Tips for Ableton newbies

[SlavikSvensk]

just got it yesterday.

any wisdom you grizzled ableton veterans care to share? anything you know now that you wish you'd known when you started out?

[josephjobling]

you tube is always a good place to start - where to begin, do you know the basics. freeze track is one i wish i'd known when i first started.
if you have vst instrument on a midi track (or audio track with alot of fx ect) and you want to save cpu :
*Highlight the said track
*go to edit drop down menu
*click freeze track (it will then turn blue)
*create a new audio channel
*Drag your clip over to the new channel (in clip view) or drag your audio down to the new channel (in session view)
*he presto same audio but no cpu drainidge (you can now delete the old track)

I think that is right am at work so not in the studio - will check when i get home - will edit this post if its wrong

Congrats for getting ableton - i love it

[RDR]

Go and register at the forums on ableton.com thats the very best place.

[SlavikSvensk]

you tube is always a good place to start - where to begin, do you know the basics. freeze track is one i wish i'd known when i first started.
if you have vst instrument on a midi track (or audio track with alot of fx ect) and you want to save cpu :
*Highlight the said track
*go to edit drop down menu
*click freeze track (it will then turn blue)
*create a new audio channel
*Drag your clip over to the new channel (in clip view) or drag your audio down to the new channel (in session view)
*he presto same audio but no cpu drainidge (you can now delete the old track)

I think that is right am at work so not in the studio - will check when i get home - will edit this post if its wrong

Congrats for getting ableton - i love it

nice one, dude. thanks. this is exactly the kind of stuff i was hoping to see in this thread :)

yeah i've got the basics down at this point--finding the program extremely intuitive and easy to pick up so far. really fun too.

[stjohn]

this is one that ive just realised is probably best for my way of working, and wished i had copped it earlier. its nothing mad, but i reckon could help you get over some of the bad things that ableton brings.
usually, i work in session view, looping away anything from synths, recording in my grooveboxes, impulses etc....
i found that stuff can get very loopy very quickly with Live, because session view is always looping, and if you have audio there, its not that apparent that editing is piss-easy. it wasnt to me anyway.

so ive began jumping alot more from arrangement to session view.

-i leave a blank canvas on arrangement view.
-copy whatever clips i have in session, all at once, and paste into arrangment
-slightly change up the pattern, subtle, dramtic whatever..
-consolidate the clips, and paste right back into session, under the last group of clips, and set them to loop.

if you do this just a couple of times, ull see how simple but effective this is. futhermore, if you assign a number on the keypad to tigger each group of loops, u can jam it out nicely.

this is something so basic i was kicking myself i hadnt done it properly earlier. but doing it consciously now speeds up my workflow ad infinitum, and makes the tracks way less obvious and loopy.

hope that helps

[stjohn]

sorry the above post might be something u might consider once your getting comfortable with the program. here some more beginner things.

- make sure the levels are displayed. drag the line above the faders (below the sends) on the GUI. this will display the peak meter, and track volume numbers. watchin this can help alot. similarly after each plug in GUI (at the bottom) there is a mini-level meter to monitor. watch the levels on this. sometimes things can get crazy there.

-record LOADS. when arsing around with synths and stuff.. route audio into another track and record it. im still using recorded sounds from years ago, as the browser allows u to go through the samples of old projects and drag them in.

-read up on effects racks. theyre great.

[BloodStar]

got one tip, which probly not for true beginners, but i found it pretty useful>
- in session view doubleclick the audio clip
- in the bottom section open the Envelope section by clicking the little icon "E" in the clip tab
- set upper dropdown to Clip and lower dropdown to Sample Offset
- right click to waveform and select Draw mode and select the time signature you want (try to start with 1/16)
- then change some of the 16th notes
- in Session view select the Audio clip and press Ctrl+C
- press Tab for going to Arrangement view and then press Ctrl+V and paste the loop to the same channel
- then copy/paste the loop to have longer section, like 4,8,16 bars, and modify the sample Offset.
- consolidate the loop and copy/paste it back to Session view for further layering

[DJPAUZE]

Best info I have gotten so far is from youtube vids, some great stuff on there. Some people actually post links to entire projects so you can download em and see what they have created.

I really enjoy ableton but dislike the the arrangement view, I prefered cubase in that sense.

As st.john said the effects rack is great, ableton comes loaded with great toys...