Ableton Live for Beginners
- Description
- Curriculum
- FAQ
- Reviews
You can be a music producer. All you need is someone to show you the fundamentals of the software. Someone to point out how to add sounds, move audio regions, cut and paste sections, edit midi notes…the basic things that many teachers take for granted. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had an expert in your studio with you showing you how to make a song? That’s exactly why I created this course.
Hey there, I’m Dylan. I’m a music producer and songwriter in Los Angeles, CA. I want to help you get started making music right now. You don’t need to know every little detail in Ableton’s very powerful music production software–you just need to know enough of the basics to get familiar with making music using Ableton. That’s what I’m here to do.
I created this course because of a feeling…
You probably know the feeling. It’s the feeling you get when you start something new. It’s unexplored territory. It’s exciting but frightening. It’s promising but humbling. I love that feeling! But it can be overwhelming to start something new. That’s why I created this course. I want to teach you the essential foundations of music production in Ableton Live so that you can be encouraged and have fun making music.
Using 89 video lectures (that’s almost 6 hours of content) I will teach you everything you need to know about Ableton Live. I will walk you through all aspects of the software, carefully explaining each knob, slider, and button.
Whether you’ve just unboxed the software or you’ve spent some time with it, I believe your productions will be greatly improved by this thorough and fun course on Ableton Live.
By the end of this course you will be able to produce, arrange, mix, and master your own music using Ableton Live.
Don’t miss out on all the extra resources too including articles that helped me learn, free plugins, my own custom racks and presets, and more.
I learned a lot making this beast and I am confident that you will learn a lot as well! Please consider signing up for the course–we would love to have you join us!
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1
INFO VIEWIn this video I'll explain the info view and why it will make your life so much easier.
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2
USER INTERFACE OVERVIEW
In this video I'll walk through the user interface and explain how to view different parts of the software.
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3
SESSION VIEW VS. ARRANGEMENT VIEW
In this video I'll explain the difference between the session view and the arrangement view. The session view is unique to Ableton Live so it might be a bit confusing for new users. I'll demystify it for you.
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4
KEY COMMANDS
In this video I'll explain how key commands work, how to set up your own custom key commands, and why they are awesome.
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5
CREATING TEMPLATES
In this video I'll show you how to create your own default template.
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6
MOVING AROUND
In this video I'll explain how to navigate the user interface. I'll show you how to move around the arrangement window, how to zoom in and out, how to minimize and maximize track height and width, and more.
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7
A FEW MORE PREFERENCES
In this video I'll walk through just a few more important preferences to have squared away, such as auto-warping, fades on clip edges, and more.
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8
COLLECTIONS
In this video I'll explain how to use the collections tags in the browser pane.
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9
USER LIBRARY
In this video I'll show you how to use the User Library to save and access your own clips and samples, as well as effect and instrument racks.
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10
DETOUR: Computer MIDI Keyboard
In this bonus video I'll explain how you can use your computer keyboard to trigger and record MIDI in Ableton Live.
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11
IMPORTING CLIPS AND SAMPLES (Part 1)
In this video I'll show you how to import clips and samples from the browser pane into your set.
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12
IMPORTING CLIPS AND SAMPLES (Part 2)
In this video I'll show you how to import clips and samples from the browser pane into your set.
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13
DETOUR: Drum Rack
In this bonus lecture, I'll show you some of the cool stuff you can do with the drum rack, including chopping up a melodic sample.
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14
AUDIO VS. MIDI
In this video I'll explain briefly the difference between audio and midi tracks.
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15
ABLETON PACKS
In this video I'll give a brief overview of the Ableton Packs and I'll try to convince you that you should use them more!
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16
BUILDING A SONG WITH PACKS
In this video I'll give you a bit more information about building a song using Ableton Packs.
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17
BUILDING A SONG WITH PACKS (Extra)
I accidentally left the screen recording software running so this is just 5 minutes of me jamming.
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18
INTRODUCTION TO MIDI
In this video I'll give a brief introduction to MIDI.
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19
MIDI - NOTES
In this video I'll explain the first dimension of MIDI (notes).
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20
MIDI - TIME
In this video I'll explain the second dimension of MIDI (time).
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21
MIDI - VELOCITY
In this video I'll talk about the third dimension of MIDI (velocity).
