(Part 3) Top products from r/ableton

The APC40 really won't help much if you are still so unfamiliar with the software. It is generally regarded as a controller for live performance, with something like the Push more geared toward actual production/studio experimentation. That's not to say it can't be used for production, but if you're struggling navigating Ableton with just a mouse and keyboard, the APC40 will probably just complicate things initially. I have an APC40 and have set it up to DJ with 4 decks and a mixer but have currently never used it as a production tool.

I'd recommend reading up on the differences between audio and MIDI, to start, and then reading the Ableton manual and doing the built-in tutorials. This book is a good read for when you're away from your computer. You'll want to learn the difference between Session and Arrangement view (a key feature of Live) and then start to develop a workflow to creating music that suits you best.

I'm not going to lie, even though the possibilities of what you can create and do in Ableton are ENDLESS, it can be daunting and overwhelming and seem like you have TOO MANY options sometimes. It just takes time. A lot of time, a lot of experimentation/practice in the software, and a lot of reading and research into all the different facets of electronic music production (compression, EQ, effects racks, drum racks, etc.) I've had Ableton for about 8 months now and I still consider myself a total noob and will be for quite some time. This subreddit is a good resource; you can also check out r/abletonlive and r/edmproduction, the latter for questions you may have that are less geared towards Ableton and more towards production in general. Have fun and keep at it!


Welcome to the rabbit hole.

>I've never been too wise on midi so I really don't know. it has a USB mini input I know that

A quick look in the manual says that you can address the elecrtibe over midi through the USB cable. You should be able to see it in your DAW as a midi device.

> is Ableton live really that superior to Pro Tools?

This is very subjective. Ableton's strength is the clip based workflow. Generating ideas in Ableton is a breeze. I feel that Ableton is unparalleled in this department. The arrangement view is just as capable as any other DAW, but it is my understanding that pro tools and logic may have the edge here.

> Also, if you have a license for Ableton Live installed on a desktop, could you also install it on a laptop?

Yes. Ableton's default licensing policy is to allow you to install it on 2 devices that you use actively. You aren't supposed to use them simultaneously though.

>How do you send the Ableton audio to Front of House? Just the headphone out jack?

This will probably be fine. You might want to get an adapter like this to be prepared to plug into most mixing boards: https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-CMP-153-Stereo-Breakout-Cable/dp/B000068O3C . You could also get an audio interface with will have quarter inch outputs for the left and right channels.

> how do professionals work from Pro Tools to Ableton Live?

From what I understand, professionals who use pro tools to produce and ableton to perform will mix their songs down to stems that they use in ableton. Maybe this is separate drum, bass, synth, and effects tracks. It really depends on what you want to do in your live performance that will dictate what you will want.

> The Electribe comes with Ableton Live Lite

Live Lite is pretty full featured, if you're just getting started you may not even need to upgrade yet.

I've accidentally stumbled on these a few times but i'm glad to know they have a whole growing section devoted to it.

Also, this book is awesome, Well worth $10 --

http://www.amazon.com/Drum-Machine-Patterns-Leonard-Corp/dp/0881888877/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410552037&sr=8-1&keywords=260+drum+patterns

There are some great resources available on songwriting.

Check out "Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting" by Jimmy Webb
http://www.amazon.com/Tunesmith-Inside-Songwriting-Jimmy-Webb/dp/0786884886/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452090486&sr=8-1&keywords=tunesmith

Or anything by Pat Pattison of Berklee College of Music.

Pattison has a great online course on Songwriting offered by Coursera (coursera.org) that they offered free, but it looks like it's not free now. Keep an eye out, though. It may be free again sometime.

Just to act as devil's advocate here - I would recommend at least balancing this guy's work out with some of the more standard texts on mixing (listed below). I checked out this video a while back and was a little weirded out by his approach, which often steps into pseudoscientific territory. If you go to the author's company website, you'll see some dubious claims and suggestions about mixing techniques:

-"There are archetypal frequencies that have been used since the beginning of time to affect us."

-"As shown by the research of Alfred Tomatis, every frequency is a nutrient."

-"Tuning A to 432 hertz vs. 440 has been proven to resonate better with the resonant frequency of our cells - Tuning concert pitch to more auspicious frequencies makes the music go deeper."

-"High Frequencies activate the mind; Low Frequencies calm the body."

-"When you relate to frequencies based on ancient Chakra energies, the way you "feel" the balance of frequencies in a mix in a whole different way that goes through your whole body instead of just your mind. "

I'm sure the guy's mixes sound great - and he seems to have been a successful mixing engineer - but I personally wanted nothing to do with this guy. There are other "holistic" approaches to mixing (like Mike Stavrou's Mixing with your Mind) that work without having as much of a "snake oil" flavor to them. But as always, if this guy's approach works for you and you can look past his quirks, then I suppose it's a good resource.


