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Watch Point Blank’s Tips for Instant Creativity in Ableton Using Max for Live

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At the end of last year, Point Blank were joined by Ableton certified trainer and producer Marcello Ruggiu, for an exclusive masterclass in partnership with Ableton’s yearly Education Tour. The exclusive-to-students London event was hosted by Ableton's Danny White and followed PB’s previous showcase with Afrodeutsche.

Marcello Ruggiu, aka Amousement, began a career in music after studying audio engineering in Milan. He discovered Live and began using it to play out on the local club circuit and now, as an official Live instructor, teaches others to use the software and more. Ruggiu has many years of experience under his belt as well as a wealth of knowledge in the field of electronic music. He's mastered the art of using Ableton's Push, as well as Max for Live, and has a number of experimental tricks up his sleeve.

If you’d like to gain access to discussions and live showcases like the one featured in this article, Point Blank offer a range of courses focused on Music Production & Sound EngineeringDJingRadio Broadcasting and developing your skills.

During the video, Marcello demonstrates how he uses Max for Live to inspire the creation of new ideas and take existing ones to new and exciting places. He talks building your own tools and combining elements to form unexpected creative results, something he describes as "crazy, happy accidents". He shares some handy tips on using the DAW's Mono Sequencer add-on showing how to build complex melodies quickly and easily. He plays around with the Rhythmic Probability effect which can help you keep the groove of your original drum patterns whilst adding some interesting variations. In addition to this he fires up Ableton's Dr. Chaos and demonstrates how you can create randomized sequences to combine with all of the techniques above. Many of the tools used in this video are taken from Sonic Faction's Probability Pack and are great for transforming ideas into well-rounded tracks.