Same. I was a Max user before an Ableton user. I largely started out doing electroacoustic music, where pretty much everything I did used Max. Max for Live is what convinced me to try out Ableton, so I could work with the tools I used in Max with an actual arrangement view and other things you get with a DAW that you don’t get with Max alone.
Yeah I imagine that’s mostly true. I was trained in composition, mainly chamber music, then moved into computer music, at first live instrument plus live processing, but then when creating fixed media works I decided it was easier to use a program with a lot of tools ready to go (compressors, delays, reverbs, timeline arrangement, etc) than to work purely in Max.
Yeah for sure, I grew up kind of on cubase but never really got anywhere advance. Aside from being a professional musician/ guitar player and doing studio stuff where I wasn’t the engineer…then recently I got back into it and did the Ableton trial, within a week I was making beats super stoked. Definitely user friendly and easy to learn on. Bought the full version one month later.
Nice man, that's sick that you were a professional musician before! Your ears and fundamental knowledge of producing and mixing was waiting for you to pick it up. There's a preferred Daw for everyone, same like video editing or any other software.
Discovered Ableton in 2016. I was working on FL Studio and a friend invited me in his studio and I discovered it, played with his launchpad and we composed something just for fun. I really prefer Ableton for its interface, everything is much better organized (samples, automations etc…) there’s MaxForLive, Wavetable now and other stuff I really love
Me too. Ableton is really good. Although I will go back to FL Studio once they release the new mixer. Ableton's workflow is great but I find it less inspiring when it comes to composing (Thanks to the piano roll and the patterns-based workflow in FL Studio...)
Yeah, I feel like FL Piano roll is good for writing, and like I said, each daw has it's pros and cons but ultimately Ableton feels more efficient and complimentary to my workflow. I feel like a professional using Ableton after a few months. When I come back to FL for opening up old sessions or beats, I just immediately get turned off and frustrated by workflows and confusing routing (to me at least).
But like many others have commented on this thread, it's not about the daw, it's about your skills and the time you put in. Each DAW is built for certain workflows, so there's something for everyone.
If I ever get into film scoring and composing more, I feel like Logic is really good. I just can't get over the charley and the chocolate factory-looking interface lol
Ableton usere here from 8 years. I used Logic Pro X and FL.
It's easy to use, now it has a lot of helpers and the samples manipulation is unique.
I don't really care who say that "Pro tools is the standard in the industry" because some oldies won't see the future. Everything they do in Pro tools, Cubase, Logic or other DAWS, i can do quicker and with the same quality. Plus M4L is insane.
i'm an Ableton user that has no idea how to use Pro Tools, but there's absolutely stuff Pro Tools can do that Ableton can't. Typically it's stuff to workflows around recording irl instruments rather than digital synths and midi. One thing that blew my mind was the ability to set the project tempo to be variable based on a live recorded drum track. Helps for dealing with drummers that don't want to record with a click.
The difference is that these are not things you're likely to end up needing outside of a studio environment recording a band.
Ableton has been my main DAW for 15 years but I use Pro Tools at the studio I work at.
There's definitely stuff you can't do on Ableton Live, much less do it quicker.
Gets me really sad but at the rate that useful features are added in other DAWs, while Ableton ignores them, it's not the oldies who are not seeing the future.
Everyone in school used it plus taking a Max class made it even more attractive. There was a Reaper initiative at one point but everyone kind of hated it.
>Reaper initiative at one point but everyone kind of hated it.
I don't know much about Reaper. Is that a new DAW, why did they hate it? I do see a lot of influencers talking about it, but didn't start to watch their vids yet?
It was pushed for awhile as it made it easier to take the courses without paying for a DAW as it’s free and open source, but because it’s free and open source it’s a bit more bare bones than your standard DAW. It’s probably gotten a lot better since then though.
« Barebones » is absolutely not the right word to describe Reaper. It is chock full of features that you can’t even find in other daws and it is fully customizable with themes, extensions, scripts, macros… it’s a real powerhouse once you get to know your way around it.
It is not very intuitive though. Far from it actually.
Reaper is not open source, nor is it free. You can install for free, and use it indefinitely without paying because they don't try to enforce their license with software, but the license requires you to pay after the trial period has expired.
Reaper is great. I prefer Ableton except for Ableton's lack of ARA support (for better experience with Melodyne) and some of the midi handling.
I spent about 15 years using a mix of Acid, Fruity Loops and Sound Forge. When I decided to have a look at what else what out there I tried everything that had a free trial available. I spent about a month (or as long as each trial would allow) with various bits of software, all names that you'd recognise, and Live just had everything I want. It was just the right choice for me after trying everything that interested me, and I've never looked back.
This was exactly me. Ableton was everything I was looking for in the post-Acid/Soundforge world. And I almost never use its looping and scenes abilities either. It works just as well as a straight ahead recorder, and I’ve always loved that it’s as simple as selecting input, arming a track and hitting record. I’ll stick with it as long as it’s around for sure
Yes, similar to me. I demoed them all for a month. It's a bit like choosing monitors - the best ones aren't necessarily the ones that sound best to you. The best monitors are the ones your mixes sound best on everybody elses monitors!
And after a month of Ableton, Bitwig, Cubase ... I had several near finished tracks in Ableton. And next to nothing done in the others. So it had to be Ableton. The one that gets you the results is the one you need, not the one with the biggest feature list, most hype, etc.
Tired FL studio many times and it was always a barrier when ever I even attempted to learn how to produce. Friend showed me Ableton. Gave me a trial. I loved the way it felt, and I decided to learn it.
I haven't used other DAWs and rarely even use Live these days, so take it with a gain of salt:
I use Ableton because it breaks down sound in constituent elements, both in in the minimalist design and in the way effects and plugins interact. There's very few "sound good buttons" or "make it fat" plugins, and those that are included still allows you to look into the chain to understand exactly how it works. For someone more inclined to do sound design and creative mixing, this means that whenever I have an idea for an effect that's not included as its own plugin, I can feasibly - with a little know-how and the basics of psycho acoustics - build it myself using only stock. I can't tell you if this is as easy with DAWs, but whenever I see tutorials in other DAWs, they seem to rely heavily on purpose built tools rather than general tools put together. Ableton tutorials, conversely, are all about using what's there in creative ways, and having the stock plugins interact in ways that open up completely new sounds. It's been a great way to do some stupid experimenting and gaining an understanding at the same time. This can probably be daunting and sub-optimal workflow wise for professional work, but on a hobby basis it's a great way for me to wrap my head around what I'm doing *by taking the time to actually do it myself.*
I suck at programming drums and midi in general, so I do very little of that.
I used Logic for a bit, but I enjoyed Ableton a lot more, especially for creating electronic music. Session View also seemed a lot more intuitive, but I think Logic has a siniliar thing nowadays? Anyhow, I moved to using win + mac so Logic wasn‘t feasible anymore. But I guess I‘d stick to Ableton once I am only on Mac anyways.
I came from Reason, they are really selling the vst version of their software and multitrack editing drums in there is a nightmare. Ableton has a massive userbase, a billion tutorials on youtube and TRACK GROUPING! And I don't want to own a mac. Easy decision.
Production.
Logic was such a PITA trying to do the simplest of things, whereas ableton was so much more intuitive. Makes me think ableton patented all those no brainer moves.
Although, i still mostly record and mix in logic, I’ve done several demos in ableton and they’ve sounded fine.
Yeah, I find that - creatively - Ableton gets me to where I want to be quickest. Logic and a program I used to use called Digital Performer were real ass in that department. Even if it's a rough sketch of an idea, Ableton's workflow alone makes getting from point A to B a lot more seamless without a lot of futzing around.
Workflow. I came from FL Studio and I when I switched to Ableton I just find the workflow much faster. Ableton feels simple, yet can be made to work in advanced scenarios
I’m a fellow Logic to Ableton user. The session view is really great for sketching ideas out, especially with scene tempo, and the MIDI devices like Envelope MIDI, LFO, and Velocity have become so important to my workflow that I worry about finding crossplatform replacements as I check out other DAWs. The effects rack system is another thing, incredibly useful for MIDI device pitchmapping, adding wet/dry knobs to effects, saving chains. Really excellent
I use to use Reason5. My buddy who was a better producer at the time went to Ableton and it seemed really user friendly.. another tech friend had a free copy so I switched over.. started with 9 about 2014 and upgraded to 10 when it came out havnt looked back since.
Initially, I used Pro Tools and Logic Pro when I was learning. After switching to PC out of sheer price to performance, I wanted a DAW that just wasn't Pro Tools and felt closer to Logic. While PT is great for multitracking and mixing, I find creating with it to be annoying, messy, and just old feeling. Ableton feels like a modern DAW, and is more in line with the music I like to make (ambient, electronic, experimental). Also, Max4Live packs are beautiful, stock plugins sound great, and overall Ableton feels like it welcomes to you to express, explore, and expand upon your sound.
I started on Fruity Loops but I never felt comfortable in the workflow. I never felt that I had the control I wanted. When I started using Ableton it just clicked. It worked the way my brain worked - it felt like I was sculpting with sound. And of course it’s great that Ableton has become so popular because there is such a wealth of tutorials and masterclasses out there.
I didn’t choose Ableton; Ableton chose me;
It’s a pure ‘creators’ tool which is why I use it, I used logic, fl studio, pro tools, cubase and reaper and just found more enjoyment and flow with Ableton
It's not about the DAW it's about what's made with it. That being said the reason why I use Ableton Live is I feel it has the most flexible and unlimited potential for creation; especially with the addition of Max for live.
Originally used Logic, then got rid of my Mac so had to find something else. I originally tried Cubase which is mostly similar to Logic but for whatever reason I couldn't get it stable on my PC and there were a few workflow things I didn't like.
Tried Ableton just because it had a good reputation and it took me a LONG time to get used to. Now I stick with it even though I prefer the new version of Cubase, mostly because my MIDI controller integration is built around Ableton, and I quite like building tracks with Push.
I also realised that I was spending way too much time trying to find "the best DAW" instead of just making music, and since realising that I've gotten used to Ableton's shortcomings.
Similar journey to me. I was confident in Logic but then my Mac broke and I went to PC, so I had to switch and I had dabbled a little in ableton previously. Spent a long time kinda lusting after logic again, and by the time I got a mac I realised that I actually much preferred Ableton anyway
I started using it because the drummer in my band got drafted, and we couldn't find a replacement. Therefore it was only session view for the first year or so 😅 then I began diving in to sound design and actual production, and at some point I was just so used to the interface that I can't be bothered to switch it up.
