Why are Live users music mostly a bit weird??

[Mic-minimal]

Guest, Live doesn't write music for you it's just a computer program. You already have the answers you seek in 'your post'. you said is Live just like
one of the other sequencers, the anwser is roughly yes it is. and you know
that alot of songs are written in all sequencers don't you?... also you said is it that live just allows you to do things quicker, again you are correct Live allows you to do things alot quicker, it's an audio sequencer, it does not have an xtra 10% of anything to give you, that's suppose to come from you.

[tjwett]

HAHA, this is a funny topic. I guess it's kinda true, I do see a lot of peeps doing out there stuff around here, me included, but I do know Live users that use it for straight up house, breakbeats, even rock. Guitar players love it for the speed and ease of use. I think Live can be used wonderfully for any type of music but it does lend itself to creating weird sounds and experimentation, just because of what you can do to a piece of audio. It's great.

[emef]

Seriously, all I seem to hear are users who write weird experimental stuff. Nothing wrong with that and I like experimental, but hell it would be nice to hear someone actually write a normal song like a Chemical Brothers, underworld, BT Crystal Method. fatboyslim, moby etc.

The guy Dave hill that has written the new Live book also does weird music and its not very good to be honest. I mean I could easily do what hes doing. His music is again experimental. So if the guy that wrote the book on Live is doing basic experimental stuff then who is doing real songs with real arrangements (I dont mean unknown dudes) not that I had heard of Dave Hill anyway come to think of it

When I compose in Live I can only get so far and then I hit a stumbling block of some sorts. I dont know what it is, but it only happens in live. i simply cant get a track properly finished with all the nuances thats needed at times. A track is always missing that extra 10% which is definitely the most important

The really great thing about live is the speed in which I can get ideas. In half an hour I nearly have all the elements I need to arrange the song, but then I hit that stumbling block.,.,Something is missing!! I CANT GET THEH SONG FINISHED

If I wrote experimental music, I know I could finish them because theres not much to it at all.

If I played in a band with real instruments I could happily finish a track.. I know I could.

So, is live really aimed at experimentalists

perhaps you dont finish songs cos you`re too fuckin lazy, experimental or not, if you could finish decent songs you would already be doing so.
jesus, i`ve made tracks i was happy with on gameboy, playstation,cubase(atari and pc) and ableton.
i write techno and electro and have no problems with any of these tools, stop bleating and fuckin get on with it.

[fuentes925]

Simply put, Shit in Shit out!

You will get from live what you put into it! A good producer can make good tracks from any program.
My cousin makes awsome tech-tribal tracks with he's Play station 2 and a $40.00 video game for making music.

I think I had the same problem with Live as you had at first. I think it was mostly just a mental block and being lazy to learn another piece of software, LOL.
Keep at it, and you will eventually get a grip of Live.
By the way I make Banging Techno in the style of Misstress Barbara, Marco Bailey, Dj Remy, Donald glaude, is that normal to you?
Good Luck!

[tjwett]

Wow! well, writers block is something we all go thru at some point but blaming the software does seem quite silly to me too now that i read this guys entire original post. at it's most basic level Live is really nothing more than a really, really, super terrific, awesome sampler with a built-in sequencer. so yeah, garbage in/garbage out i say.

maybe you're having trouble because it's so damn easy to use that it's blowing your mind. maybe you need to beef up your sample library/source material. maybe you should indeed do what you said and start up a proper "band" with guitars etc.

personally, after playing in bands ("experimental" ones even ) for many years i'm thrilled to not have to worry about getting a van and loading up a bunch of 400 pound amps and waiting for the drummer to finish puking so he can set up his kit and not have to get on stage and get sweaty and play to a "packed" room of 15 of my closest friends for no money.

i get more accomplished on the toilet reading the Live manual than i ever did playing in any band. yep, i'll take my little computer, a pot of cofee and a hard drive full of samples over a bunch of bandmates any day. that's just me though.

[freshdrumma]

hope you are joking, it's not a question of the tools that you use, but the music that you wanth to do.

i did everithing with it, and i'm also a "real" instruments player, making a living from years from that and never ever toiught to limit myself with such an idea.

if live it's not enogh change way of doing music, machines made for you, not the other way!

[Guest]

The really great thing about live is the speed in which I can get ideas. In half an hour I nearly have all the elements I need to arrange the song, but then I hit that stumbling block.,.,Something is missing!! I CANT GET THEH SONG FINISHED

If I wrote experimental music, I know I could finish them because theres not much to it at all.

not being able to get a song finished means you haven't gotten a feel for writing music yet. this is a problem with YOU - not Live. all this means is that you need to keep making music and you will eventually get over the hump.

If I played in a band with real instruments I could happily finish a track.. I know I could.

if you were in a band, i bet somebody else would finish the track after you gave a couple of ideas. keep in mind that artists never blame their tools.

btw - i write songs that have a beginning, middle and end - is that real? and as for the 'extra 10%' - it's a BIG secret. the people making money don't tell us poor people how to do it.

Nope,

I finish tracks all the time using Logic or Cubase. I WANT to finish tracks using Live, but as th etune progresses I come to a standstill because I cant get my ideas in to Live. (I DONT USE PRERECORDED LOOPS) well I do, but not as much as I suspect others do.

