Ableton Push is an expressive standalone instrument that provides
hands on control of melody, harmony, beats, samples, and song structure.
The Push pads have MPE capability, which make it possible to shape
sound with subtle gestures.
Such as sliding between notes, adding vibrato, or bending tones.
It's intuitive interface allows for seamless creation of music.
You can make music standalone without requiring the interaction of a
computer, and yet you can seamlessly transfer projects, samples, and
presets between your computer and Push.
It is designed to be the centerpiece of any setup.
Push has a built-in audio interface, and ADAT for recording acoustic or electronic
instruments directly into your project, and it can send MIDI data or control
voltage to your external hardware.
In this video, we are going to walk you through how to set up your Push
from out of the box and get to know all of its features and workflows.
Let's take a look at how you get started with the brand new Push unit.
In the packaging, you'll find the following items: The Push
power supply and a USB-C cable.
You can purchase additional MIDI and CV adapters in case you want to
use these with external hardware.
These are available from the Ableton web shop.
To switch on Push first connect the Push power supply and then press
the button at the back of the unit.
Push will boot in Standalone Mode for the first time, and you'll see
a short onboarding tutorial to help you get started with your Push and
try out some of the new features.
The next thing you'll need to do is authorize Live on Push and update
the Push firmware, which will allow you to connect your computer and
transfer files seamlessly back and forth between Push and download packs.
To do this, you'll need to connect to a local Wi-Fi network.
You'll find this in the setup menu under Wi-Fi.
On your computer, connect to the URL provided in Push's display, and
follow the instructions to authorize your version of Live for Push.
If you've authorized Live Standard or Live Suite,
you'll need to restart, Push before you use it.
Now you can start downloading packs directly into Push.
Press the Add button on the right hand side of the display and then
press the button above the display labeled Packs to see all available
packs connected to your Live license.
Simply select a pack using the jog wheel and press the jog wheel
to start downloading the pack.
Push's pads take on fresh new characteristics with MPE instruments.
Each pad boasts three dimensions of expression:
Note Pitch Bend, Slide, and Pressure.
And they can be utilized simultaneously in various ways on every pad.
MPE compatible instruments on Push, such as Drift, Wavetable, or even
Simpler now react to the nuanced gestures of you playing the pads.
In this example, I've loaded a Drift preset from Push.
By playing the pads, I can bend and slide notes to create expressive
vibrato and pitch slides similar to playing a real instrument.
By sliding my fingers up and down on the pads, I can create even
more changes by opening and closing the filter of this Drift preset.
The polyphonic aftertouch of the pads allows for an incredible
range of sonic possibilities.
In this example, as I press into the pads, I can control the shape
of the Drift oscillators, as well as the LFOs independently of each pad.
Push's MPE technology is not limited to melodies alone.
You can also use this for drums.
With the slide functionality you can strike various areas of the
pad to trigger different sounds.
For instance, a pad can mimic the natural behavior of the opening and
closing of a hi-hat in a drum kit.
The range of possibilities are vast and can span from realistic drum
sounds to nuances and subtle effects.
Programming beats couldn't be easier using Push.
Live is always listening to the MIDI input on record armed tracks making Capture MIDI
an essential tool for retrieving material that you've just played on those tracks.
You can use this feature even before you start recording.
If you haven't quite played with the timing you expected, you can
use the Quantize button to quantize the drum notes and add Swing.
To sequence beats
select a pad by tapping it, which also enables it for step sequencing.
Add notes with the step sequencer by tapping the pads
in the step sequencer section.
By default, each step sequencer pad corresponds to a 16th note
but the step size can be changed using the grid's scene buttons.
The Repeat button on Push is a powerful tool that allows you
to record a continuous stream of rhythmically even notes.
You can use the grid buttons to change the note repeat time divisions.
In the clip edit view, you can adjust the position and velocity of the
notes that you've played in your clip.
Additionally, you can use Probability to add even more variation to your beats.
Push has three different drum layouts that you can use: The loop Locator
for working with step sequences,
the 16 velocities for creating 16 levels of velocity for drums
and the 64 Pads so that you can play up to 64 samples using the pads.
Automation is another great way to provide variation for the beats
and melodies that you create.
With the Automation button enabled and the track armed by pressing the
record button, I can record automation of parameters directly into the clip.
Push also boasts two comprehensive melodic step sequencers that can be
used to program single notes and chords.
When using a melodic device in a MIDI track, simply press the Layout button
to access these step sequencers.
