How to Make Electronic Music with Ableton

In this tutorial we explore Ableton Drum Racks. Drum Racks are an extremely powerful instrument, combined with the Ableton Clip View, they enable us to quickly program drum loops. Be sure to check out Ableton's preset Drum Kits.

OK it's time to get into it. Drum programming is an integral part of making electronic music. Over the coming lectures we will explain how to use Ableton's Drum racks and the clip view to sketch and arrange your ideas. We can't emphasis this enough, solid drum programming is the foundation of any good record.

This is where the fun begins!! In this tutorial we explore Drum Programming, Drum Sequencing & creating drum progressions in the clip view. It's really important to establish good habits early in the creative process.

The Clip view is a great place to sketch out your ideas and it can really help you organize your ideas in a way that makes the arrangement process much easier. Usually we advise our artists to create in the clip view and to edit your track in the arrange view.

In this tutorial we discuss how to add an analogue flavour to your drum loops. We can achieve this through Ableton's Groove Templates, which are modelled on samplers such as the Akai MPC and E-mu SP1200. Using Groove Templates adds an analogue feel to our drum programming and it can also be applied to other elements in your tracks such as synths and bass lines.

Ableton Suite offers an amazing selection of synths straight out of the box. Working with Synths is an integral part to the creation process. Knowing how to get the results you want will help you fill your track with interesting synthetic content. In the following videos we will be exploring the Operator and Wavetable synths.

Operator is a versatile, easy-to-use and great-sounding software instrument combining classic analog sounds and frequency modulation synthesis (FM), perfectly integrated in Live's award-winning interface.

Operator is amazing at creating 808 style basslines and Detroit style FM leads. In this tutorial we explore Operator and its architecture.

The Wavetable Synth was a new addition to the Ableton Suite in Live 10. In this video we explore the architecture of Ableton's popular new creation. It is worth spending time to learn this instrument, it is incredibly well designed. Another example of how you don't actually need external plugins to make great music in Ableton Live.

Before moving on to synth programming, we would like to bring your attention to Ableton's Analog Synth and Max For Live Instruments. The creative possibilities are truly endless in Ableton. If you want to send your supercharge your creativity, check the amazing Ableton and Max for Live packs on the Ableton website. Turn your virtual studio into a powerhouse of productivity with this amazing selection of instruments, effects and samples.

One of the most common questions we get asked is 'what are the best synths for making bass lines? There's a lot of good options on the market, but one of the best is within the Ableton suite.

The Operator Synth can create 808 kick drum style bass lines (note G0). If you are looking for something solid, that will stand up on a club sound system, the Operator synth is worth learning and learning well. In this tutorial we will demonstrate how to make sub-woofer busting bass lines.

What is synth layering? It's a pretty effective approach to creating multiple synth elements and leads within your track, adding an overall fullness and body to your mix.

When working with synths, it's good to use the same instrument for your bass line and other synth elements. Try duplicating your bass synth and tweaking the parameters to create a nice PAD or Lead Synth sound in a different octave. By using this technique we can quickly create a cohesive synth sound in our track, our synth elements will blend together nicely because they are coming from the same machine.

Ableton Live comes with a selection of custom-designed, built-in MIDI effects. MIDI Effects can totally elevate your ideas, they can turn a single note into a chord or modulate your velocity. In this video we demonstrate how to use the Arpeggiator and Chord effects to take your synth ideas to the next level.

In this video we discuss Ableton's selection of custom-designed, built-in audio effects. Audio Effects offer a collection of carefully designed EQs, filters, reverbs, delays and various types of Tube, Tape and Overdrive distortions, all of which help us shape and colour our track.

The art of Sampling has been central to the evolution of House, Techno & Hip Hop music. In the following lectures we explore creative sampling possibilities within Ableton Live.

OK lets get started with Sampling!! In this tutorial we explore Ableton's Sampler Instruments: Simpler, Sampler and Impulse. This is a great place to explore new ideas and also be sure to check out the selection of sampler instrument presets.

In this video we use drum slicing to chop up drum loops. We can also convert audio loops into MIDI, capturing the performance and velocity of the loop and then apply that to a preset drum rack.

With analogue samplers, this process was quite time consuming. Ableton allows us to slice drum loops in a matter of seconds and it also enables us to capture a drum performance and apply that to our Drum Racks.

Ableton allows us to convert audio loops into MIDI loops, capturing the performance, pitch and velocity. We can then use these new MIDI Clips with Ableton Instruments to create new ideas with different Ableton instruments. The possibilities are truly endless.

Mixing is the most important part of the finishing process. A good mix is the difference between professional and amateur audio. You cannot have a good final master without a good mix. In the following lectures we discuss the basics of mixing.

Before we think about mixing or arranging our track, we need to review what we have created so far and pick the best parts, making sure that they all elements work together as part of your track. We recommend that you save your project as a new version before making any edits or deleting any parts. That way you have a back up in case you change your mind later on.

Step one of the mixing process is balancing the individual elements in your track. Be sure to leave enough headroom on the mix bus. If you are sending your track to a mastering engineer, they will request that you send them an audio file with -6dB headroom.

It's best practice to do this from the start by setting your kick drum level to-6dB and balancing the other elements in your song around that. This also allows you to build your mix from the ground up like a house.

In this video we introduce process of applying EQ to your mix/track. It is crucially important to apply this to all individual elements in your track. Take the time to remove unnecessary frequencies to create space and room in your mix.

Working with EQ is a process that continues to improve with practice, the more you do it, they better and quicker you become at it. It is something that you should build into your creative process.

Compression is the next phase of the mixing process. Compression is sometimes regarded as a dark art, don't pay attention to that kind of thinking. Like anything else, it just takes time and practice, the more you do it, the more fluid and quick you become at it. Compression must be applied to all elements in your track, in a subtle way.

We also further explore Audio Effects to sound design and add colour to our mix. Ableton has some really impressive options for audio manipulation, there are enough tools here for you to never need external plugins, if you learn how to work with them.

In this tutorial we take a moment to discuss working with Drums and Reverb. It is important to get this relationship right and do it in a way that won't create problems in your mix.

In this tutorial we discuss how to use Ableton's Clip View to arrange your track quickly and fluidly. If you would like to make records by ear and from instinct, the clip view is where you can do that. You can use the clip view to launch your audio and MIDI clips, enabling you to perform your elements like you are doing a DJ set. Simply click record and go for it.

This is a great way to sketch out your ideas. It is through the clip view that we have helped thousands of artists get out of loop mode and into the mode of writing tracks and completing ideas. This is a really exciting part of the creative process.

Once you make your way through these final tutorials we recommend that you go through this course again from the start. This will help you internalise the workflow we have set out.

OK now it's time to write your track!!

In this tutorial we will use the clip view to record our arrangement. After doing so we will take our first visit to the Arrange Page. Once a track is sketched out, it's time to move over to the left side of our brain, the more analytical/logical side, to edit our arrangement.

Take time to edit and clean up any loose ends in our performance and use automation to create tension.

Congratulations!! You've made your journey through the creative process and its time to test your track out.

In this tutorial we show you how to export your track. Once we are happy with our arrangement and how we have edited it, its time to render the audio to an audio file so you can road test it.

Try listening to it in different places, like a friends studio, or your car. A different room or a different set of speakers can give you a different point of view.

Remember to be patient and road test your track before sending it to a label or posting on Soundcloud. The internet is cluttered with half finished ideas, take the time to get it right.