Why I feel I can't use Live as Sequencer yet.
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2004 10:40 am
Well, I finally purchased Live about 2 months ago (version 3), and now that I've had a lot fo time to record and write music, and rearrange how iI use my tools, I've been trying to figure out how to use Live possibly as my Main sequencer.
I've seen so many on this list that claim they can use Live as their sole sequencer. Unless they are DJ's or only doing loop based music production, or very fixed quantized music, I don't see how this is possible.
First the obvious reasons i think for most people is the lack of being able to sequence midi, or use Virtual Insturments (sans Rewire). I don't even know if Ableton even intends to include such a feature ( think i heard once that they didn't intend to, but that currently is my foggy memory, so don't hold me up on it). For some that may be fine, but I see for a great many, including myself, not viable for a main sequencer/workspace.
The next issues may be on the list of possible improvements for Ableton, or there might be a way to do it currently but I just can't find it. So if anybody has suggestions, let me know. (I'm not trying to trash Ableton, I'm trying to find a way to use it the way i need. Trust me!)
Crossfading of samples (clips) in a scene. I'm not talking about the crossfater functionality, I'm talking about if two regions overlap at the ends, being able to crossfade between the two pieces of material. Most other apps accomplish this to some extent. Some people feel this is not needed. But I think it is, and I'll tell you why. I often record many different Things , mutlitracked, such as drums. This sometimes can create up to 10-12 tracks per take. And I often make different takes in different passes, and will attempt to comp them all together into a single take. But without cross fading this is difficult. Some parts will have a cymbal or something that rings out, or you might want to crossfade the sound so it sounds like you have no gaps. The solution it seems here that people have for Live, is to just create new tracks, but if you are dealing with many takes, and many tracks, it becomes very difficult to manage all those tracks.
Which brings me to my next issue. How does one make multiple takes on the same track? I tried just recording over the current tracks that I have, but that seems to overwrite them. not the files, but the placement in the arrange window. I'll have to go find the takes that I recorded and figure out whre the came from ,and then place them back into the track or into a separate track. Setting up new tracks each time i want to make a take, is very slow and disruptive, And becomes messy. Also, the loop recording feature wouldn't help me, because often i don't take over the EXACT SAME passage each time, and not always at once. Once you stop that feature no longer works.
REX file support. It would be really great to match that whole time stretching thing that Live has with the ability to use REX files.
there are more little nuances that I find troubling, but could be just me not being used to the differnt paradigm this app uses.
But on another note, here's how I find Live to be useful for me.
A sample manipulator. I can now Pitch, and stretch, and effect samples in really unique ways QUICKLY in Live.
I can do Beat fixing/time correction/tiem warping easily in Live. This is a handy feature for me. But I wish it had some sort of beat slicing feature so that this could be an even faster step.
It works great as a sampler in other applications.
It's also a great song notepad. a way to generate ideas quickly. Throw a bunch of sounds in, get them matching up and to the correct tempo. Then records some passages in, and even have the thing change and everything stays in sync. For that it's pretty cool.
But I still always end up finding myself exporting audio to another sequencer such as Digital Performer or Logic (ugg).
Anyways, I think Live is a great idea, but It still needs to mature. I hope to see that someday.
Sean
I've seen so many on this list that claim they can use Live as their sole sequencer. Unless they are DJ's or only doing loop based music production, or very fixed quantized music, I don't see how this is possible.
First the obvious reasons i think for most people is the lack of being able to sequence midi, or use Virtual Insturments (sans Rewire). I don't even know if Ableton even intends to include such a feature ( think i heard once that they didn't intend to, but that currently is my foggy memory, so don't hold me up on it). For some that may be fine, but I see for a great many, including myself, not viable for a main sequencer/workspace.
The next issues may be on the list of possible improvements for Ableton, or there might be a way to do it currently but I just can't find it. So if anybody has suggestions, let me know. (I'm not trying to trash Ableton, I'm trying to find a way to use it the way i need. Trust me!)
Crossfading of samples (clips) in a scene. I'm not talking about the crossfater functionality, I'm talking about if two regions overlap at the ends, being able to crossfade between the two pieces of material. Most other apps accomplish this to some extent. Some people feel this is not needed. But I think it is, and I'll tell you why. I often record many different Things , mutlitracked, such as drums. This sometimes can create up to 10-12 tracks per take. And I often make different takes in different passes, and will attempt to comp them all together into a single take. But without cross fading this is difficult. Some parts will have a cymbal or something that rings out, or you might want to crossfade the sound so it sounds like you have no gaps. The solution it seems here that people have for Live, is to just create new tracks, but if you are dealing with many takes, and many tracks, it becomes very difficult to manage all those tracks.
Which brings me to my next issue. How does one make multiple takes on the same track? I tried just recording over the current tracks that I have, but that seems to overwrite them. not the files, but the placement in the arrange window. I'll have to go find the takes that I recorded and figure out whre the came from ,and then place them back into the track or into a separate track. Setting up new tracks each time i want to make a take, is very slow and disruptive, And becomes messy. Also, the loop recording feature wouldn't help me, because often i don't take over the EXACT SAME passage each time, and not always at once. Once you stop that feature no longer works.
REX file support. It would be really great to match that whole time stretching thing that Live has with the ability to use REX files.
there are more little nuances that I find troubling, but could be just me not being used to the differnt paradigm this app uses.
But on another note, here's how I find Live to be useful for me.
A sample manipulator. I can now Pitch, and stretch, and effect samples in really unique ways QUICKLY in Live.
I can do Beat fixing/time correction/tiem warping easily in Live. This is a handy feature for me. But I wish it had some sort of beat slicing feature so that this could be an even faster step.
It works great as a sampler in other applications.
It's also a great song notepad. a way to generate ideas quickly. Throw a bunch of sounds in, get them matching up and to the correct tempo. Then records some passages in, and even have the thing change and everything stays in sync. For that it's pretty cool.
But I still always end up finding myself exporting audio to another sequencer such as Digital Performer or Logic (ugg).
Anyways, I think Live is a great idea, but It still needs to mature. I hope to see that someday.
Sean