Made in Ableton Live: Reid Stefan on recording, mixing and mastering EDM vocals with stock plugins

Check out how Reid Stefan uses Ableton Live stock plugins to record, mix and master atmospheric vocals from KARRA for an EDM track.
Listen to the finished track here: / s-svpyfs08lzk
00:00 Intro
00:53 Settings
01:57 Recording vocals
05:47 Pre-chorus comping
07:06 Lead vocal finishing
08:20 Background vocals
09:54 Ad libs
11:12 Mixing
14:29 Compression
19:26 Saturation
20:17 Delay
23:27 Mixing background vocals
26:34 Mixing ad libs
30:13 Mastering
34:49 Vocal samples
35:43 Outro
#abletonlive #madeinlive #live11

[@iamkarramusic]

It was an honor writing & singing the song for this tutorial 💫🙏🏻

[@EDP_beats]

👏

[@kmjansen]

I could mix and master like a pro too with a vocal performance like that 👑

[@loganR124]

you crushed it!

[@eldjswett]

freaking lovely

[@sidekickbeats_the_official]

You truly are a superstar !!

[@keithmiller597]

With any luck, these tutorials will give Ableton the hint that we need a stock pitch correction plugin like most other DAWs have

[@pedlumb2435]

Isn’t there a built in pitch knob for every clip of audio already?

[@csselement]

If you have the suite edition, there are some Max4Live autotune devices

[@THOMASTAYIMOEHL]

@@csselement which one would you suggest?

[@_thaaatguy]

The headbanging at the end was the real icing on the cake 😂

[@shalevcohen24]

Love that Karra has a puppet now too!! 😂 Honestly, what a great vocalist. slayed as always

[@mikeitebete9140]

Just realised ried is Karras husband.

[@OldogNuTricks]

4 years into using Ableton and I never knew that you could do parallel effects using the effects rack without creating a wall of sends and returns. Thanks Reid - just one of the many gems in this tutorial.

[@NetworkPorter]

Reid just show a lot of us why we wasted thousands of dollars on stuff we didn't need. ❤ 💯

[@mrjoes]

This is so helpful! Thanks a lot! I love the detailed explanations and the stock plugins.

[@5amMusicOfficial]

I’ve been watching you both for years - I love you both 💙 you both so talented!! Thank you for sharing your wisdom it’s an honour to watch your content 👊👊

[@regmonmusic]

I appreciate this video. It's always good to see brother Reid do his thing!

[@EDP_beats]

Fireeee!!! Great collaboration!

[@Kopfman876]

Great video!! And tutorial! Im motivated and inspired to utilize more of the stock plugins

[@AlanLambertInteractive]

really useful tut, mates. Keep on keeping on!

[@AziDoesQuestionableThings]

great to see Reid on the ableton channelled 💯

[@mccoy_music]

Man you are elite!🔥..Thanks for sharing!🙏🏾

[@goobabooba1665]

This is so helpful. Thank you ableton 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@Manuel_Manzotti]

The final part ist the best one! :)))

[@iWubmusic]

Love this ❤ you guys are the best realist puppets ever

[@MaxClerc-gq1nm]

j'adore cette video tellement précise dans le vocal lead

[@justplainjosh]

I’m not doing EDM probably but this is super helpful for trying to learn the program. Good stuff!

[@smapzkht5531]

This is gold🔥🔥🔥

[@detroitrising4459]

wow this was terrific teaching! more ableton teaching videos please!

[@jaaz7835]

well done! karra going ham at the end there lol

[@dreeanbeatsofficial]

Great job!

[@kaevox]

bro casually slips past the SLAP he added in the parallel chain....lol thank you so much for this Reid ! you rock! love from Tennessee

[@offchristianamr]

I noticed that too lol. It's probably a slap back delay, which is a single echo that plays after a very short duration. It can mimic, for example, the sound of singing in an auditorium. You can make one by putting in a delay, setting the feedback all the way down to 0% so it just echos once, and setting the delay time to like 40ms. Adjust filtering to taste.

[@kaevox]

@@offchristianamr thanks!

[@lightfusionproductions4891]

So good!!!!!

[@b-b0t]

ableton stays slaying as per usual

[@NachoGonzalezNappa]

Incredible master class!!!

[@marcinpietrowski8775]

Very good video, I should start using parallel comp too.

[@Helios824]

Ableton for life😘😘😘❤️❤️❤️

[@Kunibert_Knatter]

It will take me a year to understand what you guys have done in this video!

[@andersgullander8503]

This is fire !! Eyyy

[@ChadwickRider]

Thank you!

[@SP-iv2jj]

best tut ever

[@weird.atall10296]

Wow I'm so excited to see Reid on the Ableton channel!! 🤩❤️

[@cabestan_]

He really is the best puppet in the game… Such a goldmine of a tutorial !

[@kingbashgram]

This is fire 🔥!!!

