I haven't been able to figure out how to do this in stock Ableton, so I'm wondering if Max For Live is the solution...

While performing live, I'd like to do the following in Ableton:

1) Automatically record a 4 bar loop at bar 23 of the song;

2) Have Ableton play back that recorded loop at bar 45 (and perhaps again at several later places in the song).

Obviously this is just an example. But in general, I'd like to pre-program this sort of thing to happen automatically - without having to click or type anything during the performance (in other words, it needs to happen hands-free).

Can Max For Live enable this kind of functionality in Ableton?

1) Automatically record a 4 bar loop at bar 23 of the song;
2) Have Ableton play back that recorded loop at bar 45 (and perhaps again at several later places in the song).

possible-with-max-for-live

Pretty sure you can do that , but you will need to learn about the buffer~ object, maybe poke~, timer, and transport objects as well. It's gonna take some time to learn, so give yourself a few weeks/months. SIt down with a cup a coffee and watch some tutorials, like this 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TefZC5X74bA.

Pretty sure you can do that , but you will need to learn about the buffer~ object, maybe poke~, timer, and transport objects as well.  It's gonna take some time to learn, so give yourself a few weeks/months.  SIt down with a cup a coffee and watch some tutorials, like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TefZC5X74bA.


AJ, can you basically achieve what you want by recording things manually in session clips and launch them by hand ? ( pressing the record button in a slot a bit before bar 23, pressing the track stop button a bit before the end of bar 27 to stop recording after 4 bars, pressing play of that clip before bar 45 etc. )

If so, you do not need to dive into building an advanced, tempo synced audio recorder, but can use much simpler methods provided by the API to simply automatically trigger the above mentioned functions.

That's much less effort and with some research about the various topics of the Live.API you will most likely find solutions, or good starting points at least.

AJ, can you basically achieve what you want by recording things manually in session clips and launch them by hand ? ( pressing the record button in a slot a bit before bar 23, pressing the track stop button a bit before the end of bar 27 to stop recording after 4 bars, pressing play of that clip before bar 45 etc. )
If so, you do not need to dive into building an advanced, tempo synced audio recorder, but can use much simpler methods provided by the API to simply automatically trigger the above mentioned functions.  

That's much less effort and with some research about the various topics of the Live.API you will most likely find solutions, or good starting points at least.  

Thanks for the help guys... I may have learned how to get similar results within Ableton alone (that is, without involving Max for Live).

Here's what's been suggested in a discussion I've got going over at Gearslutz:

Here's a way: create a remote by using a midi track and an external midi port.

you can use a live midi track as a remote via an external midi port (like iac drivers on mac) and then create a "automation clip" (like trig a clip)

2.Create a midi track in Live and Set "midi out" to iac driver 1

3.Create a clip in this track and write a note in this clip (C1 for example)

4.create an audio track for recording and playing loop

5.in midi learn mode, select a clip in your rec track, play the midi clip: it should assign it (C1) to the audio clip.

Now, C1 controls the record/play/stop of the audio clip.

7.In the arrangement mode, put the midi clip with C1 where you want to start the recording, then where you want it to stop, then when you want it to play...(make sure you had your clip set properly, toggle, gate...). You can do all kind of automations with that trick.

You could also automate Looper with the same remote trick...

I hope that helps and that my english is clear enough.

Another suggestion was to try the above, but use Ableton's Follow Actions to control when the newly recorded loop repeats.

Anyway, I'll be trying all of these ideas out at tonight's rehearsal to see which approach is right for our workflow. Thanks again for the help!

Thanks for the help guys... I may have learned how to get similar results within Ableton alone (that is, without involving Max for Live). 

Quote:
Here's a way: create a remote by using a midi track and an external midi port.
you can use a live midi track as a remote via an external midi port (like iac drivers on mac) and then create a "automation clip" (like trig a clip)
1.in preference menu/midi, set
iac driver in: remote
Iac driver out: track
2.Create a midi track in Live and Set "midi out" to iac driver 1
3.Create a clip in this track and write a note in this clip (C1 for example)
4.create an audio track for recording and playing loop
5.in midi learn mode, select a clip in your rec track, play the midi clip: it should assign it (C1) to the audio clip.
Now, C1 controls the record/play/stop of the audio clip.
7.In the arrangement mode, put the midi clip with C1 where you want to start the recording, then where you want it to stop, then when you want it to play...(make sure you had your clip set properly, toggle, gate...). You can do all kind of automations with that trick.
You could also automate Looper with the same remote trick...
I hope that helps and that my english is clear enough.
Unquote

Possible with Max For Live?