Harness The Power Of Ableton Live

The course runs for 12 weeks with a 5 hour session on Weds or Thurs 12pm - 5pm. There will be a plenty of time to work on your tracks with the tutor and each student has their very own Apple production workstation. The course is split into 2 parts, during the first part of the course you will work on how to use the Ableton software to a high standard so you can use it efficiently and efffectively. 

The second part of the course is all about the music, you will work on developing your musical knowledge, building tracks and learning how to remix. 
With a maximum of 4 students per course, you will receive plenty of individual attention from the tutor.

Recent SubBass Music Production students have had their tracks signed to Toolroom records, Baroque, Kult, Shiva De-lab, Maquina Music, Pink Rabbit, Armada Music Global Underground and many more

Week 1


Introduction to Ableton Live. 
Setting up Live and Audio preferences
Session view explained
. The browser, Piano roll, Effect insert Views, clips and scenes. 
Understanding the basics of Drum Rack and Importing samples. Build a MIDI drum beat with Drum Rack

Week 2


Building a live set in session view
. Finding and importing sounds from Ableton and your computer. 
Recording and overdubbing MIDI, Creating loop variations. Taking your drum beat further with outputs and effects. 
Intro to adding swing and groove to your midi drums. 
File management and "Collect all and Save" function explained

Week 3


Editing and quantizing MIDI, Adding swing and groove 
Making baselines and hits with Simpler. 
EQing your Bass and Kick
. Editing audio loops and converting audio to MIDI
. Setting up swing and extracting grooves
Arrangement view explained

Week 4


Live’s MIDI and Audio effects explained. Mapping MIDI controllers. 
Using Audio effects to add movement. 
Chord and scale effects. 
Building chords and leads. 
Automation and send effects. 
Arrangement and clip envelope automation

Week 5

Recording audio. Connecting external hardware via midi, adjusting for latency. External Instrument explained
Creating and working with audio. Warping audio samples, creating samplers. 
Using hardware to process audio. 
Creative routing ideas


Week 6


The Live mixer and mixing explored
. Grouping tracks. Parallel Processing, Sends / Returns.
 In depth EQ and compression
. Reverb, delays and creative effects. 
Gate and sidechaining effect. 
Ableton Live and 3rd party plugins

Week 7


Software instruments and basic synthesis techniques. 
In depth drums and sampling. 
Choosing the right sounds. 
Create ‘signature’ sounds with layering and effects. 
Making custom libraries, packs and patches. 
Mixing elements creatively with EQ and compression.

Week 8


Racks and groups overview. 
Combining instruments and effects. 
Creating your own chains and template sets. 
Assign rack parameters to macros and midi map controllers
. Structuring and arranging
Arranging live ‘on the fly’ with triggers and controllers

Week 9


Warping and editing audio. 
Editing and importing vocals
. Rewiring with Logic and other programs. 
Triggering clips and jamming in session view
Consolidating projects 
Importing, exporting and freezing tracks

Week 10


Working with acapellas, vocals and remix parts. 
Performing with Live, working with latency
. Taking your sound future with hardware and MIDI controllers. 
Special tips and tricks
A look at Max for Live and its instruments and effects

Week 11


Sound design techniques and working with video. 
Creating custom sound effects and layered instruments. 
In depth arrangement and mix-down tips
The business of music, avenues to explore. 
Approaching labels and sending out demos


Week 12


Final mix-down and preparing for mastering
. Bouncing down, bit depth, dither and sample rate explained. 
Pre master preparation and master buss compression explained. 
Promote your course work / SEO explained. 
Student performances of live sets, compositions & remixes
Group evaluation

Click to enrol on next available date