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Ableton Live Tips & Tricks

Ableton Live is used for live performances by Apell. Techniques used and covered include pitch shifitng of samples, live bass guitar sampling with a midi foot controller and creating smooth transitions between tracks.

Pitch Shifting & Time Stretching of Samples in Ableton Live

One of the coolest features in Ableton Live is the ability to pitch shift and time stretch audio samples in real time with no audio glitches or drop-outs.

I pitch shift the drums using the Transpose Control which is shown when you select a sample in the Session View to create digital and distorted sounding beats from the extremely high pitched to low subs. Also if you know the key of the song and the pitch of the corresponding audio sample you can adjust it play the sample’s melody at different but harmonically related notes to the song. For example if the song is in E minor and the sample plays E G B notes you can pitch shift / transpose it up 3 notes to play G B D notes and it will still sound “in tune” as it is creating an E minor 7 chord over an E bass note.

The timing of samples can also be manipulated in real time. The most basic things that works well is the doubling or halving of the speed of the samples. To use this feature ensure that the Warp setting is highlighted. I use this on drum and instrument samples to create rhythmic variations in a track. It is also particularly useful for creating “drum fills” to create variations in a static drum loop and to make the beats more interesting.

When these techniques are combined together on a sample or even multiple samples you can create music that sounds nothing like the original samples! A good example of all of these Pitch Shifting and Time Stretching techniques is the track ESCOTSN which is a remix ofExciting Soul Cock of the Stirring North in Ableton Live.