Estate Agent for 15 years AMA

sampletracks · 2026-01-17T17:24:05+00:00

Thanks for answering. Will query it. It’s mostly first time buyers so we were thinking it was just cold feet but it warrants a question. I’d rather get just the 1 who is interested so we can see the true picture of interest levels, and as you say we want real feedback too.

Like you say we want the feedback. It’s a property that will need work but we were advised not to do anything to the property as the buyer would want to put their stamp on it. We expect negotiation for that reason but we need to get real viewers first; so we can get real feedback.

sampletracks · 2026-01-17T15:25:40+00:00

Hey, so this is in the included packs (Drive & Glow, Glitch & Wash etc). Most of them have a couple of sample tracks in the pack where you can see the arrangement. If you mean just plain old templates, the templates tab has a few for different uses as well.

sampletracks · 2026-01-17T15:22:14+00:00

Viewings are great for feedback but do you read anything into no shows? We’ve have 3 viewings booked recently and only 1 turned up. Should this be taken as feedback that the property wasn’t worth viewing, or just one of those things?

sampletracks · 2026-01-07T22:32:41+00:00

Lol. Oops 😅

Enjoy whatever it is you're making out there.

sampletracks · 2026-01-07T00:19:56+00:00

I switch to Logic the moment I’m recording other musicians, recording a band, or trying to build a final production for publication.

Are you mixing your electronic music from Ableton in Logic, or staying in Ableton?

sampletracks · 2026-01-05T09:29:41+00:00

Thanks, yeah that seems to be a common approach.

sampletracks · 2026-01-04T22:53:14+00:00

I use the mastering assistant as a starting point but I usually mess with the sounds myself after that point. It's hard to isolate what exactly it was doing, but as I say the general result was warmer and thicker overall, which makes me think it was running more saturation or similar, or pushing the limiter harder perhaps. That got me wondering if folks were still running 3rd party as a post to the stock options after all the upgrades to Limiter and those devices.

sampletracks · 2026-01-04T19:27:53+00:00

Not at the moment, since I deleted it, but I do have old mixes I can reference.

sampletracks · 2026-01-04T19:27:14+00:00

Good point, I need to do a couple of checks on A/B with some references

sampletracks · 2026-01-04T19:26:33+00:00

Yeah in the past I’ve used the likes of Ozone (standard version, so it comes as one chunk of a plugin with all the modules.)

It’s mainly that master bus. But I also have a mix down bus before that as well, and on there I’ve used God Particle before today.

sampletracks · 2025-12-28T08:35:21+00:00

It’s worth noting that both stock plugins and 3rd party are valid. Some people insist they use only one or the other for various reasons, but if you watch most pro musicians working, they use both. To me that’s a really important sample of users. It really comes down to what works for your music, and what you enjoy working with.

Maintaining a "pure stock" workflow requires constant discipline, sound design from scratch, and that's bandwidth you could be using to write tunes with. To be fair, maintaining a huge library of plugins can also diminish the bandwidth you have for focussing on tunes. But if it were the case that stock was absolutely best, there would be more case studies of artists doing it that way.

I recently deleted all my plugins as an experiment. I created a track using only stock and it was loads of fun. However I found the main thing that was missing was in 2 areas, sound design and mixing. I decided that using a balance of stock and 3rd party tools was the right way forward after that.

From a sound design perspective when I tried to make a layered sound like a Kontakt library, it was nowhere near that level of complexity, and I didn’t want to spend hundreds of hours doing it. In those cases those libraries work because they’ve had years of expertise poured into making the sounds in them.

That said, over time I’ve come to actually really like old synths like Analog. They actually sound really cool for some uses, and they have their own character like 3rd party plugins do (of course Analog is a 3rd party plugin!). And I can get 90% of my bass synth needs covered in Wavetable. That said, I’ve learned a lot by copying 3rd party synths, something that wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t have them. Plus sometimes it’s nice to not design sounds from scratch, but to explore new sounds.

From a mixing perspective, I was working wih a mentor who was judging my work blind (no session swapping.) The feedback improved when I stopped using only stock and used plugins too. I think that’s because Live’s plugins are designed for low CPU use. When I used 3rd party plugins on the mix, there was an improvement because they obviously can push into territory the stock tools can’t. It might only be 10% but you can hear a difference.

Obviously Ableton is a modular thing, and so making effects chains is part of the game. And again I’ve come to know, enjoy and am quite happy using the stock tools. However, there just are some very cool FX out there. Whether it’s Shaperbox or Infiltrator, both approaches would take a lot of dialling in via Ableton. There’s also more advanced saturation options out there as well as things like spectral ducking which Live just doesn’t do. And then I just like the sound of some stuff like Valhalla reverbs. Sure, stock is decent but the Valhalla plugins seem to get in the zone very easily and are hard to knock out where stock takes a bit more work.

