Feeling lost with all the features in Ableton Live?
Wondering how to actually use every tool in Ableton Live to create music?
We’ve done the research for you. In this article, we are covering a comprehensive list of the best Ableton Live courses free and paid that you can learn from today, perfect for anyone interested in teaching music production or advancing their own skills.
Whether you’ve never opened Ableton Live or you’re looking to deepen your knowledge, there’s a course in this article for you. And the best part? We’ve got both free and paid Ableton Live courses, so you can choose what fits your budget and your learning style.
Let’s get right into these music production courses and level up your productions!
With Ableton Live 12 being released recently, it’s worth noting that the Ableton community is buzzing with courses for both this fresh release and its predecessor, Ableton Live 11.
Don’t worry, the jump between versions isn’t as huge as you might think so much of what you’ll learn for version 11 is still super relevant.
Here’s a curated list of top-notch Ableton Live courses available to help you become a better music producer.
We are completely confident that you’ll join the thousands of other students who love this course.
However, if for any reason you aren’t enjoying the course within 7 days of purchase we will offer you a full refund. Simple as that.
The first step of your journey is learning the interface and creating some great drum loops. In Module 1 we focus on your first steps with Ableton Live – understanding the layout, working with Impulse & Drum Racks and bending and mangling your beats with audio effects. We’re working exclusively with MIDI here, so every beat you create is truly your own.
- The Interface: Learn about how to navigate round Ableton Live including the browser, transport and mixer sections.
- Working in Session View: Building your ideas quickly and easily using Ableton Live’s killer feature.
- Creating a Beat: Start using Live’s powerful Impulse device to ditch the audio loops and create your beats from scratch.
- Core Percussion: Flesh out your kick drum with additional percussion.
- Creative Percussion: Time to get creative! Play around with other percussive parts to flesh out the groove.
- Drum Racks & Velocity: Learn how to use Live’s powerful drum racks with 808 and 909 sounds, plus much more.
- Working with Clips: Get taught how to manipulate Live’s clips to create interesting patterns.
- Working with Scenes: Arrange your project so you can perform it as a live jam into an arrangement!
- Extend your Loop: Learn how to flesh out your loop into an interesting and engaging drum pattern.
- Audio Effects: Learn how to use reverb and delays to improve your sounds.
- Modulation Effects: Give texture to your elements by using modulation effects to add movement to your layers.
- Filters & Spectrum: Here we focus on audio engineering principles to learn about filters and the audio spectrum.
- Saving & Preferences: Take a look around Live’s key preferences to get the most out of it, as well as how to save your project.
This module deals with sound design in all its glory. First of all you’ll learn a detailed approach to sound design with synthesisers, recreating classic acid TB-303 sounds, house pads, trance bass and lead sounds and much more.
Then we’ll look at warping, audio mangling and manipulation, how to work with drum loops and how to sample music to make edits to give you a well-rounded skillset for sound design inside Ableton Live.
- Introduction to Sound Design: Get an overview of what we’ll be covering in this module including audio manipulation and working with synths.
- Music Theory: Learn the core music theory that you need to know to be able to produce melodic music as well as dark techno.
- Drawing in Notes: Learn how to add an edit musical notes inside Live using the mouse, computer keyboard and MIDI controller.
- MIDI Controllers: Get the most out of your Ableton Live experience by using a MIDI controller.
- MIDI Mapping: Map up knobs and faders to get realtime performance control over your music production
- Synthesizer Basics: Learn about the fundamentals of synthesis such as oscillators, envelopes, filters and more!
- Ableton Drift: Get a detailed rundown of how to use this powerful synthesizer
- Classic Sounds: Recreate the legendary acid house sound of the TB-303 and loads more!
- Synthesizer Modulation: Utilize LFOs and other modulation techniques to give movement to your sounds.
- MIDI Effects: Learn how to use Ableton’s MIDI Effects such as Chord, Arpeggiator, Pitch, Velocity and more…
- Using Audio Loops: Bring in some pre-made loops to your project ready for mangling
- Sampling: Bring in samples and vocals of any tempo and use them! Learn how to warp loops, acapellas and full tracks
- Simpler: Learn how to sample sections of other people’s music on a keyboard using Simpler.
