Abelton Live question

I am thinking about getting this program to run with my MP. Can anyone share any thoughts on it? I took a look at Abeltons web site and got the general specs but would like to get some real user feedback. From the surface it looks a little cheezy but thats a real shallow opinion seeing that I have not used it yet. How robust is it? How compatible is it with other programs? Is the midi set up complex or fairly simple? What data forms does it support etc...

Thanks for any feedback in advance.

i got the dresses down version that comes with protools and i really like it. its so easy to move around in.

just download the demo and check it for yourself. www.ableton.com

yeah do the tutorial under help. i been using ableton alot lately with just my mpc or to rewire reason. its an ill recording program. And sequenceing program. 4 is the best they got out casue u can use vsti in it. def worth the money.

its to easy to slave to the mpc. just check out the options. its very basic.

in my opinion, it is best to slave the mpc to live4 because the mpc will get in the way of the flow of making beats. i would use the mpc as a tone module or make my beats in the mpc than import them into live4.

live/live4 is the 21 century way of making music. throw the traditional way of making beats out of the window and join the 21 century.

the mpc is a great product but live4 ($350), reason ($300), stylus rmx ($250) (not out yet), battery 2 ($180) (not out yet) with a laptop ($1200) are the best beat making tools of the 21 century (so far). period.

you also need recycle to chop your loops and load the rex files into reason's dr. rex, stylus rmx and/or battery 2.

it is nice to have pro-tool/m-box, cubase sl/sx, sonar, fruity loops or tracktion but the live4, reason, stylus rmx and battery will/would knock out any project studio around. period.

live/live4 is the 21 century way of making music. throw the traditional way of making beats out of the window and join the 21 century.

wow, you must be some kind of clairvoyant!

Don't get me wrong, but that statement is kind of ? ? ? ?.

I've started out based on solely just software - and am movin' away from it more and more.
BUT that is just MY opinion! I would never allege that I know what the RIGHT way is, nor try to predict the future.

A tool is just a tool - we could argue all day long about which screwdriver from which manufacturer is the better one.
But honestly, the SCREW doesn't give a f**k about that.

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@mksphnx2001:

man, just try it. It doesn't cost you nothing to download the demo and have a look.
It comes with a tutorial and when you scroll over functions, it's showing sum popup's with explanations of it.

For pattern based working it's quite nice - not too difficult to grasp and is enough to get some work done!

But like I said, try it and see if it fits your "workflow".
To me this is one of the most important things in choosin' a sequencer.

If it eff's up your productive output, then it might not be the tool for you.
BUT that is up to YOU - only you can decide that. Don't take for granted what people on forums are tellin' ya.

What would you do, if I tell you that it su*ks? Maybe it was just the thing that you needed in your setup and will never try it because somebody said so?

So only your experience will tell ya if it's good.
Did I mention that there is DEMO available.

best of luck
j.m

i am just going by experience, cuz. i been making music for about 25 years professional (that means getting paid). most pros i know are turning to live4 and reason just for the easy of use and low cpu usage. i started on hardware and now use software. i travel with my studio on a laptop, this gives me the ability to have other pros (they get paid for making music) to add to my projects anywhere i am.

to be honest, if you had the same musically experences that i have your opinion would mean something but ...

another point, if an individual has 10s of thoudsands of dollars worth of hardware i could understand where you are coming from but $5000 worth of software will go allot further than $5000 worth of hardware. that is a fact.

so inclusion, it is more cost effective to have a "SOFTWARE PROJECT STUDIO" than a "HARDWARE PROJECT STUDIO" and live4 is the new era in music making experence. i bet cubase, logic, sonar, fruity loops will incorporate live's session window in their applications.

so j.m. you have a nice day. there is no problem with you making music with hardware but your music making experence would be more rewarding with live4, reason, stylus and battery. i know 10 pros personally that would agree. how many pros do you know that will disagree?

