When making music in session view, there will be times the grid works to your advantage, and times that you need to work around the grid. Adjusting start, stop, and loop points allow you to create passages of music in a single clip that feel organic.
Some Context…
I have played an insane amount of musicals. For most of my life, I was always musical directing and conducting. Something that often happens in theatre is a vamp.
Its a repeated bar or passage of music that happens over and over until some sort of stage action, or a line, tells you to move on.
I like to think about start, stop, and loop markers like a vamp.
Ableton allows you to start a clip from the beginning, but start your loop anywhere you would like. so for example, I could start my song at the beginning of a clip, play all the way to the end, and then repeat the last four bars until I cue Ableton to move on.
Another example of when you may use this is if you have created an 8 bar drum loop. The last two beats are a fill.
Using your start marker, you could set the clip up to start on beat three of bar 8, and then return to the beginning and loop the entire song.
It’s pretty useful. So here is how you do it.
Setting Your Loop, Start, And Stop Markers
Looping can be toggled on and off in the notes tab.
Loop markers are connected by a thick line reflecting the color of your clip. Start and stop markers are arrows on opposite ends of the clip, pointing inwards that are not connected.
You can manually adjust the looping area by dragging the loop brackets manually or enter values into the loop position and length boxes on the note tab.
Pro Tip: If you are using a start marker to start a clip in the middle of a bar, make sure your launch quantization reflects where you need to clip to start. For example, if your clip should start on beat three, your launch quantization should be set to the half note. If it starts on beat 4, the quarter note. And so on.
Alright, now get out there and make something you are proud of! Every day you do, you become better at creating, and grow closer to achieving the sounds that you want to hear.
Make sure you connect with me personally, as well as a whole community of Ableton Learners on my facebook group. It’s a great place to give and receive support, and the easiest way to get in touch with me directly.
Until next time, happy creating.
-Brett