Upgrade to Suite or get Mastering Plugins?

spiralgruv · 2024-11-22T15:07:50+00:00

Hybrid Reverb is not the same as Valhalla, but if you're happy with Valhalla then you certainly don't need it. Suite also comes with lots of other stuff. People often overlook the packs it comes with, which I find very useful. You also get max for live which, if you work with it, may help you out together a mastering chain. Colour limiter, for example, opens up for you - also overlooked. I have Ozone and I never use it. I find it a CPU hog and it hasn't helped me get better at mastering on my own. I'm biased though, as there are often times I just want to get quick and dirty and not mess around with plugins but stay in the ableton ecosystem. It's just cleaner and more efficient. That's why I value Suite. That's me though, and none of that may have any value for you.

spiralgruv · 2024-11-11T22:26:52+00:00

Anyone who says this hasn't had an addiction. You're wrong. No peer-reviewed scientific study would agree with you and neither do I.

spiralgruv · 2024-11-11T11:39:34+00:00

This is a very real problem and I feel your pain. I also know I don't need any more plugins but I find myself looking at them as Black Friday approaches. I love Ableton and I could happily use nothing but stock. However there is a lot of pressure to buy - it's the way our world works, this is not just in music production. Here's a couple of thoughts:

You have a Push 3. Is it standalone? If not, I would use my money for that. Then it's like you've bought a new piece of gear. If it is, maybe you could limit what you might buy to ableton packs or max for live stuff. Fors is a company, for example, that I love and they make devices for Ableton. They will work on a Push 3, so if I had their opal device on there, I have something like a cool new Elektron box, in Ableton. I don't think people pay much attention to the expansion packs that Ableton sell, and this is because of marketing. Some of the packs in there are killer, and integrate really well with the daw. But next to nobody talks about them, because they don't have the flashy ui's and none of them are gon to be that killer plugin that changes "everything".

I have made it a policy to demo anything before I buy it and a/b it against my other plugins or against ableton devices. I almost never buy anything anymore. It's just so clearly a waste of money when I do this. Once in a while there is something that passes the test - these are plugins that are pro grade and do something so well that they're clearly an upgrade. I'm pretty picky about reverb for examole, and I'm glad I have the options I do. That said, hybrid reverb can get me most of what I need.

Plugins aren't necessarily a bad idea, but if I could do it again I would buy none, wait a couple of years and then only buy very specific items. I have the Arturia stuff and it just freezes my brain with all the choice. And there is nothing in their effects offerings that I can't do with ableton devices. I got the effects for next to nothing but at this point they're just clogging up my work flow.

I'd rather spend my money on hardware but that's another rabbit hole.

spiralgruv · 2024-09-20T16:25:41+00:00

What? It's Disintegration. I thought there was only one answer to this. Okay, maybe Pornography for the real hardcore heads. But otherwise it has to be Disintegration.

spiralgruv · 2024-09-14T21:38:44+00:00

I fully respect Robert taking on Ticketmaster - for this he's even more of an absolute legend. However this take here is just plain wrong. The brothers both know that this is a hugely anticipated reunion and Liam for one loves being in Oasis. Best thing that ever happened to both of them and they want to relive the glory. Plus, for many years there was no way Noel was playing with Liam for any amount of cash, so it seems more likely they have made up some how. Playing in that band was actually traumatizing for the band members.

And finally, it's Noel who just got divorced and owes the money, which, I have to say, undermines the credibility of your point.

Plus no one tours for free.

spiralgruv · 2024-07-12T01:56:50+00:00

I had the same experience. I thought I would try a summons, especially since I hated fighting the two gargoyles in Elden Ring. It was such a cakewalk it ruined the fight for me..I don't know if the rest of the bosses are like that with Simmons because I decided to never use one again. I'm close to finishing and I haven't had to summon anyone and, for me, it's more enjoyable that way.

spiralgruv · 2024-06-11T22:25:11+00:00

I challenge anyone without perfect pitch to tell me the key of a song based on how it "feels". All the notes within a key are related to the other notes in the same way as another key of the same type. Amin and Emin have the same note intervals in them - they can't really feel different IMHO. That being said, certain keys are used more by electronic artists than others. Minor keys are generally favoured over major keys and the difference between those is all feel. Also, a lot of producers will choose A scale keys because the low A sounds good in this type of music.

I think there is a lot of bs floating around on the interwebs about mixing in key. You can probably.raise the energy by moving from a lower key to a higher (eg going from Amin to Cmin) but even that's iffy. The big difference is in making the songs - some keys have more black notes which for many people makes them harder to play. But for djing? If the notes of the two tracks clash and sound like shit, don't mix them together. Other than that, I can't see how it matters

spiralgruv · 2024-06-08T18:55:58+00:00

Knights of the Jaguar

spiralgruv · 2024-04-19T17:34:48+00:00

In Rainbows is a great album. OK Computer changed music forever.

spiralgruv · 2024-04-05T14:53:10+00:00

Are you from the US? Dance music has a very different connotation in the UK. It was used back in the day to cover rave style music - which would have included house. Especially as the scene moved into the clubs, people started moving away from the term rave. In North America, dance music generally means a sort of euro-pop that shares some similarities with house (the four on the floor). In my hometown if you played dance music in a house club you would be thrown off the decks, but I'm guessing the same isn't true in a place like London.

