I am piano player, producer and sound designer. Some of my requests are bigger, some are just a suggetions. I'm not sure if "Ableton" is reading this topic, so I will send them request via mail. If some of my requests are already somehow in actual version – please correct me and let me learn something new. And sorry for my English Toshiba Sattelite P-75, i7, 16gb, SSD128, HD756, Launchpad, Push, Focusrtie 6i6, Roland UM-ONE, Nord Stage Ex 88, Roland AX-Synth
Windows 8.1 64 bit, Ableton Suite 9.176 64 bit, drivers: Asio4All or Focusrite 6i6 usually 128 samples with overall latency aobut 4-7 ms
1. Sustain pedal - first of all I have found bug. When I'm sending midi with sustain pedal information from ableton via either focusrite 6i6 or Roland UM-ONE to Nord Stage or Ax-Sytnth (in all for configurations) some of sustain “pedal on” and “pedal off” are not sended to keyboard. They are correct in CC64 envelope but sometimes randomly one of few is missing. Selecting higher buffer (let say about 1024samples) is solving problem. Selecting lower buffer is making problem bigger. Bigger project is making bigger problems. One track-midi project isn't making problems. I have found this problem in some internet forums, so it's not only my case.
2. Sustain pedal - another sustain thing. I think that sustain pedal envelope could be more simple. It should have only two types of points “pedal on” and “pedal of” (like “speaker”). It would be SO easier making edits with 2, not with 4 type of points (pedal on start, pedal on end, pedal off start, pedal off end). I think that's because of the other pedal controlers, but there should be some switch for normal piano users. Please.
3. Sustain pedal - Pianists would love it if we could edit in one window: notes, velocities and pedal and sometime pitch band etc. Please. In cubase there is option to add another envelopes to view.
4. Sustain pedal - in Cubase there is greate feature: when track with midi is stopping, Cubase is sending sustain “pedal off” to midi output (that's how I understand it). Pianists need this. When we're working on some piano midi parts using hardware piano - sometimes we have to stop midi clips “in the middle of phrase” after “pedal on”, but before “pedal off”. Every time this happens I need to turn to my piano and press sustain pedal by my foot, because it will be sounding forever. We need this, really.
5. Time warp bug – when I am warping some recordings (mailny piano) which I have recorded using Focusrite 6i6 (24bits) I hear little random clicks that occure only while playback of warped clip (I think it's only in complex mode but I'm not sure). In rendered files there are no clicks.
6. Video bug: while working on video I am exporting video with audio - Ableton crashes. After every restart of this project - Ableton crashes. After restart of computer and this project the same. After phisicaly delating video file project is working ok. After delating “offline” track, clearing projec tlibrary and importing copy of this file agin in project – ableton automaticly crashes. After importing different conversion of the same video file – it crashes. But after importing the same video into new project everything is ok. So - crash is made by “render video” option.
7. Video - in instalation of Ableton there should be option to instal quick time and codecs. That's for the begginers. First time working on video I've wasted a lot of time setting everything to work.
8. Bug? – sometimes I can't make samples shorter than some little amount (like 1/128 or 1/256). And sometimes I can. But always I can make selection of sample end cut it. (?!)
9. Latency compensation - i know that beta 9.2 update has done something with latency, so maybe it's already done.But - in Cubase there were
no problem with latency at all for example in Waves DeNoiser. So it can be done better :]
10. Render to mp3 – guys!
11. Render. This is big. Check Cubase batch export – you have list of whole tracks, returns, groups and master and you can select which tracks you want to export. In Ableton I can export selected tracks but I can't select returns (!) or master track.. This is really pain in neck for those who were used to Cubase. Another plus for Cubase is that it remembers the track check list – which tracks were selected and which not in previous export.
12. Render – I would love to have an option of rendering selected tracks and summing them with reaturn tracks. It would be so helpful in
exporting tracks from groups, which have different send amounts. Of course it would be much longer, because every selected track should have to be individaly “played” from start to end. Of course It would be better than soloing tracks and rendering only when I could use some batch rendering.
13. Render – make simple option like “import to project after render”
Like in Stainberg.14. Render - Exporting/rendering click track – so simple and so usefull for playing with band from another computer or multitrack player etc.
15. Export - Now I can export only WHOLE midi track. Please, make “export midi REGION”.
16. Automatic time warp/automatic tempo finder/beat recognition – come on guys, it could be way better and simpler, like in Virtual DJ. Steal their technology or something
17. Browser - It would be greate to have an acess to my groups of previous projects from the browser in another project. Right now I have an acess only to tracks (I LOVE this feature already). To save group I have to go to my previous project and move/save this group manualy.
18. MIDI - Another feature of Cubase – in Steinberg while working on midi CC like velocity I can right click and I can choose one of few envelopes like sine, triangle etc. In Ableton I can only choose one kind of envelope without any possibility of change.
19. MIDI - In cubase when I am selecting few midi clips, I can edit their piano rolls simultaneusly. When I am edditing notes I am working on some kind of “layers” that are active or not. Check this, it's quite helpful.
20. MIDI - folded piano roll – it would be grate if I could move notes up and down with arrows. Right now I can only change octave with ctrl+arrows.
21. MIDI - It would be greate if midi clip window would have the ability of automatic adjustment of notes that are moved up or down using arrows. Right now this automatic adjustment happens when I am recording notes. But when I am moving one note up or down whole view of midi piano roll is moving up or down (when note is getting out of the view). It would be better (I think) if it would adjust to whole clip, not just move. Like while recording.
