Ambient Ø Beginner's Guide [#1 Basic Operations & Playing Techniques (without using the sequencer)]

[@SonicCartography]

Hey, this is Daniel (AKA Sonic Cartography, AKA the guy who made this video)! I don't know how many people will see this, but I just wanted to say I've been reading through the comments and really appreciate all the positive feedback it's been getting from people! I should be done with the next one soon!

[@TheWaveSon]

Waiting for that

[@SonicCartography]

It should be coming out soon!

[@TheWaveSon]

​@@SonicCartography hope it's going to be also on sampling because I thought I can record anything directly to the box but I've read that it's not possible to connect a mic ? 😮 I was sure there's a build in mic because I saw one of the promotional videos that the outside noises can be added automatically to the sound... 🤷🏻‍♂️ maybe I got it wrong.... And about connectivity what about connecting to a Volca through the Midi is it possible to live record directly to the "Noise" layer while playing the other three layers? Thanks ❤

[@SonicCartography]

That’s outside the scope of what the video is about, but to answer your questions: you can record or play (without recording) sound from any source via the line in. This could be another synth, a microphone, a guitar through an effect pedal or whatever. There is no internal microphone. The operations for how to sample are covered in Chris Lody’s overview video (just search Chris Lody Ambient-if I include a link, KZbin might hide the comment). There are chapter timestamps in the description, and one of them says something about sampling, so click on that; it’s toward the end of the video.

[@TheWaveSon]

@@SonicCartography Ok thanks for the reply, yes I'm watching this tutorial it's full of details 👌

[@thekitchensynth]

Just discovered your great videos for the Texture and wondered if you might do the same for the Ambient. Delighted to see you have begun …please keep up the good work 👍

[@robertsnyder7203]

Thanks looking forward to the next videos for the Ambient 0

[@EricSchreiber1]

Thank goodness! I look forward to watching this multiple times.

[@BlueJolz]

What a relief to see this! As usual, I'd jumped straight in and got entirely lost. Lesson learnt there. I'll watch this a few times. Thanks, Daniel. Looking forward to the next video.

[@anthonydart]

Hi Daniel! Just wanted to thank you and let you know how valuable I find your videos on both the ambient zero and texture lab. Truly looking forward for what is to come!! Thanks again.

[@SonicCartography]

Thank you! That’s nice to hear! 😊

[@Zen_Shot]

Thank you. A very easy guide to follow especially for a complete novice like myself. So many so-called "beginners guides" out there descend into esoteric gobbledegook within the first 3 minutes. This was a breath of fresh air and fills me with excitement for what's to come. Liked and subbed.

[@mikesimmons1965]

Daniel, thank you for making this video. It's very informative and easy to follow. Looking forward to more of your Ambient 0 guides.

[@stubdog321]

Hey, I'm new to synths and your guides are invaluable! Really accessible and clear. Thanks for all the good work!

[@enochroot9438]

Bought the Ambient 0 on release, the best value synth released this you, absolutely love it

[@Stellar_Soundscape]

I’m going to put the first comment here. Just to say that you guys did great job! I love my Liven Ambient!!! Greetings Stellar Soundscape!

[@WillErokan]

Me too!

[@Congasjones]

Me 3

[@tonysharp1615]

Thanks for your tutorials for the Ambient 0, they’ve helped me a great deal. I really appreciate the time you’ve spent passing your knowledge on to us.

[@nicolaskrzyszton8064]

Thanks Daniel for this great video, 👍 your approach to the synth is so clear for us, great pedagogy, 👍

[@SonicCartography]

Thank for the kind words! 😊

[@larry1754]

Thank you SO MUCH for this video! I just ordered my Ambient 0 today, I know I will spending (at least) the next 2 weeks in this video, you do a great and understandable job of explaining it, thank you!

[@awesome90sgames39]

Really good video. It was helpful to hear how settings affect other settings. Building a track with only hold and arpeggios and probability is quick and fun. Looking forward to going through the other videos.