Warp and manipulate samples to match your project's tempo and gain
complete control over your music.
With the new warping algorithm, you can either load samples directly
from your User Library, or you can record samples using the audio inputs.
In this example, I'm going to record a drum loop directly
into a clip in an audio track.
Once I've finished recording, I can switch to the Clip Edit mode.
Here, I can adjust the gain of my sample that I've recorded.
By pressing the Edit button, I can now set the starting point of
my loop and then warp the sample.
With the sample now warped, it will play at the same tempo as my project.
In the Clip Edit Mode, you also have the possibility to change the
warping algorithms that best suit the sample that you've recorded.
You can also later convert the sample into a Simpler device for further manipulation,
such as slicing the audio or playing back the warped loop chromatically.
Now let's take a look at how you can work with samples in a Simpler device.
Press the Convert button and choose one of the options to load it either
into a Drum Rack or a Simpler device.
You can then use the warping functionality within the Simpler
device to warp the sample.
This keeps the sample playback in sync with the project tempo.
However, you can also use MPE and the pitch slide to create interesting glide
effects while the sample is still playing.
Another great feature of using Simpler is being able to slice samples.
Samples can be sliced by Transients, by Beat Detection, by Regions,
or even Manually, and you can use up to 64 pads to play the slices.
Here in this example, I'm using Regions to create a number of slices.
With these 16 slices, I can re-record them into a clip.
Working with samples in Simpler can be as easy or as complex as you would like.
Play samples and loops polyphonically, slice samples or playback samples
in the same key as your project.
Once I finish recording the idea, I'll simply press the Quantize
button to quantize the playback.
Push offers a convenient way to control, monitor and record
external instruments using MIDI.
You can use MIDI via the USB port, or you can use the MIDI Output
port with a MIDI adapter to connect your external hardware to Push.
By simply enabling the track and sync settings in the MIDI setup
hardware instruments can be controlled by Push and run at the same tempo
as the current project tempo.
You can record audio from your devices in either mono or stereo using the audio
inputs on Push, and you can even expand this using the ADAT ports to record
a maximum of 10 channels in total.
By adding an External Instrument device to a MIDI track, you can select
the MIDI ports, the MIDI channel and the audio inputs you wish to use.
Once these settings are configured, you can use Push's pads to play your external
hardware device or simply trigger clips that are in the current MIDI track.
You can then even load audio devices such as EQs, compressors
and effects to route the incoming audio signal through these devices.
If your hardware device can send control messages from its
interface, you can record these movements directly into the clip.
Simply by pressing the Record button and moving one of these parameters on
your hardware you can create interesting variations from your original ideas.
CV breakout cables are another way to use Push to control and play devices
in your modular hardware setup.
Load one of the presets in the CV Tools pack onto a MIDI track to
send control voltage via the CV adapters connected to your Push
unit and control various parameters within your modular hardware setup.
In this example, I can use the slide on the pad to control the cutoff, slide notes
and add vibrato and use the aftertouch to blend between the sound of the
oscillator and the white noise generator.
The Session Mode on Push is now available on both the pads and as a visual
display in the screen, and you now also have the ability to quickly toggle
between the Session Mode and your Note Playing Mode using the D-Pad controls.
Simply press the pads to launch clips in your project, or use the grid
buttons to launch an entire scene.
If your project has more than eight tracks
you can use the D-Pad left and right arrow keys to navigate.
or you can use the page buttons to navigate by eight
tracks in each direction.
You can also use the jog wheel to navigate your session.
Simply turn the jog wheel to navigate by scene and press the
jog wheel to launch a scene.
By nudging the jog wheel to the left or to the right, you can move between tracks.
Push also has a comprehensive mix mode where you can control
volumes, pans, and sends of all your tracks in your current Live Set.
You can use the upper display buttons and the encoders to access the parameters
you wish to adjust and the buttons under the display to access the tracks.
By pressing the Master button, you can select the master track
to add your favorite audio devices to your master audio channel.
Push allows you to develop songs seamlessly between itself
and Live on your computer.
Create sets using Push in Standalone Mode, and then transfer
them directly to your computer.
You can also transfer samples and presets back and forth
between your computer and Push.
All this can be achieved by connecting your computer and
Push to the same Wi-Fi network.
Locate the Push icon in the Live browser and pair your Push unit.
You now have access to all of Push's contents from Live's browser, and
you can double click a Live Set in a project folder to open this in Live.
Your computer will copy the entire project folder and open the set and when you
wish to save the set, you can choose a location on your computer to save it.