Blog - LiveKeyboardist

04Dec 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Abletons Browser: Preset, or Default?

1UsingAbleton, Blog, Program Features, Transition Essentials

I recently had a friend in town who makes great music in Logic but has never touched Ableton before. As he was working on Ableton with me, one of the first questions he asked was, "Are there preset options?" And hence, this post. https://youtu.be/N69sUcHk348 Ableton's Browser Ableton's browser is organized by folders and is located on the left-hand side of your user interface. I think the browser actually makes it very easy to find things once you understand how it works. To the very top left is the show/hide browser triangle that lets you hide the browser when you don't need to see it. Just below that is your list of categories. I like to think of this section in plain English as things that can be added to your set by…

01Dec 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Creating Curved Automation In Ableton Live

1UsingAbleton, Blog, Live Playback, Program Features, Recording

Curved automation lines are a great way to add a more human-like feel to your automation envelopes. It can also help to create feelings of great anticipation by not only gradually changing a parameter but also gradually changing the speed of change. What is Automation? In the context of DAW software, automation is when a particular parameter is changed over the course of the song timeline. Automation is actually one of the reasons that I ended up switching to Ableton for my live performance use. I was able to create a bank of effects using automation that lined up with my timeline. This included things like filter movement, patch changing, reverb and delay amounts, distortion and panning. Ableton also allows you to unlink automation from notes or audio in a given…

27Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Transpose Audio, Preserve Tempo

1Sound Design, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Live Playback, Program Features, Recording

Manipulating audio in Ableton is absolutely the best. It makes changing speed, pitch, warping and slicing totally painless. Today our focus is going to on how to transpose audio in Ableton while preserving the speed. This, like most audio manipulating functions in Ableton, es exceptionally simple. The resulting audio also maintains very high quality. In most cases, it's difficult to tell the audio has been transposed to begin with. Unless of course, you want to make it sound totally processed, Ableton does that well too. But that's for another time. https://youtu.be/HBvc_qapmdg Transposing Audio Clips Once audio is brought into Ableton, It is ready to be transposed. All of the transposition controls can be found in the sample editor dialogue box in the clip view at the bottom of your screen. There…

24Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Simple Guide To Installing VST’s for Ableton

1Sound Design, 1UsingAbleton, Blog

In all ways, I am a major fan of Ableton's built-in sound shaping tools. I actually think their collection of Synth's, and audio effects are basically complete. Often times, not enough credit is given to how great they are... This may be an intro for a different blog post. Chances are, you have decided at some point to welcome some third-party plug-ins into your Ableton arsenal. Many of these, particularly the ones you purchase, come with installers. So as soon as you open them up, they automatically go to the right place and you are ready to roll as soon as you restart Ableton. This article is not about that either. Today we are dealing with 3rd Party VST's that are sort of rogue and off the beaten path. I'm talking about the…

20Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Use Ableton Like Mainstage

1Switching From Mainstage To Ableton, Blog, Featured, Transition Essentials

I need to start out by saying, Ableton is not MainStage. It does, however, have the ability to do all of the same things, and way more. MainStage is created to play patches. Ableton is created partially to play patches, and partially as a program for music production. You can think of Ableton as Logic Pro, but with integrated features that allow for playing and switching patches in real-time. I'm going to walk you through how to get Ableton Set up like mainstage here, but if you're ready for a deep dive into all the ways you can use Mainstage just like Ableton, Click here and buy a copy of my complete transition course The Six Stages Of A Patch List Phase One: Get Familiar with the song Pay special…

17Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Preset spotlight: Light Keys

1Sound Design, Blog, Presets and Sounds, Recording

I have found in my talking with people about Ableton that there are a lot of people who hate on Ableton's preset sounds, and even on their built-in synths and instruments. It's my personal opinion that the somewhat lack-luster looks of many of its synths contribute to some users gripes with their sounds. I will concede that there are other DAW's that have some shinier out of the box sounds, but I can offer an immediate explanation for this. Ableton is modular in nature. Sounds and effects are meant to be layered, stacked, and used in combination to create awesome things. So for where certain routing abilities are in lack or effects missing within the synth itself, there are innumerable possibilities for sound and effect layering that quickly make up for…

13Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Lowpass Filter: Essential Audio Effects For Keyboard Players

1Sound Design, Blog, Essential Audio Effects For Keyboard Players, Featured, Live Playback

A filter can do a lot to sound. You can think about it much like an EQ. As a matter of fact, an EQ is capable of many of the sound shaping functions that the auto filter is capable of. So what is the main difference? I like to think of an EQ as a way to mold a sound that you like to fit in with the other sounds that are happening. It is designed to be more of a mixing tool than an audio effect. I like to think of a filter as a way to drastically change the sound for artistic effect. It has more to do with what a specific sound will be sound like, than how it fits with the rest of the track. The…

10Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Warping Audio In Ableton

1Sound Design, 1UsingAbleton, Blog, Live Playback, Recording

Warping audio is the process of lining up imported music or samples with Ableton's grid. I most commonly use this when I am trying to learn a solo by ear. Being able to speed something up and slow it down along with a click is a very helpful tool for me. How It's Done With Warp mode enabled, Ableton looks at audio and tried to use the transients to guess where beats may line up. You are then able to go in and using transient markers, or by dragging the suggested markers, you are able to line up the audio with Ableton's grid. It is important to note that double-clicking a transient will create a marker. So if you are 100% sure that a particular part of the wave belongs…

06Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Reverb: Essential Audio Effects For Keyboard Players

1Sound Design, Blog, Essential Audio Effects For Keyboard Players, Live Playback, Presets and Sounds

Before most music hits our ears, it passes through some sort of a computer program: Protools, Logic, Cubase, Studio One, Ableton, and any of the others I might be missing. Very rarely is anything getting onto our most popular streaming services without being molded in some way by a computer. Even more than that, many of the sounds that we hear in music is created from a digital instrument: Whether it be sampled based, or a synthesizer. So it seems to logically follow that if you are playing a cover gig, you probably aren't going to make it through the whole night without having at least some handle on how to make computerized sounds. That is what this series is about. What we as keyboard players NEED to know to be…

03Nov 2018 by Brett Pontecorvo

Loop, Punch In, and Punch Out: What You Need To Know

1UsingAbleton, Blog, Program Features, Recording

Looping is an essential feature of any DAW. When you are mixing, you may want to hear a section repeated. When you are trying to create and layer ideas, you may want to hear a section repeated. One of the nice things about working in arrangement view is how closely tied the looping and the punch in and punch out functions are. Enough chatter, let's get on to the looping https://youtu.be/I0u2tEq2oi0 How to Loop In Arrangement View The area in the timeline that will loop is defined by the looping brackets at the top of the screen, in conjunction with whether or not the looper is activated. To quickly move the loop brackets, select an area of the timeline using your mouse and press Command-L You will notice the brackets…

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