Trusty said:
I am confused about the new drum rack. I watced the video, but it never stated whether or not:
1. Slices could be edited.
2. Slices could be edited with effects per slice.
3. Slices could be moved around.
4. If a user could slice manually and/or insert new ones.
5. If a user could delete slices.
6. If a user could custom map the slices where desired on the pads.
When you slice a loop, Live creates a drum rack on a new track where:
1. Each slice is automatically mapped chromatically to pads.
2. Midi clip is generated that plays the rack in the manner a loop is played (typical REX fashion)
3. You can edit slices easily since each slice in a drum rack is just an individual simpler module with the start and end points auto adjusted to play the slice. You can change this if you want, you can also do easy synth effects, transposing, envelopes, filters.
4. The drum rack architecture allows you to chain insert effects on each pad in the drum rack. You can also use a certain amount of return effects (6 I think).
5. You can either rearrange the slices on the drum rack, or alter the midi clip to move the slices.
6. The process really just group of simplers, you can manually slice about anything, it would take some time but it is fairly just simple waveform style editing (circling in on start and end points). You can also replace slices with your own or somebody else's drum sounds.
7. Slices can be:
1. Deleted
2. Replaced
3. Muted
4. Deactivated by individual midi notes (in the piano roll)
8. To answer your custom question, Live have a few slicing options at the beginning of the slicing process, It doesn't give you full custom control but you can determine if you want to slice by sixteenth, eigth notes, or warp markers.
Other plusses:
If you have an Ableton supported controller like M audio Trigger Finger, the pads will automatically be mapped to whatever the grid on the drum rack is so you can always play what you are seeing.
And you can also create kits that cover the entire midi range.
Kits don't have to be samples, you can also drum rack softsynths. So if you like a kick in Rapture, drag synth into drum pad, adjust Input and output mapping notes, you can put your synths in drum racks.
Drum racks almost take care of Live's lack of Drum maps. The drum racks is really just a glorified Drum map (Drum names also appear in the piano roll) but you can't map external midi which was the Drum map's original purpose.