HOW TO TURN ABLETON INTO GREATEST DAW EVER!!!

[@catarina1902]

I have to say, I have been using Ableton since version 8 and I think I got so used to some of it's user unfriendly bits that I didn't even put much thought into it and had figured out my own workarounds. I am glad I ran into this video specially for the LES feature. Thanks!

[@matthewgaines10]

Yeah, I just don't like working in Ableton. These tips help streamline things but it still isn't my favorite DAW.

[@aZeee]

Been working in Ableton for a long time and these tips are truly life changing! Just wanna point out that single and multiple audio track fading can be done in stock Ableton with the command CTRL + ALT + F, not quite sure what that would be on Mac

[@JamesStMichael]

Im glad I could assist aZe! I believe in mac it is very similar, but I personally found 1 key easier and faster than 3 every time which why I used it as an example in this video.

[@jamescarlsmith710]

Firstly, phenomenal video, the tips you gave were great, thank you! I just wanted to point out that in the audio clip's window itself, you are able to automate pitch changes by clicking on the envelopes tab and selecting transposition. Now I'm well aware that something like melodyne can do so much more to really hone in on cent pitch values, but just wanted to point this ableton feature because with some creativity, it often yields surprisingly good results for pitch shifting.

[@JamesStMichael]

Man thats an incredible tip!! Thank you for sharing it with us. Im going to have to use that later tonight and play around with it!

[@owlmuso]

LES is absolutely awesome. I use it to organize my plug-ins the way that is meaningful to me - which has helped my creativity massively . The other tips are excellent, thank you

[@JamesStMichael]

Happy to help!

[@owlmuso]

@@JamesStMichael thank you man. Keep up the good work

[@JamesStMichael]

Just doing what I can for the community! Thanks for checking out the video!

[@scottall71]

Been so frustrated every time I click something in Ableton 11, and I know it does way more than I am [currently] tapping into. Your video gives so many great tips!

[@JamesStMichael]

For real bro I felt the same way for years until I implemented these modifications I stumbled upon over the years!

[@glyndwr15]

The enable arm on selection thing is gold.

[@ArkLakin]

it is but I think Ableton removed it bc I can't find the options tab within the menu ive followed all the steps

[@yochananmusic]

As a Cubase + Ableton user, Cubase has most of these features built in. Note pad, record arm by selection, device slots, and obviously you can program any key commands easily without any external stuff. Ableton has its own strengths too of course

[@Jakker271]

With the last tip, you could get a programmable keyboard and then make the button combos more complex so that when you type in a normal fashion, it's not detected because you create a distinction between typing C (when your naming something) while having a command key typed out as CCCCCC etc.

[@jaylackovic8341]

Enjoyed your video. I also had the same issue with creating hot keys or mapping certain features. A while back I came across a video where one producer had opted to use a gaming mouse for working with Ableton. Obviously there are many different styles on the market with different configurations of mapable buttons. I currently have a gaming mouse with 16 buttons that I can program to perform tasks with a simple click of my mouth where my fingers naturally rest. As well as button sequencing or chording as they call it. Like when I'm editing vocals and need to delete all of the space in between vocals kind of like gating, instead of left click hold and drag across a section you want to delete then let go of the button then right click then select delete or hit delete on the keyboard, by way of button chording I can left click drag and select the section I want to delete while still holding the left mouse button I simply tap the right mouse button and it deletes it. Super Time saver. I will say however I think 16 buttons is a bit much, but you can also map different things to these buttons such as your overall computer volume or by pressing one of the buttons it will launch Ableton, or open your email and a bunch of different things. I find it to be a lot easier than having to take my hand off the mouse to do a keyboard shortcut when I can simply move my finger do a different button on the mouse. It's basically like a program in your hand. Side note is that programming the buttons can often times be confusing or at least was for me but after you get used to button programming it's a great tool for audio production. Keep in mind also that you can program a regular mouses buttons as well. Download the program "xmouse button control". It's free and like I said it will work with a regular mouse as well. The button chording formula that I did for the feature where while holding left click you tap right click and it deletes which I have affectionately named #leftclickdelete is my own formula. Which believe me took me in excess of 2 days to figure out how to make it happen. I couldn't find anything detailing how to get the same effect, therefore it was a whole bunch of trial. But now that I have it I absolutely absolutely love it! Let me know if you need the formula. I really should do a video on that.. anyway thanks again. I've been working with Ableton for 18 years and with music in general for 23 years. A couple of those tips I was aware of, but there was definitely useful information there. Good job I'll share your link hopefully you get more views... P.S. I was happy to see the part about the option text file. It reminded me about how to change how tracks are armed cuz I do how Ableton defaults it. And it's such a waste of time to have to select arm tracks

[@JamesStMichael]

What INCREDIBLE Information!!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to put all of that in the comment section for us!!!!! Im gonna use that and mess around with xmouse button control!!! You are the bees knees my friend! Thank you so much Jay!!

