My Tips for Using Ableton Live—25 Years Later
Note: Ok, almost 25 years later. I’d originally written this post in 2008, but thought I’d update it. It’s a surreal and wonderful to come back this blog post after 19 years (!) and write it from just a few blocks from the Ableton headquarters where I have some new projects in the works with their team.
I love Ableton. I’d swear by it as a compositional and performance tool. It was central to processes I experimented with for my Landscape Noon Studies album. I think Ableton’s memeshift is about turning your laptop/computer into the instrument.
Having been an Ableton Live user for nearly 7 25 (!) years (since 1.5?), these are a few tips and tricks I use to this day – but they can work in just about any DAW too:)
Get a decent MIDI controller
My first MIDI (Musical Interface for Digital Instruments) controller was an Edirol UC-16. It had 16 knobs + 4 preset buttons for switching layers of control. This allowed me a more direct interface with my music.
I also had the amazing M-Audio Trigger Finger – you can see it on the table next to my trusty PowerBook G4 from 2001. I was inspired to get one after playing with Jega (Skam, Planet Mu) He played an absolutely wicked set March, 2007.
Set up a default template
If you ever find yourself doing the same things every time you open up a Live set – adding an Auto Filter on your main channel, assigning a key or knob to the same two parameters of an effect, etc. – then setting up a ‘default’ template saves loads of time. Here’s some instructions.
Explore Key Map Mode
This is the single most important thing I’ve done to improve my performance. A deeply under utilized feature of Ableton – Key Map Mode. Basically, any key on your laptop keyboard can be assigned to almost anything in Ableton. Mainly things that turn ‘off/on’ or ‘trigger’, but some ideas are channel mutes, Track switching.
The screenshot above is for an actual Live set of mine and I use it for ‘dub style’ live mixing. You can hear the song too – called “Balafon Rave” I wrote with my friend Maurico Takara.
Add a high-pass filter on your bassline-heavy channels
Low frequencies – particularly basslines – can muddle the ‘oomph’ of your sets in a live club context. Generally, kicks are what keep rhythm – at least for things like house music, jungle or techno. But the world of ‘dance music’ is big and not always written in English, nor always bass heavy…
Use ‘sends’ for effects you want on multiple tracks (and save CPU)
Sometimes, you may want some reverb or delay on a few things. Rather than create a new effect on each track, just put one on a ‘send’. This saves CPU. Bonus: also works well with dub style mixing.
Experiment with OTT and effects on your main
It’s a stock Ableton Effect (you don’t need to pay/download it) and stands for ‘over the top’.
It’s a multi-band compressor that – when tuned – can really ‘gel’ your sounds together, especially when you’re mixing tracks with varying levels in Ableton.
Whether you enjoy pushing squares or twisting knobs, throwing a few effects ‘up front’ on your main out channel can add a lot of dynamism and drama to your mixes.
Some popular favorites for DJing dance music are low pass filter and high pass filters so you can emphasize highs and lows during dramatic build ups and ‘drops’. Many DJ’s have used this technique to add extra flair to their mixes. I currently enjoy Auto Pan (for extreme, rhythmic gating), Beat Repeat for stuttering and ad-hoc looping, Delay with short ‘Time’ and high ‘timing ‘Feedback’ for ‘metallic’ sounds (a nice trick I learned from Jega).
Take time to sit with your music!
What techniques would you recommend? What are indispensable pieces of hardware or software that you use?
Feel free to comment below.
So funny you posted this article, I just got a MIDI controller keyboard this week and it came bundled with Live. I’m still trying to figure things out and this was a pleasant encouragement. I’d definitely be interested more of these types of posts!
ya, i just picked up ableton live too.. its a bit of a learning curve.. but i'm already having fun a few hours ago. thanks for the tips
I read this thread a couple of days ago, and I must say the template is just a brilliant advice, I don't know why I didnt think of this before, I work with Ableton rewired on Reason, and I use one device on Reason per channel on Live… the amount of time I used plugging each device and assigning the channel on ableton was too long and was starting to get VERY boring!
thank you!
Phillip that's rad man. I have never been quite able to figure out how to do that and actually stopped using Reason (I think it was at 2.0). I guess I've been kind of a purist for Ableton;p But yeah, templates have saved me loads of time having to reprogram everything from scratch. I change it up every couple of months, just so I don't get stale using the same old tricks. Meeting up with other electronic musicians/djs helps keep things fresh too.
thank you so much for the comment! You got a blog you write at or follow?
Now I know all your tricks. Muah Huh Huh Huh Hah Ha!!!
KILLER list. Ableton can do anything and everyone uses it differently, but I cant imagine any user not seriously benefiting from following these.
I hadnt made a default template but when I started It became obvious how much time and hassle I was going to save.
Hey anachroschism,
cheers! Yeah, templates really take a load off and improve your workflow.
Thanks for commenting!
What kind of music do you make?
Not sure how I came across this post from 2008 but I found really helpful. I'm new Ableton user, so I've been mining youtube and blog posts so I can learn how to mix. *Thumbs up, RSS add* =)
Hope you were able to check out some of the other tips and how to’s on here too! https://memeshift.com/category/how-tos/
Hey thank you Ian. I'm definitely a big Ableton fan and it can be a bit
daunting starting out. Glad you liked the post!
Really good advise here. I've been using Ableton for just over 2 years to make live dance/pop-rock with a guitar and vocoder..
The only other thing I find myself doing all the time is having two versions of my set(s) (LITE and FULL).
The FULL version gives me all access to every aspect of my live set. And the LITE is an optimized version of the FULL set, that just gives me general control over the stuff I use live.
Thanks for your post! It's good to see I've been on the right track..
Matt
The Ghost Machina
http://www.reverbnation.com/theghostmachina
just an extra tip on making templates – ableton only allows for saving one default template, which can be a bit limiting. i make lots of templates for different purposes – for mixing in the box, out of the box, arrangement studio mixing etc just by saving empty ableton projects with all midi mapping, fx, routing etc, but with no clips. then you can open the empty project template you want and 'save as' when you want to save it as a music project.
if you use ableton live, you probably can’t go wrong picking up an Akai APC 40
Cheers! All those Akai APCs are so drool worthy:) Where are you writing us
from, Chip?
Cheers! All those Akai APCs are so drool worthy:) Where are you writing us
from, Chip?