learning ableton

For beginners and established artists alike, no one is immune to creative block. It can come at the worst possible time, and often does, making the artist feel at best frustrated, at worst ready to give up completely. But creative block isn’t the end of the road – there are plenty of tried-and-tested techniques to get over the hump, or to stay productive, even if the musical ideas aren’t flowing. We’ve gathered together 10 ways to overcome creative block so get reading and get inspired!

If you find yourself getting stuck when producing, our diploma courses can help your music-making flow. Covering composition, mixing, sound design and even mastering, they’re our most comprehensive courses and can can be taken in Logic or Ableton on our online school. We’ve had students like Claude Von Stroke, Plastician and Jon Rundell take online courses with us so you’ll be in good company. Find out more here.

Templates are handy for getting off the ground, but don’t rely on them too heavily or things can get predictable

Break the Routine

Routines are rarely fun and even more rarely are they creatively stimulating. We tend to get into particular production patterns quite quickly after we master a particular DAW or plug-in, reaching for settings which have worked well in the past. The problem is that this relies on what we already know rather than looking for something new and adventurous. Habits include loading up production templates, reaching for the same kick drum sample to begin work or simply loading preset after preset. Familiarity might work for a while but, sooner or later, you’ll become weary of a tried-and-tested formula and creative block may well follow. Break those patterns and take a journey into the unknown. Great things await.

Take the Pressure Off

If you make music with a computer, you’re in the business of ‘music technology’. The process of creativity is usually focused on the ‘music’ side, organising notes, chords, patterns, instruments and so on. Sometimes, this focus is to the detriment of our use of technology; in a hurry to get a great idea into our computers, we fire up a preset or a previous project and then become wedded to it, meaning this new track sounds a lot like the last one.

When you’re next experiencing ‘creative block’, see it as an opportunity to take the pressure off ‘music’ and use the time to learn some new ‘technology’. Spend a couple of hours properly learning how your new plug-in works. Or brush up on parallel processing. Or set up an experiment, sending a single note into cascading auxiliary delays to form a soundscape. You’ll learn something new and, you never know, that new knowledge might just trigger a great musical idea of its own.

Stop Making Music!

Sometimes, the worst thing you can do when ideas stop flowing is to try to force them. Just as you wouldn’t head back the gym for a hard work out if you’d pulled a muscle, so forcing yourself to try to write something worthwhile may well not achieve the desired effect. Sometimes the best way to come up with new ideas is to remove yourself completely from your studio, switch off your phone, put down your iPad and head out for a walk, open a good book, or do something else completely different from music-making. Distracting your mind can work as an incredible ‘reboot’.

Getting outside the box and recording some percussion or handclaps can help keep your track organic

Hit Something With Your Hands

It’s really unlikely you fell in love with making music by sitting in front of a computer. That might be what you spend most of your time doing now but, when you were a child, you hit things to hear what sound they made and that physical connection is so important, as it brings the fun back into music-making. Try building a track from manufacturing DIY drums formed of plastic and wooden boxes, hitting table-tops or banging on pans.

Chop these up, isolate hits, even sample them if you want to but most of all, let out some ‘creative block frustration’ by giving those instruments a good bash. That will provide therapy in its own right and, you never know, you might even build a better beat in the long-term by mixing your recorded hits with some samples.

Creative Block vs Laziness

Creative block affects us all – sooner or later, we all find ourselves unable to produce anything we’re happy with. But every once in a while, it’s not block which stops us, it’s laziness, so here comes the tough-love part. If you’re striving to make something good, something with an original musical idea and careful production choices, making music is never likely to be easy. The thought processes in every production decision require concentration and dedication and, for some people, that just seems a lot too much like hard work and ‘creative block’ sounds better as an excuse than ‘can’t be bothered’. Soldier on, work hard and the rewards will come.

