Ableton Live

[poorsod]

I need someone to explain this to me. I've had Ableton Live Lite 6 for some time now (came with the keyboard), and I never really got the hang of it. I'd like to try out some alternative DAWs some time (just for the experience) and obviously Live was the first choice, I have a chance to get some experience with it to decide whether I'll buy it in the future...

So my question is a broad one.
How the hell does Ableton Live work? The music seems to move downwards, not across, I can't find record, Rewire or the plugin list... help?

[nagal]

I second this post :)

I have tried the demo and my various version of Lite and it just doesn't click with me. I hear so much good about it and it feels like it would work awesome with my style of making music. if I could just figure it out.

Maybe someone can link up some good tutorials?

[spam]

Ditto!
.......

[Monkey Mouse]

I bought Live 6 about 6 weeks ago - previously used Sonar (3.0 Producer).

It is easy to learn, but hard to get started - however there are videos on getting started on the DVDs and also on the Ableton website - they will help you get started.

Keep in mind that Live can be used as a looping machine and a linear editor (both at the same time if you need) - so it is ultra ergonomic in terms of doing things fast - since you can do things real time for "live" perfomances.

[tech1]

Broad indeed. I know Live quite well, and almost used it as my primary DAW (until i found samplitude). In the upper right corner of Live, there are two button. one has 3 vertical lines, and the other 3 horizontal lines. These toggle between the "mixer" and the "track editor," although Live has its own names for the views. (arrange pane and something else). This was the biggest point of confusion for me when I got started. let me know if there is anything else specific.

[poorsod]

Wow, thanks for that Matt. That's already sorted out my biggest question.

I can probably wing it from here on in. Thanks a lot. *gives Matt money, beer*

[nagal]

I am going to have to check out those videos on Live's sight for sure! I dont know why but I have really wanted to get my hands around Live. I think it has to do with, if I ever perform Live, Cubase is not going to be the best solution :)

[nagal]

I just watched this tutorial video from the Live site (or sight as I like to call it from time to time) and everything just clicked for me. I know get it! And cant wait to go back and try something with it!!!!!

http://www.ableton.com/_common/downloads/next/movies/improvising_with_loops.mov

[poorsod]

Great call nagal. I'm inclined to check out the other videos on the Live site. That tutorial has made the whole thing make sense to me. I can see the benefits of Rewire for Live as a jamming tool now too. Going to prove useful for those late-night Ninjam sessions!

[nagal]

I have to say watching that one video got me very very exicted about Live. As a composition tool it just seem phenomial. Grrr... still 6 hours til I get home and can try it! ;)

[MrHope]

I also had a demo of Live and couldn't get the hang of it. Part of the reason is that I wanted to just experiment on my own with it, but it loaded up into it's interactive video demo that I was supposed to follow along with for god knows how long.

I'm really interested in the multitrack editing more than the looping, but the looping thing seems what it's all about. The only thing that I'd like about looping is if I can select different loops on the fly while it's playing and record the output.

Oh, and on my demo disks, rendering output was disabled.

[poorsod]

The only thing that I'd like about looping is if I can select different loops on the fly while it's playing and record the output.

I guess it's your lucky day, or so say the videos on the website. Why would they lie?

I figure the multitracking is no different from any other DAW. Live's a loop-based tool.

[tech1]

Right, multitracking is the same in any DAW, but the Live "scenes" can be set up and triggered in any order, and the output recorded. So you can basically load in loops, samples, etc. into the scenes and have a complete composition ready to go w/ nothing in the multitrack editor. Just set the tracks to record, and bang, instant recorded jam session. Another cool thing is that you can trigger each scene from a MIDI event.

[nagal]

"scenes" can be set up and triggered in any order, and the output recorded. So you can basically load in loops, samples, etc. into the scenes and have a complete composition ready to go w/ nothing in the multitrack editor.

For me that is amazing! The play order feature in Cubase is nice but now knowing this about Live, it seems so primitive.

[tech1]

Thanks a lot. *gives Matt money, beer*

For me that is amazing!

You're both very welcome. And BTW, I'll take that brew in Japanese units (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_drink). You Brits are a little too light for me (I'm Czech (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_consumption_by_country)).

[nagal]

(I'm Czech (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_consumption_by_country)).

So lets go completely OT here... thats cool because my great grandfather (Father's side) immigrated from Czechoslovakia.

[tech1]

Awesome! Both my G-parents on my mom's side were full-blooded Czechs from immigrant families.

So to get back on subject here, is Live gonne be your new woman...I mean DAW?

[nagal]

Well if Live is as good to me as I think it will be, I just might get a divorce from Cubase (again).

I download the demo here at work and as soon as I get home going to fed the wife and the cats and then lock myself in the studio :D

[tech1]

I'm out for the weekend now, but let us know how it goes.

[poorsod]

You Brits are a little too light for me

I think you'll find the universal British measure of alcohol is the pint. Top that. ;)

[spam]

Posted by poorsod:
I think you'll find the universal British measure of alcohol is the pint. Top that.
285

[poorsod]

the man on the right doesn't look well.

[nagal]

So I played around a little with Live last night and I am not sure.

The midi editing is so basic (draw/erase from what I can tell) but the signal routing is incredible!

I love the fact that I can use AU and VST on the Mac so I could in theory use AutoMap Universal with my Remote Zero SL since it does not support VST yet.

