How to transition to Ableton Live after 20 years of Cubase?

[pcf]

I'm looking at possibly transitioning from Cubase to Ableton Live, after using Cubase for over 20 years.

After playing a while with Live 8 on my friend's computer, I have some questions I would be really grateful to get some answers to, since I couldn't find the answers in the manual or the net. Maybe some of you Live-headz can help me.

1. How do you generally record and arrange MIDI and audio tracks in Live compared to Cubase? Do you use arrangement view the most, or session view?

2. Does Live have the possibility of "shared" copies like Cubase has?

3. How can I make Sampler in Live automap samples?

4. Is it easy to make clips in session view from something recorded in arrangement view?

5. Is there any function in MIDI Note Editor to "zoom to notes" for easier MIDI editing?

6. How do I play the same VST/instrument from different tracks? For example if I have a multitimbral instrument like Hypersonic, I must be able to address the same instance of the instrument, but on different MIDI channels.

7. When I play my clips in session view and I have selected a clip, whatever I play on my MIDI keyboard gets recorded on top of that clip if the track is armed. Any way to turn this off?

8. How can I make MIDI Note Editor "jump" to the next note by pressing hotkeys? For example arrows or something. Now the arrows move the note, and it's not what I want.

9. How do I change the snap value in MIDI Note Editor?

10. How can I record the output while jamming? If I don't want to arrange a track, just play around with the clips while recording the output, can I do that?

11. For DJ'ing - is it possible, and how, to make Live adjust it's master tempo to a clip you're playing? Especially if it's funk or soul, it would be great to not have Live play the clips in a strict tempo through-out the song

Thanks a lot!

[toph]

Hi,

I can't answer all of your question, because I stopped using Cubase about 17 years ago.

1. Myself I use the arrangement view, if I want to get a song arranged soon. To play around and test ideas, I like session view very much, but I often miss the right point to start arranging, when I'm working there. But that's a matter of taste. One of the concepts of live is to create scenes / parts in session view and then to hit record in the top and record your session to arrangement view. To be true, I can't remember a track where I've done it like that. But I think the fact, that I like more to arrange in arrangement view from the beginning results from my long time Logic-use in the past.

2. Don't know about the shared copies concept of Cubase. The Live license is bound to the license owner. The owner is allowed to install two instances of Live (one on studio machine, one on live machine), but only one at a time is allowed to be used.

3. You can drag all your samples into sampler and the let sampler arrange your samples equally over the keyboard. I think a mode for setting up one key per sample is still missing, but maybe I missed something there. Sampler power users will be able to answer more detailed.

5. Just get your cursor over the bar- or key area and it turns to a magnifier. Then press left mouse button and turn left/right // up/down to zoom.

6. Live's Midi routing is quite powerful. You just have to create a new midi track and then select the VST/instrument-channel and the channel you need from the "midi to" section. You have to activate the i/o-button in the right to see the routing section.

7. You have to deactivate overwrite in the top section (I think it's beside "back to arrangement"). I recommend to put save this as an key command in your template, so you can switch it on and of easily.

9. Right click and choose the behaviour you want.

10. As written in one you can record your session to arrangement view by pressing record. If you want to record the session to a stereo audio track, you have to create a track, disable it's monitoring and select the master output of live in the "audio from" section. Again the i/o button in the right has to be activated that the routing options in the tracks are shown.

That's what I can answer while not sitting in front of live. Hope it helps.

C.

[snakedogman]

if by "shared copies" you mean "alias clips" or "ghost clips" (ie copies of clips that are linked to one master clip) then the answer is sadly NO
(please Ableton, give us this functionality in Live 9, pwetty please?!)

[raw]

Hi,

2/ Why do you need ghost clips ? Live create virtual and independent clips when they're copied

4/ Yes, you can drag and drop. When you take the clip, swap the windows with "TAB" and put your clip where you want in the session view.

8/ Select your note with the keyboard and use the right arrow button (of the computer's keyboard)

10/ Create a new audio track and select "Resampling" for the input, you record all you hear.

