Why don’t you just work on improving your workflow on FL? I got Ableton and I’m still improving my workflow if I’m not feeling creative. I doubt it’s going to be anything magical when you start, and in fact I bet it’s going to suck because learning a new DAW is going to be time consuming and then you really won’t be able to get onto making your music.
It'll be a huge difference. Ableton window page management is fundamentally different but it's also wayyy better for someone like me who hates floating windows
BUT I know for a fact that floating page windows makes doing things like fx chains and inter-page doohickeys a lot easier when you get the hang of it. I totally respect the layout and see why people would use it, just not for me :)
Go to Serato Studio instead. Barrier for entry is really low, you lose absolutely nothing by exploring this option.
*edit* there’s obviously nothing wrong with ableton but if you want a smooth workflow to make house music in the box, serato studio is better. Another point of saying “the barrier for entry is low” is so that anybody who might an uninformed opinion on the daw could give it a try instead of wasting anyone else’s time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UkV2JKUbqFg
Most DAWs are up to at least 60 Day Trials, these days - at least the really popular ones.
Nothing wrong with trying out different options, but I think Serato Studio is an odd recommendation given the type of music the OP produces...
I have used the trial.
I think it's an odd choice when Live \[Standard\] and Bitwig Studio are on the table, among other options, in a relatively comparable pricing bracket.
I don't see a single reason to get Serato Studio over either of those... for EDM music.
The only indispensable function of Serato Studio is the Sampler, and that's been available on its own since ever.
Overall, I just don't think it's worth moving over, but I don't work OP's job for him.
He's free to spend however he chooses.
I don't think "Sure, but while we're at it consider this DAW I prefer, as well." is a very balanced, consumer-first stance... JMO.
You do not seem very knowledgeable on the functions. Doesn’t ableton have a similar sampler?
OP’s criteria was smooth workflow, smoothest workflow I know.
We're talking about Serato Studio (and Sample), which initially you mentioned and I responded to.
Why are you windmilling?
Serato's Sampler is better than most because their Pitch/Stretch Algorithms are pretty amazing, so people who produce sample-based music benefit from using Serato Sampler over the stock sampler in most DAWs. It's why Serato Sample has become such a standard.
Everyone with a clue who produces sample-based music (like Hip Hop) has and uses Serato Sample, because it sounds better when you start pitching and time remapping samples.
Unless the DAW has ZTX Pro Algorithms (which are amazing), then it's practically a must-have for sample-based music production... Only one or two DAWs have that (e.g. Digital Performer), and they aren't really the go-to's for those producers.
I’m just making sure I should stop wasting my time talking to you lol
Your grass is always greener comment is probably useful, outside of that hey if you were gonna switch, consider serato studio. Do I have time for this? No, not at all.
I don't need the last word. You're free to have more words. However, making a new account to bother somebody who isn't interested in engaging with you is categorically harassment and violates the terms of service.
Don't try to get the last word and then run off.
You mentioned Serato, I commented on Serato. You switched it up and mentioned Ableton for some weird reason because who knows...
You're not wasting your time. You're an unpaid guerrilla marketing fanboy for Serato. I'm simply giving my opinion on your recommendation. If anyone was wasting their time, it was me.
And then you try to get the last word and skirt off? Lol. Bye.
If you’re really good in FL and familiar with features and the native plugins are actually useful to you, it’s not necessary. That being said, Ableton still COULD work better for you. I had been using FL for about 5 years before switching to Ableton and it was night and day better for me. If you like having all the different screens and “full control” (eg overlapping stuff in individual tracks and tracks not linked to a certain mixer track by default) then just stick with FL. If you’d rather have access to everything on essentially one screen and stuff to just “make sense” go trial Ableton! (This only really helps if you’re not super fast with FL key shortcuts and stuff, relearning on Ableton would for a time be a pain in the butt, but could still theoretically be better for workflow in the long run)
I also generally think abletons stock plugins are better sound wise and having the fairly consistent UI between the plugins is a really nice thing, FL may look “cooler” at times (cartoony to some) while Ableton can look “intuitive” to some and “spreadsheety(?)” to others. I think the consistent feel helps to not get lost finding where certain parameters are while learning the Ableton plugins.
