Ableton just for electronic music?

[matthewordie]

I was thinking about trying Ableton due to the interesting interface. Does it make sense to use Ableton for a more traditional band setup or just for doing loops and electronic music? I use electronic drums and amplitube for guitars since I live and record in my apartment, but my music tends to be more straight forward songs.

I assume it has all the features traditional DAWs have though? Or is it more geared for electronic? I'd probably just have to use the arrangement view.

[Khazul]

I assume it has all the features traditional DAWs have though? Or is it more geared for electronic? I'd probably just have to use the arrangement view.

You assumed wrong. Unless you happen to record good enough in a single pass then you might pain it a bit painful compared to logic or cubase.

OTOH, many aspects of its editing workflow are (IMHO) alot easier and faster to work with than I find the case with logic and cubase, though they tend to handle automation drawing far better.

The big thing missing is multi-take recording and comping which is really useful for recording vocals/instruments etc, though maybe far less so for recording a well rehersed band.

[Tone Deft]

I use it just like you mentioned. electronic drums then I add guitar and bass.

the electronic stuff is written about a lot because it's more accessible and can be much easier. some of those guys never bother to learn an instrument.

don't underestimate Session View. it's great to lay down different parts then mix and match parts. I use Session View to start ALL my tracks, some never even make it to Arrange View. Session is Live's strong suit, it lacks in Arrange View.

[justchris86]

I use ableton live for recording all the time! it does everything a traditional DAW system does.
I make electronic music and also do recordings for people and ableton works great for both!
I used to run protools to do recording sessions until i got ableton. I was using the waves VST for effects and these all work just as well in ableton as they did in protools.

You can also use your electronic drums on any of abletons drum machines! ableton will make it way easier to deal with midi and effects at the same time as recording!
Amplitube should also run in ableton

Long story short, no it is not just for electronic music. Even as some one who makes electronic music I LOVE ableton because it is so easy to pic up a mike and throw in some acoustic sounds to your electronic beats! MM MMM

[barstu]

I use it just like you mentioned. electronic drums then I add guitar and bass.

the electronic stuff is written about a lot because it's more accessible and can be much easier. some of those guys never bother to learn an instrument.

don't underestimate Session View. it's great to lay down different parts then mix and match parts. I use Session View to start ALL my tracks, some never even make it to Arrange View. Session is Live's strong suit, it lacks in Arrange View.

+1 Session view is great for planning a song, I always start there. Work out what works well with what and for how long, then click and drag what you're happy with, hit tab and make your arrangement.

Also worth a mention is if you don't want a strict digital time frame you can use a warped drum track as the master timeframe (or groove?) so all other midi parts 'map' to it, therefore getting a more humanised feel.

[tinymachines]

I've used Ableton for songs that are completely audio, songs that are completely midi, and everywhere in between. Once you get the hang of the basic editing features in Ableton, recording live sound is pretty straight forward. I love that ableton is basically a one stop shop for me.

[Sepp Ultura]

I've used Ableton for songs that are completely audio, songs that are completely midi, and everywhere in between. Once you get the hang of the basic editing features in Ableton, recording live sound is pretty straight forward. I love that ableton is basically a one stop shop for me.

I can only second that. Much nicer than Logic, although Live is a bit more of a CPU hog compared to Logic.

[bosonHavoc]

i use it all around and it works great.
one thing i did early on was drop the daw i was using at the time (sonar 7)
the intention was to focus on Ableton to learn it but after a few months
i went back to sonar 7 and i craved Abletons work flow.
the things like multi pass recording i learned to deal with...
in actuality ableton does do multi pass recording..
you just set up loop record on session view and keep it rolling.
all your takes will be recorded in the same wav file
you just have to move the brackets...
after the session if you want to set it up to take out pieces of each take and combo up a master take.
you could just duplicate the track for as many takes, (CTRL D or CMD D)
adjust the loop brackets in each wav file
group them all (CTRL G or CMD G)
then you can freely solo out each take or slice em up..
ya its a few extra steps but do able and very simple.

[justchris86]

i use it all around and it works great.
one thing i did early on was drop the daw i was using at the time (sonar 7)
the intention was to focus on Ableton to learn it but after a few months
i went back to sonar 7 and i craved Abletons work flow.
the things like multi pass recording i learned to deal with...
in actuality ableton does do multi pass recording..
you just set up loop record on session view and keep it rolling.
all your takes will be recorded in the same wav file
you just have to move the brackets...
after the session if you want to set it up to take out pieces of each take and combo up a master take.
you could just duplicate the track for as many takes, (CTRL D or CMD D)
adjust the loop brackets in each wav file
group them all (CTRL G or CMD G)
then you can freely solo out each take or slice em up..
ya its a few extra steps but do able and very simple.

Nice! good call!