Ableton Live 9.5 – Looptasic
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Music Nation TV. This post will deviate from our typical reviews, offering more of a first impressions overview than an in-depth analysis. While I’ve heard about Ableton Live in passing, I’ve never had the opportunity to use the software. Therefore, I hope this might be of interest to those, like myself, who are aiming to broaden their studio toolkit and explore new horizons in 2016. Ableton generously provided us with a copy of their complete ‘Suite’ version to explore, so let’s dive in and discover what all the excitement is about.
Ableton Live 9.5 stands out as a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) distinct from the typical software packages you might be accustomed to. Its primary emphasis lies in song arrangement through the use of clips containing either audio or MIDI data. This DAW excels in swiftly crafting intricate loops and integrates seamlessly with the optional Push hardware controller. Notably, there are many similarities with Native Instruments Maschine, although Ableton Live functions as a fully independent DAW and performs exceptionally well even without the optional hardware.
Another resemblance can be found with Propellerhead Reason. You can purchase the core program and then enhance it with downloadable ‘packs’ from the online store to tailor it to your specific workflow requirements. However, unlike Reason, Ableton is fully compatible with VST plugins, granting you complete access to your existing collection of instruments and VST effects.
Getting Set
The installation process for Ableton Live is remarkably straightforward and surprisingly quick. When you purchase the software online, your account will display the core download along with the add-on packs corresponding to the version you bought. (There are three specification levels available: Intro, Standard, and Suite, all sharing the same core DAW platform but featuring varying levels of add-ons and track counts.)
You can conveniently add or remove packs as needed to avoid unnecessary bloatware and trial demos. I encountered a minor issue with my Firefox browser initially, which prevented authorization. However, switching to Chrome resolved the problem, granting me quick access.
As someone entirely new to Ableton, I found the included tutorials, accompanied by sample projects, easy to follow and well-paced. While I might have eventually figured things out through trial and error, the simple guides presented upon the initial launch proved extremely helpful.
A nifty feature in the bottom left corner provides mouse-over tips for anything you hover over, adding a nice touch. Ableton excels at introducing the basics to newcomers. It didn’t take me long to grasp the fundamentals and quickly create a basic beat. Like anything else, mastering the UI takes time and practice, but everything is logically structured and relatively user-friendly once you’ve had some hands-on experience.
Navigating the Interface
First impressions the interface appears very clean, almost with a cartoonish quality initially, but I believe it will grow on me. The GUI boasts a high-contrast style, ensuring that all controls stand out and should be easy to use whether on stage or in a dimly lit studio.
Immediately, it’s evident to me that Ableton is designed primarily as an arrangement tool rather than a multitrack editor, such as ProTools, for instance. There’s a strong focus on plugins and instrument controls—clicking on any data block reveals a wealth of information at the bottom of the screen.
It feels a bit unusual to me since all track information (including inserted synths and FX) is located on the right-hand side of the screen, with a browser explorer on the left. However, as a right-handed user, this arrangement feels quite natural. It’s also effortless to collapse all the side screens and concentrate solely on the arrangement.
Handling third-party VSTs and instruments is excellent, and for the most part, plugins seamlessly integrate into the GUI. It’s slightly inconvenient that you can’t define more than one location for your VSTs on your hard drive in the preferences, as I prefer to keep my plugins separate from instruments and other sample libraries on my drive.
The GUI is generally intuitive and logical, although a few minor improvements could be made. For example, the record button is situated right next to the stop button on the transport, and they both look quite similar; coloring one of them red would help distinguish them.
The browser is an excellent tool, allowing you to easily drag and drop items onto the arrangement lane. Want to load a plugin? Just drag it onto the track—simple. No need for assigning inputs or opening plugin windows, etc. And you can do it on the fly, so assuming your PC can handle it, you can drag and drop while performing.
You have searchable categories at your disposal, enabling you to search for instrument types, effects, clips, and more. You also get a quick preview of your choice before committing to load. Each loaded plugin or instrument includes a cool hot-swap feature, allowing you to load new plugins in place without losing your settings.
Even when working with relatively complex projects, the PC never felt sluggish. The interface is a pleasure to work with, particularly on larger projects, as it keeps you from feeling lost or overwhelmed.
Road Test
Ableton Live operates by utilizing building blocks to construct your songs. It offers two primary screens for your work—the “arrange” screen, similar to most other DAWs, where you see your complete song spread out across separate tracks. Here, you apply your effects and make adjustments to the arrangement, much like in any other DAW.
Then there’s the “session view” screen, which is Ableton’s unique feature. In this mode, you can load or create blocks of music and run them in a quasi-jam mode, somewhat akin to experimenting with a collection of ideas. Everything is automatically synchronized in time; all you need to do is start and stop clips and add FXs. This mode is ideal for live DJs and EDM performances.
