Making Music with Clips and Loops

Making Music with Clips and Loops 

Go to the Videos from the Lesson

By the end of the lesson, you will:

- Understand the structure and purpose of Session View.

- Import, launch, and manipulate audio clips and sample loops.

- Build musical scenes using clip combinations.

- Explore looping, tempo, and clip properties.

Materials Needed

- Ableton Live 12 (Intro or Suite)

- Headphones / earphones

- Ableton Live packs (e.g., Loopmasters Mixtape Pack)

- Optional: MIDI controller for clip launching 

1. MIDI Clips and Audio Clips

Let's load the Demo Project again

This is a MIDI Clip

This is an Audio Clip

2. Editing Clips

2.1 What is Session View?

What they do

• Clip Launch (triangle)
  
• Clip Stop (square)
• Track Stop (square at bottom of Track)
• Scene Launch (triangle at the extreme right (Main) Track)

Each vertical column (Track) can play only one clip at a time. 

Each horizontal row (Scene) can play all clips at the same time.

2.2 Import Clips to Start Editing 

A. Use the browser to find and drag Clips into Clip slots. Note that MIDI Clips must go into MIDI Tracks and Audio Clips must go into Audio Tracks. If you can't tell whether it's a MIDI Clip or an Audio Clip, just drag it into the empty space marked "Drop Files and Devices Here"

B. You can minimize the Clip View panels by double-clicking the clip title bar or selecting the Fold option from the title bar context menu.

C. For a MIDI Clip the 1st panel includes clip region, loop, time signature, groove, and scale settings.

Read more about this at https://www.ableton.com/en/live-manual/12/clip-view/#clip-view

D. Still on MIDI Clips, the 2nd (Extended) Clip Properties panel contains the clip launch controls and MIDI bank/program controls. These are used for live performance.

E. For Audio Clips, the Audio Utilities panel contains warping tools, options for reversing and editing the sample, controls for adjusting the sample’s tempo, gain, or transposition.

3. Launching Clips (Beat and Music Loops) in Session View

Each vertical column (Track) can play only one clip at a time. 

Each horizontal row (Scene) can play all clips at the same time.

3.1 How to download and install an Ableton Live Pack

3.2 The difference between MIDI clips and Audio clips in Ableton Live

3.3 Making a song with MIDI Clips and Sample Loops from Chop and Swing Ableton Live Pack