Ableton Live 12

  On 11/23/2024 at 5:36 PM, d-a-m-o said:

Maybe a dumb question but how do you go from "a bunch of clips in session view" to "organising a track in arrangement view" ? I mean what is the most logical way to do it ? I really need to sit down and RTFM but my music production time is limited so of course I'm trying to learn by practicing...  

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No not dumb.. Im not good with this shit either but I get better at it day by day. 

Create a MIDI-track.. Drag the DrumRack to it.. then make your custom Drum Rack o and fill it with alot of drum-samples u like.. Just simply drag the samples to every empty slot. 

Now duplicate that drum channel alot and then just name the different channels "Hi hats" "Kick drums" etc 
And now create new slots in the arranger views for each instruments.. Start with kicks and then hi-hat. 
U see every time you have the marker in a certain place in Clip view then u will see where it is on the Arranger view so u know where the claps and snares will fit in etc.. 

Then u can start making a beat on a 4-bar, copy that slot and make it different the next.. Then you adding more instruments, stack up some cool effects etc.... Pretty easy when u get arround it. 

But much could have been better, but it is working

  On 11/23/2024 at 5:36 PM, d-a-m-o said:

Maybe a dumb question but how do you go from "a bunch of clips in session view" to "organising a track in arrangement view" ? I mean what is the most logical way to do it ? I really need to sit down and RTFM but my music production time is limited so of course I'm trying to learn by practicing...  

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the most boring & straightforward way is to copy the clips from session view then paste them into the arrangement view, and cut/extend/edit in arrangement to form a song. 

a little more interesting is performing in session view while doing the correct recording function that records all the clips as played/performed into the arrangement view. this is essentially a live capture of all launching, stopping, and adjustments played 'live' in session view. this is sort of how Ableton 'wants' you to use the arrangement view...tho obviously not a requirement. 

An alternative technique is with learning that the 'Tab' keyboard button quickly alternates between session and arrangement view. If you click and hold the mouse button on a clip (in either view) then press tab (with the button mouse still held) you can then drag and drop a copy of that clip to the other view.

This works with both single and multiple selected clips (and in either direction i.e. session-to-arrangement or arrangement-to-session)

N.B. if you've any 'greyed out' tracks on the arrangement view it's because those tracks are active in the session view, to re-enable them click this button just to the right of the timeline:

  On 11/23/2024 at 6:15 PM, auxien said:

the most boring & straightforward way is to copy the clips from session view then paste them into the arrangement view, and cut/extend/edit in arrangement to form a song. 

 

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Ok so that's what I was I was doing, I need to try your second method !

I'm waiting with bated for capitalism day to come around in the hope of getting an upgrade from Standard to Suite for a better price.  I grabbed Standard early this year with a view to using it as glorified tape deck with easier editing, but I've been finding more and more useful things each week and I'm really missing some of the functions of Suite at this point, especially Max for Live.

  On 11/24/2024 at 7:32 AM, thejewk said:

I'm waiting with bated for capitalism day to come around in the hope of getting an upgrade from Standard to Suite for a better price.  I grabbed Standard early this year with a view to using it as glorified tape deck with easier editing, but I've been finding more and more useful things each week and I'm really missing some of the functions of Suite at this point, especially Max for Live.

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Check out Thomann, they're legit and usually have upgrades for considerably cheaper than direct from Ableton

I need to shoot a video about that. In the meantime, use and abuse this marvelous function as you test various Clip combos :

Then launch the scenes/clips on the go and record the resulting jam to arrangement. And edit it if needed.

  On 11/23/2024 at 7:50 PM, d-a-m-o said:

Ok so that's what I was I was doing, I need to try your second method !

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Do yourself a favor and don't do the copy/paste thingie, worst workflow you can imagine when it comes to creativity and fun. Jam the shit out of your session, using Push or launching clips/scene with the mouse/trackpad/keyboard & MIDI mapping/TouchAble-like app... and record to arrangement.

