Ableton Live 12 Essential Training

Course details

Do you work in audio recording, loop-based songwriting, or synth and sound design? In this course, music professor Rick Schmunk walks you through a variety of ways you can use Ableton Live 12 in your workflows. Rick shows you how to set up your system and use the Ableton Live user interface. He explains how to work with the browser, the Arrangement view, and the Session view. After going over how to use the MIDI Editor, how to record and edit audio, and how to work with arrangements, Rick covers plug-ins, effects racks, the live mixer, and mapping. Then he demonstrates how to make your life easier by automating graphics, editing, and clips, including real-time automation. Rick concludes with some practical advice on managing your files.

Learning objectives
Set up your system and use the Ableton Live user interface.
Learn how to work with the browser, the Arrangement view, and the Session view.
Discover how to use the MIDI Editor.
Learn how to record and edit audio.
Describe how to work with arrangements.
Explore Live plug-ins and effects racks.
Find out how to use the live mixer, and mapping controls to hardware devices.
Learn how to automate graphics, editing, and clips, including real-time automation.
Obtain practical advice from the instructor on managing your files.

Concepts

Introduction

Learn the essentials of Ableton Live 12
How to use the exercise files

Getting Started with Ableton Live

Connecting your system to Live
Configuring your audio I O setup
Configuring MIDI controllers and devices
Optimizing performance
The Ableton Live user interface

Using the Live Browser

Browser overview
Browser Places
Searches, filters, and similar files
Customizing the browser
Working with Live Sets

Working in Arrangement View

Arrangement View setup
Selecting and zooming
Controlling playback
Loading and saving instrument presets
Preparing to record MIDI
Recording MIDI in Arrangement View
MIDI Overdub and punch recording
Computer MIDI keyboard

Working in Session View

Session View overview
Clips and playback
Scenes and playback
Recording MIDI in Session View
Click and pencil MIDI entry

Working with MIDI

Clip View introduction
Grid config
Editing rhythm and quantizing
Groove quantization
Editing MIDI pitch and duration
Editing MIDI velocity and chance
Chop or split MIDI notes
Session View - Copy and paste
Arrangement View - Copy and paste

Transform and Generate MIDI Tools

Editing expression
Pitch, arpeggiator, and strum
Rhythm, stacks, and span
Rhythm, recombine, and time warp
Seed, ornament, and shape

Working with Audio

Preparing to record audio
Record and punch record audio
Clip editing
Fades
Take recording and comping
Warping audio - Part 1
Warping audio - Part 2
Quantizing audio
Linked-track editing

Working with Arrangements

Track freeze
Using locators to navigate a song
Arrangement View section editing
Session View section editing
Moving between Session and Arrangement View
Moving from Arrangement to Session View

Working with Plugins

Plugin basics - Part 1
Plugin basics - Part 2
Instrument plugins
Audio plugins
MIDI plugins

Working with Live Racks

Audio FX racks
Instrument racks
Drum racks
Zone editors
Rack macros

Using the Live Mixer

Mixer setup
Sends and returns
Drum rack sends and returns

Using Mapping in Live

Key mapping
MIDI mapping
Instant mapping

Using Automation in Live

Track automation
Editing automation
Clip automation
Real-time automation

File Management

File management
Arrangement View audio export
Session View audio export

Conclusion

Next steps