[@lancelau4326]

Wonderful demonstration of the Ambient functions! Can't wait to get mine in a few days! Thank you

[@cartellimarroni]

This Is the holy graal! So usefull for beginners and more! Well done...we want to know in a simple way, all the functions, secrets and tips to create great music from this jewel, waiting for more! Thanks a lot ❤

[@SYNTHMODE-q2f]

I have preordered mine from the 10th batch! Waiting for it, but these videos are prepping me to have a better understanding when it arrives. Thank you for this!

[@vheissu77]

Very detailed and for me personally better structured than the manual. Great Job!

[@mux1978]

Finally a proper demo! I have my finger on the trigger to buy one of these....LETS GO.

[@dunamis3331]

GREAT cannot wait for next tutorials, I was lost, now found, somewhat thank you!

[@kevintunney4321]

amazing tutorial, well done

[@ondraJams]

Great, thank you 🙏 cannot wait for more 🙏

[@jcolano4843]

Thank you for this excellent video, very nicely done. On your next video about the sequencer, hope it is possible to discuss polyphonic limit on the use of the 4 tracks and the 6 structures available.

[@SonicCartography]

Hey, thank you! I’ll try to touch it, but to be honest, I’d need to refer to the manual myself to remember all the details; it’s complicated! But I can try to explain the basic principles at least.

[@agerven]

Very good! Usually factory created instruction videos do not correspond to a musicians way of thinking at all! This one does. From watching user demos and instruction i already got the idea that the user interface for the Liven series was more complex than actually needed. This video only confirms that from around 18:00, where three buttons must be pressed, amongst which the play button, to undo the hold function. That really should be implemented differently. Also, the "func" button must be pressed to select the secondary function of the sequencer step buttons. This makes some sense, but why must "shift" and "func" both be pressed to select the secondary function of the grey knobs above? That makes no sense at all. But given that, i really appreciate this video and it really helps in untangling these quirks of the user interface. Looking forward to the next videos about sequencer and detailed sound design. An amazing instrument at an amazing price! Thank you.

[@SONICWARE]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. The 'func' button is intended for the secondary functions of buttons, while the 'shift' button is for the secondary parameters of knobs. We’ve designed it so that pressing 'func' allows the 'shift' button to stay engaged when you need to adjust multiple secondary parameters of the knobs. Thank you for your understanding.

[@D3ROXX]

We need a complete one. 1st video is great and useful. thank u !

[@thomas1ouf]

Love the synth so far! Will there be a PDF version of a user manual in the near future? Keep on the good work guys!

[@dinogoldie9716]

I wish there were a way to control the FX (particularly the delays) on a per layer basis. Having the delay affect all layers gets very messy very quickly. I'd like it to affect just the atmos or just the drone.

[@Congasjones]

Agree and some form of tempo sync for delay and lfo

[@holythursdayz7023]

Wonder if they will do a update for this?

[@FormlessOdeum]

Thanks for this video. I've been trying to read through the manual and other tutorial videos, but this is the first one I've been able to watch and comprehend all the way through. I'd really love a video on the sequencing and patterns. I can't seemt to get my head around it. Thanks

[@SonicCartography]

Hey, I'm the guy making the videos-thanks for the nice feedback! The next video in the series (coming out soon) will be about sound design, but then the third one will be about sequencing. If there's anything in particular you're having trouble with, let me know!

[@voidreflectionsmusic]

Thanks for this, looking forward to more!

[@soundscapematrix]

Extremely helpful...thank you

[@JA-em5jr]

Awesome tut. Please do one that covers the sequencer next. Having trouble keeping tracks from sounding like one long mess of sounds.

[@SONICWARE]

Thank you, the 3rd video will be sequencer operations.

[@CKTDSTUDIO]

You guys at Sonicware are my idols, it would be nice if the HOLD button worked even after pressing a note, chord or chord... unfortunately now HOLD must be pressed before the note and not vice versa. I look forward to the next update for my Texture Lab and my LoFi 12XT. Keep it up, you're great

[@eugenevanloo6205]

Great video! When does the next one drop? I’m really looking forward to the next one.

