Learning Curves

[86.]

many of you seem to have gone from one program to another. How difficult was it for you to learn the current programs you work with.

I'm asking because I notice people saying that learning Ableton was rather difficult...I personally found it the opposite, though I learn new shit everyday.

So...what did you come from, what do you use now...and how difficult was it to learn?

[toki]

I came from FL Studio, dabbled in Reason, Cubase, Live and went straight back to FL.

Cubase just baffled me (but this was a while ago when I knew nothing), and it ran like crap on my PC so I gave it up. Reason was simple enough to use, but again it ran a tad too slow on my machine. And Live, well... I haven't really tried.

Truth is I'm comfortable with FL, and since I still class myself as a super-novice, it'll do for the time being while I continue to learn.

[hurlingdervish]

that really depends on how much you learned on production in general

if you know synthesis by the back of your hand then its going to be about finding that same workflow speed back again

if you just pulled loops from here, synth presets from there, your basically fucked

a step sequencer is a step sequencer

a piano roll is a piano roll

a saw wave is a saw wave

[FSTZ1]

hardware sequencers & ADATS to computers (Reason / Acid Pro) in 2000 = easy

Acid Pro to Cubase in 2003 = difficult

Didn't understand the VSTi routing very well until one day... it all kicked in and I got over the curve and then the real exploration into sound began

I was at a friends house and I was watching him arrange his tune in FL Studio and I didn't get it at all haha

then he opened sonar and I could easily work with that

also tried to mess with renoise and was absolutely clueless

[86.]

oh ACID....loved it but definitely don't miss it.

ACID to Ableton was extremely easy (let's be honest here, Acid aint rocket science...but if you go deep into it obviously it's capable of a lot). I don't think the workflow was much different.

And in the past month I've actually decided to learn shortcuts (never did this in three years)...god damn it's brilliant. It helps to keep Ableton on full screen so even if I naturally try to mouse around and click shit...I'm quickly reminded that it aint gonna happen.

[hurlingdervish]

And in the past month I've actually decided to learn shortcuts (never did this in three years)...god damn it's brilliant. It helps to keep Ableton on full screen so even if I naturally try to mouse around and click shit...I'm quickly reminded that it aint gonna happen.

there are LOADS of great ableton tutorials out there, both on their website and youtube

also Tom Cosm does alot for free
cosm.co.nz or something like that

the keyboard shortcuts are great, ctrl+D will save your live

be sure to learn the interface ones so you can open the mixer, I/O settings and collapes them with out a mouse
also tab to switch from arrange to session

[wayoftheworld]

been a fl user on and off the past 3-4 years, and only started making tunes and getting my head around production within the last year. but for the past week i've been digging deep into ableton and im really suprised at how fast it was to understand and pick up in only a day or so. and i know the extent to which im using ableton is barely tapping the the iceberg, but i already feel very comfortable with it and i dunno...it just seems to perfectly compliment the way i work.

but with that said, i think with a program like live it'll be a lot easier to pick up if you have a prior understanding of how a more conventional daw works...tho it's probly not necessary.

[86.]

And in the past month I've actually decided to learn shortcuts (never did this in three years)...god damn it's brilliant. It helps to keep Ableton on full screen so even if I naturally try to mouse around and click shit...I'm quickly reminded that it aint gonna happen.

there are LOADS of great ableton tutorials out there, both on their website and youtube

also Tom Cosm does alot for free
cosm.co.nz or something like that

the keyboard shortcuts are great, ctrl+D will save your live

be sure to learn the interface ones so you can open the mixer, I/O settings and collapes them with out a mouse
also tab to switch from arrange to session

the I/O and Mixer I just learned last night Ctrl + M, and Ctrl + I

I started watching this tutorial.....it's broken down into like 9 chapters with like 5 parts each or something.

next mission is to get ahold of session view. this weekend is dedicated to all that (as well as learning tatapoum)

edit: resampling too - never bothered when I first started using it....but now...daaaaamn...great

[hurlingdervish]

edit: resampling too - never bothered when I first started using it....but now...daaaaamn...great

try having a minimized track next to your midi tracks as an audio version of it

route each one to their audio track on the in of the new audio track...

