Ableton Live has a built in crossfader which is very powerful. It has 7 different curves, can mix any number of tracks together and is midi mappable. In tutorial we will guide you through what is a crossfader, Ableton Live's crossfader, the different crossfader curves, key and midi mapping the crossfader and some fun tips.

What is a crossfader?

A crossfader is a horizontal fader which is usually found on DJ mixers. It is used to to cut or fade between the two turntables connected. It works by having all the sound coming each turntable on ethier side, for example the left turntables output is allowed through when the crossfader is all the way to the left. When left in the middle the crossfader will allow the output from both turntables to be heard equally. When moved towards ethier side the output from the opossite turntable decreases as the other one becomes more promonent. An easy way to remember it is a volume control. When the crossfader is all the way to the left the left turntables volume is on full and the rights is on zero and visa versa. The crossfader allows DJ's to mix different records together this way and is very important to modern DJing. There are many different types of crossfaders and curves, some better for mixing others better for scratching. Most are just a matter of taste.

The crossfader in Ableton Live

The crossfader in Ableton Live works exactly the same as one on a DJ mixer but has a few features normal mixers can't physically do. One is that it can crossfade between an unlimited number of sources or channels for example 20 on the left side and 100 on the right. Another feature is the 7 crossfader curves which gives you a good amount of choice to find one you like or that fits a particular style.

To view the crossfader, first pull up the session or live view. Then if you look in the bottom right hand corner next to the master fader you'll see a vertical line of circular buttons. See screenshot below, area marked in orange.

 

Once you've found that you'll see that the bottom one is a little X. Click on that to bring up the crossfader and channel selection bar, See below.

Now that the crossfader is activated i will explain how to use it. The crossfader it's self is the line with and arrow pointing up thats right underneath the master fader. The A and B buttens under each channel select which side of the crossfader the channel will be assigned to. A is for the left hand side B for the right. When no A or B butten is highlighted the channel is unexfected by the crossfader.

Changing the crossfader curves

As i said before Live comes with 7 different crossfader curves you can choose from. Each curve has different uses and some suit certain styles better than others. The curves availible are Transistion, Dipped, Intermediate, Constant power, Slow fade, Slow cut and Fast cut. See the table below which shows the response and power levels.

 

To change the crossfader curve all you have to do is right click on the crossfader and a list will appear. select the curve you want and your away.

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Akai MPK25 review

Published: 15. 05. 2008     10 comments

We take a look at the Akai MPK25 midi controller, the smallest of the Akai MPK series of midi controller/keyboard/MPC drum pad/trigger. This is a feature packed controller and promises a lot but does it live up to it's creators repretation?