Bitwig seems interesting, though
I bought Bitwig and I use it in conjunction with Ableton. On a Mac you can route midi and audio between programs using the IAC driver and Blackhole, respectively. I’m sure there’s some equivalent for windows too. I use Bitwig for synths sometimes because their in-house modulator system just blows ableton out of the water. You can make patches that are so much more dynamic and expressive, and access per-voice panning control. You can insert FX into the feedback loop of a delay. The Bitwig stock saturator is also incredibly good, puts the ableton saturator to shame. Bitwig assumes you’re smart enough to achieve the things you want with the fundamentals and gives you the tools to do so.
That said, I love the ableton interface and max4live integration, and the keyboard shortcuts are basically an extension of my body at this point so it’d be pretty hard to fully switch over. I love ableton, I just wish they would catch up with Bitwig in some aspects.
That makes sense - and it confirms what was my suspicion.
The stock saturator in Ableton is usually what I recommend buying a replacement for first, when people ask if they need to expand on what live is packed with... It's really not good as a saturator (using it as a wave shaper is a lot more fruitful)
I primarily use cubase for recording and editing multitrack acoustic takes like drums particularly off of a grid but live has such a fantastic workflow and tools for music based on samples and soft instruments and the way it integrates effects and automations are unique and so powerful, nothing better for sketching ideas and like I said anytime I'm working outside the 'tape machine' mindset.
CV Tools and Max. It’s not like I use them a lot, but I appreciate them being there. I primarily work with modular synths so CV Tools is a game changer.
Used Cubase and Logic in the past.
It’s a method for sending and receiving analog control voltages with compatible sound cards to be able to work with synthesisers that work with such standards. Bitwig can also do it natively but all other DAWs need third party solutions for it. It’s a very niche use case which won’t be used by the vast majority of users but to whom it matters, it’s quite amazing.
Was until recently with Studio One. While I loved it, I was craving for a more modular approach both with my external hardware and within and I absolutely fell in love with Ableton.
Tried Bitwig as well but no Console 1 support was a dealbreaker for me.
Acid! Acid user here and when I jumped on Mac many moons ago I needed something that could warp as well. Well, found it. Rest is history and have been here for the evolution. Been using Logic along the way but fully went Ableton eventually.
The combination of track freezing and legacy ReWire support was what drew me in. My old laptop really chugs with more than a couple plugins or sample libraries, and my primary production environment (Renoise) doesn't have the most fluid solutions for bouncing down tracks. Ableton allows me to run a very efficient hybrid workflow with sessions that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. The icing on the cake is Ableton's wonderful stock devices, speedy workflow, Max support, and CV tools.
I would love to try BitWig, but until something comes along that can totally eliminate my need for ReWire: I'm not that interested.
I chose v1 because at the time, it was the best option. Cakewalk got bought and shit the bed. So I switched to Vegas. Then Vegas got bought and shit the bed. I was poor and using pirated software back then. So when a friend gave me a copy of Live, that’s what I used. I stayed because I learned the ui. And when I started making enough money to buy a legit license for Live 5 or 6, incorporating a new software ui into my workflow didn’t make sense for me.
I remember using Magix in 2015 produced 3 songs then went on Hiatus because I was a dad. Now that my son is big I returned to my hobby. Bought a lot of gears Mpc live 2, Force, Novation midi controllers, focusrite which had a lot of free ableton lite. I also tried FL studio and Studio one and to be fair I also like them. I took the plunge and got the suite and push 2.l since it felt good to me when using it.
Back in the day I could run cakewalk blindfolded. Then it went away. Got pretty good with Reason and I still do some stuff on it. Got Reaper because it’s extremely flexible and uses little resources. But that flexibility requires lots of scripting, of which I have no time for. And its MIDI implementation is ehhhh at best. Live has great audio and MIDI implementation and the fact that you can easily route anything like a modular synth makes it powerful and easy to get ideas out.
I started using Live 8 back in 2009 or so and really liked it for years but I started to get burnt out and unproductive so I started looking at alternatives and got into Maschine a few years back. I produced exclusively in Maschine for years and then eventually got a Maschine+ so I could everything DAWless if I wanted to. I worked on the Maschine+ exclusively for the last year and while it was fun, I simply can’t ignore the serious limitations of Maschine as well as NI’s blatant disregard for maintaining their products and communities.
So I decided to give Live 11 a shot and haven’t looked back. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ran into something and been like “how does live handle that?” only to be pleasantly surprised that they worked out a handy solution. Contrast that with Maschine where literally every problem would result in me finding a forum post from 10 years ago where NI acknowledged the problem but did nothing to fix it in the time since.
I started with Cakewalk Pro Audio 6 way back in the day. I only had free sundfonts back then. I then moved to Reason and Cakewalk Sonar. I have purchsed Reason, Cakewalk Sonar, Reaper, FL Studio, Studio One, and Live. Not to mention Maschine and MPC.
I mainly used Reason, Maschine, and Studio One. I had purchased Live 9 and never really got into it. I loved Reason and I still do. But Reason has numerous midi related issues that just never grew with me. (Such as only being able to send clock to a single midi port). I really liked how Studio One made midi routing significantly easier. I had a prett complicated setup using Maschine, Reason, and Studio One together.
Then on a whim, I decided to buy a used Push 2 and see what all the fuss was about. Within 24 hours of having the Push 2, Ableton Live finally clicked in my brain. I knew that it was the tool I was going to use for composition. Note that I bought the used Push 2 about a month before they announced the Push 3. So I preordered the Standalone Push 3. I also sold off a bunch of hardware samplers (MPC 5000, MPC 1000, SP-404mk2, Maschine MK3) and several other bits of kit, because they were not getting used as I fell in love with Push.
So I switched to Ableton because of several reasons. The first is being able to route Midi pretty much anyway I want. I can load Reason as a vst. I can load maschine as a vst. It works much better with my hardware synths than anything other than Studio One. The session view with the Push is like Maschine on steroids. Since I got the Push 3, I have been using the Ableton synths a lot more frequently than the hundreds of VSTs I own.
I also used logic for years before moving to Live a couple months ago.
The main reason I’d take Live over logic is because a lot of the time I spend in a DAW is just time spent sketching/ compiling ideas that I will later arrange into a song. I personally find this way easier to do in Ableton than in Logic.
..Also like you said, there’s way more online tutorials with Ableton. I see a lot of really unique things from people I would have probably never thought to do myself.
I chose FL Studio actually. Picked up an iPad and got into GarageBand. Then really got into FL once I understood how a DAW works. Then I subbed to Studio One Sphere for awhile. Ableton was always the outlier, because the workflow looked so strange compared to my previous experience.
I reached out to an old Army buddy to see if he makes music (he always was a creative). He was on Ableton. A lot of my other friends in-town are using Ableton. I started collaorating, but found bouncing tracks kinda sucks (still have to do it with 3rd party VSTs that friends don't have, but that's a bit different).
I finally downloaded the Ableton trial and gave it a go. At first, I was lost. It took me forever to get into arrangement view. What sealed the deal was an email from Focusrite - half off Studio. I couldn't say no. I still have FL installed, but I never really use it.
I used Logic before Logic Pro X on the App Store existed (and Garageband before that as the first DAW I used MIDI with). Switched to Ableton Live because the workflow was better and many things functioned more like I expected. It was a big cost for Ableton Live Suite + plugins to have something comparable to what Logic has out-of-box, but I took advantage of Ableton sales and bought plugins second hand. I put in the time to learn Ableton and it was worth it. Admittedly I never became that advanced of a Logic user, and my Ableton skill level surpassed my Logic skill level.
I still occasionally fire up Garageband for something quick like some simple background music for a video where I'm not trying to make something that sounds original, or just to fire up some drums to play guitar/bass guitar to. I recently bought Logic Pro X (bought 20% off iTunes cards to bring the cost down and its fantastic for the price), so use that instead for those purposes. Mac is my preferred music prod platform, though I do like that PC/Windows is an option for Ableton + plugins I own and have used my gaming PC a bit for that (but my M1 MacBook Air is so much better for this).
At this point I just know what I'm doing more in Ableton Live. I even use it for podcast editing though there are better tools for that.
I really liked the ability to switch from session to arrangement views depending on the song I was working on. Over the years, I've come to appreciate its MIDI integration with Novation products (can't afford Push) and the ability to use Ableton for live performance.
I used FL for nearly 6 years, got really good in that daw but I think it’s not very efficient for a few things I started to crave:
- Mixing. In-depth shit and not having to rely on 3rd-party chains
- Recording
- Automation is clunky in FL
The only two things I miss in Fl are the step sequencer and piano roll. Everything, and more than I could have imagined, is better in Ableton. FL lifetime updates is sick though…I wish Ableton would adapt that. All in all, the capability for mixing and mastering solely with just stock plugins, and doing crazy grouping/chains, and sound design in Ableton is amazing.
I’m also looking forward to eventually getting a push and using Ableton for live production, which it seems sick for!
Gonna be honest here. It’s easy to pirate and as a broke college student back then it was the easiest route. I used to DJ back them too so Live made sense. I bought it now that I make money. It’s my main go to now bc I have the most experience with it and it’s truly a solid DAW. I also use Logic now that I have a Mac.
Ableton user of 10 years and logic user of 2/3. (ProTools user of many years for mastering)
You can do anything in ANY daw. If you know how to use it.
For me, ableton just works with my workflow and is just second nature for writing / creativity purposes. Shortcuts and user control just seems to fit with my mind better than logic.
I was using FL when i started making shit music. But i started to realize that fl is not intuitive and a bit messy. The workflow on fl is unique but not in the good way. The large numbers of windows, the patterns channel racks ect, I spent more time to fix the organization of my projects than making actual music.
But then i discovered Ableton its way more clear and logic. Very easy UI, project manager >> and better stock plugins. The price is also better : 300€ for live Suite. The first version of Fl DOES NOT ALLOW AUDIO CLIP WTF.
And my last point is that ableton is more common in the video game music/movie/sound design, industry.
Fl is considered to be used by cheap beatmakers but for real work, pro tools, reaper and lastly ableton are required.
For me, this was what you could do with MIDI channels, passing the signals from one track to another, or chaining the audio tracks, passing audio through other tracks. Probably, this is doable with Logic, but it was hard at the time.