Other resources: Mike Senior's Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio, Roey Izhaki's Mixing Audio, Bobby Owsinski's The Mixing Engineer's Handbook

Get a copy of the AB Guide to Music Theory
It is a really good introduction and while it is geared towards more traditional forms of music having a really solid knowledge of the fundamentals will see you well in any genre you are interested in.

I invested in this guy for my very first piece of equipment. You got keys, pads, and knobs. You can even configure it to shrotcut some keys in Live.

If that ain't your style, maybe look into a launchpad. I love mine. Enjoy man!

Also posted this on r/edmproduction

$289 and free shipping

4.8 stars with 60ish reviews on Amazon for $499

Just thought I'd share after buying one myself :)

How about one of the newer versions of the desktop Acer Aspire? It has:

• i5-9400 (6 cores, 6 threads; 2.9 GHz, up to 4.1GHz)
  
• 12gb DDR4 RAM
  
• 512gb SSD
  
  Would it be better than the laptop if I want something more powerful down the road?
  
  Link: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-TC-885-UA92-Desktop-i5-9400-802-11ac/dp/B07R8WJMW6/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=acer+aspire&qid=1566831402&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNjJLNjBNOVFaMVEwJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzQ2OTY5M0o5UUtUTFZHRDFRSiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTk2NzczMVU1NjRISk5LOEJSUCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX3NlYXJjaF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

Also, these are great.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Recording-Engineers-Handbook-Second/dp/159863867X

and

​

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mixing-Engineers-Handbook-Bobby-Owsinski/dp/1598632515/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_2/261-3776436-3604719?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1598632515&pd_rd_r=7e9bcf1c-538a-43fc-ad66-9465d23bb515&pd_rd_w=oThLj&pd_rd_wg=We2mC&pf_rd_p=e44592b5-e56d-44c2-a4f9-dbdc09b29395&pf_rd_r=QJKJYAKNV6DM92M141MF&psc=1&refRID=QJKJYAKNV6DM92M141MF

oh yeah it seems it can: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Max-Live-Ultimate-Zen-Guide/dp/2954690976

:)

I like the behringer fcb1010, https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-FCB1010-BEHRINGER/dp/B000CZ0RK6 . Programming can be a bit of step dance, but once you get it how you like it there are tons of possibilities and the workflow is fast.

The principles of synthesis are universal. Get a book...
The Synthesizer: A Comprehensive Guide To Understanding, Programming, Playing, And Recording The Ultimate Electronic Music Instrument https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0195394895/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SALOBb9H3H6C4
I learnt on a Roland SH101. Hardware synthesisers are the most direct way to learn how to program sounds IMHO. If you haven’t got one, get a book and learn on software.

You're basically asking about the fundamentals of FM (Frequency Modulation) synthesis (Operator is a FM synth, in case you didn't know). It's a very (like a book's worth deep) deep subject, but there are some decent enough tutorials to get you started – like this one.

I personally think it's the hardest method of "regular" synthesis methods to wrap your head around - it's not that grasping the basic idea is hard, but actually getting to the level where you can get to a sound you have in your head from scratch is much trickier than with traditional substractive stuff, simply because of its basic nature - everything affects everything else, more or less.

Get a 1/4” to aux adapter and use the headphone output of the scarlet. It will be stereo

https://www.amazon.com/Showcase-4-Inch-Stereo-Adaptor-30S1-14200/dp/B000I94FLS

Didnt realize this was a rule, my bad!

Equipment I use:
-----------------------------
Software:
---------------
Ableton Live 9 - https://www.ableton.com/en/
OBS(Capturing webcam and computer screen) - https://obsproject.com/
SoundToys - http://www.soundtoys.com/
Serum - https://www.xferrecords.com/products/serum
Rob Papen - https://www.robpapen.com/
Adobe Creative Suite(Which I got for free :) - http://www.adobe.com/
ProTools(Sometimes)- http://www.avid.com/pro-tools
Thing that makes my screen look cool: https://justgetflux.com/

Hardware:
----------------
Audio Interface: https://www.amazon.com/BEHRINGER-UMC-404HD-Audiophile-Preamplifiers/dp/B00TTX73YA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1529749195&sr=8-2&keywords=behringer+interface

Midi Keyboard - https://www.amazon.com/Novation-Launchkey-Keyboard-Controller-Ableton/dp/B00VVK2A3I/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1509296474&sr=8-7&keywords=akai+keyboard

Microphone-(Unfortunatly the cool one broke, I sent phantom power to it at the wrong time:( - https://www.amazon.com/MXL-990-991-Recording-Microphone/dp/B0002GJI3C/ref=sr_1_26?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1509296556&sr=1-26&keywords=mxl+condenser

Speaker Monitors -(They must not sell my version anymore, but here is the companies website) - http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/range_intros/Speakers_and_Monitors.shtml

This is probably the best argument I've ever read describing what racism is really about. It is inflammatory at first, but you have to read on through to understand Goad's purpose. Cannot recommend it enough.