Ableton Upgrades Live To Version 8
Ableton has upgraded their beloved Live digital audio production software suite to version 8. In addition to the new version, Ableton also revealed several exciting initiatives for debut in 2009 including the ability for Live users to collaborate remotely on projects.
Live 8 and Suite 8 have been enhanced with a new groove engine, revamped warping techniques, live looping, five new effects (including the Ableton Vocoder), crossfades in the Arrangement View, group tracks and a reworked MIDI editor. Ableton Suite 8 includes all that plus a massive, inspired sound library and all the instruments a musician could hope for, including a wide range of synths, a sampler, electric and acoustic drums (new: Latin percussion), mallets (new: Collision), numerous sampled instruments and a new, even-mightier Operator.
Enhancements & New Features:
» New groove engine: new groove library, extract grooves from audio or MIDI, real time groove quantize
» New warping engine: warp audio events by adjusting the events on the timeline, updated Beats Warp Mode, new Complex Warp Mode, slice audio files to MIDI tracks based on transients
» Looper: classic sound-on-sound looping without the limitations of a hardware device. Record, overdub, undo and more without touching the computer. “First loop sync,” simple loop management
» New effects: Vocoder, Multiband Dynamics, Overdrive, Limiter and Frequency Shifter
» Workflow enhancements: including real-time crossfades in the Arrangement View, enhanced MIDI editing, group tracks, multiple track selection, a screen magnifier and more
» World-class sound library: completely new sound library with real-world “Sound Objects,” presets, grooves, templates and, above all, over 1600 beautiful sounds
» Collision and Corpus: a unique physical-modeling instrument for authentic mallet sounds and creative percussion. Includes Corpus, a separate effect that reproduces Collision’s resonator section
» Latin Percussion: a collection of acoustic percussion instruments from the worlds of Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and African music plus a wide selection of clips and grooves for authentic usage
» Operator, Ableton’s renowned do-it-all synthesizer, has been given a major overhaul. New filter types, more modulation routing options and additive wavetable synthesis with drawable partials make Operator more powerful and flexible than ever.
Ableton’s new initiatives…
Share: effortless remote collaboration
Share Live Sets with others via the Web using this special feature in Live 8. Ableton’s simple and intelligent solution for online musical collaboration streamlines the sharing process with easy sharing and loading, a simple system of setting access permission, speedy transfers and no issues with external plug-ins and instruments. (Very cool!! –Ed.)
Extend: Max for Live
Max for Live is a new product, co-developed by Ableton and Cycling ’74. Quite simply, it puts the power and potential of Max/MSP inside Live. With Max for Live, it’s possible to create completely new instruments, effects and extensions that go beyond the common and predictable and transcend the limits that conventional tools impose. The possibilities are virtually endless, from completely unique synths and effects, algorithmic composition tools or radical, new music machines fusing Live and controller hardware. Max for Live is a chance to join a society of makers and share ingenuity.
Touch: dedicated controllers for Ableton Live
Ableton and Akai Professional are proud to announce the APC40, a new hardware controller specially designed for Ableton Live. The APC40 features high quality controls for real-time mixing, remixing and production. 109 buttons, 16 endless encoders with LED rings, nine 45mm faders and a replaceable crossfader give musicians and producers complete control of Live’s Session View, effect devices and virtual instruments. For anyone in the studio or on stage, DJing, making beats, running backing tracks, firing MIDI loops or triggering sound effects, it’s time to kiss the mouse goodbye.
Ableton Live 8 and Ableton Suite 8 should be available in the second quarter of 2009, following extensive testing and bugfixing. A public beta version of these products will be available soon.
Prices for Ableton Suite 8 start at $699 / €549 (download version).
Prices for Ableton Live 8 start at $449 / €349 (download version).
Upgrades to Live 8 will be available’ price varies depending on which version you’re upgrading from…
Collision and Latin Percussion will be available individually or as part of Ableton Suite 8. Both instruments will be available with the Live 8 release. Collision will cost $159 / €129, Latin Percussion $99 / €79. Max for Live will be available later this year. More information on Ableton Live 8.
