* Free Upgrade to Live 9 available, upon release in 2013
Ableton have gone and made possibly the best DJ/Production software ever...even better. A huge host of new features and special add ons to open a whole new world of creativity.
Ableton Live is about making music; for composition, songwriting, recording, production, remixing and live performance. Live´s nonlinear, intuitive flow, alongside powerful real-time editing and flexible performance options, make it a unique studio tool and a favorite with live performers. If you´d rather be "making music" than just "using music software," Ableton Live is for you. Live 8, the latest version, includes a wealth of new techniques and improvements with a new groove engine, revamped warping, live looping, new effects, crossfades in the Arrangement View and a reworked MIDI editor.
New in Ableton Live 8Version 8 enhances the Ableton vision of creative, real-time digital music with a wealth of new techniques, effects and most-wanted workflow improvements.
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Session View
Live is the only music production software with the "Session View": a unique grid for recording and playing musical ideas and phrases. The Session View is non-linear, so you can record and play back your ideas in any order you want. When you´re working on a new track, this is a smart, flexible way to write and record. If you´re performing music live, it gives you complete flexibility and freedom to improvise.
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Arrangement View
Live also has a second view: the "Arrangement View," a complete music production environment. This is the linear counterpart to the Session View and is well-suited to "traditional" recording, arranging and mixing. These two views interact with one another, each with its own strengths and intricacies. Both views are based on the single principle of creative, intuitive music-making.
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Uninterrupted creative flow
In Live, you never have to stop the music. Record audio and MIDI on the fly, drop in loops and samples, add effects and swap sounds without ever hitting the stop button: everything happens in real time. You´re free to improvise and the computer actually becomes a musical instrument—an expressive and creative tool, perfectly at home on stage or in the studio.
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Beats made easy
Live´s unique Drum Rack combines drag-and-drop simplicity in a familiar pad-style interface. Each of the 128 drum pads can have its own instrument or sample plus effects. Slice beats, loops or REX files to MIDI for additional control options and use the new groove feature (which includes grooves from the legendary MPC and SP1200 machines) to add swing to your beats.
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Creative expression for DJs
Mix and match tracks and loops automatically, remix on the fly, capture audio loops in real time from decks and other external sources, incorporate your own productions into the mix, and much more. Whether it´s the centerpiece of the DJ rig or just a creative sidearm, Live gives DJs entirely new worlds of creative expression.
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Looping with Live
Not only for guitarists, the Ableton Looper gives you classic sound-on-sound looping without the limitations of a hardware device. Looper is set up for remote operation, so you can record, overdub, undo and more without touching the computer.
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Totally compatible
Live works seamlessly with controller hardware and assigning custom MIDI controls is simple. Live supports AIFF, WAV, MP3, Ogg Vorbis and FLAC files, VST and AU effects and instruments. Live can handle REX files and runs as a ReWire Master or Slave, so it works nicely alongside other DAWs like Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase or Reason. And if you have a multicore or multiprocessor system, Live supports that, too.
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Key features
Multitrack recording up to 32-bit/192 kHz
Nondestructive editing with unlimited undo
Powerful and creative MIDI sequencing of software and hardware instruments
Advanced warping and real-time time-stretching
Supports AIFF, WAV, MP3, Ogg Vorbis and FLAC files
A comprehensive selection of built-in audio and MIDI effects
Built-in instruments: Simpler for sample-based synthesis, Impulse for sampled drums
Instrument, Drum and Effect Racks
New groove engine; apply and extract grooves in real time
VST and AU support; automatic plug-in delay compensation
REX file support plus built-in audio to MIDI slicing
Video import and export for scoring, video warping
Simple MIDI mapping plus instant mapping for selected hardware
Full ReWire support; runs as Slave or Master
Single-screen user interface for simple, creativity-focused operation
Multicore and multiprocessor support
A selection of loops (box only)
Essential Instrument Collection 2: a wide range of sampled instruments (box only)
Printed reference manual in English, French, German or Japanese (box only)
Built-in interactive lessons
Localized software menus, tutorials and PDF reference manuals in English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese
New in Ableton Live 8
Version 8 enhances the Ableton vision of creative, real-time digital music with a wealth of new techniques, effects and most-wanted workflow improvements.