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22
CREATING MIDI CLIPS
In this video I'll show you the different ways to create MIDI clips.
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23
RECORDING MIDI
In this video I'll show you how to record MIDI.
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24
MIDI QUANTIZATION
In this video I'll talk all about MIDI quantization and how to change quantization settings.
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25
MIDI - CLIP VIEW
In this video I'll give some more detailed information about the MIDI editing capabilities inside the Clip View.
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26
MIDI ENVELOPES
In this video I'll show you how to use the envelopes tab in the Clip View, and how to set up MIDI envelopes.
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27
DETOUR: Programming MIDI Drums
In this bonus video I'll show you how to program a MIDI drum pattern. It's real smooth.
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28
INTRODUCTION TO AUDIO
In this video I'll provide a brief introduction to audio.
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29
AUDIO VS. MIDI: The Main Difference
In this video I'll explain the main difference between audio & MIDI from a music producer's point of view. (Hint: audio is more final than MIDI).
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30
AUDIO - CLIP VIEW
In this video we'll go into greater detail about some of the audio editing capabilities inside the Clip View.
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31
AUDIO - START, END, & LOOP
In this video I'll break down the start, end, and loop functions in the audio Clip View.
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32
WARPING
Now for the fun stuff! In this video I'll show you how warping works and why we use it.
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33
WARP MODES
In this video I'll walk through the different warp modes and when to use them.
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34
WARP MODES - DEEPER
In this video we'll dive deeper into the different warp modes.
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35
EDITING AUDIO REGIONS
In this video I'll show you some more advanced techniques for editing audio regions in the arrangement window.
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36
FADES
In this video I'll show you how to create fades on audio regions to avoid pops, clips, clacks, clicks, dips, whips, floops, and flops.
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37
RECORDING AUDIO
In this video I'll show you how to record audio. You will witness my clapping skills.
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38
AUDIO - TIMING
In this video I'll show you how to edit the timing of recorded audio, both in the arrangement window and using quantization in the Clip View.
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39
AUDIO - ENVELOPES
In this video I'll explain how to use the envelopes tab in the audio editing Clip View.
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40
DETOUR: Even More Audio Editing Fun
In this bonus video I'll show you how to go deeper in audio editing and have fun doing some weird stuff.
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41
HALFTIME SHOW
In this halftime show extravaganza, I'll take a quick break to talk about where we've been so far in the course and where we're going from here.
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42
CATEGORIES
In this video I'll walk through the categories in the browser pane. This is where you will spend a lot of time so get used to navigating it.
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43
DETOUR: Recording Multiple Takes with Loop
In this bonus video I'll show you how to record multiple takes using the loop function. I will also definitely not embarrass myself by rapping in any way.
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44
AUDIO EFFECTS OVERVIEW
In this video I'll provide a brief overview of audio effects.
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45
DEVICE GENERAL PARAMETERS
In this video I'll show you some of the general parameters common to all devices in Ableton Live such as hot swap, save, and much more.
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46
MIDI EFFECTS
In this video we'll cover the MIDI effects, how they're different from audio effects, and some ways to use the arpeggiator.
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47
PLACES & SEARCH
In this video I'll show you how to understand the Places in the browser pane, and also how to search anything in your browser.
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48
INTRODUCTION TO MIXING
In this video I'll give you a brief introduction to the mixing stage.
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49
AVOIDING CLIPPING
In this video I'll talk about the first and most important part of mixing: gain staging, or making sure that your gain levels are set appropriately.
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50
INTRODUCTION TO EQUALIZATION
In this video I'll give a brief introduction to equalization.
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51
USING THE EQ8
In this video I'll show you how to use the super powerful EQ8 audio effect.
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52
DETOUR: Splice.com
In this video I'll hawk splice.com because I love it and though they are not a sponsor, they should be.
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53
COMPRESSION
In this video I'll explain compression including attack and release, ratios, makeup gain, and more.
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54
REVERB
In this video I'll explain one of the most important spatial audio effects known as reverb.
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55
DELAY
In this video I'll explain another of the most important spatial audio effects known as delay.
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56
RETURN TRACKS
In this video I'll show you how to use return tracks to route multiple tracks to a single audio effect channel.
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57
DETOUR: Groove & Swing
In this bonus video I'll show you the (very uncommon but super cool) way Ableton Live handles grooves and swing.
