Turn any Sound into an Instrument with Simpler (Ableton Live 10)

Learn how to use Simpler in this handy tutorial by our Ableton Certified Instructor, Thomas Glendinning. In this video, he shows us how he turns a cowbell into a synth using just the inbuilt Simpler instrument. Find out more about our online courses :: bit.ly/2sXlAfW
Thomas Glendinning - elphnt.co.za
Point Blank is an award-winning music school with courses in London, Los Angeles, Ibiza, Mumbai and Online. Voted 'Best Music Production & DJ School' by DJ Mag, you can learn music production, sound engineering, DJ'ing and much more via our online courses or in our state-of-the-art studios:: www.pointblankmusicschool.com

[@SkynetToaster]

I have been wondering about this for literal YEARS thank you so much for making this a clear and concise tutorial straight to the point 🙏.

[@ScooterDoge]

I was literally looking for how to do this two years ago. Thanks so much.

[@pgupdown5065]

same

[@franhollycreative]

I'm new to Ableton and this is just the kind of tutorial I needed! Thanks so much, excited to use Simpler now!

[@NicholasGreenwood]

Had no idea I could do this. I think it's useful and will try it out. Thank you for this brief yet informative tutorial.

[@SunnyLicious]

Guess I'll be using Simpler a lot more now.

[@DjRavine]

It's one of the best things about Ableton.

[@nullmymusicproductiontrans1197]

san holo uses it a lot

[@SmokeandSpirit]

That'd probably be.. Simpler. ahahaha hah.

[@SunnyLicious]

PaintedAnarchy Joke level: Dad

[@shivammadan6338]

Same

[@travis2091]

Thanks so much for making this video short and to the point, with examples. Very efficient and helpful!

[@funnybone7705]

I watched a few simpler tutorials by now. This was the most useful one. Great work, sir!!!

[@hOttOddYfAiLz]

Came for the simpler tutorial left happily after seeing that tuning trick. Brilliant. Thank you!

[@MP_Soundbox]

I achieved this years ago and forgot how, but I know it was far more complicated. Your instructions are much 'simpler'. Thanks for sharing this!

[@gillesgagnon]

Thanks for taking the time to record this very useful, succinct video.

[@souhaitmoon7937]

super simple but rich lesson! thank you

[@jessecharles3171]

Hey, thanks for this vid - exactly the info I needed, nothing I didn't.

[@jacktesoro7420]

Super helpful and Simple, Thank you!

[@desertpower1289]

Excellent, exactly what I've been trying to find, thanks

[@michaelthem3]

This was totally useful and easy to follow. Thanks a lot! 🙌🏼🙌🏼

[@abbied.]

This is too good to be true! Oh my gosh this is so cool.

[@pablodominguez1271]

very good tutorial, thanks !!

[@yikdudee882]

exactly what i want to learn , thanks !

[@dr.steffen4857]

That's so great, thanks so much!

[@quentinmckay8658]

Great little tutorial. Nice tip on using Tuner at the end !

[@PianoStopcom]

I agree!

[@gcp7681]

Very good explanation!

[@BullWinkleBull]

Very helpful, thank you a lot!

[@bomarcuswin777]

woop woop Thomas, thak you so much

[@dmatzo]

Brilliant. Brilliant ! Thank you so much!

[@konkavstylisten]

This made the use of simpler, simpler (hardiharhar). Seriously though. Great tutorial. Straight to the point, no bull.

[@DJIRIZE]

Thanks guys! Tuner part actually helped me alot

[@klaptroprod]

same, basically gonna use tuner for every synth vst now on :D

[@NartyDread]

Yes! Thank you! Finally

[@kokuluemail]

beautiful

[@sleepyycreampuff3214]

YASSs thank you much easier than i expected

[@JacksonBlanket]

Thank you. You rock!

[@heavymetalboobies]

thank you so much

[@DajaeWilliams]

Thank you so much!!!

[@pashanedayvodin]

Very helpful, thanks

[@LeoBejarano]

Great video!

[@dahuterschuter]

I never knew this was a thing in Ableton while I've been trying to make sampled beats for literally years. This is amazing. Holy fuck I'm stupid lmao.

[@PointBlankMusicSchool]

Ah! We're really glad you got something out of it.

[@scronx]

Thanks for this -- hot stuff! Which versions of Ableton 10 include Simpler? I tried looking this up. Am looking over your course offerings -- they look great.

[@broodx8112]

Damn. There's my answer. Kick ass bro. Thanks man!!

[@crypto_fnr]

THANKS!!! FINALLLY

[@timidchanteuse]

OMG this was SOOOOOOOO helpful

[@DJ2109]

EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED. SHORT SIMPLE. PERFECT. BEAUTIFUL 10/10 WOULD RECOMMEND TO MY NEARESET NEIGHBOR. THANK YOU ABLETON GODS AMEN HAVE A NICE DAY

[@gregwilliams2764]

I can’t get sound in Abelton live lite from my SD3. Even thoughSD3 works perfectly on its on

[@tymonrakotny7904]

ive been looking for this for months

[@LeopoldoVictor]

I want to study with u guys, but im from Brazil. Do u have any support for people from other counties?

