Ableton compared to other DAWS

[JimmyRambo]

Im currently rather frustrated. As of late, Ive been really knucking down on my productions, spending alot more hours per week working on one day making something that sounds professional and is ultimately, sellable.

However many, and i mean many other artists in my area seem to be releasing tracks on labels left right and center, Last time i spoke with them they didnt even know the meaning of the word DAW. None of them are using ableton, mainly logic and FL. So my question is, are other DAWS typically easier to learn than Ableton? Ive compared my tracks with theirs and they are honestly much better than mine. Obviously there is the answer that they are just better than me. But Im actually at the point where im considering learning how to use another DAW. Hope you understand I'm not having a moan! Just trying to find out why Im so far behind the local competition.

[watermelon]

Best approach is download the DAW's that offer a free demo and see if it suits your needs.

[login]

It is how you use the software. Maybe try to find some artist thet use live, like all those that ableton poat on their site and see how they work.

[bytheriver]

"Last time i spoke with them they didnt even know the meaning of the word DAW.".

Disclaimer- I noodle around making music for my own shits and giggles rather than to sell.


I think the quoted sentence sums up what a lot of people's problem is, they obsess over which DAW is better. Which synth is better. What the ideal default template is. Whether they need spring or convolution reverb...

A great many people who make decent music don't give a monkeys, they've never been to the ableton forum, they just figure out something that sounds good and go with it. Some people are still knocking out great tunes with versions of software thats 3+ years old, because they cant be arsed to learn the new version.

Part of what I love about making music is the technology involved, so I'm happy to spend a day tossing around with trying out another DAW or something because I enjoy it and I have a career that pays the bills.

Honestly if I had to sell my music or starve I'd ditch everything except Ableton suite and only use that, because its logical, immediate and does 10 times more than most people would ever really need.

[jlgrimes]

All DAWS have their Pros and Cons.

You will only learn by trying some of them out.

You will find that every single one will excel at something while at the same time totally suck at something else. All of them are perfectly capable of producing hits. Some of them you will have to work a little harder at certain tasks.


To me Ableton is more geared at creation. It's Session View is unique and nonlinear and allow you to easily chain other sequences together in realtime. In most other DAWS this is typically hard. Ableton also treat each clip as a unique loop where in most other sequencers you define a global loop point. Both have their Pros and Cons.

While Ableton's midi editing is pretty basic, it is very functional and usually very easy to do simple tasks. Ableton also has pretty good realtime midi effects. Other traditional DAWS are probably deeper than Ableton in terms of midi, but some of them might be slower or more cumbersome or harder to figure out. With Abletons Drum Racks, I find the piano roll makes Ableton a pretty decent pattern drum machine programmer. In Logic for example it is a little harder to get a similar workflow, although Ultrabeat is included, I find Abletons approach more modern.


Where Ableton starts to get a little lackluster is in general production and mixing. Ableton's arrange window while not a total slacker and unique in a few areas, lacks several features of traditional DAW. Ableton also lack comping. Ableton's automation is also somewhat basic compared to other programs. Probably the worst Ableton gripe is its PDC implementation. Once you really get to mixing with a lot of plugins, this issue can show its ugly head. It's general GUI doesn't seem that geared to mixing but that said when I mix tracks in Ableton, they often come out good when you work around the limitations.

[eyeknow]

I use live because I can work in it completely different than any other daw. Not that I'm the worlds greatest expert, but I've had quite a few and I feel at home with live.

None are perfect. Demo demo demo.

[jbw]

There very well may be another DAW that suits you. For me the session view and midi effects of Live sold it for me. I use a laptop only (no external hardware or instruments) and was previously using Logic, and it's relative lack of midi effects, as well as it's complicated routing for midi controller VSTs dragged the experience down. I looked into Live and found the workflow to be much better and less cumbersome.

I suggest looking into other DAWs first, reading about them, maybe downloading a demo of one that sounds good, and who knows maybe it'll spark something for you. Maybe you'll love the old school tracking of Renoise 3, just recently released. Maybe the rack setup of Propellerhead's Reason will grab you. Maybe something else, one thing's for sure there is a lot to choose from.

http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/ ... day-238905

http://www.kvraudio.com/readers-choice-awards/

There's always Bitwig too, which everyone around here loves.

[xbitz]

IMO DeadMau5 sees it quite well

And what’s at the core of that workstation?
Ableton is working out, but I’m looking at Cubase these days just for better mix control in terms of the way their busing system works, their EQs, and the way their layout is a little more engineerfriendly. As an arrangement tool, Ableton f**king rocks, but as an engineering tool it sucks and Cubase rocks. But you can combine the two with a ReWire client, and I’ve found that to be very useful. I don’t want to give away too much, but on stage there’s a lot of f**king sh*t going on up there, in terms of both Mac and PC. The MIDI in Cubase has always been bang on, where you do global adjustments on timing, like moving a latency slider over a bit, whereas in Ableton, you start f**king with that plug-in delay compensation sh*t, you’re entering into a world of f**king disappointment. Cubase has been a lot more reliable when it comes to timing-specific things.

If you could invent the perfect DAW, you’d be doing a lot of people and some companies a favor.
I don’t think it will ever come to a solution that’s perfect for everyone; everyone will always have some obscure, weighted thing. I’ve never seen a “live electronic music” setup that didn’t have some weird f**king workaround or some weird ingenious way of combining different things. It’s always been that way and it always be that way, or we’ll all just end up using [High End Systems’] Road Hog [consoles] and Ableton, and show technology won’t advance. Any developer that sees someone is using this-and-this for a task can come up with something new to deal with those chores specifically, but of course you’re going to have a new problem, and then a new solution, and then another problem.

- http://www.emusician.com/artists/1333/deadmau5/45266

btw u can drop FL Studio into Live as VSTi and can use its piano-roll(with midi-out) if u need proper midi editing

[david.barker]

Choosing which DAW to use,is a personal choice,each has its pros and cons.

I used Reason (and still do) but found that Live helps me to get ideas together quickly.

When I'm not working ,(music is a hobby for me), I use rewire,so I can use Reason via Rewire to Live

And more recently bought Komplete and Maschine to use in Live,ha,ha (great integration with Live btw)

As mentioned if there is a trial offer,go for it and try out the different DAWS,to find on that suits you.

I would make a list of what you need and don't need in a DAW,that will help you decide

[TomViolenz]

It's pretty simple: You have no talent.
Better look for a new hobby. I hear knitting is really fun.
You can thank me later!

[kb420]

It's not about what DAW you use, it's how you use it that matters, and remember, when you are learning how to use different DAWs, you aren't really making music. If anything, learning a new DAW will only slow you down.

[TomViolenz]

It's not about what DAW you use, it's how you use it that matters,

That's not what she said!

[JimmyRambo]

Thanks for the replies guys, Im going to stick it out with ableton. My bigger mac is arriving soon along with a juicy Focusrite AI, so it will definitely give me more space and excitement to try some new ideas. Also learned today that alot of the guys Im competing with in my area do not work, where as I work full time and literally get 1-2 hours a day if im lucky to produce.

[doghouse]

kb420 and bytheriver are dead on...your problem is not your DAW.

Ive compared my tracks with theirs and they are honestly much better than mine. Obviously there is the answer that they are just better than me.

This!!

[eyeknow]

I dunno, I hear that argument all the time of "it's not the tools, it's the user" and what I'd add is if something isn't working, then how can you "work"? If your hammer is missing a part, you're not going to be able to build that house.

There are workarounds, but it does get annoying.

But I digress