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58
ORGANIZING TRACKS
In this video I will show you how to beautifully organize your tracks so that you can see what's going on and clean up your messy messy session.
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59
EXPORTING TRACKS AS STEMS
In this video I'll show you how to export all of your tracks as individual stereo wav files for mixing. We call these stems.
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60
IMPORTING STEMS
In this video I'll show you how to import audio stems into a new mixing session.
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61
CREATING LOCATORS
In this video I'll show you how to create locators for your set. These help you to keep track of the different sections in your song. Can you tell yet that organization is important to me?
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62
MIXING PHILOSOPHY
In this video I'll share my mixing philosophy. Yes, as a non-mixer myself I'm sure my mixing philosophy is very important to all of you.
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63
ARRANGEMENT, ORGANIZATION, AND REMOVING SILENCE
In this video I'll show you how I arrange and organize a new mix session.
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64
GAIN STAGING
In this video I'll show you how to gain stage.
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65
GETTING A STATIC MIX
In this video I'll show you how to get a static mix, or a balance of volume and levels that remains constant throughout the song.
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66
PANNING
In this video I'll explain panorama and how to balance instruments and tracks across the stereo field.
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67
DETOUR: Audio Effect Rack
In this bonus video I'll show you how to create your own custom audio effect racks by combining audio effects and assigning macro controls. You can download my "BASIC RACK" in the resources below.
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68
EQUALIZATION TO BLEND FREQUENCIES
In this video I'll explain how we blend the frequencies of different tracks by using equalization.
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69
USING A REFERENCE TRACK
In this video I will berate you with imploring admonitions to please use reference tracks when you are mixing. Check out my reference track Spotify playlist in the resources below.
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70
COMPRESSION TO BALANCE DYNAMICS
In this video I'll talk about compression as a mix tool.
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71
GETTING A DYNAMIC MIX
In this video I'll show you how to get a dynamic mix (as opposed to a static mix) so that your production can come alive.
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72
PARALLEL COMPRESSION
In this video I'll explain a cool technique known as parallel compression (also known as New York compression) in which a super compressed signal is blended with an uncompressed signal.
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73
SIDECHAIN COMPRESSION
In this video I'll show you a common mixing technique called sidechain compression in which the audio from an external source keys the gain reduction on a compressor.
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74
AUTOMATION
In this video I'll give an overview of automation and why you should use it.
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75
AUTOMATION - DETAILS
In this video we'll go a bit deeper into automation and some of the ways you can organize and navigate your automations.
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76
CREATING AUTOMATION ENVELOPES
In this video I'll show you the different ways we can create and edit automation envelopes.
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77
EXPORTING MIX FOR MASTERING
In this video I'll show you how to render your mix as a single stereo wav file for mastering.
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78
WHAT IS MASTERING?
In this video I'll give a brief introduction to the mastering stage.
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79
LUFS METERING
In this video I'll talk about LUFS metering to set the target loudness level of your master. Check out the resource below for a link to download the Loudness Meter plugin for free, plus more information on streaming targets and the "loudness penalty"
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80
LIMITER
In this video I'll show you how to use a limiter to set the maximum threshold for the audio level.
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81
MID-SIDE EQ
In this video I'll explain how to use the EQ8 in mid-side mode in order to filter out low frequencies from the sides channel and clean up your mix. Check out the resources for a very helpful blog post from Mastering the Mix that helped me understand mid-side eq much better. To be honest it still mystifies me a bit. That's ok!
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82
SUBTRACTIVE EQ
In this video I'll show you how to cut out some unwanted frequency build-ups in a few key ranges of the frequency spectrum.
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83
GLUE COMPRESSOR
In this video I'll show you how I use the glue compressor on the mastering chain to glue things together a bit and create a nice cohesion.
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84
MULTIBAND COMPRESSOR
In this video I'll explain how to use the multiband compressor which allows you to set different compressor settings for different ranges across the frequency spectrum.
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85
ADDITIVE EQ
In this video I'll show you how to add in some frequencies after compression to fatten and clarify your master.
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86
DETOUR: Mastering Extra Credit
In this bonus video I'll show you a few extra techniques you can use in your mastering chain including distortion, stereo widening, and monitoring in mono.
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87
EXPORTING THE MASTER
In this video I'll show you how to render your master file for sharing or distribution.
