Tutorials
Sit down with these and follow along. Mostly Live - side-chaining with gates, parallel compression, macro variations, Push layouts - with a few Logic sessions in among them.
28 articles
Kinetic Metal
A Kontakt instrument built from struck and bowed metal - ethereal textures and tonal percussion, with a Forge morph knob for blending presets.
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Melodic Sequencer + 32 Notes Push Layout
Push's Melodic Sequencer + 32 Notes layout puts step sequencing and real-time playing on one grid - good for chords and longer phrases.
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Melodic Steps Sequencer
A fast, playful MIDI sequencer from Ableton's free Creative Extensions pack - evolving melodies, polyrhythms and randomisation in a few clicks.
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How to Make Dubstep
Rebel Sonix's Larry Holcombe on the basics of dubstep production - where the wobble bass comes from, and how to build one in Massive or the ES2.
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How to Connect Hardware to Ableton Live
Live allows for seamless integration of external gear such as synthesizers, drum machines and samplers through the use of MIDI.
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Poli
A virtual analog polysynth from Ableton's free Creative Extensions pack - detunable oscillators, twin filters and a built-in chorus.
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Drifting LFOs
Set LFOs slightly off a synced value so they drift against each other - evolving movement instead of an obvious loop.
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Creative Convolution Reverb in Ableton Live
Ableton's Convolution Reverb samples real spaces and hardware - and reversed or tweaked, it becomes a sound design tool in its own right.
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Arpeggiate the Arpeggiator
Chain one Arpeggiator into another, then a third - what happens when you arpeggiate an arpeggio, and how to keep it musical.
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Top 10 Ableton Features
Ten small Ableton features that hide in plain sight - oversampled EQ, 'copy value to siblings', auto-backup and Saturator's built-in filters.
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Capture with Push
Capture retroactively records the MIDI you just played, so an improvisation you never hit record for isn't lost. How it works, and its limits.
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Sonic Real Estate
The loudness wars, and a simple two-step technique that keeps a mix from getting crushed flat.
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Ableton Live Dry/Wet Knob
Some Ableton effects have no dry/wet control. Here's how to build one with an audio effect rack, two chains and a mapped macro knob.
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Noisy Strings
Sound design in Ableton's Wavetable synth - slow amp envelopes and free-running LFOs that keep the texture moving.
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Stay in Key
A Fold-button trick for drawing MIDI in Ableton: set the scale once, and the notes you pencil in stay in key.
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Machine Gun Hi-Hats
Getting your hi-hat game tight: fast rolls and stutters that stay musical, done quickly enough to keep the fun in it.
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Ableton Live Clip (ALC) Files
ALC files store a clip's warp settings, automation, devices and effects - a reusable building block for your own sound library.
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Spectral Blur in Ableton's Free Sample Pack
A Creative Extensions device that blurs a frequency range into a dense cloud of sound - reverb-like textures, and a freeze button.
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Ableton Lessons London | How To Use Ableton Live
A Logic user's take on learning Ableton Live - why it gets results faster, and how the two work together when rewired.
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Music Tech School | Music Tech Teachers London
Music technology training in London, taught by people making records at a high level themselves - from DAW beginners to mixing and sound design.
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How To Make A Chorus Effect in Ableton
What a chorus actually does to a signal, and how to build one in Ableton to fatten up bass, rhythm guitar or a solo line.
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Velocity
Velocity is the force with which a note is played - and mapping it to more than volume is what stops MIDI sounding programmed.
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Pitch Hack in Ableton Live
A one-stop pitch device from Creative Extensions - a delay line with transposition, reversal, randomisation and feedback folding.
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Ableton Tutorial: Side-Chaining with Gates and Filters
Side-chaining in Ableton beyond the usual compressor: what the gate and auto filter do, and how fast they bring an idea to life.
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How to Use Native Instruments Komplete Plugins as FX in Ableton Live
Route Native Instruments plugins - FM8, Absynth, Kontakt, Reaktor - as effects on other instruments inside Ableton Live.
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NYC Compression or Parallel Compression in Ableton Live
NY or Parallel compression is a dynamic range compression technique used in sound recording and mixing.
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Navigation Basics for Logic Pro
A ground-up tour of the Logic Pro control bar - the Library, Inspector, Smart Controls, Mixer and Editors - with a demo project to practise on.
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Logic Classes | How To Use Logic Pro 9
How Garnish's Logic Pro classes are structured week by week - from what a DAW is, through synthesis and recording, to finishing a record.
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