I'm running Live 3 and Reason 2.5 right now with the AKAI MPD16

man mwalker dont start this again. It doesnt matter what u use its what u put into it. Dont start these rants bout pcs. its just ur preference. Akai is still goin to make new mpcs, cause some cats dont like to make music on pcs. Some people want dedicated hardware. U gotta fall back with the computer purist shi*. if u wack, and u cant make beats, an mpc , or reason wont help ur ass one bit. I use reason, ableton, mpc, esi, s2000, sonar, ms2000, cause i like variety and hardware in my rig. It allows me to do different shi* when i feel like it. Sometimes i make a beat on reason, sometimes mpc. It really dont matter cause in the end they sound the same too me. Goto my page and see if u can tell what was done on reason and what was done on hardware. u probally cant even tell.

i have listen to your tune(s) and am very impressed with them binger. one of the points i am also making is that "LIVE" is so alive that i do hook my lappy to my hardware sh!t, i create clips (all different types of sh!t) in the session window with my hardware sh!t, record the midi clips to audio clips and then build tunes from the audio clips (i have millions of hardware audio clips). i am not saying akai is going to stop making mpc because they still make parts for 59 chevys. live4 has brought the hardware and software together like no other application.

in my opinion hardware is more expense than software and if you do not have the funds to purchase all the hardware you like live4, reason, stylus and battery 2 will do the trick. period.

by the way, instead of hardware or software i rather the music be live. real guitars, drums, bass, keys, etc.

thats tru but in hip hop a majority is samples. And as stated before an mpc and dps goes for bout $1000. a new computer, ableton, reason, battery, soundcards, midi controllers, sonar or cubase, can run u to the 2 or 3000 mark. I also use ableton to record midi events, but that is just one way of how i make beats. I have bout 3 diff rigs to keep variety into my production. If u just make beats on a pc doesnt that get old after a while? Same thing with an MPC. I aint givin up either just whatever mood im in thats how i get down. Im just sick of cats preachin NO HARDWARE, or NO SOFTWARE. Use both and see what options and advantages they offer. The mpcs sequencer shits on ableton and reason sequencers combined. recycle is the best for choppin. Recordin can be done on a multitrack then brought into cubase or sonar. Just do u and let the cats that like to use drum machines and hardware synths, multitracks, sequncers do there thing. Hatin on gear is a waste of time cause the results can be gotten with both types. simple as that.

ok binger, the mpc and sp are a $1000 (is that each or both). makes no different. how do you record your music after programming the mpc and/or sp and how much will that cost? how do you get your samples into the mpc and how much is that? how would it cost to put your demo on cd?

laptop $1200
ableton live4 - $350
reason - $300
battery 2 - $180
stylus rmx - $250
echo indigo i/o - $180
radium 61 - $150
bx5 monitor - $200

yes for about $3000 an individual can go from idea to decent quailty demo on cd. how much would it cost to make a decent qualty demo with hardware and be honest?

now hip hop using samples, right, well reason, stylus rmx (read rex files) and battery 2 (read akai, wav, battery, soundfont you name it) are all samplers. therefore, these 3 software samplers cost $730, and with reason you get as many samplers, drum machines, dr. rex (rex player) and synth as your computer can handle. now how much would it cost to get the same in hardware?

to sum everything up the computer is the biggest expense. in the 21 century do you need a computer? i think so.

again, it does not make a different what one uses to make music. when i went to st thomas last month i heard some steel drum music and it sounded great. some guys banging on some old oil cans. there is this guy outside penn station in nyc that plays the pickle bucket and it sounded great. so, it does not make a differents what you use, it is the end results that counts. the point i am trying to make if you can not afford a hardware set to make a decent cd demo and you take your music serious in the long run the software setup is cheaper. period.

to answer about the different work envirnoments, well i have a hardware setup. i have a laptop, 160 gig firewire hard drive full of samples and ozone so i can make music anywhere. i have cubase, live4 and acid 4.0 which are 3 totally different apps and 3 totally different ways of making music. plus, i get my most inspiration while playing real drums. again, i rather the music be live instead of hardware or software becasue when it is live you can not hide behind the hardware or software you are who you are.

This discussion is getting so old it hurts.

i am consistant and i believe what i believe. somewhere on this forum there is a guy talking about selling crack to buy some gear and that is a shame. so, i am just trying to help the people who think you need a mpc, asr-10, motif, fatan, digital recorder with a cd burner to make music. you dont. there are cheaper ways. so, if your credit card bills are outta of this world with hardware purchases it does not have to be. this is what i trying to add to the forum. it does not make a different which you use but you do not need to sell crack to do it. and you do not need a mpc, asr-10 etc either. it takes tools to make music and the software tools are cheaper. period. so if you brought your last gear with 12 months same as cash and it is now the 15 month dont be mad at me because you still owe the majority of the bill. there is a cheaper way to get the same results. now, if you have the money to purchase all the top gear do not look down on people who can not afford or not will to buy it on credit. i call it being sensible what do you call it? it not a hardware/software thing it about the end result and if on the way to the end result you must sell crack something is wrong. period. tired or not this is the truth.