Ableton has rounded up the best production tips shared throughout its One Thing video series, which has just reached its 100th episode.
The series launched back in 2017, and has since showcased a multitude of artists’ top tips for making music in short, bite-sized snippets. In a new blog post, you’ll find all the best tips shared from the series on topics such as sampling and sound design, to the more broader side of music making such as mindset and getting started.
“Back in 2017, we started the One Thing video series with the idea of bringing you monthly snack-sized portions of music-making inspiration directly from the workspaces of amazing artists around the world,” says Ableton.
“Having now reached our 100th One Thing episode, we wanted to take a look back, thank the artists for their generosity and give you an overview of all the topics covered (there’s a bunch!). Check out the thematic breakdown below – we’re sure you’ll find a few things you can use in your own work right away.”
From the round up, here’s just a few of the top tips shared:
Catnapp on breaking habits
“One thing I do when I get stuck is try and shift my perspective a little bit by choosing the sound that I like least. It can be a kick, a loop, or a synth. Sometimes I just go through the presets and ask myself: Which one would I never use in my music? When I find it, I start a track based on that sound in order to begin somewhere different.”
Junichi Oguro on field recording
“One thing I like to do is compose with video clips… Simple things that have some kind of rhythm. Back home I import the videos and cut and combine them. I use Warp and other clip parameters to create sonic grooves. Once I’ve found a groove I like, I add in other instruments. Shooting these video clips and focusing on hearing as well as seeing, helps me kick-start inspiration.”
Sky Deep on making a start by taking inspo from outside
“First I explore places that sound interesting. I keep my phone handy, so I can record sonic notes. Sometimes I just mimic what I hear, other times something else happens and I just add it to my note. Sometimes I make a comment to remember what happened… Back home, I listen to my notes and then reimagine the rhythms and melodies with my instruments. Most of us spend too much time alone in the studio. Taking inspiration from the outside world triggers new ideas and connects me and my music to real life.”
Lyra Pramuk on recording vocals
“One thing I like to do is record my voice at a different pitch and speed from my song tempo. [For example,] the tempo of this song is 74 BPM, and the key is A minor. I use this free online tool to enter the tempo and how many semitones I’d like to transpose while recording, and I see that I have to record at 55.437 BPM. I set Live to this tempo, and switch all audio clips to re-pitch mode to handle the transposition to E minor automatically. When I get a feel for the new key and tempo I start recording.”
View more top tips at Ableton.
