Getting Started pt. 2

As I promised, here is the second part of how to get started. At this point I assume you have everything at your disposal: your computer, your soundcard, your DAW, a beverage, some cigarettes, maybe some food cause you are not gonna move away from the screen for a while.

First, let's go and make a default set for Ableton Live. Since I make beat driven bass music, I need a couple of tracks for the drums and of course one additional track for my sub bass. The problem is that by default, Ableton opens up with one Audio and one Midi track which doesn't fit my needs.

This is how my fresh, empty project file looks like in Live:

I have four audio tracks grouped together for my drums, accurately named: kick, snare, hats, stuff (for extra effects, percussion, whatever). On the hats there is also an EQ to cut out all the unnecessary frequencies.

Another thing I madly love about Live is that if you play Operator on the lower octaves you have an instant sub-bass. Applied kind of the same EQ settings just the other way around.

That's pretty much it, a few easy steps, but in the long run this can save you a lot of time especially if you have an already clear idea for your tune. Open up Live's Preferences menu, switch to the File/Folder tab and save your default template.

Unfortunately the built-in sounds in Ableton are pretty uninspiring (the Clips section is pretty neat though) so you might want to build up a sample library of your own. Thanks for the internet, you can easily achieve this without going bankrupt if you carefully look around. But helping is the purpose of this blog so let's dive in.

First, Samplephonics offers a massive (2.5 GB!!!) amount of samples for every new member. Sure, they are only demo packs, but these guys are really amazing designers. You'll find packs here from guys like Ghostek or Ipman for example. Truly inspiring sounds, 30 seconds away from you.

Second, it might be a good idea for you to invest in a portable recording device. I recommend the ZOOM H2N, cause I think it has a very high price/value ratio. If you want to add some organic feel and uniqueness to your beats, it's surely a great investment.

Last but not least be sure to check out sites like Freesound.org and CCmixter and use Google to your advantage. You don't have to be a pirate to have great samples at your fingertips. There are plenty of dudes and dudettes who are out there to help.

I know this post was very brief, but once you have everything set up it's time to make beats and to step it up a notch on this blog too. I am very excited to help you guys make some beats finally. Until the next post, I wish everyone a happy messing around with music.

Be sure to ask if you have a question, if you'd share this blog it would be awesome too. Also if you have any suggestions, requests for future posts, feel free to point that out too. Namaste!