Contemplating Using Live For Songwriting

[Chingy]

Hi all,

I have recently been contemplating getting Live as a sketchpad for songwriting (traditional indie pop / country mainly). I tend to use Logic and Pro Tools for everything at the moment, but I've tried Live briefly as a sketching tool and I like some of the aspects (for example, load a drum kit in Session View and then program a number of drum patterns in different clips, same with basslines, and melodies - even can alter the tempo by scene). The one challenge is recording vocals of course where Logic / PT exceed by a large margin. However, I probably could manage rough demos with my vocalists using the Arrangement View before moving everything over into PT for the full production.

I have also been thinking of getting Push - I currently have a Maschine MK1 and though I like it for things like building a drum kit via the browser, it is pretty limited IMO after that (compared to drum racks, hard to layer samples), MIDI editor is pretty limited, etc. Would Push be a useful tool?

Cheers all! Appreciate the thoughts.

[Anton S]

I've tried out quite a few DAWs over the years and have to say I absolutely love Live for getting me ideas down. I find the workflow is great and recording vocals is easy, but as you've said Logic can offer some extra great features for audio editing and processing.

I like to get the best of both worlds and rewire Ableton into Logic. If you're happy using only the inbuilt plugins in Ableton then it works a treat (for me at least).

Not used the Push personally but I know some people who find it great for sketching ideas quickly.

[Division Monarchy]

After using Logic for 10 years, I find myself now doing more things in Ableton for the creative process. I personally find it more creative & a smoother workflow for getting out ideas & experimenting. As far as sounds go, I still don't think Ableton comes close to what Native Instruments does, but they're all plugins anyways. Logic sounds great, better than Ableton, less than NI, but it just feels stagnant to me.

As far as the Push is concerned, I love it. My musical background is more guitar than keyboards & the note layout is much friendlier to that. It is simply like a new instrument all together & I find myself coming up with things that I otherwise would not. Plus it has many other capabilities.

Also, I absolutely despise the arpeggiator in Logic, but love it in Ableton.

[xbitz]

recording vocals, there is a m4l device which can emulate comping (with take folders): maybe can help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udhd-Rx0Qh8 , Push: don't want to write it again, so > http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 2#p5886831

[Stromkraft]

Logic sounds great

As in you can make the sounds you want to make on their plug-ins? Or Logic have better presets? It's very strange to talk about "the sound" of a DAW when you mean the plug-ins. Beyond the plug-ins (Sound Generators and Audio/MIDI Effects), given sufficient processing power, I think it can be proven beyond reasonable doubt that DAWs themselves don't have a sound.

I used Logic for a very long time and produced nothing of value. With Live I'm developing faster than I thought possible. To me Live is a very nice writing tool. What tools the mastering outfit uses I don't really care about as long as it sounds as I want.

There are no plugins in Logic that I miss or that I will need and I don't miss the work flow I had with it. I'd rather learn what is in Live or get a plugin. When I need a specific sound affecting piece, like a compressor, delay or whatever, I purchase it and use it in Live.

[Division Monarchy]

I think their plugins sound great. Sculpture, Ultrabeat, Space Designer, etc. I think the ES2 sounds better than Analog, but NI kills them both... And although the official word is that there is no difference, I do prefer the Logic sound engine for recording. But that is a subjective thing at most & could only be in my head.

[tedlogan]

I do prefer the Logic sound engine for recording. But that is a subjective thing at most & could only be in my head.

I believe it must be in your head, and this is quite natural - the brain is very strange and powerful, and just a different looking DAW/room/puppy sitting next to you etc could completely change the way you perceive sound.

The native plugins/devices on the other hand - sure, there will most certainly be a difference. But take the same wav files, put them in the same tracks with the same volume/panning etc and no warping, same BPM, same everything, and there should be absolutely zero difference.