Thread: Ableton

I'm thinking of giving this a proper go. I had a little play with it a couple of years ago and not bothered since.

But thinking of having a proper mess around with it.

Any experiences in using it? is it all it is cracked up to be?

I do megamixes and I want something more creative to use.

So, who's used it? what's it like? and do you think it's any good?

I got involved with it a couple of years ago & it's great for mixing if you aren't already able to DJ properly. I even did what I'd consider to be a decent drum & bass mix but the only drawback is the time it takes to warp the tunes onto it.....

I warped about 20 drum & bass tunes & it took all weekend..... never got round to warping my old skool collection as I reckon' I'll have snuffed it by the time I'd finish!!

So the summary is..... if you're like Selwyn (where is he anyway? ) & have a ridiculous amount of time on your hands & can't DJ then it's great.... If you can already DJ & have decks, Serato is miles better!!

Originally Posted by Thrash

I got involved with it a couple of years ago & it's great for mixing if you aren't already able to DJ properly. I even did what I'd consider to be a decent drum & bass mix but the only drawback is the time it takes to warp the tunes onto it.....

I warped about 20 drum & bass tunes & it took all weekend..... never got round to warping my old skool collection as I reckon' I'll have snuffed it by the time I'd finish!!

So the summary is..... if you're like Selwyn (where is he anyway? ) & have a ridiculous amount of time on your hands & can't DJ then it's great.... If you can already DJ & have decks, Serato is miles better!!

It's just for the creative side Thrash. As you know I can already do it the real way and still have all my equipment, but I like doing big megamixes where I can cut a paste 60 tracks in an hour mix. It seems that this is the best to do that. The software I use to do this at the moment isn't as good at doing something like that than Ableton.

as a live tool it's awesome.

my production partner uses it all the time and is about to pick up an apc controller to use with it. with him on ableton and me on serato (especially with the new bridge software and sl v2.0) the possibilities are seemingly endless

but as thrash says, the preparation work you have to put in to get the most out of ableton, is immense. the producer 60 min hardcore revival mix he did a couple of years back took him a whole year to complete!

What version is the one to get (as in the one used in that Prodigy video) ??
I've seen a couple of different ones available for download.

Originally Posted by billybob2007

What version is the one to get (as in the one used in that Prodigy video) ??

the latest version is 8.1.1

http://www.ableton.com/download-live

Grabbing one now called Ableton Suite 8.1 - quite big, so might take a while to grab, but if it all works, I'll paste the links up in the production section (vip).

Originally Posted by billybob2007

Grabbing one now called Ableton Suite 8.1 - quite big, so might take a while to grab, but if it all works, I'll paste the links up in the production section (vip).

I may actually take a look at that - I just want to be a bit creative with chopping amens and filtering the bejesus out of some warm sub bass

Fingers crossed

Originally Posted by billybob2007

Grabbing one now called Ableton Suite 8.1 - quite big, so might take a while to grab, but if it all works, I'll paste the links up in the production section (vip).

I look forward to that Billybob

It's downloaded - installed the main setup & the registering bit worked
Now it's loading up all it's internal samples and stuff - been 10mins and only at about 15% !!!! could be sometime before I can actually test it.

Originally Posted by billybob2007

It's downloaded - installed the main setup & the registering bit worked
Now it's loading up all it's internal samples and stuff - been 10mins and only at about 15% !!!! could be sometime before I can actually test it.

How big was the file for this download Billybob?

About 1.5gig (all on RS)

Will post links in VIP in a mo.

Originally Posted by China-Rising

It's just for the creative side Thrash. As you know I can already do it the real way and still have all my equipment, but I like doing big megamixes where I can cut a paste 60 tracks in an hour mix. It seems that this is the best to do that. The software I use to do this at the moment isn't as good at doing something like that than Ableton.

Good point.... never got anywhere near thinking about megamixes!!

'Tis awesome for that kind of stuff though....

Originally Posted by billybob2007

About 1.5gig (all on RS)

Will post links in VIP in a mo.

