Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Discuss anything related to audio or music production.
Angstrom
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Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by Angstrom » Tue Feb 16, 2016 11:37 pm

Well, as an old person who thinks dance music is a shambling zombie corpse whose only purpose is selling shovels to gullible teenage gold-miners wandering in a desert filled with bones.
The blog doesn't do it for me. Nothing there but Artist interviews ... but we are meant to be creators, not consumers. Look at the creative blogs such as CDM, synthtopia, SonicState, these are for creators. The Ableton blog is just promo artist fluff. "DJ Pete loves Ableton". Great. Good for him and the marketing team.

As for the shop. Well, I understand that many people like to make songs from packs of other people's content. I understand that packs are now what songs once were. Thanks but I have what I need .
It would be good if the Ableton site refocused on creation. Blogs about creating, not consuming. Lets have more articles from the people who write the code. Lets have more technique articles, and NO I do not mean "how duz DJ 12 yearold make his sick Dope beatz (pack available for sale now)", I mean "Andrew Simper talks crossovers", I mean "Amaury Groc talks about managing expectations". REAL TALK

But what is most interesting is that the Forum has so many exit doors now, and no entrance. Interesting.

"More from the community".
Yes. I'm sure.

oblique strategies
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by oblique strategies » Wed Feb 17, 2016 7:56 am

Glad there's a curmudgeon who speaks his truth to power!
:mrgreen:

Since I spend only a small amount of time reading the Ableton blog I'm not sure if I can agree completely with what you say. Perhaps that only goes to prove your point: if it was more interesting I'd spend more time there. I'd like to see more of what you'd like to see too. I do notice that it's updated rather infrequently compared to the past (& what happened to Free Friday?)

That said, I really liked the Minilogue article & videos. Would love to see more articles like that!

Perhaps I'll spend a bit more time exploring the other sites you mention.

Angstrom
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by Angstrom » Wed Feb 17, 2016 2:04 pm

I'm not speaking truth to power, I'm venting opinions to the lounge!
Almost the exact opposite ;)

But this is the blog right now ...
  • Bob Moses (Artist interview)
  • Link Now Available (News)
  • Mikael Seifu (Artist interview)
  • Peder Mannerfelt (Artist interview)
  • Team Supreme (Artist interview)
  • Sounds In Context (Download)
  • Kirk Knight(Artist interview)
  • Seasonal sequencer (news)
  • iOS apps with Link (news)
  • JNTHN STEIN (Artist interview)
  • IRCAMAX 2 (news) (product advert)
  • Meridian Brothers (Artist interview)
You might love an artist on that list, but there are other more appropriate places for us to discover music artists. There are music discovery services for this. I am not here to CONSUME MUSIC

Ableton ought to be dedicated to music production techniques.
Give us interviews with engineers and producers (and not just techno producers with their tired sidechain techniques). Give us real meat, applicable knowledge from experts in production. Give me a blog about mixing into buss compression, the types and uses of it. Lets have an informed word about linear phase EQs from a man who knows exactly what he is talking about not a "producer" who read a buzzfeed article on it once. I mean - lets even pretend somebody is miking drums up and have a word from Glyn Johns.

Lets have interviews with the Ableton team members
"Meet the makers: Ableton developers at work" all the deciders we don't hear from AND the people doing the hard thinking. An interview with Bernd, an interview with Stefan Franke, an interview with that guy who made the new tuner, I bet he has stuff to say ... if he is allowed to.

I understand that Ableton is selling to young bedroom techno producers mainly, and that these Artist articles are designed to blind them with razzle dazzle - but can we mix it up a bit? Can we get real for a minute and just focus on what this place really is.

This is a site where music software engineers sell products to and inform music software consumers about the use and background of the software.

that is the "community"

aisling
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by aisling » Wed Feb 17, 2016 5:00 pm

I also use reason and won't visit the site anymore because it is exactly the same thing. You nailed it, it is all about consumption, not creation. :x
http://soundcloud.com/aislingbeing


Live, Reason, Moog sub phatty, Moog sub 37, Ozone 6, guitars, Pedals, proper ergonomic sitting posture, french pressed coffee with a pinch of cardamon.

H20nly
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by H20nly » Wed Feb 17, 2016 5:28 pm

does it make the case at all that i didn't even realize that there is a blog?

sure i've seen the pages of artist interviews, but i don't view those as a blog. should i? :?

H20nly
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by H20nly » Wed Feb 17, 2016 5:38 pm

and this https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/sounds- ... ri-safari/ contains a link to a free download that has no free download that i can find. it's found in blogs and links to downloads, which then links to a site that has a purchase button that leads you to a place to enter your credit card info.

so, as far as i can tell, it's a lie. there is no free download.

Angstrom
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by Angstrom » Wed Feb 17, 2016 5:48 pm

Well, that link up there ? says it's a blog.
It is the Ableton blog, but unfortunately it seems to be run by the marketing dept, who I suspect are more music fans than anything. Media and marketing graduates who got a job in "music" and really would love to talk to Jay Z or Beyonce one day.

I don't think they share our interests in Roger Linn's thoughts on MPE, what exactly Azimuth did on an analogue tapehead, or sitting down to watch the entire run of Classic Albums for the 50th time.

H20nly
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by H20nly » Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:01 pm

so, i think what you are saying is that they could substitute the word "blog" in the URL for the word "turd" and no one would notice. :x

Angstrom
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by Angstrom » Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:21 pm

Nah, I'm saying if that was the blog for Beatport or some other music selling operation then it would make sense to focus on "Here are some musicians who make the specific type of music we like"
The readers for a Beatport blog would be consumers of music. There is a utility there - music consumers ... Meet music sellers!

But here, we consume information, "how to mix your music" , "how to arrange more effectively".
I feel the Ableton Marketing team failed understand what the modern musician wants to read, and it's not about our peers dope beats :lol: We need stuff with utility to us.

The marketing team are very likely music fans, not musicians.
They are writing for music fans, not musicians.
Big difference

H20nly
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by H20nly » Wed Feb 17, 2016 6:38 pm

agreed.

case and point... your music. i like it, but selling it to me doesn't help me use my tools any better, while your racks and the explanations you provide with them do... :wink:

maybe the team that runs the back end to the Shop link could help. :idea:

jonbenderr
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by jonbenderr » Thu Feb 18, 2016 11:10 am

Have you guys even read any of the interviews?

The few I've read there's always a good amount of interesting info in regards to the artist's creative process and very little in the way of "buy my album".

I mean, they're trying to sell their software. Seems like a smart move to me. Talk to the artists that use the software in different ways to pique the interest of potential buyers.

I take away more from artist interviews where they talk about the creative process then I ever will boring and dry discussions on "bus compression" or "mid side eq" or whatever. I guess there is always room for diversity though.

There are plenty of places to get the technical details. When someone is first diving in to this world though, that kind of stuff tends to be more off-putting and intimidating to the new user.

I appreciate the fact they take the time to focus on artists that use their software. It's not like we're talking Top 40 artists. (Skrillex/Bieber/Diplo aside, which was just a repost anyway).

Angstrom
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by Angstrom » Thu Feb 18, 2016 12:14 pm

jonbenderr wrote:Have you guys even read any of the interviews?

The few I've read there's always a good amount of interesting info in regards to the artist's creative process and very little in the way of "buy my album".

I mean, they're trying to sell their software. Seems like a smart move to me. Talk to the artists that use the software in different ways to pique the interest of potential buyers.

....

yes I tried reading a few - but the questions are are like. (paraphrasing from memory here)

Q "so how was burning man, was it life changing?" "Yeah it really was man!"
Q "you use vocals what do you think the role is of vocals in dance music?". "Vocals are really important"

Now, this is like listening to a stranger telling me the dream they had last night. It has no utility to me.

