Remix in Ableton Live
Remixing in Ableton Live can be easy, fun, and rewarding, but not necessarily all at once. In this article you will be taught how to create remixes live and on the fly in Ableton live.
Please note: In this article it is assumed that you've read all the lessons and know how to use Ableton pretty well. If you have not, then it's recommended to read all the included lessons and practicing different techniques before you get started.
Steps
- Open up Ableton Live.
- Import the song you want to remix.
- From here, there are two approaches.
- You can either take some set up time and create duplicate clips of the song, and then use the track start and end selectors to crop the part you want.
- You can just start playing the track and loop it by clicking above the timeline.
- This article will only explain you about the second method.
- So, now you've got your clip (or clips if you're doing a set) loaded. Double click on the one you're planning on remixing to open it (you'll have learned about this if you did the lesson on envelopes).
- See that region above the waveform? Move your mouse around up there until it turns into a speaker. Click on it and the song will start playing from the point. Now, take a moment, and experiment with cutting right into a track, which could prove useful during a set.
- Okay, so now you've got that down. Now let's actually start remixing.
- Click the play button on the clip and start watching the waveform. Listen for parts where the song may loop, then quickly put your cursor in that region where your cursor is a speaker, and then click where you want to loop. If you've done it right, the section will loop. If you can't seem to do it, keep practicing!
- Now that you've learned the looping process, experiment! Try jumping back and forth between two different parts of a song, looping vocals, or shortening a song by cutting a region with the same or similar notes and the beginning and end. Once you start playing with the song, you'll quickly find many creative techniques.
Tips
- Don't be afraid to experiment! Figure out creative techniques that you can use, and then use them! As Daft Punk says: There are no rules.
- You may want to adjust the quantization of your track to allow for more precise looping. For example, if you want to loop very small sections (e.g. a single drum beat), you may want to adjust the quantization until you can loop just that beat.
Warnings
- Be careful about distributing remixes you make, because the artists or record companies that own the song might not appreciate you distributing their music freely. (A good place to find music that you can remix and distribute freely is http://ccmixter.org)
Things You'll Need
- Ableton Live (you can get a free demo at http://www.ableton.com)
- A song to remix.
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