u/chagoms

At work, I had an empty office that I used during my lunch break to make music in Ableton. I was honestly so happy with just my MacBook Air M1 and my Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pros. I felt like I had everything I needed.

Unfortunately, the company needed the room, and now it has become a storage room for office stuff. It honestly broke my heart because that little space was my safe place.

Now I have to go to cafés, but they always have music playing and I can never really concentrate.

So I’m wondering: is there a good pair of headphones with ANC that actually works well for music production? I’d like to make music during my lunch break in different cafés until I find the right place.

Any suggestions?

I’ve been using Ableton for quite a while and lately I’ve been experimenting more with sequencers combined with arpeggiators and other devices that manipulate MIDI.

I’m wondering if there’s a faster way to capture the MIDI that comes out of a sequencer after it’s been processed by other devices. I know Stings (the Max for Live device) has a button to turn the generated MIDI into a clip, but the SQ sequencers included with Ableton Suite don’t seem to have anything like that. Is there a Max for Live device or another method that makes this workflow faster than creating a new MIDI track and recording the output in real time?

Hi everyone,

I might have the opportunity to perform an ambient set (30-40 min), followed by a live improvisation with synths and other instruments. I'm really excited, but I'm looking for inspiration on how other artists approach this kind of performance.

I'm not necessarily looking for technical tutorials—I'd love to watch great ambient DJ sets, hybrid sets, or live performances where the transitions, pacing, atmosphere, and storytelling are especially well done.

If you have any favorite artists, YouTube sets, festivals, or hidden gems that made you think, "this is how ambient should be performed," I'd really appreciate the recommendations.

My background is more in music production than DJing, so I'm trying to understand how people keep an ambient set engaging while still allowing the music to breathe.

Thanks in advance!

(P.S. English isn't my native language, so I used ChatGPT to help me write this.)

Hey everyone,

I'm about to do my first proper live set and I'm honestly pretty nervous.

A bit of context: I've been using Ableton for about a 1-2 year. I also improvise regularly with a friend who plays handpan. We've done lots of casual sessions together camping, parks, hanging out with friends. I usually accompany her with a couple of Korg Volcas and a Roland Mobile Cube, and we're both really comfortable improvising that way.

The thing is... she got involved in a project for a brand, and somehow (very quickly, without me really realizing how serious it had become) we ended up committing to perform a one-hour live set.

The plan is roughly:

• ~45 minutes of ambient/electronic music. (DJ SET)
• ~20 minutes of live improvisation with synths, handpan, and maybe some ASMR textures for a meditation. (ABLETON)
• ~20 minutes of an ambient outro. (DJ SET)

I'd really like to do the whole thing inside Ableton instead of bringing the Volcas. It feels more professional, and honestly this seems like the perfect opportunity to finally perform the way I've always imagined.

I'm very comfortable working in Session View, and I've built a template with atmospheric pads, drones, textures, transitions, return effects, and everything is organized in a way that makes sense to me.

My current setup is:

Ableton 12 Suit

• MacBook Air M1 (recently serviced)
• Arturia KeyLab 61 MK3 (great in the studio, but it's pretty big to move around)
• Novation Launch Control XL MK3 (I'm still getting used to the knobs and layout)
• Korg nanoKONTROL2
• Arturia MiniFuse interface

The ASMR microphones will go into the MiniFuse in stereo so I can process them with Ableton effects.

I'm not really a keyboard player. I mostly play simple chords that fit the handpan and improvise textures around them.

The audience will be around 20 people, all using wireless headphones (silent party style), and there will be a dedicated sound engineer, so I'm not too worried about the audio side.

What I'm really looking for advice on is performing with Ableton itself.

For those of you who actually play live with Ableton:

• What are the biggest mistakes first-timers make?
• What do you wish someone had told you before your first show?
• Is there anything in your setup that has saved you during a performance?
• How much do you improvise versus pre-arrange?
• What would you absolutely avoid doing?
• Any tips for staying calm when something unexpected happens?

I'm also wondering if buying a dedicated clip launcher would actually make my life easier. I could spend up to about $400 USD if it's really worth it.

Would you recommend something like a Launchpad Pro or an APC40?

More than gear recommendations, I'm looking for advice from people who have actually been on stage with Ableton. I know this isn't a huge show, but it's still my first one, and I'd rather learn from other people's mistakes than make all of them myself.

Thanks!

P.S. English isn't my first language, so I used ChatGPT to help me write this post. I hope that's okay!