How to Use Ableton Live To Play Accompaniment Tracks

With Ableton Live software the possibilities are numerous, whether you want to use it to play a simple accompaniment track or create a real-time orchestral masterpiece. The controls in Ableton are very intuitive, making the learning curve not as deep as it is in many other audio programs. Many musicians swear by the program and it is well worth your time to see what Ableton Live can do for you.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Open the Ableton Live program on your computer.

2. Open a new Live Set, by choosing "File > New Live Set" from the main menu.

3. Find a piece of audio in the file browser. Click on the file browser in the left column and locate the audio file on your computer that you want to use as the accompaniment track. You can choose an mp3, WAV, or AIFF file.

4. Drag the audio file into one of the empty slots in the session view. If you are not in session view already, press the tab key. For this example, choose the audio slot on track 1.

5. Click the play arrow on track 1. Your audio will begin to play.

6. Press the stop button to stop the audio from playing once you are finished.

Tips & Warnings

• If you would like to build the arrangement into something even more complex, add more audio or sound effects into the other empty audio slots in the session view. The possibilities are literally endless.