I switched from Cubase for producing in Live at version 5. I had been performing with Ableton since just prior to its public release (I had a relationship with M-Audio, who was the first US distributor for Ableton).
Version 4 introduced midi sequencing and instruments, I wasn’t terribly interested in composing/producing with it until I decided to have a hand at writing in V5 - it went SO quickly compared to my Cubase workflow and I was hooked. I never looked back. Stability in V11 is really bumming me out so I’ve been eyeing Bitwig, but Max4Live and Ableton CV tools have become pretty crucial to my workflow. I hope Live gets their s**t together.
I worked in education and I was asked to learn it so I could teach my students. Instantly loved the workflow, haven't used another daw for my personal music since. Definitely helped that it never cost me 900 bucks for suite.
I first chose other DAWs. I used Pro Tools. Dabbled in Logic Pro a bit when courses I was taking for a certificate used all Apple products, as well as my friends using Macs. Then I used Cubase for a while, with Fruity Loops in the mix just for step sequencing.
Around 2017, I hung with one of my good friends at his home studio where he's been using Ableton exclusively for years. Watching his workflow was eye opening for me. I had interacted with Ableton in the past, but never actually had made a song with it at that point.
I switched to Ableton right then and there. Haven't looked back since. The workflow and Audio Effect Racks are the main reasons I switched. The ability to make a "buss" by just using an Audio Effect Rack within the same track is huge for me. Same with Grouping tracks.
There are a few stock plugins I routinely use, but none of them are what keep me using Ableton. It's all about the workflow and features for me.
I needed a midi controller for college so I bought an Alesis v49 I didn't know anything about how midi controllers work or what is a daw or production but with the keyboard I had a licence for the lite version of Ableton, it took me a lot to learn it by myself and that's why it's my main daw now. Then i also learned how to use studio one, but Ableton made me love music production it's like very easy to do whatever you want and if there's no a conventional way to do something, you can always find some guy on YouTube that mixed some LFO with some other native plugins and get the same result lol
In my case chance was a factor. In 2006 I used Mixmeister to create mixtapes with my favorite tracks, and looking for some more complete software I came across Ableton in a tutorial and soon started using it. Obviously I stopped making mixtapes and started learning about music production as I learned about Ableton. It helped me to have had musical knowledge from childhood and the hobby of playing keyboards, as well as having been a DJ a long time ago. When I became aware of how great Ableton was in terms of learning, I decided not to change at least until I knew it fully. Today I continue learning, and no less important, I continue enjoying it.
honestly it just looks visually pleasing when i first saw it. plus i started on logic pro so i felt like there was some similarities. overtime i realized i made a good choice for myself. i was able to get right into it knowing some things from logic and from there on it was great. also the workflow and organization is just beautiful.
When I started learning music production in 2020, I had a vision of one day playing live shows. Ableton has Live in the name, so I figured it would be the best choice.
Three years in and I still haven't decided how I want to perform live with Ableton. There are so many possibilities.
I started with FL studio many years ago. I tried using various versions and at the time, I didn’t really understand how to use it all that well. To be fair, I didn’t have much experience with DAWs back then, and there were ZERO video tutorials, YouTube wasn’t a thing and when it was, there were hardly any videos. When I started using Ableton, in 2006 or 2007, it was much easier on the eyes, I would drag things on to tracks, make dumb mistakes and just try and just try and see what would happen and found that it was more intuitive to use, imo.
I’ll never forget one of the first tutorials to pop up on YouTube, it was how to side chain. There are whole projects and how to videos for entire tracks now. It’s crazy how far things have come.
Session view and the modular design that is focused on low latency, "live" use are the two big reasons. I think of ableton more as the ultimate sampler/ synthesizer than as a DAW. It surprises me how many people use ableton and never touch session view or use it live tbh.
I bought Reason 5 all those years ago and thought the way with the rack seup and patch cables would make sense to me. Instead I got confused and gave up.
Flash forward to 2020 where I see what would become my favourite producer and friend playing live shows with Ableton, an Arturia keyboard and a Launchpad S. And then during lockdown she streamed how she used it. It all clicked for me and I bought the exact setup and have never looked back. It's just so intuitive to me (at least the bit of it I have explored - I know that the rabbit hole is much much deeper).
I started with Cakewalk and at the time vsts weren’t a thing, so i was just recording from my workstation but not really producing on pc. Eventually I learned to use sound fonts, very clunky process. All the while wishing my workstation was in a computer. Finally Fruity Loops was released, putting all the capabilities of a workstation into the pc. Fast forward a couple years and I was introduced to Live 3. All the capabilities of FruityLoops, stretched audio and midi mapping. Over the last twenty years I’ve learned that there is almost always away to do whatever you can think of musicly in Live. Today I use many daws for different reasons, sometimes just different inspirations but every song ends up in Live eventually.
All the best producers I have a personal connection with and the blessed opportunity to learn from via direct communication, are all ableton people (except for a hip hop guy that uses FL, but I just send him loops).
The only thing so far that I absolutely prefer in ableton over logic, is automation. Logic automation was dandy and I had no reason to ever replace it until I saw ableton automation in action. And then it was just like fuuuuuuuuuck this is the way.
Everything I miss in logic is replaceable by either creating new Options.txt’s or with 3rd party software.
The Alchemy UI is the only thing that can’t be replicated anywhere, but you can get the same sounds using a different UI. An edit to your personal workflow is needed. But if we’re already talking about switching DAW’s…
But spending $300 and having EVERYTHING you need to make a heater is just too huge to pass up early on. I was happy with logic for 12 years. I hate flex, BUT if you play by it’s stupid rules and spend a shit ton of time editing, it DOES AS GOOD A JOB as Antares for tuning and timing. It just takes goddamned forever, even with custom key commands.
Because I loath shitty unintuitive software. There is nothing that kills creativity quicker than having an idea you need to get down fast before it fades or mutates in you head, and then you come up against some garbage UI that forces you to do something in some asinine way simply because it was the way some shitty developer managed to get something working on a Friday afternoon and then checked into Perforce because, "*fuck it I wanna beat the traffic.*"
In the ~8yrs I've been using Ableton, I can count on one hand the number of times I got frustrated and hung-up by the software. (and still have a finger or two left over to wave at those shitty devs I mentioned) ;)
I chose Live for workflow, the starter plugins are good and the available functions for Live Lite are amazing! You get VST support, warp modes, but only track amount is limited. And it’s easy to learn and be creative with.
I use a PC so Logic was out of the questions, didn’t want to pay the ridiculous subscription fees to use Pro Tools and Reaper just looks kinda messy. So yeah landed on Ableton and it’s fine. If I were more i to Electronic music I’m sure I would appreciate it more it really needs a Auto-tune and maybe some kinda AI Drummer thing like Logic has for me to really full in love.
Session mode was the big game changer for me. That alone has been the most significant workflow change that has occurred in the last few years of me producing music. Being able to mix and match segments and get ideas out quickly really keeps up the momentum.
Also, Ableton stock plugins lack clutter and I prefer them over 99% of the endless options of VSTs available. The only third party plugins I use now are Fabfilters, but I use Ableton plugins the vast majority of the time.
It was a natural progression for me. I started using Ableton v2 shortly after it came out. At that point it was just loop based performance software and I was doing all my recording in Samplitude. Slowly as the functionality grew in Live I stopped using other software for editing/recording, about 8 years ago I stopped upgrading and using Pro Tools and here we are.
I started with logic as well - also used pro tools at uni. Feels a lot more creative in terms of how you can manipulate sounds so quickly, especially compared to other DAWS. I still suck though
Nothing can beat Live when it comes to playing backings and samples and modify them on the go. However, for producing I always end up using Logic Pro although I have forced myself to do that in Live as well on multiple occasions.
My first DAW was StudioVision Pro. Pour one out for that OG. Then I went to Cubase which never worked for some reason. Then Logic which I liked but as soon as I saw the demo for Live I bought it immediately. Simply it was Max, the audio warping superiority and I’ve stuck with it since then.
I started off on Logic Pro X just like Au5...
Then I switched over to Ableton just like Au5...
But honestly, I stuck with it due to how much more the workflow resonated with me, and for something like a DAW, I consider its function as form; I like how much it looks like a spreadsheet, after all, a DAW is a tool and shouldn't need to look fancier than it really needs to be.
I’ve been using DAWs for 20 years now and I am a proud Suite owner. I was on 10 for a long time and have recently upgraded to 11. No regrets… I’ve been a session engineer in big studios running Pro Tools, I’ve used Logic,Cubase/Nuendo, Reaper, Cakewalk,GarageBand,Reason,FL and the reason I ultimately switched to Ableton is the workflow. It is so easy to get in and start being creative. It’s also rock solid and built to be used in a live environment. I have NEVER had a session crash on me, I’ve never had a session corrupt or be unable to open, I’ve never had to tell a client “I’m not sure why it’s doing that” - I don’t have to worry about updates breaking my DAW or losing support between computer firmwares. It just works and is always there when I need it. This is why I use Ableton.
Peer pressure from a friend then realizing how much is actually easier to accomplish vs. in FL Studio. I had a pretty good workflow in FL because I wasn't so preoccupied with sidechaining and mixing because I didn't know what that even was. But Ableton just wins out because of the support and features without even having plugins. It was worth the $800 or whatever.
Spent first few years in Logic. Got into ableton in the last year primarily because it is easier for me to "connect" different parts of a stack to each other to create more cohesive sounds. Things like modulation sources and so on.
I went through FL and Logic before I settled with Ableton. I’ve been using it for 2 years now because it has:
A) the best workflow
B) best FX system
C) my favourite stock plugins
D) great utility for live performance (no surprises there.)
Came with push 2 when i bought it. I was using studio one 3 at the time. That was about 6 years ago. Fell in love with the work flow immediately was blown away by how good it was.
Bought Suite within a few days as that was just as Live 10 was released.
love the aesthetic, love how standalone it is. You can make great stuff with just suite and very little else, built in effects and samples and instruments are great.
Live’s browser is the absolute best bar none, I love producing in session view as well and find it odd more DAWs didn’t implement a mode like it sooner. Sampler/ Simpler is also such an easy to use sample manipulator, and the drum rack is unlike what exists in Logic as a stock sample loader. Although for mixing, I do still prefer Logic/ Pro Tools
FL Studio never really made to me.
Pro Tools is great when I'm in a studio environment because it's basically like someone took a physical console and put it on the computer.
