Ableton Live Lite: any good?

[whyterabbyt]

mike and titch

and Captain Beaky. Hissing Sid ate him after a disastrous tour of the Belgian Pyramids in '87.

[telecode]

So the question is could the beach boys have made the iconic "Pet Sounds" using just Ableton 10 Lite ?

No. They would still need the studio, technology and workflow that existed when Wilson was making it.

Yes, thats a given, the need for a studio and engineers. So could a studio with a PC and Live Lite 10 at its heart be used to recreate Pet Sounds ?

The engineer would be in the control room handling overdubs and maybe outboard fx. A studio engineer would be assigned to mic placements etc. A studio mixer desk would be allowed to handle 8 tracks of simultaneous audio. 3 inputs for guitars and the rest for drums and vocals.

You are assuming that all you need to make recorded music are the tools capable of making multi track recordings. So, lets assume those engineers that worked 5 days a week in Los Angeles at "United Western Recorders, with few additional tracking dates at Gold Star Studios and Sunset Sound Recorders" (where Pet Sound was made).. and worked with probably every single artist and musician under the sun picked up some unique skills on the job other than turning a knob and placing a microphone. Lets assume they put in 1,000's and 1,000's of man hours into the craft and their man hours add up to more than what you put in. I think there are tricks buried in those man hours that aren't available in the tools and manuals of the equipment.

I am a big Todd Rundgren fan and a big fan of the records he made at his Woodstock, NY studio between the mid 70s to early 80s -- everything from his stuff, the Utopia stuff, the XTC and Psychical Furs records e.t.c.. -- I just dig that sound.

Anyways, after reading a lot about him and his weirdo working methodology -- he and his recordign environment was the complete opposite of a Glyn Johns and Richard Perry, it becomes evident that those records sounded the way they did not just because of the technology he had at the time, but also because of the incomplete state and hap hazzard state of that studio and the way he worked. Had he made those records in Sunset Sound with different engineers, I don't think they would sound the way they did and have that slightly off 70s sound that some people like me are fans of.

I think the man hours buried in making those records of yester year also contain ingredients of what makes those really well made records by the likes of Rundgren, Alan Parsons and Roger Nichols special. I don't think you can buy that from Steinberg or ImageLine.

[vurt]

mike and titch

and Captain Beaky. Hissing Sid ate him after a disastrous tour of the Belgian Pyramids in '87.

dammit! now i have cptn beaky and his band going round in my head

[whyterabbyt]

So the question is could the beach boys have made the iconic "Pet Sounds" using just Ableton 10 Lite ?

No. They would still need the studio, technology and workflow that existed when Wilson was making it.

Yes, thats a given, the need for a studio and engineers. So could a studio with a PC and Live Lite 10 at its heart be used to recreate Pet Sounds ?

The engineer would be in the control room handling overdubs and maybe outboard fx. A studio engineer would be assigned to mic placements etc. A studio mixer desk would be allowed to handle 8 tracks of simultaneous audio. 3 inputs for guitars and the rest for drums and vocals.

You are assuming that all you need to make recorded music are the tools capable of making multi track recordings.

Actually, it sounds like the complete opposite. Seems more like he's questioning whether the specific tool capable of making multi track recordings is the thing that's important.

[vurt]

indeed, view livelite as a multi track recorder.
would "insert past recording artist" be able to make use of it?
er, yes. it's just a very clean tape

not would it replace all other equipment, no one is suggesting the bb or the b would have used vsts/onboard and sounded the same.

[dellboy]

You are assuming that all you need to make recorded music are the tools capable of making multi track recordings.

No,not at all.

I am just asking if the 8 track tape recorders used at the time could be replaced by a PC running Abe Lite. The rest would be the same. The missing bit to get that vintage sound might be tape compression. Abe Lite allows 8 audio tracks to be recorded and bounced to a master or as individual stems. The stems could then be imported and added to without degradation.

[Forgotten]

I am just asking if the 8 track tape recorders used at the time could be replaced by a PC running Abe Lite. The rest would be the same. The missing bit to get that vintage sound might be tape compression. Abe Lite allows 8 audio tracks to be recorded and bounced to a master or as individual stems. The stems could then be imported and added to without degradation.

Back then 4 track recorders were used, not 8. It was possible to get more tracks by using 2 of them, but often that wouldn't translate to 16 tracks as bouncing down 4 tracks 4 times would have an impact on the quality.

[telecode]

You are assuming that all you need to make recorded music are the tools capable of making multi track recordings.

No,not at all.

I am just asking if the 8 track tape recorders used at the time could be replaced by a PC running Abe Lite. The rest would be the same. The missing bit to get that vintage sound might be tape compression. Abe Lite allows 8 audio tracks to be recorded and bounced to a master or as individual stems. The stems could then be imported and added to without degradation.

Is that not like asking, can I replicate those old Robert Johnson blues records by just using the recording function on my iPhone?

I mean, those guys didn't use more than one track, right?



Anyway, I also got me a copy of Able lite and am learning on it. I think it's good to learn the product on but not really usuable as I think you need the Pro version to do the stuff that the performers that are using it are using it instead of other DAWs.. It has a advantage and work flow in performance mode that is not found in DAWs .

[reggie1979]

Do you still have to have all your vst's in one folder? They don't always install to the same place (I hate installers )

[dellboy]

Anyway, I also got me a copy of Able lite and am learning on it. I think it's good to learn the product on but not really usuable as I think you need the Pro version to do the stuff that the performers that are using it are using it instead of other DAWs.. It has a advantage and work flow in performance mode that is not found in DAWs .

For my type of music 8 tracks is enough, but for live EDM dj-ing they use zillions of tracks.

Why ? - I have no idea.

I suppose they have a loop for every button ?

[reggie1979]

You know, it's funny you mention that. I'll see these supposed "how to" things on youtube and the dude will have like 50+ tracks for it to sound like ass

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

the dude will have like 50+ tracks for it to sound like ass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gROO7xSTxfY

[reggie1979]

the dude will have like 50+ tracks for it to sound like ass

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gROO7xSTxfY

Sounds better than the trash I'm talking about

[vurt]

abide with me.

[telecode]

Anyway, I also got me a copy of Able lite and am learning on it. I think it's good to learn the product on but not really usuable as I think you need the Pro version to do the stuff that the performers that are using it are using it instead of other DAWs.. It has a advantage and work flow in performance mode that is not found in DAWs .

For my type of music 8 tracks is enough, but for live EDM dj-ing they use zillions of tracks.

Why ? - I have no idea.

I suppose they have a loop for every button ?

I have seen two performers using it live this year. Imogen Heap and Laura Escude. Neither one make EDM or Chillstep or Future Bass. If you check out recent youTube videos of them live you will probably figure out why they use Ableton and not other DAWs or Maschine. You can't do with other tools what you can do with Ableton. Also, that retro GUI of Ableton is probably an advantage on a dark stage..