Thanks Billybob

Brand new to Ableton myself, so for those newbies maybe check out this site http://abletonlivedj.com/forum/index.php

Originally Posted by Phil_Leeds

Brand new to Ableton myself, so for those newbies maybe check out this site http://abletonlivedj.com/forum/index.php

Nice one fella

I really like Ableton... I tend not to have the time to spend a solid hour or two on the decks without getting distracted, so I quite like the fact I can pick away at a mix over a couple of evenings. You obviously lose some of the spontaneity of a live mix (although you don't get the mid-mix f*ck-ups that ruin a whole set either!), and it is quite time-consuming, but once you get into it you can warp a track in 2-3 mins and put the set together pretty quickly.

Definately best suited for planned "studio"-type mixes, where you want to be playing around with effects and samples a lot more than a "live" mix.

I have been using the program for production for 4 years now, it's great, really user friendly and easy to pick up. I have done the odd deejay set with it but i get a bit sick of warping tunes, i prefer to use cdjs or decks for that.

Originally Posted by Thrash

the only drawback is the time it takes to warp the tunes onto it.....

I warped about 20 drum & bass tunes & it took all weekend.....

You`re doing it wrong. I don`t know how you`re doing it, but you`re deffo doing it wrong.

First set your ableton to these tempos according to style of tune.

130 Oldskool breakbeat stuff (around 88-93)and house (any era).

160 Drum n Bass from 94 onwards.

170 Hardcore from same time.

240 Speedcore.

(These are just guidelines, but basically all tracks will be near those tempos +/- ten bpm, except Speedcore, which can be as much as +60bpm, plus it stops Ableton from guessing one of your tracks is 170 bpm but another one is 80bpm even though they are both Drum n Bass, which it is prone to do if you leave your master tempo at 120bpm)

Then load up your track and when it's in the memory, look at it's guestimate tempo.

Set your master tempo to it.

Find your first kick drum in the track.

Line it up with the start of a bar.

Goto start of track, when you see [ symbol press and hold left mouse button and drag it to the place your kick starts.

Unwarp track.

The track should only need minor adjustments to correct it, (unless track was taken froma belt driven deck with warped belt, in which case, your fucked, seriously fucked)

Check warping using the method shown in following video.

[youtube:3hyofdbd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zLk3SH2lBg[/youtube:3hyofdbd]

Reclick warp and then click save


It all seems a bit longwinded at first, but once you get used to doing it you can figure out the correct bpm in seconds, you don't even need to be able to hear the track you're warping.

i use it to sequence my hardware

i have been on ableton for a few years now. the thing i love is being able to do live remixes and drop random samples.
google
Moldover and Ill.gates they both rock hard on ableton and have some sick templates do
"dj" with. Ill.gates charges for his templates but they are well worth it, moldovers are free but require reaktor from NI. ill uses 90% ableton effects that he made so it keeps the CPU load down 10 fold compared to moldover. but with the bridge of ablton and serato in the mix its only a matter of time before you will be able to use timecoded vinyl to controll your warped tracks for flawless mixing.
i have 2 1200's and find myself wanting 3 or 4 so ableton lets me "spin" on 4 decks for a super mega mix.
over all i would say give ableton a solid year of tinkering, there are a ton of tutorials and once you build your custom template you will be stoked on it.

I thought I would bump this thread as I've just bought the programme.

I've spent the last few days messing about with it and mainly reading the lessons. I had a eureka moment when I finally figured out how to do basic warping.

My next step is to become an expert on that aspect and then start doing my own cuts/edits and mash-up's.

So I've finally put 3 tracks together. Simple you may think, but I've been cutting and looping while manipulating the bass, mid and treble in various parts.

Slowly but surely i'm getting to grips with all the basics

I started out with reason and then moved on to cubase as it was the main daw in a course i did... also played around with logic a bit....

after all that ableton became my fav and i still use it now.... i just love the intuitive workflow scheme...

what takes me 30minutes to accomplish in cubase or logic, i can do within ten minutes with live.... and I certainly aint using the program even close to its fullest potential.

ableton wins hands down for workin on fresh ideas.... on the other hand, if you are serious about mixdowns/mastering then there are other apps that are better suited.

ableton is the program for you if your going to be doing that sort of thing, seems to be the go to program for producers wanting to make mixtapes, mashups, mega mixes etc. you can also arrange these on the fly, as a live set and record it, then go back in, and re edit the recording, mash it up, add more effects, fix mistakes...its endless,
i use ableton for production and probibly wouldnt switch to anything else, its not great for midi imo but for audio and mashing stuff up its second to non.