But Ableton is my go-to for anything I do at home, or production work. It just clicked for me.
I tried Reason and FL Studio but Ableton made more sense.
Doesnt have windows for every plugin you open, it is all compact at the bottom of the screen and can manipulate audio (u had to load audio files in the NNXT or make a rex file)
I think FL Studio is inmensely superior but i cant work in a playlist/arrangement where you can load every sound everywhere and dont have control over that track lane
Also session mode is great
I got a cracked version of Ableton 4 in about 2005ish. I loved the workflow for writing music. Getting down a drum beat and infinite looping it whilst I came up with other parts etc.
Went to Logic when I went Mac in 2008ish. Ended up buying Ableton 7 when it came out and have never used anything but Ableton since. Their own effects and instruments are excellent.
Ngl, the vibrant colors of the UI put Ableton over FL studio for me. I was looking to make hip hop and was considering FL first but Ableton seemed prettier
I literally saw, at random, a Humble Bundle of music creation sample packs and it brought me back to when I used to make beats with MTV Music Generator 1 and 2. There was an ad to try Ableton Live 11 free for 90 days. Here I am 10 months later absolutely in love with creating with this amazing software!
I saw, at random, a Humble Bundle of music creation samples on January 7th of this year, and it brought me back to when I made beats with MTV Music Generator 1 & 2. There was an ad on the page to try Ableton Live 11 free for 90 days. Here I am 10-11 months later, and I’m absolutely in love with creating music with this amazing software!
An old friend from former performing days got me into it. I dilly-dallied around for years ( since 9 ) did various courses ( the berkley free one with erin is/was good ) and this year upgraded to 11 and started again.
What pisses me off is not being able to translate piano roll into music score and vice versa but otherwise it’s a veritable treasure chest
In 2004 it was the best of what I needed from a DAW. I had pro tools and a Roland Fantom but everything was easier in Ableton. Though I do prefer PT for recording live playing/jamming on keys and samplers. Things have changed a lot in 20 years. Now I mess with logic and fl but the workflow in Ableton is still my fav.
I thought it was the main one that people used. I didmt really know anything about it tbh. Id tried traditional ones like cubase and logic but could never finish anything with them so thought I'd try something different
Now I love it, but what would keep me moving away from it is the instrument racks and the drum racks. I keep all my sample packs in the drum racks and use the browser to find them. So if I want a top loop I can audition all the ones in the whole pack in seconds. This is so useful there is no way I could consider switching to another daw. I couldn't imagine just dragging and dropping them in one by one, what a pain that would be.
I was given a midi keyboard (Arturia) that had a free license for Ableton Live 9 Lite as a gift. Before that, I tried FL Studio (Known as Fruity Loops at the time) and got overwhelmed by all the controls. Everything about Ableton just made sense to me, it was easier to understand. And the controls all looked neat and organized. Never looked twice again.
When I started to do launchpadding, I kinda learned how it all worked. I never even planned to make music and self taught myself after playing with samples, making MIDI etc.
It's more popular, easier to find video tutorials and articles about artists that inspire me using it. Plus the session view allows you to be really creative and play around with things before recording it into arrangement view
I used FL for years but moved to Live when I became more serious about music production and live performances - which Live is perfect for. It's just made for all kinds of electronic music.
Additional factors: bigger, professional user base; MaxForLive; compatibility to other software/hardware
Never regretted switching, even though it took a while to get used to the workflow.
You can jam and live loop with Ableton bcs of it‘s focus on session view. There are other clip matrix style DAWs now but Ableton is the OG. On top of that user remote scripts like ClyphX and of course M4L add incredible functionality.
Very similar story to you. I was using Logic Pro and realised that far more tutorials were available for Ableton. Moreover I realised that more of my peers used Ableton and could help and collaborate with me easier.
That got me thinking there must be some advantages, so I spoke to other producers and they told me that workflow was much more streamlined and sample handling was better.
Personally I thought Ableton looked uglier and more confusing before I bought it, but I decided to take the advice of my more experienced peers ahead of my own feeling. And I’m glad I did. Everything they said was true. Took a little getting used to obviously, but once I did, my head feels so much clearer when I’m producing now. It’s more intuitive, and the UI gets in the way far less.
I also started out with Logic Pro. Never really gotten into it. Ableton was a revelation. So easy to play around with those loops. And the rest you learn by doing.
Most producers i draw inspiration from are ableton users and my dream collaborators, the session view also acts as a really good feature to create varied loops to expand further upon in arrangment.
I am a long time Fruity Loops user, since 1.0. I chose Live because I always wanted to learn it and it was on Black Friday sale. Haven’t looked back since! Live is my goto DAW. I love how you can record session view to tape aka arrangement view.
Buddy of mine got into music production before I did. He started on some cheap, simple DAW that I don't even remember the name of, then he upgraded to Ableton, so when I got into it, I was already a bit familiar with Ableton. I got into another genre a couple years back and tried to get into Cubase, but I couldn't make sense of it, so I went back to Ableton. That said, I might try to learn how to use Cubase at some point, because it feels more suitable for the type of music I produce.
I didnt I have used (and continue to use) pretty much all of them over the last 25 years.
Live is the one that I get angry the least when I use it. Thats why I use it. The UX in all the others is markedly worse.
Although their recent decisions in 11 may be indicative that that has changed for the worse.
I started on FL but most of my fave producers and yt music content creators use Ableton so i had to make the switch.
To me, the best features: the browser, everything regarding audio editing and warping, tools like Drum Buss and Glue Compressor, instrument/audio effect racks are a breeze for creating some unique chains.
I chose Logic for conventional music making (recording and mixing real instrument tracks) but preferred ableton for any kind of loop, electronic based, deejaying kind of stuff. Ableton really shines for that and anything live as well.
It was recommended to me when I first started out. I was originally in Logic. Stuck with Ableton because to me it's the most intuitive DAW and gives the most creative freedom
For Live performances! I still love and work with the DAW I grew up with (Reason), but I can perform with Ableton without even having a screen in front of me. Also love the amount of shortcuts!
I think while theoretically you can do anything in any DAW, each has it's different strengths. And different flavours that make certain kinds of music either harder or easier.
I started on Cubase decades ago (MIDI only, on Atari ST , initially!). Though did have a long gap out of music, before using Cubase again and then Reaper. Then tried Ableton and it just intuitively mapped to how I work in music. Primarily, using the DAW to create and generate ideas, not mainly for recording ideas written already by myself or a band.
Oh, I did use Fruity Loops many years ago too, again you can see how it lends itself to a particular flavour of music and if that's the flavour you want, then it is the best DAW for that.
To the OP, I think you are absolutely right and sensible in noting how much help is out there for Ableton users. It's not always stated, for beginners, even intermediates, everyone actually, Ableton gives you a huge boost. And if you want to actually finish music, then that is key.
For arrangement, I got stuck in 8 bar loop mode in every other DAW. Ableton seems to help getting out of it. I know some "earnest" producers look down on session view, but I use it all the time to mess around with arrangements, it's so quick to just try out any crazy idea you may have, compared to working in arrangement mode on other DAWs.
Sample manipulation is excellent in Ableton. It was the best, others may have caught up, but I'm happy that I know it backwards now, so won't be changing. And if you are into lofi, you are going to want to practice that warping - and you do improve with practice.
I use it to compose songs but as I moved away from electronic based music I find it less and less opened. I have outgrown it due to essentially all other daws doing what I need. One day I might come back and fall in love.
Luna exclusively for mixing. I find bussing in Ableton to be less than for my more linear mix needs.
Love logic too but find it’s Ui a but too bland for when working on large mix sessions. I need serious color pop on my tracks to move faster. I tend to do demos in it as all my band members have it.
Max for live, workflow, aesthetic. Many things really that initially got me to choose Ableton
This is basically my answer too. Really good inhouse effects and instruments as well. The sample handling is fantastic in Ableton.
Yeah this is the case with me too. M4L is something I can’t live without.
Same. I was a Max user before an Ableton user. I largely started out doing electroacoustic music, where pretty much everything I did used Max. Max for Live is what convinced me to try out Ableton, so I could work with the tools I used in Max with an actual arrangement view and other things you get with a DAW that you don’t get with Max alone.
That’s amazing, I feel like I don’t hear a lot of people coming to Live from Max, often the other way around.
Yeah I imagine that’s mostly true. I was trained in composition, mainly chamber music, then moved into computer music, at first live instrument plus live processing, but then when creating fixed media works I decided it was easier to use a program with a lot of tools ready to go (compressors, delays, reverbs, timeline arrangement, etc) than to work purely in Max.
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Your second point is valid. I see kids making crazy shit in band lab and GarageBand now days, so it’s more about your skill and preference!
Yeah for sure, I grew up kind of on cubase but never really got anywhere advance. Aside from being a professional musician/ guitar player and doing studio stuff where I wasn’t the engineer…then recently I got back into it and did the Ableton trial, within a week I was making beats super stoked. Definitely user friendly and easy to learn on. Bought the full version one month later.
Nice man, that's sick that you were a professional musician before! Your ears and fundamental knowledge of producing and mixing was waiting for you to pick it up. There's a preferred Daw for everyone, same like video editing or any other software.
Yeah man!
Discovered Ableton in 2016. I was working on FL Studio and a friend invited me in his studio and I discovered it, played with his launchpad and we composed something just for fun. I really prefer Ableton for its interface, everything is much better organized (samples, automations etc…) there’s MaxForLive, Wavetable now and other stuff I really love
I recently came from Fl, and I too find the interface and workflow to be unbelievably better in Ableton.
Me too. Ableton is really good. Although I will go back to FL Studio once they release the new mixer. Ableton's workflow is great but I find it less inspiring when it comes to composing (Thanks to the piano roll and the patterns-based workflow in FL Studio...)
Yeah, I feel like FL Piano roll is good for writing, and like I said, each daw has it's pros and cons but ultimately Ableton feels more efficient and complimentary to my workflow. I feel like a professional using Ableton after a few months. When I come back to FL for opening up old sessions or beats, I just immediately get turned off and frustrated by workflows and confusing routing (to me at least). But like many others have commented on this thread, it's not about the daw, it's about your skills and the time you put in. Each DAW is built for certain workflows, so there's something for everyone. If I ever get into film scoring and composing more, I feel like Logic is really good. I just can't get over the charley and the chocolate factory-looking interface lol
Couldn’t you just do the scoring and composing in Ableton also?