[@Nilz4FR]

I recorded the notes of my Handdrum as AIF files. I would now like to assign those to each note so I can play them on my Novation Touchpad Pro MK3. Any thoughts?

[@neb2612]

Thanks, I thought I needed to buy sampler to do this kind of stuff :)

[@xasancle]

MAGIC

[@prtzl8lgc460]

So glad I found this video - thanks much! But how are you playing the notes on the instruments - you keep saying your keyboard? huh? Which keys play which notes?

[@olekolecki6313]

Simpler dont have setting root note option for sample?

[@XyZCwP]

Can I record directly into simpler? Or do I have to drag and drop all the time? Would be great if I could sample my voice on the fly and play across the keys without touching a mouse

[@doonguitarlessons]

How to use slice in simpler to play the multiple notes of the hammond as a chord?

[@scronx]

Thanks for this -- looks like the holy grail. But what is 'gain'?

[@lucutes2936]

thx

[@martonhorvath15]

My mind was blown

[@frensiow]

is there a way to make it so each notes are a diffrent sound? lets say if i wanna use a sound that i already a particular note, and want to use it as that note on my keyboard?

[@Aikisbest]

! I feel stupid now for never trying to just drag and drop the "folder" called Simpler instead of just a preset and such, this is awesome and so easy to start off with! (Harder to master, but I literally was looking for something simple where I could take basically any sound and make it react to me pressing buttons on my MIDI Controller XD)

[@ReiwaPia]

genial!

[@treyfreeman5992]

Fade is greyed out for me and it won't do anything, how can I fix this?

[@King-zn8wp]

How do I switch notes in simpler or sampler mid sample without it restarting the entire sample because I switched notes? Would like to be able to play it continuously. Thanks!

[@qbst6418]

Does it mean I can do ANYTHING with this tool and I don't even need samples/VST pack ? I guess it will just take some time to find the right sound :D that was very helpful thanks for the video

[@jeremyquentin42]

The Stranger Things vibe at 0:54... :)

[@alexeygulevic2830]

And how to save a new playable instrument so that I can use it as a midi track?

[@prodbaxi]

2:52 please tell me how u used the "length" to choose where it starts.... im completely lost. in my program only "start" can change the start and length changes the length of the clip.... which makes sense. in this video it doesnt... 2:52

[@MrMeluckycharms]

Magically delicious!

[@shammishafi09]

I cannot use any guitar & Plucked effect like "Steel Jazz", "Guitar palm"... to record guitar sound. How can i do that?

[@randy-lf7ci]

cool

[@berryseinfeld6772]

i dragged a song from iTunes in - the waves are there, but no audio is playing?

[@TiagoDM]

now, how to save that as an instrument? does simpler allows that?

[@anjumshahzad8612]

Anyone gone to the weekend ableton course at pb in London

[@idkwhatamdoing4346]

how do I only change the pitch and not the speed or rather than the velocity when I press a key on my board?

[@jrmaffia01]

Is this the fundamental frequency of the cowbell? Because you looped the end of the waveform, not the middle part or the transient. I'm not sure if this how you'd accurately tune instruments.

[@leoopokat8235]

As long as you find a note of some kind of any start to end it probably more note in the middle of the sample

[@_ataims]

great! how can you save it to a "new instrument" other than saving the chain of effects or playing it from the simpler? Sorry for my bad english, wish you understand and answer the question. Love from Argentina.

[@hgsbrodi]

Hola Regreso al Bosque, pudiste resolverlo? Queres guardar un instrumento junto a sus efectos? Tenes que agarrar todo el conjunto, click izquierdo y agruparlos, despues en la parte superior derecha de la solapa del Rack grupal hay un iconito para guardarlo como preset.

[@_ataims]

Hola @@hgsbrodi! Muchas gracias! si pude resolverlo, pero muy amable tu respuesta! Aguante compartir. Saludos!!

[@Sands.465]

☺️ interesting 👀

[@Io-Io-Io]

Nice... And where can one get this App? (!!!)

[@allehooop]

Io its an Ableton Live instrument. Inside Live you will find it

[@anelhji]

How come some drums or sounds for the simpler are forced into multisample mode?

[@togiui]

Can you use this without an instrument?

[@Kullcans]

can someone help me out? even when I've dragged the sample into simpler, my MIDI controller isn't doing anything.

[@ericdehaeseleer6200]

You must go to the right of your midi track and click that note icon and make it red (on). I had the same exact issue, I hope this helps

[@ariesmith5081]

How can I do this with sounds from my mouth

[@bluenikel]

hey, every time I change the note on the keyboard the sample speeds up. How can I fix that?

[@jinxh]

Can someone tell how to do this in cubase

[@doonguitarlessons]

Also the tuner isn't showing the pitch when i insert it on simpler, why?

[@hlqa7938]

same question, got da answer bro?

[@yosoybrad9162]

Can anyone tell me how to pitch a sample without changing the speed of the sample?

[@ReiwaPia]

how to change the tempo?

