Alrighty folks, you've all been waiting a long time but I've finally finished it... the DJM800 and Ableton MIDI how-to!

This is revision 2 and I will accept any questions or comments for a 3rd revision. If you have any questions, please ask!

The zip file includes the PDF guide as well as a template for Ableton Live 6 (may work with Live 5 as well).

Download the guide here.

hi, ive read your guide to the djm 800/ableton.

im still puzzled, i dont even know if ive got the right gear.

id be very gratefull if you could help me out.

i got a emu 0404 soundcard thru the door yesterday.
it has 4 analogs 4 digitals.
ive connected the midi to my djm 800 and ive connected the analog ins to the djm and assigned them to channel 3 on the mixer.
i get sound thru the mixer and able to mix from cdj into ableton.
do i need another connection to mix from ableton to the cdj??
all this midi clock stuff i dont understand.
this afternoon ive been tapping the bpm on ableton to match the cdj but its not bang all the time.
is there a easier way to do this?
im pretty sure there is.
also do i need a more inns and outs on the sound card??

cheers ma man!!!!!!!!!!!!!

paul

Hey Pulse,

Great guide. I've taken a real interest in this mixer; I had no idea it was so integrated with Ableton. My buddy's on Ableton, so this might be a good solution that can take advantage of both worlds.

My question, though, is about reliability. If I want to join up with an Ableton DJ for a set, will we still have CDJ-to-Ableton sync issues during a mix? I know you mentioned that you can tweak latency in Ableton.

I was actually considering getting a 96kHZ/24bit looper/controller called the Red SoundBite Micro, which has its famous BPM v3 technology to calculate tempo precisely and accurately and allegedly solves the sync issues of turntable-to-Ableton setups.

Can you elaborate on the sync issues of mixing between decks and Ableton on this mixer?

Thanks,
Ben

The latency adjustment is primarily for the initial "start". If you were doing a set using Ableton, I would foresee that Ableton would be running beats the entire time and it would be the job of the DJ on the CDJs to adjust the pitch in order to match. It's easier to do it that way than to try and have the computer match the quickly-pitch-adjustable CDJ audio.

Haha, so I guess Digweed has to work harder than Sasha when they spin together these days...

I know it's naive to think this Red SoundBite Micro is the end-all be-all for keeping CDJs and Ableton in sync, but it'd still be an interesting comparison test to see how well the DJM-800 and SoundBite Micro keep music from mixed-medium formats in sync and beatmatched.

Thanks.

this might be a bit off the point but i'm trying to hook up the 800 to ableton through the m audio audiophile. but i have a new laptop thats running vista and it doesnt reckognise the audiophile. the load up screen says that the system is uncompatable. does any one have any suggestions. m audio dont have any vista drivers for the audiophile yet.
thanks

Just wait for drivers.

Thx for your guide Pulse, very usefull. I've just followed the first method u described and have just few question.
Ableton dosn't list my djm 800 in the devices as u described, but it works regularly. Do u know why??
How does beat sync works?? I mean: i use the effects of the djm800, with auto bpm active, but the BPM always blink and never get fixed like it does when using my cds. Also when i spin up the bpm in ableton, it doesn't spin up in the djm display. Any reason?

My set up with this method is almost perfect, it gives me a lot of mixing tips, but there still something to resolve. I use djm800' cue buttons on the 2 channel to preview the tracks, but with this set up i can't preview the tracks in ableton's browser, as i did with my previous method (method 2 in your guide).

Any advice??

Thx in advance

Andrea Lombardo

1) The DJM800 is not a "control surface" so it won't show up in the devices list. It simply transmits MIDI data.

2) The DJM800's MIDI is SEND only, it doesn't receive information from Ableton. Your best bet is to put the DJM800 into MANUAL (tap) mode for the BPM that way it won't jump around unexpectedly on you.

3) Previewing tracks depends on how you have it setup audio-wise - you can always preview them in your headphones or via Ableton's cue feature.

Pulse: very well written guide man.

You mention you have a ReMote Zero

I have a ReMote 25SL as well as a DJM800 was just wondering how do you map clip browsing on the Novation and or DJM so you can just scroll through clips with a rotary pot controller, I'm able to map scene select and scroll up and down through that but i can't seem to figure out how to do the same for tracks.

I haven't really gotten that far - I still do most of my DJing with CDs and I feel awful about the amount of dust there is on my ZeRO.

It's a win/lose with the fact the unit has auto-mapping because that doesn't really help us DJs who need some of those functions to be constant rather than randomly assigned. I had considered making a couple of custom maps where only part of the unit is automapping and the remainder is fixed.

We'll see - if I figure anything out, you know I'll post it.

Pulse,

I have just finished working on my DJM-800 / Edirol V-4 midi set-up. If you think there is a need for it I would be happy to write a chapter for your manual.

It's surprisingly simple to set-up, but seems to baffle some people when I talk to them about it.

Justin, if you want to do that, it'd be great. Just put the info into a Word (or RTF) document and I'll format it and add it to the PDF. I'll put credit in there for you (of course).

Wow. Bravo that is awesome! I am about to move to LIVE 7 anyone been playing with it?

I am looking to integrate Ableton into my DJ setup and am considering buying a DJM-800. I still want to use 2 decks and 2 cd decks and would like to be able to mix between Ableton and these seamlessly.

I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on whether they think I would be making the right choice? I raed that I can send the BPM from the mixer to Ableton so that I can mix between the different formats. How well does this work?

I currently have a Novation Remote Zero SL and would also like to integrate this. I read that a few of you guys have one of these as well as the DJM-800 and was wondering if you coud give me some advice on how you have everything set up?

Finally can anyone recommend a good external soundcard/MIDI interface to connect between the Mixer and my computer?

Thanks for your help guys

Read my guide - it's at the top of this thread.

Seriously, how could you post without reading the guide first? It talks about EVERYTHING (except the Zero SL) you're looking to do.

Thanks - I did read the guide - I was hoping for some advice on how effective the BPM MIDI sync is, or whether there are any other better mixer options out there.

The MIDI sync has its issues regardless of which mixer combination you'd be using. I went into details about how to synchronize in the document, it's not perfect but it's an option.

I use three turntables on my DJM800 with Ableton Live. I use very few assignable controls with the mixer because I have three turntables. If I bought a controller, could I connect the DJM800 MIDI OUT to the MIDI THRU of the controller and achieve the same results with both? Or, just dedicate one controller to Live.

I'm looking at a Behringer BCR2000

I read your guide and it says some people run Live through the mic ports. This frees up the two middle channels. Hadn't thought about that yet.