Query > Live vs's ...

[natasha]

Hey all.

Just another query which relates to a topic i posted a while back about an assignment i have done on Live.

Just wondered if any of you could describe how you use or prefer to use Live in terms of producing? or do you prefer Live for performing music instead of making music?

Disadvantages / advantages with Live compared to Cubase / Logic applications?

This would be great so i could use a few quotes throughout my piece of work to back up different points, or even more make points.

Thanks for your help

[Sales Dude McBoob]

Disadvantages for creating music in Live in the studio?

It's too easy. You feel almost like you're cheating... but you're not.

[Captain Screwbarb]

Live is, imo, great for both composing and live playing. I don't play much live, but I hear it's one of the best apps for it. As for composing, it has many great features that allow for in depth, detailed editing, yet the workflow is seemless, and not mindlessly cluttered like Cubase and Logic. The average musician probably won't need a lot of what those big programs have to offer anyway.

[xfive]

Aw my Kinky Grave Dweller is back!

Well I like Live for both live and studio use... it does feel like cheating in a sense.. but in reality it just lets you get your ideas out faster..
And having everything on one screen is ace.

I think a lot of the "disadvantages" have been taken care of in Live 5.

[AdamJay]

natasha,

i'm the same way as the Captain in that i love Live for both the studio and the stage.
in fact, i think its greatest asset is its flexibility. From version 1.5 till version 3 i was only using it for performance work. But v4 made it possible to utilize as more of a production tool. Rather than simply rewiring it to other applications, i could then use it to host my VST instruments and do everything in Live 4.

of course there's still some folks on Logic and Cubase that prefer the more studio-centric features like Freeze and plug-in delay compensation. But i think Live 5 will be tipping anyone who is truley on the fence and wanting to use Live 5 as thier "DAW".

the same has also happened for DJs....
The way i look at it Live started as a sort of Live PA or "Live Performance" application. and until version 5 you could use it for studio and you could use it for DJing. but it wasn't yet a 100% ideal solution for either the studio or the DJ booth. however, Live 5 has completed a sort of trinity of uses. (i really don't mean to sound so epic and cheezy)
Studio, Stage, DJ Booth

and the beauty of that for someone like myself, who has been a DJ for 8 years, and been doing Live Sets and producing my own music for 5 years, is that i have one interface for EVERYTHING.

If i'm doing a mixdown and mastering of a friend's track, tracking my piano player friend for an electronic jazz track, writing techno, djing, doing a live set, etc. etc. etc. Its all the same interface. And in the end that makes me more productive and it means i know the application well. Techniques that i'd use for DJing i can use during recording and vice versa. Since Live's versatility allows me to do everything in Live and not use 1 application for this and 1 application for that, i'm able to focus my concentration on the actual music and not the nuances of specific applications for specific tasks.

the Live 5 'splash screen' reads: "Complete Music Solution"
that could not be more true.

i'll stop rambling.

[Tarekith]

I really only use Live for performing, there's still some features that keep me from switching to it for all my producing. I still use SX for that, but I'd love to switch to Live only if it had:

- Better/accurate metering. This is critical IMO for mixdowns. Yes, use your ears, but metering is there for a reason.
- The ability to link faders, again another mixing feature. Sometimes you need to lower/raise all faders by the same relative dB amount. Sending everything to a buss is not a good workaround IMO.
- Customizeable key commands. I'm dense or something, but I can find no rhyme or reason for the defaults in Live, and can never remember them. I have my own custom key commands I made in SX that makes sense to me, I'd like to keep using them.
- Groove quantizing. Essential for the breakbeat stuff I do, where I need to make my drums sound as human as possible.
- The ability to trim unused audio from my files/loops, without having to bounce. I love how I can save ONLY the audio I'm using in my song to a new folder in SX. Makes backing up larger projects ten times easier/faster.
- Sound quality. It's close, but to my ears the audio engine in SX does still sound better than Live. I already realize this is a contentious point, so please don't go off on a rant if you disagree. If I A/B source material and try to eliminate as many variables that could affect this as possible, SX still sounds better to me.

The first 4 points are biggies for me though, the rest I could maybe deal with.

[braj]

I
- The ability to trim unused audio from my files/loops, without having to bounce.

Doesn't 'consolidate' do this? I record audio all the time, set the parts I want to keep as a clip, then consolidate and get rid of the excess.

[natasha]

hehe yes im back Xfive

ah thanks for the comments, these will help with my conclusion. Its been hard to have my own view due to not having a proper chance messing about with Live, i will do, but theres no chance before getting this assignment out the way! (Ironic seeing as im doing a project on it, but at least the understanding of it is there now!)

cheers!

[Sales Dude McBoob]

- Groove quantizing. Essential for the breakbeat stuff I do, where I need to make my drums sound as human as possible.

Having independant swing control on clips and tracks and global doesn't do it for ya? Or is it just a different animal in SX?

[elemental]

Proper Groove Quantize is not about swing, its about placement of notes/hits within a loop. In Cubase/Logic, you can create grooves by selecting a part (clip) and converting it to a groove template. Thus you can capture the groove of a drum beat cut up and exported from recycle, and apply it to anything else yu want in a tune - very good for tight layering of drum hits, and syncing bass line and kik drum, while retaining the feel.

[Sales Dude McBoob]

Okay. Isn't that the new functionality that came about with version 3?

[Tarekith]

Consolidate doesn't do the same thing as SX's "Save Project to New Folder". Yes in Live it places all the files in one folder, but if you are only using a 1 measure loop of a 400 measure audio sample, all 400 measures are still copied to that new folder. In SX, it's pretty much a what you see on the arrange page is exactly what gets backed up. If you don't see it or hear it, the audio isn't copied. very nice feature for archiving projects easily.

Swing quantize is nothing like groove quantize, sorry.