In this module we’ll see your track develop from a vibe into a complete track. We’ll look at the arrangement view inside Ableton Live, before investigating different techniques for arranging your track. Developing your workflow for music production is crucial to making music quickly, and by the end of the module you’ll have yours dialled. We'll look at:
- Introduction to Arrangement: Understand the arrangement view in Ableton Live and prepare to move to it.
- Track Structure: Learn about how dance music is structured to be effective in clubs and on the radio.
- Starting Your Arrangement: Find out how to begin moving your clips into a structure which keeps interest
- Additive & Subtractive Arrangement: Check out both ‘additive’ and ‘subtractive’ approaches to arrangement.
- MIDI Mapping: Map up knobs and faders to get realtime performance control over your music production
- Synthesizer Basics: Learn about the fundamentals of synthesis such as oscillators, envelopes, filters and more!
- Ableton Drift: Get a detailed rundown of how to use this powerful synthesizer
- Classic Sounds: Recreate the legendary acid house sound of the TB-303 and loads more!
- Synthesizer Modulation: Utilize LFOs and other modulation techniques to give movement to your sounds.
- Adding FX: Add FX to your track to build tension and create impact where it’s needed.
- Sends & Returns: Discover the power of Return Tracks in Ableton Live and how to use them effectively.
- Buildups & Breakdowns: Create energy, tension and huge impact in your tracks by getting the buildups and breakdowns just right!
In the last module of the course, we delve into the dark art of the mixdown. Learn from a tutor with over 20 years of experience in mixing down tracks as you explore key concepts, EQing, compression, setting your levels and so much more.
Give your tracks the mixdown they deserve before your share your music with friends, DJs and record labels.
Topics covered include:
- Introduction to Mixdowns: Learn about key concepts relating to the mixdown of your track, such as decibels, best interface settings and workflow
- EQ Three & EQ Eight: Delve into the powerful equalisation tools that are built into Ableton Live 10
- Making a ‘Self Reference’: How to use your own track as a reference for improving your mixdowns, this is an incredible technique!
- EQing Your Elements: We go through every track of the included project and EQ them individually, understanding key decisions along the way that lead to a professional mix.
- Levels & Panning: Sometimes all you need is to get the levels and panning correct, and here we look at techniques for perfecting your mix.
- Sidechain Compressors: Create the ducking effect and use sidechain compressors as a tool for making space in a mix.
- Compressors: The dark art of compression is often misunderstood by beginners to music production. Get a grasp of what Ableton Live has to offer.
- Advanced Compressors: Understand all about Threshold, Ratio, Attack & Release settings on a compressor to make sure you’re using them appropriately.
- Glue Compressor: Start using this amazing compressor which is modeled on the old drum bus compressors that were so famous in their day.
- Makeup Gain: Understand why not to use makeup gain on compressors.
- Reference Track Tips: It’s amazing what you can pick up by using reference tracks. Learn how to get the most out of them.
- Making a Premaster: We look at how to render off the perfect premaster to send to a mastering engineer or to use for a self-master.
- Making a Master: How to make a quick master to share with friends, DJs and record labels as a demo.
- Free Bonus Samples
- Baisc Wavez - Drums For Melodic House & Techno
- Basic Wavez - Deep Organic Percussion
- Basic Wavez - Dreams Vol. 4 Melodic House & Techno
- Production Music Live - Acoustic Melodic House Themes Vol. 5
- Production Music Live - Deep House Reflections
- Production Music Live - Dreams Vol. 2 - Melodic House & Techno
- Production Music Live - Organica Vol. 5
- Toolroom Academy Tony Romera
- Toolroom Mark Knight Vol. 1, 4-8 Trademark Series
- Toolroom Siege Vol. 2
- Toolroom Thomas Newson
- L.E.G.E.N.D. & DJ Bionicl - Sample Pack Vol. 1-3 (WAV)
- L.E.G.E.N.D. & DJ Bionicl - The Future (Remix-Pack) 174 BPM F
- L.E.G.E.N.D. & DJ Bionicl - Shave It (Remix-Pack) 174 BPM F
- Ilya Bov, L.E.G.E.N.D. & DJ Bionicl - HITMAN 2 (Remix-Pack) 102 BPM A
