NEW FEATURES IN ABLETON LIVE 12
Ableton Live is a digital audio workstation (DAW) renowned for its streamlined interface, built-in instruments and effects, and audio/MIDI manipulation. Over the years, it’s established itself as a highly capable compositional and performance tool. With the Live 12 update comes several new features as well as updates to existing ones.
THE COMPLETE ABLETON LIVE COURSE : FROM BEGINNER TO PRO
User Interface Updates
In Ableton Live 12, the user interface has been updated with a cleaner visual style. More information is available at a glance: clips and devices can now be seen at the same time alongside automation. The mixer, which was previously only accessible in the Session View, can now be seen in the Arrangement View. Live 12 also brings accessibility improvements for screen readers as well as new keyboard shortcuts.
Granulator III
Granulator is a Max4Live sample-based quasi-synchronous granular synthesizer that ships with Live. In simple terms, it’s a granular synth that’s ideal for pads, textures, and atmospheric sounds. In Live 12, Granulator has been updated with MPE support, and it now supports realtime audio capture.
Meld
New in Live 12 is Meld, a bi-timbral macro oscillator synthesizer with selectable synthesis engines. This unique synth comes with MPE support and can produce classic waveforms like saws and squares as well as more complex waveforms such as “rain” and “swarm.” Meld has an extensive modulation matrix that makes it perfect for a wide range of sound design duties.
Roar
Roar is a multi-band coloration effect new to Live 12. With three routable distortion stages, Roar provides extensive modulation controls to shape its sound. It’s capable of a wide range of coloration effects, from subtle saturation to aggressive digital clipping.
Library Management
Live’s browser has been updated with the ability to find sounds similar to a starting sample. Using machine learning, Live will find comparable samples and even let you search for similar samples in Drum Rack. Live 12 also allows you to tag MIDI, audio, and plug-ins using built-in tags provided by Live or your own custom tags.
Tunings and Scale Awareness
Live 12 supports configuring a global key as well as applying custom tunings outside the traditional 12-tone system. These tunings can be used by MPE-capable plug-ins and built-in Live devices. Live 12 ships with a scale library that includes a variety of non-Western tunings, such as Eastern and Arabic. By enabling Scale Awareness, scales can be applied globally to all instruments and clips.
Generative MIDI
Live 12 provides a set of generative algorithms to generate MIDI according to user-configurable constraints. Live can connect notes, generate chords and rhythms, and even transform existing MIDI sequences to create new variations. When combined with Live 12’s new Scale Awareness feature, generated MIDI will match the scale and key you’ve defined.