A short Q&A with Gerhard Behles

Are you seeing any bright ideas coming from out the last five years?

There’s some interesting activity around using the web browser as an environment for learning and making music. To me this is exciting because I think the developmental potential of music making should be available to everyone, and the web is available to more people than any single other computing platform. We (Ableton) have done some experiments in that space and the feedback has been very encouraging.

What’s the most interesting topic you’re thinking about this week?

This week, I’ve been in a workshop with the Ableton colleagues who are designing our virtual instruments and effects. We’re working out some principles to guide this work and encounter deep questions: because so many people use our tools, they influence the music that’s being made. How should we responsibly deal with this fact?

What were the most inspiring and the most disappointing moment in your career?

One of the most inspiring moments was to witness our products being used in a classroom. It was fascinating to see how this group of teenagers, with very little formal or technical training, was able to come up with music that they took pride in, in very short time. The excitement in the room was contagious. The most disappointing moments of my career? We have failed on some projects…including big projects. Very painful. Luckily, these failures didn’t affect anyone outside the company!

Gerhard Behles is the CEO and co-founder of Ableton, the pioneering company which makes products for music makers to create, produce and perform music.
On September 16 at Reworks Agora 2018, he is going to share with us his own experience in the making of some the most influential softwares in electronic music production.