Ableton Live is a favourite of DJ/producers because its scene/clip view allows for live DJing and improvisation, both with pre-recorded and your own music.
Digital DJ Tips reader Kaan writes: “I’ve got really interested in producing and remixing lately. I don’t have a lot of experience in terms of DJing, because firstly, I’m not 18 yet (five months to go!) and secondly, it’s extremely hard to get into the scene here in Switzerland because it’s not as big as in other countries, and the scene is dominated by some ‘top’ Swiss DJs here.
“So I thought I could perhaps start off with remixing songs and perhaps get later into productions, to get prepared as I wait to turn 18. OK, I know it won’t make things easier when I turn 18, but at least it will keeps me motivated! So could you recommend a program for remixing songs, especially taking some accapellas and put it above a progressive house tune with some editing?”
Digital DJ Tips says:
Today’s new DJs can get a good headstart by learning to remix, re-edit and generally make tunes their own, and it sounds as though you wait to be “club legal”, you’ve got a bit of time to dedicate to learning!
Get by with what you’ve got or can get, the rest will fall in to place later.
Firstly, start with whatever you have. You can do the above on Traktor, on Virtual DJ, on Audacity (it’s free), on Garageband (if you’re an Apple user). Bet you’ve got something lying around you can use. Just like with DJing, it’s not the hardware or software but the ideas that count. Get by with what you’ve got or can get, the rest will fall in to place later. your biggest enemy is not starting.
Having said that, you may want to look at Ableton Live as a digital audio workstation to use for DJing and producing, performing and composing. It has lots of fans due in part to its unique clips workflow that allows you to improvise with preset loops. FL Studio and Logic pop up over and over again among our readers too.
Over to you, readers: Kaan wants something to let him start doing simple mashups, re-edits and maybe productions. What have you used? What would you suggest for a beginner? Please share your thoughts in the comments…
Now go to:
5 Reasons Why DJs Should Make Mash-ups (Not Mixtapes) To Get Bookings
Over To You: What Are The Best Music Production Schools?
From the Forum: Getting into Production
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Well, showing my age here, but I first tried with Sonic Foundry (now Sony) Acid Pro…
That was a long time ago!
[ link ]Yep same here! and ReBirth of course! These days Live though is the way to go, very easy to use
[ link ]aah, acid…i did my first tracks in that as well:) after that the – today totally forgotten – orion pro…happy times!
[ link ]I still use Acid lol
[ link ]I still use Acid too – recently upgraded to 9.0 Pro – did this track on it : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5_7wYLHgok
[ link ]I’ll see your Acid Pro and raise you Dance eJay 1. I still have all my old tunes stored away on a floppy disc somewhere!
Where I started properly producing though was with a combination of Fruity Loops 2 for making loops, Cool Edit (back when it was still Cool Edit, before Adobe got hold of it) for wave editing and recording, and then imported my samples into Dance eJay 2 for its 16 track ‘mixer’.
Nowdays I just use FLStudio 10, plus a bunch of VSTs.
[ link ]yup yup, been there with eJay…i just threw away that CD the other day!
[ link ]Haha, Dan, yeah, that was my first ‘real’ DAW as well.
[ link ]Hahaha, I am even older… I started out with SAW and a PC consisting of a 486 plus a Turtle Beach sound card
…
[ link ]Brings back good memories. Started in my best friend’s basement with Fruity Loops version 2 or 3. Was so much fun and we would make the goofiest sounds. This was back when the movie Hackers and Spawn were popular so we were big on Orbital and Basement Jaxx.
[ link ]I began at the same point like Kaan did a few months earlier. My first step was, as you already mentioned Phil, Garageband but soon switched over to Logic because I thought that it would be much more professional. So it turned out to be more professional but also a lot more difficult. I had a real hard start with Logic and it took very long to realize the ideas I had at least half-way. I recommend tutorials from Reid from Reidiculous. I think he does a good job on remixes and is giving you a nice view behind the scenes in his tutorials. He is building a song from the scratch and you get to know certain things how to realize basic techniques and stuff. http://youtu.be/75Nr8QIqefs of course it depends on what you want to produce but I think this is a good point to start if you want to use logic. I made the mistake to start with tutorials of professionals like Thomas Gold. They are of course more in-depth but as a beginner you hardly understand what he is talking about with all his plugins he mentions
look over here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1idPR-Mv-U
To make Mashups or put vocals over a Song I would recommend you to use Mixed in Key’s Mashup because it is cheap, good way to start making semi-professional Songs/Mashups with hardly no knowledge. My results of this Program are: http://youtu.be/S4Ft1aZkQh0 and http://youtu.be/LvuYXlvqEQw .
