Beginner's Guide to Music Production in Ableton Live

Name: Beginner's Guide to Music Production in Ableton Live
Rating: 4.5 (33 reviews)

From first steps with the software, right through to exporting your arrangement.

Created byRob Jones

Last updated 10/2020

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Music Production Skills

Course content

14 sections • 79 lectures • 9h 35m total length

Course Introduction2:03
Beginner-friendly introduction to Ableton Live covers audio and MIDI work, using samples and loops in session view and arrangement view, with drum racks, effects, and plugins guiding practice.
Live Overview20:44
This lecture is an introduction to Ableton Live and the sorts of things you can do with it. Don't worry if some of it is confusing as there are individual lectures on each part later on the course - it's just an intro! The project from the tutorial is provided if you would like to play around with it, but don't feel you have to, you can simply continue to work through the course, moving on to section 2 (setting up and the Browser) and 3 (starting to make music with samples).
Outro0:22

Intro0:25
Explore how to use Ableton Live's session view to jam with audio loops, import samples, adjust level, pitch, and timing, and arrange scenes to generate initial ideas for a track.
Importing Samples7:09
Adjusting Track Levels8:45
Color tracks for organization, import audio, view clip details, warp samples to match tempo, adjust from 130 to 125 BPM, and balance with faders, mute, and solo.
Warp Modes6:51
Explore warp modes in Ableton Live, comparing beats, tones, complex, texture, and repitch to shape time-stretched samples as tempo changes.
Clip Gain3:56
Clip Transpose6:49
Clip Looping4:51
Creating Scenes7:39
Create and arrange scenes in Ableton Live by dragging clips, inserting scenes, and naming bass and drum parts for an intro and drop. Duplicate scenes to refine structure.
Clip Start & End3:53
Global Quantisation5:48
Master global quantization in Ableton Live, typically set to one bar, to keep clips synchronized. Jump between scenes faster with half-bar timing and organize the arrangement through renaming and color-coding.
Outro0:43

Intro0:32
Move from audio to MIDI and learn how to create basslines, melodies, and chords by playing instruments, drawing with mouse, computer keyboard, or MIDI keyboard using simple presets.
Locating, Importing & Playing Instruments6:41
Drawing in Notes12:05
Computer Keyboard Playing & Quantising13:55
MIDI Keyboard Playing & Velocity Editing16:16
Record Quantisation & Hot-swapping6:10
Enable record quantization in the edit menu of Ableton Live to align recordings with timing, choosing sixteenth, eighth, or quarter notes, and learn hot-swapping presets by double-clicking to swap sounds.
Outro0:51

Intro0:27
Project Overview & Timestretching Intro10:17
Scene Organisation & Auto-launching5:42
Manual Clip Transfer & Recording into the Arrangement10:59
Reverting to Session View for Clip Comparison7:30
Non-destructive Editing & Clip Scrubbing6:15
Explore non-destructive editing in the arrangement, where you trim, slice, and extend samples without altering the original file, and master clip scrubbing with warp and start position changes.
More on Clip Looping4:40
Editing to Add Variation6:45
Learn to edit the arrangement to add variation by dropping drums, changing bass notes, and slicing clips to create separate parts you can copy across four-bar and eight-bar sections.
Outro1:04

Intro0:32
Drum Rack Intro & Drawing in Notes11:46
Learn to start a new Ableton Live project with Drum Rack presets and create a basic beat by drawing MIDI notes in a clip, adjusting tempo, grid, and velocity.
Drawing vs Playing Drums11:40
Adding Groove & Variation7:38
Drum Rack Mixer Control4:34
Macro Controls & Hot-swapping13:43
Outro0:42
Explore drum racks in Ableton Live with drumright presets and macro controls to craft flexible beats with Push, swap drums after grooves, and edit in session and arrangement views.

Intro0:34
Hardware Connections6:10
Software Setup7:49
Recording into the Arrangement5:46
Editing Warp Markers to fix timing6:55
File Management & Editing Clips in the Arrangement4:57
Edit clips in the arrangement with quick trimming and manual timing, contrasting old-school edits with warp markers. Locate recordings in the current project browser and refine timing with zoom.
Punch in and out6:41
Learn to punch in and out in Ableton Live, using loop brackets, drop in and drop out, and precise monitoring to record a riff without disrupting the arrangement.
Recording in Loop mode12:42
Outro0:35

Intro0:38
Master Bus & Balancing10:47
Panning9:10
Adding Effects & Intro to EQ8:03
Reverb Basics8:50
Explore how reverb adds space to your mix in ableton live by placing it in the device chain, adjusting dry/wet and decay time, and choosing insert versus return track routing.
Other Important Effects: Delay, Filter, Compressor8:59
Final Effects Suggestions & Chorus7:08
Sound Selection & Arrangement11:48
Outro1:12

Requirements

Own Ableton Live

Description

Ableton Live is one of the most popular DAWs around, loved for its flexibility and intuitive workflow. On this brand new course from Senior Tutor and Ableton Certified Trainer Rob Jones, you’ll go from first steps with the software right through to exporting a final arrangement, and everything in between!

The course is suitable for all ages and abilities, taking students through all of the main areas of the software slowly and clearly, to help forge a thorough understanding of the different ways music can be made. Once setting up the software has been covered, Rob embarks on two hour-long lectures focussed purely on working with audio samples in session and arrangement view, respectively, showing how to lay out simple song structures in each. He then moves onto MIDI, explaining the fundamentals of working with instruments and demonstrating the numerous ways of producing melodic accompaniment.

The subsequent lessons then develop skills for editing and track building in the arrangement, as well as teaching how to create beats with Drum Racks, how to record audio and the basics of mixing, covering balancing, panning and applying a number of different effects. Other topics featured include using 3rd-party plugins, sampling with Simpler, assigning MIDI controllers, and even some bonus tutorials on working with Loopmasters Loopcloud.

By the end of the course, you’ll be able to confidently work with audio samples and MIDI instruments in Ableton, whether making simple backing beats for performing with session view or more fleshed out songs in the arrangement.

The 10 hours of streamed tutorials come with the projects from the modules, plus written notes providing a neat summary of the content of each lesson, along with a bonus 500MB pack of samples from Loopmasters to kick start your personal sample library! In addition, there are assignments at certain stages throughout the course, with extra materials provided for practicing all of the different techniques learned in the tutorials.

Check out the sample module for an example of the teaching style and course content, so you can see for yourself how much there is to learn from Rob’s experience and software knowledge, which will have you on the road to becoming a serious music producer in no time!

Who this course is for:

Beginners wanting to learn to produce

Beginner's Guide to Music Production in Ableton Live

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Module 1 - Introduction3 lectures • 23min

Module 2 - Setting up & Browser Introduction5 lectures • 33min

Module 3 Part 1 - Using Audio Clips in Session View11 lectures • 57min

Module 3 Part 2 - Using Audio Clips in Arrangement View5 lectures • 39min

Module 4 - Using MIDI Instruments7 lectures • 57min

Module 5 - Building a Song in Session & Arrangement View9 lectures • 54min

Module 6 - Making Beats with Drum Racks7 lectures • 51min

Module 7 - Recording Audio9 lectures • 52min

Module 8 - Intro to Mixing & Effects9 lectures • 1hr 7min

Module 9 Part 1 - Using Plugins and Working with Loopcloud4 lectures • 51min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: