Dear all, welcome to this new tutorial dedicated to Ableton Live 11, a
complete DAW software you can use to start making your own music. In just
12 minutes we will see everything you need to learn and use it
straight away!
Ableton Live is a very unique DAW in its general workflow, offering two
ways to make music: the Session view and the Arrangement view. You can
switch between these with the buttons on the right side.
You usually start with the Session view which is very useful to make
experiments and comparisons, being loop-oriented. Then you switch to the
Arrangement view to make samples and music in time, ready to be rendered
and exported.
Despite these views seem very different, properties and options we will
see are identical. We will start discovering the Session view first.
You also have several useful panels around that you can close and reopen
with the arrow buttons. Between these there is the Info View panel that
gives lots of useful help and hints on what you are hovering with your
mouse cursor.
First of all import audio sample files by dragging and dropping these
directly into Ableton, from your computer or the Browser panel on
the left, under the Samples section. These are shown as colored blocks
called clips, complete with their file name and collected under columns
representing the Audio Tracks. Whereas to remove any clip click on it to
select it and use Backspace key.
The Session view is the best place to find the right sound. You can
playback any clip with its play button. This can be played once or in
loop multiple times, showing the loop cycles in bars at the bottom.
Ableton allows to playback only one clip per column or Track at the same
time so that you can change the clip to be played from each Track to find
the best option immediately.
You can also playback any entire row by using the play button on the
Master Track on the right. To stop the playback from any track click on
any Stop button on it or use Stop button above to stop everything.
To record from your microphone or any external instrument just open the
I/O section and set the correct input source under Audio From. Then arm
the track at the bottom and click any record button above to start
recording on the selected cell. You can also put any other track in
playback without recording these. Click again on the same record button
to stop recording.
Double-click on any clip to manage its properties at the bottom. You can
check its audio waveform, turn ON or OFF any warp or loop on it.
With Warp you can adjust the speed rate under BPM or double-click within
the dark line to drop yellow markers and customize the speed rate in time.
With Loop enabled you can resize the top region to select the part of the
waveform to be looped. Next to Warp you can also adjust the semitones and
cents to tune the clip pitch.
Now let's see how to work and compose MIDI files. You can import any MIDI
file you have or drag from the Browser panel, under Clips and Grooves.
MIDI files are shown as clips under MIDI Tracks and cannot be imported on
Audio Tracks at all. You can also compose from zero by double-clicking on
any vacant MIDI cell.
At first these MIDI tracks do not sound, since they miss any sample or
instrument to use. In this video we will see how to add digital
instruments only.
Double-click on any clip to open it at the bottom and switch to the Track
panel to drag and drop any sample file or any from the Samples
section. You can also import drums, melodies or complex synthesizers
under Sounds, Drums and Instruments. At this point you can put the clip
in loop and adjust the output sound by listening to its notes inside the
Piano Roll, next to the Track panel.
When you are ready enable the Draw tool in the top right corner and click
on the Piano Roll to drop notes. These follow the grid unless you hold
down the ALT (or CMD) key to avoid snappings. Click on the notes to remove
these instead.
At the bottom pull up and down the velocity point for each note, adjusting
their loudness level.
Now let's see how to manage these Tracks. Right-click on these to cut,
copy, rename or remove. You can also create new Audio, MIDI or Return
Tracks that we will see shortly.
Below the clips list you have several options to manage the sound from
the Track, that can be shown or hidden with the buttons on the right.
You can also set the input and the output sources for the Track and tune the
Send knobs to send part of the Track sound to either the A or B Return
Tracks on the right, used to mix sound together.
At the bottom you have the deciBel meter with a marker that you can use to
adjust the volume, especially if this reaches red (distorted) levels. You
can also use the pan knob to balance the left and the right stereo outputs
and the Track number to mute or unmute the current Track. Below click on
the Solo button to mute all the other Tracks except the current one.
Part of these options are present on the Master Track as well, with the
difference that here you will affect the overall sound from the project.
In addition you can open the Track panel to add special effects. On Audio
Tracks you can drop any equalizer, modulation, reverb, saturation and
more from the Audio Effects section, adjusting properties and turning them
ON and OFF with the yellow button in the top left corner.
These effects compose a sidechain where the final sound is changed by
following its order, from the left to the right. You can click and drag
any effect to place it in the correct order.
On MIDI Tracks you can import Audio Effects after the sample or instrument
used and also MIDI effects before the notes become sound.
Now let's see how to work with the Arrangement view. This gets the same
Tracks seen on the Session view and a complete timeline measured in bars
and beats above and in seconds at the bottom.
This view is also independent from the Session view, since this starts
completely vacant, even if you have the Session view full with clips.
You can drop any file from your computer or the Browser on the left. These
clips are shown with their name and their waveform or notes through time,
within Audio or MIDI Tracks. You can see that the track and the clip
options are identical to what we have seen for the Session view.
You can also import the work you have made on the Session view. First of
all click on the timeline to fix the blue marker in time, representing the
starting point of your next playback. Then switch to the Session view and
use the Record button on top. This will record on the Arrangement timeline
anything you playback from the Session view live, until you stop recording
with the same Record button. The clips recorded on the Arrangement view
are the same ones and within the same Tracks used on the Session view.
To playback the content of the Arrangement view make sure to click on the
Back to Arrangement button first to avoid the clips inside the Session
view and then use the play button on top or click above the timeline. A
black marker indicates the current position in time, shown in bars and
beats above.
On the left side adjust the tempo to set the speed rate of the project in
beats per minute and also the time signature.
On top you can move and resize the Navigator to check the Arrangement
content or zoom over it.
Pay attention when you come back to the Session view. Whenever you play
clips from the Session view you also playback the main timeline, resulting
in getting other clips in play according to the Arrangement view content.
To edit any clip within the timeline just click on it and drag it to move
it in time or in other Tracks. Also hold down the ALT (or CMD) key to
avoid any snappings to the grid.
Use CTRL (or CMD) and X, C and V to cut, copy or paste the selected clip,
holding down the ALT key to select just parts of it to cut and copy. You
can remove any selected clip with the Backspace key.
To undo any bad action use CTRL (or CMD) and Z any time.
To save your project go to File and then to Save Live Set As. Ableton
saves all projects under a .als format, saving anything you have from both
the Session and the Arrangement views.
Whereas to render and export the final sound go to File and then to Export
Audio/Video... On top choose the Master Track to render the sound coming
from all your tracks, within a time range defined by the Loop Region
above the Arrangement timeline.
Below set the sample rate to use, the file type and the bit depth. Then
just go to Export!
Thank you for watching this super-short guide! Do not forget to visit
our YouTube channel and our official website to learn more and enhance
your skills!