[adamnemecek]

Correct, but Ableton includes a bunch of instruments out of the box so when I said learning Ableton, I meant those as well. Furthermore, all the VSTs are not that conceptually different. Like yeah Massive and Sylenth1 are different but they still have an oscillator, envelope, LFO, filter and effects. And if you understand how synthesis works and know one well picking up the other is not that hard compared with say if you know how to play piano and want to learn to play the guitar.

For me, not having frequencies overlap falls under mastering which I consider to be kind of separate but related issue. If you wanted to be in a traditional (as in, a band with 'real' instruments), you'd still have to learn that to make your music sound good in addition to learning the instrument. And I still think that learning Ableton (+VSTs) is easier than learning to play a 'real' instrument. Minus maybe the bass guitar :-). It's definitely more fun which is why I might think that it's easier. But it is true that in electronic music, mastering is probably more important.

For anyone who's interested in this I can recommend this free book http://noisesculpture.com/how-to-make-a-noise-a-comprehensiv... (they ask for your email).