and you have a live resampling station

throw loads of effects on the drum track, resample pitch it up and layer it back over the original....almost instant aphex twin ahah

very fun when you are playing "dj sets". make a glitchy loop out of the song, layer it over the song, fade out the song let the loop play for a bit with some kick drum or whatever then bring in the next

[wayoftheworld]

And in the past month I've actually decided to learn shortcuts (never did this in three years)...god damn it's brilliant. It helps to keep Ableton on full screen so even if I naturally try to mouse around and click shit...I'm quickly reminded that it aint gonna happen.

there are LOADS of great ableton tutorials out there, both on their website and youtube

also Tom Cosm does alot for free
cosm.co.nz or something like that

the keyboard shortcuts are great, ctrl+D will save your live

be sure to learn the interface ones so you can open the mixer, I/O settings and collapes them with out a mouse
also tab to switch from arrange to session

the I/O and Mixer I just learned last night Ctrl + M, and Ctrl + I

I started watching this tutorial.....it's broken down into like 9 chapters with like 5 parts each or something.

next mission is to get ahold of session view. this weekend is dedicated to all that (as well as learning tatapoum)

ive seen some advice on here from other ableton users to work primarily in the arrangement view, but i think for anyone new to live it's extremely important to spend time getting comfortable with the session view, because it's really what makes ableton so unique and different from all the other daws.

coming from fl studio it was MINDBLOWING at first when the session view started to click for me, having that much flexibility and being able to improvise with clips in really unique and fun ways, and then the ease of being able to record it all into the arrangement view.

such a cool fucking program. and infinitely more fun than composing on fl studio, but to each their own i guess!

[r]

that really depends on how much you learned on production in general

if you know synthesis by the back of your hand then its going to be about finding that same workflow speed back again

if you just pulled loops from here, synth presets from there, your basically fucked

a step sequencer is a step sequencer

a piano roll is a piano roll

a saw wave is a saw wave

a template is a template

I already get scared by the view of some daws.

[darkmatteruk]

started with reason 4 years ago, still using reason.

got a couple of nice software bundles with my soundcard and keyboard, one of which was ableton 5 LE, which i got into straight off but found too restrictive (no rewire mainly)

so got live 7 but dont use it as often as i should

[nitz]

I started on reason and till this day am still using reason its been about 3 years or more now when I 1st started on reason.

I got a copy of it and this was my first DAW, most people get FL studio 1st because it is quite easy when your starting to make music, but then some people move onto a different programs, however some peeps stick to FL though.

However i did none of this, i just got a piece for reason and started, it will really fuking hard in the beginning, i didn’t no what was what and hated going on reason, just found it sooo hard, nevertheless after a little while i got the basics of the program but still hated reason because i don’t really know anything about chords, notes, melodys and stuff. So i use to force my self to go on it, but after i got the hang of stuff i could make a beat and melody. It was shit of course, but from there i stared to learn more and more about reason and producing in general, and took it abit more seriously.

From there i stared learning reason in a lot of depth and never really wanted to move into another DAW, to would have been just too much of a hassle. Once i could make some beats that sounded ok but still abit shit i moved onto using effects and shit, btw while all this was happening i use to do research like no man lands into producing, maybe abit too much I use to rather learn about producing rather then revising for my exams. Afterwards i started mess about with the dynamic tools, i had no idea wtf they did lol. Some made stuff load (the maximizer) soon as i moved then 1st knob (input knob) and other stuff was useless to me (compressor) it had too many buttons for my brains lol. Then i took it into another level starting really learning how to use this tools and after years off very very hard work, long days and though all the excitement i learn most of the things you need and know and know reason very well now, and as far as mixing and mastering goes you can never stop learning and that’s a FACT! but now i can producer quite good tunes in reason and mix and master them in reason to and am quite proud of this, because my aim was to be able to mix and master a song within reason sounding quite good so if i opened up a new tune that i might have just got, and if i play my tune after that that tune my song should have similarly quality's eg punch loudness etc etc. I didn’t to learn how to produce so i could be the next best thing and get money, i do it for the passion of music because in general I been studying music of many many numbers of years now and I LOVE IT!

[86.]

I started on reason and till this day am still using reason its been about 3 years or more now when I 1st started on reason.

I got a copy of it and this was my first DAW, most people get FL studio 1st because it is quite easy when your starting to make music, but then some people move onto a different programs, however some peeps stick to FL though.