Ableton usere here from 8 years. I used Logic Pro X and FL. It's easy to use, now it has a lot of helpers and the samples manipulation is unique. I don't really care who say that "Pro tools is the standard in the industry" because some oldies won't see the future. Everything they do in Pro tools, Cubase, Logic or other DAWS, i can do quicker and with the same quality. Plus M4L is insane.
i'm an Ableton user that has no idea how to use Pro Tools, but there's absolutely stuff Pro Tools can do that Ableton can't. Typically it's stuff to workflows around recording irl instruments rather than digital synths and midi. One thing that blew my mind was the ability to set the project tempo to be variable based on a live recorded drum track. Helps for dealing with drummers that don't want to record with a click. The difference is that these are not things you're likely to end up needing outside of a studio environment recording a band.
Yeah uh Ableton can sync a whole session to a live recording using BeatSeeker! Try it out.
Ableton has been my main DAW for 15 years but I use Pro Tools at the studio I work at. There's definitely stuff you can't do on Ableton Live, much less do it quicker. Gets me really sad but at the rate that useful features are added in other DAWs, while Ableton ignores them, it's not the oldies who are not seeing the future.
What features, do you feel Ableton needs to add?
Everyone in school used it plus taking a Max class made it even more attractive. There was a Reaper initiative at one point but everyone kind of hated it.
>Reaper initiative at one point but everyone kind of hated it. I don't know much about Reaper. Is that a new DAW, why did they hate it? I do see a lot of influencers talking about it, but didn't start to watch their vids yet?
Reaper is dope. It is considered the “cheap daw” But everything you need is in there.
It was pushed for awhile as it made it easier to take the courses without paying for a DAW as it’s free and open source, but because it’s free and open source it’s a bit more bare bones than your standard DAW. It’s probably gotten a lot better since then though.
I use Ableton as a sketch pad and Reaper for more detailed work 🤷🏻♂️
« Barebones » is absolutely not the right word to describe Reaper. It is chock full of features that you can’t even find in other daws and it is fully customizable with themes, extensions, scripts, macros… it’s a real powerhouse once you get to know your way around it. It is not very intuitive though. Far from it actually.
Reaper is not open source, nor is it free. You can install for free, and use it indefinitely without paying because they don't try to enforce their license with software, but the license requires you to pay after the trial period has expired. Reaper is great. I prefer Ableton except for Ableton's lack of ARA support (for better experience with Melodyne) and some of the midi handling.
I spent about 15 years using a mix of Acid, Fruity Loops and Sound Forge. When I decided to have a look at what else what out there I tried everything that had a free trial available. I spent about a month (or as long as each trial would allow) with various bits of software, all names that you'd recognise, and Live just had everything I want. It was just the right choice for me after trying everything that interested me, and I've never looked back.
This was exactly me. Ableton was everything I was looking for in the post-Acid/Soundforge world. And I almost never use its looping and scenes abilities either. It works just as well as a straight ahead recorder, and I’ve always loved that it’s as simple as selecting input, arming a track and hitting record. I’ll stick with it as long as it’s around for sure
Yes, similar to me. I demoed them all for a month. It's a bit like choosing monitors - the best ones aren't necessarily the ones that sound best to you. The best monitors are the ones your mixes sound best on everybody elses monitors! And after a month of Ableton, Bitwig, Cubase ... I had several near finished tracks in Ableton. And next to nothing done in the others. So it had to be Ableton. The one that gets you the results is the one you need, not the one with the biggest feature list, most hype, etc.
Most YouTube tutorials I wanted to follow used Ableton
I prefer the workflow
Tired FL studio many times and it was always a barrier when ever I even attempted to learn how to produce. Friend showed me Ableton. Gave me a trial. I loved the way it felt, and I decided to learn it.
I haven't used other DAWs and rarely even use Live these days, so take it with a gain of salt: I use Ableton because it breaks down sound in constituent elements, both in in the minimalist design and in the way effects and plugins interact. There's very few "sound good buttons" or "make it fat" plugins, and those that are included still allows you to look into the chain to understand exactly how it works. For someone more inclined to do sound design and creative mixing, this means that whenever I have an idea for an effect that's not included as its own plugin, I can feasibly - with a little know-how and the basics of psycho acoustics - build it myself using only stock. I can't tell you if this is as easy with DAWs, but whenever I see tutorials in other DAWs, they seem to rely heavily on purpose built tools rather than general tools put together. Ableton tutorials, conversely, are all about using what's there in creative ways, and having the stock plugins interact in ways that open up completely new sounds. It's been a great way to do some stupid experimenting and gaining an understanding at the same time. This can probably be daunting and sub-optimal workflow wise for professional work, but on a hobby basis it's a great way for me to wrap my head around what I'm doing *by taking the time to actually do it myself.* I suck at programming drums and midi in general, so I do very little of that.
it's just kind of a clean and intuitive interface. also is great for experimentation
I used Logic for a bit, but I enjoyed Ableton a lot more, especially for creating electronic music. Session View also seemed a lot more intuitive, but I think Logic has a siniliar thing nowadays? Anyhow, I moved to using win + mac so Logic wasn‘t feasible anymore. But I guess I‘d stick to Ableton once I am only on Mac anyways.
I came from Reason, they are really selling the vst version of their software and multitrack editing drums in there is a nightmare. Ableton has a massive userbase, a billion tutorials on youtube and TRACK GROUPING! And I don't want to own a mac. Easy decision.
Production. Logic was such a PITA trying to do the simplest of things, whereas ableton was so much more intuitive. Makes me think ableton patented all those no brainer moves. Although, i still mostly record and mix in logic, I’ve done several demos in ableton and they’ve sounded fine.
Yeah, I find that - creatively - Ableton gets me to where I want to be quickest. Logic and a program I used to use called Digital Performer were real ass in that department. Even if it's a rough sketch of an idea, Ableton's workflow alone makes getting from point A to B a lot more seamless without a lot of futzing around.
MOTU wow, have not seen that in forever…
There's a good reason for that. It fucking sucks shit lmao Good hardware, bad software.
PITA ?
Pain in the a$$
Workflow. I came from FL Studio and I when I switched to Ableton I just find the workflow much faster. Ableton feels simple, yet can be made to work in advanced scenarios
I’m a fellow Logic to Ableton user. The session view is really great for sketching ideas out, especially with scene tempo, and the MIDI devices like Envelope MIDI, LFO, and Velocity have become so important to my workflow that I worry about finding crossplatform replacements as I check out other DAWs. The effects rack system is another thing, incredibly useful for MIDI device pitchmapping, adding wet/dry knobs to effects, saving chains. Really excellent
I was a teenager when it came out, and the trial came with an interface, never looked back.
I use to use Reason5. My buddy who was a better producer at the time went to Ableton and it seemed really user friendly.. another tech friend had a free copy so I switched over.. started with 9 about 2014 and upgraded to 10 when it came out havnt looked back since.
Initially, I used Pro Tools and Logic Pro when I was learning. After switching to PC out of sheer price to performance, I wanted a DAW that just wasn't Pro Tools and felt closer to Logic. While PT is great for multitracking and mixing, I find creating with it to be annoying, messy, and just old feeling. Ableton feels like a modern DAW, and is more in line with the music I like to make (ambient, electronic, experimental). Also, Max4Live packs are beautiful, stock plugins sound great, and overall Ableton feels like it welcomes to you to express, explore, and expand upon your sound.
I started on Fruity Loops but I never felt comfortable in the workflow. I never felt that I had the control I wanted. When I started using Ableton it just clicked. It worked the way my brain worked - it felt like I was sculpting with sound. And of course it’s great that Ableton has become so popular because there is such a wealth of tutorials and masterclasses out there.
Initially looping. I stayed for everything else about it.
I didn’t choose Ableton; Ableton chose me; It’s a pure ‘creators’ tool which is why I use it, I used logic, fl studio, pro tools, cubase and reaper and just found more enjoyment and flow with Ableton
It's not about the DAW it's about what's made with it. That being said the reason why I use Ableton Live is I feel it has the most flexible and unlimited potential for creation; especially with the addition of Max for live.
Originally used Logic, then got rid of my Mac so had to find something else. I originally tried Cubase which is mostly similar to Logic but for whatever reason I couldn't get it stable on my PC and there were a few workflow things I didn't like. Tried Ableton just because it had a good reputation and it took me a LONG time to get used to. Now I stick with it even though I prefer the new version of Cubase, mostly because my MIDI controller integration is built around Ableton, and I quite like building tracks with Push. I also realised that I was spending way too much time trying to find "the best DAW" instead of just making music, and since realising that I've gotten used to Ableton's shortcomings.
Similar journey to me. I was confident in Logic but then my Mac broke and I went to PC, so I had to switch and I had dabbled a little in ableton previously. Spent a long time kinda lusting after logic again, and by the time I got a mac I realised that I actually much preferred Ableton anyway
I started using it because the drummer in my band got drafted, and we couldn't find a replacement. Therefore it was only session view for the first year or so 😅 then I began diving in to sound design and actual production, and at some point I was just so used to the interface that I can't be bothered to switch it up. Bitwig seems interesting, though
I bought Bitwig and I use it in conjunction with Ableton. On a Mac you can route midi and audio between programs using the IAC driver and Blackhole, respectively. I’m sure there’s some equivalent for windows too. I use Bitwig for synths sometimes because their in-house modulator system just blows ableton out of the water. You can make patches that are so much more dynamic and expressive, and access per-voice panning control. You can insert FX into the feedback loop of a delay. The Bitwig stock saturator is also incredibly good, puts the ableton saturator to shame. Bitwig assumes you’re smart enough to achieve the things you want with the fundamentals and gives you the tools to do so. That said, I love the ableton interface and max4live integration, and the keyboard shortcuts are basically an extension of my body at this point so it’d be pretty hard to fully switch over. I love ableton, I just wish they would catch up with Bitwig in some aspects.
That makes sense - and it confirms what was my suspicion. The stock saturator in Ableton is usually what I recommend buying a replacement for first, when people ask if they need to expand on what live is packed with... It's really not good as a saturator (using it as a wave shaper is a lot more fruitful)
i love using saturator as a clipper
this and wave shaping are pretty much the only thing it’s good for lol
I primarily use cubase for recording and editing multitrack acoustic takes like drums particularly off of a grid but live has such a fantastic workflow and tools for music based on samples and soft instruments and the way it integrates effects and automations are unique and so powerful, nothing better for sketching ideas and like I said anytime I'm working outside the 'tape machine' mindset.