[@dergoathighscore170]

But when I put the simpler on my midi clip the midi clip turns off and I can’t hear anything

[@griffb9857]

Turn the volume up in the bottom right of the window

[@danji9485]

When I enable "Loop", the "Fade" value is still disabled

[@JD-lh4kb]

Dirty Dan yeah and I still get the popping as it loops.. ughhh

[@fillpattanamontri8698]

Which keys on my keyboard do i press to generate the noises

[@ericdehaeseleer6200]

Top right, click that piano icon to make sure it's yellow (on). On the midi track over to the right, click that note icon and make sure it's red (on). Then, your top and middle rows of keys can be used to play the sample. I'm a year late but I had the same issue, hope this helps

[@fillpattanamontri8698]

Eric DeHaeseleer I appreciate this man, I still haven’t figured it out anyways. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question. Thanks a lot man.

[@SmartSleeper]

how do hit the notes using pc keyboard?

[@ericdehaeseleer6200]

Top right, click that piano icon to make sure it's yellow (on). On the midi track over to the right, click that note icon and make sure it's red (on). Then, your top and middle rows of keys can be used to play the sample. I'm two months late but I had the same issue, hope this helps

[@vomitbitchentrailfuck]

it won't play my entire samples. like the soundwave is yellow until the very end of the sample and i can't figure out how to fix them

[@briancraig1684]

Hi Sir, Been at this for most quite a while How would you do this Goal is to understand how I can take almost any sound and I can then shift all the Frequencies and harmonics to that desire musical note I have a recorded of a bird and bell sound that I want to bring each of them into tune with each other to start to create a basic sample instruments I use Logic Step 1. I would use Voxengo SPAN free Spectrum Analyzer Plugin to find the Fundamental Frequency Trying to locate a musical frequencies to start with Step.2.Now I want to know how I can move the main fundamental Frequency and all the Harmonics along for the ride to scale or move them all by the same amount. One important note : How can I do this correctly and not create any unnecessary artifacts or warping sounds like it’s underwater Are garbling sounds But keep all or any of the musically or timbre qualities and all the tone characteristics that make up the original sound recordings so the end results sound more natural or as close as I can to the original recording

[@petehalliday5198]

I've got a keyboard I want to sell and want to sample some of its sounds. How do I do this? I recorded the audio (MIDI note c#) into Ableton, and dragged it into Simpler. Then I try to play it and nothing happens. And when I play it with my keyboard I can't hear it. Please help!

[@kristianloken8787]

Why doesn't fade and warp mode work together? I think its a shame, because I dont want the speed to change based on the note being pressed.

[@Talanya]

what happens when the tuner isnt picking up the sound at all??

[@Dennistube001]

To sample any song off youtube In windows Right click on the volume icon on the windows taskbar on the right hand side Left click on sounds Select the recording tab Select the “What U Hear” and set it as default In ableton Left click on options, left click preferences Goto the audio page On the driver type select MME/directx Underneath that is audio input device, select “what you hear”, (with mine it says “what you hear” soundblaster Audigy 5 rx/dx) your soundcard may be different In the audio output device select speakers soundblaster Audigy 5 rx/dx Close the options page On the mixer view Click on the audio track and select monitor to off select input to 1/2 instead of just 1, (eg stereo input instead of mono) click on the record selector in red at the bottom of the track to select record enabled That’s it, just play a youtube vid or music, your level meter should now be going up and down with the music but its greyed out, this is to (prevent a feedback loop) Click on the circle on the clip selector to record what you hear, press stop when you’ve finished and you can then playback and hear whats recorded, this should be pristine quality if its not you may have the wrong driver selection somewhere, feel free to contact me via comment When your absolutely done sampling switch back to ASIO driver mode for best performance Though I have a soundblaster sound card I see no reason why this wouldn’t work on a rubbish laptop or other, I have various ASIO devises that just don’t do it but temporarily switching to the basic MME/directx works beautifully, if you struggle perhaps a directx update will help but it should be fine as is Good luck contact me if you need to

[@JD-lh4kb]

I can’t fade in the classic and it’s clicking. Anyone else ?

[@D0omC0okie]

I'm so lost, why can't I get the sample to play while in simpler? None of my keys play a sound.

[@C0l32200]

same...

[@bobaisbomb3818]

I can't get the sound to play in the Simpler, what am i doing wrong?

[@himeshhewawasam]

Is your track armed? As in did you hit the record button on the right hand side of the track?

[@bobaisbomb3818]

@@himeshhewawasam Yeah figured it out, my mac output is on my airpods still but ableton is playing through my speakers lol, thanks tho!

[@briancraig1684]

Hi

[@parisangelo1753]

Simpler audio isn't working for me

[@ericdehaeseleer6200]

Try clicking that note icon on the midi track and making it turn red

[@bboymac84]

I guess now turn up the attack a bit

[@bojanstromboli1306]

You can turn any organic sound into a synth but you can't take a one note sampled instrument and make it sound organic it's too artificial for my taste like sampling a guitar note and playing it as a organic instrument. Is there a way to do that?

[@stealthinator00]

I just turned a recording of triangle instrument into a haunted bell.