Please note: To participate in the workshop, you’ll need a laptop with Ableton Live installed, and a pair of headphones.
We’ll send out instructions on how to download a basic version Ableton Live for free by email before the event. While having a MIDI controller is optional, if you have one, you are welcome to bring it to use during the workshop.
Join us for an exciting workshop on how to create and record your own music using Ableton Live software. Ableton Live is widely used by electronic music artists worldwide and has become the go-to choice for both production and live performances in this genre. Many notable electronic music artists rely on Ableton Live for their production and live shows. The software is not limited to electronic music with musicians from all different genres of music using Ableton Live as a tool in their stage shows.
In this workshop, you’ll learn the basics of setting up a session and using the software’s samples and instruments to create a short piece of music. Whether you’re a complete beginner or already have some experience with Ableton, this workshop is perfect for you. Our two facilitators, Irish musicians Daithí and Death Milkshake, both use Ableton heavily as part of their creative processes, as well as on stage, and they will provide guidance throughout the workshop, offering an excellent foundation for you to go on and explore the capabilities of the software with confidence.
Your Facilitators for this workshop:
Daithí is an Irish based artist that has long had a fascination with capturing organic sounds and samples. A producer, multi-instrumentalist, and film composer, his music exists at the intersection of Irish heritage and modern electronic soundscapes, where house beats meet the warmth of analog textures and the haunting echoes of distant voices.
His 2015 single “Mary Keane’s Introduction”, built around a sample of his grandmother recalling a lost love, was more than a viral hit—it was a declaration of intent. The song, which topped Ireland’s viral charts for weeks, crystallized his approach: music as storytelling, where memory and melody intertwine. What followed was a string of critically acclaimed releases, including Holiday Home (2017), and the deeply introspective L.O.S.S. (2019).
By the time he released I’m Here Now (2022), Daithí had established himself as one of Ireland’s most innovative producers, weaving together organic sound design, live instrumentation, and collaborations with some of the country’s finest vocalists & musicians.
In recent years, Daithí’s career has taken an unexpected but fitting turn—toward Film. His work as a film composer has garnered widespread recognition, from his score for Lakelands (2022), which earned him an IFTA nomination, to Christy (2024), a Berlinale Grand Prix winner.
As he prepares for his next chapter – a new album inspired by his time spent in Tokyo’s revered vinyl-listening bars and the pulsating rhythms of Italo Disco—Daithí remains a restless creative, always searching for new ways to merge past and future, memory and motion, tradition and innovation.
Death Milkshake is an Irish multi-instrumentalist live looping artist who fuses electronic sounds with an alternative rock edge, using Ableton Live on stage to create a unique beat driven hybrid sound. Playing all instruments live, a Death Milkshake live show an impressive a piece of mental gymnastics and an irresistible call to get your body moving.
Taking inspiration from electronic acts like Digitalism, Daft Punk, and LCD Soundsystem, simple driving beats underpin Bass guitar and synth tones layered beneath heavily effected vocals. The danceable disco-punk songs produced have natural flow and dynamics, and in the main, take cues from electronic dance music, post punk and progressive rock with Lyrical content ranging from deliberate social commentary to utterly ridiculous nonsense.
The Death Milkshake project was launched in 2022 and the live show has become a hit at Irish music festivals wit appearances at All Together Now, Night And Day, Livestock and Éalú Le Grá.
The debut Death milkshake EP, ‘Shiny Things’, included 3 previously released singles Shiny Thing, Megaphone & Algorithm, each released with their own quirky music videos in various styles in the lead up to the EP release. The Singles and the EP itself have received hugely positive feedback from fans and media, having been featured on Hot Press, Today FM, RTE 1, RTE 2XM, 8 radio, and various Irish regional radio stations. Megaphone was chosen as the ‘Nessy-Recommends’ track of the week on RTE 2XM during it’s release week.
Death Milkshake’s 2025 got off to a flying start with the release of his Creative Ireland supported single ‘Gravity’ and accompanying music video. Death Milkshake has a number of shows and festival appearances around Ireland coming up in 2025, and was listed as one of six ‘Irish Acts to watch in 2025’ by Today FM in January 2025.