[@SonicCartography]

Thank you! Soon, I hope! I'm in the final stages of putting it together now!

[@do6erman]

Thank you so much, really well done video guide!!!

[@projectvime]

Very good tutorial! ❤

[@rp8564]

This is awesome! When can we expect part 2?

[@SONICWARE]

Thank you, give us a little more time🙏

[@rp8564]

@SONICWARE no problem! I'm ordering mine today 🙂

[@colinodea2407]

Thank you this is soo good. Now I understand what's happening with the sounds I am creating instead of winging it 😂

[@SandroMassarani]

Great video.

[@SanandaShivanath]

HI. thanks for the explanation. do you know how I can restore the factory pattern sequences? Unfortunately I deleted them and now some are empty Great video thank you

[@SonicCartography]

Thank you! You can restore them by doing a factory reset (the steps are on page 100 of the manual). Keep in mind you will lose any patterns and samples you've saved if you do this, so you may want to do a backup of them first (pages 91-92).

[@notaspectator]

Is there a similar series for loft 12? thanks

[@arturodivita1652]

Can you tell me in which videos I can find how to memorize a chord sequence after making the ambient sound?

[@SONICWARE]

We are planning the 3rd video about the sequencer. FW: @SonicCartography

[@ChamiCh]

why the heck are there still two shift buttons ugghgghh... I have the XFM, 8bit warps, and lofi-12, and it really makes the workflow a pain as i'm constantly forgetting which shift button to use for which control. It's so annoying. I thought things were finally improving when I saw the Mega Synthesis, but now we're back to two shift keys again... just combine them already...

[@snörre23]

Zero ? i read it as Ø like in northern languages and associated it with Mika Vainios project name - thats what got me interested in it.

[@dinogoldie9716]

I have a question/request for the next video in this series. How can I ensure that the drone layer has more body/bass than the pad and atmos layers? The Pad structures feel fuller/heftier than the drone structures and the Atmos layer (especially the 2op FM Atmos 2) is considerably louder than the other layers. Even when I apply high pass filter to the pad and atmos layers, the drone still sounds thin/washed out (some wavetables more than others). Any suggestions?

[@dinogoldie9716]

Well you're no Chris Lody but all Liven tutorials are gratefully received. Can we PLEASE get an accessible tutorial series for the Sonicware Elz-1 Play?

[@SONICWARE]

Chris is currently making it. Thank you for your patience.

[@ChrisLodyMusic]

Yes I'm working on a full ELZ_1 play video. I have tried to read out controls as much as possible but there are some specifics to menus etc that will be difficult to describe so I'll also make the usual text document to accompany it, but I won't have time for this immediately

[@dinogoldie9716]

​@@ChrisLodyMusic Nice one. Appreciated. I've got all the buttons/controls written down so it's more a case of knowing important key combos and what the macro knobs change per each page/menu.

[@blueberry2a]

Very good idea to make tutorial. I suggest to give us the best way to duplicate layers of bank 1 on others Banks to create our own templates from existing sounds. Please 🙏

[@SonicCartography]

Do you mean you want to be able to copy all four layers of a palette (like the one shown in this video, "Lime") to another memory location so that you can use it as a starting point and manipulate it without losing the original palette?

[@blueberry2a]

In fact Is it possible to copy drone layer from Lime and pad layer from zéro… etc….. to a dédicacate place in bank 2

[@blueberry2a]

….. To the same dédicace place

[@SonicCartography]

@@blueberry2a Yes, it's possible! The procedure is as follows: 1. Select the layer you want to copy by pressing the layer button (e.g., press the drone button if you want to copy the drone layer). 2. Press function + copy. 3. Navigate to the palette to which you want to copy the layer (e.g., a blank palette). 4. Select the layer of the blank palette to which you want to copy the layer. 5. Press function + paste. The layer has now been copied over to the blank palette. Keep in mind that it doesn't get saved to the blank palette until you save the palette, so be sure to do that as well (function + pattern and then the OK button). Let me know if that makes sense or answers your question!

