Ableton Live

Ableton Music Production Course | Nashville

In our Ableton class, taken from our flagship Ableton Producer Program, we teach you how to use the software, working on the music you love in small classes, over an interactive, engaging 36-hour course.

Ableton has been revolutionary in the music production industry since its release. Favored among top-line songwriters, DJs, and electronic music producers for its unique ‘jamming tool’, which allows for the ability to develop and evolve ideas quickly. This course is delivered by our superior roster of instructors, which include Ableton Certified Trainers, Grammy Award-winning artists, and music makers with many years of Ableton experience. You will learn to use the technical software with confidence by understanding the mechanics, while having access to practical tips and real-world advice. The small class size allows for ultimate interaction with your instructor and co-learners. This course is great for beginners as well as those who have been self-taught and are ready to fill in the gaps and learn Ableton throughly, taking their music to a new level. Learn how to bring that sound in your head out into the world with our Ableton class right here in Nashville!

For the course we require you to have Ableton software installed on your PC or Apple laptop. Garnish Music Production learners qualify for a 40% EDU discount on Ableton software. If you prefer to use a studio iMac with the required software already loaded we have a limited number available for $75 per course. Controller keyboards, headphones, and audio interfaces are always provided for learners.

If you miss a session and you’d like to catch it up, or you’d just like to come back and repeat some or all of your course, you can do, free of charge, normally on your first choice cycle. Our door is always open for our former learners.

 

101

Let’s Go!

  • What sets Ableton apart from other DAWs
  • Getting set up: Audio and the preferences window
  • Session view vs. Arrangement view: applications of each
  • Live concepts: clips / scenes / browser / library
  • The concept of Ableton’s unique warp engine
  • Launching clips
  • Intro to FX
  • Intro to instruments

Creating With Audio & MIDI

  • Warping in practice
  • Quantizing audio
  • Clips: clip view and clip properties
  • Making beats with Drum Racks and Simpler sampling
  • Effects: Live’s effects and using third-party effects
  • Recording MIDI and live looping
  • Basic routing and resampling
  • Automation: creating dynamic changes in your arrangements

DJing and Live Performance

  • Preparing (warping) whole tracks and harmonic mixing
  • On the fly DJ effects
  • Using MIDI controllers effectively / mouse-free control
  • Bespoke Ableton controllers – Akai, Novation, and Push
  • Grouping tracks and basic routing
  • Structuring your sets and using loops
  • Recording your performance + editing the arrangement view
  • Bouncing down

201

MIDI Tracks and Composing with Virtual Instruments

  • Simpler – Unlocking the full potential of this simple sampler
  • Drum Rack – Programming beats, manipulating sounds, chopping up loops, vocals, and tracks – making rhythms from anything. Slice to MIDI
  • Using and controlling third-party virtual instruments
  • Grooves + groove extraction
  • Setting up a MIDI keyboard or drum pad controllers
  • Getting creative with MIDI effects

Recording Techniques and Introduction to Sound Design

  • Balancing, introduction to the art of mixing. Group tracks and advanced uses of routing
  • Introduction to sound waves, frequency, and amplitude
  • The recording patch in detail, introduction to gain structure
  • EQ and compression for recording
  • Foldback, headphone mixes, and latency
  • Digital, analog, sampling rate and bit-rate explained
  • Microphones overview and stereo miking techniques
  • Recording specific aspects of Ableton
  • Compiling audio takes

Advanced Techniques

  • Advanced warping – acapellas, classical music and anything without beats!
  • Multi-track warping
  • Clip envelopes – creative uses of Ableton’s unique loop-based automation on audio fx, instruments, and midi fx. Easily achieve complex music, sound, and rhythm manipulation
  • Using all automation types together – creating build-ups and break-downs with complex sounds
  • Intro to Racks & Chains – powerful hidden features. Layering FX and instruments

We run weekday, weekend and evening classes. For schedule details, contact us.

Stay Connected

We will not share your information


    Testimonials

    I found the course very useful at least for me as I didnt have previous experience with Ableton. Jake was always very helpful and attentive to solve and answer any question.

    Luis Miranda

    Everything was great. Can't think of anything I would change. Jake is knowledgeable and personable. His expertise and time is much appreciated. Thank you!

    Mike DeMille

    The course is very friendly and engaging. Any and all questions will be asked with no hesitation or frustration, and it helps everyone else in the class that might have the same question in mind.

    Ryan Conway

    I would highly recommend Garnish because besides providing the technical aspects of the course material, the teachers are very knowledgeable about not only Ableton but music production in general which is a huge help. Garnish provides a great environment for music producers from all walks of life.

