Ableton's two views are two different jobs, and mixing them up is the most common reason a Live set never becomes a track. Session view is a sketchpad: clips you can fire in any order while you audition ideas. Arrangement view is a timeline: the version that exists in time and gets exported.
Work in Session until you have four or five clips you actually like, then record a pass into Arrangement and stop going back.
Do this
- 01Set the tempo and the global key (Live 12: the Key field per clip and in Scale Awareness).
- 02Build one scene: drums, bass, chords, one melodic idea.
- 03Hit the Arrangement record button and play your scenes for two minutes, changing something each time.
- 04Switch to Arrangement view and edit what you recorded — do not start over.
Check yourself
There is audio on the Arrangement timeline before you allow yourself to open another plugin.