My son has started learning some Ableton and neither one of us have used it before. Curious to know how many of you have experience with it. 
Been using it for years. Great software as long as you don’t forget that its a production tool. Not a DAW. You’ll get frustrated with its lack of editing tools really quick if you expect it to do what Reaper and PT do. But its workflow is one of a kind…they actually ripped the looping grid concept off of Yamaha, but they’ve adapted it into a one-of-a-kind DAW. It tweaks, warps, and modifies sounds like no other, but its just sucky at cutting, chopping, editing in the way you’re used to. I only use it as a production tool. Mainly for songwriting sessions, where I have to blast out 10 million concepts per minute or throw stuff into a computer before some else forgets what they just sang lol.
Its real rival isn’t PT, Nuendo, or Logic in my opinion. Its actual competitor is NI Maschine.
I learned a lot through the Groove3 training videos. How old is your son, and how tech savvy is he?
Yeah, I figured that it’d be more of a production and songwriting tool, not really a DAW. So that’s good to get that confirmation.
He’s 14, and more savvy than I give him credit for. I’ve actually been really impressed with some of the loop stuff he’s done like in Garageband for example. I can tell he actually has a great ear for music flow and dynamics. It’s just a natural thing for him. I’m anxious to see what he does with music as he continues on with it.
I think Ableton just doesn’t function the way he expected it to, so he’s a bit flustered with how much he has to do before he can just make music. I have a hunch that he just needs to spend some time with some tutorials. It’s probably easier than it seems. Its just different.