[@vincentchiabai4329]

Can you go into your patches a little more? Would love to know more about the pianos. Are you talking about Ian McIntosh when you say Ian real piano?

[@thedavidfunk_]

yes Ian Macintosh! I’ll probably devote another video to deep diving into the patches a bit more.

[@matthewcheeses]

WOW! Super useful information, many thanks!🙏

[@kevindavis2332]

What plug-in are you using for the dulcimer sound?

[@thedavidfunk_]

Reason!

[@calebford3342]

Working with a NanoKontrol2, but I’m noticing the faders are getting kinda spotty. Have you found faders here are more solid?

[@thedavidfunk_]

absolutely-the build quality is awesome. I’d just recommend getting a case for transport, otherwise the faders can be damaged since they stick up so far.

[@loganboland]

Another question, do you map the first scene of each song? If you’re just scrolling manual and firing how do you do that quickly? And when you play different clips for chain selector does it reset you to the top of your session?

[@thedavidfunk_]

Haha great questions -- I don't map the scene of the first song, I basically just kind of keep up as we're going through the song. And then, if I understand your question correctly, the buttons on my LCXL aren't actually firing those clips like some people do. They're controlling a separate chain selector (it's very complex and excessive haha) that turns on and off the individual patches. Does that make sense? I need to do another video breaking down more in depth how I do that. BUT you can also change a setting in Ableton's preferences under "Record Warp Launch" called "Select on Scene Launch" which, if you DO have your buttons mapped to clips at the top of the session, your view won't jump up when you trigger them.

[@loganboland]

So are you mapping it to the same thing that the clips are automating? Also changing that preference on a per clip basis would be awesome lol

[@andresvima]

⁠@@thedavidfunk_ yes, please do a video explaining how you configure Ableton and MIDI mapping of your controller to enable/disable the patches 🙏

[@eldarkxd8868]

Hi David, I have a question. Do you play with a metal pick? or with what kind of spike?

[@thedavidfunk_]

I do not! I play with Dunlop Tortex Picks -- .88mm. Green on Bass, and either Black or Orange on Acoustic!

[@gentryneedham8225]

Any insight on how to get the refills working for Ian's dream pianos to work?

[@thedavidfunk_]

Weird ... I've never had any issues! I add my ReFills folder to the Reason browser so if I ever get a "Missing Sounds" dialogue I can easily navigate there and select "Search Folder" or "Locations" or whichever one.

[@gentryneedham8225]

@@thedavidfunk_ I think my problem is the 'reason pianos' refill is no longer available- there's another patch for the real piano called "radical"- I don't know if that uses a different refill I can still get? I'm new to reason lol

[@tylermachiela7123]

@@gentryneedham8225 I think "Radical" still uses the Reason Pianos refill - Reason Pianos is now repackaged as "Processed Pianos," but I'm not sure I'd recommend using that as a replacement. It's not the same tonally and the velocity response is different as well. Right now I just use Ian's effect rack on other software pianos, and it works alright! Definitely not the exact same sound though, if that's what you're going for.

[@loganboland]

Do you have any issues with the volume being significantly quieter when using auto pan as a fake sidechain and sequencer?

[@thedavidfunk_]

I haven't, no! But if you are experiencing that, you could program your Macro to control both the Mix of the AutoPan (SC) and also a Utility plugin and have the gain go up slightly. I actually do that with my delays, because I feel like I lose more dry signal than I want to.

[@henrycoste4272]

What sample Sub Bass Are you using?

[@thedavidfunk_]

the Sub Drop is from the Percs Live One Shots 001 pack!

[@samueldeliard]

Hey man how would one go about doing your secret trick of adding the midi octave up

[@thedavidfunk_]

need to do a better job explaining that in Ableton .. haha. Takes a bit of setup but basically I have a MIDI IN track that feeds all my instruments, input is set to whatever keyboard I'm using. Nord for instance. Then I have a separate MIDI UP track that has the Pitch plugin one octave up. I set it's input to the Nord as well, but the output to that MIDI IN channel. Then anytime I unmute it, my instruments are "hearing" both sets of notes.

[@samueldeliard]

@@thedavidfunk_ oh ok that makes sense! Bro thank you so much I appreciate you and all your work for the kingdom

[@robertjsanchezz]

Is the verby lead anywhere to get?

[@thedavidfunk_]

it’s originally an Ian MacIntosh patch - he possibly still sells it!

[@bengreer7638]

how do you keep your ableton keys rig session from glitching, popping, and overloading the cpu live? Where do you run your buffer size and how do you keep from getting latency? I have the nick stailey ableton keys template and have done every trick in the book messing with buffer size tyring to get rid of pops and glitches live while not compromising latency. It seems the only options for me are to have no latency or no glitches, I can't seem to get both and it makes these keys templates unusable live for me. Please help! Thank you!

[@thedavidfunk_]

Dang that's frustrating! What kind of computer do you have? I used to struggle with that a bit more, but ever since I got my current machine (2021 M1 Max 64GB RAM), I don't think I've really had many issues. The interface you use also factors in -- Nick and I both use the PlayAudio12 by iConnectivity which makes things super smooth. I usually run my sample rate at 48k (may seem counter-intuitive but it works) and then a buffer size of 256 samples.

[@thedavidfunk_]

but like I said - it's kind of different for everyone, and everyone kinda has a different level of latency tolerance! Before I got this computer, I ran 512 consistently and just got used to the slight lag.

[@bengreer7638]

@@thedavidfunk_ dude thank you so much for responding!! I use a Macbook Pro probably from 2019, 2.3 GHz, Quad Core intel core i7, 32 GB of RAM. We also used a PlayAudio12 live, an apollo twin in the studio, as well as have used Dante Virtual Soundcard live as well and I have issues on all 3. I also run sample rate at 48k but in order to not have glitches I have to run at 1024 or 2048 sample rate. Maybe it's time to upgrade my computer? With your M1 64GB computer running at your sample rate and buffer size do you ever have issues live still and is it something you just shrug your shoulders at and deal with or is your set up pretty solid with no issues now?

[@eduardobairral7929]

Do you put any extra EQ or glue compressor on your instrument busses?

[@thedavidfunk_]

I do sometimes yes! Very light if any. Usually just carving out low mid build up from stacking multiple patches together, then making sure I’m not too dynamic if I’m stacking.

[@eduardobairral7929]

@@thedavidfunk_ awesome! I feel like all of a sudden there’s a upright piano boom happening. Do you ever use it? Like the wing upright or the Nords black upright.

[@henrycoste4272]

How did you setup your Sub Bass Drop?

[@thedavidfunk_]

it’s just on a Drum Rack, and that button is programmed as a MIDI Note. So i set the input of the track to the LCXL; and drop the sample on whatever note i programmed the button to be

[@henrycoste4272]

What sample are you using?

[@simoasandoaie]

What specs does your Mac have?

[@thedavidfunk_]

2021 M1 Max Macbook Pro 64GB RAM

[@DanielJosephh]

will you ever be selling your keys template ?

[@thedavidfunk_]

I’ve definitely considered it!

[@anamaeda8258]

Which keyboard do you use to control midi?

[@thedavidfunk_]

In my studio I just have a small M-Audio Oxygen 49!

[@jakesizemore7074]

Random, but what are the specs on your macbook?

[@thedavidfunk_]

M1 Max, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD