Thoughts on Push by those who have it now?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
Guillermo Barrancos
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Re: Thoughts on Push by those who have it now?

Post by Guillermo Barrancos » Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:57 am

SuburbanThug wrote:
mike@TrackTeam Audio wrote:With that money you can get an ipad and a bunch of different controller apps. There is one called soundprizm, to which scale mode in push has an uncanny resemblance to...
I can't imagine how an iPad can seriously be compared to this thing. If I had to trade my Push in for an iPad and some apps tomorrow I'd be pretty sad. :lol:
I take it you haven't tried any of the very powerful apps on iPad yet, like Lemur? :wink:

It's always so easy to burn another Device into the ground, without even trying it. :?

artpunk
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Re: Thoughts on Push by those who have it now?

Post by artpunk » Tue Apr 09, 2013 8:20 am

Hi Mike, thanks for your reply (I've been AFK for a while, something I heartily recommend to everyone here once in a while!)
I understand you didn't want to get into any debates, you were simply addressing my question & I thank you for that.
From my perspective, I have an iPad2 with 20 musical creation apps & utilities, used to have more (including SoundPrism) but winnowed them down, no point having too much that you don't use (says a tragic who has approx 70 analogue camera, so please, as one should with anyone's statement, but exponentially so with polititians, pinch of salt!).
I have an Alesis iodock and I agree that the apps available for the iPad are incredibly powerful and certainly offer alternative variations of music creation and composition to the traditional 'sit in front of the piano-tyoe keyboard or pick up a guitar' ones. The ios sound engine is also pretty powerful. My 1st synth ever was an MS-20 back in the 80's & I am pretty amazed by the iMS20, believe me.
Having said that, I am relatively new to the Live world, having started off with the Launchpad edition just on 2 years ago when I invested in one to run monome app emulation. (Since then I have accquired a monome 128, 64 & Arc2 which I utilise with multiple 'favourite' monome/max applications)
I have gone down the road of hardware sequencers, hardware synths, hardware effects, patch bays, lots of cables & wall warts etc and would not change those experiences for the world...I still use my equipment quite often, but not as often as I would like...
BUT - when I look at the examples of what the Push can do & the sheer convenience and tight integration this one unit has with Ableton Live, I feel I have found an answer to 1. Interact with the software I have invested in easily, in an intuitively creative way and 2. Teach me about the software I have invested in an intuitive, creative way.
I do not want to invest in other software baggage associated with other controllers, no matter how attractive and useable they may be, I don't want to learn how to use something that is designed to integrate with other software, scripts or no....
I guess the bottom line is, I know of no hardware/software combination that will make me more talented or knowledgable in music theory, that comes down to hard work & application, but I do believe some ways of working and some equipment can help spark & facilitate creativity, for some it will be the Monome, & it's continually evolving applications or Maschine with NI software, scripts, Live etc, for some it will be some other controller, software, whatever combinations, for some,mas it has been for long before these toys came along, it will be their beloved 88, guitar or ocarina, whatever. For me I am hoping it will be the Push & Live 9!

(Edited a couple of times to correct spelling mistakes I keep finding, one thing I find the iPad crap at is typing long replies in forums, especially when you've been on night shift!) :D

“... it was just to make an average listener go: ‘What the fuck is this?’ That’s a real inspiration for me and something that I will explore more on upcoming recordings.”
- Wally De Backer (Gotye) quoting Ween's intention behind making records

Michael Hatsis
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Re: Thoughts on Push by those who have it now?

Post by Michael Hatsis » Tue Apr 09, 2013 9:57 am

@artpunk-

It seems like you really want this thing. I think u are doing the right thing by asking around. Everyone has differnt workflows, and push, as it is right now doesn't fit into my workflow. Just to let you know where im comin from, I use Live mainly as a compositional tool and sometimes for live sets, but these days i'd rather just DJ w traktor. I have all my toys- stupid .99$ ipad apps, maschine, couple pieces of hardware, and just sample the stuff into Live, Then chop and arrange... If i want a step seq, ill either use maschine or a lemur thingie i have. Yeah, i have a lemur too.
Anyway, Id say to get it, the resale value right now is prob insane and it will def get better w time.

Mike

agent314
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Re: Thoughts on Push by those who have it now?

Post by agent314 » Tue Apr 09, 2013 4:15 pm

Everyone has differnt workflows, and push, as it is right now doesn't fit into my workflow.
This is something I was thinking about last night

My workflow is almost entirely based around composing original material - with the exception of loops (which I find myself not needing to use thanks to how nice it is to play/program beats) and the occasional riser or one-shot, pretty much everything I do, I am recording myself playing in real time.

For those purposes, Push has made my workflow feel incredible, and just are really really satisfying. I can't wait for the end of the workday to come so I can get home and play around with Live.

That said, I know a number of people whose Live workflow is primarily sample and full-track/DJ-based, and for them, I don't see Push offering a huge improvement - definitely not enough to warrant the $600+ pricetag. Hands-on control with visual feedback for devices is great, but the limitations as far as using the browser etc, importing files, the minimal sample management abilities, etc. are definitely real shortcomings. And given the workflow that Push seems to encourage, I have a feeling this won't be changing significantly in the near future, with the possible exception of loading non-device items from the browser.

So what I've been realizing, is that Push facilitates creation of original material from scratch, and makes it pretty much as easy as it can possibly be to create your own parts - and for those who use that workflow, it's a total game-changer. But for the non-insubstantial number of users who do not subscribe to that workflow, I totally understand how they could feel left out in the cold by Ableton.

Semuta
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Re: Thoughts on Push by those who have it now?

Post by Semuta » Tue Apr 09, 2013 10:29 pm

Umm, got my push a few days ago, and I feel like I've actually gone through and pushed all the buttons, turned all the knobs...

I love the thing. I love it not for the session integration (Launchpad or APC have that handled for the most part), but for the compositional workflow awesomeness. The scales feature makes it super easy to work out material in all sorts of odd harmonies, and the isomorphic layout's similarity to a guitar really works for me (in a way that it might not for a trained keyboard player).

The integration with session where it will kick off recording in any clip slot (regardless of track or master recording state) makes popping clips into a new session super easy.

The blue hand integration with the knobs/display is also really nice. I never did like navigating racks from an APC, primarily because I could never remember what the f'ing knobs were assigned to, but now, it's MUCH more informative when moving between devices.

The touch strip is nice and sensitive (and for that matter, the knobs are all touch sensitive, so they could be used as buttons just by touching if desired from user mode).

I think that the user mode offers enough functionality that it will spawn some cool stuff in the m4l realm, so that's a bonus too!

S!
http://www.semuta.com
Ableton Suite 9 : Push : Maschine : Komplete 8 Ultimate : Sugar Bundle : Diva

agent314
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Re: Thoughts on Push by those who have it now?

Post by agent314 » Tue Apr 09, 2013 11:16 pm

The integration with session where it will kick off recording in any clip slot (regardless of track or master recording state) makes popping clips into a new session super easy.
So this!

I am still getting used to it - it's so easy and takes out that mental step of having to prepare a clip for use. It strikes me like being used to walking around with shackles on your legs, then suddenly having them taken off - it's objectively better not to have all the extra weight around your legs, but haven't gotten used to not needing to worry about it

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