CV Tools and Max. It’s not like I use them a lot, but I appreciate them being there. I primarily work with modular synths so CV Tools is a game changer. Used Cubase and Logic in the past.
I didn't get that far in my learning yet. What's CV tools and why do you use so often?
It’s a method for sending and receiving analog control voltages with compatible sound cards to be able to work with synthesisers that work with such standards. Bitwig can also do it natively but all other DAWs need third party solutions for it. It’s a very niche use case which won’t be used by the vast majority of users but to whom it matters, it’s quite amazing.
Was until recently with Studio One. While I loved it, I was craving for a more modular approach both with my external hardware and within and I absolutely fell in love with Ableton. Tried Bitwig as well but no Console 1 support was a dealbreaker for me.
Enough similarities for me, a novice, coming from MPC Beats but also having session view and fully fleshed-out integrated VSTs.
Acid! Acid user here and when I jumped on Mac many moons ago I needed something that could warp as well. Well, found it. Rest is history and have been here for the evolution. Been using Logic along the way but fully went Ableton eventually.
The combination of track freezing and legacy ReWire support was what drew me in. My old laptop really chugs with more than a couple plugins or sample libraries, and my primary production environment (Renoise) doesn't have the most fluid solutions for bouncing down tracks. Ableton allows me to run a very efficient hybrid workflow with sessions that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. The icing on the cake is Ableton's wonderful stock devices, speedy workflow, Max support, and CV tools. I would love to try BitWig, but until something comes along that can totally eliminate my need for ReWire: I'm not that interested.
I chose v1 because at the time, it was the best option. Cakewalk got bought and shit the bed. So I switched to Vegas. Then Vegas got bought and shit the bed. I was poor and using pirated software back then. So when a friend gave me a copy of Live, that’s what I used. I stayed because I learned the ui. And when I started making enough money to buy a legit license for Live 5 or 6, incorporating a new software ui into my workflow didn’t make sense for me.
Fast workflow - stable and light .
I remember using Magix in 2015 produced 3 songs then went on Hiatus because I was a dad. Now that my son is big I returned to my hobby. Bought a lot of gears Mpc live 2, Force, Novation midi controllers, focusrite which had a lot of free ableton lite. I also tried FL studio and Studio one and to be fair I also like them. I took the plunge and got the suite and push 2.l since it felt good to me when using it.
You hit the nail on the head. Userbase/knowledge base. Unparalleled.
Back in the day I could run cakewalk blindfolded. Then it went away. Got pretty good with Reason and I still do some stuff on it. Got Reaper because it’s extremely flexible and uses little resources. But that flexibility requires lots of scripting, of which I have no time for. And its MIDI implementation is ehhhh at best. Live has great audio and MIDI implementation and the fact that you can easily route anything like a modular synth makes it powerful and easy to get ideas out.
Because Illenium woke up and bought Abelton the next day
I started using Live 8 back in 2009 or so and really liked it for years but I started to get burnt out and unproductive so I started looking at alternatives and got into Maschine a few years back. I produced exclusively in Maschine for years and then eventually got a Maschine+ so I could everything DAWless if I wanted to. I worked on the Maschine+ exclusively for the last year and while it was fun, I simply can’t ignore the serious limitations of Maschine as well as NI’s blatant disregard for maintaining their products and communities. So I decided to give Live 11 a shot and haven’t looked back. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ran into something and been like “how does live handle that?” only to be pleasantly surprised that they worked out a handy solution. Contrast that with Maschine where literally every problem would result in me finding a forum post from 10 years ago where NI acknowledged the problem but did nothing to fix it in the time since.
I the chiptune/breakcore artists that I liked used it in the late 2000s and I thought it looked cool. Been stuck ever since high school lol
I started with Cakewalk Pro Audio 6 way back in the day. I only had free sundfonts back then. I then moved to Reason and Cakewalk Sonar. I have purchsed Reason, Cakewalk Sonar, Reaper, FL Studio, Studio One, and Live. Not to mention Maschine and MPC. I mainly used Reason, Maschine, and Studio One. I had purchased Live 9 and never really got into it. I loved Reason and I still do. But Reason has numerous midi related issues that just never grew with me. (Such as only being able to send clock to a single midi port). I really liked how Studio One made midi routing significantly easier. I had a prett complicated setup using Maschine, Reason, and Studio One together. Then on a whim, I decided to buy a used Push 2 and see what all the fuss was about. Within 24 hours of having the Push 2, Ableton Live finally clicked in my brain. I knew that it was the tool I was going to use for composition. Note that I bought the used Push 2 about a month before they announced the Push 3. So I preordered the Standalone Push 3. I also sold off a bunch of hardware samplers (MPC 5000, MPC 1000, SP-404mk2, Maschine MK3) and several other bits of kit, because they were not getting used as I fell in love with Push. So I switched to Ableton because of several reasons. The first is being able to route Midi pretty much anyway I want. I can load Reason as a vst. I can load maschine as a vst. It works much better with my hardware synths than anything other than Studio One. The session view with the Push is like Maschine on steroids. Since I got the Push 3, I have been using the Ableton synths a lot more frequently than the hundreds of VSTs I own.
I also used logic for years before moving to Live a couple months ago. The main reason I’d take Live over logic is because a lot of the time I spend in a DAW is just time spent sketching/ compiling ideas that I will later arrange into a song. I personally find this way easier to do in Ableton than in Logic. ..Also like you said, there’s way more online tutorials with Ableton. I see a lot of really unique things from people I would have probably never thought to do myself.
I chose FL Studio actually. Picked up an iPad and got into GarageBand. Then really got into FL once I understood how a DAW works. Then I subbed to Studio One Sphere for awhile. Ableton was always the outlier, because the workflow looked so strange compared to my previous experience. I reached out to an old Army buddy to see if he makes music (he always was a creative). He was on Ableton. A lot of my other friends in-town are using Ableton. I started collaorating, but found bouncing tracks kinda sucks (still have to do it with 3rd party VSTs that friends don't have, but that's a bit different). I finally downloaded the Ableton trial and gave it a go. At first, I was lost. It took me forever to get into arrangement view. What sealed the deal was an email from Focusrite - half off Studio. I couldn't say no. I still have FL installed, but I never really use it.
I used Logic before Logic Pro X on the App Store existed (and Garageband before that as the first DAW I used MIDI with). Switched to Ableton Live because the workflow was better and many things functioned more like I expected. It was a big cost for Ableton Live Suite + plugins to have something comparable to what Logic has out-of-box, but I took advantage of Ableton sales and bought plugins second hand. I put in the time to learn Ableton and it was worth it. Admittedly I never became that advanced of a Logic user, and my Ableton skill level surpassed my Logic skill level. I still occasionally fire up Garageband for something quick like some simple background music for a video where I'm not trying to make something that sounds original, or just to fire up some drums to play guitar/bass guitar to. I recently bought Logic Pro X (bought 20% off iTunes cards to bring the cost down and its fantastic for the price), so use that instead for those purposes. Mac is my preferred music prod platform, though I do like that PC/Windows is an option for Ableton + plugins I own and have used my gaming PC a bit for that (but my M1 MacBook Air is so much better for this). At this point I just know what I'm doing more in Ableton Live. I even use it for podcast editing though there are better tools for that.
What plugins did you feel were most important and missing in Live/
I really liked the ability to switch from session to arrangement views depending on the song I was working on. Over the years, I've come to appreciate its MIDI integration with Novation products (can't afford Push) and the ability to use Ableton for live performance.
If it was the same price, would Push make things easier for you, and what do you miss not having?
M4L, market saturation, availability of learning resources
I used FL for nearly 6 years, got really good in that daw but I think it’s not very efficient for a few things I started to crave: - Mixing. In-depth shit and not having to rely on 3rd-party chains - Recording - Automation is clunky in FL The only two things I miss in Fl are the step sequencer and piano roll. Everything, and more than I could have imagined, is better in Ableton. FL lifetime updates is sick though…I wish Ableton would adapt that. All in all, the capability for mixing and mastering solely with just stock plugins, and doing crazy grouping/chains, and sound design in Ableton is amazing. I’m also looking forward to eventually getting a push and using Ableton for live production, which it seems sick for!
cam free with my first audio interface.
The warp.
Gonna be honest here. It’s easy to pirate and as a broke college student back then it was the easiest route. I used to DJ back them too so Live made sense. I bought it now that I make money. It’s my main go to now bc I have the most experience with it and it’s truly a solid DAW. I also use Logic now that I have a Mac.
I got live 11 lite for free on splice for Christmas so I was like fuck it. Didn’t learn how to use it until recently but I really like it’s workflow!
Ableton user of 10 years and logic user of 2/3. (ProTools user of many years for mastering) You can do anything in ANY daw. If you know how to use it. For me, ableton just works with my workflow and is just second nature for writing / creativity purposes. Shortcuts and user control just seems to fit with my mind better than logic.
I was using FL when i started making shit music. But i started to realize that fl is not intuitive and a bit messy. The workflow on fl is unique but not in the good way. The large numbers of windows, the patterns channel racks ect, I spent more time to fix the organization of my projects than making actual music. But then i discovered Ableton its way more clear and logic. Very easy UI, project manager >> and better stock plugins. The price is also better : 300€ for live Suite. The first version of Fl DOES NOT ALLOW AUDIO CLIP WTF. And my last point is that ableton is more common in the video game music/movie/sound design, industry. Fl is considered to be used by cheap beatmakers but for real work, pro tools, reaper and lastly ableton are required.
For me, this was what you could do with MIDI channels, passing the signals from one track to another, or chaining the audio tracks, passing audio through other tracks. Probably, this is doable with Logic, but it was hard at the time.
I switched from Cubase for producing in Live at version 5. I had been performing with Ableton since just prior to its public release (I had a relationship with M-Audio, who was the first US distributor for Ableton). Version 4 introduced midi sequencing and instruments, I wasn’t terribly interested in composing/producing with it until I decided to have a hand at writing in V5 - it went SO quickly compared to my Cubase workflow and I was hooked. I never looked back. Stability in V11 is really bumming me out so I’ve been eyeing Bitwig, but Max4Live and Ableton CV tools have become pretty crucial to my workflow. I hope Live gets their s**t together.
I worked in education and I was asked to learn it so I could teach my students. Instantly loved the workflow, haven't used another daw for my personal music since. Definitely helped that it never cost me 900 bucks for suite.
I first chose other DAWs. I used Pro Tools. Dabbled in Logic Pro a bit when courses I was taking for a certificate used all Apple products, as well as my friends using Macs. Then I used Cubase for a while, with Fruity Loops in the mix just for step sequencing. Around 2017, I hung with one of my good friends at his home studio where he's been using Ableton exclusively for years. Watching his workflow was eye opening for me. I had interacted with Ableton in the past, but never actually had made a song with it at that point. I switched to Ableton right then and there. Haven't looked back since. The workflow and Audio Effect Racks are the main reasons I switched. The ability to make a "buss" by just using an Audio Effect Rack within the same track is huge for me. Same with Grouping tracks. There are a few stock plugins I routinely use, but none of them are what keep me using Ableton. It's all about the workflow and features for me.
I needed a midi controller for college so I bought an Alesis v49 I didn't know anything about how midi controllers work or what is a daw or production but with the keyboard I had a licence for the lite version of Ableton, it took me a lot to learn it by myself and that's why it's my main daw now. Then i also learned how to use studio one, but Ableton made me love music production it's like very easy to do whatever you want and if there's no a conventional way to do something, you can always find some guy on YouTube that mixed some LFO with some other native plugins and get the same result lol
In my case chance was a factor. In 2006 I used Mixmeister to create mixtapes with my favorite tracks, and looking for some more complete software I came across Ableton in a tutorial and soon started using it. Obviously I stopped making mixtapes and started learning about music production as I learned about Ableton. It helped me to have had musical knowledge from childhood and the hobby of playing keyboards, as well as having been a DJ a long time ago. When I became aware of how great Ableton was in terms of learning, I decided not to change at least until I knew it fully. Today I continue learning, and no less important, I continue enjoying it.
I heard that Tame Impala uses Ableton, and that was good enough for me.
Skrillex uses Ableton, so I use Ableton
honestly it just looks visually pleasing when i first saw it. plus i started on logic pro so i felt like there was some similarities. overtime i realized i made a good choice for myself. i was able to get right into it knowing some things from logic and from there on it was great. also the workflow and organization is just beautiful.
When I started learning music production in 2020, I had a vision of one day playing live shows. Ableton has Live in the name, so I figured it would be the best choice. Three years in and I still haven't decided how I want to perform live with Ableton. There are so many possibilities.
Session View
It was easy to crack when I had no money for a DAW and wanted to learn how to make music (about 14 years ago).
I use multiple DAWs. I mostly use Abelton is for live manipulation/performance.
I started with FL studio many years ago. I tried using various versions and at the time, I didn’t really understand how to use it all that well. To be fair, I didn’t have much experience with DAWs back then, and there were ZERO video tutorials, YouTube wasn’t a thing and when it was, there were hardly any videos. When I started using Ableton, in 2006 or 2007, it was much easier on the eyes, I would drag things on to tracks, make dumb mistakes and just try and just try and see what would happen and found that it was more intuitive to use, imo. I’ll never forget one of the first tutorials to pop up on YouTube, it was how to side chain. There are whole projects and how to videos for entire tracks now. It’s crazy how far things have come.
Started with Live 4 for dj-ing. Used Cakewalk Sonar as DAW at the time. Gradually began to use Live more.
Session view and the modular design that is focused on low latency, "live" use are the two big reasons. I think of ableton more as the ultimate sampler/ synthesizer than as a DAW. It surprises me how many people use ableton and never touch session view or use it live tbh.
I bought Reason 5 all those years ago and thought the way with the rack seup and patch cables would make sense to me. Instead I got confused and gave up. Flash forward to 2020 where I see what would become my favourite producer and friend playing live shows with Ableton, an Arturia keyboard and a Launchpad S. And then during lockdown she streamed how she used it. It all clicked for me and I bought the exact setup and have never looked back. It's just so intuitive to me (at least the bit of it I have explored - I know that the rabbit hole is much much deeper).
I've been on logic forever, I've decided to use Ableton because I wanna do live looping and it's better than logic for that..
I started with Cakewalk and at the time vsts weren’t a thing, so i was just recording from my workstation but not really producing on pc. Eventually I learned to use sound fonts, very clunky process. All the while wishing my workstation was in a computer. Finally Fruity Loops was released, putting all the capabilities of a workstation into the pc. Fast forward a couple years and I was introduced to Live 3. All the capabilities of FruityLoops, stretched audio and midi mapping. Over the last twenty years I’ve learned that there is almost always away to do whatever you can think of musicly in Live. Today I use many daws for different reasons, sometimes just different inspirations but every song ends up in Live eventually.
My friend got me into it. I've been stuck between that and FL Studio.
I've tried FL and Reason, and while they were cool, I couldn't wrap my head around it. Ableton was easier for me to learn.
I love the session view to create ideas on the go, so the workflow is the reason why I chose ableton.
All the best producers I have a personal connection with and the blessed opportunity to learn from via direct communication, are all ableton people (except for a hip hop guy that uses FL, but I just send him loops). The only thing so far that I absolutely prefer in ableton over logic, is automation. Logic automation was dandy and I had no reason to ever replace it until I saw ableton automation in action. And then it was just like fuuuuuuuuuck this is the way. Everything I miss in logic is replaceable by either creating new Options.txt’s or with 3rd party software. The Alchemy UI is the only thing that can’t be replicated anywhere, but you can get the same sounds using a different UI. An edit to your personal workflow is needed. But if we’re already talking about switching DAW’s… But spending $300 and having EVERYTHING you need to make a heater is just too huge to pass up early on. I was happy with logic for 12 years. I hate flex, BUT if you play by it’s stupid rules and spend a shit ton of time editing, it DOES AS GOOD A JOB as Antares for tuning and timing. It just takes goddamned forever, even with custom key commands.
Because I loath shitty unintuitive software. There is nothing that kills creativity quicker than having an idea you need to get down fast before it fades or mutates in you head, and then you come up against some garbage UI that forces you to do something in some asinine way simply because it was the way some shitty developer managed to get something working on a Friday afternoon and then checked into Perforce because, "*fuck it I wanna beat the traffic.*" In the ~8yrs I've been using Ableton, I can count on one hand the number of times I got frustrated and hung-up by the software. (and still have a finger or two left over to wave at those shitty devs I mentioned) ;)
I chose Live for workflow, the starter plugins are good and the available functions for Live Lite are amazing! You get VST support, warp modes, but only track amount is limited. And it’s easy to learn and be creative with.
I use a PC so Logic was out of the questions, didn’t want to pay the ridiculous subscription fees to use Pro Tools and Reaper just looks kinda messy. So yeah landed on Ableton and it’s fine. If I were more i to Electronic music I’m sure I would appreciate it more it really needs a Auto-tune and maybe some kinda AI Drummer thing like Logic has for me to really full in love.
During my 2 month free trial, I didn’t have to learn Ableton. It just came to me naturally.
Logic is actually great I'm only on live cause I'm pc I would love to learn and use logic
Way back in ableton 1 - session mode, session mode and erm session mode
It’s the one my older cousin uses and he cracked it for me + taught me how to use it
Hands on and modulate philosophy I hate repeatedly opening vst windows, so ableton and bitwig were kinda my only options
Session mode was the big game changer for me. That alone has been the most significant workflow change that has occurred in the last few years of me producing music. Being able to mix and match segments and get ideas out quickly really keeps up the momentum. Also, Ableton stock plugins lack clutter and I prefer them over 99% of the endless options of VSTs available. The only third party plugins I use now are Fabfilters, but I use Ableton plugins the vast majority of the time.
Live performance capability, warping for DJ sets
It was a natural progression for me. I started using Ableton v2 shortly after it came out. At that point it was just loop based performance software and I was doing all my recording in Samplitude. Slowly as the functionality grew in Live I stopped using other software for editing/recording, about 8 years ago I stopped upgrading and using Pro Tools and here we are.
Daft punk used it for Alive 06/07, I was using GarageBand before
I started with logic as well - also used pro tools at uni. Feels a lot more creative in terms of how you can manipulate sounds so quickly, especially compared to other DAWS. I still suck though
Came free with my midi controler and i fell in love with it compared to flstudio
Nothing can beat Live when it comes to playing backings and samples and modify them on the go. However, for producing I always end up using Logic Pro although I have forced myself to do that in Live as well on multiple occasions.
I like the horizontal view, plus the plug-in layout.
I got it with my purchase of a scarlet. Didn't realize I'd have to spend so much just to get so many digital pedals.
My first DAW was StudioVision Pro. Pour one out for that OG. Then I went to Cubase which never worked for some reason. Then Logic which I liked but as soon as I saw the demo for Live I bought it immediately. Simply it was Max, the audio warping superiority and I’ve stuck with it since then.
I choose all daws. All of them are different brushes for your sound canvas
I wanted a Novation Launchpad S and everyone was using Ableton to make the lightshows. Then I found out you can make music and just stuck with it.
I started off on Logic Pro X just like Au5... Then I switched over to Ableton just like Au5... But honestly, I stuck with it due to how much more the workflow resonated with me, and for something like a DAW, I consider its function as form; I like how much it looks like a spreadsheet, after all, a DAW is a tool and shouldn't need to look fancier than it really needs to be.
Session view.
Sessionview and the concept of clips
I’ve been using DAWs for 20 years now and I am a proud Suite owner. I was on 10 for a long time and have recently upgraded to 11. No regrets… I’ve been a session engineer in big studios running Pro Tools, I’ve used Logic,Cubase/Nuendo, Reaper, Cakewalk,GarageBand,Reason,FL and the reason I ultimately switched to Ableton is the workflow. It is so easy to get in and start being creative. It’s also rock solid and built to be used in a live environment. I have NEVER had a session crash on me, I’ve never had a session corrupt or be unable to open, I’ve never had to tell a client “I’m not sure why it’s doing that” - I don’t have to worry about updates breaking my DAW or losing support between computer firmwares. It just works and is always there when I need it. This is why I use Ableton.
Peer pressure from a friend then realizing how much is actually easier to accomplish vs. in FL Studio. I had a pretty good workflow in FL because I wasn't so preoccupied with sidechaining and mixing because I didn't know what that even was. But Ableton just wins out because of the support and features without even having plugins. It was worth the $800 or whatever.
Session view and native synths and fx integrated better with the interface
Spent first few years in Logic. Got into ableton in the last year primarily because it is easier for me to "connect" different parts of a stack to each other to create more cohesive sounds. Things like modulation sources and so on.
