Ableton Forum

i'm intensively working on my new single for the last couple of weeks and the arrangement is getting more complex. more and more i realize how week Live's arrangement is.

1) THE MOST IMPORTANT THING - (and i asked this for zillion times) i want to be able to select more samples at once. but only the samples, not the part of time in arrangement. i'm sure you all used selection tool at some point, know what i'm talking about? to be able to do "select and move" operation in my project i need to zoom in and out 100 times and still i'm not sure if some part of some file is cut somewhere. I HATE THIS!

2) even with "Lock Envelopes" option ON, i don't succeed to copy and paste file with it's automation. what's the deal with this? am i doing something wrong here?

3) i hate the rule in Live that one sample is erasing another one if it's put on the top of it. i want to be able to hear both of them with the crossfade option for transition. cubase, logic, vegas users, are you with me?

4) speaking of crossfades, why can't we get quick hold & drag fade in/out options for every sample. it gets on my nerves when i have to click a couple of hundred times to do this with volume envelopes.

5) i can not view more automation curves at once. this has been discussed on another tread.

6) if i make a small loop section in arrangement or in the sample view and move it left/right to make some random beats/noizes/whateva, the audio is not really going along with my moves (even with the slow ones). i remember the times (Live 4) when i used this trick a lot and didn't have any problems with audio stutter. those were the days...

there's more things in Live that i hate/don't get, but the ones i mentioned are the ones that bug me most. i don't ask for anything unreasonable, those things are implemented in almost all sequencers out there except in Live.

ABLETONIANS, WHY ARE YOU SO STUBBORN?!

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i think i can help with number 2 - "lock envelopes" locks the automation to the time. you need to turn it off, and then you should be able to copy and paste clips with automation. maybe i'm wrong.

itook4lefts wrote:i think i can help with number 2 - "lock envelopes" locks the automation to the time. you need to turn it off, and then you should be able to copy and paste clips with automation. maybe i'm wrong.

No, I think you are correct. Lock automation locks the automation to the time line, not the clip. If you turn it off, the automation will move with the clip in arrangement.

I´ve never figured out how to fade a track in or out? Still trying though...

Any good tips on fades I should know about.

Oh, and sorry for hijacking your thread, I just thought it would in the fade issues you´ve got...

100% agree.
If Ableton wants to be #1 DAW (I want it too ) then it must have
"standard" features other DAW's have.
ONLY, of course, in the "Abletonian" way: simple and uncluttered.

WebSite! wrote: 3) i hate the rule in Live that one sample is erasing another one if it's put on the top of it. i want to be able to hear both of them with the crossfade option for transition. cubase, logic, vegas users, are you with me?

Yeah this is my number one annoyance with Live.

Merge clips should also be allowed with midi too.

Currently I have to use three tracks up to merge audio data. Two for playback and route them both to a sub mix track to apply effects and sends.

Or if its looping, I dump the loop into Simpler and trigger it via midi.

Merging midi clips is not particularly easy either.

I admit there is still a lot of headroom left for improvement in live. That's prolly why I still sometimes use other daw.

But on the other side, Ableton did change totally my way of composing and I always keep in mind that there is tons of functions in Live that I don't have elsewhere.

They do things their way, this is what I like and respect a lot.

I also think they know what is missing, I find your post a bit too aggressive ( just by the title) and I don't feel this is a way to act to suggest further live functions developement.

Maybe, start a thread containing what you like about live :p

I still second the one with the automation line

I would hope Ableton continues to focus on LIVE's strength's as a "LIVE" performance tool. There are plenty of other DAW's that are better suited for composition and production. IMHO.

Keep LIVE different and maximize it's midi and syncing implementation for performance.

ChiDJ wrote:There are plenty of other DAW's that are better suited for composition and production. IMHO.

what do you use for composition then?

personally I use Live, I wonder what you think I should use instead?

ChiDJ wrote:I would hope Ableton continues to focus on LIVE's strength's as a "LIVE" performance tool. There are plenty of other DAW's that are better suited for composition and production. IMHO.

Keep LIVE different and maximize it's midi and syncing implementation for performance.

i am with you, keep it an uncluttered LIVE tool, that does not mean that there is no room for improvements to be made, but keep it simple, stable and for quick intuitive live use.

for anything else there are already plenty of powerfull DAWs outhere to choose from.

i feel your pain with all the click-click-clicking in Arrange. and I also agree that Live should be Live. That's why i'm really excited about the new Apple/Logic rumours. And not really excited (yet) about the Cycling '74 partnership.

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42406&

http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42406&

In the past I felt the same way, keep Live focused on the live environment. But, it's well past that now, Ableton clearly intends it to be a DAW like tool as well. It's definitely changed the way I write music too, but more and more lately I find myself reaching for tools that aren't there.

After trying to use MIDI in Live for my current (large) project, I have to admit, I'm hoping Apple announces a new Logic this weekend. I really need an app that has more midi editing options, and actually lets me use MIDI clips with AU instruments in Arrange View. This is critical for me, my project is literally on hold until i can find a new tools for this.

Bummer, but there it is, I have work to do.

octo wrote:I´ve never figured out how to fade a track in or out? Still trying though...

Any good tips on fades I should know about.

Oh, and sorry for hijacking your thread, I just thought it would in the fade issues you´ve got...

Read my guide, there's a section on automation that shows you how to do what you're asking:


Read Arrangement View Guide Here!