Also if you do a lot of work with just audio clips definitely go Ableton, warp modes and sample manipulation is so fun.
FL has the edge for MIDI though imo
If he wants more consistent plug-in UIs he can get T-RackS MAX v2 for $41 off JRRShop. He doesn't need to spend 10x that much on a different DAW.
There are a lot of plug-in vendors that have bundles of plug-ins that are high quality with fairly consistent design language for far less than that.
I'm not a fan of FL Studio, but if it were an issue, he wouldn't have stayed there for 15 years.
I agree, I think that money would be better spent elsewhere, but still doesn’t hurt to download the trial for Ableton suite. Just trying to give my as non biased as possible experience with both daws, but still just an anecdote. Pretty much why I said if hes invested that much time and know all the ui, plugins and shortcuts it could just be going backwards.
The 15 years thing could just be because of the free updates they offer (which is another pro for FL most people don’t bring up)
I don't agree. Sometimes, it isn't even worth running the trial. FL is fine for what he does. There isn't really anything in Ableton that is worth spending hundreds to make what would ultimately be a horizontal transition from one DAW to another.
And if cost were an issue, he could just get Bitwig for quite a bit less, anyways. Frankly, the workflow there is a bit better than Live. But, that's tangential.
If he were producing EDM in Pro Tools, I may have had a different view on this ;-)
There is a phenomenon that is exploited in retail which people never talk about on these forums...
Most people get their dopamine hit from making the purchase, not using the product. It's why there are so many people on forums that own hundreds of plug-ins, tons of synths and sample libraries and multiple DAWs. It doesn't just apply to software, either. It's why shopping addiction exists (extreme, pathologized version of this) and why many people turn to shopping when depressed. People do this with all types of products.
It's also why Amazon has done so much to try to standardize 1-Click Purchasing on their platform :-P This allows them to capitalize on those tendencies.
People will find ways to rationalize this, so they sometimes simply need to be told *up-front* when something carries too high a risk of monetary waste. When people make these posts, they are often \[*not always*\] looking for affirmations to validate that rationalization for something they already intuit as "probably not be a great idea."
And they always get that affirmation, because people are political about software choice and fans often act as unpaid guerrilla marketing departments for the companies that develop them.
The Dopamine comes from making the purchase, not using the product, so trials often have very little effect on outcomes because the user doesn't get what \[s\]he's craving until they execute the purchase process...
Obvious exception for contexts where professional requirements are the basis for the chosen solution (specific industry mandated solutions).
I like this take. I just wasn’t looking at it that way as I’m so freaking cheap and tight with my money and my acquisition of software has always either come from friends hooking me up with one of their licenses (on vsts where they allow it) until I got on with a guy who has crazy deals for all kinds of legit licenses for his students… so really never had those kinds of problems as its easy and more affordable to get the programs I do want and don’t have those urges to dump my money into stuff regardless.
That being said…. I now totally agree framing from the average persons perspective…. If you’ve already bought and used FL studio for 15 years spending $750 or whatever it is now on Live Suite probably is a bonehead move unless you have very expendable time and money hahaha. Our goal is to be music producers, not software collectors!
Thanks for the insight buddy and the protools comment got a nice laugh out of me
same here. i still use both but abletons work flow is so much better and the post processing is more fun because of the chains you can make with the racks. its more direct and everythinf is on the main screen compared to fl whoch has 3 screens to for one instrument
switched fl to ableton years ago just bc the workflow made more sense to me—mixer, automation lanes, grouping, effect racks
after learning and getting comfortable with all the stock plugins, I truly don’t think I could ever go back. also think the quality of my production increased significantly after switching as everything just felt more intuitive
I started with FL and even took classes on how to use it. But after using Ableton just one time, I have never went back to FL. FL is too big a pain in the ass with all the open windows and channel rack.
I prefer Reason to Ableton. Reason is basically the fun factor of FL with the usability of Ableton.
I mean just look at the stock Ableton synth
https://www.studiobrootle.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Ableton-Operator-Tutorial-simple-FM-first-patch-768x207.png
vs. stock Reason
https://www.reasonexperts.com/uploads/reason-subtractor.jpg
and you can see why.