Embrace Random

So, you’ve reached an impasse. Perhaps you have the germ of an idea but you don’t know how to nurture or develop it. What you really want is something to kick-start the process, ideally taking your idea off in a direction you might not have considered, to get the creative juices flowing once more. But if you’re out of ideas, how on earth are you going to develop new ones, particular ones out of left-field. Brian Eno’s ‘Oblique Strategies’ are one example of how ‘random’ advice can sometimes help. They’re effectively a series of playing cards from which one can be chosen randomly whenever you’re stuck.

‘Retrace your steps’, ‘make an exhaustive list of everything you might do and do the last thing on the list’ and ‘don’t be frightened of clichés’ are but three of a large collection. Select one at random and force yourself to do whatever it says. You may well end up somewhere unexpected and that, in itself, might overcome your creative speed-bump. You can always add to Eno’s cards with ones of your own. There’s an online version here if you can’t find the original set.

Getting into the habit of finishing tracks, even if you’re not fully happy with them, will pay dividends when a great idea strikes

Learn to Finish Tracks

While the roots of creative block often feel as though they begin with ‘I don’t know where to start’, subconsciously, they’re as likely to be caused by ‘I don’t know how to finish’. As our minds seek out patterns in all that we do, not finishing tracks becomes ‘a behaviour’ which our brains come to encourage every time we don’t bring ourselves to complete a task. As a result, starting something is easy and well-known, whereas developing it and bringing it to a conclusion is foreign and difficult.

So, pick one of your unfinished ideas and wrap it up. Even if you don’t like the result, you’ll learn something about how ideas can be developed as tracks progress, which will stand you in better stead for next time.

Listen More and Broaden Your Tastes

Nothing inspires creativity quite like listening to other music, as the world is awash with great ideas which should help get the juices flowing. However, if you limit your listening tastes only to the genres of music you produce yourself, you’re unlikely to escape writer’s block. You can see the pattern easily; by listening only to ‘finished’ tracks by artists working in your genre, returning to your computer to a track in progress will always seem like a confidence-sapping anticlimax. However, if you can broaden your musical listening choices, the pressure is taken off.

Listen to a film soundtrack, or some pop, or some reggae, or anything else completely beyond your usual selections. You might find a great chord move you want to try out in your own track, or a particular bass hook you haven’t tried before or even stumble upon a creative sample to act as the foundation for your next track.

Collaboration can help break creative block

Collaborate!

Bored of your own ideas? Then share some and obtain others by collaborating. The most obvious collaborations come in the form of finding a friend or fellow producer and knocking musical ideas together. But – potentially even more interestingly – why not find a film-maker and agree to write them a soundtrack, or find a photographer who needs a few textural tracks for their end of year show. Recognising the needs of a different artistic media can often bring new creative ideas to bear on your own tracks.

Change the Context

Sitting there at your computer, frustrated that the ideas won’t flow? Then why haven’t you moved?! If the last play through of your track confirmed that you don’t know what to do next, take the track somewhere else. Bounce it out as a stereo file (no matter how much you currently can’t stand it), put it on CD and take it for a drive, or put it on your phone and go for a walk with your headphones.

Rich @LearnAbleton Provides excellent one-to-one & bespoke tuition. Reasonably priced. Midlands. UK. See link below...

Max for Live

OSCiLLOT

by Max for Cats

With over 100 freely patchable modules and dozens of pre-patched synths and effects, OSCiLLOT brings the near-infinite creative possibilities of modular synthesis to Ableton Live.

In-depth

OSCiLLOT is a complete modular system for Ableton Live. The more than 100 modules – including oscillators, processors, filters, mixers, modulators, amplifiers, shapers, sequencers, utilities and more – comprise the basic building blocks of many electronic instruments and effects. The good thing about working with a modular system is that it requires no programming knowledge to make your own patches; simply connect any output of any module to an input of any other module with a patchcord and you’re on your way. And while each module has a fairly narrow range of functions, patching together even just a few modules can quickly give rise to complex give rise to complex sounds.

