Certified Trainer requirements, some questions

[curiousdan]

Hi all, I've been looking through this and other forums, but not really found answers to these questions:

Besides knowing every nook and cranny of Live, is ownership of Push 2 mandatory?
Suppose I prefer *insert company name*'s products more, will those be allowed?
How long is the Certified Trainer license valid? Do you have to renew it?
Do you have to know M4L programming or is it enough being on user-level?

Finally, production methods and experience. How much does that count in the certification process?
With the countless genres and techniques out there, do they favor some genres or just overall knowledge?

Sorry for all these questions, but before I'm even thinking of going in that direction, I'd like to know the challenges.

Thanks in advance

[Tarekith]

Is Push mandatory? Being familiar with at least Push 1 or 2 is definitely going to help you get certified, other than Live it’s Ableton’s only other product and big focus of Live lately. You don’t need to be an expert player, you should know how to use it though.
Can you use Novation products? Sure, but again your purpose as a certified trainer is to train people and give demos of Abletons hardware and software.
No you don’t have to renew it.
User level is enough, though the more you now about M4L the more it I’ll help, even if just the basics.
Overall knowledge of writing music is the key, you do have to demonstrate that you can use Live to make actual music as part of the certification, genre doesn’t matter at all.
What do you expect to get out of being a Certified Trainer? Why do you want it, if you don’t mind me asking?

[curiousdan]

Thanks for the clarifications! I attended recently a Live workshop, where the instructor had experience, but was really bad at communicating and helping (not a Certified Trainer, though). Anyway, that got me thinking, and I definitely wouldn't mind a teaching job on the side. Have been playing music live for decades and electronic music on/off for at least 10 years, including a couple of concerts with live music+ Live produced music, but feel I'm at a crossroads. I just try to understand what it will take to get there.

PS thanks for replying on Reddit, too!

[Tarekith]

There's quite a few Trainers that frequent the forums, maybe someone like Jimmy Allison will chime in with some more advice for you.

https://www.ableton.com/en/certified-tr ... y-allison/

You made a good point about being able to communicate ideas effectively being a key skill to have. I know in the past people applying for the certification had to submit a video of themselves teaching a Live concept to someone new (even if it's just staged). So maybe start thinking about that and practicing some. There was also a telephone interview to show that you really are knowledgeable about the features of Live prior to being accepted, so that's another thing to keep in mind and practice.

[curiousdan]

A præsentation is not a problem I've been working with a choir for some years and have often been in situations where I had to teach audiences of different ages. While not being a professional speaker, I have some ideas what works and what doesn't. The rest is learning, producing and discipline - the latter probably being my weak point. I'll go check out Jimmy Allison - or maybe ask someone in the region where I live....