11/ I never use that but in the arrange view, you can select "Master" for a clip, under WARP button (in the clip window)

Best,

[snakedogman]

Hi,

2/ Why do you need ghost clips ? Live create virtual and independent clips when they're copied

It's handy when arranging and you have a certain clip appearing in various places in your song. Now you decide you would like to alter the contents of this clip and have this change reflected in all the instances. With ghost clips you would simply edit the "master" clip and all the ghosts would reflect the change immediately and automatically. In Live you have to manually find each instance of the clip and replace them with the updated version.

[raw]

Ho yes ok

[3phase]

why do you want to change?

[bishbo2000]

If by "shared copies" you mean the ability to copy a midi clip 50 times but if you want to edit them all you only need to edit the original version and the rest will update? Then yes Ableton can do this if you drag the edge of the clip out, not by cut and paste (similar to Acid by Sony)

I straddled between Cubase and Ableton for a few years using hacked copies then took the plunge and migrated to Ableton and i should have done it alot earlier. Once you learn to use Ableton you will realise ( like everyone else) that this program is way ahead of the competition. I have friends who swear by Logic but watching them work now is frustrating, Ableton is way quicker and those moment s where unplanned coolness pops out seem to happen alot more with Ableton.

In short, you wont be disappointed.

Enjoy

[Khazul]

Hi,

2/ Why do you need ghost clips ? Live create virtual and independent clips when they're copied

Have you never decided to change a clip then realised you have to duplicate it back to all the places it is used?
I would definitely welcome a feature to allow sharing of clips when it is desired.

[3phase]

If by "shared copies" you mean the ability to copy a midi clip 50 times but if you want to edit them all you only need to edit the original version and the rest will update? Then yes Ableton can do this if you drag the edge of the clip out, not by cut and paste (similar to Acid by Sony)

I straddled between Cubase and Ableton for a few years using hacked copies then took the plunge and migrated to Ableton and i should have done it alot earlier. Once you learn to use Ableton you will realise ( like everyone else) that this program is way ahead of the competition. I have friends who swear by Logic but watching them work now is frustrating, Ableton is way quicker and those moment s where unplanned coolness pops out seem to happen alot more with Ableton.

In short, you wont be disappointed.

Enjoy

yeah itas magix.. but when you like to produce good sounding and finished tracks ubase is better..especially after 20 years you will find life disapointingin al classical daw tasks...

but its a pattern based sequencer mixerd with a timel line sequencer,,that has advantages in quickly drawing scetches...

you might it usefull to keep cubase and use booth..pre production live.. post prduction and final arange mixdown with cubase

[AceLuby]

If by "shared copies" you mean the ability to copy a midi clip 50 times but if you want to edit them all you only need to edit the original version and the rest will update? Then yes Ableton can do this if you drag the edge of the clip out, not by cut and paste (similar to Acid by Sony)

I straddled between Cubase and Ableton for a few years using hacked copies then took the plunge and migrated to Ableton and i should have done it alot earlier. Once you learn to use Ableton you will realise ( like everyone else) that this program is way ahead of the competition. I have friends who swear by Logic but watching them work now is frustrating, Ableton is way quicker and those moment s where unplanned coolness pops out seem to happen alot more with Ableton.

In short, you wont be disappointed.

Enjoy

yeah itas magix.. but when you like to produce good sounding and finished tracks ubase is better..especially after 20 years you will find life disapointingin al classical daw tasks...

but its a pattern based sequencer mixerd with a timel line sequencer,,that has advantages in quickly drawing scetches...

you might it usefull to keep cubase and use booth..pre production live.. post prduction and final arange mixdown with cubase

lol, yeah NOBODY ever in the history of mankind has ever produced a good sounding finished track from Live. NOBODY!!!

[3phase]

If by "shared copies" you mean the ability to copy a midi clip 50 times but if you want to edit them all you only need to edit the original version and the rest will update? Then yes Ableton can do this if you drag the edge of the clip out, not by cut and paste (similar to Acid by Sony)

I straddled between Cubase and Ableton for a few years using hacked copies then took the plunge and migrated to Ableton and i should have done it alot earlier. Once you learn to use Ableton you will realise ( like everyone else) that this program is way ahead of the competition. I have friends who swear by Logic but watching them work now is frustrating, Ableton is way quicker and those moment s where unplanned coolness pops out seem to happen alot more with Ableton.

