E.Book) · Ableton,)User)E.Book.WrittenbyDavidVoss.2016. ) 3))) Introduction$)...
Transcript of E.Book) · Ableton,)User)E.Book.WrittenbyDavidVoss.2016. ) 3))) Introduction$)...
Ableton, User E-‐Book. Written by David Voss. 2016. 1
E-‐Book By
David Voss
Ableton, User E-‐Book. Written by David Voss. 2016. 2
Contents Page
LEVEL 1 – THE BASICS
INTRODUCTION 3 GETTING STARTED 4 MOVING FROM ANOTHER DAW 6
LEVEL 2 – ADVANCED TOOLS
UNIQUE TOOLS 8 TIPS AND TECHNIQUES 12 SHORTCUTS 16 LINKS 17
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Introduction This E-‐book is designed as a guide for the creative Ableton user to explore tips, techniques and functions that will enable the user to produce tracks more efficiently and more effectively. The book is not designed as a beginners guide, but has a brief overview of many of the basic functions of Ableton included with the intention of raising the knowledge of those who are not as highly skilled in Ableton functions as others as well. Ableton is often perceived as a DAW for DJ’s and electronic music producers rather than more traditional musicians, and within this guide this perspective will be considered. The aim is to show the Ableton is a performance focused DAW and style and genre do not have to dictate whether it is suitable for a potential user. Ableton can be used much like a standard guitar loop pedal to record multiple parts on the fly, and edit and perform those parts during the performance.
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Getting Started This section will include the details about recording audio & MIDI clips into the Session View. This can also be achieved through the traditional Arrange view, as with other DAW’s. However this guide will focus on the Session view, as this is an alternative way to create content in Ableton.
Recording Audio To Create a New audio Channel 1. To create a new audio channel press cmd + T 2. Press cmd R to rename the track. 3. Type in the name of your track 4. Right click and colour the track if you want to. 5. Select Ext. in under audio from 6. In the box below that choose your inputs
Programming MIDI 1. Create a new MIDI region by right clicking on a free space on the MIDI channel in Session view, or use the shortcut SHIFT + CMD + M.
2. Double Click the region 3. At the bottom of the screen a piano roll window will open 4. Insert notes by double clicking or using the pencil tool located near the top right of the screen.
Recording MIDI To record MIDI you need to make sure that the MIDI Arm recording button is activated. This is located in the same place as the audio arm-‐recording button is on an audio channel.
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To stop recording hit space bar or press the square button on the clip Quantising MIDI The Shortcut for Quantising when inside a MIDI region is SHIFT + U, or SHIFT + CMD + U to open Quantise options. Set the options you want to quantise to and click ok and your MIDI data will move to the correct places on the grid. You can also extract grooves from pieces of audio or MIDI and apply them to another piece of audio and MIDI, look in the tips section for this.
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Moving from another DAW When users move from a different DAW to Ableton there are traditionally some confusing issues that arise due to the unique layout of Ableton. Fortunately Ableton has help boxes littering the main screen, which describe the function or area of the program that the user has selected or has the cursor over. The Ableton team have also built in lessons that the user can follow to gain initial navigation knowledge. These built in help guides and lessons are very basic and enough to get a beginner user up and running quickly but do not demonstrate the full power of Ableton.
FAQ What are return tracks? Return tracks are basically Busses. You can apply effects to them and control the amount of signal sent to them from the track you are using to send to them. You can send multiple tracks to them as well. How do I save channel strip settings as you would in Logic Pro? You need to make an audio effects rack with the desired effects processing and save it to your browser under the audio effects rack folder. How do I write and edit automation? If you click on a parameter in the rack section of the instrument channel. Move the parameter with a mouse and an automation line will appear in the arrange view. Click the + symbol on the track header and a new space for the automation will appear and then you can write and edit automation points. Why are my tracks de-‐activated in the arrange view after I have been arranging them in session view?
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This is because Ableton prioritises session view over arrange view for performance functionality. You can bring back arrange view options by clicking the ‘back to arrangment’ button located above the first track in arrange view. (Shown below)
Layout One of the first differences you may notice about Ableton is the layout, whether in Session view or Arrange view. Unlike nearly all other DAW’s, Ableton has all its functions positioned in a mirror image to the position where they are found in other DAW’s. For example, the channel strip track headers in the Arrange view are on the right side of the timeline, and the media browser panel is located on the left, the opposite positions from programs like Logic Pro.
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Unique Tools Session View -‐ Explained
Ableton’s session view is arguably the biggest selling point for the software, besides their controller compatibility. The session view is essentially Ableton’s Mixer window, and it can be easily accessed by hitting the TAB key on a qwerty keyboard. The main difference between Ableton’s Session view window and the Mixer in other DAW’s is that the Session view window is designed to hold a list of clips that can be triggered as the user desires. This could either be by clicking the play button next to the clip( ), or by mapping a controller to the grid. (Ableton’s Push and Novations Launchpad map quickly and easily with this).
