{"slug": "ableton-live", "name": "Ableton Live", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 10, "warners": 1, "score": 4.161, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2026-01-04", "latest": "2026-09-05", "why": "I started with Ableton Live six years or so ago and it's been a wonderful hobby.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 5, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I started with Ableton Live six years or so ago and it's been a wonderful hobby.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.ableton.com/en/live/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Ableton Live", "Ableton"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 788548772, "item_id": 49284298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49284298", "by": "GeneralMaximus", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I want to open the app and find the UI controls looking and behaving exactly the same as they\u2019ve looked and behaved since I started using it in 2014.", "excerpt": "Why would you not? I use Ableton, Figma, and Emacs regularly. I have a decade (or more) of muscle memory around these apps. If they suddenly decided to adopt the look, feel, and conventions of their underlying host platform, I\u2019d be very upset. If I\u2019m using Emacs, I don\u2019t want to use Cmd+S to save my files on macOS and Ctrl+S on Windows. I\u2019ve already memorized C-x C-s. I don\u2019t want Ableton to adopt whatever new design", "context": "", "use_case": "making music", "switched_from": "", "story": "What's New in Flutter 3.47"}, {"id": 782714192, "item_id": 48919637, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48919637", "by": "l337h4x0rz", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Think MySpace, early-days Facebook, Soundcloud, Ableton Live etc.", "excerpt": "In my opinion tech used to be fun and we used to create products that actually empower people. Think MySpace, early-days Facebook, Soundcloud, Ableton Live etc. They exist to empower the masses to connect and to create. Today the business model has made every products and contents to be enshittified. We've optimised for the wrong thing and not only the common people hate the tech industry. Even I no longer feels the ", "context": "", "use_case": "music creation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why do people hate the tech industry? (2023)"}, {"id": 769654241, "item_id": 48103390, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48103390", "by": "vunderba", "date": "2026-05-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "some people prefer using programs like Ableton or FL Studio for that kind of workflow", "excerpt": "You say electronic music, but you didn\u2019t really specify whether you have any background in music at all. Can you sing and/or play an instrument? Can you read sheet or have familiarity with music theory? Do you already make little simple melodies? If you\u2019re starting completely from scratch, it\u2019s going to be tougher. You can, of course, grab a horizontal tracker or a DAW like FL Studio and just start scattering notes d", "context": "", "use_case": "making electronic music", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How to get started in electronic music"}, {"id": 762333664, "item_id": 47645854, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47645854", "by": "colkassad", "date": "2026-04-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I started with Ableton Live six years or so ago and it's been a wonderful hobby.", "excerpt": "I love the world of music production. I started with Ableton Live six years or so ago and it's been a wonderful hobby. It has such a vibrant cottage industry of plugins (sampled instruments, synthesizers, effects, etc) thanks to the VST standard.", "context": "hobbyist music producer", "use_case": "music production", "switched_from": "", "story": "Introduction to Computer Music [pdf]"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 755498594, "item_id": 47218662, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47218662", "by": "elijahlucian", "date": "2026-03-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "even Ableton has a clunky workflow with grabbing instinctive samples and snippets", "excerpt": "[audio nerd heavy post] A couple weeks ago, my friend let me borrow his Teenage Engineering OP1 field. I started playing with their destructive tape looper and drum samplers. And then I started to look for cheaper hardware or VST alternatives - seriously nothing. Nothing that lets you easily overdub takes in a multitrack view. And no \"immediate\" samplers that let you record a blob of audio into them, and then chop th", "context": "software architect, making digital music for 20 years", "use_case": "sampling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: WaveLoop \u2013 A destructive-first looper suite I built in 8 days"}]}], "who": [{"by": "embedding-shape", "context": "audio and 3D/VFX professional", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49564556", "date": "2026-09-04"}, {"by": "mercutio93", "context": "produces electronic music", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49234892", "date": "2026-08-09"}, {"by": "colkassad", "context": "hobbyist music producer", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47645854", "date": "2026-04-04"}, {"by": "neom", "context": "music