Producing in Ableton

HEARTBRAKE

New member
How many producers here are in Ableton? I often that I am the minority when speaking to other producers in the world.

If so, how do you think this influences the overall sound of your music?
 
I feel you man! I'm an Ableton Live fanboy not gonna deny it and I absolutely LOVE it. It's completely changed the way i work since I started using it. The workflow is super quick because everything is right there, you can make tweaks on the fly because you see all the plugins open on the bottom. The session view is unlike anything else when it comes to putting down ideas and sampling different sounds and samples.
 
I started in FL studio and worked with a friend who used Reason - both drastically different imo. Alot of people say Ableton is overcomplicated and dizzying by design, but I find its easy to plug-in and get straight to jamming with.
 
Another Live user here since version 5. I migrated from Cubase by the time, mainly because of the session view, that makes it super quick and easy to come up with ideas and then combining loops without having to drag the loops around in the timeline.
I personally don't think that Ableton is complicated. You can get really deep with all kinds of racks and racks within racks and that sort of stuff, if you want to. But you can keep it as simple as you want.

I have the impression, that some people get totally confused by the session view, while for others just love it. What DAW you are using is really just a matter of personal preference, there's no wrong or right. Of course different DAWs have different strengths in different areas, so for some applications some DAWs are suited better than others.

But in the end, it's the results that count and which tools you feel help you get there in the most flawless and inspiring way.
 
Only reason I have ableton is cuz of 2i2. I wonder if it'd make sense using that on a tablet instead of a desktop as just a little bootleg mpc lol.
The layout is quite nice, never dug into it like I should've since reason and s1 been my main ones.
 
Ableton is the superior DAW. It simply allows you to be as creative as you please using whatever workflow you prefer. it's crazy advanced. Every DAW has it's thing, but Live just has a ton of "things". Max For Live allows coders to create new plugins seamlessly. Corpus allows me to turn a finger snap into a metal string. If I want to plug in my guitar, I can run it though a plethora of effects and control it with my PUSH. Ableton is for innovators, it's for scientist, it's for experimentalist. You can do whatever you want in it. Hell if you want to you don't even have to make music in it. There are Max for Live plugins that only deal with videos and graphics. Liek I said, It's crazy advanced.
 
I've been using Pro Tools since the last ice age. But I hear good thinks about Ableton.

If I were to make the switch to Ableton, what benefits would I notice? What drawbacks? Would switching be worth it?

Most of my work is composing electronic music using virtual instruments, which I record vocals and the occasional acoustic instrument over with my mics. I mix my own stuff straight in the DAW, and fidelity is important to me.

But ... if fidelity wasn't compromised, quicker composition would just allow me to be more productive.

With few exceptions, most of my plugins are by Native Instruments, Waves, and SoundToys. I'd miss PianoTeq, ToonTrack, and Valhalla if I didn't have them. Probably not the other odds and ends, though.

Should I make the switch?
 
I've been using Pro Tools since the last ice age. But I hear good thinks about Ableton.

If I were to make the switch to Ableton, what benefits would I notice? What drawbacks? Would switching be worth it?

Most of my work is composing electronic music using virtual instruments, which I record vocals and the occasional acoustic instrument over with my mics. I mix my own stuff straight in the DAW, and fidelity is important to me.

But ... if fidelity wasn't compromised, quicker composition would just allow me to be more productive.

With few exceptions, most of my plugins are by Native Instruments, Waves, and SoundToys. I'd miss PianoTeq, ToonTrack, and Valhalla if I didn't have them. Probably not the other odds and ends, though.

Should I make the switch?

I personally wouldn't switch, but I'd couple the two. I see Ableton as a pallet to create, as it is more focused as a production software. Pro Tools on the other hand is more of a final mix and master powerhouse. After all, it is the industry standard. That being said, Ableton does feature spectacular audio quality and you can easily record live instruments, vocals, electronic instruments, vst, etc. without having to worry about the quality deteriorating.

I'm just a high school kid with a lot of production experience and enthusiasm, but I live with my parents and make practically 0 real dollars a year haha, so I can't justify buying Pro Tools. The end goal for me, however, is to have both running together for a true Production, Mix, and Master setup.

AND you shouldn't lose any of your plugins! Most software come in VST and in AU (Pro Tools VST or something like that) so you would be just fine with MOST if not all of your plugins. You'll just have to look into that.
 
Last edited:
I don't view Pro Tools as a suitable mastering DAW. Any decent mastering DAW should have features Pro Tools lacks, like the ability to have files of different formats and sample rates in a single session, or to apply effects per clip instead of per track.

Pro Tools is expensive, but I already own it. (Though the subscription service for Pro Tools 12 sounds like a raw deal. I'll probably switch before making that jump.)

Pro Tools is slow to adopt big features, like offline bouncing and 64-bit design. But they finally did. Though I wish I had the track-freezing of Pro Tools 12.

I've have an acquaintance, a very sharp fellow, that is digging up the dirt on how Pro Tools isn't nearly as clean sounding as you thought. But ... if he's been working for over a year to dig up the evidence, the difference can't be that staggering. I want fidelity, but I personally can't hear the DAW in a finished album, identify good ones and bad ones, etc. Quality is important, but at some point you have to work on making a good song. You know?

It makes sense to me to keep everything in one DAW from composition till finished product. Short of mastering, that is. If Ableton can match the mixing and recording functionality while offering noticeable improvements over Pro Tools for composition, then it's something to consider.

I hope someone who has used both can chime in.
 
Back
Top