Thread: Cubase or Ableton?

Hi People,

I'm just starting to get into production.

I've had a bit of a play around with both, but am still not too sure which I should use.

A friend of mine recommended Cubase yet another said Reason was good too.

Is it better to stick to one software or do each have their plus and minus points so you have to use them all?

Thanks

Buzzin2dmax

Ive pretty much used all software based seq's on the market
over the years and for the past 2 or 3 i have stuck to using
Ableton Live Suit to sequence my external gear

first time i used it i didn't have a clue and it all looked so complicated
but soon as i watched the dvd tutorial i then realized what a piece
of piss it is to use and so good for instantly getting your ideas down

the effects are good my fav been the "Pingpong delay" and the sampler
is also very useful but most important is the WARP timestretch
can get your breaks warped and stretched / cut up in a few seconds.

the main reason i prefare it to any other is the layout and how easy it is
to arrange your track

Ableton does seem pretty awesome and there is a lot of support out there for it.

Watching this has shown me some of the cool things you can do with it too.

YouTube - Making Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" in Ableton by Jim Pavloff

Got some great tune ideas.

Its just learning the tecniques to create it.

Thanks

tbh your question is asking about 2 different things... 1 a sequencer and the other a live tool.

if you are serious about getting into production, get and learn cubase (unless you have a mac, then get logic as it kicks the shite out of cubase) and devote all your efforts to that. when you're comfortable with a pukka sequencer then think about getting ableton as it'll allow you to mess around with any loops/phrases you work up in cubase. if you start with ableton then you'll be relying on other people's loops from the off and that will give you instant gratification but is a waste of time in the long run if you're not using your own stuff (imo). learn the sequencer then use the live tool to progress what you write to the next level.....

The only audio loops you need to use in Ableton are Breakbeats and Hooks
the built in sampler takes care of the vocals and as it runs VSTi's
you can use them for your synth's via your recorded midi loops .

if you haven't got the hardware you can get the software for free on most
share sites :

Korg Legacy Digital Collection [M1 / Wavesation sound libraries]
FM8 [Yamaha DX/TX Series sound libraries]
SQ8L [ESQ1 / SQ80 Series sound libraries]
Arturia Jupiter-8v [Roland Jupiter sound libraries]
Drumazon [TR-909]
ABL2 [TB-303]

However if you do have the hardware you just simply assign the channel out to your gear and then route the audio output to your mixing desk channels bypassing
the internal channel source [But a proper production soundcard is needed]
ie. 8 in/ 8 out or 16 in / 16 out.

Ableton has 2 views

[Arrangement] which is it's Linear Sequencer
[Session] Audio & Midi Loop / track arrangement

hmmmm

I can't really afford a mac at the moment, but I do have a Hackintosh running Snow Leopard so could have a go at Logic.

So if I decided to use Cubase or Logic to start with. I could then use Ableton to arrange, play with, perfect and master my creation afterwards?

That being the case then the answer is to learn both. =)

Your input is much appreciated. ...I am just a beginner and am still doing a lot of reading and research into this.

There is lots of info out there so hopefully after a few months studying and learning tricks I could be well on my way to producing somthing solid. =)

[ if you start with ableton then you'll be relying on other people's loops from the off and that will give you instant gratification but is a waste of time in the long run if you're not using your own stuff (imo). ]

this is not true ive created every loop i use in my productions thru ablton and have not used a single preset or anything that came with live.
it is the easiest way to get your ideas out and into a track with out a steep learning curve.
the lesson walk thrus that come with live will have you making music in 5 minutes.
i know people that master in live and also people who bounce it to logic or cubase. for me live is a no brainer. the session view allows you to get out of that linear mindframe of writing music and connecting midi anything is a snap.

i started with cubase but switched to ableton in 2004. and i won't go back. personally i think for electronic music production it's the best choice, even for beginners. for recording and mixing tasks i use pro tools though.

In my opinion I always felt cubase was way too technical and less than intuitive. Ableton does anything and everything you could ever want, I learned it in about a week and never stop being amazed at how easily it is to do anything I dream up. I am 100% just a self taught bedroom producer as I am sure there are also many others here on this board so I may not fully understand the whole Cubase picture, just my 2 cents. Eversince I staretd using it I have never been unable to do anything with Ableton and Ableton only. The effects alone are priceless, add in the ability to draw automation lines to fine tune any and all effects, quantizing, VST plugins, all of that...just so much there to work with and so many ways to expand the thing.