Ableton Live 4 features vs. Pro Tools LE 6.4

[Blue Ridge]

I've been playing with the Live 4 beta (now v.11) lately, since it expires soon, and so, have not gotten up to speed on my new PT LE 6.4 .

As I scroll through the manual and the tutorials, it seems that Live does a lot of things that Pro Tools is supposed to do too.

So, if you'd be so kind, experienced Live and PT users -- for what studio (not live performance) applications is Live indispensable, even with PT on board?

My own purposes are simple: using loops derived from our existing recordings, track by track, and creating new, pleasant, song-length mixes for background and soundtrack use.

Many Thanks

Blue Ridge

[pk_hat]

My own purposes are simple: using loops derived from our existing recordings, track by track, and creating new, pleasant, song-length mixes for background and soundtrack use.

Having said that, Live may be all you need. It's a simple program but packs a lot of goods under the hood. Both PT and Live do similar things but in different ways, yet I can't say one is necessarily better than the other. If anything, I can tell you that - IMO - Live is more intuitive in terms of composing, using virtual instruments, sampler, etc, you can get inspired in the blink of an eye, and if you have an extensive loop library, you're in business.

Do remember that you can Rewire Live into PT, just as you can Rewire Reason into Live (very powerful combo).

The more you play with both programs, the more you'll be able to make the distinction between who does what better than the other. Which is "best" has no definitive answer, it's far too subjective. I've been using Live for 90% of my work (my own music and jingles I write for a living) as I love the interface, the simplicity, and all the new feautres in Live 4. However, I still love to have PT around for the occasional job that requires it.

[Eddie K. wannabe]

The only things i turn to Protools for anymore is;

Mixing, Editing audio files, & Audio Post-production.


I use Live for composing, jaming, performing, I'm a huge PT's fan, but since I picked up Live, i use PT's for more specific tasks. Live just rocks, Pt's and Live complement each other very well, Reason too. That's the holy trinity is you ask me. Reason,PT's and Live. The only things I don't like using Live for is mixing and cuting audio. My usual work flow is to write a tune using Live, get all my ideas out, sketch the whole tune. (using a blend of actual instruments, GTR, Bass, and Reason instrument and loops for drums/synths what not) and then I'll route Live audio via rewire to Pt's individual channels and mixing in Protools. Mixing in Live kind of sucks if you ask me compared to Live. But Man oh Man can live do it all. If i'm in a rush and need to just crank something out, it's Live all the way!

What makes live indispensable in the studio? The time warping engine.

The fact that you can move things around, (i'm talking in the arrangement view) so effortlessly and it ALWAYS stays in time is incredible. You just can't do that in Pt's with out taking the time, to tempo map, beat match whatever, time-compress-expand. It can be a little tricky, With Live you can just throw loops together, with no consideration at all, and see how it sounds. No preping, no thought out process, just click and drag, expand, shrink, The arrangement view is what I can't imagine living without. And the fact that you can just turn the tempo up or down and the audio follows that's freakin incredible. Protools can't do that, not even with midi really. You can map a tempo change incremently in PT's but Live can do it on a curve. I like to show that to people seeing live for the first time. Map the tempo control to a knob on my OXY8 and start throwing the tempo around, try doing that in PT's. On the other hand spend a while mixing in Live and you'll be begging for PT's
Hope this sheds some light on the subject.

What's up PK how you doing?