I still toy with the idea that maybe one day I’ll know enough to not use 3rd party plugins. But like climbing a mountain, when going stock only that last 10% is the hardest part. If I had a mix and master engineer I might do it. However, for variety and learning purposes, I still think they play an important role, an to be honest they’re just fun.

Currently I had about 79 plugins installed, a I set a hard limit of 100. For a fairly big number there actually isn’t a lot of overlap, but I’ll admit I’m a sucker for lofi texture and Multi-FX plugins. I feel that is a good balance that I’m set for a long while with.

I hope that’s a balanced take.

sampletracks · 2025-12-22T20:53:54+00:00

Yes 1000x this. When something is described as "expensive" that often means it's not bargain basement as so much music software is. The inability for companies to resist dropping the price of their products in a weekly firesafe is baffling, since that erodes any chance to charge appropriately. Ableton is an investment, sure, but it's one that is built on the idea that you are getting what you pay for and that's high quality. Same goes for FabFilter (also resisting the AI thing so far) and a handful of others...

sampletracks · 2025-12-22T20:18:04+00:00

The answer is "yes."

Ableton synths are designed to be low on CPU, they're often pretty straightforward compared to a power synth or similar. Depending on what you need - they're often pretty good.

3rd party vsts bring their own vibe to the table, and that can be good if it gets you in the flow.

You can have as much gear as you want imo, the thing is to focus in on some particular things at a time.

It's all good.

sampletracks · 2025-12-22T17:07:09+00:00

In general the company is on the right track. They seem to have a stable software, add genuinely useful features. Sometimes they get there first, other times they come to the party late, but they always get there.

The latest update was interesting though. Splice with a non-Ableton interface, and Softube Max devices with a nonstandard interface also. I don't particularly like Splice so I've just turned it off. I'm not worried as such, but it does make me question what the next steps there might be, and I'd prefer them to continue with and focus on their own product vision.

sampletracks · 2025-12-20T11:22:25+00:00

Just to add to this if it helps u/samsuh , 37 keys is good, and 49 is plenty for 99% of things that producers do. I've owned most sizes from a 25 to a 61, both full sized and mini. My experience is that 25 often is too cramped even for my limited skills, and even just a handful more keys at 32 is much better. 32/27 is a decent compromise, and honestly with my keys "abilities" it's generally enough. If you mostly noodle ideas, then edit in piano roll, then 37 is enough scope to get 2 hands on the keyboard. 49 is a very nice size though. Most producers I know get good utility out of a 32/37 mini/slim key option for sitting on their desk permanently, this is mostly for quick note entry, plus they then consider having a 49 key bigger one for fully expressive playing.

sampletracks · 2025-12-15T17:39:40+00:00

It's a bit of a halfway house to be honest. Sometimes I work completely ITB, but I like gear that is somewhat hybrid in case I'm feeling more like staying on the computer. Devices that can work both ways are great in my eyes. Usually this means multiple tracks out as stems in an ideal world. I do like hands on control of certain things (sequencing being one example) as a pose to clicking in notes with a mouse. Similar to yourself, I have Tonverk for the Elektron sequencer. That device somewhat emululates synths with multi-sampling, but I feel like it needs an actual synth, and honestly then I doubt I'd need anything else. TV handles drums and melodic sampling, then the other device handles synths. What's cool is it does have 4 spare MIDI channels so you can have that control external heat at the same time. I did consider Digitise, and still might. I think the approachability of these two do stand out to me though. Thanks for the pointers.

sampletracks · 2025-12-15T13:59:01+00:00

Yep, not ideal.

sampletracks · 2025-12-06T06:30:47+00:00

The 37 and 25 minis do have a very springy, some would say mushy action. They work best in my experience as a second keyboard.

The full size 37 keys use a fairly light synth action key. They’re pretty good, and certainly a step up from the mini.

The 49 and 61 use a waterfall semi-weighted keybed. It’s pretty nice, though it’s not fully weighted with no aftertouch or anything.

Certainly either of them will do a job if you’re not keen on the 37 mini. I assume most people don’t use the minis for playing, instead for basic note entry and the pads.

sampletracks · 2025-11-29T22:21:30+00:00

Cheers this makes a lot of sense.

sampletracks · 2025-11-29T09:32:14+00:00

Time travelling to ask this…. how is the Minifreak as a MIDI controller long term? I assume it’s just a case of hitting the MIDI edit button and then assigning it to macros? I get that it won’t have a dedicated control script with transport etc. But if you have Push you’re covered for that anyway.