However i did none of this, i just got a piece for reason and started, it will really fuking hard in the beginning, i didn’t no what was what and hated going on reason, just found it sooo hard, nevertheless after a little while i got the basics of the program but still hated reason because i don’t really know anything about chords, notes, melodys and stuff. So i use to force my self to go on it, but after i got the hang of stuff i could make a beat and melody. It was shit of course, but from there i stared to learn more and more about reason and producing in general, and took it abit more seriously.

From there i stared learning reason in a lot of depth and never really wanted to move into another DAW, to would have been just too much of a hassle. Once i could make some beats that sounded ok but still abit shit i moved onto using effects and shit, btw while all this was happening i use to do research like no man lands into producing, maybe abit too much I use to rather learn about producing rather then revising for my exams. Afterwards i started mess about with the dynamic tools, i had no idea wtf they did lol. Some made stuff load (the maximizer) soon as i moved then 1st knob (input knob) and other stuff was useless to me (compressor) it had too many buttons for my brains lol. Then i took it into another level starting really learning how to use this tools and after years off very very hard work, long days and though all the excitement i learn most of the things you need and know and know reason very well now, and as far as mixing and mastering goes you can never stop learning and that’s a FACT! but now i can producer quite good tunes in reason and mix and master them in reason to and am quite proud of this, because my aim was to be able to mix and master a song within reason sounding quite good so if i opened up a new tune that i might have just got, and if i play my tune after that that tune my song should have similarly quality's eg punch loudness etc etc. I didn’t to learn how to produce so i could be the next best thing and get money, i do it for the passion of music because in general I been studying music of many many numbers of years now and I LOVE IT!

I hear ya. Reason is a program I have absolutely no knowledge about. people seem to love it a lot.

[nitz]

I started on reason and till this day am still using reason its been about 3 years or more now when I 1st started on reason.

I got a copy of it and this was my first DAW, most people get FL studio 1st because it is quite easy when your starting to make music, but then some people move onto a different programs, however some peeps stick to FL though.

However i did none of this, i just got a piece for reason and started, it will really fuking hard in the beginning, i didn’t no what was what and hated going on reason, just found it sooo hard, nevertheless after a little while i got the basics of the program but still hated reason because i don’t really know anything about chords, notes, melodys and stuff. So i use to force my self to go on it, but after i got the hang of stuff i could make a beat and melody. It was shit of course, but from there i stared to learn more and more about reason and producing in general, and took it abit more seriously.

From there i stared learning reason in a lot of depth and never really wanted to move into another DAW, to would have been just too much of a hassle. Once i could make some beats that sounded ok but still abit shit i moved onto using effects and shit, btw while all this was happening i use to do research like no man lands into producing, maybe abit too much I use to rather learn about producing rather then revising for my exams. Afterwards i started mess about with the dynamic tools, i had no idea wtf they did lol. Some made stuff load (the maximizer) soon as i moved then 1st knob (input knob) and other stuff was useless to me (compressor) it had too many buttons for my brains lol. Then i took it into another level starting really learning how to use this tools and after years off very very hard work, long days and though all the excitement i learn most of the things you need and know and know reason very well now, and as far as mixing and mastering goes you can never stop learning and that’s a FACT! but now i can producer quite good tunes in reason and mix and master them in reason to and am quite proud of this, because my aim was to be able to mix and master a song within reason sounding quite good so if i opened up a new tune that i might have just got, and if i play my tune after that that tune my song should have similarly quality's eg punch loudness etc etc. I didn’t to learn how to produce so i could be the next best thing and get money, i do it for the passion of music because in general I been studying music of many many numbers of years now and I LOVE IT!

I hear ya. Reason is a program I have absolutely no knowledge about. people seem to love it a lot.

yh man its just wonderfully man its a gods blessing to us , YES its harder to do certain things on reason compared to other daws however if there a will theres a way never give up trying trust me taking from experience man YOU WILL PICK IT UP IN TIME!

[mr.dub]

I went from Reason to FL Studio (VST support was a major reason for this), and then on to Logic Studio when I switched to Mac. I appreciate Logic for its complexity and possibilities, but at the same time I do miss the simplicity of FL Studio. It is perfect for creating quick n' dirty beats, which you then can use as a base for more serious productions...