How this course works

Live 12 · about 2 min

You have Live open and a song somewhere in your head. What's the shortest path from here to a finished track?

Doing, not watching. Every lesson here is short, practical and meant to be followed with Live open next to it. Read a step, do the step, listen, move on.

What you need

  • Ableton Live 12. Intro, Standard or Suite all work for this part of the course. Lessons use Live's own devices and sounds, and when something needs Standard or Suite, the lesson says so up front.
  • Headphones or speakers you know well. Much of what you'll learn is heard, not seen.
  • A MIDI keyboard is optional. Your computer keyboard can play notes and drums, and a later lesson shows how.

Shortcuts are always given for both Mac and Windows, like CmdN (CtrlN on Windows) for a new Live Set.

What a lesson looks like

Each lesson teaches one skill. You'll find the same building blocks every time:

  1. Steps like these, in the order you do them in Live.
  2. Screenshots of the device or view that matters, with the exact settings in a table next to them.
  3. Audio you can compare, made for the lesson, so you hear what a change does before you try it.
  4. Key moments — the few ideas worth remembering — and a short summary.
  5. Practice at the end, with solutions to check your work against.

Try the A/B player

Many lessons compare two versions of the same few bars. Press play, then switch between A and B while it's playing. The position stays put, so you hear only the difference.

0:00 / 0:08

Both clips are matched in loudness, so neither wins just by being louder.

Your progress

Opening a lesson marks it as started. When you're done, press Mark lesson as complete at the bottom. The home page then offers to continue where you left off, and each part shows how far you've come.

There's no account. Progress is saved in this browser, on this device — clearing your browser data resets it.

Which order?

Part 1, Crafting Songs, comes first, and its lessons build on each other. If you already know a topic, skim it and do the practice: if the practice is easy, move on.

The tutorial map lists every lesson, and search finds devices and techniques by name.

Summary

  • Follow along with Live open; read a step, do it, listen.
  • Use the A/B player while it plays — you'll hear the difference, not the volume.
  • Practice is how you know you're ready to move on.

Practice

Get set up

importance5 of 5

Open Live and check three things: your version of Live, that sound comes out of your headphones or speakers, and that the metronome clicks in time when you press play.

Show solutionHide solution
  • Version: on Mac choose Live › About Live, on Windows Help › About Live. Anything starting with 12 is fine.
  • Sound: open Settings with Cmd, (Ctrl, on Windows), go to the Audio tab and pick your headphones or interface as the Audio Output Device.
  • Metronome: create a new Live Set with CmdN (CtrlN on Windows), switch on the metronome in the control bar at the top, and press the space bar. You should hear a steady click.

The most common snag is sound going to the wrong output — check the output device first.

Progress is saved in this browser.

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