creator", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46609870", "date": "2026-01-13"}, {"by": "coolhand2120", "context": "musician", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46491407", "date": "2026-01-04"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["music production", "music production and collaboration", "audio production", "making music", "music creation", "making electronic music"], "compared": [{"slug": "bitwig", "name": "Bitwig", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "suno", "name": "Suno", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "reaper", "name": "Reaper", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "wine", "name": "Wine", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49562895", "title": "O&O ShutUp10 \u2013 The antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49280061", "title": "What's New in Flutter 3.47", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49232369", "title": "Show HN: Vibez \u2013 Open-Source Rust Based Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48919242", "title": "Why do people hate the tech industry? (2023)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48103273", "title": "Ask HN: How to get started in electronic music", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47645432", "title": "Introduction to Computer Music [pdf]", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"warn": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 793218449, "item_id": 49576153, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49576153", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-09-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'm mostly on Ableton because everyone else around me is on Ableton too", "excerpt": "Thanks a bunch for the ideas if nothing less :) I've played around with Bitwig a bunch in the past, love how well it runs on Linux, and it's mostly similar to Ableton so would probably be easy to move, if I decided to do so. I'm mostly on Ableton because everyone else around me is on Ableton too, and we're sending projects between each other and sometimes sit together with each other and jam and such, and I basically", "context": "", "use_case": "music production and collaboration", "switched_from": "", "story": "O&O ShutUp10 \u2013 The antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11"}, {"id": 793043844, "item_id": 49565240, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49565240", "by": "belthesar", "date": "2026-09-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I switched from Ableton Live to Bitwig Studio", "excerpt": "I know this doesn't address all your concerns, but I switched from Ableton Live to Bitwig Studio for unrelated reasons to my leaving Windows behind, and I was thoroughly pleased with how easy the transition was between the two DAWs (I guess it shouldn't be too much of a surprise given how many ex-Ableton devs work on Bitwig), and how well the Linux build of Bitwig worked. Bitwig on Linux, with Pipewire as the audio e", "context": "", "use_case": "music production", "switched_from": "", "story": "O&O ShutUp10 \u2013 The antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11"}, {"id": 793032896, "item_id": 49564556, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49564556", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-09-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Ableton is probably the biggest reason I still have a Windows installation", "excerpt": "Well, when this alcoholic is the only one that works properly for the sort of audio and 3D/VFX work I do, and a bunch of tools are only able to run (well) on Windows (Yes, I've tried WINE and everything else under the sun, for a decade), so dual booting is really the only option here, unless I wanna throw out a bunch of licenses I've paid thousands for and stop accepting that sort of work. Ableton is probably the big", "context": "audio and 3D/VFX professional", "use_case": "audio production", "switched_from": "", "story": "O&O ShutUp10 \u2013 The antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11"}, {"id": 788548772, "item_id": 49284298, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49284298", "by": "GeneralMaximus", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I want to open the app and find the UI controls looking and behaving exactly the same as they\u2019ve looked and behaved since I started using it in 2014.", "excerpt": "Why would you not? I use Ableton, Figma, and Emacs regularly. I have a decade (or more) of muscle memory around these apps. If they suddenly decided to adopt the look, feel, and conventions of their underlying host platform, I\u2019d be very upset. If I\u2019m using Emacs, I don\u2019t want to use Cmd+S to save my files on macOS and Ctrl+S on Windows. I\u2019ve already memorized C-x C-s. I don\u2019t want Ableton to adopt whatever new design", "context": "", "use_case": "making music", "switched_from": "", "story": "What's New in Flutter 3.47"}, {"id": 787758275, "item_id": 49234892, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49234892", "by": "mercutio93", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I also use windows and Ableton", "excerpt": "Hey dude... honestly speaking im not really doing this for traction. I use the0 trading platform day