Need help Recording band

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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flyhighsounds
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2021 8:21 pm

Need help Recording band

Post by flyhighsounds » Fri Oct 15, 2021 8:40 pm

Hi everyone,

I’m new to Live 10,

I am coming from using cakewalk . I have been using cakewalk for more then Ten years.

I just got a new Mac Mini M1 and Cakewalk is not supported by Apple.

What I want todo is record full bands. Some times I record up to 16 track at one time.

This DAW is so different I don’t know what I’m doing . How do I set up tracks to record in free time.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thank you .

Greenapples2019
Posts: 283
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 6:43 pm

Re: Need help Recording band

Post by Greenapples2019 » Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:12 pm

Hi, I've not used Cakewalk but Ableton's arrangement view works similarly to Logic and ProTools with tracks stacked on top of each other and time running from left to right. It's pretty straightforward to record bands once you get the hang of it. Maybe start with the manual, find a YT overview of arrangement view and have a look through this forum. I'm sure with ten years experience you'll quickly be able to translate from what you know to Ableton.

You can use session view, as we've done with our band, but I think arrangement view is easier to grasp and apply.

miyaru
Posts: 1267
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2017 12:08 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Need help Recording band

Post by miyaru » Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:43 pm

Greetings from Miyaru.
Prodaw i7-7700, 16Gb Ram, Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 3rd gen, ESI M4U eX, Reason 12, Live Suit 10, Push2, Presonus Eris E8 and Monitor Station V2, Lexicon MPX1,
Korg N1, Yamaha RM1x :mrgreen:

jestermgee
Posts: 4500
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:38 am

Re: Need help Recording band

Post by jestermgee » Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:08 pm

If you are just wanting to record tracks mainly I can't help but think something like maybe Reaper would be a better fit. Not to say Live cannot do what you want but it's got the whole Clip vide which is a big part of the application that you may not even need. Reaper is quite cost effective and really good at simply recording linear arrangements.

Otherwise to get a handle on what you are doing, set a 2 week learning period and approach every point as you need (audio setup, feeding inputs to tracks, recording, editing, automation etc...).

craigc
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2020 4:44 pm

Re: Need help Recording band

Post by craigc » Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:17 pm

Use Pro Tools for recording live stuff if that's your focus.

slow.robot
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:06 am

Re: Need help Recording band

Post by slow.robot » Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:19 am

craigc wrote:
Fri Oct 15, 2021 11:17 pm
Use Pro Tools for recording live stuff if that's your focus.
or just learn to use what DAW you have already because it undoubtedly will do a good job. Ableton is great for traditional recording.

Greenapples2019
Posts: 283
Joined: Wed Apr 10, 2019 6:43 pm

Re: Need help Recording band

Post by Greenapples2019 » Sat Oct 16, 2021 7:48 am

If you decide you want to try out a different software, Logic is worth a go as it runs natively on the M1. It's incredibly quick and should easily cope with 16 tracks at once. I use Logic for most of my recording work, and then Ableton for live band performance.

jestermgee
Posts: 4500
Joined: Mon Apr 26, 2010 6:38 am

Re: Need help Recording band

Post by jestermgee » Sun Oct 17, 2021 11:43 pm

slow.robot wrote:
Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:19 am
or just learn to use what DAW you have already because it undoubtedly will do a good job. Ableton is great for traditional recording.
Well from how it reads the OP doesn't actually "have" live, just considering as a replacement and based on the cost especially if their main focus is just to record tracks, the suggestion for Reaper which will probably do what they want is a fraction of the cost of Live, if one does not need session view no point paying for it. Yes obviously Live can do a good job of recording but there is also a lot of extra functionality that could just be confusing and the workflow for linear recording can be much better in other applications (IMO)

Pro Tools... Not a fan. Way too expensive with their subscription model, far better options to check out for the cost. Logic is fine if you never want to switch to a PC or work with others on PC and you have no issue with AU only plugin versions and the lack of midi routing between tracks.

If the OP has indeed already purchased Live then he just needs to spend time learning how to setup for recording but if not, maybe check some of the other options suggested as they may be better suited.
I just got a new Mac Mini M1 and Cakewalk is not supported by Apple.
Yeah this is the biggest gripe I have with Apple and the main reason I have always stuck to PC (tho I do own a macbook, iphone and ipad so not anti-apple, just not a fan of their eco system), at any point in time you can completely lose your software compatibility and then have to update everything, just never been a fan of forced obsolescence.

slow.robot
Posts: 188
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2021 2:06 am

Re: Need help Recording band

Post by slow.robot » Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:51 am

jestermgee wrote:
Sun Oct 17, 2021 11:43 pm
slow.robot wrote:
Sat Oct 16, 2021 12:19 am
or just learn to use what DAW you have already because it undoubtedly will do a good job. Ableton is great for traditional recording.
Well from how it reads the OP doesn't actually "have" live, just considering as a replacement and based on the cost especially if their main focus is just to record tracks, the suggestion for Reaper which will probably do what they want is a fraction of the cost of Live, if one does not need session view no point paying for it. Yes obviously Live can do a good job of recording but there is also a lot of extra functionality that could just be confusing and the workflow for linear recording can be much better in other applications (IMO)

Pro Tools... Not a fan. Way too expensive with their subscription model, far better options to check out for the cost. Logic is fine if you never want to switch to a PC or work with others on PC and you have no issue with AU only plugin versions and the lack of midi routing between tracks.

If the OP has indeed already purchased Live then he just needs to spend time learning how to setup for recording but if not, maybe check some of the other options suggested as they may be better suited.
I just got a new Mac Mini M1 and Cakewalk is not supported by Apple.
Yeah this is the biggest gripe I have with Apple and the main reason I have always stuck to PC (tho I do own a macbook, iphone and ipad so not anti-apple, just not a fan of their eco system), at any point in time you can completely lose your software compatibility and then have to update everything, just never been a fan of forced obsolescence.
ah, I didn’t read it that way—sounded like they already own Live, but maybe I misinterpreted. I agree there may be better suited alternatives, and also agree that protools is too expensive to be worth it. Reaper is affordable, but not exactly easy to get the most of without extensive customization (which takes time).

I think Live is excellent for typical sequencing work in a band setting, especially if you’re using the DAW as a creative tool (by comparison, something like Harrison Mixbus is weak on creating in-DAW—the focus is on mixing music that’s already fully-formed). Arrangement view has a great workflow that’s well-balanced, having most of the features you need readily available without being bloated and difficult. having used Digital Performer (some excellent features buried in a hugely convoluted mess of unnecessary ones), and Reason, (creatively astounding, but lacking tons of incredibly basic stuff), Live hits a sweet spot for me, even though as you suggest, I’m not taking full advantage of it, leaving Session view mostly on the table.

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