begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
hey everybody, I'm definitely new to this whole system( honestly I'm new to the entire process of trying to make music just a heads up) I just purchased a novation Launchpad and it was bundled with ableton live lite. Now, in all honesty, I have ZERO experience with any production software (aside from playing around with fruity loops when I was 13 and having no clue what I was doing then either ).so this post in general is to ask all of you out there who care to read this or post a reply, WHERE DO I START! I'm truly passionate about learning the craft but I have no mentors and nowhere to pick information up from in the po-dunk town I live in and since I got the equipment I have tried to "wing it" and learn what I can.. so far I haven't learned much from this method ha..so please, anything will help from the most basic things you can think of to the more advanced if you think you can explain it well enough that I may pick up something from it.
Re: begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
if you have zero experience, then start right at the beginning : https://www.ableton.com/en/manual/first-steps/
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Richie Witch
- Posts: 1018
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- Location: Washington, DC
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Re: begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
You can also take this free 6-week course from Berklee School of Music. It starts all the way at the beginning and takes you all the way through the creation of a song. Great class.
https://www.coursera.org/learn/ableton-live
https://www.coursera.org/learn/ableton-live
"Watching the Sky" ~ A 4-track EP of piano, strings, and Native American flute
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Stromkraft
- Posts: 7033
- Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:34 am
Re: begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
It's actually a three-week course with one week intro, so 4 weeks in total, needing 4-6 hours per week. It's only free if you don't want a diploma.Richie Witch wrote:You can also take this free 6-week course from Berklee School of Music.
It's not clear if they are going to cover what is not in Lite, but they refer to the Trial. It's probably a good chance they only cover what's in all versions.
Make some music!
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Richie Witch
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- Location: Washington, DC
- Contact:
Re: begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
Hmmmm... must have changed it some since I took it--about a year ago. Used to be 6 weeks with a 1-week orientation, and you got a free trial of Live Suite, although I used Live Standard without any issues.
And yeah, I didn't go for the diploma, so it was free for me.
And yeah, I didn't go for the diploma, so it was free for me.
"Watching the Sky" ~ A 4-track EP of piano, strings, and Native American flute
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Stromkraft
- Posts: 7033
- Joined: Wed Jun 25, 2014 11:34 am
Re: begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
Well, actually you could preview the course and they do cover Max For Live and slicing to audio in Week 3, which isn't part of Lite as far as I can see. Of course there's nothing stopping the student to download the Trial for those parts of the course.Stromkraft wrote: It's not clear if they are going to cover what is not in Lite, but they refer to the Trial. It's probably a good chance they only cover what's in all versions.
Make some music!
Re: begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
Thank you all for the information! This will definetly help me start working towards making some tunes 
greatly appreciated
greatly appreciatedRe: begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
a beginners section here
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 1--ziyK2Uj
this one shows you where live's built in lessons are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--97ljt ... j&index=10
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 1--ziyK2Uj
this one shows you where live's built in lessons are
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--97ljt ... j&index=10
https://hiddensound.net/
https://linktr.ee/hiddensound
Sound Devices mix pre 3 and 10Tii, various Sennheiser mkh, dpa, LOM, Audio Technica microphones
https://linktr.ee/hiddensound
Sound Devices mix pre 3 and 10Tii, various Sennheiser mkh, dpa, LOM, Audio Technica microphones
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EasyWorkflow
- Posts: 242
- Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:37 am
Re: begginer advice, just got some equipment and ableton 9 lite
I was in your shoes almost 1 1/2 ago. And let me tell you, after 6 months, I almost quit. Plus this was my second home studio. My first studio was a 24 track Roland VS-24 which was a standalone hardware recorder. This MIDI & DAW thing was brand new for me and I couldn't even spell MIDI until a year ago. Here is exactly how I became what I call an advanced beginner because it really can be an overwhelming process:
I must make this one statement before I move on. I had a horrific accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury so I was never able to read instruction manuals after that accident and relied exclusively on videos. My advice if you can afford it and your computer is setup for it is to get a second monitor because you will soon learn there is a session and arrangement view and it's much easier to learn Ableton IMHO if you see both views at same time. Plus I can watch an instructional video on one screen and duplicate exactly what instructor is doing on screen running Ableton.
1.) Learn what all the different terms mean...clips, sounds, samples, loops, patches, digital versus analog, instruments, VSTs, audio versus MIDI, audio effects versus MIDI effects, etc. You have to learn this stuff. No way around it.
2.) Watch as many free videos as you can. There are enough free Youtube videos to keep you busy for years and subscribe to YouTube channels like Dubspot, Pointblank, Vespers, WarpAcademy, Tom Cosm, etc. Also subscribe to the sites that these previous sites follow.
