How to use Ableton Templates to speed your workflow

I’m sure that like me, you want to spend your time creatively, rather than drowning in the technical aspects of your chosen DAW, then anything that helps speed up your workflow is important.

In Ableton Live, using templates is one of the biggest time savers when starting a new project. Ableton comes ready loaded with a set of templates which you can use. Look under the Live 8 Library and you will find the Ableton Master Template folder. Double-click any of these templates to load them.

However, that’s only the start as you can add your own Audio and Midi tracks with your preferred devices and effects and save this as your own template.

Use ‘File/Save Live Set as‘ and place it in Ableton’s Template folder in the Ableton Library. As an example, you may choose to add an EQ 8 and Compressor to each Audio track and a Simpler to each Midi track.

Note : the default template used when you create a new set, resides in Live’s Preferences folder rather than in the Library, so If you want your template to be the default one each time you open Ableton use ‘Options/Preferences/File Folder‘ and click the ‘Save Current Set as Default‘ option.

Personalize

The tracks you want in your Template will depend on your workflow and the instruments you have. The default contents for each audio / midi channel will also be your personal choice, however, you might imagine to add a Compressor to drum tracks and a Reverb to Hi-Hats for example.

A good tip is if you add many instruments and effects to your tracks, switch them off to save computing power. De-activated devices in Ableton use no power so you can add as many as you may need – only switch them on when you need them.

Think of it like walking into a fully equipped recording studio with all the instruments laid out ready for you to start creating.

Here is the Arrangement View from my Template

Some highlights are:

• Colour your tracks to help speed navigation

• Set the devices and effects you want in your Audio tracks – I have an SSL Channel strip

• Set the devices and effects you want for each Midi track – I have a Simpler

• I have a ‘Master Mix’ track for Mastering to

• I have a ‘Faders Up’ track for rough mixes that I can export audio from to listen on other systems e.g. in the car the following day

• Next is a ‘Reference’ track containing commercial track excerpts that I can reference against split into instrument types with the tonal balance you’re looking for – ideally something that hasn’t been totally decimated in mastering

The Session View of my Template

Camelot Harmonic mixing wheel

Harmonic Mixing is an advanced technique used by top DJs all over the world. By mixing tracks that are in the same or related keys you can eliminate key clashes. Many professional DJs move around the Camelot wheel with every mix. If you are not sure how to find the key of a song you could try using Mixed In Key software.

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Camelot Harmonic mixing wheel

To select a compatible song, choose a keycode within one ‘hour’ of your current keycode. If the song you are playing is in 8A (A minor), you can play 7A, 8A or 9A next. If you are in 12A, you can play 11A, 12A or 1A. This mix will be smooth every time.

You can also mix between inner and outer wheels if you stay in the same ‘hour’. For example, try mixing from 8A (A minor) to 8B (C Major – the relative Major) and notice the change in melody as you go from Minor to Major.

Harmonic mixing is a simple technique, but it opens up a world of creativity.

Meet Twin Sister

This is Mr Twin Sister, an American band from Long Island. The band formed in 2008 when the five members of Twin Sister came together to work on Vampires With Dreaming Kids. They relocated to Brooklyn where they built a small following. Their EP ‘Color Your Life’ was released on Domino Records in the UK and Infinite Best in the USA. You can find more about the band on their website here.

A bit of trivia – the lead singer, Andrea Estella replaced Leighton Meester as Carrie Bishop in the Kickstarter funded Veronica Mars Movie (2014)

I’m really excited to tell you that I have just started work on a remix of their April 2011 work ‘Meet the Frownies’. I’ll let you know how that works out sometime soon.

Stage work in progress – Cinderella

Cinderella

Once upon a time a group of British ex-pats got together and decided that it was a pity that their children were missing out on one of the great British traditions of the festive season – PANTOMIME. Out of this discussion came the decision to put on a performance and so the Secret Panto Society was born.

The name was decided upon, not with any intention to keep people out or become some sort of creed but with a genuine desire to surprise and delight that first audience. This first performance took place in 1984 with a production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

At the moment I am in the early stages of working on musical ideas for the 2015 production of Cinderella.

Our version will be based in Italy and much as I would love to go into all the details – that would really be giving away the plot. You’ll just have to come and see.

Emotion

At this early stage my first consideration is to look at the emotional flow of the pantomime. It is important that the audience is taken on an emotional journey during the performance, where they feel uplifted, sad, happy, excited, anxious, etc. These emotions must be carefully controlled not only through the script of the pantomime but also by the use of music and and background ‘atmospherics’. Atmospherics (my name) are the background sounds ranging from low bass drones, to birdsong, to machine hums. Some of these may be subliminal but all of them will add to the production.

Emotion curve

To begin this work I read through the script and draw an emotion curve to show the emotional flow over time.

