[microsound] why i'm not excited about Live

[Michael Kuszynski]

Does anyone have any insight on why bezier automation curves are not a
feature within Live?

Seems like such an elementary DAW feature.

Version 8 appears to finally offer crossfading.

They seem to add a lot of whiz-bang features, and leave out crucial ones.

On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 1:03 PM, CraqueMat <craque at craque.net> wrote:
> I've tried to embrace Ableton Live, I truly have.
>
> I grew up on "real DAW" before the D was even part of it (remember
> before the Internet that thing called just "MOTU Performer" and it's
> multiple copy-protected floppies?), so maybe I'm just being too inflexible.
>
> And frankly, I haven't explored Live beyond the versions I can get, uh,
> "preview copies" of. However, it's such a delicate DRM matter that I'd
> rather not bother, because it could stop working, so I don't.
>
> I like some of the GUI benefits of Live. It makes for a quick work flow,
> maybe too quick, maybe too easy. When I use Live, I feel like I'm
> playing with a toy, which may not be a bad thing, but in so many cases I
> have gotten going in one direction and hit walls that I don't encounter
> in DP or Logic. So much so, that it's been frustrating to the point that
> I can't use Live because I know the walls are there, and Live will force
> me to work in a certain Live-Paradigm that sometimes just isn't
> complemented by my brain (and vice versa) or what I want to accomplish
> musically.
>
> It's extremely cost prohibitive for me as well. Laying down several
> hundred clams on a DAW means to me: you're using that DAW until you get
> your money's worth. When I wonder about how many people I know use these
> software packages illegally, I also wonder about how many people
> actually pay for them, and what the real market demand is. In other
> words, the sort of grassroots/DIY/homemade music (that I'm interested in
> at least) isn't made by people that have a few grand of cash lying
> around to buy software to help them make music. There's a weird
> economical constant buried in there someplace, because I know software
> piracy in the underground electronica world is pretty rampant. Is this
> part of the "academic" dichotomy? I don't really know, but it feels to
> me like academes probably have easier "legal" access to this software
> than a grassroots musician does.
>
> In the end, I don't use things like Max/MSP and Live because they are
> not the way I think about making music, in fact I often feel like they
> get IN the way. I'm much more tactile, I get very easily frustrated
> that, when using "software" to *create* music, I become lost in the
> creation of the software and not the making of music. This is probably a
> hangover from being a classical musician, where the means to create are
> immediately at hand (or throat, as the case may be).
>
> Pluggo is plenty for me, in other words. While I know the DSP folks will
> friggin love the Live/Max marriage, I don't see a use for it. I know
> it's a flexible program, I have a good friend who uses it religiously,
> and *I* was the one to get him to move off ACID onto Live. Personally, I
> feel like Live forces me to work in a particular way with a
> particular... well, "groove", for lack of a better word. That may be a
> preset/customization argument, but when I see how cookie cutter Live has
> gotten (it's not nearly as slim as it used to be, I get easily confused
> looking at its interface nowadays, and now it seems like nearly EVERY
> plugin has its own catalog of presets), it doesn't enamor me to use it.
>
> Neil Clopton wrote:
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 11:00 AM, <microsound-request at microsound.org
>> <mailto:microsound-request at microsound.org>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>      > Firstly, Live can be used in a more traditional linear way in
>>      > 'Arrangement' view at the tap of a button.
>>
>>
>> I spend ~98% of my time in Live in the Arrangement view.
>>
>>      > Just because it is
>>      > capable of undertaking loop based sequencing, does not mean that
>>      > the software is a one trick pony, and therefore should be
>>      > discounted without question.
>>
>>
>> I think a lot of people are not aware of how Live's features and
>> ambitions have grown.  Especiallly since version 6, Live has become a
>> full featured DAW with good MIDI, recording and ReWire support.
>>
>> --
>> DJ Dual Core's Blog
>> http://oldmixtapes.blogspot.com/
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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-- 
Michael Kuszynski
kuszynski at gmail.com
www.planerecordings.com
New York, NY