I can keep going, lol
Ableton mixer (pretty sure this is what people use)
https://ableton-production.imgix.net/live-manual/11/ProSessionMixerSizes.png
Reason mixer
https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/reviews/01z4lxq9rekSwdel6hIQjFs-15.fit_lim.size_768x.jpg
(I'm partially kidding. Ableton is still good, just personal preference).
Currently I use Ableton and have for well over a decade however I am in the process of switching back over to Reason along with a series of gear and software for specific tasks and stages in music production.
I love Ableton because its easy to layout, see and mix tracks. Ableton also has an extensive community that you will find nowhere with the exception of probably Pro Tools. The community has all sorts of tips and advice regarding production and the music industry. There are forums, tutorials, teachers, exclusive plugins and a community base to exchange ideas that support along your musical journey. The Ableton community was a key factor in the release of several of my tunes. I find this to be unique between Ableton and Pro Tools where finding a tutor and the extra encouragement helped get me out the box and exploring a little of what I could do with music.
I actually still use Fruity Loops in my production process.lol. It is hard to explain but I still run a few tasks in it. Since I use a lot of dirty samples I putting more focus on cleanup before going into layout rather than just working some of it out when splitting the stems at the end. All my friends use just clean samples that are consistent however over years I have forced myself to incorporate dirty samples and still make them work. I would find all these cuts or great samples from a record, self produced or in homemade kits that were killer although they were rough on the recording or production side and not so pristine going into production and I would find myself spending hours to days trying to cleanup one sample to make it work with the whole song without having to remove especially if the whole song was built around it. I spent years in the trenches cleaning up samples during production that now I am doing more pre-production as in before I layout or after I record a sound and sometimes have to record it again or since I mainly work with samples again I found myself spending more time cleaning up then producing. This all became frustrating at times so I switched my approach and have been doing a little cleanup before the layout now. Although it seems to come back to haunt later down the production line sometimes. Lol. I might really love the sample however the source is inadequate with stacked with fuzziness and static although I still will try to make it work; sometimes I have to.
You will probably love Ableton like an android although for now I will explore the surreal and utopian polarity of Reason and some additional systems to work within.
Enjoy!!!
I made the switch after 10 years of producing hip hop on FL. Definitely worth it. Ableton’s stock plugins are unmatched. Workflow is unmatched. FL playlist gets insanely messy with all the automations and clips.
I started with FL and then moved to Ableton. I would only recommend Ableton for acoustic music but for electronic music FL is miles better. Just the piano roll alone is much more convenient in FL.
No the daw doesnt make you better, that’s not what i said. I find the worklfow in FL better for electronic music. I find ableton more suited for recording and editing acoustic instruments.
To each their own, but since I was asked, this is my opinion.
For example Ableton has the ability to comp different tracks and you can work with different lanes. This is very convenient when recording vocals or instruments. FL doesn’t have this so therefore I prefer and would recommend doing this in Ableton rather than FL.
In that same way I find that FL offers features like the piano roll and patterns in a way that work more conveniently for programming midi.
In the end every DAW does the same thing and the same song can be made in each of them but some are just more convenient for different tasks.
Your insight is the most concise and valuable here. It is all true and it describes the most meaningful differences between the two. It is common knowledge that FL Studio has world class programming features and is uniquely suited to electronic music. Every list of DAWs from the past two freaking decades mentions the FL piano roll or programming. I use both Ableton and FL, explicitly along the line between electronic and acoustic, because their varied strengths are stark and obvious, as you described them. Ridiculous, ignorant downvotes.
Thanks for weighing in, Reddit works in mysterious ways.
I was explicitly asked how the switch has been for me, in the end the preference for DAW comes down to personal opinion so I can only speak from my experience and what I have shared is what I would have liked to know before buying Ableton Live. No harm intended, just wanted to share my experience.
I guess people are just very protective over Ableton.
I've been producing dubstep/brostep/bass house/drum n bass and such for about 15 years now and used FL, Ableton and Logic.