DIY fun

With OSCiLLOT, there is practically no limit to the type of instrument, sound or effect device you can make once you start connecting modules. To name just a few of the possibilities, you can patch together your own FM, additive, and subtractive synthesizers, resonators, filters, envelopes, convolution reverbs, mixers, frequency shifters, sequencers, drum machines, logic modules, compressors, and waveshapers. Working with a modular system is always an experiment to some degree, and happy accidents are part of what make modular synthesis fun. So with a little bit of trial and error you’ll be coming up with sounds you’ve never heard before.

Learning by doing

If you’re not familiar with some of the concepts or methods of modular synthesis, OSCiLLOT makes it easy to acquaint yourself with them. Start by loading one of OSCiLLOT’s instrument presets and hit the ‘Open Editor’ button. In the Editor window you’ll see all the modules used in this particular preset and the connections between them. Activating the ‘Info’ button and clicking on any of the modules will bring up a detailed description of that module’s function, features and the types of signals it can send and receive.

Polyphony and more

While the CV/gate/trigger-based modular hardware systems are usually monophonic, OSCiLLOT features up to six voices of polyphony. OSCiLLOT lets you choose between straight or curved patchcords or even hide them completely when they are in the way (try that with hardware). In addition, you can zoom in and out in the Editor window, add annotations and labels, and of course, save your patches.

As mentioned, no programming knowledge is needed to patch together the modules, but since OSCiLLOT is a Max for Live device, Max/MSP enthusiasts can make and modify their own modules – an SDK is available here. Of course, Max for Cats are also planning further modules, be sure to keep in touch with maxforcats.com for the latest developments. And if you already own a modular system or other CV/gate-enabled instruments, OSCiLLOT can interact with your hardware – provided you have a DC coupled audio interface.

A brief history of modular synthesis

Modular synthesis has its roots in the experimental music departments and electroacoustic laboratories of the 1950s and 60s when composers and engineers first began interconnecting the oscillators, amplifiers, filters and other components they were using to realize their new electronic music compositions. Then, beginning in the mid-1960s, a few enterprising companies including Moog, Buchla and ARP began to make individual modules and entire systems available commercially. These systems were further refined through the 1970s but as analog gave way to digital in the 1980s, development in the field of modular synthesizers all but stopped completely.

With a shared discography noting releases on labels including Ninja Tune, Planet-Mu, Hotflush, and Monkeytown, Machinedrum and Lando aka Travis Stewart and Antaeus Roy can each prove a solid pedigree in forward-thinking electronic music. When the two long-term friends hit the studio together for the first time, it seemed to us a perfect opportunity to get a glimpse into their collaborative process. In an effort to get behind the artistic resumés, we put together a video to shine a light on their musical trajectories, the refinement of their production styles, and their studio environments. Check it out below:

While Machinedrum had been using Push since it was in beta, Lando was new to the instrument. Coming from a studio full of vintage and boutique analog equipment, Push was a snug fit with Lando’s hands-on method of production. We got together with the two of them at Berlin’s UFO studios, for a revealing look at the collaborative production process between two passionately creative friends:

Make a Great Snare Drum Sound - Tutorial from Lenny Kiser

For beginners this is a very useful page on the Ableton website. It includes all you will ever need to get started in Ableton Live.

Building Macro Racks for DJ Sets in Ableton Live

So, you're performing live using Ableton? You're not using Racks? Really? Gary Hiebner has a treat for you with this tutorial on building Macro Racks when DJing in Ableton.

In the midst of a live performance, an Ableton project can easily become cluttered and confusing. Ableton’s Racks are a great way to take control of your performances and simplify this to allow for easier navigating of your Ableton projects. By building up Racks and assigning multiple parameters to Macros gives you more freedom in your performances, and allows you to get a better overview of what you are doing in a live venue where jumping between different plug-ins and windows may not be viable. Let's take a look at how to build some of these Racks, and assigning them to Macros.

