Ableton for Music Creators and Artists
Course 5: Studio Recording

In earlier courses, you’ve recorded vocals, instruments, and other elements of your song to act as placeholders until you get into the studio–and that time is now! Recording in the studio is much different than recording in your bedroom, basement, or anywhere else because it’s made specifically for this purpose. By removing any and all background noise, you’ll be able to capture just the vocals.

In Course 5, you’ll learn about what you need to bring with you when coming to the studio, including a spreadsheet of what you’ll be working on. Renting studio space isn’t cheap (at least a good studio isn’t cheap), so save time at the start by being prepared. You’ll learn how to create stems of your music (the different tracks of your song) and an mp3 of the version of the song you want to sing along with.

You’ll continue to learn about Ableton’s features in this course, including the mixer and signal flow functions. You’ll learn how to adjust the volume, pan, mute, and solo operations, configure inputs and outputs, and review monitor settings. As part of your homework, you’ll spend some time with these features and learn how to incorporate them into your mix.

You’ll head over to Splice on your digital field trip to learn about how to buy plug-ins as you go as a way to keep costs down. You’ll also listen to The Joshua Tree by U2, paying close attention to the overall vibe, the production value, the mix techniques, and which songs caught your ears the most.