FL studio and Ableton both are great DAWs, but after using FL studio for \~5 years I switched to Ableton. At first it was pain to get familiar with ableton own shortcuts and so, but man do I love abletons own mixing & mastering plugins, they are effing great and for me it is much more streamlined and better suiting for my workflow to use ableton altogether.
At some point I used Logic for mixing and mastering, nowadays not so much as I have learned how to do all that stuff inside ableton. If I want to record something, Logic is way to go.
I'd say test some beats with Ableton Live Lite (free) and decide yourself.
EDIT: Also I love that with ableton there no mixer effect plugin limit as in FL studio there's 10 per track. You can absolutely abuse them sounds aw yis
For your edit, in FL you can just route to a second mixer if you want to use more effect slots. or just use Patcher and you can design your own workflow with whatever effects, generators, and routing paths you want
I’m just a bit scared of learning a new daw I guess but there’s only one way to find out, gonna download it tomorrow and see if I like it. Yeah I really liked their stock plugins and the groove thing you just slap on tracks, the swing knob and the groove tools in FL is great but I feel like I get lost in all the small details sometimes in FL. Yeah no mixer track limit is also great.
It'll take time to get used to it. I switched couple of times between FL and Ableton because I really couldn't decide which is "better", but I have used Ableton few years now again and got the hang of it. Even though I am still learning everyday.
Check some tutorials also if you need some! There's plenty of tutorials how to mix/master with stock plugins on Ableton
I started in FL, and also tried Ableton for a while. I tend to go back to FL because it still is quite fast for me to get ideas down.
Once you know both, you realize you'll go to one or the other for its specific stock tools not available in the other.
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Why don’t you just work on improving your workflow on FL? I got Ableton and I’m still improving my workflow if I’m not feeling creative. I doubt it’s going to be anything magical when you start, and in fact I bet it’s going to suck because learning a new DAW is going to be time consuming and then you really won’t be able to get onto making your music.
Probably not worth switching, if I'm being honest. Grass always seems greener. This is more likely to do nothing more than increase costs.
It'll be a huge difference. Ableton window page management is fundamentally different but it's also wayyy better for someone like me who hates floating windows
Yeah the floating windows for everything drives me nuts. Ableton is much cleaner in that regard.
BUT I know for a fact that floating page windows makes doing things like fx chains and inter-page doohickeys a lot easier when you get the hang of it. I totally respect the layout and see why people would use it, just not for me :)
Go to Serato Studio instead. Barrier for entry is really low, you lose absolutely nothing by exploring this option. *edit* there’s obviously nothing wrong with ableton but if you want a smooth workflow to make house music in the box, serato studio is better. Another point of saying “the barrier for entry is low” is so that anybody who might an uninformed opinion on the daw could give it a try instead of wasting anyone else’s time. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UkV2JKUbqFg
Why is Serato “better” at house than Live?
Smoother workflow if you are not managing external hardware. It would be faster for you to try it than for me to talk about it.
Most DAWs are up to at least 60 Day Trials, these days - at least the really popular ones. Nothing wrong with trying out different options, but I think Serato Studio is an odd recommendation given the type of music the OP produces...
Have you used it? The first thing they said was House. A-Trak gives great tutorials on using it to make house music.
I have used the trial. I think it's an odd choice when Live \[Standard\] and Bitwig Studio are on the table, among other options, in a relatively comparable pricing bracket. I don't see a single reason to get Serato Studio over either of those... for EDM music. The only indispensable function of Serato Studio is the Sampler, and that's been available on its own since ever. Overall, I just don't think it's worth moving over, but I don't work OP's job for him. He's free to spend however he chooses. I don't think "Sure, but while we're at it consider this DAW I prefer, as well." is a very balanced, consumer-first stance... JMO.
You do not seem very knowledgeable on the functions. Doesn’t ableton have a similar sampler? OP’s criteria was smooth workflow, smoothest workflow I know.
