Ableton Live + Pro Tools, Working Methods?

[jdlee23]

Hey folks, I was thinking about possibly adding Ableton Live to my arsenal to work alongside Pro Tools. I know a lot of people on this board use them together and I was wondering how people were interfacing the two. I mean this on a creative level NOT how do the two programs technically interface (ReWire). For instance, are people composing and arranging in Live and mixing in Pro Tools, or maybe MIDI sequencing in Live and overdubbing audio in PT? Enlighten me as to some of your working methods using these two programs. How powerful of a combination can they be together? Thanks ahead of time.

[staggerlee]

i sometimes use Live as a "base" set up a backround loop (drums or some repeating sound or both) and then write melodies on guitar/bass/keyboard over that. occasionally i will do a complete "song" in live, mostly for soundtrack-type stuff. only instrumentals though, and i still feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea of "writing" using loops other people have created, even though i alter them quite a bit. i also like taking a "finished" song (has to be recorded to a click) and using live to throw in some subtle looping "undercurrents".

one thing i'm not crazy about is that when you preview a loop in Live it's at the current tempo of the session. so i've been using audiofinder a lot to audition loops (at their normal tempo) and then copying them to a favorites folder. audiofinder also has some cool functions (creating a reversed copy of a loop is my current favorite).

http://www.icedaudio.com/

some Live functions i really dig are the pitch control and the button that speeds up or slows down the loop by half.

i'm starting to get into using Reason (full), Live and pro tools all at once and it's pretty cool but switching back and forth between screens (ALT+TAB) is kind of a hassle and all 3 programs have different "rules" about selecting loop sections.

i wish Reason included a wav/aiff loop player.

-Cliff