I need some help with Ableton.

[BeaM]

Hi guys, I hate to sound needy/stupid at all but I need help understanding Ableton. I've had it for the past month and a half and I still don't understand any of it! (I mean I do, but at the same time, I have no idea how to make a song and make it sound good :/) Could anyone help me out?

[bartekko]

If you need help with any specific parts of ableton, then tell us what.

If you need overall help, then you should check out ableton's built-in tutorials and preferably RTFM.

[BeaM]

Well, I had read the manual and it helped a tiny bit but I'm still at square one. I just need help with composing and writing songs I guess... (So yeah, I did RTFM,)

[bartekko]

So you need help with music, not ableton, yes?

[BeaM]

Yes, I suppose so. *facepalm* Sorry, I'm trying to learn and I have experimented a lot but I'm still sucking so I decided to come here to see if I could get some help.

[guitarskills]

There's a lot less that can be helped there than with production.
But, to help you out, make sure you've studied chords. When I first started music, I actually thought chords weren't that important. One very common chord progression is I vi V IV. try that out to see what it sounds like.When it comes to the lead, really just play in whatever scale you chose. Using the pentatonic version of the scale makes it much easier to write, but will leave out your ability to make some more complex pieces. Make sure to use some harder rhythms than the simple choices of quarter note after quarter note.

There are some threads here over music theory, maybe you should read those?

EDIT: whoa, we don't have a thread over chords... that was unexpected.
here's a melody thread, though:
http://www.mylittleremix.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=373&view=next

EDIT2: that doesn't look like the melody thread... Why does the guide link it...

EDIT3: http://mylittleremix.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1381

there you go

[bartekko]

Related.

Search for MLR music guide by Navybrony to get jumpstarted on music theory

[randomblockfilms]

yes! music theory is something that you should learn! It can look scary and all but if you try hard enough, you should be able to at least understand some of it.

[natsukashi]

If you want to learn how to build a song, reverse engineer that shit. That's how I started out. I took songs that were already done and made them again. :3