Any tips for learning Live 8?

[chapelier fou]

Get some weed and tweak all the buttons. You'll learn faster than you think.
If you really are stucked, ask in the forum, that's what it's made for !

[steve-o]

After taking how many years since version 1.5 to learn live, and as someone who is constantly learning something new, I divide "learning" into two processes:

1) The Intellectual Approach - read the manual, do the lessons, keep the info tab open, and try to learn certain techniques without worrying if you are making the song you want to make, or achieving the sound you are trying to achieve. In other words, try to achieve an objected without being attached to the end result. Follow the intellectual approach until you get bored or frustrated.

2) The Heart Approach - forget about what you intellectually achieve. Play with the program, see where the sounds resonate emotionally. Allow inspiration to take you places beyond the conceptual constraints of theories or techniques. In other words, follow your heart, until you get bored or frustrated.

3) A hyrbid approach - combine the two. Start in the head, end up in the heart, and vice versa.

Eventually, for me, I developed my own style, and I'm happy with it. But I still do intellectual exercises, delve into deep into experimentation, give myself projects outside of making my music. live is such a deep program, much deeper than most realize, that you'll have years of growing with it.

[gjm]

DO NOT listen to subfunk or Tone Deft ... on this one They are both super smart Audio geeks in their own right who are either professional or probably could be when it comes to experience and knowledge. They will both help you out when you come to this forum and you would easily buy them a beer anytime you had the chance of meeting them. However, they eat sleep and drink this stuff. They are not the normal just getting into Live hobby guys. Like I say, if you are crazy enough to use Live to cut your teeth on digital recording AND you have a day job plus various other commitments to people in your life, AND you want to see some results early in the piece then the manual and the built in lessons simply will not be enough. Just forget about my video recommendation. It was a personal one that did the trick for me. Just go ahead and spend literally days worth of time sifting through all of the youtube and vimeo videos first, then visit every ones special little Live tips and tricks blogs while you read the manual from cover to cover, post in this forum every time you have a new question and before long you will have 2500 posts wracked up, more 3rd party VST's than you can keep track of, upgraded several parts of you signal chain several times, about 3 finished tunes and 50 billion 4 bar loops that you swear you will use one day cause they are the bomb!

IMHO.

[davepermen]

read the tutorials, read the manual, watch all sorts of youtube/vimeo videos. check out the videos of tom cosm how he builds up a track to see someone using the app for hours, etc..

just read, try, watch, listen, try, try, try, try, try and, most important: HAVE FUN.

works well. for me.. sort of

[kb420]

I mean do as you please but with that crazy amount of info on how to use live on the net, i would seriously spend those 100 $ on something nicer.

SubFunk is right 100%. There is probably more free information out there than in any cd rom tutorials you can buy for learning the basic operation of Live. The included tutorials will get you up and running fast. I actually bought one of the earlier Live Power! books, but there wasn't much in there that's not already in the manual. Your $100 would be better spent on something else. Tone Deft mentioned Bob Katz book, and I can also highly recommend that. Another book that I can recommend is this:




It's will walk you through everything. There's plenty in there for beginners and it a good reference for experts. I think you will be a lot happier buying one of those books personally. Live is already set up for you to learn in a hands on fashion with the tutorials and the little info box in the lower left hand corner of the screen.

[kb420]

DO NOT listen to subfunk or Tone Deft
they eat sleep and drink this stuff. They are not normal.

That's not normal!?!?!?!?

I guess I'm not normal either.

[gjm]

DO NOT listen to subfunk or Tone Deft
they eat sleep and drink this stuff. They are not normal.

That's not normal!?!?!?!?

I guess I'm not normal either.

hehe... oh no, I see another OT thread poll asking what is normal

Thanks for the tip on the mixing book

[gjm]

@ clamber... buy books on mixing once you know your way around Live. That way you will have saved up the $300 you will need when you also buy the books on making "Bleepity Blopity Music', "How to turn my bedroom into a killer listening Experience", "Programing Vintage synths Like a Pro", "How to market your CD to the world" "Music Theory for Idiots/Dummies" and "The Definitive Bible on TechnoElectro Compressers."

[Machinesworking]

Just open the demo play around with it for a while, and buy the program.
The manual isn't bad at all, and it's pretty much written with people who've never played around with DAWs before in mind.

My question for you is have you ever written a song? are you looking for something to help you do that?
because a DAW simply won't do that for you, well, if you actually write your own loops anyway.

[theque]

i think you would learn a ton by watching tom cosm's videos. they are cheap and really well made and show you how to make a track from start to finish with heaps of info and tips/tricks.

check it out

http://www.cosm.co.nz/index.php/Tutoria ... ction.html

the first 3 are free. if you like it buy the rest

[clamber]

Ok, Ive been playing around in the Demo, and I now I know I need some sort of resource to at least learn the basics. Starting tomorrow I am going to spend a lot of time just searching the web for free tutorials just to somewhat figure stuff out.

I currently am not doing much so I have more time on my hands than one could ask for. And Im really interested in this so Im going to spend lots of time on it.

Here are a few questions I still have;

So the manual that comes with it will walk through most of it pretty well?

I noticed some of you recommended books that dint look that they pertained just to Live 8, are those just for learning like the technology and whatnot or do they go over how to use specific programs as well?


Thanks guys.

[gjm]

Starting tomorrow I am going to spend a lot of time just searching the web for free tutorials just to somewhat figure stuff out.

Good Luck.

I currently am not doing much so I have more time on my hands than one could ask for. And Im really interested in this so Im going to spend lots of time on it.

Good on ya

So the manual that comes with it will walk through most of it pretty well?

Depends on what you expect for a manual.

I noticed some of you recommended books that dint look that they pertained just to Live 8, are those just for learning like the technology and whatnot or do they go over how to use specific programs as well?

Mine are completely fictitious. The mixing book looks good for when you are ready to mix your finished tracks.

All the best.

[Machinesworking]

Ok, Ive been playing around in the Demo, and I now I know I need some sort of resource to at least learn the basics. Starting tomorrow I am going to spend a lot of time just searching the web for free tutorials just to somewhat figure stuff out.

Besides Cosm who is cheap as hell, for total beginners I'm betting this is awesome.
CHEAP!
http://streamworksaudio.com/?page=products&prodID=25

[michaelrey001]

If you buy Live through Sweetwater.com, you get a free 30-day pass for this: http://www.groove3.com/str/ableton-live-training/ It does a good job showing you the basics of what Live is all about. I just started out a couple of weeks ago but I'm just milking these tutorials before the 30 days are over (yea, I'm even writing notes).

After I'm done with that I'll actually start reading the manual and going over the built-in tutorials. My last step would probably be surfing the web for specific videos on how to do a specific task not covered before or for extra tips and tricks.

That's my plan of attack for Live

Cheers

[clamber]

Okay I have a question, should I just get Live 8 or Live Suite?
On Friday I am going to buy some of Cosm's tutorials as well as Steamworks.
Also, will I need to buy any software instrument packs?

Thanks,
Coby