Step 1 –  Building a DJ Rack

Let's first create a simple DJ Ableton setup. I have created two Audio Tracks and have named them Deck A and Deck B. Deck A is set to the Crossfade Assign A, and Deck B set to the Crossfade Assign B. Now I can use my crossfader to switch between the two different decks.

On the Master Track, add an Audio Effect Rack (which can be found under Live Devices > Audio Effects > Audio Effect Rack). Click the Show Macros button to show the Macros. I am going to assign specific effect parameters to these macros. 

I have renamed my Audio Effect Rack to RACK FX. Drag the following effects into the ‘Drop Audio Effects Here’ area: Redux (for some bitcrushing); EQ Eight (for some low cut and filtering); Phasor; Reverb; and Beat Repeat (for some randomization).

Step 2 – Mapping Parameters to Macros

Now let's add some of the parameters of the effects to the macros for easier control over the effects. Let's first work with the Redux plug-in. Set the Downsample to Soft so the downsampling is not so drastic on the sound source. Click on Map Mode on the Audio Effect Rack. I want to map the Downsample knob to the Macro 1. Click on the Downsample button and then click on Macro 1 to map it to this Macro. You can also rename the macros so they make sense to you. I have renamed mine to Bit Crush. 

On the Phasor I have tuned in a setting I like. I then map the Dry/Wet control to another Macro. And with the Reverb I have also mapped the Dry/Wet control to a Macro.

This will allow me to add different amounts of Bitcrushing, Phasor and Reverb in my performance at will.

Step 3 – Multiple Parameters Mapped to Macro

The beauty of macros is that you can also set the range of how much the macro will control the effect. You can also control more than one effect at a time with a single Macro. This can all be done in the Map Mode view under the Macro Mappings.

Let's work with the EQ Eight. I want to map the Low Cut to a macro so that I can use it to sweep out the low frequencies, which is really nice for breakdown sections in live performances. I also want to increase the Q (Resonance) as the Low Cut sweeps up the frequency range. This will involve altering both the Frequency and Q. Let me show you how you can map both of these controls to a Macro. Click on Map Mode. Choose the Freq under band 1 (which is the low cut band on the EQ Eight) then click on a Macro, now click on the Q and click on the same Macro. Now both of these controls are mapped to the same Macro. I have renamed the Macro to Low Cut. But I am not too happy with how these two controls work together when I tweak this macro. This can be fixed by altering the Min and Max values of the Freq and Q in the Macro Mappings section. I have dialed in a Min of 72 Hz and Max of 4 kHz on the Freq, and a Min of 0.82 and Max of 2.90 on the Resonance. Now these two work together nicely with a subtle bump in the Q as the Freq rises.

The bypass button can also be mapped to a macro, which can come in quite handy. On the Beat Repeat effect I have mapped the Chance and Bypass button to a Macro. This way the Beat Repeat is in bypass mode until I use the Macro, then the effect is enabled. Beat Repeat is a nice effect to use in live performances as it adds the element of chance and randomization to your performances, which can keep them fresh and new sounding.

Step 4 –  Building Racks within Racks

Another thing you can do is nest Racks within Racks. I want to make use of this with delay effects. Drag the Ping Pong Delay into the RACK FX Audio Rack. Right-click on the Ping Pong Delay and choose Group. 

This will create a rack nested within the other rack. Show the Macro and Chain List. On the Chain List create two new chains (to do this simply right-click on an area under the first chain and choose Create Chain). On the first chain drag onto it a Simple Delay and on the second chain a Chorus effect. I have adjusted the effects and altered the volumes and pan of each chain. Each effect will act as a delay with differing delay times.

Now to map this back to a Macro on the Rack FX. First click on the Map Mode on the Delay Rack. Map the Dry/Wet of the Ping Pong Delay, Simple Delay and Chorus to Macro 1 on the Delay Rack.

Then go to the main Audio Rack (RACK FX), click on Map Mode. Click on the Macro 1 on the Delay Rack, and then click on a Macro on the Rack FX. Now you have mapped a nested Rack to a Macro. Crazy hey!

Conclusion