Ableton Forum

Behles: [Push] was really conceived of as a self contained environment for music ... all the way through that would not suck you into the computer and the exposure to all the endless posibilities. It is almost like a departure from the world of endless possibilities.

RA: (...) You said that you did not want to give people endless options. You wanted to take stand and say this is how something should be done. It almost sounds like you were trying to create an instrument rather than a controller. Do you see a difference between the two devices?

Behles: I guess a controller by definition is an accessory for controlling something else. With this the idea was much more: this is all you got. ...We were looking at making the computer an engine that is hidden. And to embrace the idea of constraint. That is the strongest part of the instrument metaphor. An instrument is essentiually a set of constraints. Different people will choose for different reasons different instruments and different sets of constraints. Because they inspire them. It is interesting how it is actually limitation that drives inspiration rather than the absence of limitation oftentimes.(...) You can only deal with so many decisions that you need to be making at any given time. To get anything done. And that's where the benefit of limitation comes in. In a way with Push we are taking a benign dictatorship stance. WHy don't you try to make music, like this? And see if you like it.