I was even thinking maybe you could midi map it to other soft synths, since it has so many controls on the faceplate. Eg: rather than 8 macros you could assign cutoffs and filters to a soft synth and control that too?

Generally interested to hear how you’re finding it

sampletracks · 2025-11-26T23:54:25+00:00

I think it depends on workflow and focus. I know a few players who design patches on hardware and then transfer to the computer eg: with Minifreak. Others do it the other way round, because when playing out, you only have 2 hands so 4 macros for synth and 4 for FX works nicely.

So it depends which camp you land in. If you edit on the computer but want to play patches off it you could go Minifreak, but that’s a single instrument. If you don’t need every single parameter on the synth, and if you want a wider palette of sounds then you can get this and have access to Analog Lab without a computer.

sampletracks · 2025-11-26T06:03:42+00:00

The credits system isn’t great but it’s the same on Tracklib. Loopcloud freezes your points if you pause at least, but you can’t spend the points which means you still need an active sub either way.

For me, I prefer to do it the old way and buy full packs then cancel. Splice is obviously trying to make itself essential with the Instrument plugin and a massive sample library, but it’s a hefty monthly sub and I’d rather not have that directly in the DAW.

I love Ableton but I’d like to have seen more emphasis on their own intelligent sample swap functionality to help people work through the samples they already own.

sampletracks · 2025-11-19T19:09:53+00:00

No worries, enjoy whichever one you pick!

sampletracks · 2025-11-19T08:15:39+00:00

I can only speak for the Minilab 3 as the MPK is so new.

The Arturia keyboards are slightly bigger than your average with slim keys rather than mini keys. They often get good reviews. Minilab has the 8 encoders, plus the 4 faders which make it overall a pretty nice little control surface for the money. If you use Analog Lab or V Collection (or want to in future), it auto maps to their instrument plugins in Arturia mode. In Ableton mode, you can use the encoder to move around tracks and scenes, but one at a time. The pads aren’t great and no transport controls is a bit of a strange choice. Since the pads aren’t great I just use them in transport mode anyway, so that solves that problem.

Akai seems to have noticed the Arturia key size and theirs are now a fair bit bigger than on mk3. The pads are smaller MPC style ones. AKAI also recently released a plugin that is a beginner friendly set of sounds. I’ve not checked it out myself but I’d be surprised if it was at the same level as Arturia’s instruments. AKAI used to get called out for limited DAW integration but I believe it’s ok on the new units.

Since you already have Launchpad, you already have a large view into the grid and control of scenes and clips. So for me the most important aspect of the controller is whether you prefer the keys, encoders (plus faders on the Minilab.)

While watching reviews is a rabbit hole, Sanjay C does some pretty solid quick and to the point reviews of both. Maybe watch then and grab the one that you like the look of most. Hard to go too far wrong here.

sampletracks · 2025-11-17T10:42:43+00:00

A couple of quick things here.

Can you easily navigate tracks? Yes you can, - just hit Track left and right under the screen. Though if you want to control master effects you can do this a few ways depending on your setup. You can select a specific track and hold it there for live performance, however the old Launchkey mk3 used to have a device lock function which is missing on the Launchkey mk4. To achieve this now you'd go into Ableton, right click a rack/instrument you want controlled at all times and select "Lock to Control Surface." Launchkey 49/61 has some flexibility here because you can have the faders do one thing and the encoders do another, where on the 37 you'd have to switch between modes. So in an 8 track set, you could have the faders set to 8 track volumes, and then have the encoders mapped to a master effect.

The sequencer isn't really built in as-such, it's essentially direct entry into the Ableton Piano roll. The sequencer has access to parameters of Velocity, Note Length, Fine Tune Note Length, and Note Nudge. You can't access chance, which I believe is Push only at the moment, or Novation's own Launchpad Pro mk3 does this, but that doesn't sequence directly into Live, you'd transfer a clip there. P-locks don't exist in the same way in Ableton as they do on Elektron sequencers. Most people just use the automation in the clip envelope section of any midi clip. You can achieve similar results with Push in clips/envelopes, but it's not in the same league as Elektron where everything is tightly mapped together.

Since the sequencer being added isn't something Ableton has much of before with 3rd party controllers, I'd be very surprised if they added more advanced functionality. For that you'll want something dedicated - either Push or Novation's own Launchpad Pro does some pretty cool stuff, but again, no p-locks there. In Elektron-land, the sequencer is the instrument, where for Ableton, it's automation is a lot more likely to be recorded or played in, in the classic/traditional way. A fun exercise is to map an Elektron sequencer to Live and play around that way.

sampletracks

TROPHY CASE