What’s particularly refreshing about these two view modes is that when you have a substantial project underway in arrangement view, it’s easy to switch to session mode and spontaneously introduce experimental sounds on the fly to see how they fit. You can play around a bit, and if you like the results, incorporate them. If not, you can effortlessly return to the full arrangement view. It takes a bit of time to grasp this process, but it’s ingenious and encourages creative experimentation beyond what a regular DAW typically offers.
In general, the entire platform is rock-solid. We haven’t encountered any unusual issues thus far, even when loading a complete collection of third-party VST plugins; everything worked harmoniously.
Plugins
Most of the included FX plugins are serviceable, serving their purpose without being exceptionally exciting. The stock reverb stands out, offering superb quality for a non-convolution reverb, matching the quality of better units in our studio.
I love the gritty character of the Grain Delay and Vinyl Distortion effects. The auto filter is also excellent for creating fat, analogue-style movement in your tracks. While there are better third-party effects available, there’s ample room here for creativity, considering it’s a stock collection with some very creative tools.
The included add-on packs are somewhat hit-or-miss for me. They’re generally decent, but nothing that will completely dazzle you. If you lack other good VST instruments in your collection, the full Ableton Live 9 suite would be a great starting point. However, if you already own high-end piano, string, or drum instruments, there’s nothing mind-blowing here.
What’s clever, though, is that you can mix and match elements from each of the packs as you please. For example, you can drop a bass sample from one pack into the stock drum machine and play it like a drum pad.
We compared the Roland synth samples to the actual hardware keyboard we have in the Music Nation studio, and they’re quite good. While there are always differences between digital and analogue, they generally sounded equally “analogue” and fat as the real deal, reflecting careful recording and attention to detail rather than mere padding.
The audio-to-MIDI feature is intriguing. You can right-click on an audio sample and have Ableton attempt to convert it to MIDI notes. We found this feature to be somewhat inaccurate, unless the audio samples are very simple monotone tracks. However, the occasionally peculiar results led me down new creative paths with my arrangements, making the audio-to-MIDI tool an interesting creative “randomizer.”
Overall, Ableton offers a substantial selection of instruments and effects, more than enough to accomplish virtually any task. Ableton 9.5 Suite provides a solid foundation of practical tools and a straightforward canvas workspace.
Ableton offers a hardware controller called Push, resembling an MPC/Maschine-style interface that enables you to construct songs on the fly without needing to rely heavily on a mouse. We haven’t had the opportunity to test the controller yet, as it’s not available in New Zealand at the moment.
However, we did have a brief hands-on experience with it at a recent Ableton Live launch event hosted by The Rockshop. It’s highly intuitive and minimizes the need for extensive mouse-clicking on your computer. While the $1800 NZD price tag for the bundle is substantial, it feels well-constructed and appears to work exceptionally well. We hope to provide more details on this soon.
Regarding Ableton Live’s CPU performance, it exhibited some quirks. Just having a relatively basic 12-track arrangement in idle consumed around 30% of our CPU resources. During playback, it only increased by an additional 10-15%, so overall, it wasn’t too taxing. We did encounter one instance where it crashed and refused to restart until we cold-booted the PC. This happened while hot-swapping a VST effect, so it’s difficult to entirely blame Ableton for the error. However, Ableton did impressively restore the project from a backup once we managed to restart it, which deserves commendation.
Conclusions
Ableton Live is wonderfully simple yet remarkably versatile. The interface and toolsets strike a perfect balance, enabling intuitive live performances and creative songwriting. What might initially appear overwhelming soon becomes second nature, providing a feeling of working with a digital sketchpad rather than a software program. The DAW excels at stepping aside and letting you experiment freely.
Undoubtedly, Ableton primarily caters to electronic music, but it can be used for creating music in any genre. Ableton adheres to a structured approach, organizing everything into precise, time-aligned sequences. Musicians seeking a more flexible, less confined workflow might not find this workspace suitable.
In general, transitioning to Ableton was relatively painless for me, even coming from a background of long-term use of Reaper. Everything just seems to make sense, and assistance is readily available for anything that left me puzzled. My experience over the past week has been rewarding, and I see a lot of potential here. Unfortunately, the price of the full Suite version is relatively steep. However, if you already possess a decent collection of VSTs, you might not need to go all-in. All versions of Ableton share the same core operating DAW but offer different levels of effects and track counts.
If drag-and-drop functionality, sample-based loops, and MIDI sequencing align with your interests, Ableton Live 9.5 is an ideal production tool for you. For those new to digital audio, Ableton is a solid choice for starting out, and I can understand why it’s so popular among remix producers and electronic musicians.
I recommend trying the 30-day trial; give it some time, and let us know what you think.
Test Machine Specs
Core i7 920 12gig RAM. The library is installed on a secondary 7200 drive.
Windows8, 64bit.
Tascam DM4800 interface (ASIO drivers).
Yamaha MOTIF and Akai MPD218 controllers.
Alesis M1 Active Mk2
Aventone Mixcubes
Shure SRH940 monitors
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