Now that your Ableton Live home studio is put together, it’s time to get your hands dirty with its central component: Ableton Live! While it’s not necessary to know every last feature of Live and its add-ons, it is important to have a solid understanding of your studio’s software centerpiece so that you’re free to create the music that’s inside your head with minimal roadblocks. That said, when roadblocks do arise—and they will —the better you know your digital audio workstation (DAW), the faster you’ll get around them.

Chapter 4, “The GUI Insides of Ableton Live,” takes you in the belly of the beast. After discovering the very basis of Live, the clip, you’ll explore the two main views, Session View and Arrangement View. After that, it’s time to make some noise as Chapter 5, “Making Music with Ableton Live,” guides you through everything from loading loops and playing Live to recording your own original audio and MIDI content. To close out Part 2, Chapter 6, “Working with Ableton Live,” will hip you to editing and mixing procedures as well as setting up your studio to score video!