want to learn to USE THE IAC DRIVER like the pros?
Welcome to the Essentials: IAC Driver online course, the comprehensive guide to using the IAC Driver to control Ableton's transport without needing to press a single button! Want to learn how to make the playhead stop at the end of a song? Or maybe you want to learn how to create a looping click that will automatically loop indefinitely at the end of a song? Whether you're a musician, artist, or tech director, this course will walk with you step by step as you learn how to build stop clips, loop clips, pause & go to next song, and even have multiple arrangements of the same song available in your session using the IAC Driver!
If you want to…
Learn what the IAC Driver is and how to set it up
Use stop clips to have the playhead automatically stop at the end of a song
Create a looping click at the end of a song
Create a medley with just a couple of clicks
…than this course is for you.
Learn to use the IAC Driver to its full potential & unlock a whole new world of automation.
Led by Dan Alber, this 20 minute course covers everything you need to know to begin using your Mac's built in IAC Driver to automate your transport. From setting up your Mac settings correctly to creating and mapping the clips, each lesson is designed to provide practical insights and actionable techniques to get you using the IAC Driver like the pros - GUARANTEED.
In fact, we’re so certain that by the end of this course you will be equipped to use the IAC Driver in your own sessions, that if not, we’ll jump on a free zoom call with you to get you up to speed!
Sign up for Essentials: IAC Driver and transform the way you approach playback. Elevate your sessions, automate your workflow, and leave a lasting impression on your audience.
Join below for just $15.
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001 - INTRODUCTION
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Chapter 1: Introduction
Hello everyone, & welcome to the Essentials: IAC Driver online course. My name is Dan Alber, I’m the owner & founder of Ableton Is Confusing Sometimes, & first I just want to say..
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Chapter 2: What Is IAC?
What is the IAC Driver? IAC stands for inter application communications driver. I like to think of it as routing a virtual cable from Ableton - to the IAC driver hosted within my Macs audio midi setup - and then back to Ableton..
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002 - SET UP
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Chapter 3: Set Up
The first thing we’re going to do is enable the IAC Driver in both audio midi setup, as well as Ableton. Let’s navigate to audio midi setup, which can be found in Utilities. You’re probably familiar..
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Chapter 4: Mapping Clips
Now that we’re got our device enabled, we’re ready to begin mapping clips to actions. As I mentioned earlier, I like to think of the IAC driver as a virtual cable running from Ableton - to the IAC driver hosted within my Mac's audio midi setup - and then back to Ableton. This allows me to map notes to actions..
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Chapter 5: Using A Controller
I want to bring up an issue that I see a lot of people running into when using IAC control with an external midi controller. Here I’ve got my midi controller connected, in this case an Akai MPC, and you’ll notice that when I map the controller..
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003: COMMON USES
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Chapter 6: Transport Control
Now that we know how to set up the IAC device & map a midi clip to an action, let’s talk about some of the most common ways to use IAC control. Obviously stop is a great one, but some..
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Chapter 7: Pause & Go To Next Song
Let's talk about pause and go to next song. You may have seen this before, but if you haven’t, let me show you what I’m talking about. As the playhead gets to the end of this song..
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Chapter 8: Arrangement Control
Now that we’ve covered using the IAC driver to control our transport, let’s talk about arrangement control. Occasionally I might have a song in my session where the arrangement changes night to night..
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004: CONCLUSION
MEET THE CREATOR
I HAVE BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH TO SPEND THE LAST 10 YEARS WORKING IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AS A TOURING BASS PLAYER AND PLAYBACK ENGINEER. MY PLAYBACK SESSIONS HAVE SUPPORTED A VARIETY OF CLIENTS INCLUDING KARI JOBE, CODY CARNES, LENNON STELLA, BENJAMIN WILLIAM HASTINGS, AODHAN KING, BROOKE LIGERTWOOD, GABBY BARRETT, LAINEY WILSON, MATTHEW WEST, CARLY PEARCE, RITA SPRINGER, CHARITY GAYLE, MICHAEL W. SMITH, LEELAND, JP SAXE, JOSH BALDWIN, PATRICK DRONEY, ANNE WILSON, AUSTIN SNELL, HARPER GRACE, TAUREN WELLS, HOPE DARST, SEAN CURRAN, BRIAN AND KATIE TORWALT, MARTIN SMITH, MATT MAHER, PASSION CITY CHURCH, PASSION CONFERENCE, THE BELONGING CO, RYAN KEY (YELLOWCARD), THE STRUTS, DILLON CARMICHAEL, AND COLTON DIXON, AMONG OTHERS. I’VE BEEN THE MAN BEHIND THE COMPUTER ALL OVER THE WORLD AND IN VENUES OF ALL SIZES INCLUDING CARNEGIE HALL, MERCEDES-BENZ STADIUM, THE DOVE AWARDS, BONNAROO, AND THE LA FORUM, FOR DJ’S, BANDS, CHURCH CONFERENCES - I EVEN ONCE MANAGED TO SLIDE ABLETON INTO A COFFEE SHOP’S SOFT LAUNCH. IN 2022 I CO-FOUNDED A COMPANY CALLED SPACEWALK LIVE THAT DOES EXACTLY THIS AT A LARGER SCALE THAN I CAN MANAGE ON MY OWN. HAVE I MASTERED ABLETON? NOT AT ALL. HAVE I THROUGH TRIAL AND ERROR DISCOVERED A METHOD THAT WORKS IN A HIGH STRESS LIVE ENVIRONMENT - MOST DEFINITELY.
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"dan has helped me and my team create flexible and reliable playback sessions that have allowed us to navigate the countless challenges that come with live shows. He's an invaluable resource and my first call with anything ableton."
Mitch Parks - Spacewalk Live, Ed Sheeran
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"After many years of making music and touring with Dan in a variety of environments, venues, countries, and even artists, I know for a fact that he's seen it all and has had to navigate solving problems, rolling with set changes and building arrangement changes on the fly in Ableton. He's an expert to say the least, and I highly encourage anyone who's arranging tracks for live performances to take a leaf from Dans book."
Brenton Miles - Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes
Course FAQ
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This is a more advanced course, designed for users who are more comfortable operating the basics of Ableton Live who want to take a deep dive into using the IAC Driver to its full advantage! If you are not quite comfortable yet with navigating Ableton, no worries, we would recommend starting with our Ableton 101: The Basics course first!
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This course is designed to be used with Ableton Live operating on Mac OS. Unfortunately at this time, the IAC Driver is not supported by Windows. If you don't already have Ableton Live, you can download a free trial or purchase a license from the official Ableton website.
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We're so certain that we can teach you the knowledge you need, that if at the end of the course you don't feel like you are equipped to begin building playback sessions, please reach out to us through the contact form on the site to schedule a free zoom call for Dan to walk you through any problem areas.