I think if there an artist interview here then the example questions ought to be more like:
Q "you were at burning man, how did you keep your gear dust free and safe, even during performance?"
Q "you use vocals, how do you seat them in the no-dynamics mix environment of dance and keep them alive"

Now those are questions designed to elicit answers with some relevance to the readers. Assuming the readers also face these problems. The first set of questions is reminiscent of an NME magazine journalist mindset, the second is more SoundOnSound magazine. I want much more of the second type.

And your last paragraph is the point: the blog is to sell copies of Ableton Live. I agree. I think they use the blog as showbiz razzle dazzle to suck in new kids to think "OMG I too could have my life changed bangin out beats at a top festival!!!" .

It has a place, but that place shouldn't be 4/5ths.
How about they cater to existing customers, and people who have been doing this longer than 5 minutes. How about a little less showbiz news and a bit more apposite info
I mean - would a single "using racks with the new filters to design sound in Live 9.6". type article kill them?

Considering this company makes the tools which all the artist use, why not have an interview with the people behind push. An interview with the people behind Max for Live? Ableton could sell a lot more products using that tactic - put a face on a blank corporation. This is what they have become - a shiny corporate monolith.
Last edited by Angstrom on Thu Feb 18, 2016 12:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Tarekith
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by Tarekith » Thu Feb 18, 2016 12:24 pm

Angstrom wrote: Q "so how was burning man, was it life changing?" "Yeah it really was man!"
Q "you use vocals what do you think the role is of vocals in dance music?". "Vocals are really important"
:lol:

LOL, actually almost choked while drinking my water when reading that one.

Sometimes the questions and answers might be a bit shallow, but overall I like the blog and reading about how other artists work. I hadn't even heard of Minilogue before they were on the blog, and now I'm a huge fan. So it's turned me on to a few new artists I like now too, which is a plus. You want to read some really shallow interviews, check out Music Rader.
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Idonotlikebroccoli
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by Idonotlikebroccoli » Wed Mar 02, 2016 7:27 am

The artist interviews feel more like bland promos than anything of value. I would like to see more technical and philosophical stuff. How do the people at Ableton think? What have they learned recently? The Ableton Developers video was such a breath of fresh air.

I think Sonic Bloom should be the official Ableton blog instead. http://sonicbloom.net/en/

Forge.
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Re: Todays rant - More from Ableton. Blog. Shop.

Post by Forge. » Sun Mar 13, 2016 8:46 am

Personally, I think you should just count yourself lucky that you actually still give a flying toss about any of those things! :wink:

My experience with the blog button was "was that there before?" - right click>open in new tab - "that doesn't look much like a 'blog', maybe I'll have a look later" until natural selection gradually weeded it out of my daily increasing and naively ambitious unread tab list.

But you raise an interesting point about what the "music industry" actually is now. This is worth a look, I think he's described it pretty well: A modest proposal for fixing the music industry | Brian McTear | TEDxPhiladelphia

But the interesting thing is, I looked at his "Weathervane" site and wondered how the artists actually benefit from it, and the only mention I could find was in the FAQ section where it quite specifically said artists aren't allowed to make money from the videos. So it seems like another in the long line of cannibalistic music industry ventures for cashing in on the testosterone dazzled youthful naivity of schmucks who want to get their music out there so they can get laid. Not to sound too jaded and cynical. 8O :mrgreen:

But I'm not sure that's really a problem unless you learned it when we did when it was hard and expensive. Now the kids can learn, make, and distribute music for free, and the thing he was definitely right about is the world is drenched in 'content', so selling digital music recordings is not likely to be a major source of income, so a "career in music" for most means maybe gigs, but mostly teaching, video tutorials, sound packs etc. Hence the number of big name producer studio refugees making videos.
Last edited by Forge. on Wed Mar 16, 2016 2:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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