[@phnxmusicnz]

Dude, this is such a great video, I can't believe you're giveing away all this great knowledge and the videos only got 3 views. You deserve more bro!

[@JamesStMichael]

Appreciate ya bro! Yeah, kinda sad actually LOL but please share it so more people know about these tricks!

[@AnthonyFantanosbiggesthater]

It has close to 50k now

[@TheFunnydude109]

this aged well

[@sternenherz]

@14:00 in case you havent found out yet: There are macro-keyboards specially designed to do what this maestro software does, but without interfering with your normal keyboard. I have a 4x4 (16key) macro keyboard with all kinds of Ableton shortcuts. It's quite cheap, ranging from 20 to 40 Euros.

[@s_h_orchid]

For keyboard maestro, just add a modifier to your hotkey, like ctrl, or shift, or alt, or whatever you don't use otherwise instead of just the plain letter

[@JVJF7]

And get a streamdeck so it will be just one button

[@naizondj]

Same! Ahahhahaha

[@Rhekluse]

LES is amazing. I am hoping Ableton will someday integrate this natively but it works really well as is. Been using it for a few years now and I would miss it in my workflow if I stopped using it.

[@AntonKuznetsovMusic]

The last tip is dope. It’s worth mentioning that Mac has an in-built feature of assigning any shortcut to any option available in the menus of a program. It’s in the max settings.

[@muchomacho79]

Thanks for exposing me to LES!

[@TastySwift]

don’t know about you, but my ableton is already the GOAT daw😳

[@igon388]

Great video, for the problems with keyboard maestro, I haven't used it myself but it looks like the action "Pause Until" could solve that. Another way to go about this is a second keyboard with all of your macros, which can be super nice but desks get cluttered enough as it is as producers

[@micah3823]

Integrating Melodyne with Ableton is a real game changer. This makes itself on the same playing field as Logic!

[@jayphoenix9813]

Bro……. You are a G . Thank you so much for this video , this is gona be a game changer for me . I can t thank you enough!

[@JamesStMichael]

Anything I can do to help out the fam bro! Thank you for watching Jay!

[@XLIImusic]

I might be a real nerd, cos I thought all of these were common sense. Haha Couple of tips: 1. There is a shortcut for fades: opt + cmd + F 2. You can actually map keys commands in ableton without using keyboard maestro: go to Mac prefs > keyboard > shortcuts > applications > add ableton to it and then type in any command from dropdown file dropdown menus EXACTLY as it is written and you can have key commands for everything 3. Keyboard maestro, you can automate a bunch of processes with it that would usually take ages, I made macros on it to pretty much replicate the Cubase render vst commands: one key command to render the midi track to audio but carry over the audio effects, like if I don’t want print the compressors and EQs yet. Obviously all these things aren’t as smooth as having it all inbuilt, but it’s cool that ableton is so maleable to different use cases.

[@squareinsquare2078]

LES sounds great, it looks similar to FXConsole in After Effects. I use that plugin all the time, its a massvie time saver.

[@Iseehennessey]

I always wanted to kind of know what that sample editing option was for. I thought it was an add-on that you had to purchased from Ableton I didn't think it allowed third party and Im also a melodyne guy that was gold man thank you. 💪🏼🔥🙏🏻

[@JamesStMichael]

I felt liek I hit a gold mine when I came across it too HB! Thanks for watching!

[@tomedwardsmusic]

This video should have way more views! Thanks for sharing, man 🙌

[@JamesStMichael]

Hey I really appreciate that Tom! Thank you so much! Anything I can do to help our community ill do bro!

[@GTChris]

These were so helpful, hope you will do a part 2 to this video some day

[@JamesStMichael]

Thank you bro! I'm glad I could help! I already working on a part 2 that is even deeper than this one!

