Ableton Live vs. Pro Tools – Music Production Software

Xavier Capdepon Ableton LiveIn this blog, I will be discussing general music production tips and tricks along with reviews on production tools and software that I have used before. One of the most difficult aspects of music production is mastering. Creating melodies on a couple of drum loops is one thing, but making sure that each sounds is at an optimal volume, frequency, and depth, while working off of each other, is a whole other art form. I am still a young producer myself, and I have a lot more to learn in the art of mixing and mastering.

The production software that I use is Ableton Live. Many popular artists such as Pretty Lights, Richie Hawtin, Armin Van Buuren, Kaskade, Diplo, and M83 use Ableton Live. I have used Pro Tools, Logic, and Reason; and I have to say that Ableton Live is my favorite by far. The interface is inviting and a lot simpler to understand. I have found that Ableton is a lot more user friendly than Pro Tools, Logic or Reason. Ableton and Pro Tools are the industry favorites, so I will go into a little bit of comparing and contrasting between the two. Pro Tools is better for live recordings and studios handling a lot of audio. There are more options in Pro Tools for audio manipulation and postproduction effects. You are more easily able to manipulate and work directly with the audio waveform and better compressing for vocals. Ableton is better for creating electronic dance music with MIDIs, plug-ins, FX and processing. Ableton is better for real-time play, as the user is able to DJ between multiple sections of audio at the same time. In this light, Ableton is more fun to use, as there are multiple modes of audio manipulation, looping, and sequencing that can all be done in real-time.