Continuing our production guides, for this session we’ve brought in Ableton tutor and studio engineer Quantize to help guide you though the ins and outs of this powerful piece of software.
What is Ableton Live?
Ableton is the name of the company and Live is the name of the product. Live was first introduced to the public in 2001 and is now on its eighth version, having undergone many improvements over the years. The company has done an excellent job of retaining and enhancing the initial concept by providing a software platform with an intuitive interface and transparent work flow. This allows users to focus on creating and performing music. This has clearly been well received as the software now boasts hundreds of thousands of users worldwide, making it a serious contender in the production and performance market.
Live is a Digital Audio Workstation comparable to the likes of Reason, Logic and Cubase and offers similar functionality such as the ability to create and manipulate audio and midi files, record audio from external sources and of course sequence all of this to create a final piece of music. Beyond this, Live is an excellent performance tool and I'm sure some of you will be aware that many DJs are converting to the software to play their sets. Armin van Buuren for example uses the software exclusively for his weekly 'A State of Trance' radio show as does John Digweed, who also utilises the software for creating re-edits of tracks he plays out. Possibly the most famous Ableton Live DJ though, is Sasha, who has a purpose built DJ mixer 'The Mavern' built for controlling the software during his epic live gigs.
The session view
Alongside the DJs are electronic acts and bands such as Orbital and Dirty Vegas who now use Live on stage and in the studio. In many respects that is Live's greatest strength, the user is able to produce a piece of music in the studio and then play it out live with both aspects of the software working seamlessly with one and other.
Live comes bundled with its own instruments, effects and sample library but also supports third party plug ins and the rewire format so that all bases are covered. The software is available in three flavours (there is technically a fourth package, Ableton Live Lite but this is only available bundled with other software so we will not cover it here).
Ableton Live Intro: The same software and sound quality as Ableton Live but with some limitations on the number of effects and plug ins that can run simultaneously and also slightly fewer effects bundled with the package. This is an ideal introduction for DJs and can easily be upgraded at a later date. http://www.ableton.com/live-intro
Ableton Live Suite: The Daddy, more sounds, more synths and Abletons excellent Sampler plug in. http://www.ableton.com/suite-8
One thing to be aware of before purchasing any of the packages; the boxed versions have a greater number of loops and samples than the download versions, albeit at a slightly increased cost.
On closer inspection
So what is it about Ableton Live that makes it such an attractive option for DJ's and other live performers?
Warping: Warping is the name Ableton give to their time stretching algorithm. In simple terms, when you drag an audio file into Live it automatically detects the transients (usually the beginning of each sound or drum hit) and then stretches or squashes the audio to fit with the tempo of the track you are working on. This is usually very accurate and happens without any user interaction and, to top it off, works in real time, so it is possible to drop loops into a track on the fly to see what works and what doesn't.
The arrangement view
It is also possible to warp entire tracks (with a few little tweaks here and there to ensure perfect timing) allowing DJ's to seamlessly mix tracks together, speed up or slow down the mix and drop loops in and out as they see fit without even considering beat matching. This has of course bought a fair level of criticism from traditional DJs who consider the art of laptop DJing to be, putting it bluntly, cheating. That, however, is missing the point. DJs who want to take a pre planned set along with them and let the computer do all of the work will soon get 'found out', but those that choose to, say, mix elements from five different tracks at the same time whilst layering an acapella over the top and some of their own loops are going to enjoy new found freedom in the DJ box.
It's certainly not my place to argue the merits of this or that, or indeed the future of DJing, but in the right hands this software will certainly bring something exciting and fresh to the dance floor.
Session View: Now with all these loops flying around during a performance things would soon get very confusing using the traditional arrange page. Enter Live's session view. Here you can see a grid containing different coloured rectangular clips and each clip will usually contain a midi or audio loop (or whole track if you are DJing) that can be played by clicking on the individual clips play button. A row of such clips is called a scene. You can see on the far right of the screen that all of the scenes also have their own play button and by clicking on one of these all of the clips in that row will play simultaneously and in perfect sync. Any number of clips can play back at the same time with only one condition, no two clips in the same column can play at the same time.
In the case of the session view a column is basically a track with its own fader. Lets flip this round quickly to the arrange page by hitting tab and things should become a little clearer. The session view and arrange page are linked together, so if you look down the right hand side of the screen at the track names you will see that they match the track names in the session view. Now if you look at the content of each track you will see that some of the clips from the session view have been recorded. So to summarise, if you hit record at the top of the session view and then have a jam session playing different loops together or mixing tracks, Live will be recording it all for you in the background and it will appear exactly as you played it in the arrange page when you are finished, ready for editing. It will even record all of the fader movements and any effects parameters you have moved.
An effects rack
Flexibility: Talking of effects...... Just like any DAW, Live lets you have any number of effects in any order on each track. What's more you can combine effects and instrument in complex and unique ways to achieve exactly the sound or work flow you want. These combinations are referred to as racks in Ableton Live and there are many user racks available for download on the Internet. I don't have space to go into this here but this free video from my website will show you the basic idea:
On top of this Live has just released 'Max 4 Live', a program that lets you build instruments and effects from the ground up, literally adding each component part and control as you go. Now I will admit this is most likely to be the territory of serious geeks but that's the beauty of Live, it can be as complex or as simple as you like and you will still achieve great results.
Control: Finally lets have a look at ways to control Live. There are of course the usual plethora of midi control keyboards and Live also allows you to use your computer keyboard as a midi keyboard, but that's really just scratching the surface. For DJs looking for a top of the range mixer and controller check out the Allan & Heath Xone:4D
Designed for producers and live performers have a look at the AKAI APC40
Ableton and Serato announced the results of their new partnership at the NAMM show on the 14th of January 2010 called The Bridge – find more info here, but I will leave you with my favourite controller, the Novation Launchpad, check out this video to get an idea of what Live really is capable of...........
Once you have downloaded the software click on the Help Menu -> Help View, this will bring up some excellent lessons.
For more video tutorials check out our website http://www.quantizecourses.com and of course take a look at our studio based and online courses to suit any budget!
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Comments:
From: Mat Lockon 12th Apr 2010 01:10.18 Thanks, I look forward to more videos and tutorials.
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