Ableton Live fans hungry for sounds, what a good half-year it’s been. AfroDJMac alone has been busy putting together delicious-sounding, versatile racks of virtual Ableton-ready gear. After six months of contributing free downloads and videos – and discovering the use of this kind of generosity as a tool for exposure – he’s come up with some 26 such racks. You can grab them all, but I asked the artist to choose his six favorites out of the bunch:
1. Nintendo Rack- Maybe it’s just nostalgia, but these sounds have so much personality, I love them 🙂 This rack has been the most popular and has been downloaded more than twice as many times as any other (I blame the CDM feature 🙂
Free Weekly Ableton Live Rack #6- “AfroDJMac Nintendo Rack”2. Vocal Rack and Dub Delay- I first got a good taste of Ableton’s capabilities when I mapped out a more primitive version of this rack to my midi controller. I don’t think I’ve looked at another DAW since.
Free Weekly Ableton Live Rack #12: Vocal Rack and Dub Delay the AfroDJMac Way3. Super Glitch Machine- I like when things sound broken!
Ableton Rack #23: Super Glitch Machine (part 1)4. Laptop Feedback Rack- This was the first one I ever released, having no idea if anyone would even care, and to my surprise they did. I really like how this sound starts out pad-like, but decays after a few seconds into something a bit more glitchy and spacey.
Free Weekly Ableton Live Rack #1- “AfroDjMac Laptop Feedback”5. Broken Bells Rack- Made from xylophone samples playing forwards and backwards simultaneously, in my opinion there is a lot of character in this one. To my surprise however, it has been out-downloaded by most of my other racks.
Free Weekly Ableton Live Rack #10: AfroDJMac Broken Bells Rack6. AfroDJMac’s Drum Racks- I like this one because it gives a peak into how I treat my drums in my live performances. I got a couple of really nice emails from people expressing how it inspired them, and that to me is the ultimate compliment.
AfroDJMac’s Drum Tracks [Free Weekly Ableton Live Rack #16]
And, to celebrate the half-year anniversary, he’s got a new rack out, as well. Tom of the Waveformless Blog provides samples of the Ensoniq SQ-80 – hardly something we get too much of. Here, you get bits of “the “Hush” preset, as well as a sample of the synth powering down,” all mapped into a sampler. Video below:
Download and more information:
Ableton Live Rack #26: SQ-80 Hush [6 Months of Racks!] [afrodjmac.com]
And all of the free racks:
http://afrodjmac.com/category/free-ableton-instruments/
There have actually been a number of other free downloads this month for Ableton; more on that next week.