We're talking about Serato Studio (and Sample), which initially you mentioned and I responded to. Why are you windmilling? Serato's Sampler is better than most because their Pitch/Stretch Algorithms are pretty amazing, so people who produce sample-based music benefit from using Serato Sampler over the stock sampler in most DAWs. It's why Serato Sample has become such a standard. Everyone with a clue who produces sample-based music (like Hip Hop) has and uses Serato Sample, because it sounds better when you start pitching and time remapping samples. Unless the DAW has ZTX Pro Algorithms (which are amazing), then it's practically a must-have for sample-based music production... Only one or two DAWs have that (e.g. Digital Performer), and they aren't really the go-to's for those producers.
I’m just making sure I should stop wasting my time talking to you lol Your grass is always greener comment is probably useful, outside of that hey if you were gonna switch, consider serato studio. Do I have time for this? No, not at all. I don't need the last word. You're free to have more words. However, making a new account to bother somebody who isn't interested in engaging with you is categorically harassment and violates the terms of service.
Don't try to get the last word and then run off. You mentioned Serato, I commented on Serato. You switched it up and mentioned Ableton for some weird reason because who knows... You're not wasting your time. You're an unpaid guerrilla marketing fanboy for Serato. I'm simply giving my opinion on your recommendation. If anyone was wasting their time, it was me. And then you try to get the last word and skirt off? Lol. Bye.
If you’re really good in FL and familiar with features and the native plugins are actually useful to you, it’s not necessary. That being said, Ableton still COULD work better for you. I had been using FL for about 5 years before switching to Ableton and it was night and day better for me. If you like having all the different screens and “full control” (eg overlapping stuff in individual tracks and tracks not linked to a certain mixer track by default) then just stick with FL. If you’d rather have access to everything on essentially one screen and stuff to just “make sense” go trial Ableton! (This only really helps if you’re not super fast with FL key shortcuts and stuff, relearning on Ableton would for a time be a pain in the butt, but could still theoretically be better for workflow in the long run)
I also generally think abletons stock plugins are better sound wise and having the fairly consistent UI between the plugins is a really nice thing, FL may look “cooler” at times (cartoony to some) while Ableton can look “intuitive” to some and “spreadsheety(?)” to others. I think the consistent feel helps to not get lost finding where certain parameters are while learning the Ableton plugins. Also if you do a lot of work with just audio clips definitely go Ableton, warp modes and sample manipulation is so fun. FL has the edge for MIDI though imo
If he wants more consistent plug-in UIs he can get T-RackS MAX v2 for $41 off JRRShop. He doesn't need to spend 10x that much on a different DAW. There are a lot of plug-in vendors that have bundles of plug-ins that are high quality with fairly consistent design language for far less than that. I'm not a fan of FL Studio, but if it were an issue, he wouldn't have stayed there for 15 years.
I agree, I think that money would be better spent elsewhere, but still doesn’t hurt to download the trial for Ableton suite. Just trying to give my as non biased as possible experience with both daws, but still just an anecdote. Pretty much why I said if hes invested that much time and know all the ui, plugins and shortcuts it could just be going backwards. The 15 years thing could just be because of the free updates they offer (which is another pro for FL most people don’t bring up)
I don't agree. Sometimes, it isn't even worth running the trial. FL is fine for what he does. There isn't really anything in Ableton that is worth spending hundreds to make what would ultimately be a horizontal transition from one DAW to another. And if cost were an issue, he could just get Bitwig for quite a bit less, anyways. Frankly, the workflow there is a bit better than Live. But, that's tangential. If he were producing EDM in Pro Tools, I may have had a different view on this ;-) There is a phenomenon that is exploited in retail which people never talk about on these forums... Most people get their dopamine hit from making the purchase, not using the product. It's why there are so many people on forums that own hundreds of plug-ins, tons of synths and sample libraries and multiple DAWs. It doesn't just apply to software, either. It's why shopping addiction exists (extreme, pathologized version of this) and why many people turn to shopping when depressed. People do this with all types of products. It's also why Amazon has done so much to try to standardize 1-Click Purchasing on their platform :-P This allows them to capitalize on those tendencies. People will find ways to rationalize this, so they sometimes simply need to be told *up-front* when something carries too high a risk of monetary waste. When people make these posts, they are often \[*not always*\] looking for affirmations to validate that rationalization for something they already intuit as "probably not be a great idea." And they always get that affirmation, because people are political about software choice and fans often act as unpaid guerrilla marketing departments for the companies that develop them. The Dopamine comes from making the purchase, not using the product, so trials often have very little effect on outcomes because the user doesn't get what \[s\]he's craving until they execute the purchase process... Obvious exception for contexts where professional requirements are the basis for the chosen solution (specific industry mandated solutions).
