Working on percussion with Ableton's Drum Rack. I have it set up with an Ableton
Sampler on the Open Hi-Hat GM Note(A#1). This is so I can automate the
'decay'
of the OHH. I do this by assigning the mod wheel to modulate the global 'time',
I then insert a max4live utility before the hi-hat sampler than gives me a knob
to automate the mod wheel midi cc data. This, mixed with velocity automation
of the volume, is exactly what I wanted.
As I'm going over this I am realizing that I can just put the sampler in an
instrument rack and map a knob to the 'time' parameter instead, duh..
This also lets me map a few other things for quicker access to some
parameters,
maybe Volume, Transpose, Detune, Spread, Filter Freq.
and Resonance, and Velocity>Volume. Okay, good, no more max4live
stuff, always good to stay in box :)
A note of explanation for why I have this setup. I love percussion,
I especially love it when synthesized percussion sounds real, not
synthesized. I believe the beauty of synths lies in their ability to
make unreal sounds sound real. I'm not particulary interested in
sounds that feel like they came out of a chip, I am interested in
sounds that feel like they have come out of an environment
(I use convolution quite a bit :) and in this it is possible to
create new worlds. I like automation on hi-hats/shakers
because it really helps with the realism of the percussion
sound, everything else can be static. It's nice to have
volume automation on other percussive elements, and
that is easy enough to add with velocity, but the ability
to change the decay of the shaker is perfect.