Videos

May 30th

Ableton Live Tutorial – Compression

This Ableton Tutorial walks through a compression example to demonstrate the various parameters on the interface.

The main application of a compressor involves reducing the dynamics of a signal ie the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of a sound. In this example Ableton’s Compressor is used to gradually and smoothly reduce the level of an FX Sweep as it increases in volume. This results in the loudest part of the Sweep being reduced by around 6db using compression so that the entire signal can then be turned up by this amount using the output fader. The net effect being that the quietest parts of the sound are boosted by 6db with pushing the overall signal into the red.

When opening up the filter on any sound there is likely to be an increase in volume as more frequencies are let through and add to the overall level. On simple sounds this can often be combated using volume automation but if the sound is a little more complex it can be easier to set up a compressor to automate the task for you.

In this example the aim is to gently and smoothly compress the sound and therefore a longer attack and release are used (the exact settings are not hugely important with a sound like this, as long as they are set long enough to avoid any unwanted pumping artifacts). The envelope is set to RMS mode so that the compressor responds to average volume as opposed to short sharp transients and a soft knee setting is used to progressively increase the ratio around the threshold value.

Finally the FX sweep is ducked by a side chain compressor that is being fed an input from the drum loop. The side chain is set to respond mainly to the kick in the drum loop to create an obvious rhythmical pumping.

If you would like to download the set used in this video along with several racks, simply drop your email address into the subscribe box on the right and we will send you a download link. We never send spam to our subscribers, only updates when there are new videos, articles or racks available on the website.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you want to learn more about Ableton Live and how to create tracks to a professional and releasable standard, check out our Online Courses

This Ableton Tutorial is suitable for all varieties of EDM including deep house, tech house, progressive house, electro house, techno, minimal and trance.

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May 14th

Ableton Live Tutorial – Splitting Frequencies

This Ableton Live Tutorial shows how to split the frequencies of a sound and apply individual effects to each band. This technique can be used for, amongst other things,  applying side chain compression to only the low frequencies or maintaining a mono sound in the low end whilst applying stereo width effects to the mid and high bands.

Abletons Multiband Dynamics plug-in can easily be used to split a sound into 3 distinct frequency bands. If the amount control in the bottom right of the effect is turned down to zero then no compression or gain adjustments will be made to the signal and the plug-in can be used purely for the purpose of splitting frequencies (of course the compression settings can still come in useful if needed).

The first step is to solo the low and then high bands whilst setting the frequency cross over points to taste. When suitable values have been chosen the effect is grouped (ctrl+g) and then the original chain is duplicated twice. The relevant band in each instance of the Mulitband Dynamic plug-in is isolated using the solo button and then it is time to add additional effects to each chain.

A few useful effects that can be added include a utility set to zero width and a side chain compressor on the low band, reverb and any stereo widening plug-ins on the mid and high bands and distortion and panned delays on the high end.

In this Ableton tutorial we also make use of the macros available in Abletons racks to map a selection of useful parameters for further tweeking.

If you would like to download the rack demonstrated in this video along with the sample audition rack, simply drop your email address into the subscribe box on the right and we will send you a download link. We never send spam to our subscribers, only updates when there are new videos, articles or racks available on the website.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you want to learn more about Ableton Live and how to create tracks to a professional and releasable standard, check out our Online Courses

This Ableton tutorial makes use of the Sample Auditioner Rack. You can watch how to make one of these here.

This Ableton Tutorial is suitable for all varieties of EDM including deep house, tech house, progressive house, electro house, techno, minimal and trance.

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March 17th

Ableton Live Tutorial – Using Drum Sounds for Bass Hits

In this Ableton Live tutorial we take a look at modifying drum samples in the Ableton default sampler (simpler) to create interesting bass textures.

The tutorial explains how to remove the click from a drum sound using the samplers  start position control and attack envelope before using the transpose parameter to match the pitch of the sample with that of the tracks existing kick drum. In this video we have the Simpler grouped into our Sample Auditioner Rack and you can see how to make one of these here.

Ableton Live does not come with an EQ capable of delivering a 48db cut other than EQ3 but this is restricted to rolling off at a minimum of 50hz. In order to remove frequencies beneath 20hz (bass energy that humans are unable to hear but still takes up headroom in the mix) from our newly crafted bass sound we turn to FabFilters excellent Pro Q.

When drawing in bass patterns it is often a good idea to have a drum loop already in place so that you can get a good feel for the groove. Try gently nudging the hits forwards or backwards to add some extra groove or swing to the track. In Ableton’s midi editor you can use ctrl+4 (cmd+4 on a mac) to turn off the grid and use the arrow keys to move the midi notes by small increments.

In this tutorial we use an 808 kick drum sample and a random Tom sample to create the bass line but any hollow sounding drum sample or percussion sample will work nicely. Experiment to find the best sound for the track you are working on.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you want to learn more about Ableton Live and how to create tracks to a professional and releasable standard, check out our Online Courses

This Ableton tutorial makes use of the Sample Auditioner Rack. You can watch how to make one of these here.

This Ableton Tutorial is suitable for all varieties of EDM including deep house, tech house, progressive house, electro house, techno, minimal and trance.

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February 10th

Ableton Tutorial – Creating a build with the reverb freeze function

This is an Ableton Live tutorial explaining how to create anticipation with a build by starting with a basic sample and using the built in Ableton reverb to add a thick tail  that can then be recorded and further processed with a chain of effects.

The tutorial explains the reverb freeze function and the resampling process before moving on to demonstrate ideas using a range of effects that come bundled with Ableton Live. An Auto Filter is automated to let in the high frequencies over 8 bars, an EQ3 is set to remove any unwanted muddy frequencies from the low end and Ableton’s Erosion plug in is then dropped into the chain to bring out some high end sparkle. Finally the excellent filter delay plug in thickens and widens the reverb tail whilst adding some additional movement.

To complete the effect we examine clip automation in Ableton and set up a unlinked volume loop to help pump the reverb sound in time with the track. The tutorial also looks at using the utility plug in to automate volume in a track. This is important because we do not want to automate the tracks output fader as it will overcomplicate things at the mixdown stage.

If you want to learn about Ableton Live in depth whilst taking your Music Production skills to the next level check out our online courses

This Ableton Tutorial is suitable for all varieties of EDM including deep house, tech house, progressive house, electro house, techno, minimal and trance.

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January 15th

Ableton Live Tutorial – Creating a reverb build using automation

This tutorial explains the automation system used in Ableton Live before moving on to demonstrate how to create a reverb build to introduce tension and anticipation before a break down. The tutorial also takes a look at reverb automation as a means of adding interest to stagnant drum loops.

To create the build a track containing an instrument with a lot of presence in the mid range frequencies is selected and automation is used to slowly send the audio to a Ableton’s built in reverb unit. The send and return system allows more than one track to be sent to the reverb and this provides greater control over the intensity of the build. Complexity can be added to the sound by automating the parameters of the reverb and adding other effects to the return chain. One option is a delay unit that can be automated to added movement to the reverb tail and smooth the transition between different sections of the track.

Ableton’s built in reverb can be pushed to create a variety of interesting effects and it is worth spending some time automating the different parameters to see how it can be used. Try quickly changing the size control for a distorted bit crushed sound or setting the diffusion filter to extreme settings for interesting and unnatural reverb sounds.

We hope you enjoyed this tutorial. If you want to learn more about Ableton Live and how to create tracks to a professional and releasable standard, check out our Online Courses

This Ableton Live tutorial is suitable for all varieties of EDM including deep house, tech house, progressive house, electro house, minimal, techno and trance.

Posted in Videos | 4 Comments »

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