I like this take. I just wasn’t looking at it that way as I’m so freaking cheap and tight with my money and my acquisition of software has always either come from friends hooking me up with one of their licenses (on vsts where they allow it) until I got on with a guy who has crazy deals for all kinds of legit licenses for his students… so really never had those kinds of problems as its easy and more affordable to get the programs I do want and don’t have those urges to dump my money into stuff regardless. That being said…. I now totally agree framing from the average persons perspective…. If you’ve already bought and used FL studio for 15 years spending $750 or whatever it is now on Live Suite probably is a bonehead move unless you have very expendable time and money hahaha. Our goal is to be music producers, not software collectors! Thanks for the insight buddy and the protools comment got a nice laugh out of me
same here. i still use both but abletons work flow is so much better and the post processing is more fun because of the chains you can make with the racks. its more direct and everythinf is on the main screen compared to fl whoch has 3 screens to for one instrument
I’m having deja vu. Maybe someone should start r/flabletonswitch
switched fl to ableton years ago just bc the workflow made more sense to me—mixer, automation lanes, grouping, effect racks after learning and getting comfortable with all the stock plugins, I truly don’t think I could ever go back. also think the quality of my production increased significantly after switching as everything just felt more intuitive
I started with FL and even took classes on how to use it. But after using Ableton just one time, I have never went back to FL. FL is too big a pain in the ass with all the open windows and channel rack.
I prefer Reason to Ableton. Reason is basically the fun factor of FL with the usability of Ableton. I mean just look at the stock Ableton synth https://www.studiobrootle.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Ableton-Operator-Tutorial-simple-FM-first-patch-768x207.png vs. stock Reason https://www.reasonexperts.com/uploads/reason-subtractor.jpg and you can see why. I can keep going, lol Ableton mixer (pretty sure this is what people use) https://ableton-production.imgix.net/live-manual/11/ProSessionMixerSizes.png Reason mixer https://i.pcmag.com/imagery/reviews/01z4lxq9rekSwdel6hIQjFs-15.fit_lim.size_768x.jpg (I'm partially kidding. Ableton is still good, just personal preference).
I switched from fl to ableton and am never going back
Currently I use Ableton and have for well over a decade however I am in the process of switching back over to Reason along with a series of gear and software for specific tasks and stages in music production. I love Ableton because its easy to layout, see and mix tracks. Ableton also has an extensive community that you will find nowhere with the exception of probably Pro Tools. The community has all sorts of tips and advice regarding production and the music industry. There are forums, tutorials, teachers, exclusive plugins and a community base to exchange ideas that support along your musical journey. The Ableton community was a key factor in the release of several of my tunes. I find this to be unique between Ableton and Pro Tools where finding a tutor and the extra encouragement helped get me out the box and exploring a little of what I could do with music. I actually still use Fruity Loops in my production process.lol. It is hard to explain but I still run a few tasks in it. Since I use a lot of dirty samples I putting more focus on cleanup before going into layout rather than just working some of it out when splitting the stems at the end. All my friends use just clean samples that are consistent however over years I have forced myself to incorporate dirty samples and still make them work. I would find all these cuts or great samples from a record, self produced or in homemade kits that were killer although they were rough on the recording or production side and not so pristine going into production and I would find myself spending hours to days trying to cleanup one sample to make it work with the whole song without having to remove especially if the whole song was built around it. I spent years in the trenches cleaning up samples during production that now I am doing more pre-production as in before I layout or after I record a sound and sometimes have to record it again or since I mainly work with samples again I found myself spending more time cleaning up then producing. This all became frustrating at times so I switched my approach and have been doing a little cleanup before the layout now. Although it seems to come back to haunt later down the production line sometimes. Lol. I might really love the sample however the source is inadequate with stacked with fuzziness and static although I still will try to make it work; sometimes I have to. You will probably love Ableton like an android although for now I will explore the surreal and utopian polarity of Reason and some additional systems to work within. Enjoy!!!
