Ableton

Pros

• Ableton Live is very powerful and easy-to-use recording software.
• This program provides its users with many professional mixing and mastering options.
• Ableton comes packed with a large number of synthetic instruments.

Cons

• Playing music on Ableton without using its looping feature is difficult.
• This program's musical timeline has a clunky interface.

Ableton Live is a program that musicians use for mixing, writing and mastering music. Many electronic musicians prefer Ableton Live over similar recording programs because it's accessible and easy to use. Ableton can be used in conjunction with external live instruments. It also comes packed with its own set of synthetic instruments that can be used to make songs using only the program.

Ableton Live features a very sleek interface that makes recording songs easy. The left panel of the program displays a series of different instruments and filters that the musician can use. The middle segments display all of the current instrument loops that can be added to the timeline. The instrument loops can be added manually or selected while recording. Ableton allows its users to select specific time signatures as well.

Using Ableton can feel more like using DJ software because of the way the interface is set up. The easiest way to use this program is to manually plug different instrument loops into Ableton's timeline. A lot of professional musicians use Ableton for playing live music by using the program's MIDI output feature. Ableton can be used in conjunction with real keyboards and synthesizers. This program also gives its users the option to record live music through an external microphone. Recorded vocals and external instruments can be looped alongside the digital instruments. Users of Ableton can also insert prerecorded samples into the program's timeline.

Ableton Live is great for mastering music because it comes packed a with a large number of different audio filters. Users can add custom reverb, amp and synthetic filters to make songs sound more jagged or soft. Each of these filters can be added to individual channels on the timeline. Users can also add filters that blanket the entirety of the recording. Most of Ableton's included instruments sound too simple without adding extra noise and reverb effects. It is very easy to add several different audio filters to a single song. All of these filters can also be tweaked. This allows Ableton users to create a song in almost any genre of music that they like. Ableton has been used to make rock, rap and electronic music. Musicians who solely favor live instruments may not get a lot of use out of Ableton Live. Programs like Adobe Audition tend to be better for mastering live song performances. Ableton is great for musicians who cycle between playing live and computerized sounding music. Ableton's method of song construction can make certain tracks feel too rigid because the program compartmentalizes all of its music into blocks of sound.

Pros

• Ableton Live is very powerful and easy-to-use recording software.
• This program provides its users with many professional mixing and mastering options.
• Ableton comes packed with a large number of synthetic instruments.

Cons

• Playing music on Ableton without using its looping feature is difficult.
• This program's musical timeline has a clunky interface.