I wrote this track earlier this summer, but didn't manage to find the time to record a performance and video until well after the leaves started to change. This was created all in Ableton Live. Most of the synths are Reason's Europa. Drums and effects are all stock plug-ins and samples with some Valhalla Shimmer.

I'm constantly working at the limits of my amateur musical knowledge. I have a lot of trouble finding chords and melodies that reach what I'm aiming for, but I'm happy with the chord change on the keys halfway through the song and the riff that comes in near the end.

The live performance is simple—just a few buttons to turn drum parts on and off and knobs mapped to various effects parameters. But I learned a whole lot about how to use Ableton in a live setting in the process. For example, the pads here don't turn off the drum track audio, they actually mute the MIDI itself. This way sample tails don't get cut off. I also did some neat tricks like mapping a knob to the snare roll which also automatically mutes the kick. Live is amazing.

Video:  https://youtu.be/Iku05xfnW54

End of Summer (Ableton Live jam)

Tiny Wires