    Terry Pham

    Its a great school . I didn't know if I wanted to be more interested in music production and EDM but after Ableton I am totally in and I want to take more classes. Either you are a beginner or know something about Ableton, instructors will explain you very well.

    Maria Luisa

    It's much easier to learn from an experienced instructor rather than Youtube because I am able to ask questions and know why things work instead of just following a video.

    Henry Hang (Zankr)

    It was a lot better than watching youtube or reading about ableton. The classes were helpful and it was nice to be around people with a similar mindset for networking etc.

    Emma Henry

    I took this course to build a stable foundation in Ableton. What I got was not only a foundation but and incredible amount of knowledge that surpassed my expectations. I highly recommend this course for anyone looking to take that next progression from DJ'n to producing. I now have the full confidence to open up Ableton and make a full blown production from scratch. I have Garnish and their awesome teachers to thank for that!

    Corey Aguilar

    This course helped me become a lot more confident in my ability within Ableton. I learnt a lot of tips and tricks, that even friends who are successful in the industry didn't know about. Every lesson was packed with useful knowledge and I never felt stupid asking ANY questions. I came to this course with very little knowledge of Ableton and had no recording/production knowledge. I am very happy with the level I am at for taking such a short course. 5 stars!

    Vanessa Jadesa

    Great introduction to Ableton and music production. The course gave me the confidence, knowledge, and inspiration that I needed to get cracking in my home studio. It made me realize how creative I can be, and how much potential I have. I am very grateful for this experience, and the teachers were very cool and patient. I plan to take follow-up courses in the future as I felt very comfortable at Garnish.

    DJ Rhiannon

    The instructor had a way of explaining things that helped drive things home and really stick for me. He almost felt like a peer rather than a teacher and to be able to ask "dumb" questions and receive a genuine response was great. I can tell there's a real passion for teaching these programs here, and it's not just to get our money.

    Max Goldcamp

    From the Blog

    • 4 Core Principles of Music Production for Beginners

      Music is a powerful medium of communication. As Shakespeare himself asserted “When words fail, music speaks”. Technically speaking, the music or the songs that we hear comprise of two basic parts: the instruments (guitar, violin, piano, drums etc) and the vocals which are collectively......

    • 5 Creative Production Tips for Vocals

      5 Creative Music Production Tips for Vocals As vocals are one of the most important facets in modern music, it is imperative to keep them as a prominent part of the mix. Keeping vocals front and center is a no brainer, but there are......

    • 5 DJ Tips for Beginner DJs

      In the ancient era, all that DJs required were some promising skills along with an appropriate demo tape and a few great records which helped them in luring promoters to book them. Nevertheless, everything has changed now, ever since the internet has come into......

    • Ableton Live 10 | New Features – What’s New VIDEO

      Now Ableton has made the big announcement, we can finally give you a first look! As New York City is our newest location, Garnish New York Ableton Live instructor Michael Hatsis (aka Bangingclude) goes through some of the new features in the new Ableton Live 10!......

    • Ableton Live 10 Update Review

      By Heinrich Zwahlen Having used the beta now for while, I’m looking forward to the official Live 10 release on February 6th so my students can enjoy it too.  The update delivers a combination of powerful new devices for sound design, mixing and workflow......

    • America’s Top Leftfield Music Festivals

      America’s Top Leftfield Music Festivals Dance music is greatly taking control of almost all American and outside festivals and nightclubs. Thus, here is – especially if you like a more diverse variety in sounds – a one-of-its-kind leftfield gatherings’ choice in the US. In......

    • How To Improve Bass In Music

      How To Improve Bass In Music Bass can be a very complicated part of your mix. Actually, we’d even go and say that the majority of home-producers or home-recorded work, don’t have a good low-end, which is really the basis (get it, bass-is?) for......

    • How to Record Vocals When Producing A Singer – Vocal Production

      How to Record Vocals When Producing A Singer – Vocal Production By Chris Porter Firstly, let’s explode the myth that vocals are anything other than another instrument, or colour (depending on how you like to view things!) that you use to build up a......

    • Mobile Music Making Apps

      Inspiration can strike at any moment. Knowing you have a mobile music making app on your phone or tablet to cater for those moments where the light bulb flickers in your creative musical mind is essential. That’s why we have created a list of......

    • Navigation Basics for Logic Pro X

      Learning Your Way Around the Program In the previous article we spoke about treating Logic Pro X like a musical instrument. And, when learning a new instrument, it’s important to take some time and practice. But, just like much of the information on the......