4 ms·

Personally, I don't really like the Push platform, having previously owned a Push 2. I can understand the value of it if you're performing live, however the ha

by dottjt 3y ago

Personally, I don't really like the Push platform, having previously owned a Push 2. I can understand the value of it if you're performing live, however the hard reality is that it's a really inefficient way to create electronic music. The mouse and keyboard are simply a lot faster to use. With that said, maybe that's for you. But if you're trying to make advanced productions as quickly as possible, then I really see no value in the Push. You could of course use it as a MIDI controller, but it's a damn expensive one if your sole purpose is to use it as a MIDI controller.

prmoustache 3y ago
This is a reason ableton live is called ... live. It is made to create music with the idea to play it live. The Push is the actual controller for the live performance.
CamelRocketFish 3y ago
If you aren’t great at piano then using a push in note scale mode is fantastic. Another benefit is when recording automation you can turn the knobs to add a human element over something like point and clicking points. It’s an excellent tool for creating music, not just for live.
capableweb 3y ago
> The mouse and keyboard are simply a lot faster to use. It's really up to personal preference and what you are most trained with. I'm sure I could make a full song faster than at least 50% of Ableton users on a Analog Rytm and/or the Octatrack, as I could probably do that workflow in my sleep. But I'm also use that 99% of Ableton users could use Ableton faster than me to create full songs, simply because I'm much more used to using hardware than software. Just like some people are better with console controllers than keyboard/mouse, even when playing FPS games, it's just a matter of practice (although FPS example has a skill-ceiling I don't think exists in music creation, so slightly shitty example)
adriand 3y ago
A keyboard and a mouse might be faster in some instances, but they are also far less musically expressive. When it comes to putting emotion into music, I think it is a lot easier to do so with an expressive, physically embodied musical instrument. In terms of speed, I'm also not sure how quickly you can create articulations like vibrato and slides with a mouse and keyboard, but that seems like it would be fairly tedious to do manually? Wouldn't that require a lot of envelope tweaking? Speaking personally, playing on a pad controller uses a different part of my brain and body than using a keyboard and a mouse. When I create stuff with a keyboard and mouse, I am in "design mode", where I am thinking in a deliberate way, similar to programming. When I create stuff on a pad controller, I am in "express mode", where I am not really thinking at all.
- CuriouslyC 3y ago
  Most instruments have parameters for things like vibrato that you can set quickly by "drawing" them with a mouse under the note in reaper (and probably other daws). Slide isn't really a normal thing with midi, you'd need the instrument plugin to explicitly support it using some sort of parameter, but if one was present it'd be easy to set via the mouse.
  - vhcr 3y ago
    I mean... You can do that, but I don't think you're going to enjoy the process compared with playing a physical instrument.
- stinos 3y ago
  When it comes to putting emotion into music, I think it is a lot easier to do so with an expressive, physically embodied musical instrument. This is exactly my experience. I started with mouse/keyboard only fiddling with electronic music (no music background whatsoever) and the day I bought a basic MIDI controller I ended up playing it until it was time to go to work the next morning.. It was such an overwhelming experience, not just the keys themselves but also the buttons and the trackpad. Finally I could just do all these tiny variations which make groove on the spot, immediately, in infinite variations, instead of going back and forth dragging things with a mouse in only one dimension.
squeaky-clean 3y ago
Finger-drumming and using the sequencer in Push is much faster than clicking in MIDI notes for me.

by dottjt 3y ago

prmoustache 3y ago

This is a reason ableton live is called ... live. It is made to create music with the idea to play it live. The Push is the actual controller for the live performance.

CamelRocketFish 3y ago

If you aren’t great at piano then using a push in note scale mode is fantastic. Another benefit is when recording automation you can turn the knobs to add a human element over something like point and clicking points. It’s an excellent tool for creating music, not just for live.

capableweb 3y ago

> The mouse and keyboard are simply a lot faster to use. It's really up to personal preference and what you are most trained with. I'm sure I could make a full song faster than at least 50% of Ableton users on a Analog Rytm and/or the Octatrack, as I could probably do that workflow in my sleep. But I'm also use that 99% of Ableton users could use Ableton faster than me to create full songs, simply because I'm much more used to using hardware than software. Just like some people are better with console controllers than keyboard/mouse, even when playing FPS games, it's just a matter of practice (although FPS example has a skill-ceiling I don't think exists in music creation, so slightly shitty example)

adriand 3y ago

A keyboard and a mouse might be faster in some instances, but they are also far less musically expressive. When it comes to putting emotion into music, I think it is a lot easier to do so with an expressive, physically embodied musical instrument. In terms of speed, I'm also not sure how quickly you can create articulations like vibrato and slides with a mouse and keyboard, but that seems like it would be fairly tedious to do manually? Wouldn't that require a lot of envelope tweaking? Speaking personally, playing on a pad controller uses a different part of my brain and body than using a keyboard and a mouse. When I create stuff with a keyboard and mouse, I am in "design mode", where I am thinking in a deliberate way, similar to programming. When I create stuff on a pad controller, I am in "express mode", where I am not really thinking at all.

CuriouslyC 3y ago
Most instruments have parameters for things like vibrato that you can set quickly by "drawing" them with a mouse under the note in reaper (and probably other daws). Slide isn't really a normal thing with midi, you'd need the instrument plugin to explicitly support it using some sort of parameter, but if one was present it'd be easy to set via the mouse.
- vhcr 3y ago
  I mean... You can do that, but I don't think you're going to enjoy the process compared with playing a physical instrument.
stinos 3y ago
When it comes to putting emotion into music, I think it is a lot easier to do so with an expressive, physically embodied musical instrument. This is exactly my experience. I started with mouse/keyboard only fiddling with electronic music (no music background whatsoever) and the day I bought a basic MIDI controller I ended up playing it until it was time to go to work the next morning.. It was such an overwhelming experience, not just the keys themselves but also the buttons and the trackpad. Finally I could just do all these tiny variations which make groove on the spot, immediately, in infinite variations, instead of going back and forth dragging things with a mouse in only one dimension.

squeaky-clean 3y ago

Finger-drumming and using the sequencer in Push is much faster than clicking in MIDI notes for me.