Breathe life into your MIDI parts in Ableton Live
PROBLEM: How can I make my programmed MIDI instruments sound more realistic?
Using MIDI is a fantastic and incredibly flexible way to compose with software instruments and samplers. Wherever you are, you can use your computer mouse or trackpad to draw notes into the MIDI Editor grid, or even use the computer keyboard as a virtual piano, arm to record, and play them in. There’s just one problem – these programmed parts can sound flat and lifeless when they’re compared to recordings of real instruments and real performances. It’s true that sometimes a robotic non-vibe is a beautiful thing in its own right, but there’s something about the sound and feel that live instruments bring to a mix, which is hard to replicate when entering notes in a very clinical way.
Ever tried programming a realistic guitar part? Yikes! Lucky for us,
Ableton Live 10 has an extensive array of tools that’ll help us to overcome the MIDI blues, and get our beats, basses, and bleeps, sounding that little bit more convincing.
About The Author
Martin Delaney has been using and teaching Ableton Live since 2001, and is an Ableton Certified Trainer. You can follow him on Instagram @abletonlive.london 01
A groove is a combination of timing and velocity variations. They’re located under Packs/Core Library/Swing and Groove. Drag one onto a programmed beat, and edit the parameters in the Groove Pool. You can also control- or right-click to extract a groove from another clip or recording.
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Variations in velocity (volume) are a vital part of getting a ‘live feel’. You can edit them in a clip, but it’s better to use the Velocity MIDI Effect Device to create random variations throughout the entire length of a track. Hint: it’s all about adjusting the Random value. 03
Convolution Reverb imparts the characteristics of a real space to your programmed creations, and it’s the best possible way to get a real world sound! You’ll need Live Suite with Max For Live; it’s even possible to add in your own sampled spaces with the Convolution Reverb Pro device. 04
Quantisation means the process of automatically correcting timings. Overdoing this can take the breath from your part. Use shift-cmd-u to view Quantize settings, and use the Amount control to mix in the corrected part – you can have the best of both worlds!