Ableton Live 4

[zeronyne]

With the release of Live 4, I may hit a very significant milestone in my life. I'm at a point where I may be completing entire songs in two completely different ways using two completely different pieces of DAW software.

 

I've always used many different programs at different stages of composing, recording and mixing to take advantage of their different strengths and weaknesses. But now things are getting very self-contained and specialized.

 

I am an avid user of Live, but I would always import the tracks eventually into Logic. And, while I certainly could do everything in Logic (or Digital Performer, for that matter), the ease of use that Live (or Acid on my PCs) in terms of loops kept me from doing so.

 

But now you can seamlessly drag and drop software synths into Live tracks and then you can srop effects onto those track without worrying about routing. That is a huge thing.

 

Craig, what are your thoughts on the new update? I know they have shipped, but I can't find it at my local dealer.

[Wewus432]

Yeah 09, I'm definitely getting Ableton 4. I was just waiting for them to incorporate softsynths into that program.

[ryst]

I was using DP for recoring and mixing and LIVE 3 for sound fx and other things. After going to the NAMM show and spending way too much time at the M-Audio booth, I have decided that DP will no longer be used unless I am scoring a movie or mixing in surround. It looks like future versions of Live will probably add these features. Then DP will just be a faded memory. For instance, I don't know any other program where you can record linearly (sp?) and then take a piece of the audio (for instance a snare hit) and assign it to a midi key and trigger it all while the music is still playing. Damn that's awesome!!!!! It is the most inspiring peice of software I have ever used.

Craig, what are your thoughts on the new update?

I know one feature Craig wants that isn't in LIVE 4 yet. Hey, Craig..."Are we there yet?, Are we there yet?"

[Ed A.]

I decided the same thing a while ago. I sold my DP4 license to a local studio owner and I have been using Ableton Live instead. I was beta testing Live 4 from beta 1 on up and I just bought the release version which is very intuitive and stable.

I also agree that the drag and drop softsynth/effects feature is a much better implementation than any other DAW I've used.

As for scoring a video or film, Live can be used with Granted Software's ReVision to add a floating QuickTime window with SMPTE time code display in sync with Live.

[zeronyne]

Originally posted by php:

As for scoring a video or film, Live can be used with Granted Software's ReVision to add a floating QuickTime window with SMPTE time code display in sync with Live.

Holy crap! Why haven't I seen this before?? You can loop the video while working on the audio without some complicated workaround!

 

Thanks php.

[Gus Lozada]

Originally posted by zeronyne:

Originally posted by php:

As for scoring a video or film, Live can be used with Granted Software's ReVision to add a floating QuickTime window with SMPTE time code display in sync with Live.

Holy crap! Why haven't I seen this before?? You can loop the video while working on the audio without some complicated workaround!

 

Thanks php.

Thanks for the tip!!!

[Wewus432]

I've done some amazing things just using the Live demo, so yeah 4 is going to be my major software platform. A lot of people just listened to my acoustic guitar/vocal demos and might think that's what I'm all about, but I've also been writing and creating electronic music for a long time. This software gives me the ablility to integrate those two worlds, and really.....any sound.

 

I hate to sound like a commercial, but it really is unbelievable what you can do with this software.

[ryst]

php,

 

Alright, smarty pants......can you work your magic and find a surround sound app for LIVE? I'm kidding.

 

Seriously, I haven't tried that yet but I have seen it before. I think I might as well try it tonight! Thanks!

[Anderton]

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As favorable as everyone else here. To me, the biggest thing is that they added mondo new functionality without screwing up that beautiful, simple interface.

 

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It is shipping, but the key word is "shipping" -- the only reason I have a copy is that I picked one up at NAMM. It may take a few more days before the program gets into stores and on shelves.

[urk10]

Originally posted by php:

I decided the same thing a while ago. I sold my DP4 license to a local studio owner and I have been using Ableton Live instead. I was beta testing Live 4 from beta 1 on up and I just bought the release version which is very intuitive and stable.

I also agree that the drag and drop softsynth/effects feature is a much better implementation than any other DAW I've used.

As for scoring a video or film, Live can be used with Granted Software's ReVision to add a floating QuickTime window with SMPTE time code display in sync with Live.

Pretty cool!

 

Do you know it's there is something like that for PC out there?

[Alndln]

Originally posted by urk10:

is something like that for PC out there?

Live is cross platform(PC/Mac).My brother has the beta and so far it freezes and hangs everytime he try's to scan his VST folder so we can't even comment yet on instrument handling.Without PDC though,it's still confined to the Re-Wire prison as far as wer'e concerned.

[Gus Lozada]

Originally posted by Alndlnbot:

Originally posted by urk10:

is something like that for PC out there?

Live is cross platform(PC/Mac).

I guess he was talking about ReVision which is a MAC only app...

[Anderton]

<>

 

I had that happen when I installed Live 3. I have a lot of plug-ins and it turned out there were two that just didn't get along with Live. Interestingly, they sometimes didn't get along with other programs as well (e.g., VST-DX adapter). I removed those plugs and not only did Live work, but some other programs became more stable...apparently not all plug-ins are written in an equally elegant fashion.

