The following playlist contains 46 videos from the official Ableton Live website and 1 unofficial video. I like Ableton’s official website and encourage you to check it out but I feel it is missing a clearly guided pathway of instructional videos for beginners new to the program. I have curated this collection of essential videos for musicians and producers looking to understand and use Ableton Live.
The idea behind this collection is that these videos are intended to be watched in the order set out below. Ableton Live is a complex program. There is a lot to learn. These videos venture a little bit beyond the essentials but not far.
You will find that some of these videos cover the same sections and techniques. This is a mix of videos from Live’s official website originally issued with Live 9 and Live 10 versions of the software. Those videos which go over the same material - for example Video 7 Session View (Live 10) and Video 14 Session View (Live 9) - are intentional because it is important for beginners to properly grasp these essential foundations of the program.
Video 1 is a flashy overview of what the software can do. Videos 2-6 are short videos navigating the different sections of Live and getting you familiar with the user interface. Videos 7-9 acquaint you with the key Session and Arrangement Views in Live. 10 and 11 look at audio tracks and setup while 12 and 13 look at MIDI tracks and setup. Videos 14-16 are reminders of how Session and Arrangement View work. 17-19 look at the Browser and using samples and plugins in Live. Videos 20-24 take a more detailed view of working with MIDI. 25-28 look at further editing, arrangement and automation of clips (both MIDI and audio).
The rest of the videos explore more specific functionalities of Live. Videos 33 and 34 look at device racks which can easily get quite complex but are an important part of making music with Ableton Live. The devices making up these racks are MIDI instruments and audio effects. Videos 37 - 40 all focus on just one of these devices, Live’s standard sample editor called Simpler. Videos 41-43 cover three audio effect devices. Video 44 shows off Ableton’s latest synthesiser, Wavetable (only available with the Full Suite version of the software).
This series of videos draws to an end with a bit of housekeeping in videos 45 and 46 looking at preferences and keyboard shortcuts. Video 47 is the only video not made by Ableton in this series and it’s also by far the longest video in the list: Don't Panic! Ableton Live Explained in 37 minutes or less.
If you are a user with some experience of Ableton Live but still lacking clarity or smoothness with your workflow experience (things not quite working as you expect them to) I recommend watching this last video. It’s a very helpful guide to overcoming the problems new users meet when coming to Ableton Live.
The combined total duration of these videos is about 3.5 hours.
What is Ableton Live?
Live's User Interface (Live 10)
Detail View (Live 10)
Browser - Overview (Live 10)
Help View (Live 10)
Tracks (Live 10)
Session View (Live 10)
Arrangement View (Live 10)
Moving between Session and Arrangement Views (Live 10)
Setting up an audio interface (Live 10)
Recording Audio (Live 9)
MIDI Controller Setup (Live 9)
MIDI Beats and Melodies (Live 9)
Session View (Live 9)
Session View Shortcuts (Live 10)
Session View to Arrangement View (Live 9)
Browser - In Depth (Live 10)
Using your sounds and samples (Live 10)
Using third-party plug-ins (Live 10)
Recording MIDI (Live 10)
Quantizing MIDI (Live 10)
Sequencing MIDI (Live 10)
Editing MIDI Clips (Live 10)
Keys and Scales (Live 11)
Editing Clips in Arrangement View (Live 10)
Warping Clips (Live 10)
Automation vs Modulation (Live 10)
Arrangement View automation (Live 10)
MIDI Mapping (Live 10)
Grouping Tracks (Live 10)
Exporting (Live 10)
What is in a Pack? (Live 10)
Racks - Overview (Live 11)
Racks in Depth (Live 11)
Saving presets (Live 10)
Sidechaining audio (Live 10)
Simpler: Classic Mode (Live 9)
Simpler: One Shot Mode (Live 9)
Simpler: Slicing Mode (Live 9)
Warping in Simpler (Live 9)
Channel EQ (Live 10)
Delay (Live 10)
Drum Buss (Live 10)
Wavetable Overview (Live 11)
Setting your preferences (Live 10)
Basic Keyboard Shortcuts (Live 10)
Don't Panic! Ableton Live Explained in 37 minutes or less