Ableton mixes .... boring? I love the idea of ableton live and things, but from looking at a few tracklists knocking about and listening to mixes from around the net done on it.... there seems to be a bit of a pattern building up : Repetitive loops that are more inclined to put the listener to sleep than actually have their feet tapping and *shock horror* ... dancing? I mean its great that you can drag and drop tracks, warp them instantly to the exact same tempo in a matter of seconds etc etc.. but arent some people just abusing this to the point where they get obsessed with layering as many loops as possible to please themselves how fancy they are... rather than creating a 'set' that flows correctly and feels right. Yeah its nice to listen and appreciate for a few moments, but to be honest i'd rather listen to tiesto trainwreck together two tunes that i hate and at least get a sense of moving from one place to the next... than just marvelling at 15 minutes of constant drum loops? Ableton used correctly is incredible i think - Think Sasha and Involver..... but this whole looping and layering is starting to bug me just as much as the helicopter trick on a cdj. Anyone else?
Ableton done correctly is amazing, DJing done correctly is amazing, Live Sets done correctly are amazing Just int he same way Ableton done poorly is poor, Djing done poorly is poor and live sets done poorly is poor if u cant do something right there is no point in doing it at all
What he said ^ Some Ableton sets are boring, unimaginitive, lazy shite. Some are proper. Some DJ sets are boring, unimaginitive, lazy shite. Some are proper.
Its a very convenient roundabout statement to make about anything in particular. The problem is, its sometimes very obvious when someone is using a pc/ableton to mix as opposed to if you wanted to tell the difference between someone playing their set from a cd or vinyl, which when cd's took off.... wasnt exactly an argument thrown about alot. I'd say it was an interesting topic because ableton essentially removes the need to spend 1-2 minutes picking, cueing, beatmatching and getting a tune ready to mix - but does it then mean they spend their time just whacking 100 different loops on top of each other and calling it 'creative'.... ... yeah the standard answer to this is 'some dj's will, some wont.. etc etc etc' but it will be interesting to see what percentage of mixes from the new wave of ableton dj's sound like.... which i'd say alot of them are worryingly repetitive, moreso than CD jocks which copped alot of flack for their ease of use at one point and how it gave people more time to loop around and play with.
Adam Sheridan used Ableton at the Bosh tour nite in the arches last year. I must say it was prob 1 of the most boring sets ive ever heard. Im a fan of Adam but that technology did no favours imo. Set seemed 2 drift without any real oomph or sustained drive. Thumbs down from me so far 2 this technology
We're not starting this one again are we, we only just finished the last ableton thread a day or two ago What Lee & the Fake one said. But I agree that too many people will do what you're saying too. It's like everything though, I think (or hope) after the initial hype over it - maybe in a year or two, people will start to be able to tell whether people are just taking the piss or actually doing something new and interesting, and those who don't do anything new and interesting, will end up on the shit heap.
Yeah i liked it as a piece of 'electronica' - but i wouldnt call it dance music...... Technically its really good and its way beyond what i could ever imagine i could do myself, just very technically accomplished but doesnt sit as something i personally would look for in a nightclub/bar. I guess thats crossing the point of personal preference as opposed to open discussion though.
Listen to this. Not boring, lazy, easy to do, unimaginitive or anything else and it would (and does) work in clubs. http://www.2hi4u.com/mixes/spaz_mammoth.mp3 Thomas Brinkmann - Lovesong (Max Ernst) Aphex Twin - Icct Hedral (Philip Glass Orchestration) (Warp) Thomas Brinkmann - 109 Connection (Max Ernst) Plastikman - Consumed (M-nus) Cristian Vogel - Absolute (Tresor) Mike Parker - Inversion 2 (CDr) m2 - Tone Exploitation (Mille Plateaux) Shifted Phases - Dance of the Celestial Druids (Tresor) Auch - The Animal Factory (Mille Plateaux) Front242 - Work (WaxTrax) Daft Punk - Rock'n'Roll (Source) Wu Tang Clan - Protect Ya Neck (The Jump Off) (Sony) James Ruskin - Version (Tresor) Plastikman - Plasticity (Novamute) Front242 - First In First Out (WaxTrax) Kraftwerk - Metal on Metal (Capitol) Max Duley - Slap (Molecular) Laurent Garnier - Water Planet (F Communications) Mantronix - Needle to the Groove (Ten Records) Joey Beltram - Nameless (Tresor) Nick Wilson - Repetition (Sebastian Kramer Black/Red Mix) (CDr) Jeff Mills - Transformation B (Rotwang's Revenge) (Tresor) The Youngsters - Anxious Boy (F Communications) Basic Channel - E2E4 (Basic Reshape) (Basic Channel) Talking Heads - Psycho Killer (Live) (EMI) Damon Wild - Jackass (Music Man) Los Hermanos - Quetzal (Altos Cielos Mix) (Los Hermanos) Tobias Schmidt - Wagging Tail (Tresor) Jeff Mills - AX-009 C (Axis) (ncw reverse edits edit) Wu Tang Clan - Interlude (Sony) Daft Punk / Romanthony - Too Long (Virgin) Thomas Brinkmann - Mit Sugar (Max Ernst) _____INTERMISSION A - Can you feel it? ______ Open House and Placid Angels - Aquatic (Buzz) Ovuca - Afternoon Girl (Rephlex) Luka Baumann - B1 (ADV005) Nine Inch Nails - Head Like a Hole (Opal Mix) (TVT) The Youngsters - Spanish Harlem (F Communications) Joy Division - Isolation (Factory) Joey Beltram - Floaters (Tresor) Nick Wilson - Cascade (Continual) Aphex Twin - On (D-Scape Mix) (Warp) K.Hand - Mystery (Tresor) Nine Inch Nails - Stretched Reprise (TVT) Diskordia - Psiho-Deliya (Tresor) The Vision - Projectile Darts (Tresor) Aphex Twin - Omgyiya Switch 7 (Warp) 808 State - Flow Coma (Creed) ____ULTRA STRETCH INTERMISSION_____ Tobias Schmidt - Hot on the Heels of Love (Disko B) Bronski Beat - Small Town Boy (Forbidden Fruit) The Youngsters - Slow (F Communications) DMX Krew - The Glass Room (Rephlex) Subhead - Scopex (Tresor) KB and the Gang - Nachde Punjabi (Naxos) Oliver Ho - In the Centre of Paradise (Meta) Aphex Twin - Reprise (Warp) Nick Wilson - The Sleeper (Continual) Mr Fingers - Washing Machine (Trax) Tomas Jirku - Pohdka (Mille Plateaux) Surgeon - 9 Hours Into the Future (Dynamic Tension)
Agree with that Si. Although, some of the Ableton sets I have seen where tracks have just been mixed together one after another have sounded completely soulless and boring, maybe because of the lack of human input. If you can make it sound fresh, that it don't matter what your using.
at all of us still trying to make the same points worded slightly different - think it's just one of those things where people aren't going to agree
mmmm *scratches head* ... maybe its because its the trial version .. might have doen something so it doesnt put things in at exactly the right time .. ??