  On 11/24/2024 at 11:20 AM, Nil said:

Do yourself a favor and don't do the copy/paste thingie, worst workflow you can imagine when it comes to creativity and fun. Jam the shit out of your session, using Push or launching clips/scene with the mouse/trackpad/keyboard & MIDI mapping/TouchAble-like app... and record to arrangement.

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Yes that's what I want to do, but is it possible to record in midi and not in audio to arrangement ?

Of course !

It will record everything you do once you press the Recording to Arrangement button, no matter "how" you proceed. It'll record what you do in MIDI, audio, with your mouse, trackpad, Push, external app / MIDI controller, microphones, external instruments... absolutely everything. 

Then, once you've recorded either a (long) jam or several ones, you can edit, remix, refine, delete, reshuffle everything. Don't overlook these insanely powerful options in the Edition menu :

You can afterwards do MIDI overdubs, insert x bars of silence and either re-record in place a new arrangement segment (give the Punch-In / Punch-Out options in the Loop section a try then) or directly create new audio/MIDI Clips where needed. You can even send back the best bits done in Arrangement view into the Session Clip launcher and re-jam endlessly :

When teaching that specific topic (going from Session to Arrangement), I often advise to spend at least 80% of time in Session before eventually recording to Arrangement.

Session mode is where you get creative, where you test ideas and combine clips into scenes, where you validate happy accidents and organize chaos for further performance / jam recordings... that's where the music is.

The way I see Arrangement is roughly as a glorified 2-track tape machine that allows minimal edits. Otherwise I avoid it like plague

I never use Session View.. I only using Clip View. 

WTF is even the difference? 

 

  On 11/24/2024 at 3:31 PM, Nil said:

Of course !

It will record everything you do once you press the Recording to Arrangement button, no matter "how" you proceed. It'll record what you do in MIDI, audio, with your mouse, trackpad, Push, external app / MIDI controller, microphones, external instruments... absolutely everything. 

Then, once you've recorded either a (long) jam or several ones, you can edit, remix, refine, delete, reshuffle everything. Don't overlook these insanely powerful options in the Edition menu :

You can afterwards do MIDI overdubs, insert x bars of silence and either re-record in place a new arrangement segment (give the Punch-In / Punch-Out options in the Loop section a try then) or directly create new audio/MIDI Clips where needed. You can even send back the best bits done in Arrangement view into the Session Clip launcher and re-jam endlessly :

When teaching that specific topic (going from Session to Arrangement), I often advise to spend at least 80% of time in Session before eventually recording to Arrangement.

Session mode is where you get creative, where you test ideas and combine clips into scenes, where you validate happy accidents and organize chaos for further performance / jam recordings... that's where the music is.

The way I see Arrangement is roughly as a glorified 2-track tape machine that allows minimal edits. Otherwise I avoid it like plague

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spoken like a true experienced user/teacher!

i'll say that arrangement can be really powerful if you're into more meticulous/exacting types of writing, i spent a LOT of hours (days, weeks, months...) in arrangement on some of my earlier stuff. it can be very tedious, but for some types of music that can be the route to go.

back when i was watching more YT videos on producers producing in Ableton/etc i found it odd that some of them want to use arrangement exclusively, they basically or entirely just never touch the session view. i think for someone with a different type of brain approaching a song arrangement makes the most sense.

personally i'm a bit into both, but i think Nil's take is probably the best advice to start with for sure...session is made for jamming, testing, playing, just trying shit out.

  On 11/24/2024 at 3:36 PM, cern said:

I never use Session View.. I only using Clip View. 

WTF is even the difference? 

 

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Clip View is the name of the section at the bottom of the screen listing the properties of the current clip:

Session View is the actual name for what you probably refer to as Clip View

  On 11/24/2024 at 3:31 PM, Nil said:

Of course !

It will record everything you do once you press the Recording to Arrangement button, no matter "how" you proceed. It'll record what you do in MIDI, audio, with your mouse, trackpad, Push, external app / MIDI controller, microphones, external instruments... absolutely everything. 

