How to use Ableton for spontaneous live backing tracks

In this video I show how I use Ableton Live to control backing tracks live on stage while staying flexible and spontaneous. First I show what my Live set looks like and how I control it, and then how to set up a new song. This is a great tool especially for small or medium size worship bands that want a full and big sound but don't want to compromise on flexibility.

[@souradeepde8215]

I like this approach, where we can be flexible in switching between song parts. Can you make a video on how are you controlling all this from your midi controller? Thanks.

[@tonylancer7367]

Hey Jakob, great video. Kind of interesting way of building live sets. I was always curious about how to "let the song continue" if I were to miss triggering the next scene, which wouldn't be good because it would take away from playing.

[@Jakob_Moeller]

Thank you! Yes, this takes out some of the stress of having to trigger the next scene in time. Of course you can always add an additional scene that loops a section of the song, if you already know in advance that you are going to stay in that section for a while :)

[@johanneserlbeck]

Sehr gutes Video und gut gemacht Brudi,
freue mich immer, wenn wir uns sehen 🔥

[@Jakob_Moeller]

Danke Brudi ❤ same here! 😁

[@tanmaysaha212]

Thank you so much brother, much appreciation. It helps a lot!

[@Jakob_Moeller]

Glad it helped!

[@GeraldWerany]

Great video, thank you. Two questions. You have a guide for Intro..3..4. Have you also guides for the scenes in between? And if, how do you manage that every band member knows where to continue if you start a scene out of order? Thx in advance.

[@Jakob_Moeller]

@@GeraldWerany Hi Gerald! Yes, I usually have a guide track that announces the next part of the song (like “verse”, “chorus”) one measure before that part starts. When you buy tracks from multitracks.com, they come with this guide track automatically. I also always have a talkback microphone that I can use to talk to the band. If we deviate from the standard sequence, I can just pull out/mute the audio guide and announce where we are going on the talkback.

[@outworkmusicgroup5138]

This was a great video man thank you!!! Is there a way you can make a video showing how you trigger the sciences with midi controller and how you incorporate the drone pad in between songs?

[@Jakob_Moeller]

I’m glad it was helpful! As soon as I have a video on that I’ll post it here in the comments.

[@bswinn97]

Seems like a lot of extra steps and is more convoluted compared to just using arrangement view. You could cut this process into a fraction of the time with something like ableset and have the same flexibility, if not more, all while having the benefits of working in arrangement view.

[@Jakob_Moeller]

Ableset seems like a great tool but I have no experience with it. Would love to learn more about it!

[@bswinn97]

@@Jakob_Moeller Leo, the creator of ableset does a great job of showcasing all of its features on the ableset youtube page. I gave all of his videos a quick watch and was super impressed with how much it can do! Would highly recommend.

[@MrRandomizer42]

This is way better than arrangement view you have more control over your sets

[@voxnovamusicentertainment6008]

Hi Jakob,
thank you for this video. Do you have any video that shows how to sync the abletone's metronome with the audio imported ?

[@Jakob_Moeller]

Hi! If I understand your question right, all you need to do for that is enter the right bpm count for the scene on the right side of the screen. See here for more info on this: help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/5595081962524-Scene-Tempo-and-Time-Signature

[@eliaseikemolundh8502]

I would love to se how you set up your MIDI controller on this set, when is the video coming?

[@johanneserlbeck]

I think something is on the way

[@jtmusiclessons21]

Hey. Let’s connect!

[@Jakob_Moeller]

Love the videos on your channel!