An awesome Ableton Live Pack can be really inspirational. Once and a while I look online for a new technique, sound design, or idea and love checking out Ableton Live Packs and Racks to play around. In this article, I am going to list off some of my favorite packs and why I would use them. This is the cream of the drop.
1. Turntable Scratch For Days
In my live sets I’ve always wanted to add a turntable scratch sound. One day when I was looking it up I found this awesome free pack by Yehezkel Raz at 4live.com. This Instrument Rack is great for live performance and for the studio. It lets me get some awesome tape stop sounds live. Check out the video below and download the Free Live Instrument.
2. Low-fi VCR sounds
Sticking with the retro sound we have this awesome VHS VCR Tape Emulation from AfroDJMac. If I am looking for a vintage scratchy sound this is the Live Pack go to. I love the tools AfroDJMac gives to add texture and character to your sound.
3. Must-Have Formant filter
If you are trying to get a vowel movement, or spice up your bass sounds, then this Live Effect Rack is perfect. Yeuda, a fellow Ableton Live Certified trainer, put together this awesome free pack that lets you scan different Vowel sounds and start to morph your sound. I’ve used this with great effect on square wave basses or pads to add interest.
4. Future Bass Rack For Crunchy Sounds
Joshua Casper puts together an awesome free Bass Instrument Rack. This thing is a swiss army knife for bass production. In his words;
The rack has quite a bit of control loaded into the 8 main knobs. Including the sub bass cutoff, the master EQ scale, gain control of the instrument and for each of the patches individually, the reverb and even a nasty saturator preset ready to distort what needs to be distorted!!
Check out the video below and download the free Future Bass Rack.
5. Max For Live Connector Kit – Connect all the things
Let’s not forget that there are tons of awesome free packs at ableton.com. You can get a host of Instrument Racks, Effects, Loops, and more. Ableton Live just released a pack of Max For Live devices that has had me nerding out for days. Their new Connector Kit makes it easy to start playing with think like Arduino, LEGO MINDSTORMS, EV3, and OSC. This is more hands-on with the physical world than the rest of these free resources, and that is what makes it so much fun. Download the free Connector Kit
6. Taiko Drum Rack
The Taiko Drum Rack has had over 40,000 downloads off this site, so I thought I would include it. This Drum Rack is a fantastic go-to for thick epic drums. If you are looking for a big drum replacement for a snare, or want a more tribal feel, then this was made for you. The Drum Rack uses multi-sample recordings that I have put into a simple to manipulate and use Taiko Drum Rack.
Check out the video below and download the Free Taiko drum Rack.
Add to the List
That is my list, but what is yours? I would love to hear what Live Racks / Packs you use. Comment below so we can all check it out.
Want the biggest collection of Live Packs and Live Instruments in one click?
The Subaqueous Archive is a collection of all my free / by donation live packs in one massive collection. It’s orginized and easy to add to your Live User Library. Inludes thick drum racks, deep 808’s, rare world instruments, and more.
