Ableton is an Instrument

Ableton Is an Instrument. My guiding dictum, when thinking about how to perform with Ableton, is that Ableton is an Instrument. That said, why waste time trying to get it to be the same as other instruments? Why would I waste my time trying to get my lute to sound like a tambourine? Seems like the essence of bad design. But, since Ableton is an almost infinitely extensible instrument, there comes a time when we have to take the responsibility of Building Our Own (Virtual) Instruments. And it’s a hefty task. So, I’ve isolated these two principles that I use when considering how to use Ableton in a Live setting: Instrument Autonomy and Interface Optimization. In this little video, I explain what I mean by these principles. Beware: I’m trying out a new style of presenting more “conceptual” ideas and that involves me drawing! I may be many things, but a good artist is not one of them. Those of you with arts degrees may want to look away, haha.

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