3.) Accept the fact there will 100% be a learning curve. How long & difficult is up to each individual and time invested.
4.) Next I subscribed to monthly pay sites which you can get on sale for $10 a month if you catch them at right time. I am a paid yearly member of Macprovideo.com, Groove3.com. I also ordered many courses from Warpacademy.com
5.) I finally realized I needed one-on-one instruction because as great as videos are, even the ones you pay for, you can't ask the instructor a simple concept you may have not grasped which ties into next concept so you are kind of in a jam. My advice when that happens is use this forum as often as you need to. There have been so many times I posted a question because I was stuck and within 5 minutes, I had the answer. People are extremely helpful
6.) Continuing on item 5, I hired an Ableton Certified Instructor for online Skype lessons with screen sharing technology so he could see everything I was doing and it was as close as sitting in a live class room as possible. I have paid Vespers from WarpAcadamy $250 for a 2-hour lesson which is his minimum. That was way too much money and God was looking out for me because I found another Ableton Certified Instructor who charges 1/3 of that price and I have been studying with him every week for months. He is not only one of the sharpest people I have ever met, but is also one of the nicest, humble & caring people you want to meet. I still remember after two weeks I was launching clips and scenes using Push. That was a big deal for me. I know use Push 2 and we have lessons where I may never even touch the mouse because I became proficient with Push 2.
My mentor's name is Jimmy Allison and he runs the Ableton user's group in Austin TX. http://www.AustinAbletonTutor.com. I kid you not. Had I known how quickly I would have learned Ableton, I would have started with lessons from week one with Jimmy and augment them with free videos or the pay sites I suggested. I now can put on any video and follow along only because of Jimmy. If you call him, tell him BobbyD from NYC sent you. He will take care of you. I do not make a penny or get a free lesson by doing this. I want to see a newbie thrive and also help Jimmy make a living as he is a full time musician, bass player, Ableton Certified Trainer, Controller guru, and knows outboard analog and CV as well as digital & MIDI.
7.) Finally, and 99% of people will never do this because they think it's too expensive or are not geographically located to go to an actual school. I was supposed to start Dubspot in NYC in July but had to change date to October 23rd. It's a 6 month program with 130 hands on hours. I am doing this for 3 reasons:
1.) CEO gave me a scholarship when he heard about my injuries
2.) I want the ability to meet other key players in NYC into EDM scene. I do not know a single person and the networking alone seems priceless.
3.) I need someone to hold me accountable for doing weekly home work. . Even with Jimmy, it was easy to not complete a hw assignment. When you are with 10 other students, trust me, you will turn in your assignments.
8.) Realize you will be a student for life and never fully master this DAW because Ableton is always rolling out new functionality.
9. Most important advice I can ever give anyone. Enjoy the journey as this really is no destination. Even if you make it on stage and play festivals for 300,000 people, that is still part of your destination so enjoy the entire process.
10.) One last thing that a senior Ableton user told me a year ago and it was such an accurate statement. He said to me something along these "in a way I wish I was a beginner again even though I would never want to go through learning curve. When I was a beginner, everyday I had those "aha" moments which I miss. I have an "aha" moment everyday I use Ableton which is a phenomena occurs that I believe every member experiences To me, it feels like every time I learn something new, my knowledge starts to exponentially increase meaning I went from one "aha" every week to sometimes multiple "ahas" in a single hour. I hope the "aha" is a good analogy to use.
11.) Last suggestion and learn from my mistakes. You do NOT need new software, hardware, etc thinking you will miraculously improve. If anything, it back fired because I got depressed spending money on items when I couldn't even edit a MIDI track. Spend the majority of whatever budget you may have on education if you want to fast track or watch videos at your leisure. You will learn either way. JUST DO NOT QUIT!!!!~
12. Forgot one important point that may be contested by users on forum which is to LEARN MUSIC THEORY!!! Just basic tgheory like how a chord is made up of 1 3 5. I took a music theory class in college back in 1980, and that changed my life. There are plenty of free videos designed to teach music theory for EDM producers on YT.
Stay Healthy & Happy
Best of luck on your journey
BobbyD-NYC
I must make this one statement before I move on. I had a horrific accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury so I was never able to read instruction manuals after that accident and relied exclusively on videos. My advice if you can afford it and your computer is setup for it is to get a second monitor because you will soon learn there is a session and arrangement view and it's much easier to learn Ableton IMHO if you see both views at same time. Plus I can watch an instructional video on one screen and duplicate exactly what instructor is doing on screen running Ableton.
