Online Undergraduate-Level Course
Ableton Live Techniques: Non-Linear Creative Strategies and Composition
12 Weeks
Level 3
3-Credit Tuition
$1,545Non-Credit Tuition
$1,290This course is for students who are interested in taking a deep dive into composing with Ableton Live by leveraging unique and powerful linear and non-linear creative techniques inside the software. You will master a number of linear and non-linear compositional practices that are only possible using advanced Ableton Live tools and techniques.
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Collaborate remotely with another producer and manage all necessary files in the process
- Use Audio Effect, MIDI Effect, Instrument, and Drum Racks in Live to complement user-specific workflow
- Interact with Live in real time, using computer generative techniques
- Incorporate visuals into Live sets
- Experiment with song form
- Create an environment for improvisation
- Integrate improvisation into your production and compositional workflow
- Create strong musical connections to stories and narratives found in your compositions
- Create a generative Max for Live patch
- Learn about possible career paths which leverage Live’s unique non-linear functionality
Syllabus
Lesson 1: Sample Manipulation and Session View Review
- Importing/Managing Samples in Session View
- Clips
- Warping
- Simpler
- Assignment 1: Collaboration Preparation
Lesson 2: Collaboration and Arrangement View Review
- Downloading, Opening, and Managing a Collaborators Session
- Session to Arrangement
- Editing, Automating, and Exporting
- Collaboration Techniques and Philosophies
- Assignment 2: Collaborative Arrangement
Lesson 3: Collaging: Prepping for Greatness
- What Are Sonic Signatures?
- Selector Kits
- Racks: Drum, Instrument, Audio Effect, MIDI Effect
- Building a User Library
- Assignment 3: Developing Your Sonic Signature
Lesson 4: Reactive Compositions
- Follow Actions and Launching Behaviors
- Dummy Clips
- Unlinked Envelopes and Chain Selector
- Creating a Reactive Composition
- Assignment 4: Create a Reactive Composition
Lesson 5: Filming to Score
- Images and Video
- Film Scoring in Reverse
- Real-Time Visuals
- Recording and Exporting Video
- Assignment 5: Video Editing to a Score
Lesson 6: Development Analysis
- Exposition and Motivic Development
- Development and Contrast
- Recapitulation and Productive Repetition
- Assignment 6: Development Analysis
Lesson 7: Jamming
- Why Jam?
- Jamming Techniques 1: Duo
- Jamming Techniques 2: Solo
- Session—Arrangement
- Assignment 7: Jam
Lesson 8: Improvised Composition
- Assess the Jam
- Edit the Jam
- From Jam to Playground
- Playground Jam
- Assignment 8: Improvised Composition
Lesson 9: Prosody
- Prosody 1
- Harmonic, Melodic, and Rhythmic Prosody
- Sonic, Workflow, and Form Prosody
- Assignment 9: Define Your Final Project
Lesson 10: Stable/Unstable
- Prosody 2
- Stable/Unstable Harmony, Melody, Rhythm
- Stable/Unstable Phrases, Pacing, and Systems
- Outlining a Plot
- Assignment 10: Rough Draft
Lesson 11: Being Effected
- Prosody 3
- Prosody of Effects Processors
- Spatial Prosody
- Critical Listening and Assessment
- Assignment 11: Final Project Submission
Lesson 12: Looking Forward
- Career Possibilities
- Generative Max Programing
- Interview with Adriano Clement
- Interview of with Steve Nalepa
- Interview with Shantell Ogden
- Interview with King Britt
- Assignment 12: Peer Review
Requirements
Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements
Prerequisite Courses, Knowledge, and/or Skills
Completion of Ableton Live Fundamentals or a strong understanding of the basic functionality of Ableton Live is required.
Textbook(s)
- No textbooks required
Software
- Ableton Live 12 Suite
- Max for Live Essentials (separate installation included with Live Suite)
Hardware
- MIDI controller
- Audio interface
- One of the following studio monitoring options (both recommended):
- Studio monitors (pair), such as JBL 305Ps or better, as well as necessary cables
- Over-ear studio headphones, such as Sennheiser HD 600, Sony MDR-7506, Philips SHP9500, Audio-Technica ATH-M50x, etc.
