Ableton Forum

Hi everybody
I am quite new with using Live, so I will need your help
We've been making some music using Cubase until now (drums, bass, guitar, Vst instruments etc.). Now I want to combine Live and Cubase (so as to take advantage of both programs'advantages) through Rewire.
For example here is a typical situation for us:
1)Usually we have narration or some kind of hip hop words
2) Then the musical idea comes up first let's say with drums and bass. We want to record them but haven't exactly decided for the tempo. So we want the material to be recorded (and the music to be at the right position over the narration) but with the possibility that the tempo can be changed without ruining anything of the whole composition
3)We use Vsti's

Which would you say is the best way to work( to make our life easier...)?

I was a long time Cubase User so this might help:

I have been a very long Cubase user and used SX for awhile. I migrated from PC to a Mac and installed Cubase SX. It was really glitchy so I decided to give Live a try. The first couple nights were a real drag and I was missing Cubase hardcore, but after I got used to the various nuances of Live; I enjoy it much much better!!!! I can do so much more with my music and think about it in new and interesting ways that would take hours in Cubase (as opposed to seconds in Live)...

Live 5 supports VSTis, audio recording sequencing and what not. It supports VST effects and can warp your vocals so much quicker than Cubases Audio Warp feature. My advice is to sit down and migrate ytour tracks over to Live... it might be awquard at first but will have a lot more flexability in the end.

I would just work mainly in SX, and use Live via rewire as a tool for loops and such. Oh wait, that IS how I work

Pretty simple really, open SX, activate rewire channels 1&2, open Live, done

yeah I like Live for some good reasons as everybody else here, But I also like mixing in Cubase. Could I record everything in Live and then mix and remix in Cubase?
Last night I recorded words and drums in Live, but the midi playing already in Cubase. Then I tried to export mixdown from Cubase but...the result wav file only contained the Vsti playing but no sound recorded in Live...

Also my big question is:
Let's say I have recorded words, drums, bass and flute. And I suddenly want to change the tempo (not big change of course). What then?

Well I think at least I've found solution for one of the problems. I'll write it here maybe somebody else will need it.
As I already mentioned, when I tried to export mixdown from Cubase, the rewire channels (mix L/R) could not beheard properly in the result mixdown wav file. Today I tried the same thing but with REal-time export and it worked. I don't know why, but the mixdown now sounds fine

Yes, for some reason you have to use Realtime export in SX to get the Live channels to render correctly. I must say, rewire stability has really gone downhill the last couple of years, not sure if it's Live or SX to blame though. Nowhere near as solid as it was 2-3 years ago.

Well, If Live can offer all I want maybe one day I'll quit Cubase completely.
But as far as I;ve seen (also in Live's tutorial videos, I think Live is mostly for people who work with samples,loops,etc. We jam a lot, record big pieces of music, then sort out ideas, edit,put narration over the music, change tempos,etc... I don't know if Live could cover all our need, even if I tend to like it quite a lot!