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The Complete Ableton Live Course

Introduction to Music Production (Ableton)

  • Evening Course
  • 12 weeks

A 12 week programme designed to help students develop music production skills using Ableton Live and Ableton Push, covering composition, sampling, beat programming, and custom instrument libraries.

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Course Overview

Ableton Live is the Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) of choice for many of today’s most celebrated music producers. Whether you’ve been using it for years or are new to music production, across this 12-week course, you’ll gain the experience and know-how necessary to get the most from the platform, as you learn to make music your way. With the guidance of our experienced tutors, you’ll become a creative and independent music producer, with the drive to bring unique original music to life.

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Course Features

Ableton Push machines Take your electronic music performances to the next level as you learn to play with Ableton Push hardware, provided by ICMP.

Beatmaking and sampling Dive into the world of original beatmaking as you craft your own rhythms and learn to sample sounds from the world around you.

Online resources Build your knowledge at home with online course materials and weekly projects. You can review your lesson topics, chat with your fellow students, digest advanced tips and tricks, and request remote feedback from your tutor.

Key Facts

  • London: Classes run weekly on Tuesdays or Wednesdays (dependent on start date) between 7 and 9pm at ICMP London, 1B Dyne Road, NW6 7XG
  • Leeds: Classes run weekly on Mondays between 6:30 and 8:30pm at ICMP Leeds, 1 Millennium Sq, LS2 3AD
  • Liverpool: Classes run weekly on Mondays between 7 and 9pm at ICMP Liverpool, 38 Pall Mall, L3 6ES
  • Glasgow: Classes run weekly on Tuesdays between 7 and 9pm at SAE Glasgow, 85 87 Portman St, Kinning Park, G41 1EJ

Course Progression

This course has been designed as a comprehensive introduction to Ableton Live and Ableton Push. Completing it will put you in an ideal position to progress to ICMP’s six-month Electronic Music Production Industry Course.

Across six months of face-to-face learning, you’ll cover all electronic music production bases as you further build upon your knowledge of using Ableton Live and Push to manipulate rhythm, melody, sound and textural elements. The skills you learn can also be easily applied across multiple DAWs.

Entry Requirements

Ability Level: Beginner - no previous experience is required in order to enrol on this course. We'll show you the skills you need to excel with using Ableton Live and Push.

Learning Outcomes

  • Use Ableton Live to compose music
  • Sample and program your own original beats
  • Use your Ableton Push instrument in a creative and effective way
  • Create your own instrument libraries

Course Details

Weekly modules

The Complete Ableton Live course has been designed by Marcello Ruggiu and the ICMP music production team to give you the most complete Ableton experience possible over 12 weeks at our industry leading facilities in Kilburn, London.

From sampling and audio FX, to creating presets and crafting a song using Push, you’ll get an impressive overview of all the possibilities Ableton presents, as you take your music production creativity to the next level.

Explore Ableton Live’s features by first getting to know the Ableton website. You’ll learn where to go if you need help and where to find hardware set-up information and software preferences.

  • Get to know the basics of Ableton Live
  • Become familiar with the Ableton browser
  • Explore help view, info view, session view and arrangement view
  • Discover the Ableton Live interface

Get creative with your fingers using Ableton Push. In this lesson, you’ll set up headphones, play around with the drum possibilities on Push and begin recording some loops.

  • Explore the Push drums folder
  • Discover library presets
  • Preview and load drums
  • Experiment with the drum features on Push
  • Record loops and short patterns

Learn the basics of sampling and experiment using the Ableton Push. You’ll cover the history of sampling and will turn theory into practice as you try different sampling techniques for yourself.

  • What is sampling?
  • Explore sampling techniques throughout history
  • Learn how to drag and drop samples
  • Practice sampling using the Push

Turn your sample concepts into musical reality as you spend your class time playing with Push using the samplers you programmed earlier. Your tutor Marcello will guide you and offer solutions as you put your sampling theory into practice.

  • Experiment with sampling concepts
  • Get creative with your sampling
  • Receive tutor support and feedback

Learn how to apply audio effects to a range of instruments as you explore how easily sounds can be modified. Your tutor Marcello will present some common audio effect techniques for instruments including the drums, guitar, bass, synths and vocals. You’ll then experiment on your own by applying audio FXs to your own compositions.

  • What is an audio effect?
  • Discover reverb and delays in practice
  • Explore audio FX workflows

Further explore audio effects as Marcello presents distortion, modulations and unconventional audio effects. You’ll have an opportunity to ask questions and apply what you’ve learned so far in practice.

  • Understanding distortion, modulations and unconventional effects
  • Send and returns
  • Applying multiple effects in practice

Going further with Ableton Live

In the second half of this course, you'll explore how to craft a song using Ableton Live in more detail. You'll find out how to use synthesisers to create a song and get to know Ableton's vast instrument library, including making your own.

Towards the end of the course, you'll share your song with the class, giving you the chance to showcase the skills you've learnt with feedback from your tutor and peers, ahead of a performance in our studio to help build your confidence.

This week, you’ll delve into song structure and learn how to bring a project into an song arrangement. You’ll also explore how to beat creative blocks and cover basic mixing techniques.

Be shown:

  • How to export a song
  • Introduction to mixing
  • Session view on Push
  • Mixer view on Push
  • How to create a small live jam session
  • How to record on arrangement
  • How to drag and drop from session view to arrangement

For homework this week, you’ll create a new song using only synthesised sources. To do this, Marcello will break down the differences and similarities between synths and samplers, cover basic subtractive synthesis with wavetable, and explore how to choose between synthesised sources or sampled sources.

  • Understand when to use synths vs samplers
  • Explore basic subtractive synthesis
  • Become familiar with the Ableton instruments library

Learn how to use the instruments you’ve saved and collected to create a new composition. In class, you’ll present your instruments and share the files and techniques you used with others in the class.

  • Explore the Ableton user library
  • Learn how to save a new preset in the user library
  • Discover the hotswap and save buttons
  • Save a project with collect and save
  • Export and backup a song

As a class, you’ll agree on four songs you’d like to analyse. Marcello will examine the different elements and share the techniques used to create similar results. He’ll also arrange a simple song in session view and print the arrangement using automations.

  • Analyse compositions on different styles
  • Translate what you hear into an Ableton Live project template
  • Make a cover song of your choice

In this penultimate week of the course, you’ll present your final track to the class. You’ll share the techniques you used and receive feedback from both Marcello and your peers. For homework, you’ll action this feedback.

  • Present your track to the class
  • Apply class feedback
  • Provide feedback on the music of classmates

Perform your Ableton Live composition to Marcello and your fellow students on stage in ICMP’s Performance Studio. You’ll get to show your classmates just how far you’ve come on the Ableton Push instrument in 12 short weeks!

  • Ableton Push performance
  • Improve your performance and improvisation skills
  • Build your confidence

Upcoming Dates

London

Starts Tuesday 5th January 2027
£699.00

Glasgow

Starts Tuesday 26th January 2027
£399.00

Leeds

Starts Monday 4th January 2027
£399.00

Liverpool

Starts Monday 25th January 2027
£399.00

Interested in a music degree? Explore ICMP's full-time undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.

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