In short, you wont be disappointed.

Enjoy

yeah itas magix.. but when you like to produce good sounding and finished tracks ubase is better..especially after 20 years you will find life disapointingin al classical daw tasks...

but its a pattern based sequencer mixerd with a timel line sequencer,,that has advantages in quickly drawing scetches...

you might it usefull to keep cubase and use booth..pre production live.. post prduction and final arange mixdown with cubase

lol, yeah NOBODY ever in the history of mankind has ever produced a good sounding finished track from Live. NOBODY!!!

in relation to the tracks made with cubase thats allmost correct..

[AceLuby]

in relation to the tracks made with cubase thats allmost correct..

Who cares? That doesn't make it better, it makes it more popular. You can make good sounding tracks in Live. If you personally can't do it that doesn't mean it isn't possible.

[mholloway]

re: point number 6

Using multi-timbral instruments in Live is actually quite superior to Cubase, because you don't have to have seperate audio and midi tracks to keep switching between -- I hate how in cubase I have to click the midi track when recording notes or to hear myself play, but then click a seperate audio track when I want to do EQ, etc.

live makes it SO simple: just drop the "external instrument" device on a new MIDI channel. Inside this device you choose the appropriate midi-to and audio-from routing. Use this device for any multi-timbral instruments like Kontakt, halion sonic, etc - it's not, as commonly mis-perceived, only for external hardware.

This way you have one total channel per instrument in the multi-timbral output VST. You can do your midi editing here, AND drop your audio FX here - it's just like a channel for any other vst instrument.

-M

[ARDJ]

I'm looking at possibly transitioning from Cubase to Ableton Live, after using Cubase for over 20 years.

After playing a while with Live 8 on my friend's computer, I have some questions I would be really grateful to get some answers to, since I couldn't find the answers in the manual or the net. Maybe some of you Live-headz can help me.

1. How do you generally record and arrange MIDI and audio tracks in Live compared to Cubase? Do you use arrangement view the most, or session view?

2. Does Live have the possibility of "shared" copies like Cubase has?

3. How can I make Sampler in Live automap samples?

4. Is it easy to make clips in session view from something recorded in arrangement view?

5. Is there any function in MIDI Note Editor to "zoom to notes" for easier MIDI editing?

6. How do I play the same VST/instrument from different tracks? For example if I have a multitimbral instrument like Hypersonic, I must be able to address the same instance of the instrument, but on different MIDI channels.

7. When I play my clips in session view and I have selected a clip, whatever I play on my MIDI keyboard gets recorded on top of that clip if the track is armed. Any way to turn this off?

8. How can I make MIDI Note Editor "jump" to the next note by pressing hotkeys? For example arrows or something. Now the arrows move the note, and it's not what I want.

9. How do I change the snap value in MIDI Note Editor?

10. How can I record the output while jamming? If I don't want to arrange a track, just play around with the clips while recording the output, can I do that?

11. For DJ'ing - is it possible, and how, to make Live adjust it's master tempo to a clip you're playing? Especially if it's funk or soul, it would be great to not have Live play the clips in a strict tempo through-out the song

Thanks a lot!

Off we go!

1.) i use arrangement view pretty much exclusively, it's a choice thing. I FLY in arrangement view, learn cmd i and in contrast, cmd + shift + del. You'll start flying around as well

2.) File -> Collect all and Save. Zip up the project folder and send it to anyone, as long as you guys share the same plugs it will open just fine on another machine (mac or PC)

3.) what do you mean?

4.) sure, grab the clip, press the tab button and move it over to session!

5.) Cmd + U

6.) just made a new midi channel, set the output to say hypersonic then the sub menu to #2. Make an audio track, input as hypersonic sub input as #2, there ya go!

7.) been answered above

8.) i don't follow

9.) cmd + shift + u

10.) hit record on channel + global record (up top)

11.) sure! you can always automate the tempo