Track Building Tips for Ableton Live: Jacky
Do you struggle to arrange your music into a full track that takes you somewhere? Don’t worry, we’ve got you, we’ve got man of the moment Jacky giving his track building tips for Ableton Live.
Jacky is known for big-hearted, high impact productions. With a number of them hitting the Beatport charts and getting plays from heavy hitters like Skream and Marco Carola, he knows what he is talking about.
Here is a selection of professional insights for building a track, taken from one of Jacky’s tutorials for Mixmasters:
Track Building: Producer Insights
- Use sidechain compression so that your kick and bassline can live in harmony in your mix.
- To quickly build arrangements use consolidate (command or control + J) on clips, set them to loop and then expand the clip.
- To get out of a loop:
- Begin by building a 16-bar pattern,
- Duplicate this to 32.
- Automate a filter on the first 16 to cut out the low end, so you have a sketch of a breakdown.
- Duplicate the 32-bar loop across your arrangement so you have a sketch to start working on.
- Begin removing elements to add progression and intrigue to your track.
- Layer your bassline to give it an extra dimension.
- When it comes to key for most elements of your track, if it sounds right leave it, but make sure that your kick and bass are in key.
- Remove elements of your track in the build-up to create a powerful drop.
Full Tutorial Description:
- Creating basslines that hold interest.
- Using vocal loops low in the mix to fill out your track.
- Using compression, EQ, Saturator, and a filter to add power whilst keeping snap, in basslines.
- Creating a 32-bar loop that can be duplicated and used as the framework to develop a whole track.
- How to remove elements to build suspense and add progression to your track.
- Creating a build-up.
- Adding movement to risers.
- Using the transient envelope on loops to give your track more groove.
- How to EQ kick and bass to get the best sound.
- Q and A section.
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