Ableton: Do any of you guys use it to make beats?

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If so, what do ya think?

Im looking to get back into fiddling around with some beats but dont have much time.

Was thinking of Fruity Loop's but after having a very quick go on Jay Safteys Ableton i think im going to go with it.

Seems to be more user friendly than Cubase.

Any thoughts?
I like it. Only thing I dislike is having to double click to draw notes on the piano roll but you soon get used to it.
Moved to making my tunes completely in Ableton. I really like it, and once you've got the hang of things the workflow is so quick.

One thing - anyone know if you can shift which octave the built in keyboard plays? it's handy for messing round with samples on the train but much harder to try extreme pitch changes when you've only got an octave to play with.
*great words don't cover ugly actions, good frames won't save bad paintings*
Sorry Statto. Thanks for the move
*ahem* Zeus Wink
Sorry Wilshy me auld flower Wink
The Stattomonster is usually in like flynn on these things.
i can't get into live but 16 years of using cubase has seen to that Icon_sad
Delta Wrote:If so, what do ya think?

Im looking to get back into fiddling around with some beats but dont have much time.

Was thinking of Fruity Loop's but after having a very quick go on Jay Safteys Ableton i think im going to go with it.

Seems to be more user friendly than Cubase.

Any thoughts?

I think it's all in your head Berry.

It would take you as much time to learn Cubase as it will with Ableton.

Plus you have all the equipment for a Cubase set up.

Cross that mental barrier and get on with it Howard!!!!!
i foookin love ableton.
i start off in live mode messing about with some loops and instruments, then record a sketch live arrangement, then go into the main arrange and tweak stuff.
good for my work flow.
Its funny because every now and then, theres a thread coming out about ableton...
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It would take you as much time to learn Cubase as it will with Ableton.

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You know what I think of that... Ur probably right though, having used both of them... I gave up on cubase because I had too many things that were not working, but now it should run ok might try again...
Other wise Barry, my advice:

Get Ableton, Get a few nice vstis like a reverb, a delay, arpegiator, get kontakt and midi keyboard, and have fun Grin
''Have fun''.. Thats it mate. Had fun using it in jays gaff and that was only for a shot time.

I just want something quick and easy to use.

Cubase is too busy for me lol
the way i go for it, is I try to understand how to do things and get a groove going the more NATURALLY has possible, spending the less time as possible on the sequencer with my mouse if you know what i mean... Because, IMO when you start trying to fix things in your track by mofiying stuff in your sequencer with your mouse, that when the fun goes off... Then again, watching ricky making tunes, is really fast and doesnt spend time at all (or very less) on the sequencer...
RickyForce Wrote:I think it's all in your head Berry.

It would take you as much time to learn Cubase as it will with Ableton.

The 'all in your head' thing shoudn't be discounted though. I've been through 3 setups before I ever got anywhere and actually started enjoying making music. I started with cubase on the mac and a hardware sampler and desk - hated it, it kept fucking up and I had no SCSI connection to my sampler. Then I went on to cubase on a laptop - also hated it, windows sucks balls and I spent more time battling the PC than making music. Now I'm finally happy with logic on the mac and I want to spend time at it.

In short, if Ableton seems like a better 'fit' then go for it - just don;t be too hasty. Maybe spend a bit longer playing about at Jays or you can come round mine and check out logic (though I doubt you'll go the mac/logic route really, as it'd cost you a new computer)
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I like Live. While it's not as feature loaded as something like Logic or Cubase, its main purpose is for live performance and as such they try to keep the interface fairly simple. And in the moment when you're trying to come up with ideas, this works in its favour.

With breaks, I like to just arrange MIDI regions (clips) in the timeline. I rarely move actual MIDI notes, though this is easily done. Where I think Live wins here is that if you chop, resize, copy, paste and overlay clips, you can always drag to resize and your original MIDI pattern will still be there. If Logic worked this way...

Metal Malcolm Wrote:One thing - anyone know if you can shift which octave the built in keyboard plays? it's handy for messing round with samples on the train but much harder to try extreme pitch changes when you've only got an octave to play with.
Press Z and X to go an octave up/down.
Lephrenic Wrote:
Metal Malcolm Wrote:One thing - anyone know if you can shift which octave the built in keyboard plays? it's handy for messing round with samples on the train but much harder to try extreme pitch changes when you've only got an octave to play with.
Press Z and X to go an octave up/down.

Lol that just cleared up one of my biggest gripes. i searched the help docs too.

overall, i just haven't gotten to the point where i enjoy it as much as my old process so i hardly use it at all.
i tryed using live but same as dsp been on cubase for many years, i got fustrated trying to learn some thing new (but already knew how to do it in cubase) and went back to cubase. i'm not saying it's no good coz i've heard some good shit come out of that stuff, it's more getting round how it works, for me. i'm getting old and you know how old people are, stuck in there ways. i can see the potential of how it works but just dont have the patience to learn it.
my bad
If you havent had years of experience of using Cubase then ableton is a gud choice for ya Barry, gizza bell whenever an I'll show ya all i've learned. Jay's got me number. Been meanin to buzz over to his anyways to have a gander at the APC.

New and old users check out this thread over at the forum (which is great for tips & tricks outside of the manual) http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f...40291aa580 All the shit I wish i'd copped on to over the last few years of using it. Felt pretty retarded reading over some of the tips on there after using it for so long!
i would not mind ableton for djing but marking up your whole collection for timestrech and bpm counting FFFFAAAACCCCKKKK that too much effort thats what pitch controls were made for Roll

i think the term is warping your collection or some shit
love some of Live's features, as much as i hate others.

Logic = trackie bottoms and an old jumper after a shit day at work Homerdrool
Kachanski Wrote:New and old users check out this thread over at the forum (which is great for tips & tricks outside of the manual) http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f...40291aa580 All the shit I wish i'd copped on to over the last few years of using it. Felt pretty retarded reading over some of the tips on there after using it for so long!


thanks!!
Delta Wrote:If so, what do ya think?

Im looking to get back into fiddling around with some beats but dont have much time.

Was thinking of Fruity Loop's but after having a very quick go on Jay Safteys Ableton i think im going to go with it.

Seems to be more user friendly than Cubase.

Any thoughts?

Ableton live is great for fiddling with beats, especially after version 8 now supports groove templates.. and groups

My workflow is take a break, select the part of the break I want right click export to drum rack, this creates a new midi track with all the hits mapped to a drum rack. (you may need to add/remove transients) it is then possible to group together cymbals, kicks, snares etc.. within the rack, set choke groups etc.. If you want to replace some of the hits with different samples, just drag them onto the pad in the drum rack.

It is possible to extract the groove from the original break, and apply that groove to other elements in the tune, rather than quantising to a fixed grid.

There are loads of other ways of doing it as well, there is a video with Jazzy Jeff http://www.ableton.com/movies?type=artis...utostart=y where he uses the sampler rather than drum racks..

Having said all that, it is a very personal thing and what works for me may be shite for you, so try the demo and really try and get into it. It is a shame it is only a 14 day demo..
Is there a way of having multiple MIDI clips on a single track that are playing at the same time?
Wilshy Wrote:I like it. Only thing I dislike is having to double click to draw notes on the piano roll but you soon get used to it.

try apple+B ;-)