22. Clips - in Cubase after selecting few clips (in arrangment view;) ) using mouse (draggin border) I can change all their length simultaneusly. In Ableton only the one which border I am dragging.
23. Clips - I would love to have an option like “capture scene without clips on muted tracks”.
24. Clips - in clip grid there should be option of creating metrum change marker.
25. Clips - and it would be so simple and usefull if we could just time stretch audio clips by some type of mouse cursor or something. Like in Cubase. Simple, fast and intuitive (of course there should be some “graph to warp” algorithm...)
26. Colors of the clips and tracks – sorry, but they don't work for me. Those from Cubase where far more better. For me they aren't ordered in logical way (!!!). Check how Cubase make the color order.
27. Colors - another problem for me is that some of colors are the same like “functional” colors. Like the red or green colors of launchpad/push “record/play”. It's messy, coz I'm not sure is my track is being playing or it has green color (even with/without flickering). And like one type of blue color is the same as a “selected track” color of the tracks bar.
28. Colors - and another science-fiction feature – inteligent color. Every time I'm making bass drum I'm renaming track to “BD” and I'm selecting red colour of track. Every time I'm making Fx uplifter I'm renaming it always to orange “Fx Ul”. Etc. So it would be obvious when Ableton could remember colors of names and automaticly change them
))29. Interface – make “copy time” option. Now I have to “cut time” and “undo”, it's easy, but not intuitive..
30. Interface - please, put somewhere little window, where after selecting a point (like automation point) I could write down the amount of this point. Sometimes it's hard to put a little value by hand even using ctrl. That how it works in Cubase.
31. Interface - I would love if I could hide some of my send controls on track. When I have a lot of them they're using a lot of space. Now I can hide them all or disable any. But I can't hide one of them.
32. Interface - hide “track delay” title in session view – we don't need this title and it will save little space
In Arrangment view delay compensation bar can be smaller too.33. Interface - dragging track below group – in cubase while dragging below group there are two options: to drag into group or below group, and in depends of vertical mouse position. In Ableton I can do this, but horizontal cursor of moved track is same black line in both cases. Little thing, but intuitive.
34. Interface - don't be afraid of RMB – in Cubase there is a greate feature – you have to RMB click on arrangment main window and then you can choose few types of cursor, and after selecting them you can change the type special type from a optional context menu. I know it's only for PC users, but I don't care
35. Interface - scroll mouse (!!!) - another thing only for PC users, but I don't care. In Cubase you can use scroll to change color of track when the mouse pointer is on little color bar on the track border. It's so usefull and simple!!! I think Ableton can go farther and make every knob or amount window editable with mouse scroll. It would be a lot quicker for PC users.
36. Interface - it would be nice in somewhere in main window would be a little buffor amonut window
37. Quanize Setup – oh it could be greate if it would be more complex, like in Cubase. Some “randome quantize” would be so practical (I know it can be done also by grooves and by midi effects). I would love to have little option that “normalise/move” all notes (or only those who are before start of the bar) position after bar start, not before. It would be usuful while cutting and moving part of “by hand recording clips”, which are “percent-quantized”. When working on recorded piano so often happens that after moving some part of my clip, few beginning notes aren't coppied, because their start was few samples before the start of new bar.
38. Keyboard shorcut/Quantize– PLEASE, make it like in Cubase – differen shortcut for “quantize start” and “quantize end”, please, please, please.
39. Keyboard shortcuts – oh come on – there should be some option to change them!!!
40. Keyboard shortcuts – and there should be a way to make context menu options used with shortcuts (like “crop”!!!)
41. Keyboard shorcuts - e.g. in piano roll maybe would work simple alt+ctrl+scroll=zoom vertical and alt+shift+scroll=zoom horizontal
42. Settings - every time I restart my PC and I want to record my piano I have to manualy “turn on” input stereo ports 3/4 in settings. Ableton should remember that I am always using them. And he should make them always visible (even if not active) in inputs from track input list. Selecting this port would make it active. So maybe in settings/input configuration there should be also “visible” checklist – that Ableton should remember.
43. Audiowarp/Melodyne/AutoTune - please, make something like Cubase Audio Warp, which we could edit directly in Ableton. I know it's hard to make this tool, but remember that a lot of Ableton users are using autotunish tools as a sound design tool, not only as a pitch correction. WE REALLY NEED IT.
44. We also need simple denoiser, declicker, stereo imager, dynamic range metter, lufs and rms metter and stereo phase graph tool too
.45. Push - saving startup presets in Push – OH COME ON guys!!! We need this so much!
46. Push – when starting Push and Launchad – their “squares” in session view should not overlap. It is small thing, but they shoul be “neighbours” instead of controling the same clips. Or/and their position should be saved in project.
47. Vinyl Distortion – I think crackles should be deactivated when the playback is off. Or there should be some option.
48. Overdrive – PLEASE make output knob!!! Every time I use it I need to use Utility tool too.
49. Eq – you can make different color of grid and envelopes. I have little sine distortion in my focusrite preamps exactly on 8kHz and while using eq to cut it from the recordings I can't even see it on eq spectrogram because it's exactly on a grid and it has the same color
50. And last little suggestion. Startup/default presets. Some of them are greate but some of them could be better especially for begginers. Like flanger + make startup preset like the one in Cubase, which is one of the best I have ever used (even on 3-5% mix). You can also put two reverbs at two different return tracks one very long and one short. Chorus deafult preset also could be better like one in Cubase, Overdrive should be more dry and Saturation should have drive up and output down. That's all for the begginers and for intuitive work.