A few notes about getting started, what to expect, and how to get the most out of this course.

An overview of what we will be covering in this section. Don't worry - it won't be all that technical!

We typically think of two things that we need to record: A computer, and a microphone. But there is one other piece of the puzzle that is essential.

Now that we know what our hardware looks like, in this section we will walk through how to set it all up.

What to look for in a microphone, the different kinds of microphones, and my personal recommendations.

Microphone placement techniques could be a whole other class, but in this video I'll give you a few tips to get a clean sound and avoid some common issues.

Back to Ableton Live! A brief explanation of Monitor Modes - very, very important for home-studio situations in which feedback could be a big (and dangerous) problem.

We will start recording into Arrangement View, using a single microphone (but multiple tracks).

Now that we can cleanly record a single microphone in Arrangement View, in this section we will look at recording multiple microphones at once - a situation you would need to record a band.

Now lets look at tracking in Session View. It is mostly the same, but has a few things that work different that you need to know about.

Overdubbing is a way of re-recording something for a second take. Punching In is a much smoother way to do that, and in Ableton Live, we have a few smooth tricks for getting the "punch" exactly right.

In this video we will talk about what will be covered in this section, and make sure we are all up to speed on some terms.

The hardware you need to do MIDI recording can be simple and inexpensive if you know what to look for.

Once we've selected our MIDI controller (keyboard or something else), we need to tell Ableton Live a few things about it to get it setup correctly.

In order to make sense of MIDI in Ableton Live, we need to understand a little more background about MIDI. In this video we will walk through what MIDI is, and what an "Instrument" is.

Now we can get down to business! In this video we will walk through setting up a track and recording into Arrangement View.

Now that we've conquered Session View for MIDI recording, we will now look over at Session View.

One of the biggest advantages that working with MIDI has is our ability to Quantize. In this section I'll explain what that means, and do a few demonstrations.

Warping is a powerful element in Ableton Live. In this introduction I'll explain some key concepts about it.

What Warping is, What it is not, and how to take advantage of it.

In this section we get into the real details of warping: Setting Warp Markers, and helping Live to understand the clip.

We can help Live to understand our clip a little more by adjusting the Warp Modes. In this video we will walk through the different Warp Modes and look at what they are best used for.

Sometimes we might want to warp a clip "incorrectly" for musical purposes. This tends to result in granulation artifacts, which can make some interesting sounds if you use them well.

A few parting thoughts, where to go from here, and things to explore.

The next class is coming soon!

You've come this far... maybe you are willing to go a little further...

When it comes to microphones, you need the right tool for the job. In this video I'll show you a case for when a nicer dynamic mic is not the right choice.

Someone asked: Can I record two tracks at once in session view? YES! This is how.

I've received a lot of questions about just navigating the time line (Arrangement view). This video is an excerpt from the next class (Ultimate Ableton Live 3) in which we cover Timeline commands, and some navigation tricks. 

There is so much more to learn!