Then, once you've recorded either a (long) jam or several ones, you can edit, remix, refine, delete, reshuffle everything. Don't overlook these insanely powerful options in the Edition menu :

You can afterwards do MIDI overdubs, insert x bars of silence and either re-record in place a new arrangement segment (give the Punch-In / Punch-Out options in the Loop section a try then) or directly create new audio/MIDI Clips where needed. You can even send back the best bits done in Arrangement view into the Session Clip launcher and re-jam endlessly :

When teaching that specific topic (going from Session to Arrangement), I often advise to spend at least 80% of time in Session before eventually recording to Arrangement.

Session mode is where you get creative, where you test ideas and combine clips into scenes, where you validate happy accidents and organize chaos for further performance / jam recordings... that's where the music is.

The way I see Arrangement is roughly as a glorified 2-track tape machine that allows minimal edits. Otherwise I avoid it like plague

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Thanks ! this is very helpful !

  On 11/24/2024 at 3:47 PM, auxien said:

spoken like a true experienced user/teacher!

i'll say that arrangement can be really powerful if you're into more meticulous/exacting types of writing, i spent a LOT of hours (days, weeks, months...) in arrangement on some of my earlier stuff. it can be very tedious, but for some types of music that can be the route to go.

back when i was watching more YT videos on producers producing in Ableton/etc i found it odd that some of them want to use arrangement exclusively, they basically or entirely just never touch the session view. i think for someone with a different type of brain approaching a song arrangement makes the most sense.

personally i'm a bit into both, but i think Nil's take is probably the best advice to start with for sure...session is made for jamming, testing, playing, just trying shit out.

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Yes I think arrangement view can be very important when doing specific stuff, adding lots of little details, things like that.

online ableton courses by seed to stage on sale black friday. two days left if interested

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Push2 still worth it?

  On 11/23/2024 at 5:36 PM, d-a-m-o said:

Maybe a dumb question but how do you go from "a bunch of clips in session view" to "organising a track in arrangement view" ? I mean what is the most logical way to do it ? I really need to sit down and RTFM but my music production time is limited so of course I'm trying to learn by practicing...  

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Not a dumb question, I think you can actually get stuck in session view looping clips endlessly without developing everything into a track quite easily.

The most logical way it's probably the more effective for you, so you might want to try out a few approaches to find out which one it is. What I have done in the past is hitting record and launch the clips, so it will get recorded in arrangement view in the sequence they were playing one after another. Another thing I did often was to click and hold on clips, press tab on the keyboard so it swaps to arrangement mode and arrange them there. What I do these days is to already start in arrangement view, maybe because I mainly work with samples and I prefer to consolidate things as soon as possible so I don't overdo and overthink. Good luck!

  On 12/1/2024 at 3:06 PM, Ginerpri said:

I prefer to consolidate things as soon as possible so I don't overdo and overthink.

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Does anyone else get 'consolidation anxiety' - I never freeze and/or flatten *anything* in my projects even at the end of a track's completion for 'fear' of not being able to return to the project to be able to [usually over] re-tweak the instruments and automation. Have no idea why, just can never commit to 'committing' !

The weird thing is that I know I should - trying to mix a track whilst the CPU is on fire and it's stuttering like crazy, tying projects to versions of plugins that I'll since have upgraded many times since so none of the parameters recall anyway ..... I've no idea why I don't, but I can't !

  On 12/2/2024 at 11:32 AM, mcbpete said:

Does anyone else get 'consolidation anxiety' - I never freeze and/or flatten *anything* in my projects even at the end of a track's completion for 'fear' of not being able to return to the project to be able to [usually over] re-tweak the instruments and automation.

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yeah, i think i froze a track once like 12 years ago? i can't handle that locking in of what in my mind should be a malleable thing. i've been lucky enough to just say 'okay, i'll upgrade my computer' if i'm running into issues with Ableton/etc. being slow or whatever, tho that's been rare as i'm almost never doing terribly intense projects. i don't fuck w/ VSTs and all that really.