One of the more common emails that I get is along the lines of “I really want to learn Ableton but I am a total noob”. Having responded to those emails and taking on the conversation frequently over the past few years here is my initial cocktail party meeting outline.

What’s your musical background? Any instruments, if so what?

Ableton, at it’s core is a music production program. If you don’t know music now, you will soon.

What are your expectations in the beginning?

There are many directions to travel, and the most fun comes from combining the angles. Is this for hobby, performance, integration with a current project, a practice tool for production, to record and send discrete MIDI communications, sound design, film, and the list goes on…?

Put the next 4 words in order from most important to least important: Keys, buttons, knobs and sliders

That was a trick question. There are 2 types of keys – the ones on your laptop and those from a piano environment.  Anyway, that information should help buy the first controller (if any).

What is your budget?

Let’s be honest.  You will be spending time and money. Count on a bare minimum of $200 for a basic controller and a lite version of software (non-suck laptop not included). On the other hand, in the scope of music you need be ready drop $2000 to get in a comfortable place.  This $2000 threshold I have noticed in most musical endeavors including Ableton and laptop based performance.

The choice is yours, Spend $2000 for a  flute that with professional intent. A good guitar with combo and quality effects. How about software on a dedicated laptop with a controller.

The choice is always yours. So you can get your toe wet for a little money – but if you get hooked you are gonna spend more cash. Also, just like any musical instrument, you will enjoy yourself greatly.

Who or what have you seen?

You are trying to speak in code to me, why is this?

What are your friends using?

Your friends are your support network. Talk to people you know well about this stuff. Learn about what they do or know.  If all of your friends are stamp collectors and foam over the British Guiana 1 Cent Magenta you are gonna be just fine! Nice to meet you.

How tech savvy are you?

Surprise! This is computers and buttons and sound working together.

Things you will be happy to hear:

• Ableton and most of the class compliant USB a d MIDI gear works great.  Some items collaborate better than others. Exploration is key as your style develops.
• The software is strong and robust. Generally everyone runs smooth.  Many of these smooth running machines go to the bar and get abused and still Ableton performs.
• No, you really don’t need any musical experience to get started. Just a good ear for what you and those around you like to hear.
• Yeah, there are some pretty cool and twisted things you can do.
• As of this writing there are 2 partnership programs recently added. They are  Max4Live and Serato via The Bridge. All software takes time to mature. (Max4Live and The Bridge are new variants of existing stand along software).
• Yes – VSTs.
• We have instructors, there are instructors. We make tutorial videos, others have tutorial videos. We have the internet, others have the internet. You get the picture right?
• We have meet ups, put your email in here http://www.meetup.com/ableton-denver and we will email you via the meet-up site on gatherings. We get together in some fashion 8-15 times throughout the year.  You may see us on other networks, please know that meet-up.com is the dedicated communication tool.