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How I Play: Ill.Gates Live Setup and New Performance Soundpacks

By Dan White on October 2, 2014

DJTT friend and Midi Fighter aficionado Ill.Gates stopped in the DJTT studio to give us an exclusive behind-the-scenes of how his live setup works. The setup includes Serato Video, a Vestax VCI-380 controller, live VJing, and fingerdrumming on the Midi Fighter 3D. At the same time, ill.Gates is launching a brand new set of performance soundpacks on the DJTT webstore – watch the video and learn more inside!

Ill.Gates’ DJTT Performance Soundpacks

We’re excited that Ill.Gates chose DJTT to exclusively launch a brand new set of advanced soundpacks for Ableton and Maschine. Coming from a background of making performance templates in Ableton, it’s no wonder that his 10-pack volume is packed full of features unlike any other soundpack collection, including:

  • “Round-Robin” samples: pads that alternate between a variety of samples randomly or in a specific order
  • Push-length Alternating Samples: samples that change on the length the button is pressed. For example, a quick tap is a click, a long tap is a clap, and holding the button triggers a camera shutter sound.
  • Bank-change triggers: Mapped specifically for the Midi Fighter 3D, this feature allows controllerists to quickly activate a sample or song clip just by switching banks – something that we’ve seen in Shawn Wasabi’s performance videos.
  • Maschine and Ableton: The advanced layout isn’t just for Ableton – ill.Gates has also gone in and built dynamic packs in the Maschine 2 software as well.

“These sound packs were a labor of love.

#1 through # 5 are designed to teach you as many of my programming secrets as possible, while #6 through #10 are touchable instruments made from the tracks that made my name.

Whether you use MIDI or play them with your hands you’re going to love jamming on these sound packs.Fun helps nurture a healthy obsession.” – Ill.Gates

Grab the full set of ill.Gates packs in the DJTT store here.

Want free packs in your inbox? Sign up for the my.DJTT newsletter if you haven’t already.

ableton livefinger drummingHow I Playill gatesmaschineMidi Fightermidi fighter 3dmidi fighter twisterperformance soundpackssoundpacks
Comments (25)
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  • buxxxxxx

    but do you throw cakes too?

  • load of shit

    salesman. none of this stuff is his invention. he is using the program. big woop.!.
    finger drumming? as if.

  • qazen

    How does he trigger different samples depending on press-lenght?
    I can’t for the life of me seem to figure it out!

    • TYLR

      MIDI plugin: Note Length, I’m sure it has something to do with this device, but I would still have to poke around to be sure.

  • Chaser720

    Bought the packs on Friday and have been working on playing them. They are definitely different from Mad Zach’s in terms of layout but I see a lot of potential. Looking forward to getting comfortable with these.

  • Dean Zulueta

    Ill.Gates’ workflow is very intuitive. I really enjoyed the hi-hats and idea of playing in a “relaxed” fashion. For me personally, I am just not as fast I want to be but with this type of work flow, I could do everything I wanted to without worrying to much about the speed of my hands.

  • Sean Cvtter

    Cats Yo

  • Riddim Fernandez

    always moving forward!
    great to see dude – stoked on the serato and ableton combo…
    inspiring as always.

  • Jurb

    Anyone got a video of him using this setup? I can’t seem to find any

  • Clay Ford

    “a beat repeat to end a build up…because you know…people need to be told when to dance” fuck that had me laughing! Love his attitude

  • Andrew R

    i looked at him and wanted to hate, now i’m looking at where i can catch him play. dope stuff on here.

    • CUSP

      Is it just me, or did you guys catch the Ableton logo pattern shaved into the side of his head (on alternate sides)?

    • michael lee

      Ya that hair just screams “douchebag!”, but the guy is straight up talent. Well done video, don’t judge a book, etc.

  • CUSP

    That’s a Vestax VCI-380 controller though.

    • Dan White

      Nice spot. Fixed in the copy!

  • CUSP

    This guy is really good. 🙂

    • michael lee

      great video, mandatory viewing

    • DJ SPARK

      Exactly, the guy have a very broadband of knowledege and studies, I was stuck by the content and how that was making sense.

  • deejae snafu

    ILL gates dipped in win sauce as usual.

  • scooterADAM

    great stuff mr Gates

    hmmm didn’t know the vci380 could share a sound card with ableton… beast of a controller, nothing can touch it still… come on Vestax! surprise us with another controller!

    • CUSP

      A lot of things can share the same sound card, as long as it’s aggregated in the operating system. This is similar to using Maschine and Traktor at the same time, but you *CAN* route everything through Ableton (if you want).

      *Twitch guy shaking fist at VCI-380 guy (in a friendly, yet somewhat stand-offish manner)* “Yes, your buttons are velocity sensitive, but can you play more than two decks?” (twists mustache and snickers)