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Get started making music

learningmusic.ableton.com

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Re: Get started making music

#91

Post by iainctduncan »

ushakov wrote: post #87
iainctduncan wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correction, Max for Live costs $200 extra. Ableton Suite costs more, as does owning both standalone Max and Max for Live, but you do not need the $400 Max to script Live with Max, you just need Max for Live. And given how much it brings to the table and how many community and built in devices you get for that, I would argue it's very reasonable compared to other pro audio software. (Mind you, not incredible like Reap…

yeah i agree with that, but i think Ableton prices are still bit ridiculous given they make a new version every year or so

They are high, I don't argue that. I don't think they are ridiculous, given the quality of the product and size of the market (it's not word processing...), the fact that they are independent, and they way they run their company (which, from what I've heard, is a very nice place to work). It is extremely stable with very very few bugs, and running an independent software company that way requires high margins. (I'm a software mergers and acquisitions consultant, so I get to talk to buyers about this all the time.) Personally, I'm happy to pay a premium to support the way the company is run, I don't think for a second they would be as hacker friendly if they got bought by one of the big PE fund owned media conglomerates.

But you're not wrong, they are pricy. If people are on a tight budget (and I spent many years being that musician 20 years ago) I would tell them to buy Reaper and either standalone Max ($8/mnth, cheaper for students) or use Pure Data (open source).

Re: Get started making music

#92

Post by iainctduncan »

analog31 wrote: post #89
yobbo wrote: post #85

To anyone who thinks "it is easy", try this experiment: recreate a popular song (+100M views on YT for example) in some DAW. (the songs are produced in similar DAWs.) You won't be able to recreate the vocals, but you should be able to recreate the backing track almost identically. Put the original in right ear, your version in the left ear, and iterate until switching between versions sounds identical. Over 100s of h…

There's a long interview with Rick Beato and Pat Metheny. My opinion is that among "younger" jazz musicians, Metheny has a rare gift for writing catchy melodies. He can write melodies that sound like folk songs, or like the most advanced deep jazz tunes, or both at the same time, pretty much on demand. He said nobody teaches how to do this. You can study composition and arrangement, but they won't teach you how to cr…

Look, I'm a jazz player and do music pedagogy stuff. It's kind of silly to listen to Metheny about how to learn things, the dude was a complete prodigy (not an attack on your comment, just an aside). He was teaching at the most prestigious music school after attending for a year or some crazy thing. Music has a very small elite of people who's brains wired very differently and basically have super powers compared to the rest of us, and most of them have no idea how to explain how they learn/teach in ways that are useful to regular brains. I've met some of them, and they might as well be a different species. (Synthesesia is often part of it, I did a master class with a pianist who was basically tripping the whole time he played, listening to him describe his experience was so completely un-relatable to normal people.)

Some of those folks are also great teachers, but a lot of them just say the most completely useless advice because they can't even remember not being able to instantly play whatever they hear.

Re: Get started making music

#93

Post by ushakov »

iainctduncan wrote: post #91
ushakov wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah i agree with that, but i think Ableton prices are still bit ridiculous given they make a new version every year or so

They are high, I don't argue that. I don't think they are ridiculous , given the quality of the product and size of the market (it's not word processing...), the fact that they are independent, and they way they run their company (which, from what I've heard, is a very nice place to work). It is extremely stable with very very few bugs, and running an independent software company that way requires high margins. (I'm…

One thing to consider though is that Ableton is a Software product, so it can’t be resold unlike an actual device

Re: Get started making music

#94

Post by uxcolumbo »

nickpeterson wrote: post #90

I wish there was something like the teenage engineering op-1 but aimed at children (100-200 dollar range). I really feel like my kids would love this stuff but I know nothing about them. I though maybe iPad apps but they lack the physical knob and button feedback that something like an op-1 has.

Get a midi controller for the iPad.

On iOS this is an affordable app - Korg Gadget[0] and you can get a controller[1] for it.

[0] https://www.korg.com/us/products/software/korg_gadget/

[1] https://www.korg.com/us/products/computergear/nanokey_studio...