to day implement algorithmic trading strategies that run 24/7 365 some of them are conventional trading strategies and others are portfolio rebalancers. the0s a project that come a long way Ive been working on it for a few years now. The core architecture of it is complete. It more just implementing things I feel need", "context": "produces electronic music", "use_case": "music production", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Vibez \u2013 Open-Source Rust Based Digital Audio Workstation (DAW)"}, {"id": 782714192, "item_id": 48919637, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48919637", "by": "l337h4x0rz", "date": "2026-07-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Think MySpace, early-days Facebook, Soundcloud, Ableton Live etc.", "excerpt": "In my opinion tech used to be fun and we used to create products that actually empower people. Think MySpace, early-days Facebook, Soundcloud, Ableton Live etc. They exist to empower the masses to connect and to create. Today the business model has made every products and contents to be enshittified. We've optimised for the wrong thing and not only the common people hate the tech industry. Even I no longer feels the ", "context": "", "use_case": "music creation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Why do people hate the tech industry? (2023)"}, {"id": 769654241, "item_id": 48103390, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48103390", "by": "vunderba", "date": "2026-05-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "some people prefer using programs like Ableton or FL Studio for that kind of workflow", "excerpt": "You say electronic music, but you didn\u2019t really specify whether you have any background in music at all. Can you sing and/or play an instrument? Can you read sheet or have familiarity with music theory? Do you already make little simple melodies? If you\u2019re starting completely from scratch, it\u2019s going to be tougher. You can, of course, grab a horizontal tracker or a DAW like FL Studio and just start scattering notes d", "context": "", "use_case": "making electronic music", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How to get started in electronic music"}, {"id": 762333664, "item_id": 47645854, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47645854", "by": "colkassad", "date": "2026-04-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I started with Ableton Live six years or so ago and it's been a wonderful hobby.", "excerpt": "I love the world of music production. I started with Ableton Live six years or so ago and it's been a wonderful hobby. It has such a vibrant cottage industry of plugins (sampled instruments, synthesizers, effects, etc) thanks to the VST standard.", "context": "hobbyist music producer", "use_case": "music production", "switched_from": "", "story": "Introduction to Computer Music [pdf]"}, {"id": 755498594, "item_id": 47218662, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47218662", "by": "elijahlucian", "date": "2026-03-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "even Ableton has a clunky workflow with grabbing instinctive samples and snippets", "excerpt": "[audio nerd heavy post] A couple weeks ago, my friend let me borrow his Teenage Engineering OP1 field. I started playing with their destructive tape looper and drum samplers. And then I started to look for cheaper hardware or VST alternatives - seriously nothing. Nothing that lets you easily overdub takes in a multitrack view. And no \"immediate\" samplers that let you record a blob of audio into them, and then chop th", "context": "software architect, making digital music for 20 years", "use_case": "sampling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: WaveLoop \u2013 A destructive-first looper suite I built in 8 days"}, {"id": 745757921, "item_id": 46609870, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46609870", "by": "neom", "date": "2026-01-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "My lyrics + Suno + OP1 + KOII + Abelton + 20hours or so?", "excerpt": "I mean my camera has a full auto setting I don't use it that way, same with Suno, you can get the stems out of suno, you can gen just one instrument, just a sound, just an a cappella, I use it to gen things to put onto my OP1, does that count? This is My lyrics + Suno + OP1 + KOII + Abelton + 20hours or so?: https://soundcloud.com/john/golden", "context": "music creator", "use_case": "music production", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI Generated Music Barred from Bandcamp"}, {"id": 743862513, "item_id": 46491407, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46491407", "by": "coolhand2120", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I started experimenting with LLMs and Ableton over the break too.", "excerpt": "This is awesome! I started experimenting with LLMs and Ableton over the break too. I used a few off the shelf VST templates to create a VST that leverages an LLM that can create LilyPond format music. This creates multi track VST output (MIDI) from the parsed LilyPond. I have a system prompt that explains LilyPond to the LLM (it already knows anyhow), and then I give it a prompt like \"Megaman, 64 bars, ice man level\"", "context": "musician", "use_case": "music production", "switched_from": "", "story": "Experiments with Ableton-MCP"}]}