CHAPTER 4. LIVE CONCEPTS
17
signals are generated by input devices such as MIDI or USB keyboards
1
.
It takes an
instrument
to convert MIDI signals into audio signals that can actually be heard.
Some instruments, such as Live's
Simpler
, are for chromatic playing of one sound via the
keyboard. Other instruments, such as Live's
Impulse
, have a different percussion sound
assigned to each keyboard key.
Audio signals are recorded and played back using
audio tracks
, and MIDI signals are
recorded and played back using
MIDI tracks
. The two track types have their own corre-
sponding clip types. Audio clips cannot live on MIDI tracks and vice versa.
Information about inserting, reordering and deleting audio and MIDI tracks is found
here
.
4.5
Audio Clips and Samples
An audio clip contains a reference to a
sample
(also known as a sound le or audio le )
or a
compressed sample
(such as an MP3 le). The clip tells Live where on the computer's
drives to nd the sample, what part of the sample to play and
how
to play it.
When a sample is dragged in from one of Live's built-in
File Browsers
, Live automatically
creates a clip to play that sample. Prior to dragging in a sample, one can audition or
preview
it directly in the Browser; the switch in the Browser with the headphone icon
activates previewing.
1
For an introduction to digital audio and MIDI, please see http://img.uoregon.edu/emi/emi.php and
http://www.midi.org/