Re: Get started making music

#95

Post by [deleted] »

iainctduncan wrote: post #91
ushakov wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah i agree with that, but i think Ableton prices are still bit ridiculous given they make a new version every year or so

They are high, I don't argue that. I don't think they are ridiculous , given the quality of the product and size of the market (it's not word processing...), the fact that they are independent, and they way they run their company (which, from what I've heard, is a very nice place to work). It is extremely stable with very very few bugs, and running an independent software company that way requires high margins. (I'm…

[deleted]

Re: Get started making music

#96

Post by chiefalchemist »

kziller wrote: post #64
chiefalchemist wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I installed FL Studio and tried my hand on making some beats ( https://youtube.com/channel/UClKt2vzomuegCDA45SU6FbA/videos ). Before I spent too much time on it I released From 1990 to 2007, I owned a (vinyl) record store (B&M then ecomm) that catered to DJs. I got to listen to quite a bit of "dance music". The early, mid, and even late 90s was jammed packed with creativity and innovative sounds. Eventually things…

I hope you know this already, but just because making dance music became more accessible and it took more time to find the stuff you liked does not mean that it stopped existing. All of the 90s sounds that you've loved have evolved, been rediscovered, died out, evolved again. New genres have been made and then fallen out of fashion. By volume, there is probably more amazing dance music being made now than ever before…

No. I didn't know that. Thanks. (WTF? Smh). After 17 yrs of selling music - to say nothing of the loads I consumed prior and since - the evolution never crossed my mind.

But to take your insight to the next logic step...where is all this innovation and creativity? If the means raised raised the tide, where is the result? The trend, again following your observation, should be a continuous spiral up? Now should be The Pinacle of the craft. The most golden of all golden ages. It should be the late 80s to mid 90s endless stream of "WTF was that?" on steroids.

I still know DJs and working high profile producers and to the best of my knowledge none of them is seeing that.

What are we all missing? Where should we be looking? (That's not sarcasm, like the opening line. It's a serious inquiry. Tia)

Re: Get started making music

#97

Post by analog31 »

joeberon wrote: post #11
jerrygoyal wrote: post #6

I always liked listening to edm and when I first got to know that you just need a laptop and DAW to make tracks the idea of becoming an edm artist sounded exciting and glamorous to me. (like alan walker, martin grx) I installed FL Studio and tried my hand on making some beats ( https://youtube.com/channel/UClKt2vzomuegCDA45SU6FbA/videos ). Before I spent too much time on it I released it's actually less about making…

That's a pretty common beginner's trap, to have your motivation be to release music rather than in creating music itself. For basically any beginner you need many years to get to the point where that should be a consideration. Your main motivation should be fun and enjoyment of making the music. Ironically this is what actually differentiates the greats from those that struggle: the former make music primarily for th…

Quite agreed. Granted, I come from the world of analog music made on alcohol powered instruments. But in my circle, the vast majority of musicians are delighted with finding non-commercial outlets for their musical interests. This includes some people who are quite skilled, and a few who have music degrees.

Possibilities include: Playing in church (a huge portion of both amateur and commercial music is religious), entertaining oneself at home, jamming with friends, exploring and even performing esoteric music that can't be commercially viable. Even many otherwise successful professional musicians have noncommercial side projects that need volunteers. For instance if someone is willing to compose something new, or dig up something interesting and weird, I'm willing to chip in and help them try it out, just for the spirit of adventure. I'm satisfied to perform for just a small handful of people who share similar interests from the audience side.

It's not all that different than people who are into extreme sports, cooking, etc., without any expectations of ever being competitive at it.

Re: Get started making music

#98

Post by jdgoesmarching »

iainctduncan wrote: post #92
analog31 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a long interview with Rick Beato and Pat Metheny. My opinion is that among "younger" jazz musicians, Metheny has a rare gift for writing catchy melodies. He can write melodies that sound like folk songs, or like the most advanced deep jazz tunes, or both at the same time, pretty much on demand. He said nobody teaches how to do this. You can study composition and arrangement, but they won't teach you how to cr…

Look, I'm a jazz player and do music pedagogy stuff. It's kind of silly to listen to Metheny about how to learn things, the dude was a complete prodigy (not an attack on your comment, just an aside). He was teaching at the most prestigious music school after attending for a year or some crazy thing. Music has a very small elite of people who's brains wired very differently and basically have super powers compared to…

I’m not sure if you put Jacob Collier in this category, but I think his success has a lot to do with him attempting to make these higher abstractions of music more approachable.

Re: Get started making music

#100

Post by eclipxe »

ushakov wrote: post #93
iainctduncan wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are high, I don't argue that. I don't think they are ridiculous , given the quality of the product and size of the market (it's not word processing...), the fact that they are independent, and they way they run their company (which, from what I've heard, is a very nice place to work). It is extremely stable with very very few bugs, and running an independent software company that way requires high margins. (I'm…

One thing to consider though is that Ableton is a Software product, so it can’t be resold unlike an actual device

This is not true. You can resale Ableton licenses. In fact a lot of music software allows sale of software licenses.
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