Thank you guys for all the great work you are putting in for educating us lesser folk. I have a basic question for you (maybe not so basic:). I see that a lot of serious deep/soulful house producers are using logic rather than ableton. For someone who is just starting out in this genre, would you recommend logic or ableton. In scanning the web you hear all sorts of stories about how logic is difficult to use compared to ableton, but that logic has a better sound. I am very conflicted and need some help here. Thanks a lot guys.

Hi Eric, Welcome to the forums! Question about Logic sounding better than Ableton based on what you've read... Were people saying that Logic's stock/included sounds are better than Albeton's? Or was it commentary about overall sound quality? The reason I ask is because comments about sound quality can refer to the sounds that come stock/included with a program, or, it can mean the overall sound quality of your mix once you're done with it. There's even a third factor, and that's what kind of audio interface you're using (direct out of your Mac or a 3rd party interface like an MBox or Apogee or MOTU, etc.) So if you could post back with some more details we can probably give you some opinions. But all that aside, I don't think that a DAW itself has an influence on the sound so much as how it works to suit the way you produce. The only time I've experienced a difference is when programming drum tracks on MPC compared to Logic and other DAWs. The MPC definitely has a vibe to it in terms of timing feel, and that's why people have looked for ways to get Logic to add that same feel (it is possible, details if you wannem). Anyway, looking forward to what you have to say about the sound quality thing, and also about the way you produce. Are you making your own beats or using samples? Stuff like that...

I gotta echo what Ski says here and emphasise that you can make excellent music using any DAW out there... Logic, Ableton, Cubase, Pro Tools, etc. I'm a self-confessed Logic Nut and find it great for composition, sound design, mixing and love tinkering in it's environment... Live, apparently, doesn't have as good a sound engine as Logic... but the same has been said about Pro Tools... but it's arguably the industry standard. I'd recommend checking out the videos here for the Live 8 101 and the Logic 9 101... (even with a free account you can watch the first 10% of any tutorial) to get an idea of which you warm to quicker. (Click on the Watch Tutorials button at the top right of this page). I'd say Logic does traditionally have a steeper learning curve than Ableton Live - but it's become much easier for new users for the last couple of versions. I personally found Live more tricky to get my head round than Logic... but then I've been using Logic for over 8 years. Instrument and Effect Plugins wise - both are excellent - and both are used by House Music makers the world over. Live might be a bit more "instant" for beat making... If you're looking to create dance based music in the studio and play your music live then Ableton Live is probably the way to go. Logic Studio is a great price for all the tools you get... but sometime in the future regardless of which one you choose you'll probably want to purchase 3rd party synths and effects... ... you know the more I write, the more I realise there really isn't a definitive answer and I'd say (like with most things in life), go with your gut feeling. Hope this helps somewhat! Rounik

Hi folks My two cents: it really comes down to which one you prefer using. i think that Live and Logic are both totally capable of producing quality house music, and there are a number of producers that will vouch for either - Olav B likes both for example. I have seen an interview with Olav where he talks about his transition from Logic to Live, and the first track he made entirely in Live - but he still mastered the track in Logic! I recommend watching any of Olav's MPV tutorials for both Live and Logic, to give you a feel for how they both work, and to see which workflow would suit you best. It might also pay to research your favourite artists and see which one they use too. Some examples off the top of my head: Joris Voorn - Live Coldcut - Live Olav B - Live /Logic Swedish House Mafia - Logic High Frequency Bandwidth - Logic Each DAW has its benefits and it really comes down to how you want to work. Its also good to keep in mind that a lot of producers take the music outside the box at some point, and though somekind of hardware, (eg through an analouge desk, analogue compression, or a summing mixer) either while mastering or as part of the mix. Hope that helps and doesn't just make it more difficult to decide! Cheers Hamish

Thank you Ski, Rounik, Hamish for taking the time to respond to my question. As i said, i am still a beginner and researching the most appropraite setup for deep/soulful house. When i see the masters in the space - they are mostly using logic. i have not read one top producer that uses Ableton exclusively as the only daw. At best they use a combination of Ableton and Logic, with logic used for the final mix/mastering. e.g Rasmus Faber - Logic Fish Go Deep - logic Jihad Mohammad - Logic Roland Clark - Logic, Live Steal Vybe - Logic At Jazz - Cubase Doruk Ozlen - Logic....the list goes on. But, i have decided to start with Ableton since it seems the learning curve will be shorter, and in the worst case i would have learnt a tool for live performances. If at a later time i feel that Ableton is not cutting it, i could rewire/bounce to logic for the mastering. Thanks again for your help. Thanks a lot for your help.

Hi Eric, I think you're taking exactly the right approach! All the Best, =Ski=

Hey Eric, good luck and it sounds like you've made a very well considered approach. Definitely in the future rewiring Logic and Ableton could be a great option... who knows you might feel happy producing everything in Ableton for a while anyway! There are some excellent tutorials here on Ableton Live if you haven't already checked them out... On the Blog: [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/blog/ableton-live/how-to-use-ableton-live-tutorial-audio-instruments[/url] & [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/blog/ableton-live/beginners-guide-ableton-live-part-2-warping-looping-editing[/url] are great places to start your journey. Then the Live video tuts are an excellent way to continue... [url]http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorials/ableton+live-suite[/url] Hope this helps Rounik

Hi Eric Nice one, you'll have a lot of fun with Live, and be able to make some awesome sounds too. Cheers Hamish