[@konthetrack]

BEST TUTO EVER

[@julianjupitah4364]

To be honest, I can't get used to the puppet, even tho I know why it's there. Apart from that I really love your voice and your explanations style. You make great videos. Thank you!

[@iWubmusic]

What do you mean? That's him?

[@neighbour_bt]

Could you make a tutorial about Pre Recording vocal chain? without analog gear, i really need that sound, because as you pressed record, the quality of vocals already was very clean, i would be very greatfull!!! Love your videos!

[@thesage1851]

Thank you so much

[@amauryoviedo4237]

UFFFFFFFF😜 what a video🤘🏽👌🏽

[@thebrunoanthonyshow]

About time Ableton releases their own auto tune ;)

[@loganR124]

If you hold shift when pulling your automation dot up or down it will move a lot slower!

[@ilkhausen1212]

Same with volume sliders!

[@ChuckSilva]

Gr8!

[@MaxSonicUA]

OMG! This is the realest puppet in the game❤

[@jdstarek]

Realest in the game.

[@Daibutsumusic]

Hello all... Am I the first to ask about the new look of the stock Ableton Reverb at 4:59 ? Mine doesn't look like this, and I've got the 11.1.6 version. Is this what it's going to look like in the next update?

[@casual_dalliance]

I love this! Why not set the make up gain on parallel compression to the amount of average attenuation?

[@ReidStefanMusic]

I want the parallel compression quiet In The mix

[@casual_dalliance]

@@ReidStefanMusic 🙏

[@zsteinkamp]

Fantastic tutorial! :) BTW, 'c' toggles arming record on the currently selected track.

[@chandeleerjet5637]

Hey Ableton why does Ableton mess up the rhythm on everything when you switch buffer settings? I have to constantly switch buffer settings during a session but anytime I switch it makes everything off Beat. Is there a way to avoid this?

[@sinchlair]

I love these guys so much 💝 why is the ableton's icon purple?

[@eldjswett]

Hey, ummm, what's that reverb you got going on there? My live reverb looks different.... and I believe I'm running the latest version.

[@balynsus]

That's what i noticed as well.

[@ejmikk]

OTT's blue bars do upwards compression (it turns up the quiet stuff) by default, not expansion, which is the opposite (turning down the quiet stuff).

[@lucasoni1990]

Great bid will.learn a lot from this

[@richardtorrealba9248]

Reid the realest puppet in the gameeeee!!!!!

[@vadimmartynyuk]

Did you use any slate virtual mics ( mic emulations ) with the slate ml-1 on this recording ? Or just used the mic “raw” ?

[@jefrinaga]

37:08 yesssss

[@redmosq4197]

How do I only monitor in headphones? It always plays through the monitor too, so I pickup the click track in my mic.

[@AndyNewman95]

RECORDING AND MIXING THE VOCALS ARE THE BEST YOU CAN DO!!! Reid Stefan is a better known person for its own crimson tide?!?!?!?!?! At this time we need a music producer!!!!

[@MikeRP3147]

Review on the 251 please😇

[@csselement]

What is the difference between creating a parallel chain (with reverb, for example) and simply using the wet/dry mix?

[@terrygray7465]

Being new to Live, I'd like to know this as well.

[@Ableton]

Hi there. Thanks for the comment. As with many features in Live (and in music-making in general), sometimes the same effect can be achieved by different methods. But, sometimes people choose to use a parallel chain because it opens up possibilities for adding other effects which can be easily controlled all at once with the one track. If you're just using the one effect, there probably isn't a big difference. Hope this helps!

[@csselement]

@@Ableton Makes sense. Thanks!

[@shane5003]

7:50 - warped and unwarped null if same tempo and no pitch change. The Fourier transform on complex and complex Pro imposes a slight phase shift so those won't null but beats most certainly does. I'm wondering then, why are you unwarping saying that it makes an audio quality difference? I have noticed some slight oddities with warped clips cross fading and no tempo or pitch variation and in one of the non-spectral warping modes. Haven't seen this to be repeatable though and it was mostly related to timing as I recall. Is this why you have unwarped them ?

[@trecksbeats5850]

unwarping the vocals makes a load of difference, brother. it's actually night and day if you work with vocals a lot. everything sounds better and magically feels more natural. there really is no warp setting that feels natural or as natural compared to unwarping the vocal. it used to drive me mad and unwarping the vocal makes working with vocals in ableton worth it imo

[@SynderNOfficial]

Ableton is the company. Live is their product.

[@trshcln6937]

No

[@H0LAI]

Notice the constant swapping to tracks to adjust plugins Cos ableton doesn't have a console view/system yet Like after how many years?

[@SynderNOfficial]

And terrible piano roll. And timestretching algorithms.

[@klipnity]

@@SynderNOfficial I disagree with the time stretching algorithms, they're the best ones of any DAW

[@SynderNOfficial]

@@klipnity Ever heard of FL Studio?

