Then once I have something basic going I generally record these parts separately into Ableton so I can manipulate them or use effects to process them, chop them up, basically sampling my own recordings. I generally start a session by jamming around on a few bits of gear, maybe a drum machine or a synth just to get a little groove going, sometimes it might just be a certain sound that inspires me or takes my mind somewhere else. I use a lot of third party plugins, but it’s still all in the box. That way when I get to a studio I just hook into their screen and keyboard and I’m ready to go.Ībleton is where everything starts and ends for me.
I find it way easier in Live to test out different sounds and do vocal manipulation/ fx so it’s super convenient to have both programs running simultaneously.Īnd because I move from studio to studio, I need a portable but powerful rig, so I settled on a new Mac Mini – I carry it in a little silver briefcase that also houses a UAD Octo Satellite, my trackball and cables. With Rewire, the transports are locked so when you press play in one program the other plays too.
I mix in Pro Tools and use Live as a Rewire application for additional production (extra drums, basses etc). I think this is mostly because I’ve never had a designated music workspace and I learned to produce with just a computer, so now I feel like it’s all I need.Īs a mix engineer for multiple acts I need to be multi-platform. I’m not really a hardware person, I often use my computer keyboard to write chords and my mouse to program MIDI. I’m using Ableton pretty much from start-to-finish for everything.
On the MIDI side my only plugins are Soundtoys for FX and Omnisphere as a backup if I can’t find the sound I’m after on my hardware synths / gadgets. I work with mostly audio though, rarely MIDI – so recording my voice, recording my synths or using samples. I use it from start to finish for everything. And then Live lets me take it all to the stage, either as a solo act, sometimes with Push, or as a central element in a band context. Ableton Push adds a whole extra dimension, especially at the writing / beatmaking stages because it means Live becomes a whole instrument I can touch and play. From there, it’s straight to Arrangement and I stay in there editing, programming, rerecording and arranging right through until the mastering stage. I usually program a bed rhythm and then begin to record endless ideas jamming on instruments in Session view until I lock-in.
To illustrate the range of uses, we got the lowdown from some of our Liveschool Trainers and Contributors on how they’re using Ableton Live: What an artist uses it for is also a question – for some it’s a jamming tool for creating ideas, others a performance tool for stage use only, while many use it as an end-to-end tool for the whole process of creating, producing and performing. How it works is really up to what works best for each artist because it’s so flexible in its use, and so universal in how it integrates with other things.
It can also host other software effects and virtual instruments, as well as capture physical instruments and environments and control the equipment in your studio. Ableton Live is a program with serious depth – armed with the right knowledge it can be your all-in-one writing, production and performance tool, using only what comes in the package.