Ableton Live Tutorial: Clips & Scenes – Step-by-Step Part Two

Martin Delaney concludes his look at clips and scenes in Ableton Live with this final step by step…

13: Make sure the Automation Arm button is yellow, to ensure control moves are correctly captured as clip and track automation. Push users have a dedicated button for this on the hardware.

14: You can stop clips by launching others in the same track with the Stop buttons, or by putting them into Toggle Mode if you’re using hardware, so they go on and off when tapped a second time.

15: Shift > Click on the Arrangement Record button; it’ll go into actual record as soon as you launch your first clip or scene. Make sure you use your controller to be creative with device settings.

16: Feel free to experiment while recording. You can even drop in new devices during recording, and Live won’t flinch. Use the Overview (Alt>Cmd>O) for a heads-up of what your tracks are doing.

17: You can also use your Tab key to switch between Views, again, while still recording. You can watch everything drawing into the timeline, including automation. There are no rules about how long to play – that’s up to you.

18: Stop Live, and save your set immediately. In the Arrangement View, click the orange Back To Arrangement button, and use the transport controls to review your jam. Not perfect? Don’t worry as next time we’re editing!