 

If you re-scan the folder from Live's Preferences page, look in the lower left status line to see what's being scanned. If you get the Runtime error message, check which plug-in is showing in the status line. 9 times out of 10 that's the one causing the problem.

 

Check the web to see if there are any updates for the plug-in. If not, try re-installing it. If Live still hangs, remove the plug-in or create a plug-in folder for Live that doesn't include that plug-in.

 

You can also run into this problem if you have a plug-in that needs verifying, like by inserting a CD. And if you're using any cracked plug-ins (I'm not saying you are!), then all bets are off...you'll probably never get the program to work in a stable fashion.

[Alndln]

Originally posted by Anderton:

check which plug-in is showing in the status line. 9 times out of 10 that's the one causing the problem.

Check the web to see if there are any updates for the plug-in.

It's hanging on FXPansions DR-008 drum sample module(included with Sonar 2),He didn't really need the last update but we'll try that anyway.

or create a plug-in folder for Live that doesn't include that plug-in.

If the DR-008 update doesn't solve the problem that looks like the way to go until Live matures a bit.He had a similar problem with Cubase SL which was included with the new EMU 1820M which he just bought,but that is supposedly a known problem(according to EMU),but absolutley no problems with Sonar 3 or Samplitude(his other main app).

[Michelle ggurl]

Hi Guys, this is a timely topic for me ... just getting more into the computer for making music, exploring soft synths and the like. I'm interested in something to make loops, and possibly trigger that stuff live, either with a click, or even better, with tempo tap.

 

It was suggested to me to get Reason for its loops and soft synths, but that was before I saw the need to replicate some things on stage. Now I'm wondering, does Live now pretty much cover the same territory as Reason plus be more ... well, "live-friendly"? I'm researching this stuff but without my own empirical examples to draw from, so grasping some of these concepts is a slooowww process. I can buy one program. Just wondering which one.

 

I run Pro Tools LE on PC, in terms of for recording.

[zeronyne]

Now, that Live offers Rewire support, Reason and Live make a great pair for a laptop.

 

But anyway, I think, for your purposes, Live may be the better solution. Reason is more like a a sequencer and an actual rack of modules where one of the modules happens to be a loop (REX) player, and another happens to be a sample.

 

Live is more loop-centric, but that's not all it does. For interactive playback, it's hard to beat Live. It's very dynamic and somewhat intuitive. I think, of the two, Live is the better shoice for you.

[Anderton]

I've recently converted my live act from Reason to Live. This is no knock on Reason, just that Live's "Scenes" feature where you can select a collection of loops with just one mouse click is vital to what I do. I can also record what I play and have an instant live recording...I released an "online single" of a NAMM show performance using Live on the EQ web site. Live is way cool, however, Reason has all those wonderful soft synths so it kinda depends on what you want to do and whether you can afford to add some more soft synths to Live.

[Michelle ggurl]

Huh. Thanks, guys, something to chew on. Do you think if I went to the local Guitar Center they'd demo Live for me? I've never asked a music store to do something like that. Not like sidling up to a keyboard with a set of headphones or plugging a bass into an amp ...

 

Craig, one other question: When you record loops and them play them back, what are your sound sources? Softsynth/samplers, or sound sources from hardware keyboards? I still intend to get most of my sounds from my PC2 and Nord Electro, at least as of now. I imagine what's looped will mostly if not exclusively be "preordained" though ...

 

I just want to have a flexible sequencer without forcing the drummer to wear headphones and listen to a click; I'd rather play to HIM.

[Michelle ggurl]

OK, one other question! (yeah, right, heh, at least just one more this hour ...)

 

Will I be really bummed that Live does not offer RTAS support? I know Reason does, but since I haven't actually bought/used any of this software I don't know how much a pain in the butt (or not) it would be to place loops in Pro Tools sessions without it.

 

Obviously as pure audio data, WAV files are fine. That's what I set up my sessions to use (I'm on PC).

[zeronyne]

Originally posted by geekgurl:

OK, one other question! (yeah, right, heh, at least just one more this hour ...)

 

Will I be really bummed that Live does not offer RTAS support? I know Reason does, but since I haven't actually bought/used any of this software I don't know how much a pain in the butt (or not) it would be to place loops in Pro Tools sessions without it.

I think you are going to be surprised. It's going to be a lot smoother than you'd think, and you may just do a lot more in Live than you would expect. But dropping in loops is no big deal.

 

By the way, there are several retailers on line selling Live 3 for $249, which you can upgrade for $49, saving you about a hundred bucks off of street price.

[Anderton]

<< Craig, one other question: When you record loops and them play them back, what are your sound sources? >>

 

Sometimes they're from my loop CDs, sometimes other people's loop CDs, and sometimes they're things I record specifically for the purpose of looping within Live. Whatever works.

 

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You can just use ReWire to get it into Pro Tools.