New to Live and interested in Push. In need of some advice.

[getting_there]

Hey there,
I am interested in learning Ableton Live to produce music, create beats, sample ambient sounds. And I am looking into buying my first midi-controller/instrument.

The Push seems really innovative and looks as if it plays like an instrument. I also like how one device can produce drumbeats and also act as a keyboard/control scales.

Is there anything I should know as a newbie? Do I need an external soundcard or anything other than my Macbook Pro and Live? Also, would it be okay to start with Live 9 Intro or should I go for Standard.

Any help at all would be wonderful.

Cheers.

[jestermgee]

My recommendation would be to consider Standard for Live over Intro. You have a lot of limits with intro which could be a stumbling block. Ideally the Suite version will have you with everything you need to get started but may be a bit of an investment initially.

Have a go at the trial versions first. Push is actually a good tool for a starter because of the quick pickup-and-use design and suits Live well BUT once you purchase a Push you are pretty comitted to Live since it is not real usable in other software.

The mo9re things you get initially the more time you will spend trying to figure it all out so starting smaller and simple is key. A soundcard can be of use down the track but your PC will output sound and get you going. As you get more into it you should start to get a feeling of what you need next rather than what you want.

[getting_there]

Awesome. Thanks for the info.

I went ahead and bought the Push with Live Intro for now. Figured I can always upgrade later.

What would you say is a stumbling point?

[jestermgee]

Awesome. Thanks for the info.

I went ahead and bought the Push with Live Intro for now. Figured I can always upgrade later.

What would you say is a stumbling point?

The main issue would be the fact you only have 8 tracks. The "intro" of Live is the same as the "Light" version of other DAWs and I find that there is enough to make you wish you had of shelled out for the higher version. You can upgrade which is a bonus tho I would wait until the specials season rocks around since you just missed out on the 20% discount that was offered.

How come you asked the question and then made the purchase just hours later anyway? Seems you had a mind made up already.

[getting_there]

I actually got some advice from a producer friend and he seemed pretty confident it was a good starting place. And once I realized I could upgrade later it seemed like a low risk option. Not to mention I went on a YouTube binge and got really excited about what it could do.

I'll probably play around with the 8 tracks for now since I'm pretty new to all of this. Maybe I'll upgrade after tax season

[login]

Along with Intro depending on the genre you are interesting in prdoucing I would get a software synthetizer (free or paid) and a very good sample pack for electronic percussion.

For a free soft synth check out u-he tyrell, a good basic substractive synth with good sound http://www.u-he.com/cms/tyrelln6

For a good sample pack check out wave alchemy offerings.

[Airyck]

Since you are new to production the 8 track limit could be a good thing. One of the biggest pitfalls in music production is when you think your music doesn't sound as big or full as a professional track the first thing you do is add more sounds. This is a slippery slope that will only leave your music sounding muddy and cluttered. You may of heard the phrase less is more. This is one of the biggest things to learn in music production. Instead of adding more sounds, make what you have sound better and more dynamic, more organic. You can make an amazing sounding groove with only a handful of sounds. Push will be great but don't forget to use the software to do some fine tuning.

good luck, you'll get out of it what you put in.

[Regrind]

Just my thoughts, but check out a few key books before spending a mountain of cash. Unless you have a trust fund. In that case, go to SAE.
Music Theory For Computer Musicans is a good starting point.
Synth Cookbook is a must read for learning how to make cool patches.
Check out Groove3 too. I was never into the whole paid tutorial idea, but I did it while drunk one night and found all the videos to be extensive and very helpful. I still use them on a weekly basis.
And never buy any software that doesn't have a trial version. Unless it's Sausage Fattener.
Amen.

[Regrind]

Oh, and I don't know if anyone mentioned this earlier as I'm too lazy to scroll up, but try to find a LaunchPad on the cheap and implement LaunchPad95 script and see if that workflow is for you before buying Push. I did and I'm very glad I did. Saved me several hundred bux.

[login]

yeah Check groove3 and I recommend highly to get a book: Secrets of house music production is a very good sources of condensed knowledge.

[getting_there]

Thanks for all of the responses, you have all been super helpful.

My friend actually has a Launchpad so I've played with it before. I really like it but I come from a background of playing multiple instruments (drums, guitar, bass, trumpet) so I think that the musical instrument aspect of the Push is really the selling point for me. And it has the sequencing and midi controlling capabilities too so it's a win-win.

Thanks for the book recommendations too. If anyone else has a book or online recommended reading/watching let me know.

[Airyck]

yeah Check groove3 and I recommend highly to get a book: Secrets of house music production is a very good sources of condensed knowledge.

I will +10 this one. It's a condensed tips and tricks book with specific examples of each individual element of a dance music track, kick, snare, hats, percussion, bass, vocals, arrangement, mix, master, etc... (not just for house IMO any 4 on the floor dance music especially). It really a reference too not something you just sit down and read. You reference it while you work on a track.

[getting_there]

While googling Secrets of House Music Production I found out they have and iPad app with interactive examples. Probably gonna have a look at that.

Here's the link for anyone who is interested.

[Airyck]

Hey thats new! I might get it some time even though I have the actual book.

[eyeknow]

I've only had push about two weeks. It's biggest strength is integration with live suite. It doesn't require it, but browsing is definitely geared towards the suite content. Functionality wise, I think it's compatible with all the versions.

Intro btw has some limitations

https://www.ableton.com/en/live/feature-comparison/

I'd say that some are really important. You might think you can get away w/o, but I frankly could not live w/o the full version.