Ultimate Ableton Live 12, Part 2: Recording Music and MIDI

Explore audio recording fundamentals for Ableton Live, including hardware essentials like microphones and audio interfaces, and get a practical shopping guide for connecting gear to Ableton.

Explore how an audio interface converts analog and digital sound, compare built-in computer interfaces with dedicated boxes, and decide when USB microphones offer a simpler option.

Decide if you need an audio interface based on recording versus playback needs. Home studios may get by with USB microphones, but recording multiple instruments benefits from a dedicated interface.

Choose an audio interface that matches your computer ports and provides the needed inputs and outputs, with Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 offering two inputs, two outputs, and USB connectivity around $200.

Connect your audio interface to the computer via USB-C, wire speakers to monitor outputs, and connect a mic or line input. In Ableton, set interface as input and output device.

Explore the basics of microphones, focusing on dynamic and condenser types. Ribbon mics are not essential for most setups, with practical uses for vocals and instruments.

Learn to pick microphones by budget and use, from the SM58 for versatility, to the AT2020 condenser, SM7B for podcasts, and Blue Yeti for home studio voices.

Set up a recording track in arrangement view by selecting an audio track, choosing external in and mono vs stereo, routing to main, then rename the track for clip names.

Monitor modes route your input through to your speakers or headphones, with off, in, and auto options. Learn how feedback occurs and when to enable headphones during recording and playback.

Measure latency by clapping and listening to the delay, then adjust the buffer size in audio preferences to trade latency for CPU load.

Record vocal takes in arrangement view by arming inputs, monitoring, and starting new recording; add tracks, mute or deactivate clips to avoid bleed, and explore click tracks for multitrack recording.

Master the Ableton metronome and click track: set count-ins, choose sounds and triplet or half-time feels, adjust tempo and routing in session view to stay on beat.

Set up two audio tracks for vocals and guitar in arrangement view using interface inputs. Arm, and use the command-click trick to record them simultaneously. Keep levels from peaking red.

Learn to record multiple takes and assemble a perfect composite take in Ableton Live 12, using take lanes, crossfading, and editing techniques to layer and refine performances.

Master overdubbing in Ableton Live 12 by using punch in and punch out, setting punch in markers, rendering a new clip, and comparing with the comping approach.

Record and multitrack in session view by arming clips in the clip slot grid, using circles to record, then launch them on the next downbeat with global clip launch.

Explore how effects in Ableton Live 12 are applied after recording, via arrangement view, and how you can add and edit delays and amp simulations later without printing to audio.

Explore a big recording session workflow by using groups for rhythm, saxes, and brass, then import MIDI to reference and tune pitches against the recorded notes.

Learn how MIDI records as data, not audio, with note on/off messages over USB; set up hardware, explore controllers and instruments, and apply efficient workflow tricks for automatic recording.

Discover that MIDI recording hinges on a MIDI controller, usually a keyboard with pads and dials. Connect via USB or with MIDI ports using a USB MIDI interface.

Discover three MIDI guitar options for recording: the Artiphon instrument one, the Zyvex Jam Stick, and the Fishman Triple Play MIDI pickup, detailing their sensitivity, realism, and MIDI mapping.

Choose a midi controller by size, keys, pads, and knobs to fit your studio. Explore Novation LaunchKey options—from two octaves to 37 keys with weighted keys in higher models—offering choices.

Connect your MIDI controller to Live by configuring preferences and the tempo/MIDI tab. Ensure the device appears as an input and output, then verify MIDI activity with the status square.

Fix a common MIDI problem by enabling chase MIDI notes, ensuring notes play when the clip start is slightly off and note-on messages align.

Demonstrate MIDI signal flow from a keyboard into a track armed to record, with MIDI effects before the instrument and audio effects after, routing to the master fader.

Arm MIDI recording in arrangement view, use a metronome, lay down cello ideas, audition and record drums, overdub hi-hats, and quantize velocity-adjust notes for a tighter groove.

Explore midi takes and comping by looping two bars, overdubbing, and assembling a composite take with take lanes, then capture your best midi performance.

Discover how the capture feature in Ableton Live records your last ideas while you noodle on MIDI. Hit capture to retrieve your recent notes.