I am also nearly ready with an own song which I made with the help of reidiculous tutorials as mentioned earlier. It is maybe not that professional but I am a bit proud of it. I tried to make a Complextro style like Mord Fustang or Moguai does. Please give it a listen and I would be glad if you give me a feedback. http://www56.zippyshare.com/v/96368108/file.html
It is not mastered so no worries on that!
Thanks for reading and I hope I could help in some ways
[ link ]Thanks for the really helpful input, Westage.
[ link ]Used to spend hours playing with MTV’s Music Generator on the original Playstation. We’d make hip hop beats and then record it on to a cassette based 4 track recorder. It was a totally ghetto setup, but we ended up learning all the basics.
[ link ]whoa blast from the past! I also started from MTV Music Generator, moving on to Hammerhead & Mixman, Fruity Loop, Reason, and finally now I’m using Ableton rewired with Reason.
[ link ]I used Cubase 5.1 to produce my first tracks. When I converted to Apple and got a Mac, I tried Logic but I felt it was too simple. I recently bought Cubase 6.5 and I love it. I’m seventeen too, but I don’t feel any restrictions about my age.
- Erling
http://www.soundcloud.com/Exolister
[ link ]http://www.facebook.com/Exolister
+1 on ableton live. the moment you get used to the slightly weird and flat look of the synths/fx (they don’t try to look like rackmounted hardware, but concentrate on getting the job done), it’s an extremely intuitive and fast to work with program. the way it handles loops, chunks of audio data and midi is very straightforward abd makes a lot more sense for people coming from a dj perspective. most other daws still emulate a “real” recording studio, which is great for recording songs and working in a more linear way (live can do that as well), abletons non-linear, more open approach makes it easier to play around and experiment with the elements…
[ link ]add to that the amazing timestretching & sync features (essentially everything you drag into it gets automatically adjusted to the master tempo while still sounding great) and you have a winner…
Ableton here too.
I started with it and stil use it. Checked out some other programs but nothing has that kind of workflow.
Can’t wait to get my hands on the Bitwig software tho.
[ link ]I forget the first program but it didn’t even run in Windows but in DOS. Next was Cakewalk Pro – a midi tracker which I mapped to sound samples uploaded to the 4MB of ram I had on my Sound Blaster sound card. Later were good ol Acid Pro, Rebirth & Fruity Loops
[ link ]Started with Cubase on a Jail sentence way back in 1993. At least something positive came from those bad times.
Ableton all the way now! =)
[ link ]For me, Reason 4 was the first one.
[ link ]For a DJ-producer, Ableton is the best I think.
Reason 6 is definitely a great program. I’ve used Reason since inception. It’s kind of underrated due to Ableton’s success with DJ’s. But always believed in getting a tool that does the one thing you need it to do.
For me:
[ link ]Traktor for DJ’ing
Reason for production
I agree Ableton is a great platform, though I disagree it is good for beginners.
[ link ]I have found most beginners to have more success using Fruity Loops and Reason, then moving to Ableton.
Ableton is full of symbols, hidden actions and can be very confusing to someone that is not hip to producer-y lingo. It makes the learning process very difficult, and there is an underlying “you should know what this does already” feeling to it’s layout. By all means I encourage people to start with Ableton!
Reason and Fruity Loops have a great package of sounds and internal tools which can be translated to other bigger DAW’s, and can give a beginning producer a great platform to jump off of.
I am taking the true producer into account here, more than the remixer, fyi.