Another plus is a lot of plugs that do not work in Cubase 4 worked fine in Live.

Havent looked at Automation which is a huge thing for me.

I still need to play with it some more as I am just not sure.

[poorsod]

Looks like automation is recorded live in the jamming mode, quite intuitive.

I'm not sure, though, that Live is all that useful when it comes to tightening up what you improv'd in the jamming mode. I'm trying it out on my current project, reinstrumentating a Reason improv my friend did, and the timeline mode just seems kinda sluggish, not whirlwind fast like things should be - it doesn't suit the 'write-in-a-moment' Live aesthetic.
Jamming on Reason was fun though. I did all the clicking and she played and twisted controller knobs at random. It was great to see her face light up ('wow, you did that really fast') when I looped the lead she'd just done and put her on bass in a blink. That's what Reason's about, I guess.

[nagal]

I love the concept behind Live and I am trying to give it a good testing but the inability to save the work in the demo is making that a bit difficult :(

[poorsod]

Right, I've finished the remix. It can be found here (http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=5436088&q=hi).
The lead, bass, drums, and the synth you hear in the background are the original parts, the rest is lifted from Live's loop library. Except for that phased guitar near the end - that's a Rex.

Live's time-stretching is amazing. Excellent quality even at low tempi, and it all happens immediately, in real-time.
The library is impressive too, and this isn't even the full one - just the M-Audio Lite edition. The background drums (and that one-note stereo flanged synth which I wrote) are exactly what was needed to give the track the energy and life it needed. Those little keyboard chords you can hear are a loop too.
Recording is very simple in Live, and intuitive. Just clicking buttons in the loop mode is enough to get a coherent track recorded in real-time. I hardly needed to venture into the left-to-right one at all.
The workflow is just fantastic. I already had most of a track in place when I brought Live in this time, but I can see how it can be used to formulate a coherent song idea in no time.
I think this has the potential to be a big deal for my technique, especially Rewired with Sonar's advanced recording/MIDI. I've already got a year of purchases queued up though so it's just going to have to go on the list.
So my official verdict is 'excellent'. That track was no more than a cursory glance at it as a production tool, not a musical instrument which is what it should be considered as. I'm going to dig a little deeper next time.

[nagal]

That sounds really good!

I am still out on whether or not Live is for me. I WANT it to be for me because clip/pattern based is how I think when I am composing. I still need to spend more time with it and the tutorials but right now I am re-installing Windows on my wife' computer. Hopefully I will get a chance to play around with it some more today.

[nagal]

Okay this one was driving me nuts!

It was looking like automation was only available in the arrangement view (which I like to think of as a track in a typical DAW). I found this to be extremely lacking at least for me.

So I decided to RTFM and I was wrong! You can have automation linked to a clip, they just call it Clip Envelopes.

Oh this makes me happy :D

[guanche]

I have a lite version of live and reading this post makes me feel like trying again, but i have a problem: I can´t play any VSTi with my keyb. It is an axiom 25.
What do i have to do? I´ve read the manual and the on-line help but idon´t see it clear.

Merci in advance.

[nagal]

Create a midi track
Drag a VST into the track
Arm the track
Play Keyboard

:)

If this does not do it then you need to set the keyboard up in the Preferences. I cant remember the exact procedure but it is pretty straight forward.

[tech1]

Options > Preferences > MIDI Sync is where you need to go to enable MIDI I/O in Live. Under "Track," make sure you choose "on." You may also want to take a look at your actual track routing. in the lower left corner of each view, there is a button that says "I-O." Highlighting this button shows your track input/output routing options.

[guanche]

Aaahaha!!

Ok, i didn´t arm the track. Maybe that´s the mistake.
I will also take a look at the routing.

Merci!!

[nagal]

Well I just pulled the trigger and ordered Live 6.... oh here I go again :D

[poorsod]

*hits nagal with brick*

[nagal]

I am glad those UK bricks do not weigh as much as the Czech bricks! :D

[tech1]

LOL!!! Yeah, that would've hurt....

[poorsod]

I'll have you know we don't even have houses over here, let alone bricks which aren't made of plastic. We dig pits and build tents in them. Stops the bears, you see.

[nagal]

We dig pits and build tents in them. Stops the bears, you see.

I thought that was Canada? :D

[dronomophone]

Hey guys. First time seeing this site. I'm learning Ableton for the first time. I'm trying to use the Key Map (computer keyboard, not external midi) to trigger the clips, but for some reason all the keys dont work. I can assign a clip to a certain key, but then when i press it, nothing happens except for the key light lights up. I went through the whole keyboard, these are the only buttons that do anything:

1234567890pirq;'nm,./\][=`

Any ideas?

[Grahambo!]

Hey duders, poorsod, nagal. Any of you fellow posters know of a decent place to buy Ableton Live 6 Academic / Educational??? I've pretty much been thinking about buying it every second of the day for the last 5 days. Since I'm in college, might as well take advantage of the discount. I know sweetwater sells it. some places sell it a little cheaper, but not that much. Anyone know? This would be my first DAW.

[poorsod]

Sweetwater has the best customer service by far. It's not the cheapest on the net, but it's definitely the most pleasant.

Sweetwater don't deal educational stuff internationally; I have to buy it from a UK shop. Just something you might need to watch out for.

[nagal]

Tons of edu copies on eBay for around 269 - 299. But I would go with Sweetwater they should be in the same price range on a edu copy.