First Impressions of Live
Week 2 of documenting my journey, what I like and dislike about Live
Hi friends! Welcome back to my newsletter, where I’m documenting my journey into the wild and wonderful world of making music on a laptop.
This was me, this week, getting to grips with the software, banging my head on the table… (figuratively speaking):
Learning this program feels like standing at the base of a massive mountain, looking up at the challenge ahead. I’m just at the beginning, and I know the path will be long and not without setbacks, but I’m confident that the effort will pay off in the end.
First Impressions of Live
I love the design of Live, but it still feels a bit unintuitive—probably because I'm so used to doing things a certain way in Logic Pro. For example, the absence of a playhead (that vertical line indicating where you are in the arrangement) has been a big adjustment for me. In Logic, the playhead is like the program's main character. You can move it around freely and even use it to split regions. In Live, there’s a blinking turquoise cursor and a separate black vertical bar for playback, which doesn’t feel as fluid to me. Also when you press the Space bar, the project starts playing from the start…
The interface is just one aspect I’m getting used to. I still find myself searching for where things are, and I’m not yet familiar with most of the key commands. But I know these quirks will start to fade as I spend more time with the program.
What I’ve Covered So Far
This week, I worked through Ableton's built-in lessons and read the “Live Concepts”chapter of the reference manual. My friend Julian also sent me a helpful, introductory 30-minute tutorial, which breaks down the differences between Session View and Arrangement View and how they relate.
Staring at the Control Bar
I spent a lot of time this week staring at the Control Bar (the topmost bar running left to right) to figure out what each button does. Some are self-explanatory, but others were a bit confusing. Here’s a rundown of a few that sent me right to the reference manual:
Phase Nudge Up/Down: Temporarily changes the tempo, similar to nudging a turntable to sync two tracks. Not sure when I’ll need this yet, but it's an interesting feature.
MIDI Arrangement Overdub: Lets you choose whether new MIDI data will overwrite or layer on top of existing data during recording. Seems oddly specific, but I’m sure it has its use!
Automation Arm: Determines whether parameter changes during recording are captured as automation.
Re-Enable Automation: No clue what this one does yet! More research needed.
Capture MIDI: A lifesaver when you’ve been noodling on your MIDI keyboard. Just make sure the track is armed, or the button will stay greyed out.
Session Record Button: Works similarly to the Arrangement Record button but is specific to recording material into Session clips.
Key Map: you can map specific areas of the screen onto your computer keyboard
Leveraging AI to Learn Ableton
LLMs like ChatGPT have been a game-changer for learning new software. It’s free and quickly answers questions, which is invaluable when you’re stuck on something. I’m excited to see how it integrates with macOS Sonoma (coming out today!). I envision using ChatGPT not just for troubleshooting and explaining complex functions, but also for creative prompts. More on that in a future newsletter...
My Favorite Shortcuts (So Far)
I’m all about key commands—they make using software so much faster! Here are the ones I’ve added to my workflow this week:
+ / -: Zoom in and out of Arrangement view. Essential!
Cmd + Trackpad Up/Down: Another quick way to zoom.
Shift + Tab: Toggle between Device and Clip Views.
Cmd + L: Toggle loop on/off for the selected clip.
Opt + Cmd + [number]: Show/hide various windows. Especially useful when on a laptop, where screen real estate is scarce…
What’s Next
For the next three weeks, I’m planning to explore these areas in depth:
Live’s Browser: Investigating the instruments and effects in Live and identifying my favorites.
Live’s Mixer & Routing: Understanding audio routing, Sends, Return Tracks, and more.
Clip View: Exploring how to edit audio vs. MIDI clips.
To tackle these topics, I’ll dive into some of Ableton's video tutorials and revisit the reference manual. With macOS Sonoma's release, I’ll also test out ChatGPT's integration and compare it to Apple's new native LLM.
How About You?
How did you figure out how to use Live? Or, if you’re just starting out, how are you approaching it? Found any helpful tutorials or resources? Let’s discuss in the comments below!
go Henry go! Keybinding king