[@MultiMam12345]

There is a pitch editor in ableton. Not as good as melodyne, but exists built in. Also get karabiner. Create a hyperkey and map a mouse click to your left control button. Press control option shift with holding capslock down.

[@angledcoathanger]

What is the pitch editor called? Do you need the full suite?

[@mttlsa686]

That Arm with selection option is perfect to use ableton live as a looper audio!

[@SafelandingRecords]

Bruh..didnt expect this video to deliver. Nicely done. Gonna add these to my workflow👌

[@gozutheDJ]

wait a minute that LES menu is something i absolutely need

[@prodcrumley]

Broooo the Melodyne sample editor trick is a GAME CHANGER for saving time. 10:55 for anyone who's curious.

[@NiliMoto]

"Live enhancement suite, it will change your live" that is the best unintentional pun I have ever heard.

[@eli-shulga]

Mind blown! The first one is so a painful - A live changer! Also the option thing probably could dig out some gems, for the recording switch was so annoying when not using MIDI controller

[@naizondj]

Best video about ableton so far!!!!!🎉🎉🎉

[@itsrasalhague]

Appreciate all the tips! Thanks, Post Malone

[@DemilOfficial]

All of these tips are so helpful. Thank you so much!

[@JamesStMichael]

My pleasure bro! I'm happy I could help!

[@wasabi333]

Thanks a bunch! BTW, here are the Options.txt things to add: -ShowDeviceSlots -AutoAdjustMacroMappingRange -_PluginAutoPopulateThreshold=-1 -NoVstStartupScan -ReWireChannels=32 -EnableArmOnSelection

[@noiz3]

Thank u post malone 🖤

[@karmatosed7211]

I’ve been using Ableton for some years now, and all 5 of ur tips were new to me. Unfortunately if that Keyboard Maestro is only for Mac then I guess I’m out of luck there being on windows. Awesome content tho, earned a sub from me. ^^

[@teko5773]

Yo these are legit GREAT tips man! Really appreciate it

[@Bashanvibe]

I can’t wait to upgrade to a paid version of AL I’ve been working in the light version to get an understanding of the environment coming from LPX myself

[@JamesStMichael]

You're gonna love it bashanvibe. I came from LPX to ableton and its well worth it but I still use logic because i produce and write songs differently in lpx in a good way so try using both!

[@Bashanvibe]

I can believe that bro!!! I’ll be getting AL 11Suite after this weekend!!!

[@Bashanvibe]

I just got the Suite version now I need to get on the ball!!!

[@HelicopterRidesForCommunists]

Tremendous tips in this video. I will use every single one. Outstanding brother thank you. Man, I always wished Ableton had an audio editor like Reason's because Reason has a great one and I dont like using Melodyne as a plugin so this is amazing.

[@simofresh]

something like a "midi maestro" should be cool, would add more cool stuff to do with launchpad, Great video! greetings from Chile!

[@KevKlopper]

Thx man that was super helpful! You can get a logitech g13 or similar side keyboard and program all your shortcuts in there. Very ergonomic and you can get around your "c" problem by programming complex shortcuts to a single button.

[@dvddymusic]

These are fantastic tips that I had no idea were possible! Thank you.

[@ShaiSnir]

Great video bro, helped a lot!

[@skk6811]

Very cool video! I'm quite new into Live, but loving it as a beat making software, and I started to wonder if I could make it my primary DAW, but I still have some questions about it. 1: This Melodyne tip is awesome but it's still destructive editing, nothing close to ARA. Also you can't hear the rest of the song while playing back the audio. Is there any methods for linking the Melodyne standalone software with ReWire or do you know some workaround until ARA is available in Live? 2: Do you possibly know any tool / hack to make waveform vertical zoom available in Live? I'm not talking about increasing the gain or vertically zoom in to the track, but only the waveform for editing out breathes / creating fades more accurately, like Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Studio One, basically any other DAW out there. I've been looking for this for a week now but still can't find a workaround other than increasing the gain where it's not clipping yet, add a utility plugin and decrease back to -18 dBFS so it's gain staged to 0dBU to vintage hardware emulator plugins as they intended to. It's very time consuming when working on larger projects with 100+ tracks. 3. Sometimes when I play back recorded audio in Live I get some artifacts (clicks and blops), which are disappearing when turning off Warp on the clips. It's probably a bug, but is there any way to turn off Warp as a default when recording to a new audio track? The closest thing I could get is to set the default warp mode to RePitch in preferences so it doesn't do that very often, but the safest way would be to turn it off completely so it's not messing with my recorded audio at all. Thanks!