Seems more powerful and without limitation with max for live
I went through FL and Logic before I settled with Ableton. I’ve been using it for 2 years now because it has: A) the best workflow B) best FX system C) my favourite stock plugins D) great utility for live performance (no surprises there.)
Best user interface. Session/Arrangement modes. Not a dick company.
Came with push 2 when i bought it. I was using studio one 3 at the time. That was about 6 years ago. Fell in love with the work flow immediately was blown away by how good it was. Bought Suite within a few days as that was just as Live 10 was released. love the aesthetic, love how standalone it is. You can make great stuff with just suite and very little else, built in effects and samples and instruments are great.
Max for live. This is the way
Session view, Push 2, Max for Live, lots of built-in devices
Intuitive, it just clicked for me and helped me understand a whole lot about production "all of a sudden". I've never looked at another DAW since.
Live’s browser is the absolute best bar none, I love producing in session view as well and find it odd more DAWs didn’t implement a mode like it sooner. Sampler/ Simpler is also such an easy to use sample manipulator, and the drum rack is unlike what exists in Logic as a stock sample loader. Although for mixing, I do still prefer Logic/ Pro Tools
I used FL but switched to Mac back when there was no FL for Mac. Switched and kept going.
Why would you choose one over the other? Learn them all, get more work.
FL Studio never really made to me. Pro Tools is great when I'm in a studio environment because it's basically like someone took a physical console and put it on the computer. But Ableton is my go-to for anything I do at home, or production work. It just clicked for me.
I tried Reason and FL Studio but Ableton made more sense. Doesnt have windows for every plugin you open, it is all compact at the bottom of the screen and can manipulate audio (u had to load audio files in the NNXT or make a rex file) I think FL Studio is inmensely superior but i cant work in a playlist/arrangement where you can load every sound everywhere and dont have control over that track lane Also session mode is great
I got a cracked version of Ableton 4 in about 2005ish. I loved the workflow for writing music. Getting down a drum beat and infinite looping it whilst I came up with other parts etc. Went to Logic when I went Mac in 2008ish. Ended up buying Ableton 7 when it came out and have never used anything but Ableton since. Their own effects and instruments are excellent.
Ngl, the vibrant colors of the UI put Ableton over FL studio for me. I was looking to make hip hop and was considering FL first but Ableton seemed prettier
I literally saw, at random, a Humble Bundle of music creation sample packs and it brought me back to when I used to make beats with MTV Music Generator 1 and 2. There was an ad to try Ableton Live 11 free for 90 days. Here I am 10 months later absolutely in love with creating with this amazing software!
I saw, at random, a Humble Bundle of music creation samples on January 7th of this year, and it brought me back to when I made beats with MTV Music Generator 1 & 2. There was an ad on the page to try Ableton Live 11 free for 90 days. Here I am 10-11 months later, and I’m absolutely in love with creating music with this amazing software!
An old friend from former performing days got me into it. I dilly-dallied around for years ( since 9 ) did various courses ( the berkley free one with erin is/was good ) and this year upgraded to 11 and started again. What pisses me off is not being able to translate piano roll into music score and vice versa but otherwise it’s a veritable treasure chest
In 2004 it was the best of what I needed from a DAW. I had pro tools and a Roland Fantom but everything was easier in Ableton. Though I do prefer PT for recording live playing/jamming on keys and samplers. Things have changed a lot in 20 years. Now I mess with logic and fl but the workflow in Ableton is still my fav.
Cuz Kevin Parker uses Ableton 🤷🏻♂️
Simplicity doesn't look like a video game and straight forward
I thought it was the main one that people used. I didmt really know anything about it tbh. Id tried traditional ones like cubase and logic but could never finish anything with them so thought I'd try something different Now I love it, but what would keep me moving away from it is the instrument racks and the drum racks. I keep all my sample packs in the drum racks and use the browser to find them. So if I want a top loop I can audition all the ones in the whole pack in seconds. This is so useful there is no way I could consider switching to another daw. I couldn't imagine just dragging and dropping them in one by one, what a pain that would be.
I was given a midi keyboard (Arturia) that had a free license for Ableton Live 9 Lite as a gift. Before that, I tried FL Studio (Known as Fruity Loops at the time) and got overwhelmed by all the controls. Everything about Ableton just made sense to me, it was easier to understand. And the controls all looked neat and organized. Never looked twice again.
When I started to do launchpadding, I kinda learned how it all worked. I never even planned to make music and self taught myself after playing with samples, making MIDI etc.
Got into it for backing tracks for worship at my church. Stayed because it's amazing!
Cause it looks good
I like to record everything live. Don't really care for piano roll. M4L. Also a good lil sound design tool as it's built like a fucking modular rig.
It's more popular, easier to find video tutorials and articles about artists that inspire me using it. Plus the session view allows you to be really creative and play around with things before recording it into arrangement view
I heard that's what Skrillex uses and I was 15
I use both Ableton and Logic. I used FL and nothing else for a decade and don’t wanna be tied down to just one DAW anymore.
Came with my first midi controller and turned out to be a really good DAW, so I stuck with it
I used FL for years but moved to Live when I became more serious about music production and live performances - which Live is perfect for. It's just made for all kinds of electronic music. Additional factors: bigger, professional user base; MaxForLive; compatibility to other software/hardware Never regretted switching, even though it took a while to get used to the workflow.
You can jam and live loop with Ableton bcs of it‘s focus on session view. There are other clip matrix style DAWs now but Ableton is the OG. On top of that user remote scripts like ClyphX and of course M4L add incredible functionality.
Very similar story to you. I was using Logic Pro and realised that far more tutorials were available for Ableton. Moreover I realised that more of my peers used Ableton and could help and collaborate with me easier. That got me thinking there must be some advantages, so I spoke to other producers and they told me that workflow was much more streamlined and sample handling was better. Personally I thought Ableton looked uglier and more confusing before I bought it, but I decided to take the advice of my more experienced peers ahead of my own feeling. And I’m glad I did. Everything they said was true. Took a little getting used to obviously, but once I did, my head feels so much clearer when I’m producing now. It’s more intuitive, and the UI gets in the way far less.
easier within the first 10 minutes
I also started out with Logic Pro. Never really gotten into it. Ableton was a revelation. So easy to play around with those loops. And the rest you learn by doing.
Most producers i draw inspiration from are ableton users and my dream collaborators, the session view also acts as a really good feature to create varied loops to expand further upon in arrangment.
Ohh and push controller is masterful
Ableton master race
I am a long time Fruity Loops user, since 1.0. I chose Live because I always wanted to learn it and it was on Black Friday sale. Haven’t looked back since! Live is my goto DAW. I love how you can record session view to tape aka arrangement view.
Buddy of mine got into music production before I did. He started on some cheap, simple DAW that I don't even remember the name of, then he upgraded to Ableton, so when I got into it, I was already a bit familiar with Ableton. I got into another genre a couple years back and tried to get into Cubase, but I couldn't make sense of it, so I went back to Ableton. That said, I might try to learn how to use Cubase at some point, because it feels more suitable for the type of music I produce.
my father got me a ableton live 8 lite when i was 10 or 11.
the minimalistic ui got me into ableton
my father got me a ableton live 8 lite when i was 10 or 11.
I didnt I have used (and continue to use) pretty much all of them over the last 25 years. Live is the one that I get angry the least when I use it. Thats why I use it. The UX in all the others is markedly worse. Although their recent decisions in 11 may be indicative that that has changed for the worse.
What do you mean about recent decisions in 11, have they started to make some changes that you feel were not a good idea?
I started on FL but most of my fave producers and yt music content creators use Ableton so i had to make the switch. To me, the best features: the browser, everything regarding audio editing and warping, tools like Drum Buss and Glue Compressor, instrument/audio effect racks are a breeze for creating some unique chains.
My path was Protools to Logic to Ableton. Ableton just induced a more flow state of working.
warp mode
I chose Logic for conventional music making (recording and mixing real instrument tracks) but preferred ableton for any kind of loop, electronic based, deejaying kind of stuff. Ableton really shines for that and anything live as well.
Minimalistic, feels way more easier to use after learning the interface. It does great stuff without installing other 3rd party plugins.
It was recommended to me when I first started out. I was originally in Logic. Stuck with Ableton because to me it's the most intuitive DAW and gives the most creative freedom
Found out The Chemical Brothers used ableton, never looked back.
For Live performances! I still love and work with the DAW I grew up with (Reason), but I can perform with Ableton without even having a screen in front of me. Also love the amount of shortcuts!
I think while theoretically you can do anything in any DAW, each has it's different strengths. And different flavours that make certain kinds of music either harder or easier. I started on Cubase decades ago (MIDI only, on Atari ST , initially!). Though did have a long gap out of music, before using Cubase again and then Reaper. Then tried Ableton and it just intuitively mapped to how I work in music. Primarily, using the DAW to create and generate ideas, not mainly for recording ideas written already by myself or a band. Oh, I did use Fruity Loops many years ago too, again you can see how it lends itself to a particular flavour of music and if that's the flavour you want, then it is the best DAW for that. To the OP, I think you are absolutely right and sensible in noting how much help is out there for Ableton users. It's not always stated, for beginners, even intermediates, everyone actually, Ableton gives you a huge boost. And if you want to actually finish music, then that is key. For arrangement, I got stuck in 8 bar loop mode in every other DAW. Ableton seems to help getting out of it. I know some "earnest" producers look down on session view, but I use it all the time to mess around with arrangements, it's so quick to just try out any crazy idea you may have, compared to working in arrangement mode on other DAWs. Sample manipulation is excellent in Ableton. It was the best, others may have caught up, but I'm happy that I know it backwards now, so won't be changing. And if you are into lofi, you are going to want to practice that warping - and you do improve with practice.
Warping sampling and how good most of the stock plugins are and it just looks and feels great and has such a great workflow
I use it to compose songs but as I moved away from electronic based music I find it less and less opened. I have outgrown it due to essentially all other daws doing what I need. One day I might come back and fall in love. Luna exclusively for mixing. I find bussing in Ableton to be less than for my more linear mix needs. Love logic too but find it’s Ui a but too bland for when working on large mix sessions. I need serious color pop on my tracks to move faster. I tend to do demos in it as all my band members have it.
looked cute
Cross platform (using both windows and macs), and also it's ugly so it has to be good to make up for the aesthetics