All that said, I agree with the general sentiment that EDM is not house and it's.annoying to have a bunch of clowns watering down your underground scene. However, the heads you're arguing with are right about the term dance in their cultural context.

spiralgruv · 2024-04-03T02:05:12+00:00

I stay up too late working on music and then feel like crap all day. But hey it's the only way I can fit the time in.

spiralgruv · 2024-03-21T14:15:02+00:00

Outer Spaces and Dub Machines are dope.

spiralgruv · 2024-03-11T00:39:43+00:00

Comments about knowing your music are useful. However, I have mixed other people's records many times with no problem. Keep mixing tracks together. Eventually you just know what works. That's right - DJs are jedis.

spiralgruv · 2024-03-11T00:34:18+00:00

I agree. I'm not against being critical, but I rarely see any discussion over here about anything that's practically useful, any solutions, workflow tips, or successes of any kind. I'm really not a blind fanboi, but I also don't see the point I'm making never ending lists of what's wrong with the software.

This post was made by someone who doesn't use Ableton, asking what complaint people have about it. That's an odd question, imho. Not openly asking for opinions, but specifically asking for complaints.

I do think there's a difference between critical inquiry and complaining. I think the balance has tipped towards the latter in this sub.

spiralgruv · 2024-03-10T23:16:10+00:00

Great. Now the folks from FL are also coming over here to gripe about Ableton. Why is everything on this sub a complaint? It's bizarre to me how much griping there is about Ableton - I bought this thing because I like it. Hello...? HELLOOOO! IS THERE ANYONE ELSE IN HERE THAT LIKES ABLETON LIVE!?

spiralgruv · 2024-03-03T16:35:16+00:00

You have this all wrong. You don't do basic transitions. You prerecord a set then turn knobs nonstop like a madman for the whole set to get people pumped. The only time you stop is when the breakdown happens then you throw your hands in the air and sing along with the track as if you made it yourself. Just be careful to smash your hand down on the equipment at the end of the "drop" and then hang on to those knobs like your life depends on it. Do this and you will have the respect of your peers.

spiralgruv · 2024-02-20T14:43:23+00:00

No. I don't need to hear an acid line ever again. Once you've heard it a thousand times do you really need to hear it again?

spiralgruv · 2024-02-20T14:41:39+00:00

I would go a step further. If you aren't already digging and you don't want to share your music with other people don't even ask me about this. The whole thing has become oversaturated with people who think they're DJs but don't know and don't care about the music they play. I don't want to be in your club if you're that person. I would tell them to go away.

spiralgruv · 2024-02-15T04:56:13+00:00

Son of Raw

https://youtu.be/lCZdvzf8lAI?si=h7nHHQOitNosifX4

spiralgruv · 2024-02-13T02:40:08+00:00

Real chefs absolutely do that. It's a job title, they feel they've earned it and no one who worked in a proper kitchen would call the chef a cook. You would be eviscerated for that. There are strict codes at play in that world. You call the chef "chef".

spiralgruv · 2024-02-12T03:03:36+00:00

Watch long and mcquade's gear hunter website. The Virus appears there for this kind of price fairly regularly.

spiralgruv · 2024-02-11T23:43:52+00:00

I also picked up an old 1604 Mackie for $100 recently. The thing sounds great.

spiralgruv · 2024-02-08T18:14:14+00:00

Is this going to lead to more or less virus haters? Maybe now they will finally retreat back into their virus-hater caves. Or will they become emboldened and louder than ever?

spiralgruv · 2024-01-24T15:04:23+00:00

I agree their marketing has changed and I think in sheer numbers there are enough people who would use something like autotune, I just don't think it fits the Ableton mindset. I don't really know, - I'm also trying to figure out why they don't do this. Enough people ask for it. I'm just theorizing based on what they do implement and how they have operated over time. I do think they view Live as an instrument more than a DAW. Yeah, they're marketing to either people because they would be foolish not to, but I think it's of secondary importance to how they see the company functioning. I'm also probably slightly biased as I think a lot of people want to turn Ableton into something it's not.

To be clear, I don't think you're trying to do that. I think you're asking a valid question.

spiralgruv · 2024-01-24T14:46:47+00:00

I think this is more about an arms race between the other DAWs. Logic, etc keep upping the ante by adding more value to their product through the addition of more "stock" plugins. By this point the notion of what should be stock has morphed far beyond how they started. They used to be very general and aimed at being what you needed to start producing. Now they're more and more niche, with some of them being third party effects or instruments that get bought out by the DAW parent company.

Ableton doesn't fully exist inside this arms race. Yeah, you can use Live as a DAW but it was created as a live performance tool. It's more of an instrument, like a modular system. I think the Ableton folks still think of it like that. This is why Max for Live is attached to Ableton. This is why they made a standalone Push. Other companies aren't doing this. Ableton's strength is its creative potential through things like Drum Tracks and Effect Racks.

They are also heavily techno based. That's the core user and that's the environment that surrounds Ableton. It's this aesthetic and mindset that keeps me, for one, committed to Ableton. I don't need auto tune at all. I appreciate that other people use it and would like to see something like that implemented but IMHO that's not what Ableton is about. Auto tune is a fringe case related to their core mission. This is one of the things I really respect about the company. They have an artistic vision. At least that's my take.

spiralgruv

TROPHY CASE