General beginner advice please...

[alexw]

Hi,
I just wanted to ask some learned opinions as I'm about to buy some new software/hardware....

I previously had an MBox (with protools) and a version of ableton that came with it. I'm a professional musician (acoustic), very interested in broadening out what I do, but somewhat computer-challenged. I got started OK with protools and made some nice things, but it didn't run smoothly which I found a bit discouraging.
Someone suggested I try ableton, but I also had a few problems getting this started on my computer.

So, now my old laptop has died and I have a new MacBook with OS 10.6. My MBox etc is not compatible, so I have to get some new stuff. I can see all sorts of opinions when I google stuff, but I thought I'd ask here, as I think Ableton is the way to go for me.

Any opinions on what I should get?

[ark]

It's hard to know for sure without knowing what you intend to do with it.

[mihai]

get ableton with a firebox. if you need more ins to record then get a motu ultralite. plenty of other options but these are a couple of solid places to start in.

[alexw]

Thanks for replies!
As for what I would use it for, I'd probably start from where I am now - recording myself (like I do with loop station). Maybe then also with other musicians I play with, maybe then with pre-recorded acoustic samples. I'm quite open to just getting started and seeing where it takes me..

[pepezabala]

do the lessons that come with live. This will get you a solid overview of the program's features. Then start your own recordings and when you get stuck, ask on the forum. Don't get discouraged, there is sometimes some people hating on newbies, but there are a lot of very helpful people here on the forum. I learned a lot here.

Just a quick tip for the very beginning:
Save your own live-projects in a dedicated folder that is NOT located in the live-library.