1.) Learn what all the different terms mean...clips, sounds, samples, loops, patches, digital versus analog, instruments, VSTs, audio versus MIDI, audio effects versus MIDI effects, etc. You have to learn this stuff. No way around it.
2.) Watch as many free videos as you can. There are enough free Youtube videos to keep you busy for years and subscribe to YouTube channels like Dubspot, Pointblank, Vespers, WarpAcademy, Tom Cosm, etc. Also subscribe to the sites that these previous sites follow.
3.) Accept the fact there will 100% be a learning curve. How long & difficult is up to each individual and time invested.
4.) Next I subscribed to monthly pay sites which you can get on sale for $10 a month if you catch them at right time. I am a paid yearly member of Macprovideo.com, Groove3.com. I also ordered many courses from Warpacademy.com
5.) I finally realized I needed one-on-one instruction because as great as videos are, even the ones you pay for, you can't ask the instructor a simple concept you may have not grasped which ties into next concept so you are kind of in a jam. My advice when that happens is use this forum as often as you need to. There have been so many times I posted a question because I was stuck and within 5 minutes, I had the answer. People are extremely helpful
6.) Continuing on item 5, I hired an Ableton Certified Instructor for online Skype lessons with screen sharing technology so he could see everything I was doing and it was as close as sitting in a live class room as possible. I have paid Vespers from WarpAcadamy $250 for a 2-hour lesson which is his minimum. That was way too much money and God was looking out for me because I found another Ableton Certified Instructor who charges 1/3 of that price and I have been studying with him every week for months. He is not only one of the sharpest people I have ever met, but is also one of the nicest, humble & caring people you want to meet. I still remember after two weeks I was launching clips and scenes using Push. That was a big deal for me. I know use Push 2 and we have lessons where I may never even touch the mouse because I became proficient with Push 2.
My mentor's name is Jimmy Allison and he runs the Ableton user's group in Austin TX. http://www.AustinAbletonTutor.com. I kid you not. Had I known how quickly I would have learned Ableton, I would have started with lessons from week one with Jimmy and augment them with free videos or the pay sites I suggested. I now can put on any video and follow along only because of Jimmy. If you call him, tell him BobbyD from NYC sent you. He will take care of you. I do not make a penny or get a free lesson by doing this. I want to see a newbie thrive and also help Jimmy make a living as he is a full time musician, bass player, Ableton Certified Trainer, Controller guru, and knows outboard analog and CV as well as digital & MIDI.
7.) Finally, and 99% of people will never do this because they think it's too expensive or are not geographically located to go to an actual school. I was supposed to start Dubspot in NYC in July but had to change date to October 23rd. It's a 6 month program with 130 hands on hours. I am doing this for 3 reasons:
1.) CEO gave me a scholarship when he heard about my injuries
2.) I want the ability to meet other key players in NYC into EDM scene. I do not know a single person and the networking alone seems priceless.
3.) I need someone to hold me accountable for doing weekly home work. . Even with Jimmy, it was easy to not complete a hw assignment. When you are with 10 other students, trust me, you will turn in your assignments.
8.) Realize you will be a student for life and never fully master this DAW because Ableton is always rolling out new functionality.
9. Most important advice I can ever give anyone. Enjoy the journey as this really is no destination. Even if you make it on stage and play festivals for 300,000 people, that is still part of your destination so enjoy the entire process.
10.) One last thing that a senior Ableton user told me a year ago and it was such an accurate statement. He said to me something along these "in a way I wish I was a beginner again even though I would never want to go through learning curve. When I was a beginner, everyday I had those "aha" moments which I miss. I have an "aha" moment everyday I use Ableton which is a phenomena occurs that I believe every member experiences To me, it feels like every time I learn something new, my knowledge starts to exponentially increase meaning I went from one "aha" every week to sometimes multiple "ahas" in a single hour. I hope the "aha" is a good analogy to use.
11.) Last suggestion and learn from my mistakes. You do NOT need new software, hardware, etc thinking you will miraculously improve. If anything, it back fired because I got depressed spending money on items when I couldn't even edit a MIDI track. Spend the majority of whatever budget you may have on education if you want to fast track or watch videos at your leisure. You will learn either way. JUST DO NOT QUIT!!!!~
12. Forgot one important point that may be contested by users on forum which is to LEARN MUSIC THEORY!!! Just basic tgheory like how a chord is made up of 1 3 5. I took a music theory class in college back in 1980, and that changed my life. There are plenty of free videos designed to teach music theory for EDM producers on YT.
Stay Healthy & Happy
Best of luck on your journey
BobbyD-NYC