[@JamesStMichael]

Ill need to check into 2 and 3 and some time but the editing is not destructive. It keeps the original final alone and replaces the file in live with an edited version exported from meldoyne so you can still revert to the original file. It's saved me a few times!

[@floatinganarchychannel3204]

Man! Mind blowing stuff! Thank you! More crazy tips like this would be a bless ;)

[@robbiestyles794]

Great tips ! 🙌🏾🙏🏾

[@javiervera2126]

Truly amazing stuff, thank you so much!

[@JamesStMichael]

Thank you so much for watching! Appreciate it!!

[@AnalogCabin]

UPC sticker on the candle for the win…

[@phnxmusicnz]

And by the way, cmd + opt + f dose the fade command in Ableton I use it all the time

[@JamesStMichael]

Yeah, I used to use it too but I just 2 keys too many for such a simple thing my friend!

[@tdtrecordsmusic]

I'm teaching Logic right now and It's been 5 years since I've taught pro tools or Logic and I gotta say... Man, ableton is so dope. Damn near EVERYTHING takes 5 times longer todo in those programs. Sure just caz they have a fade tool it may seem quicker, but in ableton you don't even need to go get the tool to fade. When my student sees the lesson plan for logic, she is freaked like "how am I going to learn all that !! " Man I wished they used ableton in university. it's so much easier for newcomers. Maybe, its a good thing that logic/PT is ubber complicated caz it's learning everything the old school way. Ableton is like a DAW with all the extra fat trimmed off. Just the filet mignon. The 'get to business' daw. Literally everything takes 5 times longer in logic, there are soo many buttons and functions which you'll never use past the tutorial. Ableton is GOAT. I first started in Pro Tools and I used to pride myself on how many keyboard shortcuts I knew... or how fast I could work. I thought I was going to missing all this functionality when I was using ableton, but nah. I was able to work way faster in Ableton. Faster without any technical mastery or practice. Everything became fluid & I started to make big tracks. Man, to run good recording sessions I had to practice loading&routing tracks in pro tools. It'd take so long just to make a new track, save the old material, record enable & disable. probly caz of needing to slice and mute. The vocalist would have to wait like 5 seconds. Ableton is SOOOO fast. Its basically instant. I was no longer thinking about the technicalities of how the DAW worked.... anyways , I'm likely preaching to the choir. Clutter free all the way ! FTW Kool vid ! Thanks for sharing

[@mandable]

honestly, compared to bitwig studio, i find ableton too slow for my workflow. bitwig is GOAT.

[@iamerhach]

​@@mandableBitwig is better version of Ableton.

[@mandable]

@@iamerhach absolutely it is!!! when i first found it in 2015, i thought it was too good to be true. here i am today - i have fuck all to show for my career time but at least i have bitwig!!! and bitwig loves me and will NEVER leave me. unlike all my past girlfriends once they get to know the real me. they realize i will never love them as much as i love bitwig. that and my dick was so small that we literally had to roleplay a version of me that had a bigger dick in the bedroom. dicks aside, bitwig is INSANELY good.

[@marcelhicks8016]

Thanks dude for the info it has helped me a lot. Good luck.

[@robertpitts1292]

Thank you! Some really great and helpful suggestions here. Just subscribed ;)

[@emanuelmejia7561]

you changed the game rn oh my god

[@rudothorne1]

Bro!!!! Blessed for the tutorial. Big...big info.

[@JamesStMichael]

Thank you sooo much bro!!! I appreciate ya checking it out! I'm glad I could help bro! Have a blessed one!

[@user-vd3if4wq6m]

Great Video. But the one about External Audio Editor, i would suggest an actual ''Sample Editor'' that covers all "editing" of samples not just Vocal tasks. Izotope RX is top of the line... but any sample editor that uses the newest algorithms will be great aswell. Snapper (audioease) was a game changer for me, not editing, but extracting clips(samples) of audio files. It works with Mac's Finder so you can extract clips from files your browsing! Anyway good stuff brother

[@situtv]

Excellent suggested tools and tricks!

