Music Tech Focus

Congratulations, Ableton Live user, on picking up this jam-packed edition of MusicTech Focus, devoted completely to your DAW of choice. In this bumper-sized mag we present a plethora of Live tutorials that cover everything from initial setup, building beats, using Live with other instruments, creating melodies and much more. We’ve also got a very special, brand-new Live video course that guides you through various processes, from starting out to finishing your tracks. Check out our free DVD on a Mac or PC to follow the course. Our workshops kick off on p6 with a guide to what’s new with the latest incarnations of Ableton Live and the company’s well-loved controller, Push, before kicking into gear on p10 with a guide to building beats, adding bass (p18) and using keyboards (p38) to…

Ableton Live isn’t new anymore and it develops slowly (which keeps it stable and reliable), but there are new users jumping aboard the Ableton train all the time. Live’s most distinctive features are the Session View – where we jam and experiment – and warping, which provides easy time-stretching and looping of audio. We’re going to go right back to basics and remind ourselves of the fundamentals that make Live such a killer music tool on stages and in studios everywhere. We’re starting with a brief walkthrough on launching Live, playing some simple loops, and loading an audio effect. If I was asked to give out homework before the next tutorial, I’d advise you to explore the interface and to practise the most common keyboard shortcuts to customise your view, which…

Even if you’re not focused on working with beats in a big way, the truth is that nearly any style of music will require some kind of drum part. The advantage of beginning with a rhythmical framework is that you don’t necessarily require any knowledge of harmony or chords, so you can put that off until later and concentrate on learning some programming and effect basics. You can go your whole beat-making life drawing in your drum beats, one hit at a time in a very machine-like style and sometimes, that’s exactly the feeling you want – the lack of feeling. But for anything that’s going to feel like ‘real’ drums, triggering from some kind of pads and recording in real time is going to be much more effective. I’d choose Push…

We’re continuing our journey through the basics of Live. Last time we talked about programming MIDI drum beats, so now it seems like a good time to look at the flip side of that: taking a source audio beat and jazzing it up, before changing it into something totally different. Hopefully we’ll be able to come back and do some more work with beats later, because there’s so much more to talk about. But for now, we’ll have to settle for some timing adjustment, some talk about groove templates, and another try with the fabulous Drum Buss effect. LET’S GO AUDIO We’ve provided a Live set (download from - https://we.tl/t-In9oA6JQMQ) with beats that you can use. If you use your own sample, try to choose one that needs a bit of straightening…

We’re gathered here to have a little chat about why and how to add bass to our tunes – and when I say ‘bass’, I’m including bass guitar and bass synths – any source of low-end rhythmic/melodic instrument parts. Traditionally, bass can provide a counterpoint to other melodic instruments, while fitting in with the beats, glueing both of these elements together (on a good day). In addition to that, bass forms an essential part of a song’s groove, a pulse that can make music feel like it’s pushing or dragging in the right time and place. All of this is true in electronic music and sound design as well, with all the extra opportunities that come through using synths, filters, effects and any other modern trickery at our disposal. But…

It’s becoming an annual tradition here at MusicTech to reflect, not just on the mountains of new gear released over the last twelve months, but also on the huge quantities of knowledge and experience we’ve mined in our interviews and features, and organise the very best tips, advice and guidance into relevant sections. We understand the hardships and difficulties that you might encounter at every turn when embarking on any music production project, or when attempting to develop a career in this complicated industry. So, whenever we speak to production luminaries, the technically gifted or people who’ve made an impact on music – we always strive to get as much practical advice from them as possible that we can assemble into an easy-to-navigate feature. The very feature you’re reading right now,…