[@blueberry2a]

@@SonicCartography thks a lot I do think that this will help a lot of other users 👍🙏

[@ScottMoonSharon]

When is chapter 2 coming? I need more. :)

[@maurapond2543]

Thank you so much for the videos! Maybe I'm a dummy and missing something, but where do I find how to actually save a patch? For the life of me I can't find it.

[@SONICWARE]

In Ambient Ø, patches are saved within pattern palettes. There is no function to save patches independently. Thanks.

[@maurapond2543]

@@SONICWARE Oooo thank you!

[@dinogoldie9716]

PLEASE make the next Liven a drum synth (in the vein of Erica Synths's LXR02, Korg's Volca Drum or elektron's Model Cycles). Thanks.

[@mux1978]

Where is part 2?

[@SONICWARE]

The 2nd video is is currently in production. 🙏

[@pekerhed101]

This tutorial is so much better than the one I was trying to follow along with previously...by some dude named "ChrisLody", who was just blowing through the functions without giving a damn that noobs could be trying to follow his rapid, Brit cadence.

[@SonicCartography]

Hey, I'm glad you liked the video! For context, Chris's videos are aimed at giving a more comprehensive overview of all the features to a more median audience that includes experienced synth players who'd probably get annoyed if he explained things the way I did (not to mention the video would also be like 8 hours long in that case, haha)! Since I fall into that category, I myself started learning about the synth by watching his video and wanted him to breeze through things the way he did! But yeah, I think people who are new to synthesis need things explained and contextualized more, and that's why Sonicware started this series to supplement the other video! I think there's a need for different kinds of videos for different kinds of people!

[@SonicCartography]

Also, sorry! I don't know why I'm using exclamation marks so much! I guess maybe it's because I just drank my morning coffee! 😂

[@pekerhed101]

@@SonicCartography Fair enough.

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

Pop shield needed

[@SONICWARE]

Sorry, yes I think so. Please consider 🙏 @SonicCartography

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

@@SONICWARE sorry if my post reads a bit abrupt! I only mentioned it as my studio monitors were getting a workout :) but might not be noticeable on phones/headphones/laptops

[@SonicCartography]

@@Farold_Haltermeyer No worries! I'm aware of some of the audio issues on this. They do seem a lot more or less noticeable depending on what I listen to it on, and what I was listening to it on while I was recording was unfortunately not the best choice... Anyway, I'll try to get it better for the next video!

[@BrockDavisson]

WANT

[@jonathanenglish9820]

Great Timing! ⏱️ ❤

[@boorchboorch]

i bought ambient 0, liked it very much initially. what they call "blendwave synthesis" (essentially a collection of baked-in, morphing bread and butter wavetables) is nice, tasty shimmer reverb, relatively quick workflow to come up with something decent from zero etc... but once again i was let down by unconventional design choices like arpeggiator being an only "live play" feature (even if it's stored as a "play mode" on that instrument, or "palette" as they call it), so you can't input a chord into your sequence and expect it to arpeggiate. your only option is to record live and they get stored as literal steps (therefore end up being baked in). you can change "pattern speed" by adjusting note length (i guess it's "per step"?) like setting sequncer speed to 1/2, 1/4 etc at the cost of "step resolution" as in Elektron boxes, but this also changes arpeggiator speed since there's no dedicated "rate" setting for arpeggio, which is... a weird design choice. i really want to support this brand, i'm not shy to send support emails and ask for feature requests, and tbh they're very responsive, massive kudos to that. but there's something that makes me feel like they just don't... get it. honestly it's heartbreaking to see very unique (feature-wise) and approachable (both cognitively and financially) products missing their full potential of being "proper boxes" because of these weird design choices. i can understand these “problems” i flagged may not be real problems for some people or don’t apply to their personal “workflow”, but i wanted to share my point of view as well, since i haven’t seen such points raised by anyone else with this amount of detail in any other platform a sonicware product is discussed.

[@Aleksandr_Kozhemyakin]

I was in Japan and couldn't buy it🥲 All sold out!

[@SONICWARE]

🙏

[@D3ROXX]

it's available in Europe, Thomann or any local reseller. :D