Anyone can become a pro in Ableton Live. Like anything in music production, it takes time, persistence, passion for music and desire to learn.

Ableton Live is an amazing DAW.

No one can deny it. It’s powerful, sleek, versatile.

And with the Live 9 update, the native instruments and effects became even better.

No wonder it is considered to be one of the most popular DAWs out there!

Many great producers use Ableton Live;

Just to name a few.

Most producers using Ableton Live, are looking to perform, erm… live!

Its session view is designed with that in mind. It’s really easy to go to the internet, download free loops and samples and start rocking the joint! As a matter of fact, I just love Chagall’s performance using Ableton Live and the Mi.Mu gloves.

At the same time, it’s really damn deep!

There are some many possibilities, tools, hidden and secret features.

It’s totally understandable that we don’t know what some of them are, or even that they are there.

And that’s why I put this list together as a go-to resource for anyone out there who’s learning music production in Ableton Live, or simply migrating from other DAWs.

Ableton Live pATCHES

I love pATCHES to bits. It’s a great source of many cool things for Live. From tutorials to instrument racks, you can find a lot of things to help you improve your music production chops. It’s all very nicly laid out and the presentation is impeccable. Many of the guides and tutorials contain animated gifs, and it’s clear these guys take a lot of time creating quality content for us users. The sample packs are awesome too, and certainly mean a creativity boost for anyone looking for inspiration and good sounds. They also run a mixing and mastering service at $80 a song, or $40 for Patreon subscribers. Worth every cent of internet you pay.

Ableton live Goodies Sonic Bloom

If you’re into Live at all, I’m sure you have already visited Sonic Bloom. Created by the legendary Madeleine Bloom, Sonic Bloom offers tutorials, instrument racks, Max for Live devices and (lo and behold) many Live skins! Madeleine Bloom was part of the team of developers behind Ableton Live, and thanks to her insider know-how, she is a well of Ableton knowledge. The website also offers lessons, workshops, besides mixing and mastering services. And if you are around any of the Ableton Live groups on Facebook, you might even run into the woman herself giving her great insights to discussions.

Kadenze – and how it improves your Ableton experience

Want to learn basic music production stuff? We help you there.

Want more?

Kadenze is an online education platform.

It offers online courses in many subjects over many different knowledge areas, although it seems a good deal of its contents is related to technology and arts.

There you can audit the courses for free, although, if you join the monthly subscription, you get to participate in tests and assignments. And get a certificate at the end of any course you finish. Also, it features a forum where you can interact with other students enrolled in the same courses you are.

And get a certificate at the end of any course you finish. Ableton Live Judo.

Also, it features a forum where you can interact with other students enrolled in the same courses you are.

The specific course we’re looking for here is “Sound Production in Ableton Live for Musicians and Artists”. It was created by CalArts.

But make no mistake, it’s a surprisingly in-depth course about music production in Ableton Live. It covers from the basics of sound to Ableton’s most juicy features.

A must if you want a more structured content to delve that will push you away from your comfort zone.

But make no mistake, it’s a surprisingly in-depth course about music production in Ableton Live.

It covers from the basics of sound to Ableton’s most juicy features.

A must if you want a more structured content to delve that will push you away from your comfort zone.

Check out Coursera We love Using it To Catch up and Also Help our Ableton Game.

Coursera is similar to Kadenze in many ways. It’s an online education platform that offers many online courses about many different subjects.

It’s an online education platform that offers many online courses about many different subjects.

Be an Ableton beast and then learn here – because it focuses more on business and technology related courses, but it has a few great music-related courses.

And the specific course we’re looking at here is “Introduction to Ableton Live“, held by legendary Erin Barra, for Berklee College of Music.

It’s a little less in-depth than that offered by CalArt on Kadenze, but it should get you up and running in Ableton live in no time.

You can pay to have access to assignments and the certificate, but you can also audit for free.

What? Did you think I would let that out? I’m not talking much about it. All I am going to say is, if you want to become a pro in Ableton Live, you should read the manual. That’s right, RTFM! Sorry to be rude, but it’s true. The website has also a Live Learning section. There, you can get to know the fundamentals of Live, from setting up audio and MIDI hardware, to using Live’s Session and Arrangement views. Oh! And don’t forget the Forum Ableton Live!

As I am writing this, I just found out that there are local user groups for you to engage and catch up with! Check it out too!

Even the software has some in-built lessons, which come with projects designed to teach you specific topics. Simply go to Help > Help view, and the “Welcome to Ableton Live” sidebar will appear. At the very bottom of that page, you can click “Show all built in lessons”.

To top it off, check their interactive learning webpage. It’s really fun!

Honourable Mention

Get your Ableton Crush on at Reddit and Network

Ableton Beasts chill on Reddit all day. It’s your duty to check it all out.

If you’re on the internet, you probably came across Reddit. Forums are excellent places to get in touch with other users and learn something new through meaningful interactions. I highly recommend /r/Ableton, for specific content, and /r/WeAreTheMusicMakers, for general music production content.

Got any more leads or suggestions? Make a comment and let us know!