[@juanmanuelcasta2257]

Great great great tutorial!! Very valuable info!

[@whome806]

Subbed best video I've watched on time saving

[@papapilar3]

Thanks so much for these! I would just add that I installed LES and loved it until updating my OS and now it's not really functional. I think there are some ways to figure it out, but it takes a minute, which I haven't had.

[@AndreiBlanda]

Bonkers helpful, man. Thank you so much!

[@octobearBEATS]

I am your thousandth subscriber

[@JamesStMichael]

You sure darn well are!!! Appreciate you all!!!! Thank you so much for the growth!!!

[@niklas3883]

Incredible video! Thanks

[@kineticwayss]

learning ableton directly from post malone himself is crazy

[@sifagayev7793]

Fantastic tips. Thank you. Truly.

[@daanthijssen1748]

Dude, bro, sir,: thanks you! Great info!

[@AlexMagalaOfficial]

What are those 250 modifications for options.txt file? Very curious. Thanks for the vid 🙌

[@JDNicoll]

Me too!

[@commonbeats]

Thanks so much! Subbed! 🔥

[@mangrove1985]

Wow, Melodyne as sample editor! I'll have to give that a wirl :)

[@imagitu6409]

I am 2 years late but thanks. Great stuff

[@wulfoke]

Good video man! Subscribed!

[@hoossembechiri6136]

Good one bro u r the best i give u a folow ... In the 2 ..option text file ..there is a commande that make effect visuel in the mixer bro ....test it pllz and tell as ur opinion....

[@normanlbrittiv]

This was so dope. Thank you!

[@bennbutterworth4593]

Epic video mate! Thankyou so much

[@tyeblee23]

Thank you my dude

[@Banoffeeee]

I just got myself a M2max macbook working on macOSVentura, was wondering if LES will work on my MacBook or not, it seems like a very useful feature to have.

[@cekirdekci32]

omg you found out how to fade in fade out as if it Is on protools omg wow. thank you

[@Snax_Musician]

I tried choosing an application to open with Sample Editor, and none of them work right. Now I just want to get the sample editor setting to go back to how it was, meaning not linked to an application. Can you please tell me how to do that? I can only browse for another application. Thanks!

[@cinereous88]

You dont need keyboard maestro for the fades you can do it with "option + command + f"

[@taiyomatsunaga5144]

Thank you for this video

[@Doty6String]

Shift + commmand + f is the fade hot key

[@DJBre]

Good tips dude

[@derrickm5013]

Is there a way you could use maestro and have like a master key that turns all your custom macros on or off?

[@svencrizdj2084]

hi, how should I do to not overlap the music? It often happens to me that when I create a song on ableton and post it on social media, I hear the overlap between kick and hitthat percussion, while I hear it in my speakers and it sounds good. will it be a matter of poor quality on social media? Thank you and good day.

[@iandeegrees1509]

They sadly discontinoued that tool... I will miss the right click,... didn't found an alternative to fix that "Loadr" and "Shortcut Buddy" is not the same as "LES" 😕

[@jimirra2572]

it is already the best DAW ever

[@michaelperez5273]

I can't find the edit button at all after selecting melodyne in my sample editor browser

[@TheRealTeebz]

LES and options.txt still work. I am hesitant to install LES. How much CPU will it take up on my older windows laptop? Rhetorical question, no need to answer. My solution is I just need to save up and get a new machine already.

[@dadmax5715]

Hello..I went to that Ableton folder and don't see Option Txt file...

[@koenroels4549]

Is there something to make the fader icons more look like bigger faders too?

[@tjmackie4815]

Wtfffff I needed this video ages ago!

[@kyfisher3662]

people who use other DAWS are watching this thinking damn abletons still in the past

[@dhruvalance1323]

Super cool man. I just can't edit melodyne on the sample window, the *Edit button appears gray, and I have succesfully enabled the app in preferences

[@Mosh6ix]

KING

[@maxc0mpt0n]

Great video!

[@YSPARK-yj9dv]

super, thank you

[@Yugioooo2]

Plz make a video on how to swap the keyboard from c major that would be life changing

[@DJ_Damo_]

Bro , this is awsome

[@DaikiGuitar]

LES unfortunately doesn't works with my Mac ...anyway great video