New groove engine
Groove patterns dynamically influence the timing and velocity/volume of audio and MIDI material. This can add life and swing to straight patterns, give a track more drive, or lend a piece an easy, laid-back feeling.
Live 8 enhances Live´s existing groove power with some important new features:
Apply groove patterns to any audio or MIDI clips in real time. Change the feel of the whole piece or just selected clips.
Choose from an extensive library of groove patterns, captured from songs played by some of music´s most original, expressive and soulful drummers.
Extract groove patterns from any audio or MIDI source to build your own groove library from your favorite tracks.
Quantize audio and MIDI in real time: non-destructive velocity and timing adjustments for rhythmic correction.
Randomize audio and MIDI timing for a more human feel.
New warping engine
Live 8 is the next logical step in warping evolution with a new, more intuitive warping paradigm and some important Warp Mode enhancements.
New, intuitive warping allows you to adjust events on the timeline instead of stretching and squeezing the timeline around the events.
Transient handles: Live analyzes and assigns handles to the transients in audio files automatically.
Slice by transient: slice audio to MIDI based on Live 8´s new transient analysis.
Enhanced Beats Warp Mode for improved warping of percussive material and new control options.
Improved Complex Warp Mode using élastique Pro for warping complex, polyphonic material with fewer artifacts.
Looper
Looper brings the creative power of classic sound-on-sound looping to Live, without the limitations of a hardware device. Inspired by some of our favorite sample/delay devices plus a good deal of Ableton wizardry, Looper provides plenty of scope in a super-simple interface.
One-touch operation: Looper is set up for remote operation, so you can record, overdub, undo and more using a single footswitch (not included) and without touching the computer.
Endless overdubs, tape-loop style for infinite improv jams.
First loop sync: Live reads the tempo from the length of the first loop you record and automatically syncs up. This eliminates timing issues and lets you record without the click.
Simple loop management: drag and drop a loop from Looper into a clip slot to make a clip; drag a clip back again to reload it into Looper.
Multiple Looper sync lets you run as many Loopers as you want without any synchronization headaches.
New effects
Live 8 includes five powerful new effects, each with a strong personality and serious "classic" potential. These effects add a special Ableton shine to the well-known aspects of these devices, giving you effects that are not only practical and easy to use but also inspiring.
Vocoder : the famous "singing robot" effect. Vocoder is classic vocoding plus advanced, intricate control for flexibility and rich sound design.
Multiband Dynamics : effective processing plus a refreshing approach to visualizing the dynamics involved lets you really see and hear what´s going on.
Overdrive : models the circuits found in legendary stompboxes and forms a perfect complement to Saturator and Dynamic Tube.
Limiter : an effective brick-wall limiter that will keep your peaks in check.
Frequency Shifter : frequency shifting and ring modulation for flange effects, atonal harmonics and the sound of Fifties science fiction.
Workflow enhancements
Version 8 makes Live easier with a number of most-wanted enhancements and some deceptively simple detail work :
Crossfades in Arrangement View : This much requested feature gives you real-time, non-destructive crossfades, neatly integrated into Live´s familiar workflow.
The enhanced MIDI editor now features step recording, an insert marker and editing improvements.
Group tracks let you group selected tracks (e.g. a group for drum tracks or a group for all backing vocals). Each group works like a separate mix buss with its own effects and routing settings. You can also collapse grouped tracks to preserve screen real estate.
Multi-parameter manipulation: want to lower the volume of six different tracks? No need any more to adjust six different faders; just select all six tracks and adjust one volume control.
Magnify the user interface for optimal visibility on dark stages or hi-res screens. Zoom out for the big picture.
Browser waveform display: Audio and MIDI browser preview now with waveform display and scrubbing for more informed browsing and file selection.
Plug-in parameters: Improved configuration and control for plug-ins with numerous parameters.
And many more workflow improvements: Yes, that feature request you sent may well be in there somewhere...
