Music Production with Ableton Live: Beginners Course

Learn to use Ableton Live for music production with our music short courses in Sydney!

Embark on an immersive journey into the world of music production, guided by local artist and Ableton Certified Trainer, Ed Rollo (aka mredrollo), with this Beginners Music Production Course using Ableton Live. This course is designed for aspiring artists and music enthusiasts who are eager to dive into music making, with little or no prior experience. Our condensed format allows for a concentrated focus on essential skills, ensuring that you not only understand the technical aspects of music production but can also apply them creatively. The hands-on exercises and the final project will provide you with a tangible outcome, an arranged and mixed piece of music, laying the foundation for your future endeavours as a music maker.

Join us on this transformative journey, where you'll not only learn the tools of the trade but also unleash your creativity and find your unique voice in the vast realm of electronic music production.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this beginner Ableton Live course, you should be able to:

• Grasp the fundamental concepts of Ableton Live, from navigating the interface to setting up your projects efficiently
• Explore beat building with Drum Racks
• Demystify MIDI, music theory, synthesis basics
• Delve into the art of audio editing and effects application
• Gain a solid understanding of arranging your compositions and refining them into a polished, professional sound
• Perform basic mixing of electronic music and prepare tracks for output to professional mixers

Course content

What will be covered in this beginner music production course?

Week 1: Fundamentals, Setup and Exploration

• Get started with Ableton Live, as we cover installation, interface, setup, navigation, and MIDI fundamentals. 
• Engage in hands-on activities and exercises to set up a project, navigate efficiently, and create simple melodies using virtual instruments.

Week 2: Build Beats and Layer Percussion with Drum Racks

• Explore beat making essentials in Ableton Live, covering rhythm, drum kit components, tempo, and time signatures. 
• Dive into creating dynamic drum patterns, using Drum Racks, sequencing groovy drum loops, and customising percussion samples, all through practical exercises.

Week 3: Basic Music Theory and Introduction to Synthesis

• Delve into basic Music Theory, exploring pitch, scales, chords, harmony, melody and rhythm. 
• From here transitioning into the wonderful world of Synthesis and Sound Design, understanding synthesis principles, signal flow, and creating basic synthesised sounds, with exercises aimed at developing fundamental understanding of how melody and harmony all comes together.

Week 4: Audio Editing and Processing

• Discover how to work with audio in Ableton Live, as we cover basic importing, editing, resampling and live instrument recording. 
• Move into one of the more satisfying aspects of music production, Audio Effects! Introducing basic audio effects, applying them to audio and MIDI, and experimenting with automation. 
• Learn how to edit, move, manipulate, process or even completely destroy audio.

Week 5: Arrange, Finalise and Export

• Learn the fundamentals of composition and arrangement, exploring song structure basics, capturing your ideas quickly, recording instruments in your arrangement and how to clean up any issues along the way. 
• In the final project refinement, we’ll delve into basic mixing techniques, add expression, a little flair, and prepare your project for export as your final exercise.

Intended audience

Who is this music production course for?

Participants of this course must have basic computer literacy, however no prior music production experience is required. 

Course materials

Materials provided

• Apple iMac with 27in screen
• Ableton Live 10 Suite
• Novation Launchkey Mk 2 MIDI controller

What to bring to class

• A pair of "wired" headphones with a 3.5mm Jack (TRS) connection (unfortunately no Bluetooth or wireless headphones)
• A USB if you would like to save your work

Additional information

Please note the following:

This Music Production for Ableton live course runs in our computer lab, fitted with 27-inch Apple computers.