Abelton Live- do I need it?

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topaz wrote:Ableton live is linear, hit the tab key.

session view is for jamming out your ideas, then you record those into arrange (linear) view.
Sonar has Matrix view, which is similar to Live's session view: http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR X3&language=3&help=Views.46.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec09/a ... p_1209.htm
Astralv wrote:I like to assign 10 samples to the 10 pads and play pads in real time. With Maschine, it would not transmit MIDI to external DAW unless it is set to MIDI, in that case, 16 pads turn in to 16 notes on one MIDI channel. I want 16 different sounds, not one sound on 16 pads.
Astralv wrote:So I thought- I can assign sounds to the PUSH pads, and it would record it in real time? Is there even such thing as recording in real time in Live? I know it has linear view, but I do not grasp the concept. I installed the demo too soon and now it is about to run out and I am still busy.
Well, you could do it with drum racks, but's not unique to Live. You could do same thing in Sonar as well. Just use FXpansion Geist do it.
Wonder whether my advice worth a penny? Check my music at Soundcloud and decide for yourself.
re:vibe and Loki Fuego @ Soundcloud

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Yes, as Loki Fuego said, Sonar has the Matrix view which is similar to the Live's session except you can't edit the contents of the cells. Although you can do any kind of music in each one, it is better IMO to have the DAW that being used for that genre. Live and FL Studio are used a lot for Dubstep and there are tons of tutorials about that while Sonar is more traditional DAW, you find more tutorial towards Guitar's players ..etc.

I use Sonar personally because I don't have a specific genre, but if I were you, I would invest in learning Live which has excellent manual and you can find really a lot of free and commercial tutorials about dubstep and IDM (or is it EDM?) in general. The downside of Live is it's price! The suite is expensive, but if you have your synths, then invest in Standard instead which still comes with top notch effects and good kits for drums. The most important is that with Live is easy to find controllers that integrate very well with it, and if you are going to use it live, then this is might be a very important thing for you.

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Thank you for your very helpful replies. I use Sonar for years, and yes, it is more oriented toward bands and real time musicians than toward building tracks. I never utilized the Matrix view in Sonar. I should give it a try before I spend all the money on Live. I was not going to change DAW- more like make some parts in Live and then some how add them to the song in Sonar... I play instruments and have large collection of hardware and software synths- I do not have large collection of samples. I would have to manually make samples by playing a note on software synth in sonar and save it as a wav file and then trim and use in Abelton. I have to see what happens. Sounds like learning live is a big time investment...

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Try the demo more, and read the manual.

You don't "need" it, but if you learn how to use it you will know if you want it.

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Pick up a copy of Live Lite in the marketplace for about $10, and learn this. If you like it, go full :)
ABLETON LIVE 12 & PUSH2
Soundcloud: Nation of Korea vs Shitty Dog

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The Live Suite trial version is unlimited for 30 consecutive days, so you can sit down with it and see how it works for you. If you have a Groove3.com pass, there are also several video courses that are quite good (saves some time compared to sifting through Youtube videos of often very mixed quality).

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Astralv wrote: I like to assign 10 samples to the 10 pads and play pads in real time. With Maschine, it would not transmit MIDI to external DAW unless it is set to MIDI, in that case, 16 pads turn in to 16 notes on one MIDI channel. I want 16 different sounds, not one sound on 16 pads.

I will tell you- Maschine software is very irritating to me because things are not logical.

I like your idea about using drum sampler software and assign sounds to the drum pads in software. That is what Maschine for, but it does not transmit MIDI when in PAD mode, and in MIDI mode it would not attach sounds to pads. Ugh.

So I thought- I can assign sounds to the PUSH pads, and it would record it in real time? Is there even such thing as recording in real time in Live? I know it has linear view, but I do not grasp the concept. I installed the demo too soon and now it is about to run out and I am still busy.


To record in Live in "real time" you press the record button at the top of the page, then any clips you launch, fx you tweak, etc is recorded into the arrangement.

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I am normally a linear composer of orchestration/Pop/Rock/Country and ghost composer/writer in Cubase/Logic X/Sonar/Pro Tools and FL Studio. Ableton with PUSH makes me work in a completely different and creative way. Laying out arrangements using live scenes for into/Verse/Chorus etc... is a very quick and productive way to sketch out a song. almost a pure lack of thinking going on here which allows an almost instinctive way to create music. Highly recommended!

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yes :)
my music:
soundcloud.com/septimon-band
blend.io/septimon

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