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Ableton is one of the most used softwares for making music on the market and for good reason.
A lot of people praise the Multi band Compressor, and the sound design effects.
However one of the most useful effects is in Ableton that is rarely used is the Utility.
The Utility in Ableton is one of the most underused effects in Ableton as it looks very simple but offers some of the best features than any other audio effect.
1) Volume Control (Gain Knob)
Right now you might be thinking whoa Zen World volume is the greater feature in Ableton?
Hear Me Out
The worst thing about the faders in Ableton is that you can't adjust them while mixing if you have automated the volume leaving you to 1 edit the automation or just delete the automation in frustration.
Keeping your automations on the utility allows the fader on the mixer to remain stable and be adjusted accordingly when you think a sound is too loud.
So try this out and keep those mixer faders looking pretty ;)
2) The Only Stereo Image tool in Ableton
The utility is the only dedicated control for the image of your sounds allowing you to fully have them in mono ( width set to zero percent) or fully stereo rejecting any mono information (200% Width)
One of the most important things about mixing is placing everything in the mix appropriately and the Utility is the only dedicated tool for this.
Remember sounds that are more prominent in the lows work better in the mix in mono rather than stereo and sounds in the higher frequency range work better in stereo.
3) Phase Invertion For Phase Correction
Finally the last thing the Utility allows us to do is phase invert sounds which actually allows some percussive sounds to punch harder and sit better in the mix,
One of the biggest places to use Phase inversion is gonna be on hi hats, claps, snares, and anything punchy.
Try it out next time.
Just make sure to not use it on huge stack of layered leads as you may cause the mix on them to eff up.
Conclusion
The Ableton Utility is one of the more underrated tools in Ableton due to it's simple look but don't be fooled as it can be one of the most useful effects in the Ableton Arsenal of effects.
-Zen World