Record MIDI in session view using record buttons, arming the MIDI track, and capturing takes with the familiar mixer, cello section, and drums, then start playing.

Learn to edit velocity in MIDI recording to shape note dynamics, using deviation, ramp, and randomize for subtle humanization, and reveal the velocity lane for precise editing.

Experiment with chance settings in Ableton Live 12 to randomize note playback, adjust 50% probabilities on hi-hats, group snares for unified decisions, and explore MPE features.

Explore MPE editing in Live 12 with the MPE tab, using slide and pressure lanes alongside velocity, while Wavetable and Roland keyboards illustrate MPE's expressive potential.

Record automation with a MIDI device by arming automation, enabling overdub, switching to automation view, and using auto map to control the eight knobs, with mapping adjustable later.

Explore Ableton Live 12's MIDI clip transform and generate tools, which create or alter music and generate key-aware chord progressions for quick ideas to sculpt further.

Explore why tuning systems matter in recording with Live, explain equal temperament, and show how retuning enables music from around the world, as heard in Aphex Twin's work.

Explore alternate tunings in Ableton Live by changing the notes per octave, which globally reshapes MIDI and chords. Delete the tuning to revert to normal.

Design your own tuning systems in Ableton Live by using the online scala-based presets, adjusting note pitches (12 notes per octave) and exporting to Ableton Live for experimentation.

Explore warping in Ableton Live to sync clips to the session tempo, adjust tempos with warp settings, blend loops at different BPMs, and apply double-time when needed.

Live analyzes a clip's tempo by detecting transients, classifying attacks as kicks or snares, and aligning BPM with downbeat timing, especially for drum-heavy material.

Explore how session tempo and clip tempo interact in Ableton Live, including halving or doubling tempo and how warping creates artifacts, with tips to turn warping off for unaltered playback.

Identify warped tempo by checking the file's bpm, downbeat alignment, and metronome sync. The clip labeled 95 bpm reads as 88 bpm in Live, so adjust tempo to fix it.

Learn to convert suggested transients into warp markers in Ableton Live 12, set first beat, trim silence at the start, and add anchor points to lock playback to the metronome.

Latch onto the main beats in Ableton Live and adjust them with warp markers to align to the beat, using few warp markers and the metronome to verify timing.

Discover how Ableton Live creates ASD files alongside your audio to store warping data, and learn why you should keep original files and ASD together to retain warping.

Explore warp modes to control audio warping, preserving transients with beats while sacrificing sustained tones. Compare texture, repitch, complex, and complex pro, noting CPU trade-offs and starting with top three.

Consolidate all edits by pressing command j to print a new clip, embedding warp settings and effects into the audio file so warping is off but sounds intact.

Practice warping in live, enable warp, and align transients to two-beat loops, then slow down tempo, lock everything, and experiment with kick placements for creative grooves.

Warp abstract clips and whole tracks by placing anchors to fix sections, align notes to beats, and experiment with tones and grain size to smooth gaps and reshape grooves.

Load a finished track and review Ableton's auto warp analysis; adjust preferences to enable or disable auto warp long samples, then rewarp from a chosen point to lock tempo.

Warp vocal samples to tempo, loop against a drumbeat, switch warp mode to tones, and adjust pitch by ear to fit the key, using warp to explore new musical ideas.

Warp vocal clips to align with downbeats or stretch them for half-time grooves. Rearrange beats, explore glitchy transients, and design your own beats and melodies through creative warping.

Explore glitchy sound design by warping and stretching vocal clips, consolidating edits, and tweaking texture with grain size to create futuristic effects for projects like sci-fi podcasts.

Organize your Ableton Live session by grouping tracks: select tracks with shift-click, press command G to group, rename with command R, and nest groups within groups for focused work.

Apply effects at the group level in Ableton Live to treat multiple tracks as a single unit, using the glue compressor on the group to unify drums, saxes, and brass.

Link tracks in Ableton Live to keep related clips in sync, edit and move together, and manage warp markers plus shared volume or pitch across the pair.

Dive into producing with Ableton Live 12, part three, mastering arrangement view, session view, beat making, synthesizers, MIDI tools, generative techniques, effects, and side chaining.

Thank you for watching and participating in this class; I love teaching online and will keep sharing more stuff after this to check out, see you in the next one.