[@klipnity]

@@SynderNOfficial Yes, it has Top tier Piano Roll

[@fantasticmrwolfe]

there is a hidden mode that can be enabled using options.txt that shows insert effects in session view ✌🏼✌🏼

[@KimonoEtrange]

Are you re-recording a 2nd take for a left and right? What is the purpose of that?

[@PantaFlux]

With this technique you get a nice wide stereo image and a somewhat fuller sound. It’s a pretty common technique with guitars, too.

[@LyroLife]

I also thought about doing this because I am ugly

[@deeymobeats]

let gooo

[@RukiKnows]

Shout out to the Ableton live lite users who can’t do this yet 🎉

[@ApolloJetsonKND]

Why didn’t y’all use that telefunken ela m 251 mic over that slate !? I clicked on here to hear that hhahaa

[@ReidStefanMusic]

We purposely recorded her voice thru the more affordable gear to make the lesson a showcase how how good a $500 mic can sound with 99% Ableton plugins

[@jacksp8de]

Is there any hardware in this vocal chain? It sounds great

[@ReidStefanMusic]

No

[@jacksp8de]

@@ReidStefanMusic Thanks for the reply your puppetry, preciate it. Yeah I heard you say you're going straight in after I type that lol. And you're using the Slate naked? I mean with no mic modeling.

[@ReidStefanMusic]

@@jacksp8de i don’t use the mic modeling plugin

[@jacksp8de]

@@ReidStefanMusic really? Wow sounds really good on its own. I use the Townsend Labs and it’s amazing with the Apollo. Anyways thanks for the reply, your channel is a huge inspiration.

[@rocks1423]

MAKE A.R.A IN ABLETON PLEASE!!!!!!

[@elguaripolo686]

I need to create a shortcut for the like button...

[@gooneybird808]

Tip #1 have a dope ass singer like Karra

[@romichjordan]

one more proof that all u need is Ableton

[@WallyTMW]

🙏🏻

[@djeliasR]

Wait wait wait did anyone catch the new reverb look in that rack?

[@MrBfghh1]

@@PablitaPicasita 14:45

[@712beckv8]

Good eye. I think Live 12 is coming in a few months

[@anatolii-gladkii]

It's a reverb from the 11.2 version, which is coming very soon

[@jacksp8de]

Forget them other puppets, This is the realist one in the game!

[@nrgskillmedia]

TLDR: Live doesn't have a pitch correction effect.

[@51_percent_]

These 2 are so cute and hilarious 😍

[@lw2519]

梦幻联动

[@gabrielramirez1842]

MESSI, REID & ABLETON

[@whydoesfishsaucesmellslike9982]

14:37

[@shane5003]

15:25 that is not expansion. That is upward compression. A similar process goes on if you throw in drum buss and then turn the transients knob to the right. You're holding up the reverb tails, releases, noise floor etc. If you were doing downward expansion it would be a similar process to turning the transients knob in drum bus to the left. Additionally, if you were expanding multiband across all those bands that heavily you would evaporate everything quiet in your signal. It would be similar to doing a nonlinear phase crossover across three bands and then throwing a gate on each one with about a -40 dB threshold given the settings you're playing with here. The whole point of OTT is to flatten out the spectrum. This is done by simultaneous multiband downward and upward compression per band, heavily. That said, use Duda's. It's free, and has better crossovers.

[@diegoca6]

i really beliebe that puppet wasnt really singing in real time mmm

[@polwox]

Wait what?

[@Niro-du3mt]

EN Français cela aurait mieux parce que on comprend rien

[@maximethetiot2703]

"stock plugins"

[@kvmorgan1]

Uh oh, looks like Karra is lip-syncing….

[@gamonutz]

Not surprised. Shes just another industry puppet.

[@joldschool64]

Don't mix vocals with a stereo mix .

[@k-rom8694]

Reid is so unbelievably corny bro 🥲🥲

[@lisan_al-ghaib]

9:13 - Ableton please, I hope you understand this. Nobody wants to use the sh*tty colors. Idk how Nuendo, Cubase, FL Studio, Studio One, etc. gets this right and you guys don't 😭😭😭

[@nicolainordahl]

I think the colors are great

[@booyaaaaaaa]

"EDM" make me shudder

[@cockur]

4 mins in and everything but Ableton stock plugins being used - UAD interface and UAD plugins on the input and Antares Autotune - not much really just another $1500 of gear you may not have. The title of the video is a bit disingenuous in that regard. Anyone with this kind of setup probably already know how to record a few vocals - so who is this video for?

[@SonicTheo]

Apollo ADR isn’t that much drastically different from something like a Focusrite Solo 3 or M2 it’s like 112 Sinad compared to 102 but they probably have an expensive mic like a TLM 103.

[@gtubgle]

Great tutorial, minus the music. Has no soul. The girl needs to find another producer, great vocals

[@Noir_music]

Has na soul ?? Which music do you consider to have soul ??

[@gtubgle]

@@Positive_Tea no way. The drums on this track are weak

[@dpsti19]

Fera