Anyone familiar with Ableton Live?

[Tenacious E]

This is something my son wanted for Christmas. We gave him money, but seeing if this something even worthwhile for an 18-year old with no musical talent. Looks pretty cool if you are into music, and have instruments or special equipment to hook into it. He doesn't play any instruments but I think he is interested in sampling songs and "making" his own stuff to listen to. Looking at the website https://www.ableton.com/en/live/ it looks like this is sophisticated software meant for serious musicians, and it would be over his head. Anyone have experience with it? Do you have access to a library of sounds and music to play with, or do you need to record your own stuff, or need special equipment? TIA.

editing to tag @stout1 as he is the only person here I can recall who is a professional in music.

 

[Whatsgoingonwitgyouguys0190]

Man, it might be a great software but if you don’t have knack for music it would probably quickly become a frustrating thing or something you would shelve and forget about.

If he’s a student and it were me, I’d encourage getting the intro student version for $59. maybe just even agree to pay for it on top of the money you already gave him. If it becomes something he really gets into and feels the need to go up to the suite version then it would be worth it.

 

[Tenacious E]

Man, it might be a great software but if you don’t have knack for music it would probably quickly become a frustrating thing or something you would shelve and forget about.

If he’s a student and it were me, I’d encourage getting the intro student version for $59. maybe just even agree to pay for it on top of the money you already gave him. If it becomes something he really gets into and feels the need to go up to the suite version than it would be worth it.

To your point, it looks like there is a 90-day free trial. But do you know if a laptop would even be enough equipment to make use of it? Or do you need more specialized stuff? These pics from their website, while impressive looking, are intimidating in terms of what it would cost for the hardware...

 

[Whatsgoingonwitgyouguys0190]

To your point, it looks like there is a 90-day free trial. But do you know if a laptop even be enough equipment to make use if it? Or do you need more specialized stuff? These pics from their website, while impressive looking, are intimidating in terms of what it would cost for the hardware...

A laptop should be fine from what I see on the website but it looks like the people who are fully utilizing the software will have plenty of audio hardware or will invest in a bit of hardware.

could be the start of a great hobby. I’d definitely encourage the trial. I remember being that age and wanting to jump into the deep end of everything without looking though.

 

[Tenacious E]

A laptop should be fine from what I see on the website but it looks like the people who are fully utilizing the software will have plenty of audio hardware or will invest in a bit of hardware.

could be the start of a great hobby. I’d definitely encourage the trial. I remember being that age and wanting to jump into the deep end of everything without looking though.

Great insight!

 

[JMNSHO]

He will probably need an audio interface to record any usable sounds. This piece of equipment takes the audio signal from a microphone cable or guitar/instrument cable, converts it to a digital signal to be sent to the computer—the newer ones utilize USB C or thunderbolt connections.

I recently got a presonus quantum 2626 interface which has 8 instrument/xlr/line inputs, each with its own preamp. So with this interface I can simultaneously record 8 separate guitars/mics/etc. it cost $699. Another affordable brand of audio interface is Focusrite.

This is all if he wants to record sounds. I’m not too familiar with other means of acquiring samples/audio for production so if he has something completely different in mind this might not be for him.

I can tell you that a person can make some pretty complete works with the library of samples and content in GarageBand without touching an instrument. You can record with that as well.

 

[Tenacious E]

He will probably need an audio interface to record any usable sounds. This piece of equipment takes the audio signal from a microphone cable or guitar/instrument cable, converts it to a digital signal to be sent to the computer—the newer ones utilize USB C or thunderbolt connections.

I recently got a presonus quantum 2626 interface which has 8 instrument/xlr/line inputs, each with its own preamp. So with this interface I can simultaneously record 8 separate guitars/mics/etc. it cost $699. Another affordable brand of audio interface is Focusrite.

This is all if he wants to record sounds. I’m not too familiar with other means of acquiring samples/audio for production so if he has something completely different in mind this might not be for him.

I can tell you that a person can make some pretty complete works with the library of samples and content in GarageBand without touching an instrument. You can record with that as well.

Awesome info thanks!

 

[DooBi]

Don't know how big of a hurry you're in but I'll ask my son what he uses. He makes some pretty high quality songs and I don't think we paid that much for it. He's at work right now so it might not be until tomorrow. His computer screen looks extremely similar to the op software so I'd bet it functions similarly.

 

[Tenacious E]

Don't know how big of a hurry you're in but I'll ask my son what he uses. He makes some pretty high quality songs and I don't think we paid that much for it. He's at work right now so it might not be until tomorrow. His computer screen looks extremely similar to the op software so I'd bet it functions similarly.

I would very much appreciate it thank you

 

[DooBi]

I would very much appreciate it thank you

I texted him. He uses FL Studio. I guess it is similarly priced. I didn't realize we paid that much. His mom (no pics) and her mother (you don't want the pics) spoil that kid way too much. Lol

He likes it and I think it's pretty simple for him. He's a lot smarter with computers than I am. Probably every 16 year old is.

 

[Colonoscopy]

He will probably need an audio interface to record any usable sounds. This piece of equipment takes the audio signal from a microphone cable or guitar/instrument cable, converts it to a digital signal to be sent to the computer—the newer ones utilize USB C or thunderbolt connections.

I recently got a presonus quantum 2626 interface which has 8 instrument/xlr/line inputs, each with its own preamp. So with this interface I can simultaneously record 8 separate guitars/mics/etc. it cost $699. Another affordable brand of audio interface is Focusrite.

This is all if he wants to record sounds. I’m not too familiar with other means of acquiring samples/audio for production so if he has something completely different in mind this might not be for him.

I can tell you that a person can make some pretty complete works with the library of samples and content in GarageBand without touching an instrument. You can record with that as well.

I think Grimes had her big breakthrough album with GarageBand and a keyboard and an audio recorder. Ableton is a nice step up from Garageband from what I've read. People absolutely create popular music that's not much more than digital noises. If you're creative cool stuff can happen, so he should definitely give it a shot.

You don't have to be able to play an instrument, just have a knack for what sounds good.