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This does not mean that Ableton does not have a built in mixer. The same functions are available to the user as those in other DAWS. Effects can still be applied to a track or can be sent to a Return channel if desired. They are just listed at the bottom of the window instead, which after getting used to is tidy and comfortable. Session View -‐Scenes
In addition to the clips running vertically down each channel strip (in Session view) there are also scenes, which are horizontal sections of clips, which run across the channel strips vertically.
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These allow the user to launch multiple clips simultaneously that is useful for ensuring that melodic parts or entire sections of songs enter together. Within this the user can set new tempos and time signatures that they want to apply to the new scene allowing control over larger Ableton sessions containing multiple songs. This can be useful as launching clashing melodies at once would not be pleasant and could cause issues when performing live. Launching Clips Clips can contain MIDI or Audio data and can be launched using the small triangle located to the left hand side of the clip rectangle shape. Once launched, this triangle transforms to a square stop button, which will stop this individual clip.
On an audio channel, when a track is made record enabled, a user can record into a new clip by clicking the circle button, which is located in the same place as the triangle and square buttons.
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Max for Live
Ableton benefits from integration with Max for Live, a system built around the common Max MSP programming language, used to build effects racks and plugins. Max for Live is built around Max Msp programming which allows Max Msp programmers to develop plugins, which will be able to work inside Ableton Live. This is a real benefit to Ableton users as it means there are regularly new plugins available for the user to download allowing them to perform previously impossible tasks. In some respects this is similar to DAW developers making updates to fix bugs in the system, and some Max for Live plugins are hacks for problems users find. But also it is an opportunity for creativity to flourish and for people with the technical skills to provide new possibilities to Ableton users. Ableton has a store built into their website which houses these Max for Live plugins enabling users to purchase plugins to add to their collection or boost Ableton’s capability.
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Tips and Techniques In addition to this guide please see the following YouTube channel, which will show more interactive versions of the tips and techniques listed below. Importing and slicing a track into clips Clip Follow functions
Each clip contains a set of rules by which the clip will behave depending on the choice made by the user. This means there are many scenarios in which Ableton can playback clips live. For example, you may wish to have you clips playback as they would in the arrange view in a linear format and therefore you would choose the next option. This means that once the clip is complete the next clip that follows it with will play. The Previous option therefore means that the clip before this clip will be played once the current clip has finished. Stop means that once that clip has been played it will simply stop playing. First and last mean that the clip will be played first or last in a sequence of clips.
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Any is essentially a random mode. Other is for alternatives Below this drop down box there is a box A and box B which when you click and drag across sets a probability setting of this action happening. This means you could have the clip more likely to play at the start of a sequence than at the end. Altering the setting of the clip launch is useful for new composition ideas or for random combinations of parts playing together. It is also useful in a more organised set to allow a user to run down a list of clips and then have Ableton return to the top of the sequence of clips, which is useful for repeats or sections that need to keep looping. Grouping tracks and recording the output
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Holding the shift key and selecting multiple tracks will mean the user has the ability to press COMMAND G and group the tracks together. Group tracks can be coloured, renamed and have effects applied much in the same way audio and MIDI tracks can. The playback of groups can also be controlled in the same way the playback of clips and scenes can be. A group track can be stacked, by using the small arrow to the right of the section to fold the stack away, or expand the stack. Extract and apply grooves
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Extracting and applying grooves means that a user can apply a particular feel to new or existing parts by removing a template of the swing/feel of the piece. This can then be applied to another piece of MIDI or Audio to achieve a similar rhythmic effect. These grooves are all organised in Ableton’s Groove Pool located below the browser window on the left hand side of the screen. Changing your grid in arrange view to triplet view The shortcut CMD 3, in the arrange view, turns the grid into a triplet grid so that the notes can be quantised to triplets. Creating Audio Effects racks Audio effects racks are a chain of effects that can be dragged onto any track (MIDI or audio), which will allow the signal of that channel to pass through the chain of effects. These can then be loaded on to any audio or MIDI tracks in subsequent projects to immediately give the same sound as previously used. This is similar to Logic Pro’s Save channel strip setting. You can also save entire Ableton sessions as templates; the same as you would in other DAW’s, which will load entire project layouts, channel strips, Return tracks and loaded MIDI instrument channels. Audio effects racks appear at the bottom of the main Ableton window.
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Shortcuts There are multiple shortcuts in Ableton as with all other DAW’s and these can be viewed in full via the Ableton website here: https://www.ableton.com/en/manual/live-‐keyboard-‐shortcuts/ Below is a list of some of the most useful shortcuts: Key Command Function/Use Playback controls Space Bar Play/Stop playback
Arrange/Session Global Controls TAB Switch view
Switches between Arrange/Session views Piano Roll SHIFT COMMAND Q Quantise settings
Quantise performed parts Creating new tracks COMMAND T Create New Audio Track COMMAND SHIFT T Create New MIDI Track COMMAND R Rename track COMMAND I Create new scene COMMAND D Duplicate SHIFT COMMAND M Create MIDI region COMMAND G Group Selected Tracks
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LINKS Tutorial Videos: Dave Voss tutorial videos
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1HbEDZIIcWtOTwsDma2U7g Tom Cosm Tutorial Videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/cosmcosm Mr Bill Tutorials
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https://www.youtube.com/user/MrBillsTunes