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neom

Learning Ableton opened me up to a whole world of meeting new people and picking up new skills.

https://www.ableton.com/en/live/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iuRsiKtObw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxY0x1i3XhY

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9oiyAGA6zOTSPR5-ttojODT4...

Getting some teenage engineering pocket operators is also something I'd strongly recommend. They're affordable and fun! Check out this 8 year old building a tune with them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhFIUdICYSA

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Can you explain how picking up this hobby lead you to meet new people?

Btw thanks for the links, they look super helpful.

After a couple of years of work, I started to DJ for fun and met so many people, and as I got more into synths I go to synth meetups and music maker spaces. Basically unlocked a new friend group!

I have a different perspective. Ableton is fine, but the "Hacker tool" of the sequencer world is Reaper. Very programmable and it has great terms of use. But it does have a learning curve.

Also, I unfortunately didn't care for the pocket operators - only musical instrument I've ever returned. People will likely have more fun with the volcas, the Circuit or inexpensive Behringers.

Recently I got a Circuit Tracks and it's been a hoot. I like using it standalone more than with Ableton (because I haven't gotten around to trying to make entire actual songs). I mostly make grooves and ideas to play with. I got a MicroFreak to go with it but have yet to unlock its features.

8 hour course? Did you actually get through the entire thing? Was it worth it?

I learned ableton through trial and error, but I have watched the whole video and got a lot from it. I wish I'd had that resource when I was starting out, would have saved me a lot of time. So I'd say: yes, it's worth it if you're picking up ableton.

8 hours is not a bad investment at all!

I also learned ableton without any resources, but back in 2003 when it was a simpler product. It begs to be tinkered with (I think that’s the draw of it) but it’s a deep bit of software.

Thanks, I will give it a try. I picked up ableton a few months ago and have been poking around. A deeper course like this might open up tricks that I am not aware of.

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