Ableton Live
Use this software for music production, studio DJ mixers, or live DJ performances.
This page contains Ableton Live tutorials for DJ'ing. My tutorials will teach you how to make DJ mixes and radio shows in your home studio, but if you'd prefer to focus on live DJ'ing performances, that's also covered. It's also possible to produce music with Ableton, either using traditional audio recording approaches or creating tracks in-DAW. The latter approach is especially suited to the production of styles such as EDM, house, and techno. However, remember that this page focuses on creating mixes and doing Live show. If you're looking for music production tutorials, go here: djbolivia.ca/producemusic
I'll start with the group of videos about DJ'ing live with Ableton. They've been quite popular. There are four main videos in this group, but I also have four other shorter Q&A videos that are related to performing live.
Next up, I'll teach you how to "warp" tracks. This is a technical skill that you need to learn before you can start DJ'ing or sequencing mixes. This is a pair of two main videos, plus one shorter Q&A video. I made these quite a few years ago, but they're still very relevant today.
Finally, I have videos about full mixes. I have a older but very popular video about creating studio mixes with Ableton, which is really the video that launched my YouTube popularity. For this section, I have also have two short Q&A videos, plus a detailed video about mastering and then marketing your mixes.
There's a LOT to digest on this page. Reach out if you can think of anything relevant that I've overlooked.
Live DJ Performances with Ableton:
DJ'ing Live with Ableton, part 1
Part 1 has an overview of what you need to know about DJ'ing and what Ableton has to offer. I discuss beat-mixing and the need to understand "warping" in Ableton, a background on what you need to know/learn about audio mixers before you can go any further, and finally, a quick discussion of optional equipment and peripherals that can make your setup more powerful and flexible (ie. headphones, MIDI controllers, an audio mixer, and external soundcard).
DJ'ing Live with Ableton, part 2
Part 2 covers basic navigation in the Ableton software, creating a project, importing tracks, adding effects, and doing simple DJ'ing without cue capabilities. If you know that your tracks are warped properly, and know your music well, the need to cue incoming tracks is minimized.
DJ'ing Live with Ableton, part 3
In part 3, I talk about getting your DJ'ing rig set up. I cover external sound cards, audio mixers, and external MIDI controllers. I also start to talk about signal routing. Understanding proper signal routing is critical for using Ableton in a professional capacity.
DJ'ing Live with Ableton, part 4
Part 4 covers advanced routing and signal flow ideas and examples, and also covers integrating Ableton with a professional piece of equipment, the Allen & Heath Xone 4D. I use the Xone 4D as an integrated component that contains an external sound card, an audio mixer, and a full-fledged MIDI controller all in one standalone unit.
Sample Performance, DJ's "Cue" Perspective
I really should have made the series a five-part series. Although technically speaking, I covered everything in the first four parts, this next video definitely complements the rest of the series, especially the fourth part. In this video, I walk you through the steps of setting up a project with a slightly different approach than in part four, and then use that project to perform an hour-long set, which then became episode 155 of my weekly radio show, Subterranean Homesick Grooves. This video is produced completely from the DJ's perspective, ie. you'll hear the booth monitor output in your right channel, and the DJ's cue audio in your left channel, so you'll be able to understand exactly what I'm doing (it helps to be wearing stereo headphones).
Audience Perspective for Previous Demonstration
Skip over this video to the next one if you're interesting in learning more about DJ'ing with Ableton. I only included this specific video because it's the "final product" of the previous video, with the audio track set to "audience perspective." Unlike the previous video, you won't hear any cue'ing work here - it's just the final product that everyone in the audience hears.
Looping During Your Set
Looping sections of existing tracks during a real-time DJ performance can add a lot of strength to your performance, and gives you the ability to be more versatile than simply playing other peoples' tracks back from start to finish. This video covers the Loop Indicators and when they can be useful, and also touches on the Start and End Indicators. The practice of looping through the use of the loop indicators should not be confused with a separate but similar-sounding practice in Ableton, namely that of importing and using "looped" audio clips.
Removing Breakdowns
Here's a short but very useful video. If you have a track with a quiet breakdown and you don't want your dance floor to lose energy and interest, it might be smart to use Ableton to just remove that breakdown from the song. It's very easy.
Enhancing Breakdowns
Rather than cutting out a breakdown, what about adding elements? As you probably expect, this video teaches you how to spice up an existing track by adding things like extra drums, extra bass notes, etc. This is a medium-length video, but I hope it opens your eyes to all sorts of production capabilities that you might want to start digging into. I use this technique in a lot of my mixes and shows.
Mixing Songs with Non-Standard Tempos
I've had lots of questions about how to include tracks of significantly diverse tempos in your sets, such as hip hop, indie pop, and classic rock. This video explains my own approach to tracks in these genres.
Warping Tracks, Preparing Your Music:
Warping For Beginners
You're going to have to learn how to warp tracks if you're going to DJ using Ableton. Let's learn.
Q&A - Clarifying How Warped Tracks Stay Synchronized
Many people may not entirely understand how warped tracks can stay synchronized together, so this is a short video that aims simply to clarify how warped tracks are treated by Ableton, and how they are tied to the global tempo. Think of it as a brief "overview review" before we move on to Intermediate Warping.
Intermediate Warping
Here are some additional Warping techniques which may be useful when you'r working with some trickier tracks.
Creating Studio DJ Mixes & Radio Shows:
Making a DJ Mix in Ableton Live
Make sure you understanding Warping before watching this video. This video explains the process of bringing each individual track into the "arrangement view" and then using cross-fades on volume and other effects parameters, through the use of drawn automation, to make a great-sounding continuous DJ Mix.
Mastering (and Marketing) your Mix
Once you have a mix exported from Ableton, you're not quite done. You want your final mix to sound as good as possible for listeners. This video teaches you how to do simple edits like removing leading and trailing silence from your mix file, adjusting the overall volumes through amplification or normalizing, the basics of compression, various encoding options, and more. At the end of the video, there is a short discussion about marketing your mix, such as choosing distribution methods, adding graphics files and "ID3" tag data.
Automating the Global Tempo
Here's another short one, based on numerous viewer questions. Once you have a studio-produced DJ Mix set up in the arrangement view, you may want to vary the tempo as the mix plays back. This video shows you how.
Insert a Track into Arrangement View
This one is pretty simple, to be honest. How do you insert a new track into the middle of an already-complete production in the arrangement view? I'll show you.