[ link ]Live is the beginning, the middle, and the end when it comes to all phases of production (unless of course you just happen to find that a different program suits your personality and way of doing things better. That’s really the most important thing). It’s fast, it’s intuitive, it’s expandable, and you can kick out pro quality results using just what comes with it (though of course I’m fond of a lot of 3rd party plugins). It is absolutely the fastest thing imaginable for remix work. I can’t imagine using anything else, honestly. And perhaps best for you, the beginner, there’s a truckload of Certified Ableton Trainers who are dying to teach you how to use the thing, either for free or for very cheap. So if I were you, I’d get the most expensive version of Live I could afford and then go look up Tom Cosm’s site and do what he says, as this will get you up, running, and proficient in the shortest period of time.
[ link ]Great advise. I will search for the certified Ableton trainers starting with the one you advise, Tom C. Anyone else for beginners?
[ link ]I like MacProVideo.com. Dubspot currently has their 30/30 (30 ableton lessons for 30 days free).
[ link ]I started with something I no longer remember the name of Then when fullblown cracy got a ensoniq paris system it was huge and officaly never got suport beond Windows 98. later went on to nuendo then Reason. But for remixes and mashups I now use Ableton Live it’s just perfect for that. I use Reason when makeing my own productions.
[ link ]Live is great, but it’s not exactly easy to learn in any meaningful way, and you’re going to be seriously taking the long way around recording loops and setting up drum racks. Maschine, or a Maschine Mikro if you’re on the cheap, gives you a massive sequencer, which will then almost always be the heart of your production setup. It can then by zapped over or plugged in to GarageBand, or any other DAW youre learning, for the multitrack recording and mastering. Sequencing and sampling is your friend, and it’s going to be the bread and butter of your setup, best to really get to grips with it with a powerful and easy to use workflow.
[ link ]Yeah. Complete agree Maschine is currently the easiest tool to start producing. And its a MIDI controller as well. Considering the price, it’s pretty much of a bargain here. U can use for not only in your productions but in your future DJing setup too. I used Ableton too but mostly in remixing, mashups and in-depth post productions after finishing a track in Maschine.
[ link ]Ableton is like the créme de la creme of programs. You’ve got all you need for production, remixing, DJing, whatever!
However, it is VERY expensive, and could be a bit daunting for a newbie.
Reason 6 is probably the best option if you want something on the cheaper side.
However, once you get Ableton, you’ll basically be set to fuck shit up.
[ link ]Both Reason and Ableton Live are similar in price (well UK in any case). I’m a Reason user, everything you need out of the box, Reason 6.5 (launched last week) now has Rack Extensions which to some extent are like VST’s. Personally I’ve used both and find Reason much, much more powerful in the longer term for production. It can also be integrated with other DAWs via ReWire.
[ link ]With Presonus Studio One Free, you get the feature set and functionality of the full version, but with only 1 synthesizer (like) instrument and a handful of FX and no VST/AU. I find it easier to get into something when the possibilities are limited, until you get really familiar with it and start wanting more.
http://studioone.presonus.com/free/
[ link ]I started (many moons ago) with Magix Musicmaker, which isn’t that good. I then graduated to Acid Pro, which I think is very good if a total noob, as it is loopbased. At least you can learn how to build tracks and create something that isn’t that bad. However, this only works for a period of time as with your experience grows, you want to create original work. Only using loops as little helpers in your productions. So MIDI comes into the picture, and even Acid Pro has a midi functionality I went on and started working with Steinberg Cubase. I love Cubase and won’t leave it ever, but it took a lot of effort and time to get to know this application … well!
However, if I had to start all over again I probably would go for Ableton Live. It has this simplicity over it with that simple GUI and also beacuse we (gearjunkies.com) hear good things about it when looking to usability. There are also a lot of free resources on the internet to get you started and improving your experience level.
[ link ]Haha, started out with Cubase on the Atari ST (before it could handle audio, so MIDI only).
[ link ]For me Ableton is the one tool I use for everything but DJ’ing, but for what you describe, i’d say you could start out worh just Traktor with their new Remix Decks. Serious fun.
As other have already mentioned – the choices are many….Regardless of being “fanboys” of this or that DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) and regardless of what I personally use for production (argh, I hate this term, whatever happened to “write music” or “compose”), I think most people would agree that for remixes and mashups Ableton Live is your go-to software.
