Sorry, I didn't mean serious software, i rather meant out-of-the-box software, easy to use. NI Maschine has capabilities like Ableton's Session View, I think. Reaktor, PD, SC, Max. etc are no way easy to use. But they're definitely serious!

This, if I play with laptop. Although for live setting, Numerology is even better and it looks pretty interesting live too.

I think you mean NI Reaktor.... anyhow, there is MAX/MSP not-for-live, pure data, usine, supercollider, etc... but if you've got a bit of money to spend on convenience or you are interested in the other features of ableton too, it seems like a good idea to go for it and get max for live!

If there's one sequencer that kills the need for laptop-staring, it's Live.

I perform with my laptop closed and

Other options:

nothing compares...

+ I don't know any other serious non-linear music making/performing software (expect maybe NI Maschine?). It's basically the most complex looping station you can get, you can play patterns of different lengths to get polyrhythmic, stuff like that.

+ Almost everything that was once impossible to do in Live has now been fixed by the user community thanks to Max For Live (www.maxforlive.com) So many great new devices already, and most of them are "open source", like Monolake's Granulator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pn_b7OUO6I) It's quite expensive to buy MFL though.

+ Using it as a standard sequencer works well. I'm sure not as well as other DAWs in some cases, but it's getting better with every version. The interface is brilliant imo, really compact and without popup windows.

Yeah, I dunno, if I remember correctly, it was doing something weird where I wasn't able to automate more than one thing.  I don't remember exactly, but it seemed like some weird bug.  It's been a while since I've tried.

You can draw an envelope.

I'm a bit disappointed because it's not very easy to automate parameters in a VST plugin.  Or at least, I haven't been able to do it well.

I only miss the Drum Rack and I don't have it because I have an old version of Live, but it works for me. I am not interested in those other plugins. One day, I might upgrade, if I have the extra moollah.

Sometimes watching Ableton videos just makes me sad because I don't have any of the extra stuff that actually makes it good   No Operator or anything.  But I can't excuse actually buying any of them because I already have 1. Reason, and 2. about a bajillion free VSTs.

Nice tune man.

weird, i don't remember sending anything to OCR

i can't even fuck around with session view, it's all about arrangement and automation.

also here's what i learned about ableton yesterday that's probably obvious to everyone but just in case you're dense like me

the Freeze Track function isn't just there to keep you from fucking something up once you have it exactly the way you want it, like i had assumed. it pre-renders a channel to lighten the load on your CPU. this is really useful if you use a lot of vsts, or if you use oZone on more than half of your tracks like i do. I cut my CPU % in half with this, BUT the song folder i'm working with is 600mb now haha.

also: here's something i'm working on putting recordings from LSDJ + Mod2PSG in Ableton.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6320154/Under%2 … llance.mp3

I think what Decktonic was trying to get across was Live's ability in Session view to be able to improvise your loops and midi sequences a bit before you actually commit to laying them out in Arrangement View (If you even use it, a lot of people don't, it varies on what I'm doing weather I do or not.. recording / live pa..), plus unlike most hardware sequencers, it gives you the ability to be able to jump around in different parts of different rows of sequences (mixing and matching between columns, firing off loops from different columns is especially fun with a monome / apc / mpd / launch pad / uc33e / etc, rather than just firing off one set row of sequences / channels like most conventional hardware sequencers), giving you a more versatile approach to your sequencing rather than just recording one row at a time.

btw Saskrotch, found you on ocremix years ago, nice tunes, you may like some of mine also, i'm all about the choppage.

i've been using ableton for 6 years and i barely understand what you're talking about.

but it seems like it can be boiled down to 'i like using ableton as a sequencer, and i also like using automation'

Also, all what Lazerbeat says is what turned me into using it for live performance. I keep all my gear at home and then I travel as light as possible. 1 year of touring around everywhre taught me this is a smart thing. But I'd love to have an MPC as my main sequencer. Maybe at some point...