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Hi everyone! Recently I have decided to try my hand at some music production, hoping to one day create some electronic and dubstep pieces using the Ableton software.
As of right now I am practicing one topic at a time, such as creating multiple drum beats, then creating multiple synthesizer sections, then adding effects to everything, to get the feel of each of the tools at my disposal.
I do however, have a few questions for any of you who may have some expertise with this software;
1) Is there somewhere I can download more midi slections? What about wav clips? What about more midi/audio effects?
2) Are there any website that offer good tutorials on the function of all the parameters? Most tutorials I have seen treat them as black-boxes where the meaning of each dial is not explained.
3) Is there anyone here willing to critique me on my beats so far? II would be willing, in return to help anyway I can (perhaps SC2?)
Thanks a ton! My idea right now is to upload the finished beats periodically so I can track my progress, and make it a bit more public!
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1) ages ago i regularly used http://vanbasco.com/ to find midis of basically everything. You can even check a box for lyrics to use them as karaoke files, haha  or do you mean more instruments and stuff, when you say "selections"?
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I kinda meant both MisterD. Thanks for the website! For some reason the default instrument samples Ableton comes with is lacking in my opinion.
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adobe soundbooth comes with a lot of royalty free stuff. also, if you bought the software, did you get a midi controller as well?
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Do you have the bottom left info box open? When you mouse over parameters, the built-in info does a nice job of explaining its function.
Also you can find some pretty good samples and Live goodies at http://www.puremagnetik.com/
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I got the software from a "friend" and I think once I get to the level that II can produce multiple clips of my own making, and can string them together to my liking, I am going to pick up a controller. Was thinking of the apc40.
And yeah, I have the info box open, but even some of the language used there isi not as detailed or laymen enough for me. I think my problem is I'm trying to go from a love of music with no music theory teaching to diving head-first. We'll see though.
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I assume you're talking about Ableton Live? I've used that for a number of years, and in my experience, it works better as a final mixing process for music. When I make beats for my music, I usually use FL Studio to sequence the beats and just put the beats into Ableton to mess with. It's a fantastic program for remixes, too. All of my intros for my youtube commentaries are mixed with Ableton Live, and I am completely self-taught! So, don't be afraid to mess around and discover sounds and effects on your own.
And, if you're going to get a midi controller, I'd suggest one with keyboard keys (if you're looking to create every layer of the music, down to melody). I use an Axiom 25, but anything like that would probably work fine.
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I was the in the same boat when I first started music production (all those years ago), but I found the best teacher to be simple trial and error. Just fiddle with stuff until you can start to understand what each paramater is and what each button/knob/fader does and how it affects the sound.
A couple of things to try also:
- Try to find video tutorials, or ones found in magazines or whatever, as those can often explain how to get a certain sound out of a particular synth module. Try doing a search like, "bar9 bassline tutorial", for example, and you might find someone that explains how certain sounds can be produced.
- Flick through the presets on each module, see if you notice any patterns and correlations between how the patch is setup and the type of sound that's achieved. Play around with the presets, so that you can further explore how to change the sound yourself.
- Post up some stuff for us here, in this blog, so that we might be able to give you some tips on how to improve.
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I have very limited experience with Ableton (me and a friend tried it out for a few weeks), but I have been making electronic with FL Studio for several years and consider myself extremely proficient with that software (as well as recommending it heartily).
I can only help you to a limited degree with in-DAW functionality in Ableton, but I can help you find/provide you with high quality samples (drums...etc) and VST plugins, as well as assistance in using them. I also do quite a bit of dubstep, so I know a lot about creating those kinds of sounds.
I never found videos tutorials especially useful and ended up figuring out almost all of my stuff by myself....but I'm sure I can teach someone else in a fraction of the time.
msg me if you need any info on anything
EDIT:
The number one first thing I would recommend you get asap is a copy of Native Instruments Massive. It is a wonderful and insanely powerful synth that makes learning how to make patches so easy/enjoyable and produces all the sounds that producers are using nowadays. I can easily show you how to make pretty much anything and you'll be making your own synth sounds within days.
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EPT