[ link ]The only problem I see with it is that it is way “different” than all other typical DAWs and when you are experienced enough that you want to leave from the “loop-o-sampling-editing-fiddling” area to go to more “original” ways of composition (midi drum programming, advanced channel routing and mixing techniques) and try another DAW it almost feels as if you are starting from scratch again.
By the way though, and excuse me for saying so, I hope Im not misunderstood it takes A LOT more commitment than “just have something to do until I turn 18″ to create a semi-decent music piece. So, perhaps you might want to think it over and invest the time you have at your disposal to getting better at DJing (if thats what you really want to do) instead of toying around with production.
I get the impression this reader is committed enough to learn a lot in that 5 months, Softcore
[ link ]I myself Started using “Reason” when i was about ten years old, and learned alot of what i know today using that, i then progressed much later into using cubase/ableton and i highly recommend using ableton as a starter program, because there are many tutorials on how to get very in depth with the software, and its very user friendly as well, ableton is also great in your long term career as well, i hope this helps! I also posted a link of my soundcloud, i have alot of tunes on there i made with ableton.
Scary Manilow
[ link ]Producer/DJ
http://Www.soundcloud.com/scary-manilow
Yo! I started with Fruity Loops 6 and Acid (nostalgia anyone?) on a friend’s PC, then, I moved on to E-Jay Dance 6 because I just wanted a ‘drag n drop’ type thingy to make simple tracks for mashing.
I recently got FL Studio 10 Producer Edition which I believe is simple enough for beginners as well as complicated enough for professional users with some of the advanced features. I am considering moving on to Albeton Live in the future, but at the moment FL is working for me…
The best advice anyone here will give you is to always TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. You mentioned what sounded like a small DJ community in your area, but try set up a network of DJs and learn with and from each other, it’s the best way forward. All the best!
[ link ]There are so many DAW’s out there, but all have different workflow. I have been ‘DJ’ing’ for almost 2 years now, but have only started playing out more over the past year, and alot more is expected in the next year for my DJ duo. I don’t get to many ‘clubbish’ shows, being only 15, but I do school events and parties. Anyway.
But recently, I have started getting into producing. I tried trials for DAW’s, like Fruity Loops and Ableton. Ableton, is a monster, ‘complete’ kind of program, which will cover alot to do with Producing/DJ’ing. Fruity Loops is pretty great to, but again, has a different workflow.
I have tried out Reason, and stuck with that for good. In the future I am considering perhaps using Ableton or Fruity Loops in conjunction with Reason, just for VST support, just to make it easier. But the one thing I love about Reason, is the fact that when you buy it, you can make practically any sound a VST would make (it takes longer but it has much more customization due to infinite rack). So really its a electronic music specific program (Reason 6 has opened up more opportunities with recording functionality though.)
But I recommend learning basics, assuming you have a decent knowledge of basic music theory, and go ahead and learn production terminology and ‘jargon’ if you will.
http://www.musicradar.com/computermusic/free-beginner-pdfs-246054
This should help you, its a bunch of pdf’s on music production. Good luck
[ link ]Thanks for all the useful advice and comments! I hear a lot of people recommending Ableton Live and I’m definitely going to download the trial. As a DJ setup I use a Mixtrack Pro with Traktor Pro2, so I don’t think I want to perform live on Ableton. Is it worth just for producing too? (The “live” in the name confuses me a bit
)
Logic looks nice but unfortunately there is no trial version for that. I’ve watched the tutorial Westage has posted and that got me really interested in Logic.
I tried FL Studio but I don’t think it’s going to be my program of choice. Also because I have a macbook pro and I like the idea of producing wherever I am.
Just to make it clear, I don’t plan having producing as a “gap filler” and I think it would be the perfect time getting started. I practice my DJ’ing regularly and love doing it.
[ link ]At the moment I want to produce progressive house but I’m not sure if it’s going to stay like that, because my musical taste has changed rather quickly in the past 3 years, so it would be nice have a versatile program. Seems like it would come down between Logic and Ableton Live. Any tips for deciding between those two programs?
Logic has a steep learning curve. Ableton is much easier to learn. I think you’ll find that Logic is dauntingly difficult to start producing on.
Right now these two are really the only “modern” DAWs. There are plenty of producers using older options (Fruity, Cubase etc) but mostly because it’s what they’re already comfortable with.
