Last time in our series of guitar tips for Ableton Live (part 2), we transposed, edited, and doubled our bass line in real-time. Now we're ready for some rhythm tracks.

To add some rhythm guitar parts to our drum and bass loop, create another audio track and record an arpeggiated chord part starting on bar three. On another track, try out a funk chord rhythm. (Or whatever your music dictates.) Create new audio tracks and record to build a set of clips. Okay, let's say your pleased with everything you've recorded so far, but you want to add some energy to the drum groove as you get further into the tune. Simply audition some more drum loops from the Browser. Notice how Live plays them right in time with your track, so you can instantly hear how they sound. Drag the one you like into the blank space next to the tracks. Live will automatically create an audio track for it. While the two drum loops playing in tandem, perhaps you notice that the bass drum groove is sounding a bit muddled. To alleviate the low frequency conflict, drag an Auto Filter device from Live's Audio Effects folder in the Browser into the track with the new drum loop. Set it up to filter out the unwanted frequencies.

Next time, we're going to add some chord changes using Simpler, Ableton's onboard sampler.