Ableton Live's Session view is an excellent playground for generating ideas. The Arrangement area is a great place to arrange, edit, and finish your tracks. Here's how to turn your ideas into tracks.  

Organize to Hypnotize

Nothing but loops.
Tracks named.
Categorized for easy usage, with Clips also named.

Drum Versions

Master Drum clip.
PRO-TIP: While I write my kick drum pattern via the Drum Rack, I’ve got the Kick’s Drum Rack Pad muted, with the output routed to a separate audio track—this way the kicks are always processed separately from the rest of the drums when it comes time to mix.
Starting drum clip, with just kick, claps, closed hat, and shaker.
Drum clip versions laid out and named in the leftmost visible track.

Estimation Station

Assigning MIDI in MIDI Map Mode.
Setting the Global Launch Quantization.
PRO-TIP: Right- or CTRL-click the Global Record button to toggle the “Start Playback With Record” preference, to avoid triggering all your clips, ready or not, immediately when you arm Global Recording.

Record Your Performance

Ready for action.
Rough Arrangement, recorded in.

Noah Pred is a Canadian record producer, sound designer, technologist, DJ, and Ableton Certified Trainer living in Berlin, Germany. Releasing dozens of records and touring extensively since the '90s, he currently teaches a wide variety of techniques for stage and studio at the BIMM Institute. For more information, please visit: http://... Read More

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