A majority of producers in the last few years have been using Ableton, so there’s a lot of good tutorial material available for it that isn’t available for Logic.
[ link ]If i want it just for producing, should i get ableton live or suite?.. That’s for me another point that speaks for logic, it’s much cheaper.
[ link ]Quick question, since Ableton’s “33% off” offer ends tonight (although I guess it will probably exended again): Is the “Intro” version of Ableton Live worth buying or does it lack too many important features?
[ link ]Ableton is very easy to start with, I never had any formal training and ableton live is fun from the first step, and very powerful
[ link ]Try Acousticas Mixcraft Pro 6 too, http://www.acoustica.com
But the best little software i have used lots of times is the
MP3 Audio Mixer…you can find it under downloads.
If you want to beatmix songs and then just save your mix this is a really great little software. I sometimes use it to set all my songs to a certain BPM too when i played on CDJ.
No EQ settings but it works great anyway by mixing withe the audiosettings and no autoBPM detection, only manual setting. Its lots of fun and the mixresult is great and you can create a long beatmix really fast.
[ link ]Acoustica Mixcraft Pro is a good package, very versatile with audio and video, and very affordable! The new version 6 was recently released.
[ link ]Two more things…Acoustica Mixcraft does have EQ, and it is found under the Acoustica effects for each track. It also has beat detection as you can set the BPM for a project and it will auto match the BPMs of imported tracks, but not for live recordings. I have version 5.2.
[ link ]For making you productions from scratch, I highly recommend FL Studio.
I tried out (read: was forced to use) Cubase in college, and have since tried out Ableton, and didn’t like either of them. A will concede that Ableton is in fact an awesome product, its just so far removed from what I know, and as 100% of my production is done in the studio and 0% live, I’m too lazy/stubborn to learn how to use it.
I’ve also got Zynewave Podium. I haven’t used it much, but from my bit of playing, its pretty decent software. Especially for US$50!
I don’t do mashups (the extent of my remix work taking an a capella or a the remix stems from the original artists, and building my track from scratch around those) but I imagine any of the above should be more than capable of doing what you want for now, and with a few extra plugins, see you well into the future too.
[ link ]The main thing about production is that no matter what DAW you use, your first songs are going to be shit. You’ll have an idea you want to realize, but when you try and make it work, you’re just not experienced enough to do so. So you’ll spend weeks trying to make this one track sound good. DON’T! No matter what you do, that track is going to sound shit. So instead of trying to make a full blown song right from the start, just try making a lots and lots of short tracks, experimenting with different sounds, techniques etc. It’s much better practice and less frustrating.
[ link ]Very, very good advice and spot on. I’ve got loads of unfinished ‘tracks’ from years ago, all part of the learning curve.
Personally I’m a big fan of Reason (6.5 just launched) as it can be used simply to sequence loops as well as in-depth synth creation for example. There are several DAWs available, best thing is to download the demos, extensively play with them and go from there.
[ link ]First approach to beatmaking software was HammerHead. The tried FL and now I’m barely starting with Ableton Live 8… Let´s see what happens!
[ link ]First approach to beatmaking software was HammerHead. Then tried FL and now I’m barely starting with Ableton Live 8… Let´s see what happens!
[ link ]Once Traktor 2.5 becomes a bit more stable, you might want to play around with the remix decks, as a previous poster suggested.
If nothing else, it will help you master that first flight deck before you move onto the next one.
That’s the approach I’m taking until I can afford to choose a DAW, anyway.
[ link ]As above mentioned (first comment) I started out with Acid Pro 2, many moons ago. I progressed over the years to Cubase. Maybe if I had to start these days I would start out with Ableton, as it might be the best program for in the box production. Not many producers will start with hardware and midi these days, so a software based setup would be good with Ableton Live.
But in the end it doesn’t matter really what you use as long as it is a solid program with enough resources. Logic, Cubase, Reason, FL Studio, Live have enough tutorial videos on Youtube, plus there are many online courses for them as well.
I myself wouldn’t start with a program that would limit you in your development. MIK Mashup is fun but if you want to go to the next level, well then it stops right there. The other programs have a margin that if you would want to do more production you can!
[ link ]