And, I forgot to mention Im not the only Live user who thinks this, and Im beginning to understand that Live has limitations that are difficult to quantify...at this time. Thats why Im asking Why does most Live users music sound Boring.Sorry to be so blatant but thats what I hear

[Guest]

Wow, what's wrong with 'weird'? What does 'normal' even mean? When I was .....younger, 'normal' was a dirty word, we'd have been ashamed to make 'normal', conservative music. Also, Chemical Bros, Moby, U'world...I started listening to those guys when they all first started putting stuff out it was definitely 'weird', experimental, whatever you want to call it. All of the above have become more melodic/song-based over the course of their careers, but for many musicians this is seen as progress in their understanding of music. Don't forget too that all those artists also now command larger audiences and larger commercial responsibilities.
There is of course dirty uncle Aphex...he just doesn't give a damn what you think and we should give great thanks for that. I'm with him.

Hey its no big deal. If you dont understand what I mean then why bother.

OK, how about another way of putting

More accesible!

Less difficult to listen to

Less self indulgent



And Moby, CB, UW have never been weird. yeh sure thay have obvious B side or album filler material.

As for MR Aphex, hes totally cool. He was doing weird 15 years before Live was even invented

AGAIN this brings me to teh question of why are most Live users music (THAT I HEAR) on the more self indulgent side.

Its an easy question avtually, and Im amazed that so many have difficulty being able to answer


Merry Xmas

[Guest]

I CANT GET THEH SONG FINISHED

If I wrote experimental music, I know I could finish them because theres not much to it at all.

If I played in a band with real instruments I could happily finish a track.. I know I could.

LOL, no offense but who are you kidding? 'Not much to it at all'...then go and do it, do it better than all the others, travel the world, make some money. As for 'real instruments' and 'I know I could'...again, no offense, but are you really as naive as you sound? Back to work there ace!!

Cant get it FINISHED IN LIVE

Understand.

And what I mean by finished is that xtra 10%.......

[Guest]

I have to stick up for Dave Hill at this point. He has come a long way since the heady heights of playing guitar with Slade. It's good to see him getting stuck into nodern music making methods.

I hope you'll forgive me Dave but people really should know your credentials... http://www.sladealive.theredtoolbox.com/davehill

Aaaah, that DAve Hill

Still, it doesnt mean to say what hes doing now is great stuff. Its OK and I dont mean to criticise his music. It was just an example.

But why did Slade write that Xmas song!!

[Guest]

Guest, Live doesn't write music for you it's just a computer program. You already have the answers you seek in 'your post'. you said is Live just like
one of the other sequencers, the anwser is roughly yes it is. and you know
that alot of songs are written in all sequencers don't you?... also you said is it that live just allows you to do things quicker, again you are correct Live allows you to do things alot quicker, it's an audio sequencer, it does not have an xtra 10% of anything to give you, that's suppose to come from you.

Im not looking for a program to give me a built in xtra 10%. And yes I use sequencers all the time.

As I said in my original post I would like to hear something that has been recorded and mixed completely in Live that could easily be from one of the bigger acts.

The evidence is within the first few posts who provided links. And my hats off to them for at least letting me hear their stuff

its still weird though

[Guest]

s

perhaps you dont finish songs cos you`re too fuckin lazy, experimental or not, if you could finish decent songs you would already be doing so.
jesus, i`ve made tracks i was happy with on gameboy, playstation,cubase(atari and pc) and ableton.
i write techno and electro and have no problems with any of these tools, stop bleating and fuckin get on with it.

I havent written tracks on a Gameboy and I wouldnt want to. I actually take my music very seriously.

Ill leave the toy town music to you and your game boy.

ELETRO= The same looped sections

Techno = Teh same looped sections

Neither are weird but you woul dhave to agree that they are quite suited to Live.

[The Hulk]

If you've already got working DAWs and you have no interest in improvising samples because it's too "weird" than LIVE is obviously not for you. I myself split my music sensabilities between straightup Pop/Rock and crazy avant garde, on the fly, live improvisations. I actually use Live for both, but for the pop stuff, my ideas are so clear that Live just becomes a means to an end and I get tracks done quicker because Live is so simple to use. I'm of the belief that pop music is produced best when all the structural things have been worked out before actually getting to the recording process. so basically sit down with a guitar/keyboard/drum machine...work your song out completely, then track it.

I do agree that I often hear a lot of amateur sounding stuff posted on this message board, but I think that's more in the sound quality, which can be remedied when people use better plugins and get a feel for studio effects and compressions. (and believe me, i'm no expert in this area.)

[emef]

I havent written tracks on a Gameboy and I wouldnt want to. I actually take my music very seriously.

Ill leave the toy town music to you and your game boy.

ELETRO= The same looped sections

Techno = Teh same looped sections

Neither are weird but you woul dhave to agree that they are quite suited to Live.

haha pretty funny that you accuse me of not taking my music seriously just because i have made trax on a gameboy , my music/live gigs and the 20 odd records i have released on many labels have gone down pretty well with quite a few people.
so i suppose as i run my own label, you could say i take my music pretty seriously and i also earn my living solely from music.
and play gigs week in week out.
check my www and the audio there before you accuse me of not taking music seriously, you`re the fool who cant get anything decent out of one of the worlds most accessible software programs.

[Rx]

i get more accomplished on the toilet reading the Live manual than i ever did playing in any band.

i couldn't have put it better myself.