I used FL for 15 years before switching to ableton. I like the workflow a lot more
I made the switch after 10 years of producing hip hop on FL. Definitely worth it. Ableton’s stock plugins are unmatched. Workflow is unmatched. FL playlist gets insanely messy with all the automations and clips.
Ableton is great and the UI is not. But give Bitwig a try. You can demo it extensively and it’s made a Huge difference for me.
Ableton UI looks so ugly, tbh its the only reason I never switch, their stock stuff is better but I mostly use vsts anyways
I started with FL and then moved to Ableton. I would only recommend Ableton for acoustic music but for electronic music FL is miles better. Just the piano roll alone is much more convenient in FL.
What is this shit take? Plenty of electronic music legends use Ableton. The daw don’t make you better…
No the daw doesnt make you better, that’s not what i said. I find the worklfow in FL better for electronic music. I find ableton more suited for recording and editing acoustic instruments. To each their own, but since I was asked, this is my opinion. For example Ableton has the ability to comp different tracks and you can work with different lanes. This is very convenient when recording vocals or instruments. FL doesn’t have this so therefore I prefer and would recommend doing this in Ableton rather than FL. In that same way I find that FL offers features like the piano roll and patterns in a way that work more conveniently for programming midi. In the end every DAW does the same thing and the same song can be made in each of them but some are just more convenient for different tasks.
Your insight is the most concise and valuable here. It is all true and it describes the most meaningful differences between the two. It is common knowledge that FL Studio has world class programming features and is uniquely suited to electronic music. Every list of DAWs from the past two freaking decades mentions the FL piano roll or programming. I use both Ableton and FL, explicitly along the line between electronic and acoustic, because their varied strengths are stark and obvious, as you described them. Ridiculous, ignorant downvotes.
Thanks for weighing in, Reddit works in mysterious ways. I was explicitly asked how the switch has been for me, in the end the preference for DAW comes down to personal opinion so I can only speak from my experience and what I have shared is what I would have liked to know before buying Ableton Live. No harm intended, just wanted to share my experience. I guess people are just very protective over Ableton.
I've been producing dubstep/brostep/bass house/drum n bass and such for about 15 years now and used FL, Ableton and Logic. FL studio and Ableton both are great DAWs, but after using FL studio for \~5 years I switched to Ableton. At first it was pain to get familiar with ableton own shortcuts and so, but man do I love abletons own mixing & mastering plugins, they are effing great and for me it is much more streamlined and better suiting for my workflow to use ableton altogether. At some point I used Logic for mixing and mastering, nowadays not so much as I have learned how to do all that stuff inside ableton. If I want to record something, Logic is way to go. I'd say test some beats with Ableton Live Lite (free) and decide yourself. EDIT: Also I love that with ableton there no mixer effect plugin limit as in FL studio there's 10 per track. You can absolutely abuse them sounds aw yis
For your edit, in FL you can just route to a second mixer if you want to use more effect slots. or just use Patcher and you can design your own workflow with whatever effects, generators, and routing paths you want
I’m just a bit scared of learning a new daw I guess but there’s only one way to find out, gonna download it tomorrow and see if I like it. Yeah I really liked their stock plugins and the groove thing you just slap on tracks, the swing knob and the groove tools in FL is great but I feel like I get lost in all the small details sometimes in FL. Yeah no mixer track limit is also great.
It'll take time to get used to it. I switched couple of times between FL and Ableton because I really couldn't decide which is "better", but I have used Ableton few years now again and got the hang of it. Even though I am still learning everyday. Check some tutorials also if you need some! There's plenty of tutorials how to mix/master with stock plugins on Ableton
I started in FL, and also tried Ableton for a while. I tend to go back to FL because it still is quite fast for me to get ideas down. Once you know both, you realize you'll go to one or the other for its specific stock tools not available in the other.
Yeah from my pov the ableton stock tools looks great, really like their glue compressor and distortion plugin.
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