My favourite emotion curve is based on classical geometry and the Golden Ratio. You find this relationship all around in nature and in classical Greek architecture. Johann Sebastian Bach frequently employed the Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci series in his compositions. In very simplistic terms, it means that the major climaxes of his music often mark the 61.8% of the length of a composition and that unique events (such as modulations, cadences, extended harmonies, new voice entrances, or register changes) fall on the divisions of the Fibonacci (who was appropriately Italian) series.

The songs, dances and atmospherics are then chosen to fit this curve, whilst also remaining appropriate for the audience and performers. In the case of this production, as it is based in Italy, all musical choices will attempt to have Italian elements – think Gondolas, canals, carnivals, masks and all things sparkly, glitzy and twinkly.

Walk down and curtain calls

Composition templates

Working alone in your studio, unaware of what is happening in the outside world, and then being shocked when you suddenly notice it is three-o-clock in the morning. These events will be very familiar to many of you and like me you will have tried many methods to streamline your workflow. There are many articles which ask about your motivation, inspiration, drive to succeed. Do you practice your art in the right way, using the appropriate tools, during the most optimal hours of the day?

Heck, no, I don’t. My work methods leave much to be desired. So I always try to take steps to improve the situation.

OK, you probably created a template in your DAW so that when you begin a new song you are up-and-ready to go straight away – like entering a studio with all your favourite instruments around you, switched on, and ready to go. However, that may not be enough.

What I realised is that every new piece I worked on proceeded in a hap-hazard, disorganised way – I wanted to do better and at the same time try to learn from my experiences (both good and bad). To do this I created a music composition template where I could record all aspects of the song I was currently working on and keep notes of which parts gave me trouble and which parts delighted me (it could happen).

I searched around for an appropriate and simple way to control and use this template. I tried MS Word, One-Note and a host of other software tools found on-line. Finally I have settled on a method which seems quite simple. In my Evernote account I created a note with a tag called ‘song check-list template’ and every time I start a new piece I copy this template to a new note and add a tag called ‘song checklist’. This way I have a check-list for every piece I work on which can be sent by email or printed or just sits there. The beauty is that it can be found easily because the notes are saved in a separate Notebook called ‘Song project information’. Of course the notes can be searched using Evernote’s powerful search function.

Here is my template. I hope it helps you and would welcome feedback on any method you use.

I am not a true artist. I am sorry.

Slick EQ

Here is another wonderful free (hard to believe because this one is so smooth) filtering/saturation plugin. It comes from Tokyo Dawn Records.

Three (and a half) filter-bands arranged in a classic Low/Mid/High semi-parametric layout offer fast and intuitive access to four distinct EQ modes, each representing a set of distinct EQ curves and behaviours. An elaborate auto gain option automatically compensates for changes of perceived loudness during EQ operation. Optionally, SlickEQ allows to exclusively process either the stereo sum or stereo difference (i.e. “stereo width”) without additional sum/difference encoding.

In order to warm up the material with additional harmonic content, SlickEQ offers a switchable EQ non-linearity and an output stage with 3 different saturation models. These options are meant to offer subtle and interesting textures, rather than obvious distortion. The effect is made to add the typical “mojo” often associated with classy audio gear.

You get to choose from four different EQ models – American, British, German or Soviet EQ. In use SlickEQ is very smooth and gives a real warmness to your sound. Absolutely recommended.

Download for free from Tokyo Dawn Records here

Band with no name

During the month of October 2013 I met with the members of a band from Hamburg in Germany and was excited to be invited to one of their rehearsals. As was fairly typical for Hamburg, the evening of the rehearsal we had heavy snowfall and getting to the rehearsal was quite an adventure.

Band members are currently Stephie who is the band vocalist, Stefan on bass and lead guitar, Lazlo on lead guitar and Dirk on drums.

The band produce a tight sound in the classic rock genre with many of the pieces being written by the lead guitarist, Lazlo. The sound they produce is well balanced although there is sometimes a tendency to push Stephie’s vocals to the limit when she is placed in competition with the lead guitar; however, we were in a rehearsal situation with no final microphone placement or balancing being done.

The whole group work very hard and I look forward to hearing the progress at some future date.

Crazy English Halcyon

My mashup of Faithless (Crazy English Summer) vs. Orbital (Halcyon) featuring the beautiful vocals of Zoe Johnston. The bass gave me grief, DX came good, 127 bpm in AMaj

Zoe Johnstone

Getting the vocals warped correctly took me hours and hours – great learning experience. Struggled to get a good bass sound for all the notes. Some gave a hollow phased sound. Doubled the bass and offset by 5ms (Haas effect) to try to thicken the sound – partially successful. I now know that bass should never be treated in this way – keep it mono – always.