The Creative Element: Three Music Teachers Forging a Path in Music Education

Just about everybody shares the view that music enriches our lives, and most would agree that getting young people acquainted with music-making in school can be an important part of their overall development. Why is it then that K-12 school music education is seldom an inspirational starting point for music-making?…

2w

Live 11.1: Apple Silicon Support – Now in Public Beta

Live 11.1 adds native support for Apple computers running on the M1 Silicon chip. This release also comes with a number of small improvements, including an updated Shifter device, which adds a new mode for real-time monophonic pitch shifting, as well as delay, an envelope section, an LFO and glide…

4w

Challenge Accepted: How A.Fruit Combines Sound Design for Games with Bass-Forward Production

While many conversations around video games focus on gameplay, graphics or mechanics, sound design is often the element that delivers the emotional depth to create a memorable experience. Upon hearing just a few bars of background music from a familiar game, a player can be transported back into the imaginary…

4w

ELPHNT: An Introduction to Sidechaining in Live

Sidechaining is a technique that’s used in almost all styles of music, from chart-topping pop to hard-hitting techno. Frequently, those speaking of “sidechaining” refer specifically to sidechain compression (the widely-heard pumping sound that moves in time with the pulse of a song’s kick drum pattern). However, the possibilities certainly don’t…

5w

Download the Live Set of Jamaica Suk’s New Track “Dream Delusions”

Have you ever felt like you’ve woken up inside a dream, or that you regained consciousness while still actually dreaming? For California-born techno artist Jamaica Suk, these metacognitive states of awareness, known as lucid dreams, are not only a regular occurrence but a source of musical inspiration. From her early…

Sep 2021

QuinzeQuinze: The Art of Mystical Storytelling

In ancient Greek plays, audiences received a steady stream of commentary from a group of narrators known as the chorus. Adding to the spectacle of live entertainment, the chorus was part of the theatre yet remained physically uninvolved in the plot. In oral storytelling however, an orator is both performer…

Aug 2021

PitchLoop89: What Goes Around Comes Around

Picking up a new tool can change the way you create. You never know whether trying out a new piece of hardware, or dropping an audio effect onto a track for the first time is going to open up a new workflow, new rhythmic possibilities, or a whole new sound…

Aug 2021

Nosaj Thing: A Visual and Musical History

When the beat scene first percolated from the Los Angeles underground, it was decidedly all about the music. A diverse array of talent, from early key figures like Daddy Kev and Ras G to high profile artists like Flying Lotus, Daedalus, and others practically pre-ordained that the music would be…

Aug 2021

Automation Innovation: Nine Ideas for Automating Instruments and Effects

Most music-making devices, from software to hardware, come alive when their parameters are tweaked over time. For this reason automation and modulation have always been key techniques in the producer’s toolkit. However, since you can automate almost anything in Live, it can sometimes be overwhelming to know what will sound…

Aug 2021

Sara Landry: High-End Hard Techno

Sara Landry has got builders in. When our Zoom call begins, she immediately apologies for any background noise before making a quip about missing the opportunity to record the hammering and drilling. “I have a bunch of samples already,” the mid-20s Texan assures me. “Usually what happens is I end…

Jul 2021