Winter NAMM is up and running and Ableton is working hard at making me go broke. I just picked up Ableton Live 7 and only a month and a half later they drop the Ableton Live 8 annoucement. If that isn’t enough they have teamed up with Akai to create the APC40, a MIDI controller built specifically for Live. Oh, but there is more. They are also releasing an instrument called MaxForLive. Integrating Max/MSP into Ableton. They are saying second quarter 2009, so at least I have some time.
When considering which application to invest in there were about four real contenders out there. Ableton Live, Reason, Reaktor, and Max/MSP.
Reason was ruled out pretty quickly for several reasons. In many ways I see it as just as much of a toy as FL Studio. While you can do amazing things with FL Studio and Reason they just don’t fit my style of music creation.
Reaktor came pretty high on the list because I could build my own instruments. Of course that appeals to me a great deal. Reaktor really only came into the picture because I saw it as a simpler and more user friendly version of Max/MSP. Then again, I decided that if I’m going to drop that kind of money, it might as well be on the real deal.
Max/MSP and Live being the last two left to decide from made things a little difficult. Max/MSP really caters to the whole experimental aspect of things while Live falls into the perform by instinct aspect. The problem with Max/MSP is the complexity. It would be months before I could really be up and running with it. Every time I’ve played with it in the past I’ve just been overwhelmed. Ableton was never that way. Several tracks on my last two albums were already made with versions of Live LE so I already knew the program and could get results from it. At the time I was also unaware of the built in synths and drum machines in Live, the LE I was using was a rather older version…perhaps 4?.
My choice for Ableton Live has certainly paid off. I’m am continuously amazed by what the program can do and how it just feels like home for me. While building up samples for my next album I even found that it eliminated the need for my Roland JP8080. Instead of spending time learning a piece of hardware that can’t go everywhere with me I can invest it in Live and a nice little VST called SuperWave P8.
I believe I have finally killed the age of hardware. Even considering the cost of upgrading and these new tools it no where near matches the incredible amount of money I spent over the years on hardware. Of course, MIDI controllers and a good Piano are always desirable. However, when it come to the core of things the computer finally does feel right.
later,
-junc