Student Deals
After enrolling, be sure to check out our Student Deals page for various offers on software, hardware, and more. Please contact support@online.berklee.edu with any questions.
General Course Requirements
Below are the minimum requirements to access the course environment and participate in Live Classes. Please make sure to also check the Prerequisites and Course-Specific Requirements section above, and ensure your computer meets or exceeds the minimum system requirements for all software needed for your course.
Mac Users
PC Users
All Users
- Latest version of Google Chrome
- Zoom meeting software
- Webcam
- Speakers or headphones
- External or internal microphone
- Broadband Internet connection
Instructors
Author
Loudon Stearns is an associate professor at Berklee College of Music, a course author and instructor at Berklee Online, and an active media-artist. Within the Contemporary Writing and Production department at Berklee College of Music, he prepares students to work as independent composers and producers in a technology-laden music industry. Online, he focuses on the latest electronic music styles and music-technology innovations, showing students how to analyze contemporary styles and use the latest music technology in their own works. An innovator in both education and art, Loudon authored a Massive Open Online Class, "Introduction to Music Production," that has provided high-quality free education to hundreds of thousands of students, received an award from the University Professional and Continuing Education Association for "Excellence in Teaching" and received the "Excellence in Media Art" award from the Emerson College Visual and Media Art department.
Holding a Bachelor of Music in Contemporary Writing and Production and Bass Performance from Berklee College of Music, and a Master of Fine Arts in Media Art from Emerson College, Loudon pulls from a broad range of skills in the creation of his own multi-media performances that include live music, projection-mapping, dance, visual art and interactivity. Of particular interest is using the entire world as a performance space by using internet streaming to coordinate numerous performers and audiences on vastly different parts of the globe. The technical and aesthetic challenges of this type of performance are new and exciting and require the sort of broad skill-set that Loudon has developed through his extensive institutional and self education in music, sound, performance, motion graphics, photography, programming, and construction. Read Less
Author
Erin Barra has been a key player in the creative process of many projects from conception to final master to stage performance. With a wide ranging skill set (educator, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, music technology consultant), she enables people to create content they’re personally invested in and execute their ideas.
Specializing in music technology integration, she works with artists and bands looking to integrate laptops and digital technologies into their writing, production and stage setups, and has developed, taught and executed several music technology curriculums at the open source (Coursera and ROLI), K-12 (Beats By Girlz), and collegiate levels (Berklee College of Music, Berklee Online).
An authoritative voice in music, tech, and education, Barra is the Director of Popular Music at Arizona State University, Executive Director of Beats By Girlz, course developer for Berklee Online and former Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Specializing in composition, performance, and creative music technology application, she has worked with and represented companies such as Ableton, Splice, ROLI, MusicTech, Moog, and iZotope. She has presented at Loop, NAMM, SXSW, Moogfest, Gearfest, KIEM, Future of Music Coalition, Yale’s EXPOL, and Re-Mixed Media Festival. Check out Barra’s work as an artist on all platforms, and catch her live electronic performances on YouTube. Read Less
Instructor
Dennis DeSantis is a composer, sound designer, percussionist, and author. He received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Eastman School of Music. His electronic music appears on labels such as Ghostly, Global Underground, Cocoon and Kanzleramt, and he has performed throughout North America, Europe, and Japan. DeSantis is the Head of Documentation for Ableton, and previously worked as a sound designer for Native Instruments.
What's Next?
When taken for credit, Ableton Live Techniques: Non-Linear Creative Strategies and Composition can be applied towards the completion of these related programs:
Related Certificate Programs
Related Degree Majors
Questions?
Contact our Academic Advisors by phone at 1-866-BERKLEE (U.S.), 1-617-747-2146 (INT'L), or by email at advisors@online.berklee.edu.
