Is Ableton Live suitable for any kind of real work?

[Wavemonk]

Hello Ableton Live users!

Again today I lost almost a day's work because Ableton Live can suddenly not load the project without crashing. It is not the first time that has happened. Far from it. But it is 2015 now, and properly constructed software does not crash because of input. Whether it be input from the user (keyboard/mouse) or from files or otherwise. Instead, properly constructed software deals with the faulty input and provides error information to allow the user to fix the input, if possible.

I can add that the specific cause for the crash in this case, is a commercial M4L instrument that crashes the whole DAW upon loading.

And I have begun to seriously doubt if Ableton Live is at all suitable for work apart from producing small Berlin-hipster sound snippets for fun.
I simply can not remember when I have worked with a commercial software product that was as flakey and incompetently implemented as Ableton Live.

How do you cope with this?

[ImNotDedYet]

I rarely use M4L. It's been known to have issues.

But just for the record, there are a lot of things that could contribute to a crash. NI's Replika always causes any of my browsers to crash because I refuse to have to update my graphic drivers for a free, albeit decent delay.

Moral of the story, I wouldn't necessarily blame Live, but I've heard a lot of similar stories when it comes to M4L.

[InLight-Tone]

Tell that to Daniel James...(Operator error).

[RobertX]

And I have begun to seriously doubt if Ableton Live is at all suitable for work apart from producing small Berlin-hipster sound snippets for fun. I simply can not remember when I have worked with a commercial software product that was as flakey and incompetently implemented as Ableton Live.

If your goal is to get help from the community, posting smug insults probably isn't the best way to go about it.

Call support — that's what they're there for. If your copy of Live is legit that is your best course of action. On the other hand, if you're using a cracked version you deserve all the pain coming to you.

[biestyboy]

The problems with M4L are well documented on these forums, as are the workarounds.

[Stromkraft]

Hello Ableton Live users!

Again today I lost almost a day's work because Ableton Live can suddenly not load the project without crashing.

Which Live? 32bit or 64bit? Amount of tracks in project? What VSTs? AUs? OS version? Audio Interface? Are you using Options.txt with special settings? You need to supply facts like that if you actually want help. Or maybe you just want to project your frustrations to other users in order to feel better? This is comforting to you?

When you get a project like this that can't be opened you can build a new fresh one and import the old tracks, one by one, maybe testing the project after each import, depending on the circumstances.

[infernal.machine]

You should switch to Garageband for your real work; it's much more stable. Honestly Ableton Live is only good for recording kazoo and xylophone solos.

[Stromkraft]

Honestly Ableton Live is only good for recording kazoo and xylophone solos.

Actually, I think the toy piano sound pretty decent in C minor.

[TomViolenz]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. There is an easy and very imperfect solution to your problem. Don't use M4L. I know I don't, because I like a reliably and stable instrument in production and on stage.

[Citizen]

interesting to read – I've only messed with a few of the basic M4L tools in Live 9 such as the LFO Tool - and that alone seems to cause crashes when used in multiples instances....

...I was wanting to go deeper into M4L, but perhaps if the issues are so pervasive, I should put that on the backburner?

Pity, cause I can see a LOT of applications for it, especially in the realms of generated composition, which is one of my areas of interest.

[infernal.machine]

Honestly Ableton Live is only good for recording kazoo and xylophone solos.

Actually, I think the toy piano sound pretty decent in C minor.

Yes but this an advanced technique. I would have mentioned penny whistles and otamatones, but I have a feeling things of this nature would go over the OP's head.

[TomViolenz]

Honestly Ableton Live is only good for recording kazoo and xylophone solos.

Actually, I think the toy piano sound pretty decent in C minor.

Yes but this an advanced technique. I would have mentioned penny whistles and otamatones, but I have a feeling things of this nature would go over the OP's head.

And you would know that how?!
Or do you think only idiots get frustrated by crashes that make them lose all their work?
OR MAYBE, you should use more than just the toy piano in Live, because I promise you, you WILL experience these sort of crashes on a pretty regular basis. Especially if you are foolish enough to rely on M4L

[infernal.machine]

And you would know that how?!
Or do you think only idiots get frustrated by crashes that make them lose all their work?
OR MAYBE, you should use more than just the toy piano in Live, because I promise you, you WILL experience these sort of crashes on a pretty regular basis. Especially if you are foolish enough to rely on M4L

Thank you very much, but I use much more than toy pianos in my projects. Recorders, tambourines, rainsticks, triangles... the list goes on and on. I even made a m4l device to convert crappy egg shaker noises into a flamboyant maracas performance. It's really all quite impressive.

[empathy1]

Hello Ableton Live users!

Again today I lost almost a day's work because Ableton Live can suddenly not load the project without crashing. It is not the first time that has happened. Far from it. But it is 2015 now, and properly constructed software does not crash because of input. Whether it be input from the user (keyboard/mouse) or from files or otherwise. Instead, properly constructed software deals with the faulty input and provides error information to allow the user to fix the input, if possible.

I can add that the specific cause for the crash in this case, is a commercial M4L instrument that crashes the whole DAW upon loading.

And I have begun to seriously doubt if Ableton Live is at all suitable for work apart from producing small Berlin-hipster sound snippets for fun.
I simply can not remember when I have worked with a commercial software product that was as flakey and incompetently implemented as Ableton Live.

How do you cope with this?

are you using windows 98?

[kitekrazy]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. There is an easy and very imperfect solution to your problem. Don't use M4L. I know I don't, because I like a reliably and stable instrument in production and on stage.

Which is really odd since it is proprietary software. You would think M4L would work like a charm.