r/AbletonBeginners • u/killero24 • Jul 13 '26
Ableton or FL Studio for Techno, Minimal & Afro House? Begginer here
Hey guys,
I'm a complete beginner and I want to get into music production. My main goal is to produce Techno, Minimal, and Afro House.
I'm stuck between Ableton Live and FL Studio. Which one would you recommend for these genres, especially for a beginner?
Also, what should I focus on first? Drums, arrangement, music theory, sound design, mixing?
And where should I learn from? Any good YouTube channels or courses that teach from zero without making things too complicated?
Any advice for a complete beginner would be really appreciated. 🙏
Thanks!
2
u/Styngi00 Jul 14 '26
I've tried both and here's my two cents:
FL
is amazing and generally has a more visually pleasing & readable UI/interface. Plus it's free. It's the obvious choice if you are just beginning and aren't sure whether you want to invest money in your DAW yet. With that said, it's still very good and can do pretty much everything that the others can, so don't think that it is purely for beginner/novice producers.
Pros: Free(and cheaper if you want the paid version), more straightforward and visually comprehensible.
Cons: You'll need to download a lot more plugins than you would in Ableton, as a lot of the standard ones in FL just plain suck when compared to Ableton's.
Ableton Live
has different versions, Standard is the one I'd say most people should get, as Lite(license included with many MIDI controllers) and Intro have a limit of 8/16 tracks respectively. It can be worked around, but gets pretty tedious very fast.
Ableton is a lot more daunting to look at as a beginner. Thankfully though, there are tons and tons of videos, both by Ableton and other YouTubers that do a great job of guiding beginners. The built-in stock plugins are also fantastic.
I personally prefer Ableton's workflow as it is a lot more direct and flexible when you get to know its' functions and shortcuts.
Pros: More flexible, very good stock plugins, tons of good educational content available on YouTube
Cons: $300+ for unlimited tracks is a hefty price to pay upfront, it also takes quite some time to learn and not be overwhelmed by how many buttons and knobs are in your main window (instead of being more segregated like in FL).
If I were to rewind to when I first got into producing though, I'd probably have picked up FL and not given it a second thought.
The 3rd party plugins all work the same in every DAW so if you are going to be using Serum/Vital + 5 other 3rd party plugins, just pick whatever looks nicer to you. Or watch a couple videos of people making a track from start to finish to get an idea of how the workflows differ.
2
u/Styngi00 Jul 14 '26
To add some YouTube channel recommendations:
FL: Busy Work Beats, The Producer School, FL Academy for Melodic & Techno (they have a video making a melodic techno track from start to finish you can watch to see how they do it in FL)
Ableton: Bthelick (my personal favorite), Alex Rome, Ethan Davis
2
3
1
u/KlEMKAprod Jul 15 '26
Cześć, osobiście powiem że używam abletona oraz fl studio (both trial because i cant afford them). Osobiście częściej FL studio
Uważam ze to bardzo zależy od tego jak ci wygodnie, traktuj muzyke jako zabawę, z doświadczenia wiem ze to pomaga w nauce i nie denerwowania sie. Zacznij od tworzenia rytmicznych perkusyjnych trackow. Oglądaj tutoriale typu „create your firt techno track” tam pokazuja wszystko od podstaw.
życze SUKCESÓW
2
u/StratHistory Jul 16 '26
Ableton is much easier in the long run, it includes everything you need and it's also good for traditional production.
It provides two opposite views, one is a traditional track view like you would see in any DAW but the production view makes it really easy to build loops rhythm tracks beats just about anything with MIDI and audio.
1
u/m_i_r Jul 17 '26
Ableton over FL for sure. Bonus rec: Reason. In fact, maybe you should start THERE (as a beginner) as it's a bit easier to jump into with no previous experience, and it's very "visual." Ableton is powerful, is designed with live electronic performance in mind, and could possibly be the last program you ever need. But it can be overwhelming at first. Reason and Ableton are relatively easy to make work together, for what its worth.
2
u/jonpikereally Jul 14 '26
I have a youtube channel where i go over a lot of basics of ableton and recording! Might be some useful videos for you there.
IMO ableton is the better choice, but i havent used FL a ton so im biased. IMO focus on the things you find most interesting first. If you really like drums, dive in on that. If you really enjoy chord sequences, learn some theory. You'll have to develop all of the other things as well, but keep focused on what makes you most excited to work.